Category: Family and Fun

A is for Alien Abduction

On By Stephanie IngramIn Family and Fun9 Comments

Bad blogger. Bad, bad blogger.

That’s me. I don’t know what it is about writing in a blog that makes me seize up in utter terror every time I open to my dashboard. I like to write. Really, truly, I do. So then, why is it so difficult to post something here every once in a blue moon (aside from that whole a million things to do and not enough time to do it idea, of course)? I can come up with little posts for twitter or facebook but give me free reign to write more than 160 characters and my brain goes blank. I forget how to write. I don’t know what’s going on but if you figure out, please feel free to share.

Rest assured, even though I’ve been out of touch, you haven’t been forgotten. I would also like to take a moment to say thank you for all the new followers I’ve had recently. I do appreciate your taking the time to follow and I am going to do my darndest to start posting once in a while. I mean that.

So, I’ve spent a lot of time trying to come up with ways to keep me writing. I’ve seen others use the alphabet effectively to come up with blog posts. I’m not sure exactly what the “rules” were in this approach but heck, who said I ever followed rules anyway, right? I’ll make it up as I go. Here is my own version of what I’ll call “alphabet blogging” and it will be my new Monday feature.

Today, A is for Alien Abduction! Why? you ask… Well, why not? I couldn’t actually come up with anything better on short notice. (Part of that whole blank brain syndrome.) I was watching a movie recently where one of the previews was for The Fourth Kind, a movie that I will not be watching anytime soon less I would like to have nightmares for the next several days. (weeks? months? years?) A quick scan of the movie premise assures that I will not be moving to Alaska either. But thinking about aliens always leads me to wonder why I’ve had this life long fear of aliens, or particularly alien abduction. I don’t know.

It’s not that I sit around thinking about aliens every day, mind you. Really, I don’t. But I suppose if I had to pick a ‘monster’ from stories or movies that I fear the most, it would have to be them and I feel a little guilty for automatically lumping them into that ‘monster’ category but that’s how I’ve seen them portrayed. (minus E.T., of course) I believe in ghosts but I don’t fear being haunted. I don’t know if I believe in aliens (the abducting, probing kind anyway) but I sure don’t want to have an encounter. I don’t want to even read about it in the newspaper, thank you very much. Although I am sure having that experience could lead to some interesting blog posts, I’m going to pass.

Every once in a while, I wonder if maybe I’ve been abducted multiple times over the course of my life and I just don’t remember it? (Cause you know, they do that whole brain wash thing afterward so I can’t run off and tell people about their shady night time experiments.) I laugh it off and tell myself it’s absurd. I’d have to remember something or at least have unexplained marks to show for it, right? Then I look at my children and I think … well, some days I’m not quite sure where exactly they did come from. WHAT IF?? I could be walking around with half human / half aliens! (Ha ha ha)

Maybe someday I’ll even write a story about it …

Next Monday I’ll be celebrating the lovely letter B. B is for ….?? Your choice. Pick a word and offer it up in the comments. If I actually get any suggestions (please, please, pretty please with a cherry on top?), I will choose one of those. If I don’t get any suggestions, well, who knows what sort of ramblings you’ll end up with…

I leave you with four past posts I’ve written concerning our lovely subject of aliens. 🙂

https://stephanieingram.com/2012/06/28/holy-caterpillar-batman/ (The alien caterpillar that invaded my backyard last summer.)
https://stephanieingram.com/2012/06/11/aliens-have-landed/ (Fun with aliens from my younger days.)
https://stephanieingram.com/2012/10/09/october-challenge-year-9-writing-writing-writing/ (My start in writing included a special story about UFO’s.)
https://stephanieingram.com/2013/01/03/is-there-life/ (More boring ramblings about the possibility of life on other planets.)

 

When All Else Fails… Just Dance

On By Stephanie IngramIn Family and Fun6 Comments

What are the words that every mother dreads to hear?

“Please, Mummy, can we listen to Lady Gaga?”

It’s my fault, I suppose. I can only blame myself. I may not be a huge fan but I do own two of her CD’s and often when it’s ‘dancing time’ in the living room, I will reach for The Fame. There are quite a few songs on that CD that I like.

Apparently, there are quite a few songs on that CD that my kids like as well and they have made it quite clear that while we’re in the car, the only music that we should be listening to is Lady Gaga.

There are only so many times that I can listen to Lady Gaga before I start engaging in road rage behavior. I know the words to every song.

So do my kids.

Let’s have some fun,

This beat is sick,

I want to take a ride on your disco stick

 “What’s a disco stick, Mummy?”

