Veronica tagged me for an Alumni Newsletter Meme that she found at Stacie’s. Here’s how Veronica explained it:
The idea is to write two blurbs for the alumni newsletter, updating your life. The first should be the perky, show-offy kind that everyone writes. The second should be the darker side of honest.
Really, I had no choice but to accept this challenge. I love reading the updates in our alumni magazine, but I’ve never actually written one. Until, of course, now.
And just FYI: you’re all tagged for this meme. Because it’s fun.
Version 1:
S. has been happily married to fellow MSU graduate D. for ten years. They have been blessed with an outgoing four year-old little boy who delights them on a daily basis. D.’s career enables him to work from home, and as a result S., D. and Alex enjoy an extraordinary amount of time together. S. does some part-time work that puts her English degree to the test, but her favorite job is being Alex’s mama. Their family lives in Alabama, and they’d love for you to stop by if you’re ever passing through their area! Until then, you can catch up on their lives by visiting S.’s blog, BooMama.
Version 2:
S. and D. have been happily married for ten years, though every once in awhile it feels like it’s been much, much longer. They have a delightful four year-old son whose name is Alex, but lately he’s also answering to Howard. Honestly, it doesn’t matter what you call him because he will talk to a fence post. For hours. And when he has finished talking to the fence post, he will try to dismantle it using only his bare hands, some mad kah-rah-tay kicks and a weathered Superman action figure.
Since D.’s career enables him to work from home, there are some days when S. will look at him and say, ever-so-sweetly, “I REALLY NEED SOME TIME ALONE. BY MYSELF. WITH NO ONE HERE.” She does some part-time work in her degree field, but she still doesn’t think of herself as a legitimate writer. Therefore, she calls herself a “writer.” She believes that her lack of wri-confidence stems from being pegged as a bowhead in grad school, where her classmates would often look at her (and her large, chiffon hairbow) with bemused detachment when she spoke up in class. Even though she was totally deep. And stuff. Y’all.
But she’s not bitter.
S. thinks that being Alex / Howard’s mama is the greatest job in the world, though there are definitely days when she requires a Special Touch From The Lord in order to keep her cool, what with all the jumping and screaming and daredeviling. Their family loves living in Alabama, and they hope you’ll stop by if you’re ever in their area. Or you just can hop over to S.’s blog, BooMama, where she “writes” and overuses capital letters ON A DAILY BASIS.
But if you happen to read the blog, be aware that most references to the blog in the course of real-life casual conversation will cause S. to twitch with unmitigated fury and then seek the comfort of a dark, isolated corner where she will sit cross-legged and rock back and forth until she feels invisible.
But aside from that, she’s still completely normal.
kelli says:
You actually wore large, chiffon bows in your hair to grad school.
I don’t know what to say.
August 7th, 2007 at 8:53 pm
Tater and Tot says:
I think those things are what make you normal. No?
August 7th, 2007 at 8:58 pm
chickadee says:
great stuff!
August 7th, 2007 at 9:00 pm
Jana (sidetrack'd) says:
To contribute to the overuse of capitals around here…HA! Version 2 is hilarious!
And, wow, wearing large, chiffon bows in your hair to grad school - that is a fashion choice only a select few can pull off.
August 7th, 2007 at 9:07 pm
Tee says:
Version 2 is LOL funny! I can’t believe you admitted wearing chiffon bows in grad school!
August 7th, 2007 at 9:34 pm
Karla ~ Looking Towards Heaven says:
you are so funny! (like you have to be told that :0)
I’m trying to picture the chiffon bow though…
Blessings,
Karla
August 7th, 2007 at 9:47 pm
JulieMom says:
Chiffon bows- no biggie.
The invisible rocking “thing” is what makes you abnormal.
Everyone knows to become invisible you have to snap your fingers with your eyes closed.
August 7th, 2007 at 9:50 pm
weavermom says:
As usual, you are too funny! :) Hope to see it in the Bulldog Bulletin real soon!
