It's the combination of snow and ice that makes things more difficult.
picture is courtesy of KansasCity.com
When the city advisories said "STAY OFF THE ROADS", I don't think they meant driving off of them.
This week, here at TAOBC, I am aiming for a few heart warming stories resulting from events around Kansas City. Anything that has the word "warm" connected to it, got moved to the front of the line. So for today, I am just talking about some nice things that have happened in my city this past week. Hopefully, there are nice things happening where you live as well.
Last week, I wrote about the first wave of the snowstorm that blew through here on Thursday. With that storm most of the KC got between 10-16 inches of snow. Comparatively speaking that amount of snow isn't all that bad. I guess, you might disagree if you live in Phoenix or Orlando. Here in Kansas City that amount isn't unheard of but is a bit unusual. The upside to the snow...is that it is a lot of fun for the kids (the word "kid" here isn't defined by age) that came out in droves to play. I was going to post a picture of all the people on one of the local sledding hills. but after arriving, I couldn't find a parking spot. The hill was covered with all manner of people with sleds, toboggans, even sheets of plastic to slide around on this wintery slide. SPOILER ALERT!!! Just so you get to see some sledding pictures, I have added some to the bottom of the post.
ANYWHO... as I was saying.........That was last Thursday......and the snow wasn't done with us. After a couple of days of milder weather, round two came through. Tuesday of this week a second snow storm moved into the area clogging up the already snow packed roads. That brings me to a story that is a story about people being generous and kind. Really?? LOOK AT ME WRITING A FRIDAY NEWS STORY THAT IS ABOUT NICE PEOPLE.
Miracle of 74th Street
Emergency crews were called to a south side Kansas City neighborhood on Tuesday where a resident had collapsed of an apparent heart attack while trying to shovel out the snow from his drive. Unfortunately, when the ambulance tried to enter the unplowed street, it became stuck.
After we left Booneville, Missouri on Friday, we decided to keep going east on Interstate 70 so we could eat somewhere in Columbia, MO. For those of you that are familiar with Columbia, it is the home of the University of Missouri. I happen to have a fondness for this particular institution as husband and I paid for a college education there for our firstborn. Several universities are on our family's favorite list for the same reason. My attitude is that if I have paid money to them, that is some very small way, I have ownership there. I am pretty sure that MU doesn't consider me a stockholder but, I do.
A few little facts about Mizzou for those of you that don't own that small part or those of you that wouldn't want any part even if it was handed to you on a silver platter....
The University of Missouri was established in 1839 and was the first university established in the Louisiana Purchase.
It was the first university west of the Mississippi River
In January of 1892 a fire destroyed the main building of the university, Academic Hall, that left the iconic pillars that now sit in the middle of the quadrangle.
In 1862 the American Civil War forced the university to close for much of the year.Residents of Columbia formed a "home guard" militia that became known as the "Fighting Tigers of Columbia". In 1890, the University's newly formed football team took the name the "Tigers".
MU is one of only six public universities that houses a law school, medical school, and a veterinary medicine school on the same campus.
Here is something that maybe even a lot of the students don't know...the campus of Mizzou is also an actual botanical garden called Mizzou Botanic Garden.
In our house the big item of noteworthiness is the education that our daughter received that has allowed her to become successful. Go TIGERS.
Thus our visit to Columbia was two-fold. One to grab lunch and the other for a little walk down memory lane.
The columns left on Francis Quadrangle after the 1892 fire
that destroyed Academic Hall. Jesse Hall was built in 1895.
The G-boys waving to us. Who knows where they will go to
school???
Mommy and Grandboy #1 taking a walk around the Quad.
Grandpa taking #2 Grandson for a little walk.
I totally understand this is a video that probably only our family can appreciate but I still find it pretty cute.
That is the job of being GRANDMA.
The Good for the Day... A fun day with family
The Bad for the Day...we didn't know until we got to Columbia that the traffic would be horrific. It was the weekend for Roots, Blues and Barbecue Festival.
The Weird for the Day....Everyone needs to drink responsibly at the Flat Branch Pub.
The problem with vacations seems to be the coming home to the "stuff" that has piled up during the week or so that you have been gone. We have been trying to get caught up this week. So today's post isn't particularly entertaining. It's more of what has taken up my week. Call it a whiny-whiny synopsis of Cheryl's week.
It didn't help our cause that last Monday was the day from hell for travelers. Not just hubby and I but the whole flippin' country was having airport issues.
Our flight out of Baltimore was supposed to be a 9:10 flight to Midway in Chicago. After two weather related delays it looked like we were going to take off at 11ish. Yahoo...well maybe not. We did take off but 45 minutes into the flight, the pilot announced that that Midway had closed due to a fire in a control tower and that we were being diverted to Indianapolis.
