Elisse Stuart's Weblog » Blogging

The Princess and the Frog

elissestuart — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 03:54:21 +0000

I received this as an email in 2003.
It’s so good, it bears repeating.

This is the fairy tale that we should have been reading as little girls!
(My hubby is the exception.)

Once upon a time in a far away land, a beautiful, independent, self-assured princess happened upon a frog as she sat contemplating ecological issues on the shores of an unpolluted pond in a verdant meadow near her castle.
The frog hopped into the princess’ lap and said: Elegant lady, I was once a handsome prince, until an evil witch cast a spell upon me. One kiss from you however, and I will turn back into the dapper, young prince that I am. Then my sweet, we can marry and setup housekeeping in your castle, with my mother. There you can prepare my meals, clean my clothes, bear my children, and forever feel grateful and happy doing so.
That night,
as the princess dined sumptuously
on a repast of lightly sauted frog legs,
seasoned in a white wine cream sauce with basil and garlic,
she chuckled and thought to herself…..
I don’t f***ing think so!

Hope the frog was a narcissist…it would be a just ending.

The 100th post….

elissestuart — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 04:26:30 +0000

Wow!
About 13 months ago I started blogging.
I now have 100 posts. Woo Hoo! Throw some confetti and cut the cake.

When my boys were in elementary school the 100th day of school was a BIG deal.
Their assignment was to count out 100 pennies, 100 fishy crackers, 100 crayons…you get the idea, and bring their 100 items to school.
It was a big celebration. Sometimes they even made hats. One of the boys’ teachers was hung up on hats.

Frankly, I’ve always suspected that the day was actually a bribe for the teachers….”Hey staff, Look! You’ve only got 80 days left! You can hang on a little longer with the Stuart boys, can’t you? Their mom always brings in those good brownies about this time of the year…you can do it!”

Really, my boys are charming.
The first three…that I am not allowed to blog about…have turned into remarkable young men.
We are very proud.

This last one is coming along…I know the jury is still out…but I have high hopes and sore knees from spending a great deal of time in prayer over this one. The last one….he throws off the class curve…I sometimes thought they just hung on to him for the boost in their STAR ratings…if there is such a thing.

100 posts.
It is a big deal.
I’m happy to say that the content has gone in other directions and didn’t stay focused on Narcissistic Personality Disorder.
It’s just that “once you are onto it” as Planetjan says…you want to share what you know.
We want to debunk the mysterious persona that the N tried to create. Seriously, he’s full of hot air.

Where’d my Blog Stats Go?

elissestuart — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 03:25:56 +0000

“I’m having a meltdown….a tropical meltdown….. ”

Panic-attack!
Maybe it is just a hot flash coupled with the fact that my blog stats have been cut in half!
So I am glad that my friend Planetjan told me what’s going on….that the powers that be are adjusting data…all that information systems stuff…that makes absolutely no sense to little ol’ me.
My first thought was that the N got into my dashboard and screwed up my blog stats….
Hubby asks daily………”so what’s the BS today?”

Hope you-all figure out the stats soon.
Last night my only featured post was “About.”
I mean…I think my bio is cute…but certainly not worthy of being in the number one spot.

I rather miss the snow….

elissestuart — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 04:11:45 +0000

I was looking at my home page today. It looks kinda sad and forlorn without the snow falling. With my photo it should be leaves falling. Maybe I can get WordPress to have falling leaves, along with the snow of course.
Really I would like the snow back….it was 85 degrees today….

On the plus side, if we get to have falling leaves this year, we won’t have to rake them!

Six Random Things…..

elissestuart — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 20:29:12 +0000

My blogging friend, Catherine Sherman linked to me in her post entitled “Six Random Things.” CatherineSherman@wordpress.com.

Catherine says it’s time to play the ”six random things” meme.
1. Link to the person who tagged you. (Click on Catherine Sherman above.)
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Write six random things about yourself.
4. Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them. (Sorry Catherine, but don’t have six blogging friends.)
5. Let each person know they’ve been tagged and leave a comment on their blog.
6. Let the tagger know when your entry is published.

So here we go…six random things about me:

1. I have not gone anywhere with out a camera since my sons were born. Since I entered the digital age, it’s even easier to capture memories. Unfortunately here behind the “Orange Curtain” it seems the only thing to photograph is concrete.

