It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.

A tale of two......situations.

The worst of times: Today just sucked.The end.

The best of times: Every Sunday,Rich and Lillianna prepare a dinner feast for me which is on the table the minute I walk in the door. Since I am exhausted and near starvation after my long day of work,this is such a wonderful treat for me. Ya gotta love that!

Last week it was chicken parm with ziti for dinner and a yellow cake with frosting for dessert. Today was roasted chicken with potatoes and carrots and hot biscuits!Yum! I also ate the leftover fried shrimp from the other night as an appetizer. Double yum! They made brownie sundaes for dessert.

Thank you,Rich and Lillianna! You're the best.

How does your family make you feel special?

Hooray for me!

I am one of the 7 finalists for Blogging for Books on The Zero Boss.
You can read my entry here.
For me,that is the same as winning first place.
I find it wonderful and fascinating that someone thinks my writing is good enough to be a finalist for anything.
So, because this day didn't start out so great and I needed a pick-me-up, I decided to toot my own horn. Toot! Toot!

The list

Years ago,Rich and I met a college student named Bill, through our friends Kristy and Jerry. He was a drama student and quite interesting in a slightly flamboyant way. One day he started to talk about putting someone on his list.

"What list?" I asked innocently.

"You know. The list," Bill explained.

I gave him my best puzzled but interested look.

"When people piss me off, I put them on the list," he said.

"Ohhhhhh," I said slowly with recognition. "You mean your SH** list!"

"Well, kind of," Bill said,"Except my list is of people I want to set on fire."

Wow! That was rather extreme and apparently Mental Health Services at his college thought so too. I think he had to see a therapist for this.

My point is,if I may be so bold as to have a point to this post, everyone has a list. There are people who do things to us that we don't deserve. They say and/or do things to us because they are mean spirited,jealous,nasty or just downright unhappy with their own life so they try to bring us down too. I hate those people. Unfortunately they are everywhere!

Rich told me that I have to forget the unkind and untrue things that are said but sometimes I can't. On those occasions, I picture a huge bird dropping a steamy pile of poop on the bad person's head! That makes me feel a little bit better.

Do you have a "list?"

Can you really say XYZ to a stranger?

Remember when XYZ meant Examine Your Zipper? (Why it wasn't EYZ,I'll never know. I guess it's like the 3 Rs....Reading,Writing and 'Rithmetic. Uhm,that's like one R,one W and one A if you spell Arithmetic correctly!) Anyway, yesterday I was remembering a situation that happened to me about 10 years ago at work.

I had a 35 year old man in the exam chair and I was updating his medical history. I was sitting at the desk,eye level to his crotch. Hey, that's the way it is,people!
I noticed his zipper was unzipped. Damn! As I wrote down his visual complaints, I silently pleaded with him to zip up! Sadly, when you are trying not to look at something, an oversized wart on someone's nose, a piece of food in someone's teeth or an unzipped zipper,your eyes are automatically drawn to the very spot you are trying to avoid. I told the patient that I had to get some eye drops in another room. I left for a few seconds hoping he would zip up. When I returned,he was in the same state as I had left him. Thank goodness nothing else had popped out.

Finally, as I turned my back to write something down,he stood up,walked to the front of the room facing the wall with his back to me,zipped up and sat down. I was so relieved. I didn't feel comfortable saying anything.

I have told women that their button on their shirt or skirt had come undone many times over the years,but telling a man to XYZ is way out of my comfort zone.

Have you ever been in this situation? What did you do?

How was my day? Thank you for asking.

4:00am- I realized a mosquito bit my ankle and scratched it for a while.
4:15am- Decided to get out of bed and put hydrocortisone cream on my itching bite.
Re-set alarm to go off at 5:30am instead of 5:00am.

5:30am- Got up.Showered.Got dressed. Made Lillianna a peanut butter and fluff sandwich for dance camp.The apartment,although air conditioned,must have been warm. I got peanut butter on my arm. I wiped it off. I got a blob of fluff on my hand. I washed it. I noticed a glob of peanut butter on my pants.*Deep sigh*
I made 2 sandwiches for Rich:one bologna and cheese,one ham and cheese, since he works til 8:30pm on Wednesdays. Packed up both lunches and left a note next to them on the counter. {The sandwiches went in the fridge.}

7:00am-Said good-bye to groggy husband and half groggy child.

7:15am- Finally got in the car and drove 40 minutes to work.

8am-12:35pm- Met a lot of interesting people. Ya,right. One woman,a little older than me, came in for a 3 month check up. She keeps complaining of lice in her eye lashes since she has had head lice for one year!!! The doctor thinks it's a psychiatric problem because he has never seen any sign of eyelash lice. None the less,I have been itchy since I read her chart. She scratched herself (arms,legs,face,lashes,stomach....) through my brief vision and pressure check. Creeped me out, I tell ya!!

1:00pm- Picked Lillianna up at dance camp.
1:15pm-2:45pm- Had a nice visit with my friend Kristy.
3:00pm-4:00pm- Came home,ate lunch.
4:10pm-Dropped Lillianna off at Kristy's since she said she would take her while I went to a meeting at work.
4:10pm-4:35pm-Drove to meeting.
5:00pm-6:35pm- Meeting at work.
7:05pm- Picked Lillianna up at Kristy's house. Talked briefly with everyone (they have a meeting at their house on Wednesdays),hugs all around, then went home.
7:20pm-Started to cook chicken patties for sandwiches.
7:45pm-Sat down to eat dinner with Lillianna.
8:50pm- Rich got home while I was washing the dishes and cleaning the kitchen. I offered to make him chicken sandwiches. Rich announced that Lillianna was sound asleep in her bed. *sigh* Poor pumpkin. Fell asleep on a full stomach. I hope she doesn't have nightmares.
9:00pm-Gave Rich 2 sandwiches and a glass of ice tea.
He made a happy sound and kissed me.
I sat for a few minutes watching the last few seconds of DOC then told Rich I had computer things to do. And here I am.
It's 10:02pm and I am ready to get in my jammies and relax for a while. I think I deserve it.

How was your day?

Ninety two degrees? Damn,it's hot here.

I hate people who say,"It's not the heat. It's the humidity." Can I just say that no matter what you think,it's freakin' hot here today!!!!
Lillianna just ran to tell me that Rich is on his way home. He's leaving work an hour earlier than usual because I believe he said he looks like he was hit by a truck. Sweating buckets while delivering heavy reacreational items is no picnic,I'm sure. Plus, for all his back breaking effort,no one ever tips.

Rich had a collapsed lung when he was a teenager and part of it collapsed again last year so this heavy lifting in the heat is not good for him. Of course when Lillianna told me Rich was on his way home I immediately panicked. I figured he collapsed or he had an accident. I'm Jewish. I always think the worst. It's in my blood.

So now dinner will be made an hour earlier and I should get things going. Lillianna is whining that she is hungry. She will get an egg white omelet because she will not eat what we are eating and Rich and I will get Tyson's sirloin tips with noodles and peas. Gotta keep it simple.
Did I mention how hot it is here????

What's the temperature where you are?

Listening to my daughter

This is posted at DotMoms today.

Momday

Rich declared yesterday to be "Lilly day." When I asked Lillianna what that meant she said,"I am writing down everything I want to do today,like games I want to play, and Daddy will do it." Of course I was at work and I was very envious of Lilly day. I never get a day. I had to work on Mother's Day,so that doesn't count. I wanted a day just for myself.

When my 11:00am meeting got canceled today at 9:00am, I took that as a sign. Today is MOMDAY! It sounds so much like Monday that it must be a good omen,right? I am still in my jammies and I am looking forward to my nap in the afternoon. I am not showering until later in the day because our only commitment today is Lillianna's Hip-Hop class at 6:00pm. I am so happy that this day is all about me. Lillianna was surprised at first but I think she will be cooperative.

Do you ever give yourself a day to do nothing?

Mean,nasty and dangerous neighbors

Bobbi is having a heck of a time with her demented neighbors. Not only are they annoying but they are basically psychotic stalkers. Please check out this post and if you can offer her any advice, I know she would greatly appreciate it. People should be safe in their home.

Lillianna's first date

As you may remember,Lillianna and Zach were married during this past school year. I know they are only 7 years old but they took their marriage seriously. (Better than some married adults I know.)
On the next to last day of school,I spoke to Zach's mom,Linda,and we decided to try to get the kids together for a play date over the summer. At the beginning of this week, Zach left a message for Lillianna on our answering machine. She called him back the following day and then Linda and I confirmed their plans.

Lillianna put on her favorite skort set and sandals and then she asked me to put her hair in a ponytail.Usually she protests ribbons and bows but she did let me use the ponytail elastic with attached flowing ribbons. She looked adorable. It was a very long day with her asking me every 10 minutes,"Is it almost time to go?" At 4:30pm,Lillianna and I met Linda,Zach and his twin sister,Samantha,at Papa Gino's for pizza. After dinner,we drove down the road to the bowling alley and we let the kids bowl three strings.

They were very well behaved and the three of them had a lot of fun together. When Lillianna was bowling, Zach knelt behind her holding up the next ball for her to use. He reminded me of the prince holding the glass slipper on a pillow for Cinderella. Then Lillianna did the same thing for Zach. It was very funny to watch them.