After landing in Indy we sat on the tarmac for not quite and hour and we were back on our way to Chicago. Around 2ish we are at Midway but we had long missed our connecting flight to Kansas City. In all fairness it seems that a few thousand other folks had missed their flights also, so it isn't like we were alone in our misery.
When we finally made our way to the Southwest desk to try to get on another flight, the clerk insisted that all people that had missed their earlier flights (like we did that on purpose!!) had to be put on stand by for the next flight to their destination. In our case there was a flight going to KC at 3:55.
The good news is that we did get to board the plane...but the bad news is that our luggage did not.
Finally after getting to KC, we filed our bags as missing and made our way home.
The rest of the week took an ugly turn with another development.
Our 10 month old grandson has the worst case of chickenpox in the history of chickenpox.
Just imagine a few hundred watery blisters across our little G-Boy.
What makes me crazy about this is there is a vaccine to prevent chickenpox but children don't get the vaccine until they are between one and three. According to medical professionals, children under one don't ever get chickenpox. I am here to tell you those medical professionals don't know what the hell they are talking about. This child has pox in his mouth, his ears, on his eyelids....every square inch of him is covered.
The big thing happening in Kansas City this weekend though is more serious than lost luggage and G-Boy #2 with chickenpox. This weekend there are numerous memorial events to honor the 114 people that lost their lives and over 200 injured on July 17th 1981 when the walkway at the Hyatt Regency collapsed onto the people attending a party in the lobby.
The Good for the Day....There is a little excitement here too. A lot of people (not me as I am not a shopper) are quite excited because tomorrow two Trader Joe's are opening in Kansas City. I don't understand why people are so happy about these stores but yet they are.
The Bad for the Day....Grandson is so unhappy.
The Weird for the day....The cause of the Hyatt Regency collapse was an engineering error that could have been corrected by a simple fix that would have cost about $25.00 according to the engineers that investigated the accident.
With my recent foray into the blogospere, I am learning a lot of new things about this form of communication. I have been learning about placing my blog into directories. It turns out there are WAY more directories for blogs than there are printed directories in the paper world. If blog directories were thrown on our doorsteps like the yellow pages, our homes wouldn't be able to bare the weight of it all and just crumble under the pressure.
While deciding where I should place my blog, I have noticed that there is an inordinate amount of blogs about having, raising, dealing with, antics of, behavior of, teething of, disciplining, etc. ect. and everything conceivable that relates to children. In fact, there are directories that are exclusively listing MOM BLOGs. Some of the blogs and websites have a little seal that says things like "MOM BLOG" or "MOM CENTRAL". I suspect that I wouldn't be their target blogger.
While I am sure I don't qualify for the little seal to appear on my blog, I am indeed a mom. I am, in fact a mom for 2 humans and 2 cats. (the pet children count) and have been actively momming for more than 37 years. The distinction is, as far as the blogging world, goes, I don't chat everyday about the intricacies of day to day parenting. That daily hands-on part of rearing small children is pretty much in my rear view mirror. But, hey, I did get 2 children raised fairly unscathed. So with that in mind I will share one mom observation gratis. Who knows maybe someone will want to put that MOM BLOG logo on my site.
Here it is....
As a parent it is harder to figure out what is fair and right when you are really wanting calm and quiet.
I do feel that perhaps not having children living in your home acts as a deterrent to coming up with blog fodder. My grown children, do from time to time provide me with something to post about. Kiddo #2 tends to come up with some great material such as the "plane headed for the sun" game which I didn't want to "exactly" plagiarize. Who knows when he might want to use that material for his own devices? (I can see it now. A Plane Heading for the Sun board game, only $19.95) The other big issue is that we can't agree with who should be on his flight.
Sidebar:
The only solution was for me to come up with my own imaginary form of transportation to load our imaginary misfits and losers on. Thus the "bus over the cliff" game was born. For those of you that have just joined in we are taking suggestions for who is getting on our imaginary bus. The bus is getting ready to load over the weekend so be sure to let me know who you want to ride. (Send my your thoughts at artofconflicted@aol.com.)
Let's continue...
Kiddo #1 has provided me with some fodder in the form of having two little boys. The thing is that they are still so little and SO adorable that if I start writing anything about them, it just comes across, as every other grandma, thinking her little ones are SPECIAL. (which by the way they are). I would let you borrow my brain to see them but, bro, your eyes would melt from the cuteness. That's me doing an imitation. Guess who???