2. I love lighthouses. Look for future blogs on this unique feature of American history.

3. I love baskets. Especially ones for free. When I worked for a major accounting firm, the VP would get gift baskets galore especially at the holidays. Sometimes he would take out what he wanted from the basket, other times, he’d give them to me, unopened. (BoyfriendlyCooking has a series of posts on Holiday gift baskets.)

4. I love the genre of Vampire Romance.

5. During the holidays the aromas emanating from my kitchen are a combination of the delicious mouthwatering scent of melting chocolate and the rich comforting fragrance of Italian food.

6. One of the times that I am the happiest….? When I can walk out on the wet, sandy floor of Puget Sound when the tide is out. It is scattered with perfect, intact sand dollars. If there is a lighthouse nearby…even better

Here are the links to:

Boyfriendlycooking@wordpress.com

CatherineSherman@wordpress.com

Planetjan@wordpress.com

The First Three…..

elissestuart — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 04:54:54 +0000

If you’ve wondered why I don’t blog much about my older sons, it is for a very simple reason. These three boys who were once cradled in my arms, spit up on my shoulders, these boys, my children who now tower over me, they forbid me to blog about them.

When Peter found out that I had another hobby he said….”Mom! You haven’t even finished my high school scrapbook yet….what do you need with another hobby? You cannot blog about me! What if my friends see it?!” “If your friends see it, it will drive my blog stats up!” I said, smiling at the thought. “I’ve already agreed to not get a My Space account…give me blogging at least!” I said.

Peter called his brothers. There was some sort of sibling “Geneva Convention” that convened in my kitchen. The subject of debate was on the fair & ethical treatment (not blogging) about grown…nearly grown sons….you should have heard the whining. Do you want cheese to go with that?

“Mom! You cannot blog about the time we went camping and we had to ‘go bad’, so we went behind those trees!” I was laughing. ”Guys!” Do you know how many little boys pee behind trees while they are camping? That’s really not going to be news. And it wasn’t just one time!”

Timothy said, “Mom, please don’t tell anyone about when the three of us were ring bearers at that wedding…..” I had to think for a minute. “Oh, you mean when the three of you were doing Kung Fu moves while you were standing on the altar during the ceremony?” Matthew shook his head, “No, remember the bride and groom liked that so much they had the photographer take our picture doing it again afterwards?” “I have that photo in one of the albums…..maybe I should just go through your old albums and get ideas for blogs….” “No!” they shouted in unison.

“Okay, then what was the incident at the wedding?” Tim said, “Mom, if you remember it wasn’t just one thing….I was picking my nose during the ceremony and those two were scratching themselves.” Peter quickly said, “I couldn’t help it, the tag was itchy!”

Matt reminded me of the ‘piece de resistance’….”Remember, we helped ourselves to cake before the bride and groom had even cut their slices?.” Oh yes, I remembered that. At least it was from the back of the cake and it didn’t show. The wedding couple had been more than gracious. When they were planning the wedding, I had asked them repeatedly if they were sure they wanted children in their wedding party or even at their wedding. They were sure. She was a kindergarten teacher, he taught special ed. “Yes, I remember the cake, the scratching, the nose picking and Kung Fu fighting those were truly Kodak moments for sure.” Too bad we didn’t have digital cameras then.

“I remember that you guys used to play ‘naked super hero.’ (Noticeable horrified looks.) You guys would throw your dirty clothes in the laundry room, put your super hero capes from old costumes or pajamas and then you would run around the house, naked, before getting into the bath tub.”

As the afternoon wore on, they remembered of more and more times of things that I could not blog about. I promised that I won’t tell anyone that Tim was infatuated with the vacuum cleaner, Matt would carry the hair dryer around the house and “plug it in” to the couch cushions and Peter had a small crock pot that he would “cook in.” Legos were his ingredients. Sam chimed in a few times, once with “that’s nothing…you didn’t tell that lady in the pharmacy that Mama had a rash! Besides, what’s the big deal? People come to her site to read her posts on that NPD thing anyway.”

I think sometimes we forget the stories of the cute or embarrassing things our children did, even with scrapbooks and journaling….honestly though, my first three sons were not nearly as “colorful” as Sam. I think Sam prides himself in giving me material to blog about. The older boys were so easy….and then came Sam. I have stories about Sam that could fill a blog.

Tim, Matt, Pete and I have come to an understanding….I will not tell the embarrassing stories about them and they will continue to sit in my kitchen, while raiding the refrigerator and having sibling pow wows.