“I don’t know. Perhaps, we should listen to some REM this morning. We need a break from Lady Gaga, don’t we?”

Was I just exceeding the speed limit?

(roughly two minutes later…)

“I don’t want to listen to REM. This music is boring.”

“Mummy, can we listen to Lady Gaga?”

Just like a chick in the casino
Take your bank before I pay you out
I promise this, promise this
Check this hand cause I’m marvelous

 “She said ‘chicken’” (laughing hysterically) “She said, ‘chicken’, Mummy!”

“Right… ‘chicken’… of course, she did.”

I’ve given up on my chances for the Mother of the Year Award. Even still, Just Dance wins the prize as our all-time favorite dance-in-the-living-room-song so we shall heed the advice of Lady Gaga…

Just dance. Gonna be okay.
Da-doo-doo-doo
Just dance. Spin that record babe.
Da-doo-doo-doo
Just dance. Gonna be okay.
Duh-duh-duh-duh
Dance. Dance. Dance. Just dance.

And when things get a little too crazy in the car, I reach over and switch to the trusted radio because you can’t wrong with that, right?

“Mummy, why do you have to fight for your right to party?”

Any thoughts on this one, Beastie Boys fans? 😉

Is there Life?

On By Stephanie IngramIn Family and Fun3 Comments

Cute Green Alien Flying a UFO Clipart Illustration

Is there life on other planets? Is there life on this blog? Well, I’m not so sure about the blog, but the likelihood of life somewhere in the universe seems probable.

It always comes back to the aliens. I like aliens.

I read an article a while back that scientists had actually found proof of life somewhere out there, although the fact that this didn’t become bigger news makes me a little skeptical of the claim. Then again, I read another article more recently suggesting that while scientists believe life exists, they have little tangible proof yet. This seems more likely. What do you think?

If you’re interested in joining the debate, try this. I got a chuckle out of the member that suggested we need to find a new planet to inhabit because we’ve screwed up our own. So ummm… we’re going to all the trouble to seek out a fresh planet full of life so that we can take over, dominate, and screw that one up too? Wow, it must be true that history continues to repeat itself. Are we really such needy and controlling creatures that we must take everything new as our own? I hope it wouldn’t come to that but I wonder.

There are probably countless novels written with this scenario in mind, although I haven’t actually read one. Please feel free to add your suggestions. I’m always looking for something new to read.

Personally, I have mixed feelings about the discovery of life on other planets and a fascination that began as a child. Back then, I was terrified that aliens were going to abduct me from my bed as I slept. (I guess I watched one too many of those spooky alien programs.) It took a very cool Pap Pap to help put things into perspective for me. As my brother and I sat around the campfire with my grandparents one night and I voiced my on-going concerns about alien invasions, I asked my Pap Pap what he would do if an alien walked up to us at that very moment.

“Offer him a beer!” he exclaimed without hesitation.

That carefree and kind attitude surprised me (although it shouldn’t have coming from my Pap Pap) and it’s stuck with me.

What are your thoughts?

Six Sentence Sunday and Blog Challenge – Year 7

On By Stephanie IngramIn Family and Fun, October Blog Challenge, Six Sentence Sunday, Writing5 Comments

Oh boy, maybe I’m getting in a bit too deep with all these challenges and things to remember. Pretty soon I won’t know whether I’m coming or going. It’s Sunday and I have two wonderful things to share with you today. First of all, one of my all-time favorites, Six Sentence Sunday, where I get to share a snippet of whatever I happen to be focused on for the moment, and secondly, my newest Blog Challenge, where I get to reminisce about my life one year at a time. I skipped age six but it’s just as well because I couldn’t come up with anything significant to say about it, and per the challenge, I need to write at least 25 posts during the month of October so it doesn’t hurt to skip one here or there. Today I focus on age seven.

Six Sentence Sunday, you go first. I’ll keep this brief. If you are interested in checking out the other participants, click HERE for the list. They are always fun to read.

So, pick a page, any page?? Pick a story, any story?? This is, indeed, the difficult part of the challenge. I’m going to hop back over to Nathanial and Sarah’s story even though I’ve not written anything new to add to it recently. I’m still stuck in la la land with no idea which way to run. Don’t you hate when that happens? There is so much from their story that I still haven’t shared, however.

If I have learned anything from my participation in Six Sentence Sunday over the weeks, it is the fact that I generally write really short sentences and a lot of dialogue. But here you go, I came across this little segment which I hope you will enjoy. Grandmamma had been kidnapped by the angerroots but now she’s inexplicably back and Sarah has a lot of questions about how and why, not to mention how their new (albeit handsome) neighbor Nathanial fits into the equation. We can assume at this point that Grandmamma is a lot more than she seems…

***

Grandmamma accepted the tray quietly and began eating with an appetite that Sarah was not accustomed to seeing in her. She lingered, trying to busy herself with cleaning up as she tried to find the right words to phrase her questions. It was a delicate subject to broach.