Linda and I got a chance to chat which was a lot of fun. She is very nice and she has many of the same rules for her children that I have for Lillianna. It's always a joy to find other mothers who expect their children to behave properly and who don't let them run wild.

We were on our way home at 8:00pm and Lillianna was surprised that we had been out for 3 1/2 hours. "Wow!" she exclaimed."I guess it was a real date!"
I hope all her future dates turn out to be this much fun and that every boy is as sweet,courteous and polite as Zach.

A sleep over

Lillianna is sleeping at her friend Mollie's house tonight so I told her to start packing her things. She just came in to say she packed four pair of underwear for her one night sleep over. That's my girl! My packing skills have rubbed off on her. I'm so proud.

Just in case

It's often on my mind that Rich was only 4 years old when his mother died. His siblings were 2,6 and 8 years old. Their mom was only 27. The "kids" never recovered from the sudden death of their mother. She was gone before she could make a life time of memories with them. That always makes me so sad.

I am in no way saying that mothers are better than fathers, but in my opinion, a child needs a mother. There are so many things that moms do that dads just don't do. In a perfect world a child would have 2 loving parents because each person brings something different to the child's life.

In our family, Rich is the one who takes Lillianna on walks to an old cemetery in town to read the historical grave stones. He plays endless board games with her. He taught her to play marbles. He taught her to paint. He is helping her learn to play the guitar. He war games with her. He takes her bowling and to the movies on the weekend when I am at work. He is trying to teach her to ride her bike without training wheels but she is still hesitant about that.

I am the one who talks to her about everything. We talk about keeping safe, we talk about not drinking alcohol or taking drugs. We talk about puberty.Anything that is on her mind becomes an open discussion. I am the one who cuddles in bed with her in the middle of the day as we read Junie B.Jones books together. I take her to the pool and swim with her for hours. I take her on surprise trips for ice cream or to Build-A-Bear workshop to pick up something special for her 2 dogs,Kaleigh and Michaela. I go on her field trips from school or from Brownies.

Neither one of us can do it all. It takes both of us to pull this off.
I always worry about dying. I don't obsess over this....much, but it does pop up from time to time.

Yesterday,one of the doctors that I work for,had a heart attack. I had thought he was in good health. He eats right and exercises all the time. Still, he had a heart attack. That threw it all in my face again. I try to eat right, but I am not always successful. I have been trying to exercise but I haven't been doing well with that.
Here is this doctor,who I thought was in great health and he had a heart attack. Luckily he is doing well today but it has me worried.

What if something happens to me before I am done raising Lillianna? Keep in mind that I won't be "done" until she is well into her fifties....and then some!
I was wondering if I should write a book for her "just in case," like my thoughts on dating,sex,graduation from high school,college,marriage,her first child....things like that.

I fully expect to live to be at least 85 but just in case,I am wondering if she will remember how much I love her and how special she has always been to me. Of course she hears this a million times a day from me but she is only 7. Will what I say today be remembered 20 years from now if something were to happen to me tomorrow? I try to live life to the fullest because life is short and you never know how long you have but I feel like a need a safety net.

Have you ever written something for your child "just in case"?

A good laugh

Today I had the pleasure of meeting a very nice 80 year old woman. We started talking and she said she feels bad for the parents of today because times are so different.

Me: I know what you mean. I have a 7 year old daughter and I tell her things now that I didn't know until I was in my late teens.

Woman: I agree. Everything now is sex,sex,sex. It's crazy what the kids are seeing.

Me: It's true. It's hard to keep her innocence.

Woman: Sex is everywhere now. It's different from back in my day. I was a late bloomer back then. I didn't know anything about sex. It wasn't until I was about 20 years old that I realized I was a sex!

I burst out laughing. That just struck me in such a way that I laughed all the way from my toes. My laughing caused her to start laughing.
We both felt much better afterwards. Sometimes, you just have to laugh.

It was just so out of character

It's Blogging For Books time at The Zero Boss and this is my first entry in months. Here are the rules:

Parents. Most of us have them. Some of us are them. Most of us have had "moments" with our parents that either marked a greater understanding in the parent-child relationship, or signified the beginning of the end of our interaction. Similarly, those of us with kids have often experienced turning points where, in a blinding flash of reality, we truly "got" what it meant to be a parent.

For this month's Blogging for Books, write about a pivotal point in your life as a parent, OR write about a pivotal point in your relationship with one of your parents.


My dad was the kind of guy that everyone loved.He had a warm smile and a twinkle in his eye and when he said,"It's good to see you," you knew he meant it. He loved to laugh and he did it often. All of my friends thought I was lucky to have such a funny dad and I always agreed. Some dads were so serious and grumpy looking but my dad always knew how to make people happy.

Dad enjoyed singing and dancing.He always had the stereo playing and he enjoyed singing dramatically with his booming voice. Oh,sometimes he didn't know the words and he just made them up but he sang with such conviction,he made me believe that his words were the right ones.I can still be heard singing,"Hang on Snoopy",or "They call me mello yellow,that's right slick!" It sounded good when he sang it and sometimes I slip up.

Daddy always took the time to listen to whatever was on my mind and he tried to give me advice, even if it wasn't the advice I wanted to hear at that moment. I appreciated the fact that he always had time for me. I knew I could talk to him about anything.He was such a laid back,easy going kind of guy. Nothing ever seemed to bother him.

The only thing Daddy didn't have patience for was foolishness. Not the happy-go-lucky kind of thing where you do something goofy. He was all for that. One year,he dressed in drag with some of the other dads for their dance number in my sister's recital. That was just good fun. The kind of foolishness where someone does something irritating or infuriating when it could've all been avoided was what made him angry.

When I was 14 years old, our family went on our annual vacation to Florida. We stayed in the same hotel each year and often dined with friends who took their vacation at the same time that we did.One night,it was a casual eating night,so we went to an area that had several restaurant choices in the same strip mall. Mom took my sister,Kara, to get a hot dog in one place while Dad and I went with his friends and their two children to get pizza.

For some reason, I had trouble deciding on what kind of pizza I wanted. I remember taking quite some time looking over the menu and still being torn between the salami or the pepper and onion pizza.Daddy was sitting directly across from me and his frown told me that I had to hurry up and make my decision already. When the waitress came over to our table,I was in a panic. I still didn't know what I wanted. Looking back,I have no idea why this was such a big deal to me. I liked both types of pizza and the decision should have been an easy one to make. But it wasn't.

After the waitress took everyone's order,she stopped in front of me. "Uhm...well....I think I will have a pepper and onion pizza and a root beer." As she marked that off and began to walk away I changed my mind. "Ah,excuse me, I think I would rather have the salami...no wait...." and before I could say another thing,Daddy stood up,glared at me and slapped me across the face.

At first I was too stunned to do anything. He slapped me! This kind,gentle man who wouldn't hurt a fly,slapped me. He had never hit me in my entire life. Oh sure,Mom gave me "the look" many times when I did something wrong,but Dad,he never did or said anything. I stood up slowly with tears and confusion in my eyes and looked helplessly at my dad.I blinked as if to wake myself up from this nightmare and walked out of the restaurant to where my mother was having dinner.

I walked in a trance past the stores advertising cheap t-shirts and suntan lotion until I found my mom. I looked into her eyes as tears blurred my own and said,"Mother...Father has struck me," and I turned and walked out without even waiting for her to respond. As I walked out of the front door of the restaurant,I could hear her calling my name but I never looked back. I could feel my tears splashing on my toes as they bounced off my sandals.

I crossed the busy highway and headed on foot towards our hotel which was down the street. I hoped that a speeding car would kill me when I crossed the dangerous road so that my father would feel bad. I was sad,hurt,humiliated and angry. What the hell had happened? Why did he slap me....just because I couldn't decide on a pizza?

When I finally reached our hotel, I decided to take a walk on the beach. I kept thinking,"If I get raped or killed now, Daddy will be really sorry that he slapped me!!" That was all that I kept thinking as I walked like a zombie on the cold, wet sand.

A few minutes later,Daddy found me on the beach. He had tears streaming down his face as he hugged me and cried,"I am so sorry......so sorry."
He said that my indecision just made him so aggravated that he lost his temper and hit me. He was surprised when he realized what he had done.He hadn't meant to do it. He said that he hoped that I could forgive him.

I didn't even know what to say. This was not the dad that I had known all my life. He was a stranger who couldn't put up with me changing my mind about the kind of pizza I wanted for dinner. Usually he didn't even raise his voice when I fought with my sister or when I was a typical moody teenager or when I went stomping off to my room for one thing or another. This man seemed so foreign to me. Who was he?

I looked at his tear stained face and tried to find my Daddy.He looked so frightened by what he had done and I knew he was sorry. He made a mistake that he regretted. My heart felt empty for a few days and I was slightly on edge. I watched his every move waiting for another out burst but it never came.

After some time,I put this incident out of my mind. It was so out of character for my father that I chose to ignore it. I simply wasn't able to connect the act of slapping me with anything my father would normally do. It was easier to pretend it never happened.