August 7th, 2007 at 9:58 pm
Shelly says:
LOL = “from being pegged as a bowhead in grad school, where her classmates would often look at her (and her large, chiffon hairbow).”
Girlfriend! Lord save me from those things! They were always seemingly bigger than my face! What we were thinking?!
August 7th, 2007 at 9:58 pm
Sarah says:
Those updates are alot like blogging..you can pick and choose what you want to share. But I definitely like the candid version better. Details are the spice of life! And, girl, are you spicey or what!
August 7th, 2007 at 9:59 pm
Cecil says:
Loved the meme! And the list of things that Alex/Howard…aka Captain Destructo… tried to kill!!! LOL What are the floors made of?? LOL I think from what my friends tell me that this is normal “boy” behavior…er I mean super hero behavior..
August 7th, 2007 at 10:01 pm
Brea says:
Hee hee hee, I love it. You continually crack me up! :) And by the way, I think you’re an awesome “writer!”
August 7th, 2007 at 10:06 pm
Angela says:
You are so funny, and despite your lack of “wri-confidence”, I always enjoy your posts because you ARE a fantastic writer. (And as a fellow English major, I would know :)
August 7th, 2007 at 10:07 pm
Lorrie says:
You just KNOW that I’m loving version 2. CAPS and all! I use too many in my blog too. =)
August 7th, 2007 at 10:22 pm
Laura @ Laura Williams' Musings says:
This is cracking me up!
August 7th, 2007 at 10:53 pm
Amanda says:
So funny! My favorite part was about the Special Touch From The Lord. I am very amused by the fact that you wore a bow in grad school. I’m trying to picture my sis doing that.
August 7th, 2007 at 10:56 pm
Melissa says:
Hilarious!
August 7th, 2007 at 10:57 pm
Holly Smith says:
You are precious-ly funny. Is that a word?
I’m glad you aren’t bitter…I think you just knew better than them, right?
Keep on writing, girlfriend. Good Medicine you are!
Blessings on ya!
August 7th, 2007 at 11:32 pm
Sarah Kate in WA state says:
Let’s hear it for the chiffon hair bows!! (Said by one who had one - or maybe 10 - in my coordinating hair bow collection….back in the day!) Thanks for the laugh!
August 7th, 2007 at 11:36 pm
Lori - Queen of Dirty Laundry says:
I’m gonna need to see photos of the hair bows. On your head. Please.
August 7th, 2007 at 11:44 pm
Marsha says:
JulieMom is absolutely right!
And if you want to fly, you have to put your hands on the back of your head (like in a situp) and levitate yourself off the floor… bending your knees, heels back.
Don’t ask me how I know. Just trust me.
Marsha
PS Since you were an English major, and I a lowly history major, mayhaps you can answer me this. What is the plural of y’all? I can’t tell you how many blog posts and comments I’ve had to rewrite just to avoid using this term. Is it y’alls? or y’all’s? It’s hard when you want to denote the plurality and the posessiveness.
August 8th, 2007 at 12:09 am
My Quotidian Mysteries says:
I’m SO with you about the tacit rule of “do not mention anything about blogging in real life.” I’m willing to put x, y, and z out there to total strangers, but the minute a friend says, “Oh, yeah, I read that on your blog,” I’m like, “Well, onto other things…”
Do you have a pic of you with the chiffon bow? That’s a MUST to post! :)
August 8th, 2007 at 1:17 am
A Place For Ministry Wives says:
I don’t know if I’ll be able to recover from the Howard and grad school bow comment. I am the one that requested the pic. of your new hairdo and now I think I may need one of you and your bow. I’ll let the urge to see the pic. sit for now and see if it doesn’t go away soon. :-)
August 8th, 2007 at 3:37 am
Adrienne says:
This is sooooo funny…. I used to wear those chiffon hair bows too (dare I admit this?), but not to grad school. No-one took me seriously either.
Marsha - I have it from reliable sources that the plural of y’all is “all y’all”…. LOL!
August 8th, 2007 at 4:37 am
Frances says:
I read your post BEFORE school this morning, and it gave me the pick-me-up I needed to get through the day : ) Can’t wait to add my meme tonight…tell Howard hello!
