It's All About Me | A Deaf Mom Shares Her World

Deaf Mom’s Goal for 2010–Yes, I’m Gonna Barefoot Again.

I turned 44 last August and I wasn’t too happy about it. Forty four. It had an omnious ring to it–one step closer to “middle age.” I was feeling pretty much like my best years were behind me and I reflected on the years past. Why-oh-why didn’t I appreciate my youth when I had it? Why didn’t I enjoy my size-10 figure when I had it? Why didn’t I run away to Florida and apply for a job as a show skier at Cypress Gardens when I was nineteen?

Fast forward to fall of 2009, and the hubby sent me an email with a link to Judy Myers, the 66-year-old gal who was featured in a Subway video, Fit to Boom and on the Today show. The videos aren’t captioned, but go take a look. That’s right, that 66-year-old is skimming along the water on her bare feet. She looks pretty darn good, doesn’t she?

That video got me all fired up. If a 66-year-old can barefoot, then I surely can do it again. Heck, Banana George didn’t retire from barefooting until he was in his 90’s!

So I decided that 2010 was going to be the year of getting back on my feet on top of the water. That’s right, I’m going barefooting again. I got in touch with Judy Myers and we started chatting back and forth via Facebook. She will be in Florida in the spring and I’m going to join her for a day of barefooting in March.

The last time I barefooted was about ten years ago– I lasted about one minute on the water. I attempted to barefoot last summer but sank in both times. So the last time I was really in shape and able to skim on the water was about 20 years ago.

Last week, I had a dream, and in the dream, I did a deep-water start with my legs wrapped around the rope– skimmed on top of the water on my butt and got up barefooting. The last time I did that was in 1984.

Stay tuned to the end of March to see if I can do that again.

Karen at seventeen

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I’m a Loser Mom

It’s official. I’m a Loser Mom.

That’s right. I’ve joined the 2nd Loser Mom contest, thanks to Devra Renner, who made me realize that I really couldn’t continue to hide my spare tire under those sexy Lanz of Salzburg nightgowns.

The contest is a timely one, as I’ve been so tired of carrying around 60 pounds of unhealthy weight. With my son’s friend Aubrey as a witness, I’ve climbed on the scale and registered it at two hundred and one pounds. Yes, I’m almost ashamed to say it. I’m packing some major flub on my 5′ 4″ inch frame. What better way to be accountable than to blog about it for the whole wide world to see?

At least I have a bunch of other Loser Moms to hang with during the next couple of challenging weeks.

And look at my skinny Mom– doesn’t she look sexy in that flannel?

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Deaf Mom’s Good Stuff of 2009

I was going to wrap up 2009 with a round up of posts before it turned 12:01, but I was a little busy fake-cleaning my house for the last-minute New Year’s Eve party. Better late than never. But before I amuse you with my posts, take a look at the fun we had saying goodbye to 2009:

We connected with Natalie from Florida via the Z-340 and had a blast sharing the party with her. It’s hard to believe that yet another year has flown by.

Here are some of the posts from 2009 that have stood out:

Chicago Moms Blog, Behind Barbed Wire

Chicago Moms Blog, Deaf on the Field

Chicago Moms Blog, Embracing my Deaf Self

Chicago Moms Blog, Messy Houses (syndicated in newspapers)

Chicago Moms Blog, The Honor of Attending a Birth (syndicated in newspapers)

Chicago Moms Blog, Life is too Short to Pout All the Time

Deaf Mom World, The Older I Get, The More Adventure I Want

Deaf Mom World, Fashionable Hearing Aids

Deaf Mom World, Dad Beats Cancer!

Deaf Mom World, What I Learned from Laughter

Deaf Mom World, Lessons from a Sea Doo

Deaf Mom World, Zvrs, The Next-Best Thing to Being There

Deaf Mom World, Are You In the Deaf/Hard of Hearing Closet?

Enjoy!

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Move to Florida, Or Not?