Fortunately this didn't actually change my relationship with my dad and we continued to share the close bond that we had always had. Still, whenever I hear the Tom Petty song, Refugee, it reminds me of the car ride back to the restaurant after Dad and I left the beach. As I sat in the front seat,tasting the salt from my tears,I vowed to always remember the song that was playing on the radio on that fateful night.
I guess I never truly forgot afterall.

A much needed shopping trip

Due to a lack of extra money, there have been certain things that I have let slide over the past few months. They may seem like little things and I suppose that they are but when it comes down to buying something or paying a bill, I usually choose the latter.

Yesterday,Rich and I both got paid and these are the checks to pay the bills and if there is anything left over then I can buy that now too. The next 2 pay checks are saved to pay the rent. So here is my list of the extravagant things I will purchase today on our trip to Wal-Mart.

1.SOCKS......mine are all faded and many have holes in them. There are quite a few that have lost their soul mate in the hamper-washer-dryer cycle and I hate wearing mis-matched socks! I think I will splurge and buy myself seven new pair. Yes, seven!!! I'm just insane,aren't I?

2. A MOP........This is mostly for Rich because who the heck am I kidding? I never mop. About 6 months ago our mop broke while Rich was washing the kitchen floor and ever since then, he has been washing the floor on his hands and knees. I figure that guy could use a break already.

3.A STEP STOOL......When we moved 2 1/2 years ago I threw my step stool in the dumpster because Rich had bought it for me when we were first married. This move was into two separate apartments because Rich wanted to separate.To spite him (ya right) I threw this step stool away.

I'm only 5'3". The step stool was my lifeline but I was determined to throw away anything that reminded me of him. You'd think that once he came back,six months later,that I would've bought a new step stool. You'd be wrong.I haven't been able to reach a damn thing in all this time. Lillianna's step stool is half the size mine was so it helps a little bit,but not enough. I think it's time to get a new step stool. There are dishes and things all over the dining room table that Rich hasn't put back yet.I haven't put them back either because I can't reach the shelf!!!!

4. A BROILING PAN.......If I ever broil hamburgers in the oven,I balance my cookie rack on top of a sheet cake pan and create a wobbly and very unstable broiler-like pan. Many times the burgers have fallen off the rack and into the pan and the grease splatters everywhere. By the grace of G-d I have not started any grease fires. Lillianna has recently decided she likes broiled fish so I figure it's time to invest in a broiling pan. Don't you agree?

So that's it. That's my crazy list for today. I can't wait to go shopping.

Stop coughing on me,damn it!

One of my biggest pet peeves is people who come in for an eye exam when clearly they should be in bed,drinking hot tea and taking cold medication. If they are going to their primary care physician for a "sick visit" then that is one thing. They are trying to get well.Ok.I'm all for that. Coming to an eye doctor for a routine eye exam in this condition is simply a selfish way of spreading their germs.

The other day,an older woman came in for a 6 month follow up visit and she told me that she had been very sick with a bad cold for 10 days. Right away I was aggravated. Germs are everywhere and there is no escaping them but she could have rescheduled this appointment for when she was feeling better. She had been getting worse over those 10 days and didn't want to bother her doctor.How kind of her.Don't bother your pcp for meds...just come right in my office and expose me to your illness.

So, here I am trying to refract her behind the phoroptor,(that's the big black and silver thing you look through to determine your eyeglass prescription...you know....when we ask you, "Which is better, one or two?") and it was absolutely infuriating.

I asked her the one or two question and there was a pause.

Patient: Uhm,one.(coughcoughcoughcoughcough.....big phleghmy cough,coughcoughcough....infection is flying straight out in front of her so I step way to the side.....patient sits back from phoroptor and presses tissue to her mouth....coughcoughcoughcoughcough....puts her head back in the initial position)

Me: Which is better now, three or four?

Patient: Three.(coughcoughcoughcoughcough.....huge hacking cough...another hacking cough......patient sits back from phoroptor again,coughcoughcough..germs are scurrying around the exam chair)

Me: Why don't I go get you some water? I'll be right back.

(I go off to the water cooler and get a cup of water. When I return to the exam room she drinks it down like a jello shot and hands me the cup. Fantastic...more freakin' germs. She puts her head behind the phoroptor again and I try to proceed.)

Me: I'll try to get through this as quickly as I can if you can just stay behind the phoroptor.

Patient: Sorry, it's just this darn cold.It's getting worse and worse every day.(coughcoughcoughcoughcough....another phlegmy nauseating cough.....tissue pressed to mouth.....coughcoughcough.)

(I held back from shouting,"So why the hell did you come in today? I can't afford to be sick. I have two jobs and both of them require that I speak without coughing up an internal organ."
I took a deep breath to calm myself but realized,too late, that I probably sucked in some extra germs with that cleansing breath.)

In the end,I refracted her while trying to dodge the spewing germs which were pouring forth like lava from a volcano.
After the exam, I escorted her out to the waiting room,put on my surgical gloves and scrubbed and scrubbed every inch of that exam room with Sani-Cloths which basically kills everything. Generally we only put on the gloves when we are putting in eye drops and have direct contact with the patient. If I had known how much protection I was going to need for this exam,I would've put on my gloves,a gown and a surgical mask.

If you are sick and have a doctor's appointment with an eye doctor,dentist,podiatrist,chiropractor or any other exam that is not a "sick visit" with your pcp.......STAY HOME!

A dinner date

My mom took Lillianna last night for 2 days and 2 nights. Last night she slept over mom's house and this morning they headed down to Cape Cod to sleep at the beach house Kara and Peter have for this week. Lillianna will have fun with Lena and Bella and I will have time to myself,when I'm not working.She has never been away from home for more than one night but it will be good for all of us. She is with my family so I am not worried about her safety.

This leaves me and Rich with some bonding time. Last night was pretty low-key since we just stayed home but on my way home from work today I decided to do something fun tonight. Rich got a co-worker to switch late nights with him so he will be home at 6:30pm instead of 9pm tonight. We don't really have the money to go wild but I said, "Screw it!" and we are going out to dinner at our favorite restaurant and I am charging it on my credit card!

We never have time as a couple and on the rare occasion that we do, we don't have any money to do anything. So, I am throwing caution to the wind and we are going to have some fun. Rich will get his favorite prime rib and I will get a seafood pasta meal that I adore.....and I will indulge in a green apple martini. I haven't had one of those since last November when we celebrated our wedding anniversary.

I am going to relax for the rest of the day and then get ready for my date. I can't wait.

Happy Fourth of July

For most Americans,today is a day off from work.Rich's company decided that today would be a good day to be open for a while,so he is working 9am-3pm. *sigh* We didn't get this news until last Friday because the boss couldn't decide if he should close or not. Since Rich delivers for a swimming pool company (no deliveries today) which also sells bars,saunas,patio furniture,pool tables and many other non-swimming pool related things,this is clearly a day to be open and ruin any chance of our family being together for a fun day of bonding. Someone might run in for that last minute chlorine, right? Must.......be........open!

I sent my unhappy husband off to work and now it's time for Lillianna and I to plan our day. After a quick trip to the ATM and a fill up at the gas station,we are headed into town to the local college campus where there are activities for all ages, all day today. We will get there around 1pm for the 1st storyteller,then the magic show, then at 3pm is Lillianna's favorite; Big Ryan's Tall Tales. He entertained at Lillianna's 4th birthday. He is just captivating.
There is also a Festival of the arts for the kids and I think Lillianna will be able to make seashell jewelry.

Rich should be home by 4pm. After dinner we will head to the ball field for fireworks which start at 9:30pm. Lillianna is very excited and I am happy that we will at least have part of the day as a family. Last year I had to work until 9:30pm on the 4th of July so we weren't together at all. Tonight should be fun.

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY TO ALL OF YOU.

What are you doing to celebrate?

A rite of passage

When I was a child,religion was extremely important to me. As an adult,it is even more important and yet it has been years since I have been to the temple on a regular basis. This is what A rite of passage is all about.

You can read it over at Dotmoms.

A day of cleaning

Yesterday I cleaned.For anyone who has read this blog before,you know that's a big deal for me. I hate cleaning and I try to avoid it whenever possible. Rich usually cleans when I am at work on the weekends. (Thank you,honey!)

Since I have felt rather blue lately, I wanted to change something that I had some control over. I decided to put some order in our apartment and I started with Lillianna's bedroom. At 10am,armed with my good intentions and a willing daughter, I began to straighten out her room. I started with her closet. I like her clothes to go in order: dresses,skirts,capri pants,jeans,short sets,shorts,pretty shirts,
t-shirts,a couple of long sleeved shirts (We're in Massachusetts.It could snow in the summer!),sweaters and then sweatshirts. It took a while but I got that task completed.

Then I had Lillianna crawl under her bed and pull out everything. She found her hospital socks from her 2 day stay at the hospital when she dehydrated. I don't want to know how long those furry things have been trapped under there. It was like a magician's hat under that bed. The more she pulled out,the more there was to pull out. After 3 hours, we took a one hour break for lunch. We were exhausted. At 2pm, we started in again.

We threw 2 trash bags full of stuff away. I organized her book shelf,her reading corner and her bureau,then I sent her in the living room for a while because I wanted to make a special place for her. Last month,she gave her Little Tykes toy box to a friend of mine for her daughter so there is a big space by her bureau. Until yesterday, that space was filled with all the clutter she couldn't stuff in her closet. Now that the area was clear, I did some rearranging.

