Wednesday, March 03, 2010

Mixed Bag

Well, today's update (wow! 2 days in a row!) will be a bit of a mixed bag.
First let me get the sad news out of the way.  The father of the guy I dated almost all through high school passed away yesterday.  A week ago Saturday he had a major stroke and went into a coma.  I'm not sure if they ever did get the bleeding to totally stop.  It saddens me.  Ray Sr. was a good man.  A bit rough around the edges and could really be a bear to deal with, but over all, he was a good man.  I'm going to try and attend the funeral if at all possible, as I still feel bad for blowing Ray off last summer for a birthday party he was hosting while I was extra cranky with Joan.  (But that's not the only reason, like I said, I respected Ray Sr. and he was a good man, so I'd like to pay my final respects...)

On to brighter news.  Last night was the first night of my "Aquasize" class.  Oh, wow!  I'm in even worse shape than I thought.  I had a lot of fun though.  I'm either the youngest or second youngest in the bunch.  There are about 10 people in the class, including two men, most of them in the "under 50" crowd.  Most of them have either known our instructor from other classes or been taking this class for a while.  But, I was made welcome by everyone.  Our instructor is Erica... and in many ways she's not too different from Erin, Mom's instructor.  I think there's something about chlorine fumes that does that to a person after a while.  Right now the pool is a little on the cool side, because of swim team.  (You see, there is really only one HUGE pool at my Y and so, one temperature suits all...)  Supposedly they're going to make it warmer again once the swim season is over, which is soon.  That'll be nice.  I have to tell you though, this is definitely NOT my mom's swim class.  There is a large cardio portion in the beginning and she pushes you hard.  I really enjoyed it, even if I tried to drown myself a couple of times.  There was no staying dry, at least for me, last night.  Now I'm even more excited to take Boo to his first class on Saturday.

And now for a random rant.  The one I had in the works the other day.  Below is a picture I snapped at Target when we were there over the weekend.  Does anyone else see something wrong with this picture?

Why, oh why, do boys get to be the "Best at Everything" and girls are expected to "Be a Goddess"?  I mean, not knocking goddesses or anything, as I believe that every woman is a goddess in her own right, but please!  And the back of the pink book is even worse.  I mean, it was like a train wreck.  It has tips for "how to host your own fashion show" and other "girl appropriate" activities.  Can I gag now?  And people wonder what's wrong with girls these days... why they "can't" succeed and have self-image problems.  And don't get me started on the "girl video games", especially the series for the DS... Imagine "fashion designer" "babysitter" or
"wedding designer" just to name a few.  Sure, they have "teacher, field trip", "family doctor" and "animal doctor" amongst the titles, but most of them are the same stereotypical, image-centric fluff that is "expected".  It drives me nuts!  If we ever have a daughter, games like that will be banned just as much as the heavy shooters and other "M" rated games will be for Boo until he's much older.  (I'm not banning them outright and forever, just until he's old enough to know it's a game.) (Oh, and don't read any of the reviews on those games either... they'll just make you mad... or at least they make me mad...)
All I can say to that is ugh and shake my head.  Oh well.

Well, now that I'm late for work, I'd better get my butt in gear and out the door.  Off to work, then laundry tonight after picking Boo up and before picking Gak up and then home for dinner.  Busy day ahead!

Peace to all and may your classes be fun, your media images realistic and your family healthy.

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