Why FlounderGirl...

When I was a girl, the best quality time that I had with my dad was when we went boating together. I had a special gift for catching flounder... (probably because my bait would endlessly bounce along the bottom while I neglected it so I could read the Babysitter's Club. Flounder was the only kind of fish I could catch besides a good old fashioned pin fish. (A hot dog and a cane pole can catch one of these guys.) So as I aged, and we progressed into the days of SCUBA diving and spearfishing, the flounder continued to be my favorite fish to catch. They just sit there-- such an easy target and I mastered catching the flounder in a whole new venue... in fact I was nicknamed "the flounder pounder." It gave my Dad such great bragging rights, he could tell all his friends about all the fish his daughter caught, and he was proud. As I got older yet, I realized that I really enjoyed more chasing the flounder than killing them... so, I have graduated to the flounder girl.

Multimedia piece

This is a piece of multimedia that I am producing. It is in the very early phase of development. It is a website for a missionary project in Honduras. I hyperlinked the picture to the site. I just started it yesterday, so I am open to feedback if anyone feels so inclined!

Thank you for being wireless.

I am greatful to the neighbor who was thoughtful enough to put in an unsecured wireless router...

I am a realtor and so Sunday is my big work day. This is the day where I do open houses so that I can meet new prospects. Today I am in a country home situated on five acres. This is the most peaceful time of the week. No kids, no stress, just sit back and listen to the silence of someone's empty home. It is my sacred time. This house has a gorgeous oak tree out front. There is a white front porch with a rocking chair, a complete and utter picture of serenity. Whenever I see a car come down the gravel road I almost pray that it doesn't stop... (they might just eat these brownies I have baked, then there will be nothing left for me!) I wonder where other parents find their most peaceful times. Especially, those of you who are teachers-there must be constant noise in your world. Does anyone else feel like they are in a marathon sprint too? As good as progress is, and as much more we can accomplish by multi-tasking, I have to admit I miss some of the quiet calm laziness of my childhood-- but heck that is what retirement is for, no?

Fab video on the fish itself...

Being natural

I was at a conference a couple of months ago where a scientist that I am acquainted with gave a lecture on how she integrated her children into her work, and how she impressed upon them the awesomeness of our natural world. I walked away wondering: Have I made that impression on my own children? Are they inspired by the outdoors? I was convinced after thinking about it that my children were inspired by nothing unless it had a Disney logo on it and I was distressed...

Shortly after that event, I took my children on a nature walk at a local state park. We smelled the air, climbed the trees, and then went on a suspension bridge in the treetops. They really seemed to like it, and they had such a sense of pride after coming down the seven flights of stairs to get back down to the bottom. Just a few short months later, I am pulling down my little girl from the fence that she is climbing to collect leaves from every tree in the yard. And, everyday I hoist her hefty 45 pounds to a reasonable height so that she can feel like she is climbing the tree as she laughs in total utter bliss about being sky bound.

Perhaps that joy lies within all of us as an innate characteristic. The child like play that comes with laying in the sand and making sand angels, or letting the waves lap around your ankles, or climbing to the stars one limb at a time... is something that is contained in each of our programming and is easily accessed, with even the slightest exposure.

Either way, my children are naturalists after all, as they stalk the squirrels across the yard, I laugh to myself. What did I have to be worried about?

Playing around!

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