Jan 16, 2012
I’m rediscovering my love for Le Grenouille.
This is him:
Handsome little guy, isn’t he? I also call him “Nippers”.
He just wanted to hop on over and see what this blog is all about.
He cuts quite the profile, doesn’t he?
He’ll be making appearances now and then, with and without his friend, Will Power.
Right now, he just wanted to introduce himself and say hi. Well, actually, he says “Ribbit!” and let’s me interpret for him.
‘Le Grenouille’ is French for ‘The Frog’. I come from a diverse ethnic background… on my father’s side. From my mother, it’s just French. A little Canadian thrown in, but the French kind. So I don’t think it counts. Her brother, my favorite uncle, also had a love of words and writing. He let me live with him during my college years and introduced me to the term Le Grenouille.
Many years later (hey! Not that many!), NCIS ran an arc through Season 4 that involved a French arms dealer nicknamed Le Grenouille. I was so excited. I explained to Dot what it meant.
Now, my daughter has all the ethnicity I have and then some. But she loves her French heritage. While I’m only about 0.05% Italian, you’d think I’m 100%. It’s how I decorate, cook, talk with my hands, love. My daughter is 100% French. No matter what other countries run in her blood.
So having a personal link to a character nickname on NCIS was just a fun little treat for her. And me. Shortly after the first few episodes, we went out and bought a Webkin and named him Le Grenouille.
But as we moved and she grew older, Le Grenouille found himself buried in boxes and bins. Through this weekend’s spring cleaning, he’s been rediscovered and just in time.
Because I need a frog for my mascot. And this little guy just jumped at the chance!
He’ll be playing a much more important role in days to come, and we’ll be more than willing to share those stories as they come along.
But now it’s time to hop off to bed and get a good night’s sleep. We’ve got some flies to catch tomorrow.
“Ribbit!”
And Frankly, My Dear… that’s all she wrote!
Jan 15, 2012
Almost everyone’s familiar with the Tortoise and the Hare: that arrogant, got-it-all rabbit taunting the always-trudging turtle in a race to the finish. In the end of course is the predictable winner: the turtle. Why? Because he kept at it. Whereas the rabbit thought he was so far ahead he could chill out, relax, goof off. Well too much partying left him in the dust and that little turtle kept on trucking and made it through the challenges to cross that winning line first.
I think sometimes I’m that turtle. There are so many people that not only know what they want to be when they grow up, but have what they need to get there from the get-go. People my age have children (even grandchildren!). They’ve already had a 20-year career at something. They started young and zoomed ahead. Some will continue, but some will fall asleep at the wheel.
Then there’s me. I’ve always known I want to write. But I was pretty sure I also needed to pay the bills so those two tasks have been mutually exclusive.
Until now.
Because now I’m serious about writing. And being published. And supporting my family that way.
I’m taking baby steps. I’m learning my way. I’m stumbling a little but running a lot. And I don’t know where the finish line is. I just know I’m going to cross it.
Soon.
I have no regrets about waiting this long to even get into the race.
I’m just happy I get to finish this one… then move on to the next.
And Frankly, My Dear… that’s all she wrote!
Jan 14, 2012
The idea behind a stream of consciousness posting is to write (or type) for a set amount of time (typically five minutes), and not pay much attention to it. No corrections allowed. No changes. Just keep typing out your thoughts and see what happens.
I’m doing this now because it’s after 10 pm on Friday and I have no other idea of what to do for my blog post! I liked it better when I had several days scheduled ahead of time.
This weekend we’re starting a few spring cleaning projects. First up is reorganizing my daughter’s closet. Yes, she’s a teenager and fully capable of doing it herself. But with everything else she handles, why not make this one a family project? I’ll be taking her and my mom out to lunch as a break halfway through the day.
I haven’t kept up with my Bible reading which I was hoping to get caught up on this weekend. It’s looking more like that will happen on Monday.
I have two cats snuggled against me right now. They’re keeping me warm and cozy. =)
I recently started recording “Biography” again. I used to watch it all the time. Today I watched an episode about Erik Estrada and it made me mad because some of it was wrong, and he left out details about his extended family. I know this because I live in Southern California and actually went to high school with one of his relatives. And how I know this kid wasn’t just saying he was a relative, is because aside from the same last name, they were practically identical, other than a few years age difference. (Okay, more than a few, but still!). You can’t even believe a biography! Grrrr.
I want to make a hole in my wall. I do! I want to make a pass-through opening in the large wall of my living room. Except that’s where my daughter’s room is, so I guess I won’t be cutting any walls until she moves out. I’d rather keep her here, so I’m good with no hole in the wall.
I can’t wait to meet with Megan next week so I can see her newest book purchase. She says it will inspire our story series. I’m completely excited!
I may do this SOCS thing every Saturday. It makes for an easy post.
Okay, time’s up. Confession: I corrected all my typos. It’s complete habit to do so. There weren’t that many, anyway… or so I say….
And Frankly, My Dear… that’s all she wrote!
