Randomized:

Good Moroning,

I have had a couple of hours to sip coffee and look at blogs. Did I write then, while I was alone? Well, of course not. I am going to do it now with a child saying mindless things just to make sure I am unable to complete a thought, and that I don't forget he is in the room.

Speaking of Random...

Our a/c has a problem. We know what the problem is, but we have no idea if it will be a hundred dollar fix or a thousand dollar fix.

The little car needs brakes. NEEEEEDS. Brakes. Mickey downloaded a DIY video. There was one for our exact make and model of car. I haven't been in an auto parts store to purchase brake pads since 1986. I am a little scared of what it will cost.

The girls started their second co-op yesterday. We have one on Monday, (all three kids have "classes" ) and one on Friday(just a high school co-op). More on this later. But. For right now, suffice to say, I will not lack for humorous posts. Like the one about why my daughter came home from her first day of co-op with the nickname "PDA girl". From the boy her sister has a crush on. Who another friend has called a "Perv". When I have a humorous thought about this, I'll get back to you.

There is so much that needs to be done in my house; I don't know where to start. It looks like a...a...uh. I am grossed out and truly truly afraid.

Speaking of Random. It is almost the King of overused words. I don't just say this because I just graduated two middle schoolers. I realize my grammar has gone to the dogs, I am headed to the special place in Hell reserved for people who begin sentences with contractions, and next to "run-on sentence" in the grammar handbook is a wanted poster with my picture on it. And yes, I do realize that I tend to "chase rabbit trails" and "gather wool". A bit. Still, random doesn't mean distracted. And it doesn't mean sloppy. It also doesn't mean "out of left field". It is a mathematical term.

While I am here. Passion. Passionate. Attention: Twenty-somethings, passion, by definition, must have an object. To refer to someone as a 'passionate person', is to refuse to define why they appeal to you. I think you are trying to say that they are emotion-driven...and you like that. Additionally, the word 'passion' is not a synonym for favorite or preference. Likewise, 'to be passionate', is not the same thing as 'liking'. I am sorry to tell you that you are not, in fact, passionate about dark chocolate. It is your favorite food; perhaps you are willing to die for it, but that is not a passion, it is an illness.

And just one more thing. Those of us older than you grew up with the word, passion' being used to refer to lust gratified'. So when we hear you talk about your passion for 'little chiffon roses you can pin on your tote bag or sweater', we are laughing on the inside. When we learn that you are proud that your child is so passionate. We know you are trying to be positive about her tantrums, but for a split second, we are horrified that you don't know her well enough to actually describe her.

Ahem. I swear I am almost finished. Amazing, I know.

NO. IT ISN'T.

Everything is not amazing. If everything is amazing, nothing is. My beautiful daughters got into the habit of over-using adjectives, eventually describing my Regular Monday Spaghetti Sauce as "AMAZING". Now, while I will admit it is REALLY REALLY good, it is just grocery store brand, jar sauce jazzed up according to time and resources. I think Gordon Ramsey would agree, our family traditions are precious, and comfort food is what it is to you, but 'amazing' is a word to be used with caution.

Over such things as: microwave popcorn, candy Bars, anything on 'adult contemporary' radio stations, your friend's new haircut, movies we watch on our small analog TV, lunchboxes or their contents; it is perfectly fine to say, "I really like this..."

Space Travel is amazing. Running the 100m in 10.49 seconds is amazing.

Amazing when over used, becomes... just alright.