We all know that the Worry Center in my brain works overtime. Yesterday, when my husband asked me why I had bought batteries and put them in a big flashlight, I told him that when I was lying in bed I realized that we didn't have a working flashlight in the house and that we might need one in case the electricity went out or something. He chuckled and said, "So this is what you think about after I've fallen asleep."

So when the dog gets sick, my worry mode goes to eleven. Charlie has been losing it from both ends, so to speak, and I've become a nervous wreck. I've been watching him and fretting all day, and calling my two best friends constantly to ask their advice, since they both have much more dog experience than I do.

Maybe worrywarts shouldn't be responsible for another living being...

[Charlie's developed a taste for solitude under our bed.]

Posted by: Sarah at 10:39 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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From Lileks, waiting to be called for jury duty:

We all sign in, which means a long queue of people in various moods from sullen to disengaged to temporarily-not-knitting-but-happy-to-know-that-knitting-will-soon-be-resumed.

Boy, do I know that feeling. I'm back on the wagon (off the wagon? I never remember which way that goes...); I've made a hat or scarf every night this week.

I'm starting to get this panic attacks about moving. My husband was barking at me last night to knock it off, but when you're an Unemployed Obsessive Planner, you have to throw your energies into something. I try to channel it into knitting and dinner, but for some reason I've been starting to freak out about moving.

We don't move for another nine months, you know.

I've started obsessively whittling down our collection of canned foods. Can't buy more than what I need now, because what if we don't use it up? So what if this is on sale, we may not get to it in time. And what to do about that huge bottle of shampoo: the future looked so bright when I had hair to my waist, but now the meniscus has barely moved. And the dog food, oh the dog food. Charlie will be making the switch from puppy to adult around the time we move, so what if we end up with too much puppy food left over? Or we buy some adult food and don't make it through the whole bag? We can't just throw it away.

Or actually we can, my husband says as he stares at me in horror. It costs $7.50, so it's not the end of the world.

Of course, last time we moved, I shoved a whole bunch of foodstuffs into my suitcase because I couldn't bear to throw it all out and buy the exact same thing over again when we got to Germany. I guess it serves me right that I ended up with sesame oil all over my entire wardrobe.

You see why I knit now, right? It occupies my mind. It keeps me from worrying that I've just bought a new bottle of tarragon and there's no way we can get through the whole thing before we move.

I'm just happy to know that knitting will soon be resumed.

Posted by: Sarah at 06:49 AM | Comments (8) | Add Comment
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1 When we moved here, they actually packed up quite a bit of our "food" stuff - all my spices, plus plastic wrap and even boxed Hamburger Helper. (I don't know if they were supposed to, but they did.) We still had 1 month where we were living in an empty apartment before our PCS, so some of that stuff I bought so that we could eat during that time. I opened the cabinet, and it was gone... magically appearing 2 months later on the other side of the world

Posted by: The Girl at September 16, 2005 08:07 AM (FmIVz)

2 Okay you have me laughing! The movers packed all our canned goods when we made to move from Ft Knox to Germany in 2000. When I moved back to Texas in November, some of the exact some canned goods came back across the ocean! What was I thinking? Some know that I am hooked on sales and finding a bargain. If I have a coupon and it is cheap, I buy it. Why not? They packed everything even the 2DM bottle of crappy wine(it was in DM that tells you how long I had it). Don't worry about all the non food items either. They said they could not pack items with a "pump" unless it locked; lotion, soap etc. Some items did not have a locking pump, so I went back and packed them when they left . . . they made it just fine. It all depends on your movers. Some will pack anything and others will be picky but have food and coffee ready for them and you can probably get them to pack what you want . . . really! So, happy knitting! Need any good yarn? Always looking for something to do! LOL

Posted by: H. Sims at September 16, 2005 09:51 AM (D+Bhc)

3 Ok, calm down. You can always donate the stuff to someone on base right? Happy knitting.

Posted by: Mare at September 16, 2005 10:29 AM (KmNMw)

4 Sarah, You crack me up...but honestly, I do the same exact thing (I think you and I had a similar conversation about this the other day). I worry about ANYTHING that doesn't have to do with today.

