Tsundoku Might Be a Real Word…and Delicious Minutiae’s First Contest!

August 15, 2012 at 2:12 am (Authors, Blather, Blogging about Blogging, Books, Education, Gifted, Homeschooling, Twice-Exceptional)


I’m sure it will come as no surprise to anyone who read the sad story of my Amazon.com calendar purchase, that I also buy a lot of books.  My friend Dawn, mentioned frequently around these parts, pointed out an internet forward that kinda-sorta reminded her of me.  It went something like this:

I have nothing to add to this.

This brings me to confessional time.  I’m pretty sure every post I make here is something of an accidental confessional, but this is on purpose…not just me blathering on about personal stuff and TMI.

I have a lot of books I haven’t read yet.  I used to read SSSSOOOOOO much.  All the time.  I called in sick to work every now and again if I had a book I couldn’t wait to read.  I missed most of elementary, middle, and, come to think of it, high school.  One of my childhood besties and I used to walk to Park Drugs, and sometimes I bought a book instead of candy or beverages.  Candy and beverages was the entire point of the exercise, btw.

Side note:  I can’t believe I’m admitting this, but in 5th or 6th grade one of the books I bought from Park Drugs, with my own money even, was a time travel romance that still makes me question my own taste in reading material.  Constance O’Day-Flannery entertained me well enough with her Timeless Passion, and I learned a little bit about 1856 antebellum plantation living to boot!  I also learned that if I wind up traveling back in time, it would be indiscrete to listen to my jammin’ walkman tunes while singing Huey Lewis out loud.  My “husband” might think I’m cray-cray, or I might be drowned in the swamp in order to free the demon spirits.

It’s always a concern.  One can never be too careful while time traveling.

So, I was somewhat preoccupied with reading not so many years ago is what I’m saying.  Then BAM! Procreation.  Along with the precious babies came regressing literacy.

Fast forward to last month and I went to the SENG Conference in Milwaukee.  I had a great time and on the last day I couldn’t help myself any longer…I bought some books from the vendor hall.  Great Potential Press had a few books that had been on my wish list for years.  Literally.  Years.  What the crap; they were giving my books away at the conference!  All I had to do was pay 70 percent of the cover price and I could take them home with me for FREE.  That’s all there was to it.

How could I say no?  I couldn’t.  I didn’t.

Trouble here is that I already have a robust library of gifted-specific books, but I haven’t even read close to half of them.  Homeschooling?  Have a bunch of those too.  Aspergers?  Check.

Now these shelves of books aren’t going to remind me that my devilishly handsome plantation-farming faux husband from 1856 might not understand about OTC pharmaceuticals, but they might, just might, help me parent my extremely high needs children.  Constance O’Day-Flannery didn’t write about twice-exceptional kids, but if she did I might have to put her book to the top of the TBR pile.  As it is, I spend all day with my quirky, intense, always “on” spawn, so I don’t want to relax with some helpful reading material about them when I could be watching Toddlers & Tiaras, or getting my ass beat at SongPop.

True story.

Several things have been happening serendipitously in recent weeks:

1.  I recently reviewed Jeff Salyards debut Fantasy novel, Scourge of the Betrayer, right here on this blog…and really enjoyed the reading *and* reviewing.

2. I went to the gifted conference and bought some more books.

3.  Decided at the conference, while standing in the vendor hall, to start *reading* and then *reviewing* the books on my blog.

4.  Went home and lost track of time.  Got my ass beat at SongPop.

5. My conference roomie’s book was released, and she’s unknowingly written about my life.  All of it!!  She, too, noted that the last thing a person wants to do is read a book about gifted kids when they’re knee deep in the soup.

5b.  I bought LOTS of copies of Jen’s book and planned it to be my kick-off gifted book review / combo kick-off contest.

6.  Dawn posted about tsundoku (see above) which reminded me that I planned to read and review all of my gifted/homeschooling/2e books, but haven’t started yet.

6b. Nor have I announced the contest.

7.  I’ve been drinking tea ALLLL NIGHT and now I can’t sleep.

8.  So it’s time to launch this contest.  WOOHOO!

9.  But I think I should create a new entry because this one is really long already.

10.  Plus, I don’t know what the contest is yet…just that at the end of it I’m giving away 30 copies of Jen Merrill’s ” If This is a Gift, Can I Send It Back?: Surviving in the Land of the Gifted and Twice-Exceptional“.