Last week, we had to contemplate a decision of whether to move to Florida so that I could work as a VCO Account Executive or stay put in Chicago:

At a Career Crossroads.

Yes, I know I’m going to regret Florida in the middle of a brutal Chicago winter and y’all can razz me about that in mid-February. But at least summer will come around again and I’ll be here:

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Scentsy Makes My House Smell Nice

My friend Diana sells Scentsy– the wickless candle with the fabulous, chic holders. I volunteered to host a party to get her started in her new business but my first attempt ended in a canceled party two weeks ago — very few gals were able to come. But last night, we had a good turn out and a fun time together.

$girl\'s night out$

My daughter came up to me in the middle of the party and asked, “Mom! What did you do? The bathroom smells great!”

I guess she noticed the Vanilla Walnut wafing from the plugged in Scentsy instead of the usual boy-mis-aims-and-leaves-a-scent that usually permeats the bathroom. Needless to say, that was one of the scents I selected for my purchase.

You know what that means? The next time my Mom comes to visit, I can mask my lack of cleaning skills by simply plugging in the Scentsy and popping in the Pomegranate Ice.

Diana demonstrates.

Roberta, Lori (The Facebook Queen) and Lisa.

Jane ponders what scent she’s going to pick. Or maybe she’s wondering if there’s any Tuscan Lemonade left?

Come on girls, it’s important to choose the right scent. Concentrate!

What’s a gal’s night out without some Tuscan Lemonade with limoncello?

Next time, don’t leave so early, gals or you’ll miss out on our group picture! It was 1 or 2 a.m. before we called it a night.

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My Mom’s View of my Birthday

“Ok, Mrs. Griffard, you’re going to have this baby soon,” said the nurse as she moved around the bed and pushed back the sheets.

“This really hurts!” Mom said. “When is the doctor going to put me out?”

“Oh no, we don’t do that anymore.”

“What do you mean? I was put out for my other four!”

“No, you’ll have to help push this baby out.”

“You gotta be kidding. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! This hurts! Ow, ow, ow! I feel like I’m going to be split apart! This is painful!”

And that’s how I came into the world 44 years ago.

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Yes, I Have a Messy House

Today, my blog post from the Chicago Moms Blog was syndicated in several newspapers across the U.S.

Now everyone knows I have a messy house. I’m making the kids clean it.

Sacramento Bee

Family Wire, North Carolina

Centre Daily Times, PA

Lorain County Moms

But hey, come on over for a visit! Just be sure to wipe your feet before you enter.

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Breathe In… Breathe Out

I’m going nuts.

I’ve never been one who is organized, but one of my big, BIG goals this year is to have everything o.r.g.a.n.i.z.e.d. I’ve never needed it more than today, because I’m running around trying to find the flight info I printed and put in a “safe” place. I discovered that I left my phone at Panera Bread…

Sunday night.

I spent all day yesterday looking for it.

Why, oh why, didn’t my Mom’s organization genes pass on to me?

Why?

I’m bound and determined to conquer this state of disorganization. Even if I have to fly Alex Fayle out to Chicago. Speaking of Alex, check out the interview that he did with me recently:

Learning to Ask for Help: Karen Putz Interview

You’ll also have to go over to TechMama’s blog and check out: Looking for People Friendly Media Technology.

And then go hop over to Amy Derby’s place for a captioned video: Conversations with Strangers.

I’m signing off and dismantling my computer to make way for a new desk. I’m tossing out the folding table.

It’s a start.

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Tagged by Liz Strauss and Playing Along

Memes. I swore I wouldn’t participate in any more memes. But who can resist a game of Bloggy Tag? Liz Strauss over at Successful Blog tagged me to play along a fun game of sharing some deep, dark secrets. Of course, once shared, they’re not going to be secrets anymore.

And here, I get to share stuff that’s all about me. Me. And me.

Please stop yawning. Here, have some Pepsi. Would you like a little rum with that? I promise to make it entertaining. Deep, dark secrets and all.

