Gimme Patience

Good-Bye

2011-11-13T10:23:00.000-05:00

I recently learned the creator of the comic strip Family Circus, Bill Keane, passed away last week at the age of 89.
I love Family Circus. My favorites were the ghosts, Ida Know and Not Me who were always blamed for the children's mischief. Rest in Peace, Bill Keane. I appreciated you humor for many many years. Thank you.

A girl!

2011-11-12T22:19:00.000-05:00

My brother who lives in Chicago called to tell me they weren't planning any big vacations next year and was wondering if I would take care of my niece for a week so she could have a mini-vacation over the summer. Would I think about it?
Answer: YES! OF COURSE! WHEN?! I'D LOVE TO! OMG! Imagine me with a little girl for a week! Oh, the excitement!

It doesn't take a rocket scientist

2011-11-11T14:10:00.001-05:00

We lovingly call MIL "the FBI" because she finds everything out. One of my son's friends calls his mother "CSI" because she analyzes and questions the slightest things. I think these kids just think we are dumb.

When I'm gone for a weekend leaving a college age child home alone, I know there will be a party and it doesn't take the FBI or CSI to figure it out when you get home. Let's see the trash was taken out to the curb for pick. Maybe because they didn't want me to see all the garbage? But they are not full grown adults yet and so the beer caps in the kitchen can under the trash bag are a give away as are the shards of broken glass under the sofa stuck to the floor and the vacuum cleaner that no longer sucks up anything because its full of glass and chips or maybe the picture frame that doesn't stand anymore because when they put it back together they put it upside down and the back keeps falling off. Why did they have to put it back together to begin with I don't want to know. Apparently, everyone is safe and sound because I am thinking I would have heard otherwise.

There's another weekend away planned. I hope the house and my stuff survive.

Diner Dinner

2011-11-09T13:51:00.003-05:00

After walking around and assessing all the variety of food options our stomachs forced us to make a selection at 10pm. We chose The Brooklyn Diner because well, it's so not Miami and it seemed fitting as our 1 meal in The City. The tux clad maitre d' seated us and gave us menus that boast the Best Burger Platter in the city. The couple speaking Portuguese next to us is enjoying a great looking NY style pizza pie. The two men we past on the way in speaking Italian are enjoying a lovely NY strip steak, baked potatoes and green beans as they discuss home politics, the 2 all-American tweenage boys a few tables down are finishing off their cream sodas as they pull out stacks of $20s and try to calculate the appropriate tip. They decide to leave $60. I can only wonder what they ate or is it they can't do the math. We smile at each other as we hear Spanish being spoken by the 2 men busing the tables around us. We watch as the sidewalk fills in with the after show crowd and a few come in dressed to the nines and order a good bottle of red. As we sink out teeth into the Best Burgers in town an elderly couple sits a few tables down from us. In their thick Long Island accents they argue about what to eat at this hour. She wants a breakfast platter he wants a dinner platter. He insists this is no time to be eating breakfast fluff, she needs real food. She defends her decision in that if they serve it then the timing must be right. He ends up with Spaghetti and Meatballs after futile attempts to order the pot pie and a few other selections that they were out of. She says it will keep him up the rest of the night but she caves to his no breakfast for dinner pressure and orders a Salmon burger but says she won't eat the bread. Our waiter chatted with us and turns out he's from Florida! from Boca Raton in NYC going to school. He misses Florida even though he never thought he would and says he will be back in a couple of years when he's done there. You take it for granted when you have it but you miss it when its gone. He's learned the lesson young. Good for him. The burgers were indeed some of the finest we've had. Perfectly cooked his well done and mine rare. Yes, we are a couple. The pickle quite frankly was delicious. I haven't had such a good pickle in a very long time. We bundled back up and headed out to walk to the garage where we left our car and while in line we overheard some show reviews. It was a great way to spend an evening. I love people watching.

The overheard from strangers while in line reviews:
The Bonnie and Clyde show is way way too long. The songs are good, catchy even, the performances string but the show just too long. It needs to be cut by at least 20 minutes.
The Adams Family was superb. Everyone in the world should see it.
The Anniversary performance of the NY Workers Union is not for everyone. It can only be appreciated by those who were there and understand its roots.

Where was I?

2011-11-09T13:07:00.004-05:00

Entire city blocks wall to wall with people rushing here and there. The few, like moi, not rushing are bumping into the speed walkers because we are looking up and around and through camera lenses. We stop in the middle of moving people traffic to snap the memory forever in our minds. You hear car traffic and horns and the voices of so many people. The hum of their conversations, so many languages, only catching snippets here and there. "Will you take our picture?" being the one heard most often. You stop and focus on the happy people and try to make them the center of the chaos that is around them in flashing neon lights that seemingly adds to the volume of the square.

It all seems so foreign and yet familiar at the same time. I recognize these labels and ads seen in my everyday life but here they are super-sized as if on steroids and in stereo.

Answer: Times Square, NYC

REmembering

2011-11-05T14:50:00.000-04:00

I have been watching my son get around on crutches for weeks now. He broke his foot in September and had surgery to put 2 screws in and has been crutching around ever since. He's been such a good trooper. Hasn't missed a thing. He's gone to all his classes, all his frat meetings, all his school events and all his family happenings. He only missed things on the day of and the day after the surgery. I know he's tired of asking for help and rides and having to coordinate things and depend on other people and I hope that he will be good as new soon. Next week he goes back to the surgeon and hopefully gets a boot and will be allowed to start putting some weight on his foot.

It made me remember when I started high school with 2, yes two, sprained ankles. I would alternate which foot I would rest as I crutched around school too. I know what he's going through. Pobrecito.

PS. I know to crutch is not a verb but we've turned it into one at home. It really makes sense as a verb to me. So, just move on people. Let it go.

Blah!

2011-11-04T16:44:00.003-04:00

I woke up this morning and was in a fog.
The fog isn't outside, sadly, its in my head.
I am all stuffed up and congested.
And I get to go on a plane ride tomorrow.
Oh the joy of stuffy head and pressure of thousands of feet in the air.
Yeah, me!

Halloween Phase II

2011-11-03T10:05:00.003-04:00

Halloween has certainly changed for me over the years. Of course, as a child I dressed up and knocked on doors expecting candy rewards from strangers. Really, where did this come from? (Hmmm, fodder for another post another day. )

As a mom, I followed kids around to safeguard them from seriously I don't know what because its not like I could take anyone on or anything. I think it was more to see others all dressed up and ohhh and ahhh.

A friend of mine lives in a gated community making it perfect to contain the children in a singular neighborhood with boundaries not made by mom and therefore automatically acceptable by the children even while in character hopped up on sugar swarming in hordes in search of more sugar.

The group of children that we followed grew and grew over the years. Some years barely able to fit everyone in the picture. Time has changed that crowd. The past year the crowd has thinned. Our now high school and college age children don't need us to take them anywhere much less follow them. We don't buy them costumes although they may dress up for their own parties. if we are lucky they drop by to say hello and we still ohh and ahh over their creativity or chide them at their lack thereof.

This year the crowd was completely different. Not a child in the bunch. The original group of adults still got together, ordered the obligatory pizza and had a lovely time just being together. Did we need Halloween to do this? Not technically. We are the adults and could get together any time we want to but there is something about an occasion that made it more than OK for us to go out on a weeknight and gather with friends for a few hours. We ate, we told stories, we laughed, we caught up with each other a little with no kids in tow because the kids are all adults now. I called it Halloween Phase II. Maybe we can graduate to getting together the same way without a holiday or occasion to justify us. Friendship Phase II.

Holidays are coming!

2011-10-11T16:24:00.003-04:00

You think I'm talking about Halloween. No, I'm actually talking about Christmas. Stop rolling your eyes at me. Do you realize that there are only 74 days until Christmas? I'm not ignoring Thanksgiving. It's actually my favorite but it takes less pre-planning.

Now, let's do the math.
74 days (or 1776 hours) I will be out of town for 9 days, that leaves 65 days (1560 hours). There's Thanksgiving and it's week of cooking, that leaves 60 (1440) . I work full time so 8 hours a day for 47 work days equals 15.6 days, leaving 44.4 days (1064). I have to sleep some, let's say 6 hours for 60 days is 360 hours which leaves us with 29.4 days (704). Then consider that I have a life and need to cook, eat, clean, drive to places etc. so take off three hours a day for that which is a total of 180 hours. So, now we are down to 21.9 days (524). Let's throw in 1 holiday party for a total of drive and party time of 6 hours. That brings us to a final tally of 21.65 days (518 hours). That is not a lot of time people to get everything done.

Have you started getting ready? Did you make your list of naughty and nice? Have you done any gift researching? planning? I can answer yes to all of that and so, I feel for once I have a handle on things.

I have made my lists. I already made my Creme de Vie. I have started researching a gift I want to give. I even already have 2 gifts already and am going to buy a few stocking stuffers this weekend because I have a coupon that expires at the end of October. I am now considering my holiday card design and hope to start gathering supplies this weekend.

So, get to it the Holidays are coming!

Can't give up....until now

2011-10-10T16:27:00.002-04:00

I have always held the printed word on a pedestal. I mean c'mon, someone had to think what you wrote was worthy of being printed and distributed; especially a book. Relax, I realize this is an outdated concept but it was one that was hard for me to break away from.

Books were a big deal in our house. We bought many, rummaged for them, collected them, got them autographed whenever possible. Authors were sought out not rock stars. Although, I do remember standing in line very young for Big Bird's autograph. I think I got a yellow feather as a souvenir.

So in part because of all of that, we took care of the books. We used bookmarks. We did not fold corners down to save the page. We did not write in them or underline anything in them. We had a small memo book where you could jot anything down and refer to it when you wanted. You could even put that sheet of paper in the book but don't write in the book.

It was also ingrained in me to read the whole book. I would complain, it's boring. Finish it, it gets better was always the response. I don't understand it all, I'm confused were other excuses to put the book down that I tried. Only to be told read the whole thing and we'll talk about it. It should explain itself by the time you are done.

With all that forced reading of entire books during my childhood, I was ill prepared to stop myself from reading a book that simply doesn't engage me. I'm all grown up now and I would force myself to read the entire book because well, its got to get better right, it will explain itself soon. But there are some books that I just don't understand why anyone bothered to waste their time coming up with all those thoughts and wasting all that paper. Seriously.

Recently, I let myself stop reading a book. Granted I was already 100 pages into the book but I was beginning to avoid reading altogether and decided it was the material not the pastime. So, I stopped. I felt guilty. What if this was the chapter that it all turned around? Oh the stress. I forced myself to pick up another book and oh, no here we go again. This one is not working for me either. That's two in a row. Is it me? What am I going to do?

As a pre-teen I was forced to sit and read but I sit and read now all on my own with no one making me for pleasure. I can't imagine not reading books. So, I let myself stop again. Now I study my To Be Read shelves carefully. Please let me pick a winner. I don't know if I can handle a third strike. I cautiously pick an author I have never read, critically acclaimed, and recommended by friends. Here we go. Oh my, praise the monks who transcribed the first bibles, I'm hooked. I picked a winner.

I didn't strike out. It's not me it was the book. So, at this stage in my life I am still learning. Life is too short to waste on a bad book. I don't have to read the whole book because seriously anyone can put something out there to be read these days. I'm just saying... ;)

Labor Day Telethon

2011-09-06T15:56:00.003-04:00

I missed the telethon this weekend. The first time in forever! The telethon for MDA on Labor Day weekend has been a tradition for as long as I can remember. This year the MDA and Jerry Lewis broke up for reasons I don't know and don't need to know. When I was looking at the Sunday paper I remembered it because the cover of The Parade magazine wasn't about the telethon and I commented. I also remembered reading somewhere that it was going to be shortened to only 6 hours I think. But I missed it completely. I would have called and pledged. I always have even in lean years, I gave $10, something. As a kid my brother and I were each allowed to call and pledge $5 that our parents gave us and whatever we wanted to add from our allowance. I was always broke so sometimes I remember only being able to add a dollar or two. It was a big deal to drop change into the boot of a fireman collecting change at some intersection. One year my brother and I sat outside a local grocery chain, coffee cans decorated a la MDA and then went to the local fish bowl collection spot to be on TV when we dumped our change in. I don't remember how much it was but it was a big deal. I remember always watching the last hour of the telethon, to see how much the final tally was. I would write the amount in my diary and each year compare the grand total to the year before. Each year it was more than the last.
The telethon was a big deal, a major tradition for Labor Day weekend. I never knew that we would call on MDAs services for my grandmother years later when she was diagnosed with ALS.
I guess I will have to make my donation on my own without the telethon to prompt me this year. Its sad because I imagine they will loose quite a bit of fund raising dollars with all the changes.

What a fly may hear.

2011-08-30T13:32:00.001-04:00

A fly on the wall at my house would have heard a conversation like this a few days ago.

Sensible Me: What do you have to do before you go on your trip?

H: I have to take the car for an oil change (we had an appointment for 3PM the next day), buy chlorine tablets for the pool (I had told him to get them on the way home today but he chose not to and I chose not to remind him of the fact), vacuum the pool, pack my clothes, pack and ship the printer and scanner, go to the bank, plus work. I guess I will pack in the morning after I drop you off at work, then I can pack the office equipment and get some work done, then go to the pool...".

Sensible Me: I stopped him there. Too many flaws with the plan already to let him continue down this slippery slope. "Why don't you vacuum the pool now before going in while the sun is going down? It won't be so hot and draining and then you can cross it off your list."

H: "No." Shaking his head offering no reason

Me: "Why not, is that too sensible? To work in the yard while its cooler?"

H: laughing, "Yea, that's sensible, we can't have that. Prohibited with a capital P!"

Sensible Me: laughing but not giving up, "Why don't you pack tonight?"

H: "Can't yet. I may need to buy some things for the trip."

Sensible Me: "Well, then you should at least get all the stuff together after dinner so that if you do need something, you'll know and then you can get it on your way home after you drop me off at work."

H: "Hmm, you think so? Think things are open that early? You think that would work?"

Sensible Me: "I know. It sounds to sensible to be true doesn't it." as I continue to list the stores that are open and en route in the morning. Will they never learn that sometimes, I really know what I'm doing?

H: "Sensible! Can't have that! Absolutely not with a capital A!" He laughs. Thinks he's cute. LOL!

Sharing

2011-08-18T16:00:00.003-04:00

We get together
To celebrate, to laugh,
To eat, to mourn,
To share life's moments.

We get together
To help, to listen,
To give, to receive,
To share life's moments.

Each and any moment can be shared.
So, let's get together, live in the moment,
To share all our life.

Boys and showers

2011-08-17T14:33:00.004-04:00

I have so much fun hearing stories of other kids who are younger than mine and the frustration of the parents as they tell you their daily drama in that 'you don't understand' tone because this has only happened to them and no one else before. Then of course the laughter that comes after when you share your exact same story or finish theirs for them because been there, done that!

A perfect example, was hearing about these parents who struggle daily to get their boys to shower. They have to tell them way too many times and sometimes the child comes out with dry hair or even a streak of dirt still across their neck. We all go through this.

I remember my boys bickering at bath time. Always arguing you go first, no you go first. Then magically it flipped to I'm going first, no me first. I honestly don't remember when it it flipped but it did.

Even when I was a kid I remember my brother being reminded to use soap when he showered. One time when my father went to check on him because he was taking too long. The water was running in the shower but my brother was sitting on the floor of the bathroom with his pajamas on playing with his little plastic green army men. My father about hit the roof! He looked ready for bed but all he had done was change his clothes. He hadn't bathed. LOL!

Every age has its stage. Some are better and some are worse. I just know that they are stages and this too shall pass at least until the next stage. ;)

I think the stage mine are in now are the "eat me out of house and home stage". They eat 24/7!

Defining Gift Giving

2011-08-16T13:56:00.003-04:00

Giving gifts. We all know there are so many kinds of gifts to give. You could give a money or go buy an item with your money to give to someone. Then there are the things you do that are gifts. Giving of your time and talent. You can give kind words, a smile, a helping hand of some sort etc etc.

So, here's what I have been pondering lately. If you do it habitually, is it still a gift you are giving? If you make coffee every morning, is that a gift you give albeit daily to those who drink it? Or does a gift have to be something more than what you would normally do? Maybe your normal is a gift for someone else? What you think is simply trite, daily, habitual behavior is in fact a gift for those around you. You simply need to be more aware and mindful of these actions and how they are offerings that you give.

I don't know the answers to these (and so many other) questions but it's what I have been thinking about lately. All because of the book I am reading, 29 Gifts from the website I mentioned the other day.

Cool Quote - a la Congress

2011-08-05T15:19:00.003-04:00

"What is a committee? A group of the unwilling, picked from the unfit, to do the unnecessary."

Mark Twain

This quote selection is an homage to the (ahem) deal congress stuck this week to avert financial crisis where they have agreed that a "special committee" because they think whittling down the number of people arguing and playing tug of war to 12 will guarantee a smooth process. Yeah, right!

Write something

2011-08-04T11:24:00.005-04:00

In junior high one of my favorite teachers was my English teacher. Every so often she would tell us to take a a sheet of paper and a pen. I know. I know. You're thinking "Ugh, a pop quiz." There were plenty of those but every so often it was an assignment that she told us had no right or wrong. HUH? We didn't get it at first either. She would write a word or phrase on the board and tell us to write anything down. Whatever popped into our heads. Other words, phrases, sentences, a paragraph. Random sentences. Anything. There was no write or wrong. There was no erasing, hence the pen. Even if you misspelled something, just keep going. It was timed. We only had 2 minutes.

The very first word was WATER. I will never forget it. It was one of the longest 2 minutes of my life. The stress. What if I got it wrong? If I didn't write enough? If I rambled to much? How do I start? This blank piece of paper stared back at me. It was horrifying. If I made a mistake I couldn't erase it and start over. There wasn't even time. Oh no! How much time is left. "1 minute", she called out. Panic washed over me. I looked up and stared at her. What in the world did she want me to write? She was looking around the room and said, "Write something, anything. 20 seconds". I wrote my name at the top of the page and then I wrote a list: rain, shower, downpour, wet, drenched. "Time's up. Pens down. Pass up your papers."
I remembered being relieved it was over and panicked at the same time convinced I had failed.

As we left the room for the next class she handed us each our papers back with a smiley face in red ink. Our homework was to bring it back the next day because she was collecting them again. We were stunned. The assignment was the topic of conversation all day. Between classes and at lunch that's all we talked about was how weird, what was the point, how much more we could have written, we all thought of encyclopedic volumes we could write now.

We did these assignments for 2 years. More time was added to the assignment, 5 minutes to write whatever. Eventually, she would write comments on the papers but they were never critical. Our last assignments before graduating 8th grade was the word WATER again. This time I wrote over 2 pages. It wasn't a fully developed essay but good paragraphs some of which actually went together.

She returned them to us stapled to the first water assignment with the same comment on everyone's paper. "Look how far you've come" and the smiley face in red ink across the top of the paper.

I still think of those assignments when I try to think things through. Sometimes I still think in a list like the first assignment and sometimes its full sentences that come together. I find it curious.