11.  A lot of people say they read my blog and like it, but I don’t get very many comments…and not many new “likes” on FB lately.  Sad face.

12.  Maybe I’ll give the book away to people who comment on my blog!

13.  And like me on Facebook.

13b. I like making lists.

13c.  In fact, I’m making one right now.

7 Comments

Maternity Pants Time!

May 24, 2012 at 4:40 pm (Blather, E, Family, Jeff, Lifestyle, N)


I know what you’re thinking.  “Gosh, how awesome that Kim’s having another one of those sweet Beeler children!”

But you’d be WRONG!

Those Beeler children are not sweet!  Err…  I mean, I’m not knocked up!

These are *not* the Beeler children. These children will kill you while you sleep. The Beeler children will wear you out until you just lay down and die. In your maternity pants.

My OB agreed with me, after E was born, that I’m not a good candidate for more pregnancies.  But I have this pair (seriously, I just wrote it pare, then pear, then pair) of maternity pants from 2001 that I AM STILL WEARING!  Yesterday I took them on their maiden 2012 voyage in which I played tennis with my husband and kids.  Today I wore them again to go roller skating with the kids at homeschool skate.

It’s not that I’d be a bad mom, quality-wise… Just a terrible vessel. Also, it might kill me. These parents are terrible parents quality-wise.

I know it’s summer when I get to wear my maternity pants.

They frickin’ rock, in all their lime green glory.

This maternity pants sighting proves at least two things.  One, I wear clothes more than once before washing because it’s great for the environment, YAY Environment!,

Not super funny, but a diagram instantly makes this post more scientific. Plus, it’s a VENN! Venn diagrams are very helpful in sorting information.

and 2) we are an athletic bunch of Beelers this week.  N was outside, under the wide open sky, with sun shining and no electrical outlets.  None of us perished from the grass, trees, breeze, or solar flares.  We almost perished from E’s very bossy tendencies, however.  He’s definitely one that has ideas and opinions, and likes to bark them at all of us from the comfort and safety of family.  He’s pretty quiet outside the family.

“Nasa warns solar flares from ‘huge space storm’ will cause wide-spread chaos.” So be careful if you leave your house. Ever.

I have no idea where E gets those bossy traits.

Not from me! I swear! Jeff is a lying liar.

Moving on, back to the subject of my awesome pants…  A friend commented that she liked them a couple of years ago.  I ‘fessed up that they were maternity in nature.  The ground didn’t swallow me up, so I kept wearing them.  Last year, my sister saved me from myself and helped me get some new clothes.  I think she felt sorry for me because I was still wearing a brown, v-necked shirt that she couldn’t even remember how long ago her store carried…  Ten or more years, at least.

I love that shirt, too.  I can’t wait until lime green and brown are acceptable together in public.

Half my target t-shirts were stained with movie popcorn butter.  Thanks, Jeff!  (buy same size as husband wears, in men’s = two wardrobes for the price of one!)  My favorite pair of jeans actually wore out in the crotch last year!  There was nothing left!  I was sad (dual meaning) and wore them a couple of extra times before declaring them toast.  I’m painfully shy, so the juxtaposition of not being able to talk to people due to diagnosable mental illness, plus my hoo-ha hanging out…priceless.

The rip started like this. Then it grew, and kind of gaped down a little. This is not my hoo-ha. This is a stranger’s crotch, thanks be to Google Images.

Did I mention the social anxiety?  One-two punch, shyness *and* social anxiety.  Maybe they’re the same thing?  Whatever.  “By the power of Grayskull…I have the POWER!”  But I save it for Facebook and blogging.  Sorry.

Word.

But my maternity pants stand the test of time.  They also hold three tennis balls per pocket.  PER POCKET!  That’s right…  Pregnant women need bigass pockets to hold their crap.  Car keys, water bottle, a sandwich, plus whatever else is necessary to be pregnant and on the move.  Non-pregnant people wearing maternity pants could also benefit from bigass pockets.  Skating?  I had a pear of socks, unusually large smart phone, folding money, and an electric generator for my laptop.  And my laptop.  It was glorious.

This year I have a couple of shirts and pants that are younger than my oldest child, which is almost the same as me being in the front row of Paris Fashion Week.  I’m pretty jazzed, actually.  I will continue to wear my maternity pants, however.