But let's look at parenting from a completely different point of view today. As you all are aware of at this point any singular thought takes off in multiple directions with me. So as, I can't give you the daily nuances of how to raise your kids, I can tell you who to blame for any flaws they might have inherited. (the quick answer is, it is never you)
Our topic du jour: genetics:
Recently it has come to my attention that Kiddo #1 is showing signs of a condition called alcohol intolerance. For the most part it is rare but it is one of the things I won in a DNA contest. My dad had it, I have it and it looks like it might be coming to visit my daughter. It is a lovely little condition that is caused by the liver not having the proper enzymes to break up alcohol in the human body. For some fun, light reading, I have included the description off of the Mayo Clinic site. Basically, it comes down to the fact, if a person with this condition drinks any alcohol, you get a major banging headache, that in short order turns to "the exorcist style" of vomiting. Fun huh??? For any of you out there wondering, NO, I AM NOT THE LIFE OF THE PARTY. I am doomed to be the designated driver. Always...Every time...
As genetic handouts go, I am sure she is appreciative of that little gem. Never mind that she dodged the short fat leg gene that she could of gotten or any number of other goodies that could have come down the pike on her maternal side of the family. Both of my kiddos really should be thanking their lucky stars that they got "tallness" genes from their 6 foot 5 inch dad. I haven't received thank you notes or even high fives in reference to their tall stature. Well technically hubby should get the notes and high fives, I guess.
When I was growing up the story was told (hundreds of times, actually) that my mother cried the first time she saw me, then began wailing to my dad "she looks just like your mother". She did not mean that in a GOOD way. As it turns out, though, my grandmother at 98 is still sharp as a tack and looking pretty darn cute by 98 year old standards. I am not sure that my mother, who is now deceased, ever reconsidered that maybe the "longevity gene" trumps the "cute" gene, Let's assume if I looked like my grandmother at birth maybe I will look cute albeit old in my 90's.
I was reading an article about genetics recently. (Is voracious reading a genetic defect?? I might have to read up on that.) Cynthia Bulik (no body I had heard of) said "Genetics load the gun but environment pulls the trigger." Now you must admit that is a very profound statement. Go Cynthia!!
The glory of having a new generation coming into our family is that it give us a front row seat to viewing the whole nature versus nurture drama play out.
While everyone on both sides of the family is vying to take the kudos for how cute the two little grandsons are, there seems to be some serious finger pointing going on in other areas.
Last week hubby and I were being entertained by Grand kiddo #1 who is a three year old. We have known for awhile that he is an especially neat (for the purpose of this example I mean neat as in tidy, although he is also NEAT as in NEAT). I could give you a list of examples but last week after he used the "potty" (get over it guys, that what a three year old call it) he washed his hands, dried his hands on the hand towel and proceeded to wipe down the vanity, fixtures, fold the towel and put his foot stool into the linen closet.
Hubby was observing all of this and looked my way. "Ya know he got that from you." (too bad I can't replicate the accusatory tone that went with this statement)
Are we talking genetics here? I do, in fact, feel the need for structure and I struggle with an obsessive desire to wipe down my stainless steel appliances frequently (really they attract fingerprints like a magnet)
As for grandson #2 who is only six months old, there is some talk about his short fat little legs, all the while family members are glancing at me sideways. I do believe that is how babies come. They have short fat little legs. I am not quite ready to concede that I am responsible for that one yet. Too soon to tell.
I am, however, throwing it out there that his sweet disposition is from me. His parents are currently getting the props for this.
The story it yet to be told on what the next generation got from the gene pool and who the responsible party might be. I do know that my children got a lot of good from both sides of the family so they just will have to "suck it up" on the bad things. (sorry kiddo #2 about the hair loss gene but face it your sister got the "alcohol intolerance" gene... you be the judge which one you would have chosen)
So, while our family grows, no doubt I will see some continuation of traits that I might have played a small part in passing along. The glory of genetics is that it is hard to prove. I am more than willing to throw the blame onto all the other assorted players in this DNA pool. AND if they aren't willing to concede that it is their fault, I have some dead relatives we can toss off to. Let them just try to deny that those short legs aren't all their fault.
Out of here for the day blogees... Today's entertainment portion of the post isn't so much about genetics but the title does kind of fit the "passing things along" theme. Besides you all know I get a kick out of Tom Lehrer songs. Keep your eye on the speck in the picture. It takes a minute for something to happen.
The good for the day...that I have beautiful healthy grand kiddo's that are too much fun!!!
The bad for the day....That genetics can be less than a joking matter in some families. I am sorry for families that have to deal with things beyond their control.
The Weird for the day.... I think the one cheerleader inherited the "can't process excitement" gene. And the announcer got the "can't help but to laugh" gene.
Middle-aged (if I become a centenarian) living a middle-class life in the very middle of the country and continually struggling with the pros and cons of every topic. Seriously, conflicted.
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