Thanks Mrs. W for teaching me to think, think whatever but think.

Mindful of Giving

2011-08-03T10:17:00.003-04:00

I know yesterday I said this would be more than a place to journal about me but bear with me. Baby steps people.

I also know that in the past I have blogged endlessly about doing things for others and how that makes me feel good. Trite. I know. But seriously, learning, teaching, giving, creating, doing for another I have honestly come to the true realization that those are the things that make me happy, content, and feel satisfied.

So, many times I feel like I didn't do enough. I should be doing more. I recently shared this feeling with a friend and she pointed me to a book she heard about. I ordered the book last night and surfed around the website, 29-Day Giving Challenge.

From what I gather one of its main ideas is to Be Mindful. At least that's what spoke to me as I was looking through it. In that vain I am going to try to reflect daily on how I have given that day so that I can be more mindful of my happy moments and be grateful for them.

Moments yesterday:
I bought coffee for the office because I knew we were low and all need our fix. I held the door open for a man carrying a stack of boxes and offered to help so he could make it down the stairs since the elevator wasn't working. He offered me the bag that was hanging from 2 fingers saying it would help him balance. He was very grateful.
I stopped at the grocery store on the way home and bought the ingredients to make Rice Crispy Treats for my son and then I made them.
I made a card for a friend who's struggling with health issues and pulled together the supplies to make a few others. I'm mailing the card today.
Hubby had a headache so I offered to massage his head to ease the pressure. Shared a good laugh because nice effort, poor execution didn't help at all as I truly have little strength in my hands.

A year later...

2011-08-02T15:19:00.004-04:00

It's been over a year since I have posted but I have been thinking about it again lately. Coincidentally I have been running across articles and writing about 'listening to your inner voice' and 'going with the flow' and living the life you were meant to live' and all kinds of esoteric things like that.

The thing is every single time I read those kinds of things my mind wanders to my crafting, cooking, reading and writing. All creative things that I enjoy doing not that I particularly excel at any of it but it invariably brings me joy. Even when I the result ends up in the garbage that momentary frustration is still makes me feel good about me because I tried. I think I need to be creative. Seriously. I have precisely 1 bajillion projects in my head, I have started either literally or on paper approximately a ton of them and accomplished a handful of them. I think I need a little focus.

To that end I think blogging is a good place to start. It will help get the juices flowing again. So, I am jumping back on the band wagon and hopefully this time it will be more than just a journal of me. Maybe some short stories will pop out or an essay. Maybe you will just get a rant who knows. But I am going to dive in head first....tomorrow. Today, I sat on the edge and got my feet wet.

Talking to people

2010-07-30T13:54:00.002-04:00

I have a girlfriend who doesn't want people to talk to her. She knows enough people, has enough friends and wants strangers to leave her alone and not engage her in conversation. Ok, that sounds harsh and cold and she really isn't that at all. But this was the gist of a discussion we were having the other day.

She gave a few examples of places she's been sitting and waiting and expecting alone/quiet time and complete strangers just start talking to her sometimes giving her way too much information. We were laughing at some of the "confessions" strangers made to her as she was just appalled.

Some in the group acknowledged that there were days they didn't want to talk to people, that we just wanted to be left alone. I didn't. I could only go as far as saying that there are days (I even think that's stretching it. I should probably say situations not days.) that I maybe won't initiate the conversation but most of the times I'll talk to the wall if no one is around. I said pretty much if you make eye contact with me you are fair game for commentary from me.

Point if fact, this morning was a perfect example.

20 dropped me off at the office (because he keeps the car) and before getting on the elevator I went to the courier drop box to leave a package. A man was heading towards the door I was exiting, I said good morning and he answered "humph". So I held the door for him and said, "Come on, its Friday, its a sunny beautiful day and someone is holding a door open for you. What's not good about it?" He just chuckled, mumbled a thanks and went inside. I dropped off my package and went back inside.

There was a woman waiting for the elevator. I don't know her but I know she works in the building because I have seen her from afar. She looked at me and smiled and I opened with a good morning and started asking her if she has heard anything about new stores coming to fill the empty commercial space that is on the main floor of the building. We chatted about it on the ride up on the elevator. Neither of us really knew anything and that's pretty much what we talked about.

When I got to the office I had to go back down to the coffee shop to buy coffee because we were all out. On my way there I talked to a woman in the mall area complimenting her blouse which was a gorgeous color of purple (my favorite), chatted with the woman in front of me in line who was trying to pick a pastry for breakfast; I talked her into a breakfast sandwich instead. The man behind me in line asked which coffee I was buying and so we talked about the different ones; we both like the bolder coffees. Another man 2 or 3 people in front of me made a comment about how the employees remember how to make all these different drink combinations. This comment tied into the fact that there was a trainee at the coffee bar and so I joined in saying that it got to tough and that drew us into a conversation with the girl training the trainee about the system of 'calling the drinks' in a specific way that tells them what to do. I continued chatting with this man while waiting for my coffee to be ground; he was on his way to the hospital to see a new grandson born last night. Its his 4th grandchild but the others are all girls. He's a widow and lives in his daughter's converted garage so that he can help out with the kids. He drives very little staying in the neighborhood but he loves to cook and so he does that for the family almost every day which he feels is how he helps her the most.

I was back in the office by 9:15 and I started thinking about talking to people. I think I can safely say that I will talk to just about anyone. Granted none of these people are going to be my new best friends, I good there but I can honestly say enjoy engaging with people.

Tomayto....tomaahto

2010-07-09T13:49:00.002-04:00

I am still amazed every time I watch my kids go in opposite directions. You would think I would be used to it by now as they are turning 21 and 18 this year but I'm not. Last night waiting for the announcement from LeBron of where he's going this was the scenario.

20 (Mr. party all the time, be 'where it's at', don't I look great, status conscious, old soul, personally always broke yet theoretically fiscally conservative and socially liberal and amazingly traditional) was sitting at home glued to the TV and his state of the art Blackberry checking tweets and updates yet praying that he chooses to stay in Cleveland because this is Wade County and Wade's House.

17 (Mr. love to be the center of attention, cheapskate, no labels please, plain is great, young at heart & to the core, faithful, go with the flow, class clown, personally fiscally conservative and yet theoretically fiscally and socially liberal) was at a political rally for Rick Scott, a Republican gubernatorial candidate hoping and praying that the dream team be completed in Miami with the coming of The King. His last year's model (but bought this year on the cheap) Blackberry was in his pocket as he was huddled to a friend's iPhone to watch The Decision.

Moments before the announcement:
17 finds out the news because at his rally the Heat owner's attorney is there and he got a text from the owner saying 'he's coming' and it was announced at the rally to up roaring cheers BEFORE the announcement by LeBron on TV. 20 is getting confirmation of speculation that he must be coming because this announcement is 'on Cuban time'. LOL!

The Announcement:
20, head in his hands, is furiously tapping away and communicating with friends to confirm a party that was just waiting for the announcement to be over to get started as he mumbles to himself that he can't believe this at the same time giving props to Riley for getting it done. He's moving on not happy but consoles himself with the fact that more Heat games will now be on TV so he can see them more in NY while at school. 17 is making plans to attend the whatever is happening tomorrow at The Arena or wherever because he's going to be a part of this even if he can't get to a game because the tickets were sold out earlier in the morning not that he would have bought any because they were too expensive.

Later that evening:
20 is partying with friends at someone's house waiting for it to be late enough to go to the club in SOBE. 17 is LIVE on Channel 10 with his buddies jumping up and down screaming and yelling about LeBron in the parking lot of a local restaurant on a street corner in SW Miami where they pulled over because they saw a TV truck. He's spending the night at a friend's house so they can save time in the morning by not having to come pick him up to go downtown and 'be at the arena'.

The next morning:
17 is going to the arena not that they know if anything is happening or when but they are going to hang out there and see. They have their phones and will keep updated and go wherever the whatever is happening. He's hoping that they will give out free stuff and they can some. 20 is sleeping but will get up and go to the gym and then maybe the beach. He wants a Wade County t-shirt but wants me to buy it because he's broke.

These boys just crack me up. If we wouldn't have been at the births and had photographic proof that they are both ours and therefore brothers, you wouldn't know it. :)

Looking forward

2010-06-25T13:41:00.003-04:00

I am ready for October! No, that's not a misprint and yes, I know it's only the end of June and I have no plans for the 4th of July but I am ready for October!

20 is starting his 3 year of college and as you may know we go to the homecoming game each year in October. He plans on playing quite a bit this year. You would think the team was only a handful of players and him and his buddies are the future stars.

So, I booked the hotel over a month ago with points that had been accumulated. I actually booked 2 rooms because my dad and my in-laws are coming with us. Since they were coming I then told my brother and he booked a room too so this may be quite some family reunion. So, the room is free all paid for with reward points.

Yesterday, we booked the airfare. Yes, I know its early but it was the last day of a sale and so I purchased 7 round trip tickets and we are all set to get there and sleep there. All we need now is a rental car and then we'll be set to get around while we're there. The car will be reserved as soon as we've accumulated enough reward points for that too. You see hubby is working on location and he estimates the points he's accumulating should cover the rental for October. How cool is that?!

Of course, I am also watching the points accumulated on the credit cards because those can be traded in for restaurant gift cards. How awesome would it be if we actually get enough points to cover a meal for all of us.

So, I may not have plans for the 4th of July but I'm ready for October! Oh yeah, I'm ready for Labor Day too because my brother is coming down with his family and we'll head to Orlando to see Mickey with niece. It will be her first trip there and we are all excited about it.
Talk about Doing what I like and liking what I do!

Look Up (a.k.a. Don't Look Down)

2010-06-21T13:51:00.003-04:00

My house has been a busy busy hub of activity lately. Hubby is once again on a business trip and so I am with the boys trying to get everything done. All of the must do's and wanna do's plus the relax and enjoy stuff too.

So far I think I am doing pretty good. All the things that needed to get paid have been paid, I've attended all the family functions including an impromptu visit from my dad taking us to dinner for my bday and the washing is done and all the groceries and I even went to an exercise class (more on that later) and the pool is clean. The only thing that hasn't been done are the floors which brings me to the title of this post.

I'm thinking that its ok for a bit because we should be looking up and not down, right? Work with me people, looking down is always considered a bit depressing. You're down and out and told to chin up etc. If looking down doesn't bring you down then it most certainly will if you look down while visiting my home because the floors have not been cleaned everything else has and so something had to give. I actually had a bit of time and did the bathroom floors but didn't have time for the whole house because ya know it's a bigger area and takes a block of time that I just haven't had. Everything I have done has been in spurts with a little here and a little there until it all gets done.

I don't know how the floors are even going to get done because my calendar doesn't have any white space until Friday night and who the heck I ask you wants to spend their Friday night cleaning floors? Certainly, not I but I may have to because if I don't I may not only be able to look down but I may not be able to look at myself in the mirror. *sigh*

Time or Energy?

2010-06-15T13:02:00.002-04:00

Wow, time flies when you're having fun. I have been busy and yet I have been finding time on my hands and still haven't been able to get things done. The list of things to do doesn't seem to shorten at all and I know I have been doing things.

I was having this conversation with my in-laws the other day about time. FIL was joking about when he worked full time and he had so much to do he could hardly get anything done and now he's semi-retired and still doesn't have time to do things. I argued that I think it has more to do with energy than time. There are days/weeks when I feel energized and I get more things done than I do in other months just because I seem to poop out and can't get to everything because I simply don't have the energy and need to rest and therefore find I don't have the time. He thought that had something to do with it but still thinks that time is the problem.

He also says that the more you have to do the more you get done. I do agree with that because I think you tend to organize yourself better and plan better to get it all done whereas when you only have a little to do then you feel you have all the time in the world to do it and postpone it and poof you run out of time to get it done or have to scramble at the last minute and complain you didn't have enough time to do it.

Whatever the real culprit is time or energy that's why I haven't posted lately. I will try to add more things to my list so I can organize myself better and blog more. Hmmm... that really doesn't even sound right, does it? *sigh*

I know one thing I have to do in the next couple of days is get into 20's room and clean it before he gets here and brings all his stuff home which could be any day now so that its all ready for him for the summer.

I obviously also need to figure out what's going on this Sunday for Father's Day and get ready for that. Those are the 2 big things on the horizon. There's lots of little stuff and I hope to get to some of that too. Crossing my fingers.

Book recommendation

2010-05-28T12:57:00.003-04:00

I haven't been commenting much on books that I have been reading. I don't know why because I have been reading. Well, maybe not in the past month or so because I was focused on graduation and the scrapbooks I was making for my son but now I can get back to the regular pace of life.

Where do you get your book recommendations from? I get them from all over. I read the NY Times Sunday book review online and go through most of the previews they offer. I an a member of GoodReads which is a site to track what you read and share this info with friends. Not that I have been updating this but my friends have and so I see what they are reading. NPR reviews many books and I also get newsletters from Book List, Books and Books (a local indie store), and a few others. So, I get a lot of info about books aside from just talking to people about books.

This past weekend I got a book recommendation that I just couldn't turn down. While at my sister-in-laws I started perusing the Scholastic catalog that schools send home in grade school. My nephew, N8, saw me going over it and came to join me and I started pointing out to him that some of these books were some that I had read as a kid, I praised books like Charlotte's Web, series like Amelia Bedelia, Cam Jansen, and Nancy Drew. In that conversation we discussed some of Matt Christopher's works which he was familiar with and I introduced him to The Hardy Boys. Then he told me about The Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. He has read them and enjoyed them and highly recommends them. They are all EXCELLENT. We discussed what I had read about them and he explained why he liked them and then ran away. He returned with 3 books from the series to show me the illustrations and how it actually looks like a diary because the pages are lined. He then asked me if I wanted to borrow one. I looked at that face and although my brain was saying 'seriously?' I of course, said sure which is the first one, I should read that one. The pride on his face as he handed me the book was endearing. As he watched me I read the back cover. When I finished and started to put the book away in my purse he asked Doesn't it seem interesting? I assured him it did and told him it would be the next book I read.

And so, this weekend while we drive to St. Augustine I will be reading The Diary of a Wimpy Kid which although it says diary on the front cover is a journal. Do not be mistaken.

I can't wait to read it and talk to him about it. Too much fun.

All the same...

2010-05-24T13:45:00.003-04:00

Everything is the same. I have been telling my kids this for years. If you learn how to stand in line and wait your turn for the slide in the playground then later you can stand in line at the grocery store. If you helped a teammate get up on a field of play then later you give a friend a ride to the airport. If you got stuck on a problem and asked the teacher a question then later you will ask for help. If you can translate a picture in your head to something on a piece of paper then later you can prepare presentations whether in a boardroom or the dinning room. If you had an idea and were encouraged to voice it then later you will be willing to offer new concepts in the workplace. If you sat quietly through a Sunday mass then later you can sit through a meeting or a presentation. It's all the same and for that reason it all matters.

I am convinced of this and I seriously doubt you could change my mind about it because each day that passes I see it more and more.

This weekend I had the pleasure of attending my nephew's (he's 13, we'll call him N13) piano recital. Because of timing restraints I was only able to go to one and not the other because they are now go to different teachers. There were going to be 11 performances. It was a small venue and all the students are truly talented.

My BIL was going to video the entire performance to later give copies to the other parents. He set up his tripod and camera coincidentally right next to where we were sitting as it was the best vantage point. My younger nephew (N8) was in the aisle seat and was warned to not kick, touch, bump etc the tripod. He also warned all of us sitting nearest that ANYthing we say will come out in the video to be gifted to all the parents.

The first student , she was maybe 8, went up and played from memory their solo. The woman sitting behind me whispered something to her neighbor, she opened the zipper on her purse removed and opened a pack of tissues. The rest of the students went up for their performances and she continued to whisper comments, removed water bottle from her purse which her neighbor had to open and made more noise than I could stand. In a short break where they had to change the piano bench for someone, I turned and reminded the woman that everything was being recorded right next to her. She just smiled at me. She was perfectly quiet when her grandson performed but not the others.

Later BIL joked with me and thanked me for making the comment because he felt awkward doing so since this person was related to him and N8 commented to me that he behaved better than she did. He hoped she'd be more respectful at his recital and wondered if she does all that at Mass. From the mouths of babes....

It's all the same people and it matters.

To....From....

2010-05-19T13:57:00.003-04:00

Through the years when I have given pictures of my kids to people I write something on the back; a dedication of sorts. If I am really pressed for time I at a minimum write the date of the event of the picture and the pictured person's name on the back. Does everyone do this? I don't know. Why do I do this? I have a few reasons.
First, because that's what my momma taught me. She always had me sign the back of the picture I was giving to grandparents or aunts etc. I never asked why. Being the obedient (stop laughing!) child that I was I simply did as I was told.
Second, I have seen this on odd pictures I have come across over the years when sorting through things after my mother and grandmother passed away. The picture may say 'To my favorite Aunt from cookie' with the date or at least a year on it and then we are able to figure out who the baby is.
Third, because the pictures that have been passed down to me by previous generations that don't have anything on the back to indicate the who, why, where, or what of the picture has sometimes been unidentifiable by us who are still here trying to figure out what this is a picture of.

So, in conclusion, at a minimum I write the name and date on the back.

Now that you know all that, I can tell you this story.
As my boys are now both high school graduates and I theoretically adult men beginning their individual paths in this world, I thought it was the appropriate time for them to dedicate the pictures themselves. They are big boys and as evidenced by the diplomas they were given know who to choose words and string them together coherently and write them all by themselves. Well, let me tell you something. You would have thought that I asked for a 57 page MLA-style thesis. I pulled out the pictures with a week advance notice and told him who they were for. Nothing outrageous here just grandparents, godparents and aunt and uncle. After reminding him and being asked what to write for the umpteenth time. I said just at least put 'For my grandparents, love 17' with the date. Don't make this harder than it is, it's very simple.

I still have 2 pictures that were not handed out at our graduation lunch celebration this past weekend because he couldn't bring himself to even write his name on them. But I did notice that he gave some wallet size photos to a couple of people. So, I asked last night who he gave pictures to on Saturday. He told me 3 friends of mine. Granted, if they are friends of mine they are friends of his but what I mean is he gave pictures to 3 of my girlfriends. So, I continued to probe and was told that he thought it was nice to give them something because they were a big part of his life and a big reason he's the man he is. Yes, I got teary-eyed. But I'm still his mom so I asked if he just randomly handed them the photo and he told me that he wrote something on the back of each one. He tells me it was 'just a little thing so they would know how important they are'. And here I was all upset because the boy can't write to my godparents with love, 17. It seems the boy can write when he wants. I have no idea what he wrote on the photo for my 3 girlfriends but I know that they are probably just as touched as I am knowing that he felt they were a significant part of his life that he wanted to acknowledge them in that way.
I guess I will put the date and his name on the other 2 and hand them out at the next family gathering because really those are from me not him.

Cool Quote

2010-05-14T14:32:00.003-04:00

"Graduation is only a concept. In real life every day you graduate. Graduation is a process that goes on until the last day of your life. If you can grasp that, you'll make a difference."