I took her armoire, old fashioned desk and chair set and canopy bed for her American Girl Dolls and put them in the empty area. Her 3 dolls sat on top of the armoire. When Lillianna saw this, her face lit up. She thanked me a million times with shrieks of, "I love you Mommy!!!!!!" She said, "I can't believe you Feng Shui'd the place." Ya, well, I didn't but I did clean it up beyond recognition. When the room was finished,Lillianna was thrilled and so was I. The four hours it took to fix her room was worth it.She said it was better than Extreme Make-overs/Home Edition.

At 3pm, I straightened our bedroom;not a deep cleaning like Lil's room but it looked good....and I dusted. Then off to the living room,the bathroom and finally the kitchen. At 6pm I started dinner. When Rich got home at 7pm,I had chicken cutlets,corn on the cob and mashed potatoes waiting for him. Our meal was delicious.
After dinner, I cleaned the table and the kitchen and by 8pm I was finished!!!!

I had quite a productive day and it did me a world of good. I felt better about the things I couldn't change and I felt victorious over the things I did change.
It just about wore me out and my back is killing me from being twisted in Lillianna's beanbag chair as I rearranged her library but it was the best therapy for me.

Instant mashed potatoes? Who knew?

I never gave instant mashed potatoes much thought growing up. I think my mom made them when I lived at home but I can't say for sure.I do remember that my sister,Kara, was always asking me to make them for her when she was a teenager. She never had the time to follow the directions on the package. The one time she did attempt to make them, she dumped everything in the pot at once and watched as the potato flakes floated helplessly around the top of the water.

"Why won't these flakes turn into potatoes?" she demanded.

I looked into the pot,rolled my eyes and asked sweetly,"Did you read the part that said to boil the water,butter and milk first and then add the flakes?"

"I don't have time for that!" she huffed and puffed. She pushed the box at me and said, "Here. You make them," and she stomped off.

When Rich and I got married,he made it clear that he loved home-made mashed potatoes. I wanted to be a good wife,whatever that is,so when it came time to make potatoes, home-made was the way to go. Since this is a sometimes painful procedure,peeling,cutting,waiting for them to boil,then the tedious mashing, I tend to only make this side dish on special occasions.

Lillianna and I had dinner over Kara's house last weekend and she made instant mashed potatoes.(Twelve years later she is able to follow the directions. Hey wait a minute...she asked me to make them while she checked the grill outside. Hmmmmmmm!)Anyway,the simple preparation of Potato Buds got me thinking,"I could easily make these with a meal."

I bought myself a big old box yesterday when I was food shopping and then I asked Rich if he would mind the instant brand rather than home-made. He said that would be ok. They came out like soft clouds of potato goodness. Yum! Over dinner I asked,"So, you didn't mind that they were instant?"
He said,"Not at all. This is what I grew up with."

I nearly choked. He's going to be getting instant from now on!!!! Well,except for Thanksgiving. I think I can make home-made for that. It's his favorite holiday meal.

What kind of mashed potatoes do you make? Home-made or instant?

Feeling Blah

It's not a new problem. I have complained about this before. Lately I have been wondering if I am depressed. Some days, all I want to do is sleep.I can't actually give into that temptation since I work and have Lillianna to take care of but the desire is there. If there is a chance to nap, I take it. I need it. I want it.

I watch my sister and Peter and they work really hard and they seem to be bursting with energy all of the time. They keep their house spotless. They don't go to bed unless everything is clean. If I lived by that motto I would never be in bed. As it is, I rarely sleep once I am in there. There is always more to clean,more to do and day by day, I have less and less energy or desire to do it.

I have heard questions of, "So, did you give up writing your blog,or what?" from many sources. No, I didn't give up writing but some days, I don't have the time or the energy to type a thought.

Today Kara had me look online at a house for sale. I suppose I could buy it if I could figure out how to bring in an additional $200 per month for the mortgage, plus over $2,000 a year in taxes. What is that....$400 more per month? I can't swing that. If I add any more hours into my work week I will keel over in a heap. As it is I can barely drag myself into the job I hate 3 mornings a week.

So, all in all, I just feel blah today.

Razzles

Do you remember Razzles? Rich recently purchased a package for Lillianna which got us to thinking about the old Razzles commercial. All I remember is, "First it's a candy. Then it's a gum....." (something comes after this and I think it ends up rhyming with fun?)

Rich started singing,
Razzles are zippy
Razzles are zappy
Razzles will make your whole mouth happy.

I had to remind him that that jingle was for Zarex!
So now we're stumped. What the heck was the jingle for Razzles?

Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

When I Grow Up

I found out this morning that one of my co-workers has a blog. It's called When I Grow Up. Please check it out and say hello!

Is it dinner time again?

Is it just me or are there other moms out there who are just sick of cooking dinner? Maybe I would enjoy it more if my family actually ate things that I liked but they are very simple folk, and cooking is a chore for me rather than something fun and interesting.

I can get away with "pizza night" on Mondays when Lillianna has hip-hop class because we don't get home until 7:15pm so pizza is easy.
I slip some Chinese take-out in every few weeks when we have a little extra money because that is a family favorite. What am I supposed to do for the rest of the time?

That leaves Tuesday,Wednesday and Friday for me to whip up some marvelous meal for dinner. (I work Thursday nights so Lillianna eats at my Mom's house and that is cereal night for Rich. Sundays I come home from work at 4:00pm so Rich usually cooks something.)

I have written about our meal dilemmas before but right now,I have to pick Lillianna up from her last day of school and then run to the supermarket for dinner fixins and I don't know what the heck to fix!!!!! It all seems boring to me. I don't even have the desire to come up with something creative.
Nothing sounds appealing. Rich always says that whatever I make is fine but I don't think I can even muster fine today.

How do you make meal planning a fun experience?

Look! They mentioned me!

I was just checking out DotMoms since Julie has been changing it around a bit and I came across media links that refer to us. I clicked on the Forbes link and I was stunned to see my name in there. They mentioned me! It's so cool. It's cooler than cool. It's even cooler than yesterday!!

I write for a cool website!!!

Julie, our DotMoms editor just sent this to all of us. It lists the 50 coolest websites. DotMoms is listed under Motherhood in the same paragraph as Dooce. I think that is pretty cool. Yay DotMoms!!!

I missed my blog anniversary

Apparently June 7th was my one year anniversary of having this blog.Time sure flies in blogland.I can't believe it's been a year. Well, at least it made me realize why I started my blog.
You can read my very first post here.

There's gotta be more to life

I always scoffed at people who proclaimed, "I'm trying to find myself." My usual sarcastic response was,"Try looking in the mirror.There you are!" I was younger then and didn't really understand what "finding myself" meant.

Over the past year I have struggled with what I want to be when I grow up. At 42, I guess I have to face the fact that I am grown up. So, what am I doing with my life? I know I am a good mother and wife and I am really proud of that. It is fulfilling to know that we are raising a wonderful child who is kind,caring and loving. Rich and I have worked hard to keep our marriage on the right path and I am grateful for that.Having a happy,loving family makes for a much happier life.....for all of us.

Still, there is something missing. I feel like my "get up and go" has got up and went. All the cliches that I hate are spinning in my head. What am I passionate about? How do I find my bliss? If I don't actually gag when I think of these questions maybe I could focus on what I want to do.

I'm not talking about giving up my job to pursue this other thing but I want to do something in addition to work. Something fulfilling. Something that will make my heart zing when I think of it. What it comes down to is this.......I want to write.
I love writing. I am passionate about it. I have to admit then there are times when I read one of my old posts and I think,"This is really great. Wow,I'm funny!"
Can I admit that? Oh well, I just did. I don't think every post is a winner but I am proud of my writing.

So what about the 3 children's books that I have written but have refused to send to a publisher? Now why did I have to go and bring those up? I am going to have to put on my big girl pants and just do it. Ya,ya, I know I said that a while back and I didn't do a darn thing about it. I did print out some publishers but so far.....they are just sitting in a drawer.According to the advice I got on a website about writing, I am supposed to research all the publishers to see who I can send my book to. How boring is that?

I hate rejection. I just hate it.I realize no one embraces rejection but I am not thick skinned enough to hear,"This book sucks!" from publisher after publisher. But if I don't send them out, I will never know,right? My new idea is a to write a book about soul mates. Oooooh a grown up book! Do I dare? If I write it, will I send it anywhere or will it sit in my drawer forever?

I am such a scaredy pants baby when it comes to this but how can I set a good example for Lillianna when I am afraid to follow my dream?

How do you follow your dream even when you are afraid?

Dads are funny people

Last night,somewhere in the middle of my sleep,Rich put Lillianna in bed beside me. I think he was still up watching t.v. at the time so I asked him what was going on. He told me that Lillianna had a tummy ache. I asked my daughter why she didn't feel well and she immediately pointed the finger at her father.