I think they look a little bit like clown pants, and I hate clowns, but sweet baby (insert favorite deity name here), I love those effing pants.

I don’t love *these* effing pants.

I just read this to my creative writing critique group (N & E), and the feedback I received is that it needs more bad words.  I love those kids almost as much as I love my maternity pants.

For N and E, who like it when I swear.

26 Comments

I’m Crazy and Unphotogenic

May 21, 2012 at 1:42 am (Attitude, Blather, CGCC, E, Homeschooling, Jeff, N, Parenting, Sensory)


So lately I’ve been in a weird place.  I’m volunteering my time in excess of what some people give to their full time job.  I gave up a leadership role for another of my kids’ activities because I was going crazy with all the demands.  No one is happy once mom rounds the bend into insanity!

The descent is particularly dramatic around here, as we all feed off of each other’s energy.  So, crazy mom means the kids are regularly hysterical, the cats get needy, Jeff ends up carrying the whole household… Oh, right.  He already does carry the whole fricking household.  Dishes, laundry, cat vomit.  He does it all.

Just like that.

More time for the rest of us to be batshitcrazy.  By “us”, I mean “Kim”.  It is what it is.

I kind of enjoy that Sarah Palin was the first several hits for “batshitcrazy” on google images.

Enough about him and that, let’s talk about me some more.  I’ve been hyper-focused on helping my homeschool co-op find a new space for the fall.  It has taken over my home life, though some of that is due to my complete lack of organizational skills.  Some of it is due to a perfectionism streak I try to tell myself I don’t have.  Some of the occupation is because I am wildly in love with this group and my children both say they can’t live without it.

I’ll do whatever it takes to help make this happen and insure it’s there for my kids.  Well, other people’s kids too.  Co-op is no fun without friends.  I should amend that to read, “I will stop short at prostituting myself on Craigslist.”  Everything else is probably okay, or mostly okay.

Nah. Just kidding. Sounds like way too much work.

Now that co-op is straightening itself out though, another group I’m in LURVE with, Chicago Gifted Community Center, is picking up speed again for me. We’re a new non-profit just about to open the doors for membership.  I’m on the board.  I needed to submit a Bio for the website.  I suck and am a big loser.  Well, not really, but this is my blog post and I can say whatever I want.

Seriously though, I feel a little intimidated by the women I’m working with.  They are all amazing, accomplished, passionate women.  They’ve done incredible things with their lives, while also raising their high needs, fabulous kids.

Then there’s me.  I skipped a shower this morning, Jeff brought home take-out for dinner, my butt made a permanent crater on the couch today, and I didn’t graduate from college.

I was close, but I got married and moved to California instead.  I went back to school for photography a few years ago (OMG, 10), but then I dropped out again and had a baby.  I’m a cliche!

A cliche that also cannot multitask.  Lots of people finish their degrees while raising families, yo.  Some people drop out of school and launch billion dollar corporations from  cheap rental apartments.

ZUCKERBERG!!!!!

I mostly got over myself earlier tonight, sent my bio, and found a Photobooth pic that E and I took several months ago.  I cropped E out and realized I look possessed in my remaining half of the picture.

The pic is small, so you can’t see my RED GLOWING EYES!!!

Possessed is as good as it gets, since I look like a moose in all the other pictures.  All four of them.  Apparently I’m in Witness Protection and cannot have people taking my picture.  My friend made a Face-in-Hole of me as the Queen of England, and it’s actually one of the few photos of me in existence!

This is one of the few pictures of me in existence.

So, I’m wallowing in self pity here.  I have B.O., but no degree.  I don’t have a building, bench, or calendar day named after me.  I’m disorganized and overscheduled.  I don’t have any good pictures.  Sigh.  I didn’t launch a billion dollar corporation when I dropped out of school.

Maybe I should cut myself some slack.  These kids I have are a lot of work.  They are always going, going, going…nonstop.  Juggling their extensive, discordant needs is exhausting, and I do a pretty good job.  I’m not saying great, but pretty good is not bad.

My kids are relatively happy.  As long as the older one isn’t in the sun, heat, cold, darkness…and as long as it’s not too noisy or chaotic, either, for him, he’s happy.  Oh, and as long as he has access to electronics, books, magazines and, shit, I don’t know.  It’s a long list.  He’s happy when his needs are met.  He has a lot of needs.