- Arie Pencovici

I don't know who this Pencovici is. I tried searching him online and didn't find much other than this and a couple of other quotes but I truly like the sentiment in this particular quote. Of course, tomorrow 17 graduates from high school and I am in the mood for this type of thing.

One of my gifts to him is a book of quotes. I didn't buy it. I made it. Well, I made it in the sense that I bought a blank book and have spent the past year jotting down quotes that I liked. The thing is even he contributed a few quotes that he came across and liked. He knew I was collecting quotes I always have. It's something I have liked since I was a kid. When I graduated from high school my mother gave me a book similar to the one I did for 17. The fun part is that he gave me some quotes for the book and he doesn't know that its for him. He thinks its just something I was doing for me.

So, tomorrow will be a mixed emotion day. One of those that days that will be all good but emotionally draining even though its a happy occasion. I'm sure there will be more written about this later.

Gifts & Moms

2010-05-12T13:56:00.003-04:00

This past weekend was Mother's Day. I read the best article about what a mom really wants here in our local paper.
I think that article hit the nail on the head, at least for me. I don't need you to rack your head trying to find a gift that will fit your budget. I just need to know you are living a good life. This year I got a some really good stuff.

17 bought me a Harry Connick Jr CD. It meant that he was listening and paying attention when I was giving my undivided attention to AI this past week when he was the shows mentor for the singers. I love his voice. It was very thoughtful. In addition to that he gave me the go ahead to register him (and pay for-duh!) his college orientation. Why is that a gift because it's a decision. He has been waffling for the past 2 months and he finally decided. I was thrilled with both of his gifts.

20 is away at school and so he couldn't spend the day with us and the extended family. First, he sent me a text. "Hey, mom ru up? Happy Mother's Day!" It was 11am- the middle of the morning, of course I was up. I was getting ready to head out the door for the day's activities but he's in college and still sleeps in - a nice luxury most of us don't have anymore. Once I assured him I was up he called and we chatted for about 1/2 an hour. In that conversation he gave me what I think was the real gift (other than an uninterrupted and unrushed conversation). First he made sure that I was sitting down and then he told me that it was official he had declared his major as Political Science. I was so happy and excited that he had finally picked something. Then in true mother form I started inquiring about a second major or a minor perhaps. I could hear him roll his eyes through the phone lines as he said ma, please. But we'll see. I'll keep watering that seed and see if anything pops out. Later in the day he sent me a picture via text of a bunch of mixed flowers that said what I wanted to send you but I'm a broke college student. I told him they were lovely and would last longer this way.

Later as I reflected on the day I felt all warm and fuzzy inside because what they gave me was signs that they are doing what they need to do, taking control of the next steps in their lives and making progress. It felt good and made me smile. Of course, the smile was bittersweet as the first person I wanted to share this all with was my mom and I couldn't the way I wanted to. I did walk over to a picture of us that I have and say out loud to it (her) they're doing good, huh? And I know she was smiling down on us as I was smiling at her.

A/C CPR

2010-05-04T12:52:00.002-04:00

Does anyone know how to perform CPR on a air conditioning unit? All I know how to do is turn it off and on and that's not working. ;)

The only room that still has a ceiling fan is 20s. Guess where I'm sleeping? I borrowed a couple of desk top fans from a friend and now the 3 of us each have one to take around the house and use as we like.

I'm waiting for the repairman to come this afternoon. I hope it's something simple. Actually, more than that I hope its something cheap because I need my air conditioning. This is NOT a luxury.

Smile

2010-05-03T12:44:00.003-04:00

I was at the flower shop the other day ordering some flowers for a prom date of 17s and I picked up a bunch of purple tulips for moi for no reason other than they were pretty. They are beautiful. Its a small bunch, only 6 flowers. They are in a small vase at the entrance of the house. When they open up they have yellow inside which just looks fabulous.
Every single time I see them I smile. They are just so pretty to look at. I absolutely love the color of the deep purple and I love the clean lines of the tulip stem and flower. Such an easy and simple way to make me smile over and over and over again.
Thanks me!

Yaaaawwwwnnnnn!

2010-04-29T15:11:00.001-04:00

It is said that you burn less than a calorie when you yawn. (Yes, I looked it up.) Based on how much I have been yawning today I can probably eat an entire pint of Haagen Daas pistachio ice cream.

That would be my way of saying I am really tired today for some reason and I can't even think of anything to blog about.

While typing the above 4 sentences I actually yawned 3 times. So, there ya go!

Spring Cleaning sort of

2010-04-26T13:47:00.002-04:00

I cleaned out my closet this weekend. Well, that's not entirely true. I took out all the clothes, sorted through it, separated a few things for donation because even if it fit me I just didn't want to wear it anymore. I sorted the remaining items and out it all back in.

I sorted it first by size. I have clothes in 4 different sizes. Then within the size I sorted summer and winter which a very subtle distinction for most of my clothes here in Miami.

Any other year this project is undertaken I would have gotten rid of anything that didn't fit. But its different now. I am actually loosing weight. Three weeks ago I started taking a prescribed appetite suppressant and its working. So, theoretically, all of the doesn't fit clothes should fit eventually. And since its sorted by size it will be easy to find something to wear as I loose weight and presumably get rid of the larger size items. At least that's the plan right now but life's a moving target so I tend to write these things in sand not concrete.

Now, I said that I have 4 sizes which is technically true but the smallest size item is kept merely for sentimental reasons and truly I never expect to fit into again. So, I really only have wardrobe in 3 sizes. Now, we need to understand that wearing most of these items will depend on loosing the weight evenly top and bottom. LOL! And I have as of yet to start doing any exercising that would help in any way. I am toying with some local classes of Tai Chi and Zoomba. I am still looking into it and haven't committed to anything. We'll see how this goes.

This week the family is getting a cantina (pre-ordered food from a local cuban restaurant) so that I don't have to cook. I will tell you its not that its hard to cook for them and not eat it because the pills are doing their job and I'm not hungry but its ticking me off. I make all this food and then I can't enjoy it because I take a couple of bites and I'm full. I acknowledge that in that state of mind I am not the most pleasant person to be around. And so this week we are going to try to minimize that by pre-ordering the food for family-sanity sake.

Today is...

2010-04-15T13:23:00.002-04:00

Thursday. Today is Thursday. Today is Thursday.

We all get a little confused sometimes and think it's one day when it's really another because some days just feel like a Tuesday and others feel like a Friday. I know this is not unique to me. The problem here is I have been doing it ALL week.

Monday I thought it was Tuesday. So much so that when I was going to the car in the morning I headed towards the curb to put the garbage can away as pick up is on Mon & Thurs. I was grabbing it when I realized that all the neighbors had their cans out because DUH, it was Monday. It didn't stop there.

Tuesday evening my son and I were discussing plans for the week, specifically Wednesday. I was asking him if he wanted me to leave his dinner in the microwave or in the fridge on Wednesday because was probably going to be out when he got home. He paused and looked me in the eye and said mom, you realize that's tomorrow. I said no, I'm talking about Wednesday. He laughed and asked me what day it was and I with a straight face told him Monday. He teased me about it all night because he thought I was joking.

The only day I knew what day it was was on Wednesday. I knew ALL day that it was Wednesday . It was a very long day. It probably had something to do with the fact that in my head I had started this week twice already.

Today I sent some emails to a girlfriend and my SIL to firm up some plans for the weekend. I ended both emails with TGIF! They each answered my emails and I continued on with my workday. Until a client called to tell me that she needed something and could I get it to her today because she wasn't going to be there tomorrow. I said sure! I won't be here either -because in my world it's Friday and I don't work on Saturday- she then commented on how great it was to have a 3-day weekend and I was confused because as far as I know there's no Monday holiday in April. I swear we sounded like an Abbot and Costello bit until I looked at the calendar and realized that today was, I mean IS Thursday. After laughing hysterically with my client, I emailed GF and SIL calling them both out on not correcting me. They were both very PC as they told me that they hadn't noticed. Of course, had it been the other way around I probably would have told them they were complete bubble heads but they are nice that way.

I still have another day to get through before this is all over. OMG, this is the longest week EVER!

Today is Thursday, today is Thursday.

Good-Bye

2010-04-12T13:39:00.002-04:00

This was a rough weekend for me. I did a lot of things that I won't get into now (maybe later) but the hardest thing I did this weekend was say good-bye to our family pet; our Golden Retriever, Max.

We got Max as a puppy almost 13 years ago. He ate his fair share of our belongings as a puppy and made us chase him around the neighborhood when he would run out the front door or side gate. The boys would get pulled down the block as you wondered who was walking who. Then he was old enough to live mostly outside.

A few years back he got a cyst behind his left shoulder and we had it removed. It was benign. Since then he had others and we basically ignored them as they didn't seem to bother him and the costs of removal were prohibitive. In the past year and a half. He got more of them and some of them he scratched and they burst and without getting into details I will tell you it was not easy to care for and try to heal on our own but we did. We were successful two separate times. Then another one came out in the same spot as the original and he was very fussy about it. Some days he let me clean it, others he didn't. I did what I could when he let me. Then last week I felt one in his throat.

After many phone calls, I found vet that would see him and only charge me if a procedure was done. I took him on Saturday afternoon. Without doing a biopsy we don't know if they were malignant or not but he did tell me that the one in his throat was going to obstruct his eating and swallowing. I had already noticed he wasn't eating normally and he's been 'coughing' or sort of 'clearing his throat' often apparently as a direct result of this latest cyst. His honest suggestion was to either have them surgically removed (costing more than I paid for my kids private schooling) or put him to sleep so that he not suffer. It broke my heart but I had to choose the later.

I then took him to the county facility to surrender him. It broke my heart to leave him there. I drove home in tears and had a lonely weekend without him. Throughout the rest of the weekend I would talk to him and he didn't answer and I'd realize all over again he wasn't there. I got up this morning as usual to let him out and it all hit me again. I miss him tremendously and I am so sorry I could not afford the healthcare he needed.

Pretty in Pink

2010-04-09T13:32:00.002-04:00

Have you ever bought something you will never wear or use? I don't mean have you bought something and then never worn it or used it. I mean when you were buying it you were thinking I don't think I will actually wear this but I want to wear it and so you buy it in the hopes that maybe you will. Please tell me I'm not the only one who has done this. Oh well, whatever. I did it.

I went shopping with a girlfriend for clothes. Let me start by stating that I don't normally do this. I hate clothes shopping because I am overweight and I get very frustrated which only makes me want to go home and do something I am good at - eating. You see the problem here.

So, GF and I went shopping because she has lost a ton of weight and needed new clothes desperately. I went for moral support I guess, I'm not sure. Anyway, she did very well buying some nice things that all fit her fabulously.

I started rummaging through the sale rack to see what I see. I had no intention of buying anything when I walked in with her but you never know what kind of a deal you can find if you don't look. Then I started thinking I do have my son's graduation coming up, I could get something for that. Actually, I should get something for that otherwise I am in danger of wearing the same thing I wore to the last graduation. I pulled out a few blouses (4) and went to try them on. No deal. One was too tight, constricting the girls, another too tight in the arms, and the others were just too clingy and showed way too many bulges. I went back out and kept looking. I tried on 3 more. Nothing. Then I was going through the rack with GF and the fabulous salesgirl that was helping us. No, I am NOT being sarcastic. She was totally awesome. She searched and found and suggested and explained and brought and took all kinds of things. She was great. I pull out a few more tops and GF finds this pink one. It's my size. It's even my style but it's really pink. I'm not talking pastel baby pink. I am talking they can probably locate me from the Space Station if I stand outside bright pink. I tried it on. It fit. Nice. I looked at myself in the mirror from all angles. I wasn't sure about it. GF saw it. She liked it on me said it was a beautiful blouse. It is but I don't know. I hold on to it and go look around again. I find another one that's sheer and gray tones. I try it on. It doesn't go down past my hips and has a belt which I won't wear and if I pull it up I can flip it so that the bottom pillows over and it doesn't look like a straight blouse anymore. It works.

Now I am walking around with these 2 blouses. One that fits if I wear it this way and the other one that is bright bright pink. Let it be known that once upon a time I wore all kinds of colors everyday to anywhere but that was before not now.

I bought both blouses. I hung the gray one up in the closet because I think that's the one I will wear fro graduation. Maybe. The pink one is hanging on the knob of my armoire. So I can see it and get used to it. When I look at it I can hear it saying, I am totally you - please wear me. But I don't know. Maybe I'll let it hang there like an art piece. A new decoration for my room. It's really bright and cheery.

5 weeks!

2010-04-06T09:44:00.002-04:00

I just finished telling you that April was nice and easy. I get home last night and do the required home things, the cooking and the picking up and sit to quietly make the birthday cards. I don't actually make the birthday cards because I get sidetracked with sorting and organizing scrap stuff that has been purchased and ordered and received and generally not put away. As I am calmly doing that my mind wanders to the multitude of projects I have going. That's when it hits me. 17 is graduating VERY soon. I stop everything and go look at a calendar. I have only 5 weekends and 2 SIS nights to do whatever I am going to do for this child's graduation. OMG! How did this get here so fast?

Much planning, much organizing needs to get done here and fast.

April

2010-04-05T13:43:00.002-04:00

Here we go it's April. Tonight I will make the birthday cards for the month and pull out the supplies for the gift making for this month. There isn't took much going on this month other than getting ready for May really. Actually what I will be doing the most of is picking people up and dropping them off at airports and seaports. It seems everyone is coming and going. I have already taken hubby to the airport today. On Saturday I pick up SIL and family from the seaport. Then I will hopefully be picking up hubby from the airport and the following week MIL from the airport.

Easter didn't require any making of anything because all of the small ones were away on vacations. The youngest child at the small family gathering was 17. And although some coaxed and teased to go hide in another room while we hid eggs, he didn't budge. There was no hunt this Easter. It was still nice.

Hubby who was here for the weekend headed back to NY for another 10 days. At least that's the plan but we already know that's a moving target so we will have to wait and see. I did send him back with a Thank You card for the folks at the deli he eats at (with the exception of his birthday) for indulging me with his birthday cupcakes.

May will be a busy month as 17 is graduating. There will be awards ceremonies, graduation mass, and the big day itself, and the party that we must have to celebrate the milestone. To that end I have to finish up his scrapbook. So, I will be doing lots of that in the days to come. I really want to get it all done. So, I will be organizing those things this evening as well.

I see an evening of planning and scheduling to make sure its all done it time.

...No luck at all

2010-04-01T16:14:00.002-04:00

My mother had a saying, "If it wasn't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all." There is much evidence in my life stories supporting the notion I inherited this trait. Here's one. Enjoy!

I love celebrations. I love parties. I love a good time. Anything can become something to celebrate. So, obviously, birthdays are well worth celebrating in my book. It doesn't matter the #, they are all occasions to be marked as fait acompli! we made it another year! hooray!

I married Mr. Opposite of me (in many ways) especially in the celebrate birthdays arena. He does NOT like celebrating his birthday because he does NOT like the idea of getting old. Even more so than most people. Whatever. I was not happy with the idea that he would be by himself on his birthday with no one in NY to make a fuss for his birthday. The fact that he was probably thrilled with this prospect was of no interest to me.

I set out on a mission to have a favorite dessert secretly delivered to him. After running into difficulties at the hotel getting assistance in this endeavor I resorted to Plan B. The entire time during his stay there he has repeatedly told me of a deli he had lunch at daily. Hubby is nothing if not consistent. Over various conversations, I gleaned that it's across the street from their job site, he went every day with his co-worker who always got the soup of the day, the waitresses already knew them by name and one of them was named Anne. So, how many deli's could there be in this small town where they were working? I googled it and came up with 4 in the general vicinity of where the site was. I wasn't taking him literally when he said across the street (I should have) and I started calling until on the 3rd call I found the one with a waitress named Anne. She got on the phone and we were able to confirm the 2 men did go there every day and which one hubby was. I tell her his birthday is coming up and I wanted to do something special. She put me on with the owner. He didn't know quite what we could get for him because according to the owner hubby doesn't eat much (understatement of the year- if you look up picky eater in the dictionary, its a picture of him). We got a laugh when from Miami I was able to tell him the main meals that he orders over and over, I even got the condiments and the sides right. So, back to dessert. We settled on 4 over sized red velvet cake cupcakes that were also the owners favorites and he assured me they were aMAYZing. I tell him if they want to take a picture, sing him Happy Birthday whatever, they want to embarrass him a little. He assures me that " (they'll) do him good." Perfect.
I tell a few people about it here and of course there were the naysayers predicting he wouldn't eat there that day. Naysayer #1 being our son, 17. Whatever.
I try to get a hold of the co-worker but as I don't have his # because everyone just uses cell phones. The other drawback was I only knew his 1st name, no last name. So I start with the hotel. I called his room on 3 separate occasions, he wasn't there. I call the work office in the city he's originally from and actually make it as far as the division he works in. I tried to get to a secretary or close co-worker to get his cell # but had to leave a message which probably never got delivered and I never got a call back.
So, Bday get here. It's 12:45. I know he goes to lunch 12ish (consistent, remember) so I figure he'll get the cupcakes soon. I call to wish him a happy birthday and he tells me he just got back from lunch. I tell him I was glad I didn't interrupt work and wait...nothing. I think, SOB! he didn't eat there. So, I ask and he tells me all about going to ANOTHER deli that we had gone to when we were up there last year. I started laughing. So, you didn't go across the street. And he actually boasts - in the 2 months I've been here this is only the 3rd time I've been someplace else. I'm still laughing.
Me: Great, babe. Now I need you to go across the street and have dessert.
Him: Huh?
Me: You heard me, go across the street. Thank Anne and Ronnie and have dessert.
Him: What did you do?
Me: Never you mind. Just go.
Him: By myself?
Me: No, take whoever you had lunch with
Him: Ok, - hey co-worker, don't sit down!- I'll call you back.

MIL calls me and asks how the surprise went. I tell her the story and she starts laughing hysterically. So, did he go? He's there now I tell her.

He calls me back. The cupcakes were AMAZING!
At least there's that.

Hours, days, weeks...

2010-03-29T13:30:00.002-04:00

I can't believe it's been over 2 weeks since I have posted. It seems that hour we lost while springing forward was the hour I used for blogging. I have been so busy.

20 was here for Spring Break. He is still the family Tazmanian devil. Remember, Taz, the cartoon? The whirling ball of energy. That's what the week is like when he's here. Lot's of goings and doings, it's all good. It's just lots.

A number of birthdays have gone by hubby's, BILs, and some young cousins turned 13 and 18. We all laughed when 20 said HE was getting old when told a cousin had just turned 13. He was quite shocked because in his words "she's the little girl of the family" and now she's a teenager.

I have been scrapping, and cooking, and still watching lots of movies some old and some new, and even reading again mostly magazines but at least I'm reading again.

I have been working on an expresso flan which is not coming out the way I want it to but I will keep working on it and let you know as soon as it's successful. I will get it right someday.

Today its gray and rainy outside but we had some good weather last week and over the weekend so the boys where able to enjoy the beach with their friends and BIL was able to go on his birthday boating expedition; an annual event.