"Daddy let me eat junk today," she said accusingly.
I sighed. I only had a few hours of sleep before I had to get up and go back to work for 8 more hours. The last thing I wanted to deal with was a puking child in my bed.
"Don't you remember my popsicle story?" I asked. She said she didn't. I was stunned and amazed. The popsicle story is one of my favorite Daddy stories. In the olden days,when most dads were truly oblivious,I had a little incident with popsicles.

I was 5 or 6 years old when this story took place.Mom went out to play Mah Johng with her friends on this particular summer evening and Daddy was in charge of his one and only child.I went out to play with my friends but I got hot from running around. I ran up the 3 flights of stairs and asked Daddy if I could have a popsicle. He said,"Sure." Keep in mind,this was 1968 when popsicles were double the size they are now. Remember the ones with 2 sticks in them? So I ate my popsicle and ran upstairs again. I asked Daddy if I could have another popsicle. "Ya,sure," he said without a moment's hesitation.I grabbed a different flavor and went out to play again.

A few minutes later I asked for a third popsicle. Daddy said,"Ok." I knew there was no way that I was supposed to have three of them but he was in charge so I didn't question him. What kid would have?
A short time later, I got hungry. "Daddy, can you make me a can of spaghetti?" I asked hopefully. He opened the can of Franco-American and heated it up for me. I ate a huge plate of it and went outside again.

Not too long after that, I went up and asked for another popsicle. Guess what my Dad's answer was? Yup. You guessed it. I grabbed a popsicle as fast as I could and ran out the door before he changed his mind. Soon it became dark and we all went inside for the night. Suddenly, I had a tummy ache. Dad's advice? "Go to bed."

As soon as I tried to lay down,I felt worse so I sat up and played with my Colorforms until Mom came home.She stood in the doorway of my bedroom with her hands on her hips and asked "What are you doing up?"
Before I could answer......I threw up.....everywhere. It went across the room and landed at her feet. Mom examined the mess at her feet then she looked at my Dad who had now joined her in the doorway.
"Well, I see you fed her spaghetti! What else did you give her?" she demanded.

Dad didn't remember feeding me anything else,he explained.That's when Mom glared at me. "Uhm,I had a couple of popsicles," I said innocently.
"How many is a couple?" she asked. I paused so that I could count them up.
"I had four popsicles and a can of spaghetti," I admitted.

Mom just sighed and glared at Daddy. He shrugged and walked into the living room. I changed into fresh jammies while Mom cleaned up my mess then I went back to bed. From that point on, Mom always reminded Daddy not to let me eat as many popsicles as I wanted. She didn't have to waste her breath. I never tried that again.

So Happy Father's Day to all the dads who give their kids junk food til they puke and to all the dads who know better.


(To my dear husband,Rich,You're darn lucky Lillianna didn't throw up on me last night while you were safe and snug in her bed!! Since you're such a great husband and father, I won't hold that against you!!
I love you!!)

Mom and Dad's Rule Book

You can read my latest post over at Dotmoms.

Realistic expectations

I was talking to Lillianna's mother-in-law,Linda,the other day and she told me that she let's Zach and Samantha watch one hour of television per day.(Zach and Lillianna were married this school year. He and his sister Samantha are 7 years old.) Uhm,well,let's just say we let Lillianna watch quite a bit more than one hour per day. (Please don't call D.S.S. on us. I grew up watching t.v. all the time so I am pretty lenient in this area.)She also said that if they don't put their dishes in the sink or they leave clothes on their floor, she deducts 15 minutes from their t.v. time. With only an hour,a 15 minute loss is a lot.

This got me thinking. Sometimes I feel like I expect too much from Lillianna. Other times I feel like I don't expect enough. Granted, my mother made my bed until I was 15 years old but I never asked her to. She just did it because she was a neat freak. I am definitely not my mother. Lillianna has been making her own bed for 3 years. Sometimes she makes it by herself,other times she asks for help. There are always clothes piled on her floor. Sometimes I hang them all up when she is at school but usually I let her put the clothes on the hangers herself and then I put them in the closet. You can bet there are underwear and countless numbers of socks scattered around her room that should've made it to the hamper in my bedroom days before. It's starting to annoy me. I don't want to raise a thoughtless slob.

On the way to school this morning,I told her I was going to write a list for her that tells her how many minutes she will lose for each violation. If you know Lillianna, you will realize that this is actually something she is looking forward to. I have decided that she will lose 15 minutes for each pair of underwear,pair of socks,pajamas,books or toys that I find on the floor. I will subtract starting at her bedtime which is 8pm on school nights. If she has 2 pair of underwear,3 pairs of socks and 2 pajamas and one book on her floor then she will stop watching t.v. at 6:00pm. This is typically what is on her floor every day unless she picks them up. I am hoping that the thought of losing t.v. will compel her to pick up after herself.Since we will have a list, Rich will have to stick to this when I am at work.

How much t.v. do your children watch per day?
Do you expect them to clean up after themselves or do you do it for them?

When did things change?

When I was a kid,way back when,people didn't even pick up the newspaper in their front yard unless they were properly dressed. Maybe there was that crazy neighbor lady who snuck out in her housecoat and rollers in her hair and hoped no one was looking but that wasn't the norm. When people left the house, they looked respectable.

Yesterday, on my way to work, I saw a 20-something guy walk in front of my car dressed in my pajamas! He had on blue plaid Tweety flannel pajama bottoms and a t-shirt. I guess the fact that he was wearing shoes made that an outfit but when I bought those pants they were sold as pajamas! When did it become acceptable to prance around in jammies?

Many little girls would come home from school crying, "Bobby said he saw my underwear!" You can put any name in there, but the fact is, if someone saw your underwear,you were embarrassed. Friends might help you out and whisper to you, "I can see the band of your underwear. Pull your pants up." Oh, the gratitude of hearing that from a friend before others might snicker at the same thing. No one wanted to hear the endless sing songy chant of, "I can see your underwear. I can see your underwear....."
I remember playing kickball at my friend's house when suddenly one of the boys started taunting, "I see London. I see France. I see Martha's underpants!" Poor Martha. It was a rough day for her.

Now,it's cool and chic to show the world your unmentionables. Women wear their pants low on purpose so that you can see their thong underwear. I don't want to see someone's underwear. They are to be worn "under," get it? UNDER!
Guys are wearing their pants so that their boxers can be seen above their pants. They look like clowns without the big shoes. I think that is the most ridiculous look. If I were single and met up with a guy who was sporting this look I would try not to laugh and say, "Hey Doofus! Pick up your pants for goodness sake!"

Do you miss the good old days or have you changed with the times?

Making a sandwich

Yesterday morning I was running late. Instead of making lunch for Rich and leaving it in the refrigerator for him, I told him he would have to make his own lunch. I always feel guilty about this but I leave at 7am and he doesn't have to bring Lillianna to school until 8:20am and then he leaves for work at 9:00am.

I sat on the edge of the bed putting on my sneakers and explaining to Rich that I was running late.

Me: Sorry,honey but I didn't have time to make your lunch. Can you make your own sandwich?

Rich:(using his best "moron voice.") Uh,duh,uhm....first you put the bread down, then,uhm.....then you put a slice of ham on the bread....then a slice of cheeeeeeese,right? (he looked at me with a big goofy face.)....then you put another piece of ham and duh,uhm,uh then another piece of bread! Ta-da. Then you have a sandwich.
And then,you put it in a little plastic bag to keep it fresh. Duh, I can do that!!

I rolled my eyes at him after I stopped laughing and said,"Ok, then. Thanks."

When he came home from work last night I asked, "Did you make a sandwich for lunch?"
He answered, "No. I had $5 so I went to Burger King for lunch."

So, where does that leave us? Do you think he really knows how to make a sandwich?

On my mind

1) I know Michael Jackson was found to be "not guilty" of all the accusations but let's face it people....he's a freakin' psycho child molester. I don't know why they couldn't prove it in court except for the fact that most jurors didn't like one of the moms. They said she was annoying and pointed her finger at the jury and that pissed them off. Wonderful! Anyone who thought this was a fair trial is probably still rejoicing that O.J. was not guilty of killing his ex-wife and her friend.

2) The autopsy report on Terri Schiavo is in.....she wouldn't have gotten better with therapy or food. Duh! I already knew that!

3) What's up with the Aruba case? First of all, why were there so few chaperones for so many students? There is no way they couldn't kept the kids safe. No way at all.
For an intelligent girl, Natalee wasn't too bright if she separated from her group and went off with strangers. Maybe they abducted her but I bet she wanted one last party with some cute foreign boys and now she is dead! No matter what we say to our kids to keep them safe, they still do stupid things and end up dead.

I have a pounding headache due to PMS right now so sorry this is a pessimistic post but sometimes, life isn't fair and it just plain sucks!

Your Disney World Favorites

We have booked our Disney trip for the end of the year.This will be Lillianna's very first time there and it will be the second time for me and Rich. It will be our 11 year anniversary while we are there.

I have the Birnbaum's book and I will read it cover to cover within the next week.
I thought I would ask those of you in blog land.....if you have been to Disney recently, tell me the ride,attraction or restaurant you don't want us to miss when we go.

Thank you!

Dinner, anyone?

I just called Rich who is at my sister's house with Lillianna having a grand old time celebrating Lena's 7th birthday. When I asked Rich what Lillianna was eating for dinner, I didn't believe the answer he gave me. I had to speak to my mother to confirm this.