Posted by: Erin at September 17, 2005 10:01 AM (nQCjZ)

5 Ah yes, knitting. I find it a wonderful distraction when domesetic goddess duties call. Just one more row is suddenly a sleeve and you have no clean dishes left but hey! You have a sleeve!

Posted by: zib at September 17, 2005 11:24 AM (2uf8Z)

6 Ok, it was good to hear that someone else is exactly like me. I am ready to take all my pictures off the walls and everything. I keep looking at my cupboards and thinking "don't buy anything else, we have to use this stuff up" but then I see a sale at the commissary and buy anyway! We don't move for 8 months and the baby will come in April (right before we move). I am already stressing about what can be household goods and what needs to be unaccompanied baggage. Everyone thinks I am crazy for worrying, but that is what wives do.

Posted by: S.Berndt at September 19, 2005 04:43 AM (MOoZ+)

7 Just think you will be ready to move if hubby comes home with an "Oh by the way we're moving" comment. I did the same thing and you saw a majority of the stuff when you helped me pack the van for the orphanage. And we did not even had orders yet. As you know we ended up extending for another year!

Posted by: Jennifer at September 19, 2005 11:41 AM (xwxoO)

8 "And the dog food, oh the dog food. Charlie will be making the switch from puppy to adult around the time we move, so what if we end up with too much puppy food left over? " Not that you asked for advice, but lol... Having two dogs that we've moved quite a few times, including cross-continent twice lol, I'd keep the baby on the same food until after your move is over and your family is settled in a new home. Sometimes a change in scenery can give them poopy butt. Sometimes a change in food can - and the last thing you need during a big move is a pup with an upset tummy lol. Good luck with your move. I LOVE to move. It always feels like such an adventure learning about a new place and meeting new people. Unfortunately, I don't think we'll be moving again, so I'll just follow your blog and enjoy hearing about your experiences if you don't mind .

Posted by: Shannon at September 19, 2005 07:45 PM (Qs5Bp)

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Those two students who cussed at me? Nothing happened to them. No punishment.
So I found a solution: I'm no longer a sub.

Posted by: Sarah at 05:23 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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Annika singled me out as a poetry lover, so I gotta do something for Wednesday. Go read the first page of my favorite book of poems, This Is My Beloved by Walter Benton.

Posted by: Sarah at 04:03 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I went to high school with a girl who had never been in trouble but had always been curious about what went on in the Dean's office. Finally, in her last week as a senior, she asked the English teacher what one would have to do to get sent to the Dean. Cussing brought ten demerits for every letter of the swear word, so this girl giggled and then triumphantly announced the shortest swear word she knew; the teacher sent her down to the Dean to collect her thirty demerits. That's the only instance I can think of in all my years of schooling where someone cussed in class.

So far I've been cussed at twice as a substitute.

If you're reading this and you're a parent, I hope your kids know better than to swear in class, both directly to the teacher or to other students (I heard the m-f word yesterday from across the room.) Or that they know the proper way to ask to use the restroom (hint: it's not "hey, lady, I gotta pee.") Or that they don't start fistfights in the classroom (I broke two of those up today.)

I never would've dreamed of acting this unruly, even with some of our most hated subs. I don't know what the deal is with kids today, but I'm not optimistic about my desire to create one of these beasts.

Posted by: Sarah at 10:35 AM | Comments (12) | Add Comment
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1 WOW.I went to catholic school for 12 years and i never cursed at a teacher publicly.there was no sooner trip to the dean's office than doing that.I don't think you can totally blame kid's parents for their language though.i cuss like a sailor to this day.i also did as a kid.I guess with cable tv and music today cussing seems to be an acceptable form of communication.that's how young people probably look at it.