I have one question to pose: Why is it that no matter how much cash I take out for the weekend it always seems to be exactly how much the boys need? If I take out only $20 then only one asks for cash. This weekend I took out $60, 17 asked for $20 for gas, then later $20 for parking at the beach and lunch, then 20 asked for $20 to be able to eat a little something at the airport. So again I end up with a Monday morning empty wallet. I tell you it doesn't matter how much I take out they seem to know and need just that much. Amazing....

TIME; where does it go?

2010-03-09T14:13:00.001-05:00

Am I the only one who was oblivious to the fact that we are springing forward this weekend? i just read about it over at Second Effort. Why!? oh why? I hate the time changes. Hate. Hate. Hate. I always need more time never less time. Even when they give us the extra hour in the fall its really not enough is it?

I have some appointments tomorrow and so I decided to take the day off and see if I could squeeze in an errand to get it off the weekend list of things to do. I have no idea how necessary that was going to be in order to accomplish what I want. Now, I have to really organize my day tomorrow to try and get things done.

I'm feeling a little Mad Hatterish right now like I'm late for a very important date...and they haven't even taken the hour yet....

Movie weekend

2010-03-08T13:09:00.003-05:00

Did you watch the Oscar's? I did. I actually popped open a bottle of bubbly (leftover from New Year's Eve) and watched the whole darn thing. Did you have any favorite dresses? Here are mine:

There were many others that looked pretty and all but those three were my absolute favorites. I also liked Kate Winslet and I thought Meryl Streep looked great as did Kathryn Bigelow.

I did not like Jennifer Lopez' dress at all and from what I have read it seems to have been all the rage but not for me. I also thought Zoe Saldana's dress with all those purple feathery ruffles on the bottom was just too much. I will giver her an A for being bold and daring but I didn't like it.

The show overall was very underwhelming not very entertaining at all. I did like the dance performance to the mix of nominated songs. I also thought it was really cool seeing the 'Brat Pack' come out together to present.

The rest was ho humm....I don't think there were any real surprises in who got what at least I wasn't surprised.

Meanwhile over the weeekend I saw Doctor Zhivago (again). It is still wonderful. I had forgotten pieces of it so I am glad I saw it again. I also saw Giant and The Philadelphia Story and Rebel Without A Cause. They were all great. I had no idea that Dennis Hopper was in Rebel Without a Cause. It's fun seeing the old movies and finding popular actors in their beginnings in Hollywood. The only one that was a repeat for me was Zhivago and it totally sucked me in again. Marvelous. Movies back then were bigger. I mean the places were characters in the movie jsut as Texas is a character in Giant. Movies just aren't made like that any more.

I also saw Julie & Julia. It was a cute movie. I liked it because I like Julia Child. Streep totally made the movie worth watching. She was Julia. I don't mean that she impersonated her I mean she WAS Julia. Hook, line and sinker.

So overall, it was a big movie weekend for me.

The System

2010-03-05T12:45:00.002-05:00

Last Saturday when I made the truffles and the Marmalade Cake and went out to the family gathering to celebrate a birthday, I didn't do the dishes. Sunday morning I got up and made breakfast and then vegged a bit and watched a movie still not doing the dishes.
I was going to do them but Saturday I was busy and then tired and Sunday morning I wanted to be a bit lazy.
I started doing other things and one thing lead to another and well here comes dinner and I still haven't done the dishes. They were piling up. It's not like I have to do them all by hand or anything although there are quite a few things that are not dishwasher safe but the dishwasher was full and so that meant I had to empty that first. Well, you can see that this is leading to a very full kitchen sink.
I have a double sink and frankly both were full. Shameful I know but this isn't an everyday happening it was a one weekend happening. I am sure (read: I truly hope) it has happened to you. I feel obliged at this point to make note that I don't do all the dishes on a regular basis. I cook and hubby does the dishes. That's the deal. Well, as you know hubby isn't here and so I am cooking AND doing dishes. Have I mentioned I don't like doing the dishes. Not that I imagine anyone actually looks forward to doing the dishes but I really don't like doing the dishes. It may have something to do with all the tables I bused and dishes I washed in Freshman year as detention in boarding school but that's another story.
Back to the story, by Monday afternoon when 17 and I got home he actually commented, if dad were here he'd have a heart attack looking at that sink. He's got a system. That's his new nickname - the system. He's got a system for everything, he's always got to follow his system otherwise things go bonkers. The System.
I tried to explain to my loving son that there is something to say for spontaneity and creativity. That everything doesn't have to have a system to get done. Of course this was while I was doing the dishes so I am not sure the point came across very well. Regardless, the dishes got done (that night) and more meals have been made and their dishes have been done and frankly I find it all a bit boring. I like just creating the meal and walking away. It was much more satisfying.

Mean winds

2010-03-02T12:50:00.003-05:00

I have to go to the bank. If I want to get there quickly I should probably leave the car and just let the wind carry me over there. We are under a wind advisory until late tonight. I swear if you just listen it sounds like a hurricane is coming in.

All you hear is the wind. No birds. It's kinds spooky. I can't even hear the cars just the wind. Blowing. Howling. Hurling around the corner of the office building.

I realize other parts of the country have had their weather issues of late but I can tell you that it has been an uncharacteristically long winter here. I can't remember ever going this long with the air conditioner off. I haven't had it on at home for over a month! And there have been plenty of night were 17 and I are bundling up because the house is chilly. I insist its not chilly enough for the heater. I live in SoFL people, let's be real.

Most days it has been ok but today the wind is truly severe. Stay safe everyone and be warm, where ever you are.

I think I will make soup tonight. It's just that kind of day.

2010-03-01T13:37:00.003-05:00

I did some new baking this weekend. I made truffles with brandy. It was my first time. I coated them 3 different ways some with cocoa powder, others with crushed pistachios, and others with crushed pretzels. I chose pretzels because the person I was giving them to likes the sweet and salty combo.

The truffles were a bit involved. It's not that its technically hard to make it was just a lot of steps and working with chocolate and melting it and getting it to the right temp was a bit daunting. But know that I've done it. I have some ideas to make it easier and I will take on the task again. I already bought more chocolate.

I have 6 of each kind to hubby's aunt as her birthday present. I told her to be honest with me later and tell me which ones she liked, if any, because they were an experiment. I didn't tell her I had tried one and didn't like it.

I had some leftover and so I took them to a girls game night where I volunteered to take dessert because I wanted to make a Marmalade Cake I saw here: http://orangette.blogspot.com/.

The truffles were sampled there and enjoyed and I tried one again and it was good. I guess the brandy and chocolate needed to mellow. Now, I know.

The cake intrigued me the day I read about it and I had been wanting to make it and my girlfriends were the perfect guinea pigs. I really liked the way it came out. It was very simple looking but full of flavor. I totally see why she called it a marmalade cake not an olive oil cake. The olive oil is not a predominate flavor. The citrus and almonds totally steal the show.

I have one more birthday to plan for this month, hubby's, then I will start planning on the April ones which I already have some ideas for one of which requires setting up the sewing machine again. So, here we go.

Oh, I almost forgot I used my homemade vanilla in the recipes this weekend. I think it worked well. I am going to give some to a girlfriend who bakes a bit to have her try it and see what she thinks.

Other happenings:

* 17 went to a school retreat for 3 days. I have never done anything like that and I know he's been dealing with some issues that he doesn't want to talk to mom about and I was thrilled and grateful when he came home Friday raving about what a wonderful experience it was for him. He says it truly brought him closer to the classmates and teachers that were there and to God. He felt very good about things and I am so happy for him.

*20 had an accident in the weight room while he was bench pressing. The bar slipped from his hand and +200lbs fell on his chest. Miraculously, he's fine. He didn't even crack a rib. The Dr. didn't believe it when he saw the x-rays and so he ordered a scan and both came out clean. He's in pain because he has severe bruising but nothing broken. Thank goodness!

* My dog isn't doing very well. I see him more lethargic than normal and he has these growths that I won't go into detail here but they are gross to deal with and are giving off a bad odor. I think it may be time to say good-bye. I need to talk to the rest of the family about this.

* I have been watching more old movies and still have many recorded to watch. I saw 42nd Street, Broadway Melody and Golddiggers of 1935 and a documentary about Zora Neale Hurston as well as some cooking shows. I'm enjoying the old movies, surprised I know so many of the songs from the musicals but I guess I just didn't know what movies they came from.

Earworms - tag you're it.

2010-02-23T15:40:00.004-05:00

I hadn't realized it has been a week since I last posted. Time sure does fly. I have been busy (not) watching movies and more movies and some documentaries.

Some cable channels have been showing old award winning movies in homage to the big award ceremony coming up and I have recorded as many as I can and have been watching them all. I have also seen some documentaries on PBS that have been outstanding.

Why have I had so much time to watch all this well its because hubby is away and therefore I get to play with the TV remote. We share some viewing taste but then his veers off in the sports direction and mine doesn't.

Because of this I saw a documentary about Sam Cooke and for days now I have been humming and singing his songs. You know the lines: CUUU PID drAW bAAck your bOW oo straight to my lovers heart FOR MEeeee. and his other classic: Darlin' youuuuuu send me,I know youuuuu send me, honest you do, truly you do.

So, close your eyes (after you read this) and imagine being in an elevator with 6 strangers. They are all women of assorted ages. One is on the phone, one searching for keys in her bag, another sipping a bottle of water and the others just waiting for the doors to open. I was in the back flipping through a magazine and all of a sudden I hear some of these women sing: 'at first I thought it was infatuation but ooo, it's lasted so loOOng. Now I find myself wanting to marry you and take you home' I smiled and we all sang "Whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh, Youuuuuu send me...." and laughed! How funny is that? Have you ever passed along an earworm? As we got off the elevator laughing the youngest of the bunch asked what that was and another lady told her Sam Cooke, sweetie. Google him. Download him. It is good stuff.

Happy Mon - I mean Happy Tuesday

2010-02-16T13:50:00.003-05:00

I know it's Tuesday. Well, my brain knows it's Tuesday but my body feels and is acting like it's Monday. It's dragging. And I worked yesterday so there is really no excuse for it. I shouldn't be dragging at all. I should be gearing up for mid-week.

It's not as if yesterday (the real Monday) was particularly stressful. It wasn't. It was perfectly normal and productive at work. Probably because we were one of only a handful of offices working. I stayed in bed an extra 5 whole minutes because I figured there wouldn't be any traffic. Indeed there was no traffic and I got to work 10 minutes early. I got a prime parking spot. Coffee was ready when I got here. I was even surprised with a piece of King Cake on my desk to enjoy with my morning cup. My dad called and was in the neighborhood so he picked me up for lunch which was lovely. I got home (again no traffic) in no time at all to no surprises and dinner with 17 was very nice. You see. Perfectly normal and nice. Hmmm...maybe that's the problem. Monday didn't act like Monday.

This morning I woke up startled. I don't know why the alarm hadn't even rung yet. I checked the time and notice that I was out of breath. I focus and take a deep breath and I think 17 overslept! Why did I think that - I don't know. So I text him as I walk to him room down the hall. Does any of this make sense? You let me know because I don't understand. He's not in his room -quick intake of breath- I hit send on the text 'RU@ school' I get a 'yea?' back and just respond 'K'. I am still standing in the hallway and I'm short of breath. I slowly go back to my room taking slow deliberate breaths and start the morning routine. I dress and get to the kitchen and decide I should have tea to relax me not coffee. I still feel off kilter. I let the dog out and turn on the TV and take my bowl of cereal and cup of tea to the table.

I get to work and everything seems fine but I still feel a bit off somehow. The phone rings, its about 9:30. I answer 'Good afternoon'. The caller laughs and tells me I'm jumping the gun a bit. HAHAHA. I transfer the call and realize I didn't take anything out for dinner and I left my lunch in the car. I get my lunch which was weekend leftovers and see Mr. Brown - you know the delivery guy- I sign for the package so he doesn't have to go up and he tells me I don't look too good and asks if I'm OK. I tell him it feels like Monday. He tells me that 2 Mondays is not good to go get some more coffee. In the ladies room I look at myself and think who's that in the mirror? I am very pale and my hair is the definition of bad hair day. What is my problem!?

To be honest the day hasn't gotten much better. I have been struggling with a thing for a client most of the day. I've got the beginnings of a headache and did I tell you I forgot to defrost something for dinner. I guess we'll have mac n cheese. And I can't even tell you how hard it has been to type this entry. My fingers are hitting the keys they want in stead of the keys that are needed to form proper words and coherent writing. I think I am going to stop now. I think when I get home I should just crawl into bed and let it all be over.
Two Mondays are not a good thing!

Note added: OMG the spell check found 15 errors! on top of all the ones I corrected along the way! Bad day. Bad bad day.

Hairy issues

2010-02-05T13:34:00.003-05:00

I went and did something crazy. I got my hair cut. I know this is a normal regularly scheduled event for most people but I really avoid them because I am clueless when it comes to hairstyles and hair styling.

My hair style has always been 'wash and wear'. Don't get me wrong, I know how to blow dry my hair and I know how to put all those big stiff rollers and even those soft foamy rollers on and I even know how to use a curling iron. I just don't like spending all that time on my hair which is why most of my adult life post children anyway has been lived with either a barrette or a hair clip on because the other thing I don't like is my hair in my face. I can sit have someone else do it but I haven't found anyone willing to donate their time and come to my house every morning to style my hair before I go out into the world. My poor mother is turning over in her grave, I just know it.

She tried. She really did. I just think I was a hopeless case. I think it all started with the extraordinary amount of time taken to get the knots out of my long straight hair as a kid. Remember, that spray No More Tears? If we would have bought stock I'd probably be rich right now but my mother would sit there and comb it out and it took forever! At one point in my life my hair reached the bottom of my back. We only used to trim the tips 'to keep it healthy and help it grow strong'. My hair was straight as a board. Then came the big hair. Oh, for the love of Pete, my mother would wrap the rollers so tight my skull hurt and I would sit under that dryer forever! Boy was I happy when we invested in the portable one and I could at least walk around with it. I will give credit where credit is due and say that my mom could style hair! I was a brunette Farrah when she was done. The problem was and this is no lie within 20 minutes 30 if you were lucky my hair would be straight as a board again. She tried EVERYTHING. We went to umpteen salons, there was more product purchased to try to un-straighten my hair than you can imagine. I was even given a wave treatment that was supposed to last months and only lasted a few weeks. She would do all the same things to her hair and it would work perfectly but not me. Obviously, I didn't get her hair just her hips.

Then I had children. Now my hair has all kinds of movement and motion. I would need to iron it or undergo that ionic straightening treatment to flatten it out but that seems like it would be all wrong. Like maybe my mother would come haunt me for straightening it or something.
So anyway, I don't know how to handle this hair. I am clueless in managing it. So, I usually just let it grow out and pin or clip it back away from my face. Every so often I get the urge to chop it off and I do. I go with the best intentions. I look through all the books at all the cuts and styles and I don't find any that speak to me so invariably I tell the stylist to do what ever they want just not too short and not too funky. Obviously, I get something different every time. Imagine. Plus I am never really happy with it. Go figure. But whatever. It's just hair. It will grow out and I will pin it back again and have it chopped off again too. C'est la vie. Sorry mom.

6 more

2010-02-02T11:33:00.002-05:00

The ole groundhog say his shadow and so there will be six more weeks of winter. It really doesn't matter to me here in Miami because normally it just gets cool enough to be able to turn off the A/C but my baby, 20 is in upstate NY as you know and he will be cold for real. Pobrecito!

Plus, hubby just found out he's going on a project for 3 to 4 weeks also in NY. NY is a big state. The project could be anywhere and he is going to be about a mile away from 20! Can you believe it? What are the odds of that? I think its pretty wild.

I am going to have to do some quick cooking this weekend to send a care package with hubby for 20. Plus I am making jambalaya for the big football game on Sunday AND its my nephews birthday on Sunday and I will be scrapping all day on Saturday. OMG I am already tired from the weekend and its not here yet. I need to organize my grocery list tonight to make sure I have everything because all the cooking will be on Friday and Saturday night.

Today is also the birthday of 17s godmother. I'm going by after work to deliver her gift which is a framed senior picture of her godson and a handmade card.

During lunch I am going book shopping for the nephew who is crazed about WWII planes. I'm thinking that shouldn't be to hard to find books on. I am hoping for something about the Tuskegee (sp?) airmen. We shall see. Those are the first two birthdays of the month. This weekend I will make cards for Valentines Day and the birthdays that are later in the month. So far I am on schedule with my gift making.

Lots to do but its all good....

Vanilla excitement

2010-01-29T14:52:00.003-05:00

I am so very very excited. I ordered vanilla beans online. I have been reading reviews for a sundry of places to order from and finally picked one and placed my first order today. I am starting small I only ordered 10 beans but I'm still excited.

Why am I so excited about getting vanilla beans? Well, I'll tell you because I am going to make vanilla extract. From everything I have read it is super simple and one of those things that I have read once you do it you can't go back to store bought extract. We shall see. I hope so because if this succeeds then I will also be gifting homemade extract in the near future. How cool is that? Well, I'm excited and if your not and you see me live and in person then you may want to make a comment or two in that vein because you made well be a recipient of said extract.

I can't wait to get it and I can't wait to make it and I can't wait to try it.

Mailing lists

2010-01-27T13:02:00.002-05:00

I get most of my news from online sources and with regularity sign up for newsletters from different sites. Because of that I receive precisely a bajillion emails daily from an assortment of sources and depending on my mood I read or delete them.

I could be used by someone geeky enough in a scientific study to track the selling of mailing lists. You see I may not know every newsletter I have signed up to receive but I do know which ones I didn't sign up to receive and the one from the major group representing retired people is one of the ones I did NOT sign up for and yet I am getting them with alarming frequency.

I have no phobias about getting older. I realize one should just be plain proud to get there. I do notice things around me all the time that make me think 'Boy, I am getting old' because the telltale signs are everywhere. Children who's birth you witnessed are in high school, driving and some are even in college. I even overheard one of these kids say 'in my day...' What do you mean in my day? This is your day bub! All of these things make me realize the actual number of my age but more telling than that is receiving these newsletters from this group. I mean do they think I am their target market? I'm +10 years away from their membership age. They need to back off. I already opted out and they sent me two TWO Are you sure you want out emails. Yes, I am sure. I am NOT ready for your services yet. Thank. you. very.much.

Tea house

2010-01-25T13:52:00.002-05:00

Growing up my house was a coffee house. Tea was only had when you went to a Chinese restaurant or you were sick. We drank coffee at all hours and you could always choose between American coffee brewed or instant or Cuban coffee as a shot or with warm milk making it a cafe con leche.

Since then I have had and enjoyed many teas even when healthy both at restaurants and at home but by and large I am still a coffee drinker. I have to be in the mood for tea or sick.