"What is my daughter eating?" I asked incredulously.

"She has a hot dog roll and you know, cheese things inside," my mother explained.

"What kind of cheese?" I questioned. (Lillianna doesn't eat cheese on it's own so this sounded doubtful.)

"You know,curled cheese," she said.

"You mean like cheese doodles?" I asked,hoping I had made a mistake.

"Ya, cheese doodles."

"My child is eating a cheese doodle sandwich?.....a cheese doodle sandwich?" I asked, half amused but slightly horrified.

"Ya. I'll get her to eat some fruit later," Mom reassured me.

"Uhm, okay," I said as I hung up the phone.

I suppose nutrition is a non-issue when a child is having fun.

What's the weirdest thing your child has eaten as a meal?

Me? On reality t.v.? I don't think so!

I received an email today from someone who works for Wife Swap. This person said she had read my blog and thought it was interesting and offered me the chance to apply to be on the show. When I got to work this evening,Bobbi said she had received the same email. This was probably sent out to every blogging mom on the planet but I wonder who would be interested in being on such a show.

There isn't one single reality t.v. show that I would be willing to appear on. I would absolutely never agree to switch lives with another woman for 10 days. First of all, it has taken Rich and I 11 years to finally get our act together. There is no way that I would allow someone to come in and mess that all up. Second of all, I would never let a stranger live with my daughter and start bossing her around. Hell no!

I find this whole concept to be absolutely bizarre. If you received this email, are you considering applying to be on the show? Why or why not?

The reason society is confused

Ambiguous messages are everywhere in our society. We are constantly bombarded with ads to exercise,take vitamins and eat healthy. They are always followed by commercials of fast food restaurants telling us that it is a bargain to "super size" our meal.A large French fry can now feed a family of 3 or you can just eat it all yourself! Eat smart or super size? Hmmmmmmm....let me think a minute and I'll get back to you.

Today I passed the ice cream stand that proudly boasts that it has a petting zoo. A petting zoo! Leads you to believe there are animals that you can ....oh,I don't know....pet? Well, when you go inside to the chicks and bunnies the large sign boldly states, "DO NOT PET THE ANIMALS!!!" Lillianna and I were very confused when we went a couple of years ago and we have never been back. I can not pet animals anywhere. What's my incentive to not pet them there?

Right before I got home this afternoon, I passed another odd sign.
"4th of July Fireworks on June 25th!" I know we interchange Independence Day with The 4th of July but the 4th of July is an actual day in a month and can't be switched with another day of the year.

And while I'm at it, why do restaurants and stores insist on spelling coming with 2 m's on their gigantic signs? Comming soon! How hard is that to spell?

I was particularly bitchy today so these things irked me. What do you hate about the signs you see?

The first lie

Well,it had to happen eventually,I guess. Lillianna told a lie. You can read all about it at DotMoms.

The downfall of the lollipop

When I was a child, Tootsie Roll Lollipops were all the rage. I think we all counted,at least once, how many licks it took to get to the center. Then Charms came out with bubblegum in the middle of their pops. What a bonus! Instead of reaching the center,getting a quick chew and then swallowing the tootsie roll, we got to chew our gum for a few minutes before it shrunk up to nothing and went stale.

Over the years,lollipops have changed. Flavors like grape,orange and raspberry are still around but they are probably not as popular as banana-berry-split,cotton candy,bubble gum and pina colada. I am in favor of new and improved flavors but there is one thing I disapprove of: new methods of eating a lollipop.

A few years ago,I was standing in the check out line in Wal-Mart when I noticed a display of motorized lollipops.Motorized lollipops! I picked one up, held it in my hand and gave it a good long look. I was stunned. With a push of a button, the pop would automatically twirl around in your mouth. I looked at the cashier and asked, "Are kids,nowadays,just too lazy to suck? Is this the kind of generation we are raising? It's not bad enough that there is a huge epidemic of obesity because kids over eat and don't exercise but now they can't even lick their own damn lollipop without help?" The cashier laughed and nodded in agreement.

I thought I had seen it all....until today.
Lillianna and I were in CVS picking up our film. While I was in line,Lillianna was browsing the candy selection. She picked up a pack of Jolly Ranchers and put them on the counter. Then she found something more interesting and brought it over for me to look at. CANDY SPRAY! Yes, you read that correctly. It's not one of those breath sprays to curb your appetite. This is a candy,marketed for kids,that is a spray.
Apparently chewing,sucking and swallowing has become too darn complicated for this generation. Now you can just spray a mist in your mouth and pretend you are eating candy. I told Lillianna she could have her Jolly Ranchers but NOT the candy spray. I refuse to raise someone without the basic skills to eat a lollipop.

This is truly a sad day in CandyLand for me.
Have you bought candy spray for your children?

Spicy sauce

Sunday night, Rich and Lillianna had dinner ready when I came home at 4:30pm. They fixed up a jar sauce by adding hamburger and sausage and put it over pasta. Rich usually throws a little garlic in for me because I like my sauce to be packed with flavor. Other than that he is kind of a salt and pepper guy.If I want more flavor, I have to add it myself.

I took my first bite of pasta and was amazed by the flavor. "Wow! This is some spicy sauce! It really has some kick to it!!" I exclaimed. Rich and Lillianna exchanged glances across the table. I looked at each of them and waited for whatever was coming.

"I think that's my fault," Rich confessed.

"Daddy let me help," Lillianna explained. "I think I put too much hot peppers in," she sad sadly as she looked down at her plate. (She was talking about the shaker of crushed red peppers that she shook one time too many.)

"Too much? You can never put too much hot peppers in anything! It's delicious," I said as I shoveled another forkful in my mouth.

Rich took a bite. "WOOOOOOO! This does have a kick to it.......but it's really good!"

I thanked Lillianna for helping to make such a delicious sauce. I just finished the left-overs for dinner tonight. YUM!!!

Thank you to my dear husband for making dinner so that I didn't have to and to my clever daughter for adding lots of spice to our life!!!!!

Did you ever make a cooking mistake that turned out not to be a mistake at all?

An unexpected day off

I usually work on Tuesday mornings but last night when Rich came home, he said something was wrong with the brakes in his car. Brakes always mean $$$$$$. I hate car repairs. I had to call my lead tech last night at home to let him know I wasn't going to be in work today since we were going to be down to one car. I was happy to have a day off but I knew there was going to be a price....and probably a steep one.

Rich and I brought his car to the mechanic and then I drove him to work. I just got the call I was dreading. The brake repairs will be over $500. I tried not to faint,cry or choke when the news was delivered. I think I held it together pretty well. Then I called and told Rich the news. There's nothing we can do except be grateful the car will be fixed today and that Rich will continue to have a car that runs safely.

Everytime I think we are going to be doing ok, a car breaks down.

My funny husband

It's a known fact that I love ice cubes. I usually buy one bag at a time but for the past couple of weeks I have been buying 2 at each shopping trip. This morning I went food shopping at 7:30am so that I could be back by 8:15am to take Lillianna to school. When I returned home, I called Rich on the cell phone and he came downstairs to bring up all the groceries. This is why I go shopping before he leaves for work!

As he was unpacking, he began to huff and puff over all the frozen items: waffles,2 pints of Ben and Jerry's ice cream (I had a coupon!),Italian sausages and hamburgs.
"Keep some room for the 2 bags of ice cubes," I reminded him.

"Two bags? You bought two bags of ice?" he asked incredulously.

"Yes, I bought two bags of ice," I said as if speaking to a child."Put it in perspective for G-d's sake. It's not like I just came home and told you I was having an affair!" I said sarcastically.

"An affair I could handle right now but not two bags of ice!" he said seriously.

This is why I always said I had to marry a funny guy. Rich has a way of making me laugh. Just so you know, he did manage to fit the ice in the freezer without too much difficulty! He always does.

Happy Anniversary Kristy and Jerry

Today is Kristy and Jerry's anniversary. I have to guess and say it's their 15th. I could be off a year. I met Kristy at work August 13,1990 and she was newly married. Since that was 15 years ago....you can see where I am going with this.

Anyway, this morning at 10:30am I called just to catch up with Kristy and I was surprised that Jerry answered.

"Hey, what are you doing home?" I asked.

"I decided to take the day off for our anniversary," Jerry replied.

"Your anniversary?" I laughed. "I have your anniversary marked on my calendar and I'm sure it's not today." (As if he wouldn't know his own anniversary,right?)

It was Jerry's turn to laugh as he asked,"Oh? Go check your calendar and tell me what day you have for our anniversary."

I walked into the kitchen to consult my calendar,my lifeline to the universe.
I picked the phone up again and said,
"I have that your anniversary is May 26th!" I announced.

"That's right!" he answered in a pleased tone."And that's today."

"What?" I exclaimed in horror."But I didn't think that was today!"

Jerry thought this was quite amusing and continued to laugh.

"Well, Happy Anniversary,then!"

Jerry kept laughing.

"Ya, well, I would think it's funny too if this didn't happen to me!" I had to laugh with him. My good intentions are always so disorganized!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY KRISTY AND JERRY!!