1. I once stole some lipstick from a store. On a dare. My friend Lisa, dared me to steal something from a local store. I chose a tube of lipstick because I figured it would be easy enough to slip in my pocket. Never mind the fact that I hardly wore makeup. You can imagine what happened. I got caught. Lisa snickered. I arrived home in the back of a police car and my father marched me right back to the store to apologize to the manager.

And Lisa? She became a cop right after high school.

2. I saved all of my notes and letters from the guy I had a crush on in high school. I brought up the box from the basement recently and was reading through them. My daughter came in and asked, “What are reading, Mom?” So I showed her. It was a paragraph describing my first kiss, from the major crush. Daughter rolled her eyes and went, “Ewwww, Mom.”

3. I went skinny dipping on my sixteenth birthday. It was at night, with a bunch of friends. We thought it would be fun to strip off the bathing suits and swim. We let the swimsuits sink to the bottom of the lake as we treaded water and swam around. My friend Jenny turned to me and said, “Someone’s coming!” So everyone scrambled to get their suits on. I couldn’t find mine. It was pitch black at that point. My friends took off to the guest cabin while I dove into the water over and over and tried to find the swim suit. I gave up and decided to make a run for the cabin. At that moment, my brother turned on the outside floodlights and caught me running buck naked down the pier.

The swimsuit turned up at a neighbor’s house five days later. Apparently it floated away.

Needless to say, it was a birthday to remember–and the first and last time that I skinny-dipped.

4. We have a ghost up at Christie Lake. His name is Mr. Eberhart. He died at the end of the pier, while trying to cover the boat during a storm. His story will be published in an upcoming book about ghost stories. Written by yours truly, who has experienced Mr. Eberhart leaving closet doors open during the night.

5. My last secret isn’t really a secret: I’m a major procrastinator. Here it is, a few days before Christmas and I don’t have my Christmas shopping done. The tree is still in the crawl space. I haven’t figured out the menu nor shopped for the food for the Christmas Eve dinner.

Can someone kick me off the computer?

How about you? Would you like to play a game of Bloggy Tag? You’re it!

Thanks to Tishia’s Thoughts for the Honest Scrap Award! It ties right in with this meme.

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I Survived a Drive-By Shooting

For weeks, I walked around with my Kevlar vest on. I knew that the guys with famous elbows from Men With Pens were coming over to my place on December 14th. I debated whether or not to tidy up the place, hide the dust bunnies and shove the clutter into a Rubbermaid bin.

Nah, I thought to myself. Gotta let it all hang out. After all, that was the whole purpose of having the hired guns shoot up the place. I simply tightened up my vest, put on my protective glasses and waited.

Check it out:

Drive-By -Shooting Sunday: Deaf Mom World

I knew I had one ace that they couldn’t touch– after all, the talented Harry designed the banner for this blog. I was really surprised to learn that Harry thought he could touch it up a bit:

“Well, it’s a nice sign,” James paused at the door, looking back over his shoulder. “It’s simple, clean, fresh looking and it’s clear what this place is all about.” That was a bonus in itself. He would have inverted the green and blue of the title of the sign for better readability, but beyond that, he liked the globe and the arrow that showed where this woman lived.

Then again, James was biased. And so was Harry.

Still, that doesn’t mean we can’t critique our own work. The drops of water on the globe seem a little out of place, and we would have removed that. The color scheme chosen to match the existing site is a nice choice, though, giving a welcoming effect from the start. Nicely done.

My husband also commented about the water drop when he first saw the banner, but I like it. I love how it symbolizes my favorite place to be– out on the water at Christie Lake. It also reminds me of my waterskiing memories. So that water drop is staying.

I was happy that they left me mostly intact and that I didn’t have to head to the hospital for major surgery. Unfortunately, the clean up will have to wait until after the holidays, so the readers will have to deal with the clutter for a while.

I’m just very, very disappointed in James and Harry. They came dressed from head to toe in black and wore ski masks.

I didn’t even catch a glimpse of a naked elbow.

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