Random Acts of Shifeness - Color Me Confused

  • Plain vs Vanilla.
    When and why did this happen?
    There is a big difference between plain yogurt and vanilla yogurt but if you describe someone's personality as plain or vanilla, it means the same thing.
    I am so confused.
  • Speaking of confusion, it appears that I am a dumb American.
    I had no idea that Australia had ski resorts.
    I am not going to lie. I had no idea Australia got snow. 




  • I am very disappointed that Mick Dundee didn't cover this in one of his movies.
  • COVID-19 update: Unless something changes dramatically, I will be working from home until at least January. My department had to submit their reintegration plans to the big bosses and that was the request they made. And this made me confused about if I should feel happy or sad.
  • Another summer day on the water for the three Shifleteers.
    If my math is correct and we can assume it most certainly isn't since I didn't know Australia got snow, they've spent 94% of their summer vacation at the water park or a nearby lake. 



I will persevere. I will keep moving forward. I will be the stream. 


"To err on the side of passion is human and right and the only way I'll live."
Pat Tillman, 11/6/76 - 4/22/04 #GoneButNotForgetten


Comments

  1. You have a beautiful family and it doesn't matter if Australia gets snow or not because we aren't there, so let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

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  2. Yeah, you should like those guys, especially the bookends.
    Australia is about as big as the US. Everyone sort of lives around the edges.
    It's OK with me if you don't get back to work until the bookends graduate high school.
    Over and out.

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    1. The way it's going that might actually happen with the bookends, Joanne. I just assumed Australia was a giant, mostly uninhabitable desert in the middle and that is why everyone lived on the coast. I guess I might have to visit to make sure.

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  3. This fall is going to be tough; schools have to decide what's best and nobody is going to be happy. I'm glad you're working even if it's from home. Your kids have a great life :)

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    1. We are less than a month away from school starting and it is still kind of up in the air on how it is going to go. Mrs. Shife and I do our best with the kiddos. I hope they look back when they are older and realize that they had a pretty good childhood.

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  4. Loves the smiles!
    I'm all for everyone being careful!
    xoxo :-)

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    1. Thanks, AK. Hope you and UJ are well.

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  5. It's most likely a good thing you'll be working from home. I have a bad feeling about this winter. I agree with you - plain and vanilla are not the same thing! I absolutely love that picture in the car. There is a whole lotta happiness in that back seat!

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    1. I am pretty happy working from home so yes, it's a good thing, but I just feel like I am not being there for the kiddos while I am working from home. A lot of parenting guilt.

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  6. cute final picture!
    plain yogurt tastes like shit; vanilla yogurt has a flavor.
    my spouse has been working from home since march and will for the foreseeable future.
    I didn't know australia had ski resorts either.

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    1. Plain is gross. I have to use non-dairy yogurt and there aren't a lot of options but for some reason there's an abundance of plain. Yucky. You can join my dumb American club, anne marie in philly. Maybe we can get Australia to start a gofundme for us to visit and get educated.

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  7. EXCELLENT, have a nice day, happy weekend

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    1. Thanks, abasozora. You have a nice, happy weekend as well.

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  8. The plain vs vanilla is confusing! I don’t think I knew it snowed there, either, but I did know they are in winter now, so that’s something! I used to have a follower from Australia and all he seemed to do was surf. Your kids are sweet! My husband went back to the office in May, after 2 months working from home. There are pros and cons to both.

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    1. I am still sticking with it's Mick Dundee's fault. He knows Americans only get their knowledge through movies.

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  9. Lovely family. They look so happy. :)
    I think it's time we divorced education from living. Which is an awkward sentence. But people needing day care so they can work is different from worry over learning fractions and the exports of Bolivia. Let's provide the day care or school lunch programs or speech pathology to those in need and let kids stay home and learn. There are a million ways to learn, all of them more efficient than what our educational system offers.

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    1. Thank you, Ami. The education system certainly needs an overhaul. We feel really blessed because the admin at our school is great and really gets involved with them.

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  10. Your kids have such charming smiles! It's very ironic that I was thinking today that those poor chaps from Australia have Christmas in the summer time......

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    1. I might have to become the unofficial official blog of Australia and start sharing little-known facts about the land down under to make us more knowledgeable about our Aussie friends. However, I still blame Mick Dundee.

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  11. Well, I didn't know about Australia and snow, either. And I didn't know that was a sentence? The more you blog...
    And I'm in your same boat. Working online until January. We were told last month. Oh well. I'd rather be home TBH. This pandemic does not show signs of abating.
    And the kids look super happy! Love the doggie. And spending more than 90% of a summer outdoors sounds fantastic!

    XOXO

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    1. It appears that the Australia snow news was a surprise to a majority of the people that have commented. I don't feel so bad now. Stay safe and take care working from home. I am making the best of it but it is going to feel super strange going back to the office after almost a year.

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  12. Your 3 children are gorgeous! (fur baby included) I too did not know that Australia got snow. I feel so dumb now

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    1. Thank you, Peg. We are happy to have you in our Dumb American club. I am just glad I am not the only one.

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  13. I'm with you on the Australia thing. Our guy Dundee showed us none of that. I remember Crocodiles. I remember aboriginees. No idea how to spell aborigonees so I just said F it and went somewhat phonetically and was too lazy to look it up, I remember him in lots of deserts and using a hand trick to hypnotize a bull or something . . . but I remember zero snow. He lied to us. F him.

    Oh, and I remember that woman's thong before a crocodile nearly ate her butt cheeks. That may have been the first thong I saw . . .

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    1. I remember that thong as well, Dr. Ken. I remember it quite well.

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  14. I knew parts of Australia got snow but I didn't know that any of it got enough snow to ski! Score one for Mr. S educating us :)

    And I LOVE that buffalo sentence. Gotta confess I had to check the link to get it figured out but it's excellent! Score two for Mr. S.

    Third score is the biggest - those three happy faces in the back seat are awesome :D They know a good thing when it's happening. Or about to happen.

    Do not feel guilty about taking the time to do your job when you are working from home. My mom was a schoolteacher and was gone before we got on the bus in the morning, home later than we got home in the afternoon, often had meetings, mostly marked school work in the evenings and on weekends, and to be honest I don't even remember thinking there was anything odd about it. And when I hit puberty and wanted privacy, it was nice to have some alone time I could count on every day. Overall, kids are usually flexible and adapt to whatever schedule their parents have to follow to make a living. Now, I concede you're going to feel harried, torn in several directions, and frustrated because you can't give them all the time you -- and they -- would like, but ... don't feel guilty.

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    1. I am glad I could help bring you some more knowledge, jenny_o. And thank you for the nice advice. Much appreciated.

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  15. I did know Australia had skiing because of a friend who was in Vietnam told about going there for a long weekend (when you're a doc and an officer, I suppose you need to get away)

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  16. so you work from home till January....when do the kids go back to school..makes me crazy...I love your information...and I still don't think there is snow in Australia..

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