Singin' In The Rain

This morning, Rich kept whistling the introduction to, "Singin' In The Rain," over and over and over and over again. He never got as far as the actual, "I'm singin' in the rain, just singin' in the rain," part. He just kept whistling the introduction.

I took into consideration the fact that it has rained the past 4 or 5 days in a row so I didn't say anything to him at first. After about 15 minutes of this I finally asked,"Why do you keep whistling the beginning to 'Singin' in the rain?' It's not even raining today!"

Rich looked at me thoughtfully and then asked,"Oh, is that what it is? I didn't even know what song it was." Then he whistled it again and smiled. "It is Singin' in the rain!"

I just had to laugh. What else can you do?

What funny thing did your spouse do today to make you laugh?

Express Yourself

I have always loved cute or funny sayings. I remember in High School, there was a desk in my Spanish class that had the following sayings on them:

1) Life is a waste of time. Time is a waste of life. So why not get wasted and have the time of your life? (Please keep in mind this went completely against my way of thinking but for some reason, it always made me laugh.)

2)This is national sex week. Give til it hurts.

3) Dyslexics of the world......UNTIE!

I must say that overall, the funniest thing I ever heard was in Israel. I forget who I was mad at but one of my friends did something that really made me mad. I was 23 years old and at the time, many of my friends were guys who didn't have a lot of commone sense. So I could've been mad at anyone for doing anything!

I stomped over to my friend Pnina's house. She was married and had 3 kids and she was about 7 years older than me. Many times she was my voice of reason. After hearing my story, she babbled something in Hebrew. Seeing my confused face she said, "How I say in English?" She thought for a moment and then she explained, "It means, 'I wouldn't put sh** on their head. It's a pity on the sh**!' Now you see?"

I looked at her and then burst out laughing. I had never heard anything like that before. That totally described many people that I knew. The sh** was too good for them. I thought that was the funniest thing I had ever heard in my life. To this day, that is my favorite expression.

What is your favorite expression?

We're a great team

Yesterday Lillianna got her hair cut. She was tired of screaming through the daily brushing of her fairly long hair and wanted a change. After the trip to the ice cream stand, we walked in to the local hair salon. Before the hair dresser took out Lillianna's pony tail, I took out her earrings so they wouldn't get caught in her hair. These earrings were Lillianna's brand new purple butterfly dangling earrings that I bought her for Mother's Day. They are very special.

I put the earrings in my jeans' pocket with my keys but I had such a bad feeling the minute that I put them in there. I didn't know why but I kept thinking I should put them back in Lillianna's ears the minute her hair was done. But I didn't do that.

We left the hair salon and went down the strip to the supermarket to pick up a couple of things. Then we went home. Before Lillianna jumped into the shower, I emptied my pocket on the dining room table. There was only one earring in there! *sigh* I told Lillianna that I must have lost it in the supermarket or in the parking lot when I took out my keys. I tried to put it out of my mind.

Right after we finished dinner I just couldn't take it anymore. I had to go back. The supermarket is only a couple of minutes from home so I told Rich I would be back in a few minutes. Lillianna,with her damp hair,wearing her Sponge Bob nightgown looked at me with excitement in her eyes and stated,"I'm coming with you!" I looked at her and said, "No, honey. You stay home. I'll be right back."
"No, Mom. I'm small and can see things you can't. Let me go."
I felt like she had to be there with me so I said ok and she changed her clothes and we went.

I parked the car in the same spot as before and we walked to the supermarket the same way that we had walked to the car. We didn't see anything.
We went inside the supermarket and walked to the check out lane that we had been in.
I was in the wrong lane but Lillianna said,"This is the right one,Mom. Remember, it was across from that little bench that I liked?" She was right. No one was there so I walked to the very spot where I had written my check and I looked on the floor. Under a ledge at the bottom of the counter, hidden away from potential stomping feet, I saw the purple butterfly earring lying safely underneath. I picked it up and shrieked, "I found it!"

Lillianna and I were surprised and ever so excited. "See? I told you I could help you!" she said. "Yup, you sure did. You knew the exact spot we were in and I spotted the earring! We're a great team,little girl," I said as I gave her a big hug.
Her smile said it all.

I saw a pooping calf,yesterday

Today I read this in News Of The Weird.

Not the Hardiest of Citizens: Windsor, Ontario, hair stylist Waddah (Martin) Mustapha was awarded the equivalent of about US$270,000 by a court in April after he testified that he became racked with depression upon seeing a fly inside a commercial bottle of water at his salon. Presumably, damages would have been more if Mustapha had actually drunk from the bottle (or even opened it). As it was, he and his wife vomited, and he required extensive psychotherapy for nightmares, loss of sense of humor, increased argumentativeness, lack of desire to shower regularly, and constipation. [Windsor Star, 4-23-05]

So, I was thinking.....yesterday Lillianna and I went with friends to the local dairy for some yummy ice cream. The thrill of going to this particular ice cream stand is that we can visit with the cows who were grazing in the grass. Sometimes,inside the barn,there might be a newborn calf,so we always check in there just in case. What a surprise! We found a 3 day old calf. Just as I was explaining things to Lillianna,Allison and Christopher, the calf started to poop a stream of green sludge. It's back side was aimed straight at us so we got a better look than we wanted.

Sherri,the other mom who was with me,is 9 months pregnant. She left immediately after she got a look at the pooping calf because she was on the brink of losing her lunch. We all made a quick exit and headed for greener pastures,literally.

After reading the above article I thought, "Hmmmmm, we were all grossed out by that pooping calf. I wonder if we could make any cash if we complained we were scarred for life?"

What do you think??

First Kiss

Genuine asked us to write about our first kiss and post it on our blog so here I go.

I was 15 years old and Eric was 18. Our moms had grown up together and on a visit to his house, we met. If we met sometime during our childhood,I have no memory of it at all.

I was so excited, when after this visit, his mom called my mom to say he was interested in me. "Yippee!" I thought. I was quite thrilled. He was a cutie and he was intelligent. I loved that combination. Our first "date" wasn't really a date at all. I was supposed to be babysitting for my sister,Kara,who was only about 3 years old at the time. Eric agreed to keep me company at my house that night. I wasn't sure what that meant but it sounded perfectly innocent.Afterall, what could possibly happen?

I was a little nervous because I had never dated anyone before this.I had liked boys and thought some were cute but that was about it.I was into hanging with my friends, school work, cheerleading and the school play. No time for boys.

I tried to plan out the night so Eric wouldn't think I was dull. My favorite game to play was MASTERMIND so I took that down from my closet so that I could find it with ease. It never ever occurred to me that an 18 year old boy would be interested in games, but MASTERMIND sure wasn't one of them! I wanted to look cute so I put on my brown dress pants and my off-white priest shirt with gold link belt and my brown shoes. It was 1978 and I was at the height of fashion!

When Eric arrived, Kara was still awake so we played with her until it was time for her to go to bed. I had put a bowl of pretzels out for a snack so we munched on those and watched a little t.v. He seemed to be getting a little bit restless so I sweetly suggested we play MASTERMIND. Apparently he was looking for any excuse to get me in my bedroom and he took advantage of that moment.

He grabbed me around my waist and he kissed me. I had never kissed a boy more than a quick kiss on the lips but Eric was doing some serious kissing and I felt goofy. I didn't have any idea what the heck he expected me to do. Then one of his hands rested on my butt and my eyes popped open in surprise. He never even noticed. He just kept kissing me and making all kinds of noises. All I remember thinking was, "How the heck can I get his hand off my butt?" and "Well, at least he doesn't have smelly breath. He smells like pretzels!"

That night, after Eric left, I wrote everything down in my diary. I never wanted to forget my first kiss.

Out of touch

I have a very small family and we have always been close. When my Dad died in September 1987, I became even closer to Mom and Kara. We all lived together until I married Rich. In the 17 years since Dad died, I have spoken to Kara and/or Mom every single day. Sometimes it's a quick, "Hey, how are things going?" Other times we have long conversations. Occasionally Kara will call me first thing in the morning to say,"I'm gonna be wicked busy today so I won't have time to call you." See, that's how close we are. She calls me to tell me she won't have time to call me! Now,that's love.

If Kara is in Maine and Mom and I can't reach her by phone, Mom and I end up chatting a little longer than usual. We don't plan that but it just happens. If Mom is on vacation, Kara and I talk every day or at the very least we email each other if she is swamped with paper work or has people coming in to apply for a mortgage. There is a sense of comfort that we get from our check-ins.

Which leads me to how horrible the past 7 days have been for me. Mom and Kara left last Saturday for a trip to Aruba. They were told there would be no reception there so they didn't bring their cell phones. They bought a calling card for $17 for 30 minutes but it was to call Peter and John (their significant others). They did call us on Thursday night but I was at work and Lillianna was out with Rich. Their message on our voice mail made me cry.I miss them! I feel disconnected. We have never gone this long without talking in the past 17 years.Thank G-d they'll be home tonight and that we'll be together tomorrow night for dinner.We have a lot of catching up to do.

How often do you talk to your family?

An unexpected visit

Kristy and I haven't seen or talked to each other for over a week due to our busy and often conflicting schedules. I called her this morning at 9:00am but she wasn't home. At 9:45am she called me and said she was stopping over for a visit. We had two hours together to chat and catch up. It was great and so very unexpected.