August 8th, 2007 at 5:14 am
mandy thompson says:
girl…..
as we say in the south: you ain’t right!
LOVED this meme, ’til i realized you’d tagged all gajillion of your readers to do this.
wow.
i just barely skipped my 10-yr-highschool reunion this summer… so, sadly, this stuff is fresh on my mind. i’ll see what i can come up with! LOL
August 8th, 2007 at 6:25 am
Charity says:
Very funny, and clever!
Thanks for the the laugh, as usual!
August 8th, 2007 at 7:18 am
Christie says:
I loved this idea…so much so that I did one of my own. I am a major lurker on your blog and just love it. Thanks!
August 8th, 2007 at 8:16 am
WeevilMaw says:
When you are sitting cross legged rocking back and forth, do you suck your thumb and play with your hair with the other hand? I do…
As always, you delight me and make me laugh daily. You’ve got some MAD WRITING SKILLS you “writer.”
August 8th, 2007 at 8:31 am
Becky says:
Great idea…very funny! I love the whole “Howard” stuff…too funny! God Bless!
August 8th, 2007 at 8:33 am
Barb says:
I never realized we can be dated by our hairbows. Mine were the little, tiny velvet hairbows attached to clippies. Big chiffon bows were way down the road for me. I think I may have been in my hippie period when those were popular which explains why I skipped them altogether. LOL
Version two is the BooMama we all know and love. And I’m with you. The minute I realize someone I KNOW IN REAL LIFE is reading my blog, my eye starts twitching because I can tell by their body language they think I’m just strange.
August 8th, 2007 at 8:51 am
Joanna says:
I’ll just sit in the corner and rock back and forth while I pretend I wasn’t tagged!
The fact that you owned up to a blog shows your dark side is trying to get out while your normal side is twitching. Unless the twitching is really from Howard. You are a great writer!!
August 8th, 2007 at 8:57 am
Overwhelmed! says:
Now that was some awesome “writing” BooMama! I may have to come up with my own one day soon. :)
Thanks for sharing.
August 8th, 2007 at 9:01 am
Janet (aka JT) says:
So what is it about blogging that makes a blogger uncomfortable in the “real” world? I’ve actually got a blog page and would love to start, you know, actually blogging, but my stupidity of all things involving the computer means that my hubby has to help me get it up and running. And after the last time he saw my page and what I was up to, well, I just haven’t been able to go back to the page again. AND I HADN’T EVEN BLOGGED YET!!!
I think I’d have to be a hermit to blog successfully. Oh, a hermit AND a computer genius.
August 8th, 2007 at 9:04 am
Stacie (The Twinkies) says:
How funny!
I’m so tickled as to how this meme has taken off. Sure, I spend my time with my daughter hiding her head under my robe playing peeka-boo, but I made me a meme!
August 8th, 2007 at 9:07 am
brenda says:
OK, I’m thinking all these still shots of Alex are not letting us see all the TRUE JOY that he is. You’ve talked lately about how active he is, but I just can’t put that together with the sweet little child in the still shots. Maybe some video is in order?
August 8th, 2007 at 9:15 am
Marla Taviano says:
You are stinking funny. And a fabulous WRITER.
You are also the second person to extend me an invite to their Alabama home the next time I’m “passing through.” Do people actually pass through Alabama?? I never have.
August 8th, 2007 at 9:37 am
dcrmom says:
“be aware that most references to the blog in the course of real-life casual conversation will cause S. to twitch with unmitigated fury and then seek the comfort of a dark, isolated corner where she will sit cross-legged and rock back and forth until she feels invisible.”
I can SO relate to this. I hate it when my blog comes up in conversation.
August 8th, 2007 at 9:51 am
Suzi says:
You are too funny! I love reading your blog and I have to tell you that you are a fantastic writer!