This weekend I was sick specifically my stomach was rebelling against me and my list of things to do. In an effort to remedy this I decided that tea must be had so I sent hubby out to buy Manzanilla. I sent him to a local American grocery store and told him he had to look for a Latin brand that said Manzanilla on it because although the knowledge is in my brain I couldn't find it while I was in the bathroom Saturday morning and didn't have the inclination to google it or call anyone for a translation at that moment. This was not a problem because we live in Miami and sometimes its easier to find something in Spanish than English anyway. He came home with a box of Chamomile with Anise tea. Perfect. This would surely cure what ails me. Over the weekend I had absolutely no coffee. I had six cups of tea over 2 days and it did sooth and calm my tummy. Today I am much better. I did have another cup of tea for breakfast instead of coffee but I think tomorrow I go back to coffee because indeed the tea has done what it needed to do and healed me. Thank goodness!

6

2010-01-22T14:17:00.005-05:00

So did you hear the one about the dad who gave the boys directions to their buddy's house that took them in the opposite direction and made them loop de loop around about 10 miles? Well, that's another story but suffice it to say that if they hadn't done all that driving around the car would have made it all the way home and not died on the way back.

The boys decided to stop and pick up their dinner on the way home which worked out well for the parents who were ordering Chinese. As they sat around chatting and finishing their Honey Chicken the phone rings. If you are a parent of a driving age child you understand that means stop what you are doing until you know the call is meaningless. When you hear 'Where are you?' and 'I'll be right there.' you want to scream at the parent on the phone WTF HAPPENED WHY ARE YOU TELEPATHICALLY TELLING ME AND INSTANTANEOUSLY RESOLVING IT AT THE SAME TIME but you remain calm (read: stuck to your chair) and wait for the end of the call to quickly ask what happened. You are calmly told that the car died on the way home not too far away and that it won't start. Of course, you have more questions and want to jump in the car to their rescue your lack of mechanical knowledge notwithstanding and yet you let the men go with jumper cables in hand to fetch the car and boys because honestly how many people does it take to jump a car. This should be relatively simple and straightforward.

While they are gone the moms exchange their questions and thoughts on what may or may not have happened and may happen and decide to pick up the dinner things silently (because to say it out loud would be inviting disaster) agreeing that they need to be ready for whatever may come. So they pick up, they clean up and they sit and they chat about the day sprinkling the conversation with do you think the started the car and neither one answering or suggesting they call to check on things.

We hear car doors and men's voices and they all 4 walk through the front door the children still eating the remnants of their dinner. They need to call the car service (you know the one, first letter of the alphabet 3 times) because they left the car in the parking lot of a nearby strip shopping center. The women don't grasp all of the details because they are being told out of order but we garner that the car was moved to this new location and now it can't stay there overnight (obviously). The women need to get up and go resolve this now and the men need to relax and watch more football for a bit. More questions get asked and a new plan is hatched to save time and $. Instead of getting it towed home to then tow it again to a shop tomorrow lets get it here tonight ourselves and then tow it tomorrow. Honestly, at that point I was still unclear as to why the car didn't make it all the way when they went out but I didn't push the issue. It is what it is and now we need to deal with it.

(Picture light bulb now) Hubby remembers that he has a rope that can be used to pull the car and as he goes to find it I come to understand that hubby had to push the car with the truck to get it to where it was. I'm still confused but whatever. Now to get it out of the parking lot and to my house the women are clear that a left turn needs to be made on a busy street and are concerned that oncoming traffic may not realize that the car is being pulled and well it wouldn't' be a happy ending. So, it is decided that we will go with them to help. Hubby starts joking, "How many Cubans does it take to push a car?" As I am getting my purse, I am yelling back we are pulling not pushing. I'm thinking maybe that's why the car isn't here they don't know if they are pushing or pulling. (See title for answer)

Here's the plan: Hubby in the truck will be in front pulling the car being driven by other dad. I will drive our car behind the car with my flashers on because the car's flashers probably don't work as the battery is dead. Other mom will have flashlights and stand in the road waving them a la landing an airplane so that oncoming traffic will see the left turning caravan and stop. The children will be in the car with me and are going merely for the educational value of the experience.

Once we get to the parking lot it takes a while to get the car hooked up but it is done. As we begin to execute our plan another flashlight is added so other mom now has two and the boys are concerned about how she's going to get into my car and change their seating so she can get in the back seat without having to walk around the car. They also suggest everyone roll down their windows so we can hear each other yelling. You see how much they are learning.

We wait for the light to change, other mom is flashing the lights in the road, hubby slowly pulls the car up, out and left as I go slowly behind explaining to the boys that enough room needs to be between us so that if the rope snaps there are no injuries. Other mom hops in the back seat and we get through the intersection and home with no more surprises. As we are undoing all the ropes and parking cars and trucks, they can't get the keys out of the cars ignition because its not in park. It's in neutral and since it has no battery they can't change gears. So, after the men had washed up they are told they have to move the truck and jump the car again to get the keys out. Oh for the love of ^&%^*$. Whatever, it's done and we all sit and have some soda and let the men watch the end of their game. The teens joke that something stronger is needed that a soda and I tell them to sit an d put their feet up for a few years and wait for that one.

We chalk it up to a learning experience and give the boys some tips for future reference because these things will happen and the next day the car is towed to the shop for a new alternator and battery. It could have been worse but nevertheless gimme patience. :)

Dots of Doing and Liking

2010-01-15T15:25:00.000-05:00

In an effort to keep tabs on my progress with this year's theme of "Do what I like. Like what I do." I think I am going to start a weekly or so entry of a list of Dots to document the abundance of action that will abound this year. Work with me people. Here's the first list:

* I agreed to a Scrap club with some girlfriends. I'm not sure how this will work other than its once a month but I like the friends, I like scrapping and have lots to scrap so it sounds perfect. I have no idea how I am going to schlep all the stuff that I use when scrapping but I am sure that the logistics and details will sort themselves out.

* I took a nap. I realize that this sounds contradictory. I am celebrating the doing of nothing well not nothing but sleeping. What needs to be understood here is twofold. First, I rarely sleep completely and soundly through the entire night. Second, the only time I ever sleep during daylight hours is if I am sick and I am talking really sick. So, I stopped everything (paused really) and took a nap on a Sunday afternoon for a whole 35 minutes! That my friends is (in)action at its best for me.

* I made yummy side dishes for me this week that only I enjoy and let the men stick with the boring stuff I have been making for years. I made wild rice to have with chicken and roasted veggies. I made a lovely mixed greens salad with a lively lemon based dressing and a sprinkling of pomegranate seeds on top. I made a pasta salad using whole wheat rotini and marinated artichoke hearts to take to lunch for work that was delish!

* I found my pretty stationary that I haven't used in years. I am planning on writing some letters to some family that I have lost touch with.

* I WENT to scrap club which from now on will be known as S.I.S. and had a blast. I got THREE pages done. I am so happy. I already learned some things that I must take with me next time. I also got lots of inspiration seeing the pages the others were doing.

* I tried a fruitcake and survived. Not only did I survive it was tasty. The thing is I hate fruitcake but this one was touted as the best ever and ya know what it was good. I could eat this without having to pretend to like it because it was good. I want the recipe and will gift it next holiday season.

* Had coffee with some friends that I hadn't seen in a while. It was great catching up in person because even though we email in person is great.

* I chatted with 17. Just the 2 of us caught up on an assortment of things and it was nice. He told me about the trials of prom preparations that SAC is going through and we laughed at some of their ideas and problems. It was very nice sharing time.

* I may not have liked the cold blast we got but I certainly liked curling up under the comforter straight out of the dryer. It was a stroke of genius if I do say so myself!

Here's to Doing what I like and liking what I do!

Thawing and other -ings

2010-01-13T14:04:00.003-05:00

We are warming up into the 40's and 50's and it should be back in the 80's by the weekend with some rain. I am quite satisfied. South Florida weather is back on track!

I really should have taken pictures of the frost on the car windows and us seeing our breath INdoors and us all bundled up of the sofas. It would have made for a great scrapbook page. But alas, hindsight with a warm functioning brain is 20-20.

I have been filling my calendar with things to do and yet not doing them. There are many activities and events in my local area that I want to attend and I have never been able to for a variety of reasons in the past and realized it once the event is over. So, the new strategy this year is to actually put the items on my calendar so that I know ahead of time and attend. For some reason it's still not working. I haven't gone to the book reading or the farmer's market or the art exhibit that I wanted to go too. I need to do something now to actually go to the things I calendar but I don't know what. There is another exhibit in FTL that I think is still in town. I need to check. There's also a festival this weekend in South Beach that I think would be nice. Unfortunately, there are also things like laundry and groceries that keep getting in the way. I truly need to work on this.

The other thing I need to focus on is the gift making for February birthdays. They will be here in a minute and I haven't started! So, let me calendar planning time for Friday and hopefully I will stick to it.

Depp freeze

2010-01-11T14:02:00.003-05:00

It has been so cold that I think the part of the brain the Mother Nature used to keep South Florida warm is frozen solid and not working. There were even reports of snow flurries blocks from my house. WTH!?!

Hey! Mother Nature! Yoo Hoo! Remember us? We are in SOUTH FLORIDA where it should be hot and humid. Thank. you. very. much.

Added later: Note that I was soooo cold I couldn't even spell Deep in the title LOL! I'm leaving it for effect. LOL!

Imagine 75

2010-01-08T12:08:00.001-05:00

Today Elvis would have been 75 years old. I cannot even imagine what he would be doing in the world today so many things have changed. Would we be following Elvis on Twitter?

He was one of my moms heartthrobs as a teen and therefore we listened to a lot of his music growing up. My brother would play air guitar on his plastic baseball bat with a towel tied around his neck as a cape and I would sing back. We knew ALL the words. We even used to "perform" for family and friends when my parents had dinner parties before we had to go to bed. We always thought we were the highlight of their parties and could only imagine they were bored to tears after we left. Oh my, those were the days. LOL!

Have you ever had one of his famed fried peanut butter and banana sandwiches? I haven't. Hmm... maybe I will this weekend.

Happy Birthday to the King of Rock! I imagine there's quite a party where he is right now and mom is sure to be front and center dancing along.

Calendaring

2010-01-05T13:44:00.003-05:00

I am going though and updating my calendar which is now on my phone. I have spent time entering birthdays, anniversaries, and upcoming events. I'm getting all organized and know what's coming up when and now all I have to do is refer to the calendar and make plans accordingly. It sounds simple enough but I forget to do that sometimes. If my gift giving plan has any chance of working I need to make sure I refer to it and plan, plan, plan!

I was happy to see that there is only one anniversary in January and well I think they are going to get a phone call and a card because its just way too soon. The other thing that occurred to me was maybe having them over for dinner on the weekend. That would be nice. I gotta check to see if we are all available this weekend.

I do need to look ahead to next month. As far as I know I have two birthdays. I need to start thinking about what I am going to make them. Hmmm...I think I have some good pictures of one person with different family members. I could do some sort of collage or something and frame it. That's what I will do tonight is look for pictures. Right now I am clueless for the other person. This is going to be hard.

Little things

2010-01-04T13:45:00.005-05:00

I know we aren't supposed to sweat the small stuff and it's all small stuff. We are supposed to focus on the big picture yadda yadda. But I think its the little things that we have to savor and enjoy in life. It may not be a good day (big picture) but I am sure there's moment or two in there that can make us smile (little stuff). Little things help us get through some of the big stuff.

So, with that in mind I still didn't really come up with a verb for the new year. A friend is using the phrase 'Take a chance'. I like that but it feels to risky for me when I say it out loud so its not for me. Midnight came the toasting, sipping, hugging, kissing, water throwing, grape eating, lentil eating, luggage all happened and I only had "to do things I like". Sounds lame even when I said it out loud to myself later. Like it didn't have enough focus or purpose.

Then I get to work and see my coffee mug that was given to me by another friend a couple of years ago. It says "Do what you like. Like what you do." Now, doesn't that sound purposeful?! And it has two good verbs: Do and Like. I think this is it. I also think that I unknowingly started doing it already. This is so exciting. It feels right.

I already agreed to form a Scrapclub with some girlfriends. So, we come up with meeting once a month to scrap for a few hours. I can't wait to get that rolling because there is much to scrap.

I already went grocery shopping and bought a few items that I like even though my family doesn't. I got a pomegranate, wild rice, spring mix salad greens, and buttermilk. I know it was all healthy until the buttermilk. But I like making a big breakfast on the first of the year and I wanted Buttermilk pancakes, so I made them. I also prefer mixed salad greens to plain iceberg, I also and bored to tears with white rice. So, last night I made wild rice with our regularly scheduled Sunday chicken and brought the leftovers for lunch today.

See, all those things are little things nothing earth shattering there and yet they have brought some very bright spots to my day. So, I think this year's theme is: Do what I like and like what I do.

I am very pleased with my start. Oh yeah, I even took a nap yesterday! How cool is that!

Gift giving

2010-01-02T10:39:00.000-05:00

I know, I know we just got over the big gift giving season but I have already started thinking about gift giving for the coming year.

Here's what I am thinking. I want my gifts to be mostly handmade. Yes, I know I have been fighting with the sewing machine but they don't have to all be sewn. I can hand stitch without a problem, cook, paper craft and other crafting too. The trick here, I think, is to plan ahead because it will require time to make the gifts.

There will be exceptions. I can buy books; giving book is always good. Also, I can buy handmade items made by others, its still handmade just not from my hands. Also, I like giving tickets to things like events, shows and other outings. So, maybe its not a handmade thing but its not a big box store purchase. I think that's more the idea. I don't want to give someone another shirt unless I put a design on it myself. I guess the other exception will be my kids and other little kids. My kids invariably get clothes (and they need to keep updating the wardrobe) and little kids it may be more appropriate to give toys. Oh, this is sounding like it won't work. Well, it's an idea and I am going to try it out.

We'll see how far in the year I make it.

New Year's Eve Traditions

2009-12-31T10:48:00.002-05:00

The party is at our house and here are some of the traditions we have adopted.

* Champagne toast I have no idea where this started and why it is done.

* Eat 12 grapes. This is a Spanish custom. The 12 grapes symbolize the 12 months of the year and the folklore is that if you don't eat the 12 grapes you will have a month of bad luck for every uneaten grape.

* Toss a bucket of water out the front door. Not sure where it came from but the water used to be the actual dirty water from the final cleaning of the home. It the whole out with the old in with the new idea. Now we use clean water and its purely (no pun intended) symbolic of the dirty water.

* Eat lentils. This I believe originated in Europe. Lentil soup is a soup full of small round green beans which symbolize an abundance of coin and financial wealth in the coming year.

* Wear yellow underwear. I was told that this is a Costa Rican custom for good luck. I do know that yellow is always considered 'lucky' with the birth of a child. I think that dates back to pre-sonogram days when people didn't know the sex of the child so if you bought decidedly blue or pink clothing you jinxed the actual sex of the baby. So, I will go with yellow symbolizing luck, what the heck.

* Parade around the perimeter with luggage. No idea where it came from but we were told that it is to promote travel in the new year. It's fun and we are easily amused. It's has actually become a favorite of guests to either do or watch because we look quite foolish.

I know there are many other traditions around the globe. I think I may have to research this a bit and add something new for next year. LOL!

Have a safe and Happy New Year!

Counting down

2009-12-30T16:53:00.002-05:00

So, are you ready for the big countdown? The only thing left to do at my house is clean the floors again.

Everything looks so presentable I almost don't wnat anyone to come over and mess it up but then what would the point be of getting everything all tidied up.

Last night I even gave my self a mini mani and pedi. I say mini because it was done by moi and well I'm not a pro but mom would be proud that at least I made an effort.

We aren't expecting too big a crowd tomorrow only about 40 people total we have had much more. I hope the weather holds up. Cool but not cold would be nice. Dry not wet would be fabulous.

I still haven't figured out my theme for the new year. I kinda wanted to toast to it at midnight. I was thinking a toast 'to action' since I want a verb but haven't picked one but there I go again with a noun so I don't think so maybe 'to verb' just to cover all my bases but that sounds silly. Well, I still have some time to figure it out but I really just want it to come to me, to just feel right. Hmmm maybe maybe a toast 'to act' that has potential. I've got to noodle it a bit more.

We brought home the case of champagne yesterday. Yes, I can say Champagne NOT sparkling wine because it is French from the champagne region. It's my splurge.

Well, here's hoping its a healthy happy one.

Resolution time!

2009-12-29T14:48:00.002-05:00

It's the time of year again when we look back and look ahead and think of ways to revamp our lives.

Last year I didn't have a resolution to abandon 2 weeks into the new year. I came up with a theme which was Comfort and Joy. I have been thinking about that a lot the past couple of weeks. It's not that the whole year was just peachy there were plenty of moments when I was in the pits. It's just I tried to focus on the comfort and joy I found in things and that I gave (hopefully) to others. Right now that idea is feeling kinda lame, bland and maybe even cheesy.

This year I think the theme needs to be action oriented. A verb if you will not a noun. I thought of Comfort and Joy as nouns - the comfort and joy I felt or brought to others. I don't think that's going to cut the mustard this year. I need verbs; I realize to joy doesn't work but to comfort does. I'm not sure what the final verb will be but I have decided the theme will be to ??? (insert verb here) not a noun. That's as far as I have come after 2 weeks of mulling it over. If its taking me this long to think of 'the' verb I can't imagine how long its going to take me to actually do it. Thank goodness I have a whole year.

Side note: this is the first time EVER I have run the spell check and it has found no misspellings! Cool way to end the year!

Change is different

2009-12-28T15:58:00.002-05:00

Things change. I know this. Everything changes even Christmas.

At my house this year here are a few things that changed:

* On the Eve, I only had a couple of gifts to wrap that were last minute purchases. The boys were sequestered in a room doing wrapping of their own. We could hear them having more fun that gift wrapping normally warrants and we were suspicious but it was nice to hear.

* Santa was summoned to the workshop. They boys couldn't wrap a perfect square. They had gone through half a roll of paper before calling me in to show them how to wrap. Over exuberance of fun was now understood.

* I woke up by myself. I went and prepped a light breakfast, tidied up the kitchen, got batteries for the camera, let the dog out, fed the dog and then

* I woke up the family to open gifts. This was completely new. I have always been the one woken up not the one waking others on this particular morning.

* Sleepy children and hubby gathered around the dinning room table all wanting coffee before opening gifts. I was the only one excited about the gift opening.

* They started with the stockings because they were closer and didn't require getting up. They could easily open the items while drinking their coffee.

* I had to urge them to open the gifts under the tree from Santa. They dragged their chairs over to the tree. No kids sat on the floor scrambling to grab gifts. They in a very civilized manner opened one gift after the other placing the garbage in the bag which hubby supplied.

* Everyone calmly left their gifts behind to dress and go to another house to deliver gifts. It was all very grown-up.

* At the homes of others where we delivered gifts they handed them out one by one waiting for each person to open their and react to the surprise inside. There was no mad dash around the house handing everything out at once.

What didn't change. I still blinded them with the flash of the camera. We all had a good time.

Things change but change can be good. My kids are all grown up and that was very apparent this Christmas but that's a good thing.

Merry Christmas

2009-12-24T10:35:00.003-05:00

It's Christmas Eve. I am at the office. Bah Humbug! Some things need to get done so whatever.