N’s most finely developed / over-worked organs.

The younger is happy when all of the opposite is true.  He likes to be outside, in the noise, creating the chaos, embracing the bedlam.  He does enjoy the electronics, too, but frequently loses his stuff and then pretends he doesn’t care.  I admire that.

The spirit of E. This is what I think he looks like on the inside.

What was the point here?  Did I have a point?  I’m not sure.  Maybe my bio is the point? And my happy go-lucky attitude?  LOL

Here’s my bio:  Kim Beeler has some kids.  She’s crazy, volunteers a lot, has B.O., and no college degree.  She didn’t make a billion dollars when she dropped out of school.

This post is a disaster.  I don’t care.  I’m posting it anyway.

Next time will be brilliant.  🙂

Well, maybe.

7 Comments

When Kimberly Was In Egypt’s Land…

October 28, 2011 at 12:05 pm (Blather, Jeff, Lifestyle, Overexcitabilities)
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Today I’m glum, stressed, sleepy and defeated.

It’s been a stressful week and I’m kind of burnt on all the drama.  Everything seems to be such a struggle for us, though I don’t usually post about that stuff.  It’s what I spend the bulk of my time pondering, regardless.   Read the rest of this entry »

10 Comments

Mother Nature is a Spammer *and* Every Time You Spam, God Kills a Kitten

October 15, 2011 at 3:53 pm (Blather, Pictures)
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I was just raking my yard and came across my nemesis: the dandelion.  What is the growing season of the dandelion?  Can’t they just die already?

Die!!!!!

Read the rest of this entry »

4 Comments

I Will Never Learn

October 13, 2011 at 11:11 pm (Blather, Cub Scouts, E, Education, Field Trips, Following Bliss, Homeschooling, N, Parenting)
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No joke, I don’t even know what to say about today.

E started in about the Halloween decorations before I was even out of bed.  I told him I needed to wake up first and clear out the cobwebs.  Before I was even to the bottom step downstairs he was already asking “Are you awake yet?”

I had to explain that I wanted to get the house cleaned first, then we could continue decorating.  Then he was all about cleaning.  It was enjoyable to finally be on the same team with this kid.  Too bad it only lasted 8 seconds, kind of like a bull ride. Read the rest of this entry »

4 Comments

Stop Busting My Chops, Kid!

October 7, 2011 at 12:57 pm (Blather, Bossy, E, Friday Apology, Jeff, N, Parenting, Sensory)
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E is such a love.  He’s snips and snails and puppy dog tails.  He’s a little boy and that’s what he’s made of.  He’s also opinionated and bossy and full of the saucy.  He gives me a hard time and makes me crazy.

That’s what moms are made of.  Crazy.  I am supermom.

Today he piped up from the backseat, almost an hour into our drive, “You’re ruining some of my favorite songs, mom.  Please stop now.” Read the rest of this entry »

2 Comments

Becoming Illiterate

October 4, 2011 at 12:20 pm (Authors, Blather, Books, Children's Books, Excess, Fear, Math, Road Trip, Time)
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I used to read.  A lot.  At the height of my blissful insanity I read four books in one day.  They weren’t all War and Peace, but they weren’t Magic Treehouse either.  Fast forward a decade and I’m becoming illiterate. Read the rest of this entry »

5 Comments

The Day the Music Died (but only temporarily, and it won’t happen again)

September 30, 2011 at 2:22 pm (Blather, Blogging about Blogging, Crazies, E, Homeschooling, Jeff, Mornings, N, Not very interesting)
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I’ve been away for awhile.  Not in jail or the looney bin or anything, but things got busy and all of a sudden more than a year went by.  I fully intended to resurrect the blog on the one year anniversary of the last post, but I think we can all deal with that particular deadline coming and going.  If you can’t hang with my tardiness, we probably shouldn’t be pretend online friends anymore.  Just saying. Read the rest of this entry »

2 Comments

“Daddy’s Home!”

March 27, 2010 at 3:39 pm (Blather, Blogging about Blogging, E, Jeff, N, Not very interesting, Peanut Butter Sandwiches, Scrooge)
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I love my blog.  I’m spending so much quality time with it today, and therefore you, my anonymous blog reader. Read the rest of this entry »

3 Comments

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