Posted by: tommy at September 13, 2005 11:54 AM (NMK3S)

2 Sorry to hear that some things never change. I remember the first time I was cursed out in front of a class by a 12 year old! He stood up and told to to F*** Off . . . my mouth must have hit the ground. He was suspended for 3 days but was right back in the classroom . . . it was downhill the rest of the quarter. Eight years later I still remember his name and wonder if he is in jail. It really is sad for me to think kids act this way . . . my parents would have locked me up if I even thought about using those words.

Posted by: H. Sims at September 13, 2005 12:23 PM (iii6W)

3 Depending on the age of the kids, I blame the parents. My daughter is 4 and her dad works in construction. For some reason he uses one swear word fairly regularly. Rather than try to 'fix' my ex we decided on a game : if she catches him swearing, he gives her a quarter. She loves it, and she knows those words are bad. Some parents don't really do much about keeping some sort of authority. They also figure the teachers are going to create a new kid during school hours. A child in and of itself is not a bad creature, it is the parents that fuck them up.

Posted by: Julie at September 13, 2005 01:08 PM (w7n+v)

4 I'm going to have to agree. It is the parents. I use every word in the book on a regular basis, yet I haven't heard a single utterance from my children in years. I had a talk with each of them after they dropped their first curseword. They know what is acceptable and what isn't. My 11 yr old had invited some friends over to play video games last week. He and I were upstairs, when I caught a barely audible "Damn" from the kids downstairs. He immediately went downstairs "to tell those guys to quiet down." He gave them a quick hushed lecture and then said loudly, "Now be quiet." Then he came back upstairs to finish what he was doing. I never said a word. Didn't have to. The kids that curse to teachers know there are no consequences for their actions ultimately. Even if they get suspended, it's just a couple days off from school to them. The parents are obviously not enforcing any kind of discipline at home.

Posted by: Mob at September 13, 2005 01:23 PM (f+cPk)

5 Of course it's the parents fault. When I let a few bad words slip out of my mouth I immediately turn to my daughter and tell her how wrong I was to say such bad words, in fact I had to apologize twice to her and her friend. Once for saying the word dam at school and once for calling the kid lying to me a little shit. Well I didn't call him that until I got into my car, but my daughter heard me say it. Anything goes now on TV. I can't even watch a sitcom anymore. The minute the word bitch is said the TV goes off, or she made to leave the room... Too bad you can't stuff a bar of soap in thier mouth, that might do the trick..

Posted by: Beth at September 13, 2005 01:42 PM (d3xOK)

6 So if someone had said the m__ f__ word in your school, would they have gotten 120 demerits or only 60? After all, the first half isn't really a swear word. Just to get back to politics, I blame it all on Cheney telling Leahy "go f__ yourself" on the Senate floor. The kids are only following his example.

Posted by: Pericles at September 13, 2005 09:22 PM (EpPuP)

7 I'm very proud of my son. My oldest can be playing Halo 2 on XBox Live, get fragged and will pull a Yosemite Sam rather than cuss. My youngest won't cuss at all in our presence. I, of course, refrain from cussing around them, though Halo 2 will occasionally pull half a cuss from my lips before I squelch the rest of the word. On the other hand I have always prided myself in my ability to cuss creatively without having to resort to the F-word for most of my cussing. As an aside, moderation in cussing makes actually cussing that much more powerful. When you have something actually worth cussing about, and you cuss everyone you work with stops and pays attention. Kalroy

Posted by: Kalroy at September 13, 2005 09:57 PM (9RG5y)

8 The deal with children today is the parents today. My oldest is eight and isn't allowed to even say "crap." Do I have a tendency to cuss? Oh yeah. I admit that I could embarrass a sailor in a bar given a tirade lol, but my children know what is acceptable and what is not. When they are grown, pay their own bills and live under their own roof, they too can cuss like a biker on a drinking binge when pissed. Until then, my house, my rules. Life's not fair in this house lol and I do not run a democracy. I'm also close to middle age and still RARELY EVER let a curse word slip to my own Mother . It's called respect...something everyone seems to want these days, yet few feel they need to earn. Children today are not taught the basics by their parents, much less anything else. It takes too much time to be consistent, set standards and enforce them. It is much easier to ignore them, put them in front of a TV or let them run the streets. No suprise many children don't have a chance in life - much less know how to behave themselves in school or anywhere else for that matter. Too many parents are failing their children and are too lazy to even care .