The family will be gathering later at MILs house. My 3 boys will be there shortly to help (read: hang out) with the roasting of the pig.

Every year at MILs they get someone to dress up as Santa and give a gift to each child. I am toying with the idea of still putting a gift in for 20 even though he's 20 because I think he would get a kick out of it. We'll see what I decide.

I actually stopped at Target this morning on my way into work only because I love the rush of shopping on the 24th. I really didn't NEED anything but I bought the boys some t-shirts that were on super sale just because.

I didn't get all the baking I was supposed to do done and so had to relent and buy some baked goods from the store as gifts. *sigh* Better planning is in order for next year. I would love to have a Christmas of only homemade gifts but I know that's just pie in the sky.

I was very worried that my brother would be stuck by himself in Boston where he has been working on assignment for months but he texted me early this morning that he made it home. I am truly happy and relieved that he will be with his family in Chicago for the holidays even though he says he will spend most of the day shovelling the driveway before the in-laws get there.

My kids are of the age where they tell me they are missing the Christmas feeling. I told them it changes. They aren't kids anymore. They will feel "it" if the spend some time prepping gifts for others especially kids. The joy you feel when giving is the "it" that replaces the rush, excitement and anticipation you had as a kid. It will be fun to see what they come up with and how they feel about it later.

I hope everyone has a nice holiday whatever one you celebrate. I choose Christmas and so I wish you all a very Merry Christmas!

Green, not my best color

2009-12-22T14:03:00.002-05:00

The other day I was asked if I was jealous of anyone. I said no because really I'm not. Why should I be jealous, everyone has problems. The grass may look greener on the other side but its fertilized the same way if you get my drift.

But today I am jealous. I am jealous of all of those and apparently there are many who are on vacation right now and I have to work. Yeah, yeah I'm grateful I have a job, happy to cash that paycheck yadda yadda. But let me tell you I got to work today in like 6 minutes. Why? Because it seems there are only a handful of us still working this holiday everyone else is on vacation!

So, today I am jealous of those on vacation while I am here working. I could be home making macaroons. *sigh*

What?!

2009-12-21T14:03:00.003-05:00

I can't hear you over the cacophony of thoughts in my head. The loop de loop that is the list of things I want to do. It's as if there was a scratch in the record and it just keeps replaying the same part over and over again. It pretty much sounds like this: clean this, bake/make that, wrap something, clean this, bake/make that, wrap something....

Gratefully, friends came over on Sunday and even though I know I talked about baking I didn't. I truly disconnected for a while at least. I sat, talked and laughed. Imagine, I enjoyed some downtime with a friend. How awesome is that? Of course, as soon as they left I cleaned something, wrapped something and planned the next day's baking (all the making is done!). To give you a clue as to exactly how much this has taken over my brain. I found myself (I think I was sleep walking) in the kitchen at 2:45 standing in front of the open refrigerator. I don't know why exactly but this morning when I actually woke up I felt a compelling urge to check the supply of milk on hand. Who knows.

I have also started thinking about next year because apparently I don't have enough on my plate trying to finish this year that I feel I must start with the next one. What do I want to do next year? Am I happy with what I 'did' this year? Should I set goals or just let the year roll however it wants, as if my goals could actually alter that anyway. But I want to do so much baking before then, hmmm maybe I should start baking for next holiday at the start of the new year. Can I freeze things for a whole year? Will they be any good? Maybe I should research that a little in all my free time? I'd really hate to do the work and freeze the stuff and then it would be bad next December and I would feel even more pressure than I do now. OK, I need to stop thinking about January and focus on the 3 days I have left. Yes, I can do math! I know that Christmas is the 25th but we have our big celebration on the 24th and since I have to work on the 24th, I need to have everything finished before going to bed on the 23rd. So, 3 days left to do whatever is going to be done.

The trick is to get it done I need to shut my brain off so that I stop thinking all these other miscellaneous and assorted rambling thoughts and focus on the day I we are in right this very minute. I don't know how to do this.

So, tonight the kitchen goals are: chocolate crinkle cookies, mix & refrigerate pie crust, mix & bake a batch of sugar cookies and refrigerate another batch, make coconut macaroons, make truffles (maybe), make biscotti (maybe), make a grocery list for hubby to buy final ingredients needed for holiday desserts that I was assigned to take for the 24th plus what I am taking on the 25th.

Tomorrow's goals are: Wrap a bottle of wine, box & tag the final cookie gifts, go to coffee with girlfriends

Wednesday's goals are: Bake 2 desserts for Xmas eve and any remaining cookies.

You will note that I have truffles and biscotti as maybes. I have all the ingredients at home for both. These are both new items that I have never made and been wanting to try. I actually already mixed the truffles and the batch is sitting in the fridge so that has a better chance at getting done albeit maybe not in time for Xmas but for New Year's Eve. We shall see. I have an assortment of things to coat them in such as cocoa powder, confectioner's sugar, Xmas sprinkles, 2 colors of sanding sugar and pecans. Why so many well its simple I couldn't decide so I got them all and figured I'd decide when the time came and its almost here and I still don't know what I'll do. Who knows? not me.

So, like I said lots going on but really its mostly in my head. LOL!

Me Elf, you Santa

2009-12-18T13:16:00.003-05:00

The past few days and the next few, I suspect are very task oriented at my house. Do this, get that, I did this now you that. Of course all of this is in an effort to create a perfect holiday. As if- LOL!

As you know if you have been reading, I have been making gifts and the past few days hubby and sons have been delivering them. They have delivered cakes and bottles of homemade egg nog to teachers, coaches, and offices. Over the weekend it will be the neighbors and early next week our workplaces and then finally the family for Christmas.

I have also sent hubby, who has time off during the holidays on daily errands. He bought boxes and stamps the other day and today he is shipping, wrapping (hopefully) and doing a grocery run. Of course, for them to do the errands and delivering I do the prep work for them the night before. It has been working out, things are actually getting done. I am feeling like I may get it all done in time for Christmas. I have had a few snafus (sp?) with the sewing machine but all that is doing is moving me into the kitchen where I know my way around to make a few things to replace the sewing projects. Thus, the grocery run for hubby today. I have even been toying with making biscotti which I have never done before but that may wait until the end to be a gift for me, if I succeed.

It's all coming together. The fact that I just wrote that unnerves me a tad because I may be jinxing the whole thing. I hope not. Comfort and Joy!

Final Countdown

2009-12-15T13:53:00.003-05:00

Only 10 more days 'till Christmas.

I thought I was done with all the shopping. I just needed to wrap and check off the list of names as I went along. That was until I started trashing my sewing gifts. Now I need to either go out and shop or come up with something else to make at this stage of the game. I am leaning towards restaurant gift cards. We shall see.

Last night I won a minor skirmish with the sewing machine but the war is far from over. I was able to produce 2 decent looking items out of 4 that were attempted. I only trashed 2 last night. People that's progress. Truly. They aren't done yet. I need to do some final hand stitching and press them before they are ready to give but I think they may be giftable (yes, I know that's not a word but it should be) and that pleases me to no end. You honestly can not imagine.

I think I am going to give it a rest tonight and finish the Christmas cards so that maybe people will get them before the end of the year. I will feel a sense of accomplishment and then I can go back to the sewing tomorrow. The goal is to be done before the weekend so that I can spend it doing the final baking. I give cakes as gifts to some neighbors and doctor's offices so they can be shared by many. So that's the plan but I always have a plan don't I just like last weekend when I wasn't going out and I didn't get home Sunday until close to 1:30 and lost half a day of doing stuff at home. Oh, well. I can only do what I can do. Gimme patience.

Sew Easy, NOT!

2009-12-14T16:40:00.003-05:00

I am almost ready to give up. It is not coming to me. I have been trying off and on for months now. I have stitched, ripped and re-stitched I don't know how many seams. I have bought books, I have read instructions online, I have bought kits of things to make "in an hour" and worked on it forEVER to only end up trashing it. I have taken apart things I no longer fit in and not been able to put them back together. I am NOT getting this and I don't know why and I am getting very frustrated.
I was originally giving quite a few gifts sewn by moi for Christmas this year. So far, I have thrown out 4 and actually finished 1! I am going to do my darnedest to try and finish another one tonight. And then I think I will put the sewing machine away maybe forever or at least until I can take a class which at the rate I am going could be forever from now.
I keep being told that it's easy. Well, it's only easy if you know how to do it and I don't know how, so it's hard!
Gimme patience!

I am NOT! I am!

2009-12-10T11:26:00.002-05:00

I am not going out this weekend. I am not running any errands this weekend. I am not leaving my house this weekend. I am not going out this weekend.

There! It's in writing and on the Internet, therefore, it must be true.

I am going to stay home this weekend. I am going to finish my gift sewing this weekend. I am going to do all the Xmas cards this weekend. I am going to start wrapping this weekend (especially those that must be mailed). I am going to get lots and lots of baking done this weekend. I am going to be exhausted and satisfied after this weekend.

At least that last line if true... Tis the season people! Gimme patience for all this comfort and joy!

Delegate

2009-12-09T12:52:00.003-05:00

Delegate:

–verb (used with object)
1. to send or appoint (a person) as deputy or representative.
2. to commit (powers, functions, etc.) to another as agent or deputy.

I am telling others to do this and don't do it enough myself. So, I thought I needed a little reminder as this (delegating) is not my best event in life.

I must learn to let some things go. I must learn that someone else can do this. I must learn that it is okay to not do it exactly as I would do it. I must learn to delegate.
Taking a deep breath...something I cannot delegate ;).

Dream Room

2009-12-08T10:02:00.003-05:00

I asked hubby last night if I was a bad mom because I wanted one of the kids to move out so I could get their room for my crafting. He laughed and said no because I will probably be making stuff for them. He has a point. I really don't want anyone to move out I just want a room.
My back aches and its all because I don't have a room of my own. My latest dream is a craft room of my own. Right now I have packed up all the scrapbook stuff and moved all the sewing stuff from 20's room to the back room which is a open to the living room and has a bar in it. Not really appropriate for a craft room. But anyway, the ironing board is set up and the 2 round plastic patio tables are in there one serving as a cutting table and the other housing the sewing machine. These tables are not the right height for these jobs and my back is reminding me of that very fact right now.
Can you imagine a place with a plenty of surface area to layout patterns, cut fabric, lay out scrapbook pages, let painted items dry, excellent lighting, enough storage space so that everything is its place because there is a a place for everything? Do you see it? I can. Ahhh.....dreeeeeam, dream, dream...

TCO or Only in Miami...

2009-12-07T12:22:00.004-05:00

A TCO is a Typical Cuban Operation and its what I (read: my family) refers to as things you can find only in Miami....

This past week a local ethnic market had a grand opening near my home and had some fabulous sales. I mean they had things on BOGO (Buy One, Get One Free) that I have never seen before: milk, coffee etc.

So, I tell hubby he should go by on the way home from work to just get a handful of things. That was Wednesday, he couldn't even park the truck, almost got in an accident and said there were even cops there to help with the traffic. He gave up after 20 minutes and came home.

So, we wrote a short list and gave 20 the credit card and he would go during the day. That was Thursday. His attempt was in the afternoon before picking me up from work. He gave up after 15 minutes of searching for a parking space.

His second attempt was on Friday. He was there early (by 9:30) and sent me a text: Does this place ever close? Says it took him a while but he did finally park. As he was walking to the storefront he saw a large group of people standing around and thought to himself OMG there cannot be a line to get in this place, that's ridiculous. As he got closer he realized they were standing at the exit door and couldn't understand why. He thought they were nuts and proceeded to enter the store. He looked around, there were no carts. Light bulb moment: that's why they are standing at the exit to follow people to their car and get their cart. He doesn't have that patience or time so he proceeds to the fruit and vegetable section to get the BOGO lettuce puts in the plastic veggie bag. Gets another bag to put in the plantains which are 10/.99. He how has 2 bags and heads to the milk section which he thought would be by the juice but not in this store. He finally finds it and grabs 2 gallons; again BOGO. In one hand he's carrying 2 gallons of milk and in the other he has 2 bags one with lettuce and the other plantains. He now goes the to vino seco which is also BOGO, scans the shelves, sees some are in plastic bottles - cool, dang those are on sale. The sale ones are glass. No fear he bought more bags. He puts everything down on the floor to bag the 2 bottles and picks up the milk and the plantains and the lettuce is gone. He looks around. OMG, someone stole his lettuce. He goes back to the veggies, gets lettuce again and notices that what he had grabbed as plantains were actually green bananas. He leaves the bananas and looks at a group of grandmas hovering the plantain section. He walks over and they are grabbing the last ones. The other stand there arms crossed to wait fro more to come out. He's outta there. No plantains for us today. He now goes to the coffee and bags 2 of those. In all of this he is seeing men walking around with stacks of meat on their shoulders, women with carts that have mountains of groceries that defy gravity. He's amazed at the chaos and the shouting going on amongst the shoppers and this is the child who goes Black Friday shopping.
He heads to the registers with his bag of lettuce, bag of coffee in one hand, bag of vino seco under his arm and 2 gallons of milk in the other hand. He figures its a toss up which register will move any faster than the other.
The checkout line crawls because the conveyor belt isn't long enough to hold all the purchases to empty the cart to refill with the bagged groceries. More yelling and chaos there. The person in front of him is a tad hard of hearing and the exchange between the cashier and patron is hard to not laugh at.
He finally gets home with his purchases and after we wipe the tears from our face from laughing so hard at his story he hopes we NEVER send him there again.
Too much fun!

Have to put my foot down.

2009-12-04T15:11:00.003-05:00

"Any fool can criticize, complain, condemn -- and most fools do. Picking your battles is impressive and fighting them fairly is essential." - Dale Carnegie

With that thought I am visiting GM today. We (the ALF owners and caretakers and I) have let many behaviors go over the past +year that she has been there but today I need to draw the line. Although she has already called me and berated me (a normal happening) and told me not to go that she is shutting the place down, I will go and 'have it out' with her because she is being excessively cruel to all those around her.

She was being disruptive to the entire house yelling and waking everyone up so that they would come and plug her phone charger into the wall. Her antics woke up all the residents to the point that one fell trying to get out of bed thinking there was a fire or some other emergency. The caretaker who had also been dozing was tending the the resident who fell, tell GM that she would be there in a moment to calm down.
In protest, because they were not tending her quick enough to her liking she ripped up a weeks worth of "pull-ups" and proceeded to remove the one she was wearing and wipe her feces all over the bed, sheets and walls of her room.
She has been calling me all week complaining about bouts of constipation and insisting that she be taken to a hospital near me. When I call to confirm this with the caretakers, they tell me what she has is constipation because they discovered her self-medicating with immodium that she called a "friend" demanding they bring it because no one else cared about her.

Earlier this week while her favorite caretaker was changing her bed she got physically abusive and grabbed and scratched the caretaker's arm yelling at her about I don't know what.

So, today I disconnected her phone and I will go visit her and take her yet another pack of 'pull-ups' and see what happens.

I do not want to fight but I also don't think that she should be allowed to treat others this way.
Today I ask for patience much much patience to deal with what lies ahead for me this evening. Not the start to a weekend that I wanted.

Never assume

2009-12-03T13:45:00.002-05:00

There are tons of things that one (read: I) assume people just know. One for example, is not to assume because we all know what happens when you assume.
Black Friday shopping 20 and I witnessed an exchange and he just couldn't believe it. We were at a high end chain patiently waiting at the register. There were more employees in the store than shoppers. There may have been 3 shoppers or maybe 2 of them were together, I don't know and there were at least a dozen employees. No matter we waited at the register while let's call her NH for New Hire asked R (Register employee) for specifics on how to take a suit to the back to another employee to have it steamed for someone coming to pick it up in 1/2 an hour. R simply told her to hang it and take it back. NH didn't know where the hangers were. Did I mention that this was a clothing store? That is ALL they sell no housewares, no personal items just clothes and she didn't know where to get a hanger. R referred her to yet another employee to which NH replied that she had just sent her here. R smiles at us and tells us she will be right with us and walks over to a closet and gives her a suit hanger telling NH that its the only one she has and she needs to return it after it's steamed. I thought to myself, how is this guy taking it home? Is he going to wear it? NH proceeded to hang the jacket as R took our item to ring us up. Then NH asked do I need a hanger for the pants? The picture forming in my head is a la 3 stooges standing there holding the pants up getting them steamed and in the process being steamed themselves. R puts down our item and tells her no, you can hang it here and then shows her how to hang the pants and the jacket on the same hanger. NH's eyebrows hit the top of her hairline as she let out an Ohhhh!

We finally get rung up and walk out of the store as no less than 5 employees thank us for shopping there. I honestly had the urge to tell them to buy some hangers with the money I just gave them but I refrained. Once we made it to the mall 20 asked, "Was that for real? She didn't know how to hang the suit?" We both laughed as we recalled the truly stunned look on her face when she was shown how.

That evening over dinner we retell our story and 20 tells us a story of how he had to show a college buddy how to sweep and mop . We all laughed 17 not understanding what he had to teach and asked what the guy was studying. We all lost it when 20 told us the guy was studying engineering. Too funny!

Tempus fugit!

2009-11-30T13:26:00.003-05:00

Wow. Time flies when you are having fun. I have been a busy busy girl. I can't believe it's been over a week since I have blogged. So, here's a quick recap to get us back on track.

*19 turned 20. He wasn't here for his birthday. He was having finals but he got here before Thanksgiving. So it's all good. I will admit that the fact that I have a 20 year old makes me feel older.

* Thanksgiving happened of course. I hope everyone had a wonderful one with family/friends. I made a new Cranberry sauce recipe which came out super yummy and I made the sweet potato casserole, and I made an apple pie. I also made a cherry pie but that one stayed home for us to eat.

*Thanksgiving would have also been my mother's birthday. That was why I made the apple pie, it was her favorite. She would have been 65, ready to retire. She would have enjoyed retirement because she had so many hobbies and crafts that she loved to do. She finally would have had the free time to do them. But I am sure that she has knit everyone in heaven a sweater and made candles and baskets galore. I thought of her a lot that day and how different my Thanksgivings are compared to growing up but that will get me all misty so I am moving on...

* I went shopping on Friday because I always have and 20 went with me to pick out and try on his gifts. We had a good time and found some good deals. There will be more stories about that later.

* Over the weekend, we put the lights up outside, brought out all our Christmas decorations, bought the Christmas tree, put the lights on, decorated it and started decorating the house. Aside from all the regular boring laundry and grocery stuff.

* This year the gift for the in-laws was a group gift from us and my SIL. We gave them tickets to go see Andrea Bocelli. The concert was over the weekend so we had to give it to them at Thanksgiving. They had a fabulous time. She called us when they got to the venue, she called when they got to their seats and she called the next morning to tell me all about it. They had such a wonderful time.

* We also got together with friends to just hang out and chat. I made Paula Deen's Ooey Gooey Pumpkin Cake. It was pretty good even though I overcooked it. We had a nice time.

*I made batches of egg nog and bottled it. The bottles are all in my fridge waiting to be gifted. I still have one more batch to go but I ran out of eggs so that's the thing to do today. I need to make it early because it needs to sit and the flavors need to combine and mellow. Yumm!