Suzi
August 8th, 2007 at 9:55 am
One Hot Mama says:
You are cracking me up with your wri-nonconfidence. You are so obviously a writer, you must just start saying it out loud several times a day! That’s what I did the day I turned 35. My husband was the first one to say, “You’re a what???” Not good for the ole ego! He still looks at people with a puzzled look when they compliment my writing, but he has started telling me in private that he likes the way I wrote this or that. He’s coming around…which I attribute entirely to my (pretend) confidence in myself! Keep it up girl, shout it from the rooftops! :-)
August 8th, 2007 at 10:42 am
Mommy, the Human Napkin says:
My favorite is the second one. I can totally see myself submitting something like version 2 to my alumni newsletter. That is, if I were an alumni and if we actually had a newsletter. I’ll be an alumni eventually, dadgummit! Just wait and see.
August 8th, 2007 at 10:50 am
Keryn says:
BooMama, I think I love you.
Will you be my neighbor? I live in Utah but I’ll bet I can convince my husband to move south…that way we can let my three-year-old talk the ears off your four-year-old and vise versa, and we can eat and shop and…
A little too stalker-y? Sorry. It was just an idea…Then I’ll just say I think your writing is absolutely marvelous!
August 8th, 2007 at 11:02 am
GiBee says:
I just don’t know … they both sound so similar!
August 8th, 2007 at 11:53 am
Michele says:
“But aside from that, she’s still completely normal.”
I think you just summarized my life.
August 8th, 2007 at 2:40 pm
Mary@notbefore7 says:
Loved this! What a creative way to look at it. Maybe this year I’ll send out a “real” Christmas letter :) ha ha!
August 8th, 2007 at 2:44 pm
Shalee says:
As if I could “write” mine after reading this little bit of genius.
As if.
Too bad you can’t go back and major in Blog. You’d pass at the first week at the computer.
And to be honest, I love it when someone talks about my blog. Even if they hate it, at least I know someone is, you know, reading it. Perspective, girl… perspective.
August 8th, 2007 at 3:20 pm
Lucy says:
Oh my word, you’re funny. And I would totally rather read version 2 in an alumni newsletter. ‘Cause that’s how I’d feel if my hubby worked from home. I tell him I want him home because I know that’s what he wants to hear, but seriously? He’d drive me bonkers. I adore him, but I also believe in absence making the heart grow fonder.
I love your description of Alex/Howard. He’s such a boy. :)
And to the poster wondering about usage, I have also heard that the proper plural is “all y’all.” I’m not actually Southern, but I still say “y’all.” Because I like to. :)
August 8th, 2007 at 3:57 pm
chewymom says:
That’s nice, but your post just below this might also have sufficed as the “real version.” For the record, I was a major bow-head, even after college life, oh yes I was.
I’m with Mary. I think I’ll do this, and then send the second version as my Christmas letter. Just for fun.
August 8th, 2007 at 7:03 pm
Frances says:
‘Kay…it’s there waiting for your review…
August 8th, 2007 at 7:49 pm
Bonnie says:
FanTasTIC!!! YouR writiNG is TRuley inspiratIONal!!! You need to UP your WRI-confidence! I love READING U!
August 9th, 2007 at 12:39 am
Dana says:
This is really cool..when I get time, I’m going to write one of these myself. But the key is “when I get time” Maybe in the year 2027????
August 9th, 2007 at 1:21 pm
jenn says:
“bowheads” a name i’ve been called, used myself and proudly have made of my daughters. bowheads are a southern girls’ sorority in itself dontcha think? my gramma, until she passed a few years ago, would get a beautiful bow placed ever-so-perfectly in the back of her “boo-font”. they were specially made clips and bows so she could easily change out the color of bow without messing up her hair that lasted until her appointment the following tuesday. that’s right, every tuesday 9:00 am gramma was at the beauty shop or “sorority house” as she called it getting her hair “done up” with her bow. :)
August 9th, 2007 at 1:35 pm
Mo_Coffee says:
Hey Boo, can boys play, too? I wrote one.
http://djph.wordpress.com/
btw you are very, very funny!
August 9th, 2007 at 5:27 pm
chewymom says:
Okay, I did it at http://www.chewymom.com
August 10th, 2007 at 7:50 am