“Grandmamma,” she said at last, “Do you remember our nice neighbor Nathanial?”

Her grandmother stopped mid-bite and set down her spoon. She looked suspiciously at Sarah as though she had just said something illogical and when Sarah did not continue she huffed and went back to eating.

***

Next up, it’s the October Blog Challenge courtesy of Jane McLachlan and I’m focused today on years six and seven. Awww… look at me, growing up so quickly! It seems like only last week that I was just a baby and here I am in first … and second grade. Where does the time go?

First day of school, first grade. We sat in desks that had metal loops on the front. Not sure what the purpose of the loops would have been but several of the other kids were being silly sticking their feet through them while we waited not-so-patiently for the teacher to enter the room. Being the silly girl that I was, I stuck my feet through the loops as well, only mine didn’t slide right back out like the other kids’ did. My first introduction to my new teacher involved her taking off my shoes and disconnecting me from my desk. Enter embarrassing memory, number one!

Second grade I’d had enough of school so I quit. Well okay, I tried to quit. Actually, I remember it as first grade but my parents still insist that it was second grade, the infamous bad year for everyone in my family. They are probably right. I don’t know what possessed me to want to quit school. As far as I can remember, I’d always enjoyed it. I don’t remember having trouble with the work or any of the other kids at that point. I guess I just woke up one morning and said, nah, I don’t feel like it. Besides, baby brother got to stay home all day and play so why shouldn’t I? Being the Aries that I am, once I’d set my mind on it, that was it. There was no convincing me otherwise.

Therefore, second grade meant a torturous year of my parents trying to send me to the bus stop and me turning around midway and walking back to the house. My parents driving me to school and dragging me to the classroom kicking and screaming my head off. I held my own and insisted but I guess eventually they wore me down because in the end, I finished second grade and went on to third.

Later on down the road when my brother started second grade, he went through a similar experience. At this point, I’m hoping it’s not genetic and if it is, please tell me that I didn’t pass it along to my own kids. I have #1 starting second grade next year and I know I don’t have the patience that my parents had when they dealt with me. I am reminding time and again that my second born has inherited my stubborn streak. Perhaps he will be the one to carry on the family curse? Ah, the joy.

We shall see.

Thanks for stopping by to share my six and reminisce about my early years. It’s been fun. Come back tomorrow for year 8. (Another year closer to when I started writing!)

Who is the Tooth Fairy Anyway?

On By Stephanie IngramIn Family and Fun3 Comments

My son lost his first tooth during an afternoon at school on Tuesday. This may not sound exciting, but to us it was a monumental occasion – one that we’d been waiting for a long time. Since he’s the oldest, he gets to lead the way for all the growing up firsts … first fistfuls of mushy baby food, first words, first steps, first to start school, and now first lost tooth. The Tooth Fairy finally gets to make a stop at our house.

With any new experience comes a lot of questions. I expect those. What really intrigues me are the answers that the kids come up with. For example, what will the Tooth Fairy bring me when I leave my tooth under the pillow? Opinions vary. My oldest said $10. (!) My second oldest stated rather matter-of-fact that the Tooth Fairy always brings gold. Apparently he dresses all in green as well. I believe he’s got the Tooth Fairy mixed up with a Leprechaun. (Too bad because the gold would be nice.) Maybe the Tooth Fairy brings toys? Ummm… probably not.

Once we established that the Tooth Fairy probably wouldn’t fill our pockets with riches and leave presents under the bed… that left us to answer the question, so who is this Tooth Fairy anyway? I caught my two oldest locked in the middle of a heated debate over whether the Tooth Fairy was actually a boy or a girl. My immediate reaction, of course, was to settle the argument – the Tooth Fairy is a girl, just like all fairies. (Right?)

The kid persisted in his assertion that the Tooth Fairy is a boy and after I thought about it, I decided … Well, why the hell not? Who am I to reinforce gender stereotypes to my five-year old when fairies don’t even exist? We live in a world where we can be anything we want and I want to impress upon my kids imagination and creativity more than falling into predetermined roles. So then, why the heck can’t a boy have wings and collect teeth? It’s no more absurd than thinking a girl does it.

I guess I’m not a huge expert on the fairy world anyway. After all, there must be girl and boy fairies, right? Or else, how do we end up with baby fairies? But let’s save that conversation for a different day …. far, far, far from now.