* During the week I want to get the Christmas cards done, address and mailed. That's the goal. We shall see.

So, I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving. I know that I have many many things to be thankful for and that I am one lucky girl.

I did it!

2009-11-19T10:12:00.003-05:00

Please give me a moment while I pat myself on the back.

I finished 2 pañales last night! I am so happy and proud of myself. They aren't perfect but they aren't horrible either. They look homemade- what can I say. Tonight I will iron them and wrap them up for delivery. I am so happy!

Lessons learned:
* Working with clear thread is very very hard.
* If I want to provide pañales for my grandchildren who should not be coming along for many many years yet, I need to start them now!

I will try to take a picture of them tonight and post them here for all (who am I kidding- both of you) to see.

Comfort and joy baby! Comfort and joy!

1 Week

2009-11-17T12:32:00.002-05:00

I just realized that 19 is coming home for Thanksgiving. Yes, I know I blogged about that yesterday and heck I bought the ticket over the weekend but it didn't really hit me that its next week. Exactly one week from today. Do you understand what that means? That means I need to get all my crafting crap out of his room! OMG! I have so many projects going right now. How am I supposed to finish them in a week?!
It's wonderful that he's coming home but I wonder if he'd mind sleeping on the sofa since I am using his bed as a cutting table or living out of his suitcase for a month because I am using the empty drawers to store the assorted projects in their various stages or for that matter leaving the suitcase that he will live out of in the office because the ironing board is set up in his room and there's not much floor space and there's no desk space because the sewing machine is set up there.
OMG! I need to get myself organized and outta there! Gimme patience and speed ;)

The Bad, the ugly, and the good.

2009-11-16T12:26:00.005-05:00

The Bad news: 19s football team lost on Saturday and so they will not be going to the playoffs. They do have one more bowl game this Saturday but its really a non-event. :(

The Ugly: In my project this weekend making the pañales I am using clear thread. Do you know what color clear is? Its the color of whatever it is on; its clear! Do you know how hard it is to thread a frickin' frackin' needle with clear thread? Let me tell you it is really really hard. Do you know how hard it is to untangle clear thread? Let me tell you it is practically undoable. I gave up and just started over. Do you know how hard it is to stitch and know where you are with clear thread? Let me tell you it is really really hard. So, aside from being one of the hardest projects I have EVER done and testing my patience, it is coming out great. I completed one and have one more to go. I don't think I have enough patience in me for the third one. We shall see....

The Good news: 19 will be home for the holidays, including Thanksgiving. 17 has completed all of his college applications and already met with his counselor at school and had him send all the transcripts etc. He is already working on scholarship applications and completed a couple over the weekend. Comfort and Joy!

Note: Yes, I know that undoable is not a word but that's part of the point. It is taking to parts unknown! Gimme Patience.

YEAH CMAs!

2009-11-12T13:59:00.003-05:00

Did anyone watch the awards show last night? I did not because I cared who won what but to hear and see dome performances. I never watch music videos, I rarely watch any live performances on TV so the awards shows are pretty much it for me with the exception of shows like DWTS and AI who regularly have guest performers.

And I would like to personally thank the CMA show creators for NOT putting together any oddball combinations a la Stevie Wonder and J(I refuse to put their name here, I don't want the hits) Brothers. The combinations they had were perfectly acceptable, Martina McBride can surely sing with George Straight and even the combination of Daughtrey (sp?) and Gill was better than I expected.

I would also like to thank them for the sheer number of performances. There were (precisely) a bunch. Honest. It was really nice. It was not a boring show as award shows can be on occasion and I enjoyed it thoroughly.

The other thing I did last night was a pañal, a Cuban receiving blanket for lack of a better translation. I am making a couple for the sister of a friend and I need to get them done this weekend. So now I just need to add the appliqué and 1 will be done. The goal was 3, I will be happy with 2, there will probably be 1. We shall see.

MAPS still necessary

2009-11-10T14:52:00.000-05:00

As you know we just came back from a trip to NY. We fly into NYC and rent a car and drive to Schenectady to visit 19. We've done this before, no biggie.

Hubby drives. I am the "co-pilot". Let it be known that I know how to read a map. I like maps. So does hubby. I also know how to use the Internet and the assorted map resources which are not always 100% accurate. Knowing this I peruse the maps they provide and the 2 most popularly used sites both offer maps to show you where you are going and alternate routes.

Now, I'm not sure if you've picked up on this but hubby and I approach one thing (everything) differently. Since the advent of these Internet map sites hubby has stopped including maps in our trip folders (yes, he puts a folder together). That probably wouldn't be an issue if he were to you know follow the directions that HE printed out that I am reading to him and not change his mind mid trip and go another way. When he does this invariably he will come to a crossroad (figuratively and sometimes literally) where he then asks which way should I go. My smart answer is "Oh, I don't know. Let's check the map but wait we don't have one so flip a coin." Sweet, I know, not one of my finest moments then he gets testy with me. It makes for an oh so fun filled drive. We have turned around more times that I will go into here because this isn't a memoir of wrong turns taken and we need to move on, suffice it to say that one trip (not this one) he chose not to take the bridge I told him and we ended up after almost an hour of driving back at the airport starting over. Honestly, I don't know how I stayed in the car without self combusting but that’s a different story.

Well, this trip wasn't any different. At one service area where in-laws insisted he stop because we were hungry and needed a bathroom break. He did go to the travel kiosk and get a map for NJ (where we were at the time) and new directions. Woo Hoo! We now had a map for me to SEE where we were.

We are back on the road again, I am passing on the kiosk lady’s directions, he’s following them, I’m following along on the map…it’s all good. Then he of course, starts asking me questions, if I stay on this interstate will it take me all the way? It should the sign says Albany and we are going near there, he continues. I tell him that makes sense but I couldn’t say because it’s a NJ map not a NY map and well that’s like asking me if this takes us to Miami…I can’t SEE that on this map.

As we go through all of this, remember my In-laws, who I get along with fabulously, are in the back seat. They start laughing at us and commenting that it’s the same as if they had gone on a trip with hubby’s aunt and uncle. Apparently, this argue with the co-pilot is a hereditary trait. I who am not related seem to be responding like the aunt (normally and rationally) and the in-laws are getting quite a kick out of all of this. I was so happy to be of such entertainment. It almost turned into a game for them. Throughout the rest of the trip they would laugh and say “Look, just like Uncle” or “Look, just like the Aunt”. Honestly, it would make us all laugh and diffuse some high stress moments. At one point over the weekend 19 commented that maybe he should email Aunt and Uncle and thank them for coming. Smartass!

Moral of the story: Have a map, an old-fashioned real map, of the state(s) you will be driving in to be able to SEE the complete picture of where you are going and which way to go.

Nekkid

2009-11-09T10:15:00.002-05:00

I feel like I walked out of the house partially undressed. I feel like I forgot to put my pants on. I feel a little lost. I feel a bit off centered.

I forgot my cell phone which is a 'smart phone'; a blackberry. It's my connection to my kids to my friends to everything. I may have to drive home at lunchtime to get it because unknowingly it has become a major part of me.

Or maybe I should leave it. Maybe I should try to live a day or part of a day without it. I am sure the world will not come to an end. I have a feeling the earth will continue rotating and the sun will still set and rise.

I still feel a bit out of sorts.

Never ever ever again!

2009-11-04T22:49:00.001-05:00

Recently, I stated that as I get older I use the word never less and less but when I do use it I do mean it. I'm not going to say that I always stick to the never when I say it but I meant it when I said it. I guess always is a word I use less and less as I get older too. I try to avoid extremes and never and always are extremes as for as I am concerned.

With that preamble I am hereby stating that I will never ever ever again fly Spirit Airlines. I just returned from a trip to NYC and it was the worst flying experience of my life and people I have been flying since I was 3 years old. I realize that its a no-frills airline but come on give me a break!

The trip up the plane was half empty (should have been a sign). So much so that we were told 9 people had to move from the front of the plane towards the back (behind row 23) in order to balance the weight of the plane and until that happened we could not pull away from the terminal. A few people got up but not 9 so MIL, FIL and I got up and moved. We were told we could move back once we had taken off, it was just for the take off. Apparently, the plance doesn't have to be balanced in the air or for landing just for pulling away from the terminal. Whatever. We were excited to leave and so off we went.

Did you know they won't even give you a cup of water?! You have to pay for any drink or food even WATER!. Whatever, we weren't thirsty. The seats were cushy but can you say sardine? I realize I am a big girl but even FIL who is NOT a big man was uncomfortable. We didn't even have enough leg room to fit our purse or camera bag under the seat in front of us. We had to get up, slip the item in and then sit down. There are no words to describe the kind of cramped we were experiencing.

The trip back was even worse. First, it was delayed. Yes, I was rational at the time and I understand that it may not have been the airlines fault but it just added to the whole yucky experience. Can you say security? They sure can't. We all filed in handing our boarding passes to someone who looked like they were looking at them and made our way to the plane only to pass by another entrance that was unmanned, unblocked and anyone could have gotten onto the plane. Comforting, I know. Once again we squeezed into our seats. This time MIL and I couldn't get the armrest to lift on the isle seat so we got goosed by the armrest as we were trying to sit down. Again, no leg room to put the purse under the seat. This time we bought water bottles in the terminal (one per couple) just in case we wanted something to drink and we tried to put them in the pocket of the seat in front of us but when we saw all the garbage that was in there we decided to hold on to them. They weren't full since we had already started drinking them in the gate as we waited for our delayed flight. The people sitting behind us had someone in their seat. How can that be? The lady sitting there pulls out her stub, its the right seat. We are getting warm in here and just thinking sit on her lap and lets go already. Its late, we're tired and want to go home. Oh, look she's on the wrong flight. HUH?! you heard me the wrong flight. There's that top notch security again. I feel so safe its unbearable. Finally, everyone is seated and the flight attendant is reminding everyone to turn off their cell phones and other electrical devices. A few seconds later she reminds us again - with attitude we get a 'If it has an on/off switch it must be turned off'. Then we sit for over 20 minutes on the tarmac waiting to take off. There it is again, 'I can hear your cell phone. It must be turned off. If they could be on believe me we'd have ours on too.' So, I say out loud but I doubt she heard me, 'If you can hear it, why not just tell that person instead of mouthing to all of us.' I'm helpful that way. Hubby tried to sleep but had difficulty since his seat wouldn't go back neither would mine. In our row only MIL's worked.

Finally, we are in the air and then since we've been waiting for so long people need to use the bathroom, a couple get up and head that way. The flight attendant sends one back telling them they can't stand in the aisle to wait. The man goes back. The girl comes out of the rest room and by the time the man comes back someone else who was sitting closer already went in. He's sent back again. This happens to others and to that man 3 times! Finally, the third time he sees an empty aisle seat close to the bathroom and sits there to wait his turn. It was like we were in friggin kindergarten being told to only get up one at a time. MIL and I were stunned.
Now, here comes the cart with snacks and beverages which we know have to be purchased; even the water. Fine. But this is the very first time in my life where cash is no good. It HAD to be a debit/credit card. I couldn't believe it.

Now we had to get ready for landing. Did you check that your seatback was up all the way? They kept saying it and they walked by enough times collecting garbage but I did not see them tell anyone who had their seatback to move it up and plenty of people did. I had to ask the lady in front of my MIL to put hers up and got the dirtiest look ever.
We were so happy to get out of there. I will never evah ever fly Spirit again.

NABLOPOMO

2009-11-04T13:03:00.003-05:00

It's that time of year again where bloggers everywhere are trying to blog daily. I'm technically not participating since I already missed a couple of days but I will be using this as an incentive to blog much more often.

So, check back often and hopefully you will see assorted ramblings that will hopefully be more interesting than...

I am eating the best starfruit I have ever had. I had forgotten all about it and left it out while I was in NY and last night I cut it up for lunch. I am munching on it now and it is the juiciest sweetest starfruit I have ever had. Its from a friend's tree and I hope that the season for her tree isn't over because it is oh so good.

I think I will call this BLOPOLOTS...HAHAHA!

To cut or tear that is the question

2009-11-01T13:43:00.000-05:00

Should lettuce be cut with a knife or torn by hand? I know I know, life-altering stuff being considered here at gimme patience.

Growing up my mother who was by no means a gourmet cook but did watch Julia Child and Graham Kerr whenever possible always told me that lettuce should be torn into bite size pieces NOT cut with a knife. If she told me why that piece of information went out with the dishwater but to this day if I ever slice into a head of lettuce I can hear her in my head yelling 'NO! Use your hands! Put the knife away!'

I have eaten many many salads including some prepared by me and others at fancy schmancy restaurants where the lettuce has obviously been cut not torn. Which begs the question (ok, maybe not but work with me here): What is the proper way to prepare lettuce? I have never lost any sleep over this question but not too long ago Alton Brown did a show on salad and guess what? As he was about to take a knife to a head of lettuce there were sound effects of breaks screeching to a halt and he came in close to the camera telling all of us at home that he knows we are yelling at him to put the knife down that he's now suppose to cut lettuce but tear it into bit size pieces. My jaw dropped. It was like Alton incarnated mom. What was going on here? He then went on to explain the scientific reasoning (which I was too dumbstruck to retain) for the whens and whys you cut or tear the lettuce.

The bottom line was something like this. First, it depended on the lettuce and had to do with cell structure (that where I tuned out). Second, the types of lettuce that shouldn't be cut with a knife will simply have their cut edge turn brown quicker than normal. So, if you are going to eat the whole thing and are chopping it up, go for it. If you are willing to slice off the brown part next time you use the lettuce, go for it. If you don't care because its just the color and doesn't alter the taste, go for it. So, there you go. The it doesn't matters have it.

Personally, I think torn is prettier but that's just me.

51...81

2009-10-21T13:38:00.003-04:00

Donny Osmond is 51 people - five one! I have going to marry him, did you know that. Me and a gajillion other teeny boppers around the world. I have been watching him on DWTS and he's doing well. I know that the Osmonds have a place in Branson and would love to go see their show. (stop laughing!)

Last Saturday I went to see Andy Williams. He wrote a memoir and had a book reading. The man is 81 people - eight one! He looks great! He stood there for about half and hour with the mic in his hand and talked, and delivered old jokes, and even sang. And ya know what he can still sing. I remember watching his TV show and the Christmas shows were AWESOME! He has a place in Branson too The Moon River Theater.

Now I have two shows to go see and I am sure I can find others that I would be interested in seeing. So, I'm thinking I need to plan a trip before something up and happens to Andy. Did I mention he's 81?

I already went to Vegas and saw Mr. Las Vegas, Wayne Newton and it was such a great show. The man can hardly sing anymore but what an entertainer. It was great! Plus, I knew all the songs. I sang along the whole time. It was so much fun.

I still want to go back and see Tom Jones. I was going to marry him too!
Gotta win the lotto....

Provence

2009-10-15T13:00:00.002-04:00

I want to travel someday and one of my dreams is France. It has been since I was a little girl. I don't even remember when it started. I just seems to have always been there this wish to go to France. It's not specific to Paris - although its a must, duh - I want to see all of France.

In that vein one thing I have always wanted to try cooking with is Herbs de Provence. A unique blend of dried herbs including savory, fennel, basil, thyme, and lavender among others. Not a list I generally use in my daily cooking. I have always found it in catalogs and online in cute little ceramic pots that just evoke French country cooking. I've never bought it. I have never bought any herbs online, the whole 'know a reputable dealer' and all. This isn't something that I have ever really pursued or researched or even intentionally sought out. It has just been there in the back of mind.

Well, the other day walking through my local grocery store I had a coupon for a latin brand of spices that was about to expire. I was glossing over their selection assuming I'd get something ordinary like onion powder and then I saw a little tag that said "NEW Gourmet Blends". They had Italian Spice Mix and wait for it Herbs de Provence! HUH?! I couldn't believe it. I had to get it. I think they new I was coming and put it out just for me. I figured how bad could this be. They are dried herbs. I am sure there are better quality dried herbs but how bad could this be? I read the ingredients. Thyme, Basil, Savory Fennel, Lavender - wow, they are all there! I could not wait to get home and open it up and smell it. When I did, I could smell them all distinctly, I was soooo happy. I laughed to myself. Such a little silly thing a plastic container of dried herbs was making me giddy. I HAD to use it that night. Dang- we were going out. Fine, the next night. I made our Sunday chicken which is just a baked chicken. Perfect. I was smiling just shaking it on. I was the only one that noted the difference as it cooked. There was a hint of flowery lavender in the air. This did make me a little nervous because typically I have not liked flowery flavors in my food. I have tried many a dessert with lavender or rose water and sorry to say had to spit it out. But I was confident that I would like the chicken. At dinner I waited for the others to try it first. They made no comment. Then I tried it. YUM! There was definitely a difference how could they not say anything. I asked them if they liked the chicken. They both said yes and asked why I was asking had I done something different to it. Yes, I told them I put different spices on it. They shrugged. They couldn't tell. URGH! No matter, I could tell and I liked it.

I have since added it to a number of dishes and they still can't tell. I even added it to salad greens but the flavors were a bit strong for me. I prefer it cooked. So, I still haven't been to France but I got a little piece of Provence in my cabinet. Comfort and Joy!

Garbo, Sleep and other assorted non-essentials

2009-10-08T13:07:00.003-04:00

I have been meaning to blog, really I have but I haven't had time. By the time I finish with all the daily must-do stuff it is close to midnight and I think blog or sleep and sleep has been winning in that toss up.

So, here are some quick blurbs on what's been going on.

* I recently saw the movie Grand Hotel. Yes, that ancient black and white flick starring among many others Greta Garbo. Why? Because I had never seen it and its a classic and football season has started. Lower your eyebrows! Football season and classic movies do so have something to do with each other. After many years of marriage I have learned that Sunday I cannot watch TV in the living room during football season. Over time that unwritten and much enforced rule has spilled over to Monday nights, parts of Saturday day and sometimes Thursday night. That makes for lots of me time for me and my hobbies. I don't use this time for scrapping because that is set up to do while watching TV in the living room so this is either sewing time or reading time or movie time. This is why its the time of year when I shuffle the queue and a few classic movies get bumped to the top of the list for my viewing pleasure. Which brings us full circle and is why I recently saw Grand Hotel. It was so much fun to watch Barrymore, Garbo and a young Crawford! They don't make movies like that anymore. Seriously, the way the scenes are shot, the close-ups, the dramatic hugs. I also love watching all the special features with all the old stories of how this and that were done. Fun!

* I made Peanut Butter Bread. What? Never heard of it? No worries, I hadn't either but I saw it on a cooking show and made it on Saturday. We had it for lunch with wait for it, you guessed it - jelly! We didn't make sandwiches. We just sliced the bread and spread jelly on it and ate it. It was good. I wouldn't say it's my favorite or anything to write home about (just the world wide web) but it was something different. Hubby loved it. He's been having it for dessert every night with a glass of milk.

