Who ran to help me when I fell, or would some pretty story tell...

...or kiss the place to make it well? My mother
~Ann Taylor

Manic Monday...click to play.

What is one thing you admire about each of your parents?
My father grew up in utter poverty, the youngest of six, abandoned by his father at the age of 3. The lived in one-room shacks and moved often because his mother couldn't pay the rent. They had very little to eat, clothing had to be shared among the children, and they were the recipients of "charity" (Do you know how patronizing and cruel some people can be under the guise of helping you out?) from the local church. He joined the Army at 15, got his GED, served 25 years, and retired a Lieutenant Colonel. Somewhere along the line, he got a college degree, and while I was in high school, he earned a master's degree. He could have easily chosen to wallow in the craptastic hand that life dealt him, but he had a strength of character that drove him to succeed.

My mother. I've been sitting here for 10 minutes, and it's not that I can't think of something that I admire about my mother, it's that I can't single out ONE thing. They are all intertwined in that idea of "mom." She just is. My mother did all of the things she was supposed to do. She was the quintessential Army wife, the mom who was always there, a great cook, a perfect homemaker and housekeeper, and had a lot of friends. I suspect there are things she wanted to do with her life that she was never able to, but she has never complained.

Which parts of your home do you like best?
I like that it still has some of the original parts from when it was built in 1928. Glass door knobs, original windows with sashes and glass panes that are slightly warped. It makes it cool.

Which would you prefer and why? To have every stoplight turn green upon your arrival for the rest of your life or to have one week of the best sex any person ever had?
Wow, that's a tough one. I'm not a Type A driver, and almost never complain about stop lights or travel time. I wouldn't appreciate the green lights as much as another person might. But, they would always be there.

A week of mind-blowing sex. Very tempting, but what about the rest of your sex life afterward? Would it pale in comparison and leave you wanting? That could be frustrating. But, maybe you could pick up some tricks along the way :) Let's go with the sex.

*~*~*

My supervisor doesn't like me. I don't think it's a flat-out dislike, so much as I rub her the wrong way. It happens.

Each and every time we get together to practice BP before a launch, and when I have team-taught with her, she feels the need to correct something about my form. Every. damn. time. The nit-pickiest little things. Form is something I have been complemented on by everyone else. I have spent a great deal of time working on my form. I am always receptive to feedback, however, giving me feedback in front of others while I am in the middle of teaching a track to my fellow instructors is not constructive. Especially when timed so that I miss a cue because I'm responding to the comment. She did this yesterday AGAIN. I never let on that it bothered me. I thanked her for her advice and kept going. And then I stewed on it all night.

'Cause that's what I do. I stew.

*~*~*

Entourage is back. Californication is back. Survivor is back. Lost will be back soon. The DVR is filling with happiness! It's awesome. This is the GOOD part of Autumn.