Posted by: Shannon at September 13, 2005 10:45 PM (sHJxX)

9 You should be glad that you're not part of the educational reform taking place in an English city where swearing at the teacher is permitted so long as the students don't do it more than five times per class.

Posted by: TangoMan at September 14, 2005 12:30 AM (EPVvR)

10 "Children today are not taught the basics by their parents, much less anything else. It takes too much time to be consistent, set standards and enforce them. It is much easier to ignore them, put them in front of a TV or let them run the streets. No suprise many children don't have a chance in life - much less know how to behave themselves in school or anywhere else for that matter. Too many parents are failing their children and are too lazy to even care ." Yep. And it's more than just swearing. Some of the punk kids in my martial arts class (back when I was taking it) had no sense of decency or respect. If you were older than they were, they treated you like dirt. They had absolutely no idea what it meant to be an adult and what the world will expect of them. And when I say "kids" I'm talking about 18 and 19 year olds. It amazes me how parents don't bother teaching their children how to behave. Most of these kids will eventually learn the hard way (they might even end up doing time). If you want a worst case scenario...well, remember Columbine?

Posted by: CT at September 14, 2005 03:06 PM (KV/Mz)

11 The proper response is to expel the miscreant from the class and to explain to the principal that if the kid comes back you are gone.

Posted by: Walter_E_Wallis at September 14, 2005 04:22 PM (wDJE+)

12 So if someone had said the m__ f__ word in your school, would they have gotten 120 demerits or only 60? After all, the first half isn't really a swear word. Just to get back to politics, I blame it all on Cheney telling Leahy "go f__ yourself" on the Senate floor. The kids are only following his example. Posted by Pericles at September 14, 2005 02:22 AM Pericles...pull your head out of your fourth point of contact. (Sarah, ask your hubby about this one) A loss of civility has been going on for a long time...the "up your nose with a rubber hose" Vinnie Barbarino line from "Welcome Back Kotter" was a start. Rather than point the finger of blame at the Vice President, why don't we look to Hollywood and their buddies on the left for the real source of the problem. Next look to some parents that have forgotten the power of the "soap." See you on the high ground. MajorDad1984

Posted by: MajorDad1984 at September 25, 2005 10:54 AM (tdEnf)

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Found a set of questions via a knit blog, Zibibbo is Good. She's a knitter who reads LGF, and she'd like to make buttons that say Knitters Against Global Jihad but thinks that no one would buy them. Uh, hello? I've got three customers right here in Germany (my two best friends and I) who'd take them in a heartbeat.

10 years ago I was starting my senior year of high school. I thought I knew everything, and I thought that talking on the phone to my boyfriend was more important than calculus. That's why my husband sat down and did a calc problem cold yesterday and I stared at him blankly.

5 years ago I was starting my first year of grad school, dating my husband long distance and realizing that most people, myself included, don't know the first thing about real learning.

1 year ago I was traveling to France with my mother, breaking my vow to never return to that country.

Yesterday I watched "We Interrupt This Program" in From the Earth to the Moon with my husband, and then we had pie and talked about it. "It's just when I see a really good movie I really like to go out and get some pie and talk about it."

Posted by: Sarah at 04:50 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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The other day, I noticed something...unusual...in Charlie's poop. I could not figure out what it was or where he had gotten it. Until today. I put it all together five minutes ago when I remembered that in one of his frantic runs down the hall, he knocked over our American flag (we keep it inside during dark and rain). What I saw in his poop was the wing of the eagle that tops our flagpole. Good heavens, that must've hurt on the way out.

Posted by: Sarah at 10:58 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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1 Ah...the wonderful world of dog owneership

Posted by: Mare at September 01, 2005 08:36 PM (KmNMw)

2 I don't even want to think about it!

Posted by: Pixy Misa at September 02, 2005 04:57 AM (RbYVY)

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