* I want to paint my guest bathroom. It's very small. The floor and half way up the walls are tiled in small black tiles. The fixtures are all gold and it has a white pedestal sink. I want to paint it a jewel tone color. I am really thinking about purple. Not a lavender or mauvy color a true jewel tone purple. My family thinks I'm nuts. It's such a small amount of wall space that it will only take a gallon. So, I figure if we hate it we could always paint over it. We'll see. I am still trying to convince hubby.

* The remote to the TV died. Over 2 weeks was spent banging the thing against the sofa or your thigh to make it work. I did not do this. It would work sometimes and sometimes not. When it didn't work, I didn't watch that TV. I told hubby to call our satellite company and order a new one. Did you call? I didn't think so. After 2 weeks of this it finally died for real. It wouldn't do anything. So, I went online and ordered a new remote. Ta-dah! It was at house in three days. I know, magic!

You're not all caught up but hopefully I will have time later to pass on all these life-altering tidbits.

Glad

2009-09-30T13:43:00.002-04:00

Did you ever not want to do something or go somewhere and you make yourself go and then later you are glad you went? That pretty much sums up my weekend. I have been in a funk. I am choosing to call it that. I know exactly why I am feeling the way that I am and I really can't change the external forces causing this temporary (I pray) phenomena and do I can only change me. That's easy to say, easy to write, I preach it all the time and it is not easy to do.

This weekend I truly just wanted to stay in bed curled up in a ball and sleep and weep and feel lousy and wallow in my own self pity. The problem is that I'm a mom, wife, granddaughter and friend so I don't have as much time for that sort of thing as I wanted.

I was able to skip out on the granddaughter obligations as the ALF made plans for an outing on Saturday. That was good, more theoretical time for me. Now, if I could only make it translate into real wallow time. Friday I made a mental list of all the things I HAD to do and made a plan. The plan was to get up early and get it all done quickly so I could come home and start wallowing. Ummm... yes, I know it sounds wrong, planning on wallowing but I really wanted to put myself in timeout but I had things to do first so this was the best I could do. Well, I was done with everything including the surprise family visit around 5:30. Just in time to shower and start dinner. Dang! I ran out of time today but the weekend is not over. All hope is not lost. I should be able to wallow tomorrow, Sunday. I only have one things that HAS to get done because I almost did it all today. OK, this could work. I'm already feeling better at the thought of the future wallow time. How pathetic is that? Don't answer that.

Sunday, baby! I am ready to stay in bed but then it hits me, I have dinner plans. UGH! I really don't want to go. I wanna stay home and wallow in self-pity dang it! Why is my schedule being so uncooperative! The dog is barking, he wants to go out. Gratefully, Hubby gets up to make his cafe con leche. I ask if he can make me some because I don't feel like making the customary big Sunday breakfast. He does. Yeah, me! I squeeze an extra hour of hang out in bed time. Then I force myself to get up and do what I must and then I start putzing around with a few other things and then dang, it's almost shower and go to dinner time. I'm tired. I really don't want to go but the shower felt good and gave me a bit of energy and off I went.

It was dinner with girlfriends at a nice restaurant in a fancy schmancy hotel downtown. I walked into the lobby and it was beautiful. I love going to pretty places. The restaurant is on the 25th floor. WOW! What a view. We got there in daylight and by the time we left it was dark so we were able to enjoy the view by day and by night. Fabulous. The food was good and the best was the company. It was a good thing I went. It lifted my spirits tremendously. I needed that more than the wallow time. I just needed me time; me and my girlfriends. I was so happy that I went. It's Wednesday and I'm still thinking about it.
Comfort and Joy!

Odds

2009-09-22T13:42:00.002-04:00

One of the things we did while visiting 19 at school was drive up to Saratoga Springs. We didn't have all day but we had a few hours to spend together before he had a meeting to attend and it's only a 30 minute drive.

It's a lovely place. There's a main street with shops and restaurants and ice cream parlors and lots of outside tables and at the end of the street there a beautiful park and a few blocks behind that is the famous race track.

We drove around to see what there was to see and then stopped at the Visitor's Center where there is a nice exhibit of the town's history. We walked through it and found out that there was racing at the track today. So, off we went. Horse racing is something new for us. We've never gone to see any. We were looking for a place to park and they were all pretty pricey and we knew that we'd only be there for hour and didn't want to spend more on parking than on admission ($3 each) so, we drove on. We spot a sign that says Public Parking and turn in, hubby slows to speak to the attendant who tells us to follow the dirt road to the back turn right go to the end and turn left and park on the right. Okidokie. As we head on we all laugh - where the heck is he sending us? Whatever, it's free. So we have to walk 100 miles to get back to the track. Then another attendant at the first turn starts waiving at us. Hubby slows again to talk. he tells us to turn around and go half way back down the road we just came and turn in to the parking lot on the right. Okidokie. At that entrance there's a sign that said Credential Parking Only. We all look at each other and laugh - WTH? There's another attendant there, hubby again rolls down the window and he tells us where to go in and park. We obediently follow his instructions laughing the whole time because apparently we look like the horse racing credentialed type. Okidokie. We park and hope the car will be there when we get back. It's a rental and 19 has a meeting to get back to. We walk to the track entrance and they patiently pose for my obligatory photos. The place is packed! There are people everywhere. Old, young, families with babies, little kids everyone is every where. It's a beautiful Sunday afternoon. We walk to the track and stand right there up at the fence. There are park benches behind us and I sit for a bit and take it all in. I look around and you can see the ole grandeur of the place. Its a little run down but it looks like a gran dame. A race had just finished and they were announcing the next one and I think we should place a bet. So, I ask 17 for a number and rush in to place a bet. I come back and see the last of the horses walking out. I like another one. I go back to place another bet. Hubby and 17 go place a bet on another one, 19 gives me a couple of numbers. All told there were 10 horses, 2 scratched and between the 4 of us we bet on 6 out of the remaining 8 to win. The race was about to start, we get to our spot by the fence. They're off! We watch part on the jumbotron, then we spot them live making the turn and there they are passing right in front of us. One of our horses is in the lead and another one of ours is in second going to pass him. You hear every one cheering and yelling different numbers. Its over. Who won? Wow by a nose! Check the tickets. You're wrong check again. How could we have lost? We bet on almost every horse. Almost only counts in horseshoes not horse racing. One of the 2 we didn't pick won. Ours came in 2nd and 3rd. We all laughed - what are the odds of that?! We walked around a little more bought some lemonades and then it was time to head back to the car.
It was a nice day, we were tired, it was hot and we had to walk back to the car. We were thankful for our credentialed parking because we couldn't imagine having to walk to the original spot at what we think would have been the outskirts of town.
All of us had a lovely time. It was something new for all of us and we laughed a lot. Comfort and Joy.

I'l be back

2009-09-15T16:03:00.003-04:00

I know my multitude (read: two) of readers are wondering where I am. Well, I'm here, overwhelmed. I did go to NY to visit 19 for Labor Day weekend and that was wonderful. We honestly had a very good time. It was nice albeit short.

The first week back was hectic as first week backs usually are. Then there was the first weekend. The proverbial other shoe fell but in this case it was both shoes that fell at the same time. I honestly can't get into in here and now but suffice to say I am going through some family issues that need to be resolved before I can think clearly enough to write about anything. So, if you are of a mind to say a prayer, please include me. If not, well, think a good thought for me and I will sincerely appreciate it.

Be patient. I will be back some day, hopefully soon, to continue my life musings and rants.
Gimme patience and strength.

House woes

2009-09-01T13:41:00.004-04:00

My garbage disposal died. It was old and it just up and stopped running. I had my handy dandy FIL check it out and was hoping something heinous was stuck in there somewhere and he would work some magic and make it work but alas, no. We need a new one. Oh, woe is me.

My dishwasher is working right. It starts, it runs, we hear the water but the stuff isn't clean and we've been rewashing many of the items. It seems we need a new one. Oh, woe is me.

Many things is this house of ours are shall I say rigged. By that I mean they aren't standard. They are things that the previous owner had someone make something that looks like the real thing but its not and that makes repairs an adventure.

We have a side back door that I have always thought was not an exterior door but an interior door placed on an exterior wall. Well, it hasn't held up well - duh! and it really needs to be replaced. So, we measured and took off to the big box store and low and behold it's not the standard size. The hole that we have is a full inch smaller than the standard exterior door. Oh, woe is me. We went back home. We must have measured wrong because it's hard to measure something straight across (work with me people!) alas, we weren't wrong. It's an inch short. Hmmm.... well, maybe they built up the frame in a way to fit this door in and now it can be trimmed down to fit the larger door. Another job for FIL. He came, he looked, he measured (same as us), he checked this, looked there. He decided we will need a custom door, the frame cannot be trimmed down. Oh, woe is me.

All these expenses popping up when the budget is tight with senior stuff, college stuff and traveling to visit 19. Oh, woe is me.

The good news is FIL was able to fix a leak in the sink in the guest bathroom. That was the good news. At least there was some. *sigh* gimme patience and a sack of cash to fix all this stuff.

Max is inside now

2009-08-31T09:06:00.003-04:00

I know we may have never met but if you have read any of my blog before you know that I am NOT fit as a fiddle. In fact, quite the opposite. Well, I drove the point home this weekend. Max, my 12 year old Golden Retriever has turned into an indoor dog. He lived outside all of his adult life until this summer. He's old, I'm older and getting soft (or so I am told) and honestly, I don't think his hearing and vision is all there and well it's just darn hot out so, he's now an indoor dog. He has behaved extremely well. Really hasn't gotten into anything and we close a hallway door to keep him from exploring the bedrooms. At the beginning I took him to a Puppy Palace. I know he's not a puppy but they bathed him and shaved him and bathed him again and gave him a flea bath and he came out looking completely different but smelling pretty. And so he has become an indoor dog.
To keep him smelling pretty he needs to be bathed and the task has fallen on me. I used to bather him outside using the garden hose and it was always an ordeal taking out a bucket to fill with his shampoo and water, rags to scrub him, the leash to hold him in one spot, towels to dry him off after, a stool for me to sit on because it's easier to get up from the stool than the floor.
That was when he was an outside dog. Now he's an inside dog, so a few weeks ago I decided to try the tub. That's where the inside people bathe why not Max. And so the adventure began and it went relatively well the first time a few weeks ago. I cleaned the tub afterwards and was sore that night and the next day. If I didn't have to life my arms I was fine but most things we do require some motion of the arm.
I did it again yesterday except this time hubby cleaned the tub after because I thought maybe I just did too much at once and that's why I was sore. Can I tell you that lifting the coffee mug to my mouth has been an effort this morning? I am just as sore today as I was a few weeks ago. I have no upper body strength. Bathing this dog whoops me every time. I need to do something about it. I am going to begin doing arm lifts or something every night to see if I can slowly get over this and be able to bathe my dog. Who knew that Max would be the one to drive me to exercise. Yeah, well, we'll see. Now, let's see if I can refill this mug.

Pleasant unexpected surprise

2009-08-28T13:45:00.001-04:00

I started a new book and I knew nothing about it other than it won a Pulitzer Prize (it says that on the cover) and friends of mine have read it and said it was very good but I never heard anyone talk about it so I didn't know what it was about. I've seen articles about it but I only read the headlines because mentally I already had it on a TBR list. At a local flea market I discover it in piles of books. Woo Hoo! I think I have found a gold mine. I spent a whole $5 and bought a 8 books. $1 for hard cover and .50 for paperbacks. Who can resist? Not moi, that's for sure. I head home and dutifully stack the newly purchased treasures in stacks and piles around my room to wait to be read some day and collect dust in the meantime while they make me feel cozy and busy because some day when I have nothing to do there's always a book to be read.

Last night I finished a reading a magazine, I am forcing myself to finish one in between books because I am so behind on the magazines its ridiculous and so I allowed myself to pull out a book to lay by my purse in the hopes of starting it tomorrow. I glanced at the nightstand stack - nah, the dresser stack - um no, went into the walk-in closet where I have a bookcase and looked at a few that are stacked in front of those standing in the back on the shelves - mmmm na, not feeling them. I go to the cabinet with three more shelves lined with books and right away my eye goes to this one. HMmmm. Yes, I think its time. I pull it out, flip through it, not reading anything just airing out the pages getting a whiff of the book. Its soft cover, bigger that a paperback novel but not too weighty yes, this will do fine. I don't even read the blurb on the back I just keep fanning it as if I was warming it up to be read and lay it gently on top of my purse.

This morning I forgot my lunch but I did bring the book. I went to lunch and read the summary on the back cover in the elevator. Wow, this really sounds good. I hope it can live up to this hype.

I head to Starbucks and order a coffee and snuggle into one of their comfy armchairs and after chatting with some of the patrons about inane stuff I finally get to open up Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides. I run out of time and am only able to read a mere 20 pages. But OMG the very first sentence made me want to sit there and find out what happens. Then I read actual paragraph and pages and I am totally sucked in to this book. I writing style is what I love. It's a big over the top - the narrator even apologizes for being too Homeric! Love it! Now its raining. I want to be at home changed into something comfy, curled into the recliner with the throw over my legs and a glass of wine next to me and this book in my hands and no interruptions until I am done. Ahhh, a girl can dream can't she?

9 lbs

2009-08-25T13:27:00.003-04:00

I have 9 pounds of cookie dough in my house and I am trying NOT to eat it. So, why did I buy it? Because I'm a sucker that's why. Earlier this summer 17 was selling said 3lb tubs of cookie dough as a fundraiser for his Cross Country team. You would think they would sell trail mix or something healthy but they went with cookie dough. He only had a week to get the orders and got quite a few including 3 from me. Yes, 3 not 1 like normal people. Why, because no one likes the same cookie in my house. 17 wanted Sugar cookies which 19 and hubby don't like. 19 wanted Oatmeal Raisin which 17 and hubby don't like and Hubby wanted peanut butter which neither boy likes. Alas, 3 tubs of 3 lbs each were ordered and have since arrived. I didn't get any "for me" because I eat all the aforementioned cookies and therein lies the problem.
Of course, they get here only a couple of days before 19 leaves so he wasn't able to eat his 3 lbs so I put it in the freezer to await his return and make it more difficult for me to eat since it will require thawing in addition to the bake time. But there are two tubs left in the fridge. Every night after dinner I ask, want some cookies in the hopes of baking some off and making them disappear but it only worked once. Ay. I need to be strong. I need to not eat two tubs of cookies.

Last minutes...

2009-08-21T13:46:00.002-04:00

Sunday 19 is leaving and its nephew's bday soI won't get anything done and Saturday I am going to a BBQ at 3. So that means this whole dang list has to get done between now and 3 tomorrow! and I am sitting here at work! OMG! How is this going to happen? Some one please 'splain this to me.

How does that saying go...if it weren't for the last minute, I'd get nothing done. This weekend will be the definition of that because there will be many lat minutes between now and 3PM Saturday.

Then will come Monday...it will be strange without 19 home again and then the school routine for 17.

Have you seen the commercial for the big box office supply store with the dad prancing and dancing all over the store happy and giddy with joy buying back-to-school supplies for his kids who are standing there with long faces wanting to die rather than go back to school. At my house we love that commercial. We all laugh at it hysterically.

See ya on the flip side....gotta go make a list of things to do so I don't miss anything.....

New thing

2009-08-18T14:04:00.002-04:00

I really don't try too many food things. I mean I try new dishes but the main ingredients I've had them. For example, I think I may the only person in Miami who has not tried Dulce de Leche ice cream. See, my logic is I don't need to like that because its not good for me and only going to be another thing to add to the list of things that I shouldn't eat so why try it in the first place. But fruit is a different category. Its in the good for you category and therefore they should all be tried and I discovered I LOVE passion fruit. I had never had it. I didn't even know how to eat it. This weekend I went to a farm in The Redlands to pick up some items that a friend of mine and I had ordered (not passion fruit) and I say a pile of these round things in a box. I asked what they were ever trying to expand my knowledge and they were passion fruit. She told me she had an extra bag that she could sell me. I wasn't going to buy any because well I've never tired it and so didn't want to waste my money. She asked me if I liked tart things as she was cracking one open and got a spoon and handed it to me. QUE RICO!! I loved it. She explained how to tell if they were ripe etc. as I fished out the 3 bucks from my purse for that extra bag she had. I split them with my friend because she tried it when she got to my house and liked it too. But man I could eat a bushel of them and if I start to get bored of eating them straight I can think of umpteen uses from salad dressings to marinades. Que Rico!! I have GOT to get more of these. Comfort and Joy baby! YUM!

T-9

2009-08-14T14:32:00.002-04:00

In case you haven't heard 19 is leaving next Sunday. So of course, now in the last minute starts the mad rush.
* MIL needs to see him again before he leaves. She only has one chance to come down to my neck of the woods on Saturday but it's a small window and she doesn't know if she can get to my house in time to see him before she has to be somewhere else. Relax, I tell her. You aren't going to be that far from us, call me when you get there and I will have 19 go by and see you there.
* 19 says he can't find the socks that he wants anywhere in Miami (my money is on he hasn't gone every where in Miami but who am I to argue). Relax, I tell him. Socks shouldn't be so complicated but if they are just order them online.
* SIL called last night. Her son's bday is on the 20th and I had called her to see if/when she was doing anything because I need to plan my life. She is having the family gathering on Sunday when 19 is leaving. Perfect! He leaves out of Ft Lauderdale, she lives in Hollywood. We can easily swing by before going to the airport.
* My dad has been threatening to come down for 2 weeks but has been having car trouble and is concerned he won't see him and also concerned that he hasn't given 17 his bday gift. Relax, I tell him. If you can't come to us then you can meet us at SILs before he leaves. My dad lives up there too.
* He HAS to go to the beach but he has to find a ride because I need the car. Relax, I tell him. Go to the beach whenever you want (hopefully, after ordering the socks) I don't need the car. I can work around it.
* His computer died last night. It turns on but I'm guessing it has a virus because he can't really get it to do any thing not even a security scan. Now, I'm freaking out. I truly cannot afford a new laptop right now and it's been 24 hours already and he hasn't taken it to a friend of ours who is our resident all thing computer guy. Others tell me to relax that it's not my problem. He's old enough to handle and deal with this on his own. But OMG! Aren't I supposed to give him the tools necessary to do what he needs to do?! There's not much time to get this working here! OMG!
* I have taken home all kinds of coupons for school supplies that I know they both need and no one has gone to get anything. That I am not worried about I gave them the coupons and I gave them the $ with instruction that if they spend it one something else, they will have to write in blood when they run out of pens. Whatever.
* In between all of this 17 starts school. His schedule is wrong because they gave him one of last years' classes. He is cool as a cucumber. It will get fixed, he tells me. Don't worry about it.
* At least 17 tried on his uniform and we only had to get new shoes which he did. Whew! Breathing easy about that.
* Oh yeah, and we have to wash and pack a ton of stuff!
Gimme patience. It's gonna be a long weekend and I wanted to spend it cooking and scrapping. LMAO!

Just plug and go?

2009-08-13T14:31:00.003-04:00

That was the first text I got. 19 has sent me a few texts including a picture of the settings on our iron asking for instructions. The boy is ironing his own shirt people! My money is on a girl being in this equation. LOL!