Sitting Waiting Wishing [Jack Johnson]

As a kid, I never understood my dad's reluctance to come home and play computer games with me. When i hit college and he finally embraced email, I couldn't get why he wouldn't come home and respond to things i sent him. His stock response was:

"i sit at a computer all day, why do I want to do it at home?"

This just baffled me - how could you not want to? The internet is awesome, and even if you're not internetting it up, there's always something to sort/organize/delete on the computer. He's a lot like me in that way. So the fact the he didn't want to be at the computer was entirely foreign and nonsensical.

However, the older I get, the more I finally see where he was coming from. I've even used his classic line a few times. It's not that I don't want to post blog entries, catch up with people via email, look at all the cute cat pictures with funny captions, or even sort/organize/delete various things on my hard drive. I just find that I have other things I need/want to do - tv, video games, reading, sleep. Also laundry, dishes, yardwork, home repairs. Oh, and this time of year, taxes. Maybe if I could spend time doing fun computer things I'd be more inclined to forgo those other items, but lately it's been researching vacuums, how to repair plumbing (that's a fun story), etc.

The problem is, I spend my "free" time on these things, and by the time I'm ready for fun, I'm fed up with sitting in the office with a meowing cat at my feet. And then things like blogs posts, emails and cat pictures get lost. I really do want to get back at this blog - i can't promise anything, but I'm thinking 1 or 2 posts a week for now, and well see how it goes. I mean, after all, i do have to spend some computer time sorting/organizing/deleting stuff.

tell me that some of these aren't crazy awesome.

buildings that people built out of legos

also

science that people built out of legos

and finally

christmas that people built out of legos

Around The World [Red Hot Chili Peppers]

So remember how these kids are super spoiled? Saturday I was substituting for one of our teachers (who was actually in St. Louis for a Haunted House Operator's Convention - story for another day) So during this class, I overhear one student talking to another about general things - boys, clothes, etc. Student 1 went on a date with a guy who lives/works in Houston, so he flew her down there to go on this date, cause he couldn't make it up here for the weekend. Student 2 thought this was great news, but student 1 didn't see it going anywhere because his shoes had some sort of detailing that she just didn't like. also, the distance puts a damper on the whole thing.

Student 1 then tells student 2 that she's decided that she knows what she's asking for as a graduation gift (keep in mind she's at least 3 quarters away from graduation) She tells student 2 she's going to ask her grandparents for an "around the world" plane ticket, with at least 8 stops. She's then going to ask her mom and dad for spending money to use at each of these stops. She's thinking about stopping somewhere in south america, australia, japan, india, maybe egypt, paris and london for sure. A few other places if she can think of anything cool to do/visit.

I don't know about you, but i know that 1.) i never would have asked for anything for graduation, and b.) never, for any occasion, would i think it was okay to ask for a gift like this. ever.

i cannot believe how spoiled and clueless these kids are. it amazes me every day that i am here.