Do yourself a favor today. Call or visit a friend you haven't talked to in a while. It will make you both happy!

Thanks Kristy!!

A bad PMS morning

I have heard it said that Lizzie Borden killed her parents during PMS. Ya,I can totally see that. Hormones are perplexing things. They make a sane woman act irrationally at times. I guess that's what happened to me today.

Rich told me to set the alarm for 6:30am. He was going to get up early and do the laundry. (It's dog eat dog in our apartment laundry room so he had to get up earlier than normal to get a washer.) When the alarm went off, I tapped Rich and told him it was time to get up. He mumbled something that sounded like, "I want to eat my shoe with rice," but I think he said, "I didn't get any sleep last night." I'm not sure.Then he asked if I had enough clean clothes for the day. When I said that I did, he put 2 pillows over his head and continued sleeping.The bottom line was, he was not getting up any time soon.

I hauled my tired body out of bed and went to take my shower. I got dressed, dried my hair and went into the bedroom to glare at my sleeping husband. Out cold! Damn him! I'm tired too, you know. It was 7:15am.
I got Lillianna her clothes,gave her breakfast,combed her hair and put it up in a ponytail then I went and glared at Rich some more.

"Ok, YOU! It's Eight o'clock.I think you need to get up now!!" I said in a not so loving way. Rich mumbled something and he got out of bed. I informed him that after I dropped Lillianna off at school at 8:20am, I was going food shopping and would be home before 9:00am so that he could carry up the bags of groceries. Oh, how he loves that!

Shopping was stressful because I only had 15 minutes to shop and I forgot a bunch of things since I went in without a list. No time to write one this morning. All Lillianna mentioned was, "Don't forget the Sunny Doodles!" Ya, I got those.
I got home at 8:50am and Rich came downstairs to meet me.

He popped his bagel in the toaster while I ran around making his lunch. Then, sensing my stress and tension, he did what any eight year old,uhm, excuse me, thirty eight year old would do. He put his finger near my face and in a little boy voice said,"I'm not touching you." I continued to make his sandwich and he kept trying to make me laugh but I had a blaring headache and no patience so I did what any other PMS stricken woman would do. I punched him in the stomach.
He said I hit like a girl but he doubled over clutching his stomach. OOOOOOPS!
Well, the moral of the story is, don't piss off the wife!

Are you bothered by PMS?

Gay bashers protest 12 year old's winning essay

What kind of world do we live in? A 12 year old girl writes a winning essay about a woman in history and now her school will be invaded by angry protesters. Oh,did I mention that this girl wrote about Ellen DeGeneres? My goodness! What was she thinking? We all know that Ellen is (please say in hushed tones)a lesbian! I know. It's hard to believe but Ellen has openly declared her attraction to women. How could anyone admire such a person? Apparently that is what the angry mob is wondering.

Gay bashers are coming from other states to protest at the middle school.
On the news yesterday, the principal said the essay won based on the student's writing not on the subject matter.
I say, "Who gives a rat's ass?" and I mean that sincerely.

She won. Everyone say it with me, "Yay!" Most people would congratulate this girl but oh no......let's jump on the gay bashing bandwagon and make a mountain out of a mole hill, shall we? G-d knows we don't have enough to worry about!

Well, there's the war in Iraq, people are flying into the U.S.A who are on a "no fly" list but they still make it to Maine. The whole object of being on this list is so that these people DON'T GET ON THE PLANE IN THE FIRST PLACE! Fathers are killing their precious children on a whim. Husbands are killing their pregnant wives and lying about it. Parents are beating their children. Children are doing drugs.......the list is endless if you think about it. But let's not think about that. Instead,let's drive thousands of miles to go scare the crap out of the whole middle school with this ridiculous protest. 'Cuz golly gee, that sounds like a good way to spend my time.

The bottom line is, life is short.....too short. I don't care what religion you are. I don't believe that G-d is a judgemental and vindictive entity. I believe that He/She is pro-love and kindness. That's all. Now I am not asking you to support the gay community. That's an individual choice.But is picketing and protesting at a middle school an appropriate response to a 12 year old's winning essay about a woman in history who just happens to be a lesbian?

I don't think so. Do you?

A family weekend.....at last!

You can read my latest post over at DotMoms.

Having a weekend off was so much fun! Why can't we just hit the lottery so that I can have every weekend off?

My right....your left

I'd like to think I am a fairly intelligent person. I have been working in an ophthalmology practice for the past 15 years. I have a complete understanding of where your eyes are located, I really do. So, when you are telling me your complaints,just tell me which eye on your body is bothering you and leave me out of it!

I can't tell you how many patients say, "My right eye is blurry. Well, my right,your left." How did my eyes get involved in this patient's story? I don't even know these people. Even if I am standing face to face with you, I know your right is on my left side and your left eye is on my right side. It's really so simple that I can't say I ever think about it until a patient makes such a mountain out of a molehill that I don't even know what the heck they are talking about.

"You see,my right eye, well your left eye was bothering me at first but then my left eye,I mean my right eye,.....no, you're right eye....my left eye....." Come on people. Let's keep it simple, ok? Don't try to make it easier for me...you just can't do it. You try my patience and make me want to bolt out of the exam room.

Now, whatever you do,don't tell me you have a pig stye on your right eye, my left eye or I will be forced to kill you.

Things that bugged me this week

Yesterday, on my way to work, I started thinking about the things that bugged me this week. There are a lot of petty annoyances in everyone's daily life and we just shake them off because in the scheme of things,they really don't matter.
That being said, here's my list:

1)Lillianna got her class picture back last week. Usually the picture is taken indoors with the children in two rows. The first row sits on chairs. The back row stands. If there are a lot of children some of them sit on the floor in front.
Apparently this year, the photographer wanted to do something different. This picture was taken outside on a wooden playground jungle gym of some sort. The kids are all squinting because the sun is blaring in their eyes. They are spread out all over this wooden thing so they look like ants because they are so far away.
It is the worst picture I have ever seen!! Of course I already paid for it and I don't have the heart to return it because Lillianna wants a class picture.

2)I got my hair cut on Tuesday and when my hairdresser, Karen, styled it, it was exactly what I wanted. I was thrilled. Two days later and I still can't make it look like anything other than a bird's nest.The wind hasn't helped but the 'poof' Karen added has poofed out for me. I look like a ragamuffin!!

3)When we moved 2 years ago I lost my video camera battery charger in the move. Now I am trying to replace it so I can charge my battery to videotape Lillianna's dress rehearsal on Saturday. Ya, I waited til the last minute so I kind of pissed myself off!

4)I made my favorite chicken piccata last night and I ate way toooooooooo much broccoli. I couldn't help it. I love sauteed broccoli. My stomach hurt so much I thought I would drop dead. You'd think I would learn to eat broccoli in moderation........NOPE!

What bugged you this week?

The fear of empty ice cream boxes

I don't want to sound unsympathetic, but apparently Lillianna and Rich have a fear of empty ice cream boxes. That has to be the reason that they don't remove them from the freezer.I can't tell you how many times I have reached for a popsicle or fudgesicle only to realize the box is completely empty but it's still sitting on the shelf giving the illusion that there is still a frozen treat in there.

The other day I reached for an ice cream and realized it was empty. I haven't mentioned it to anyone yet because I am trying to figure out just when they may address this issue. Well, it's been 3 days now and the empty box is still sitting there on the top shelf in plain sight. Clearly this is not a big issue. It's just another one of those things that makes me shake my head and laugh.

Does your family have a fear of empty ice cream boxes?

Animal cruelty

I couldn't believe the story that I saw on the news this morning. A man was walking by some adult and baby geese. (Is it a gaggle of geese?) Anyway, one of the adult geese hissed at this man which apparently caused the man to fall down.
Here's the story from Fox25.com


Man Accused of Killing Geese in Angry "Rampage"

(05/09/05) — A Rhode Island man who allegedly stomped a Canada goose and five goslings to death in Attleboro over the weekend goes to court today on animal cruelty charges. John Sanders says he felt threatened by the geese. Police say Sanders — an industrial engineer — was walking on property owned by Texas Instruments Saturday when he slipped and fell in the mud after the adult goose hissed at him.

According to the police report, Sanders — angered by his fall — got up and began a "rampage," chasing and kicking the geese. The North Kingston man told The Boston Globe by telephone that he's "heartbroken" over what happened, and that he's not a callous person. He says he felt threatened because the geese were acting aggressive and moving toward him, hissing and beating their wings.

Ok, quick quiz now. If you were in this situation, what would you have done?

A.) Get up and walk away.
B.) Get up, give the goose the evil eye and walk away.
C.) Get up, shake it off and laugh, "Well, that's a goose for ya," and walk away.
D.) Get up, chase after the offensive goose and then stamp 5 goslings into the ground, killing the goslings and injuring the adult goose so badly that it had to be euthanized?

Well, this moron chose option "D"! Can you believe this??????

When my sister Kara was 4 years old and I was 16, I always took her to the park to feet the ducks and geese. One time a goose hissed at her and Kara literally jumped off the ground and into my arms.She was terrified.We slowly walked away and we went to a different area. I didn't turn on the goose and kill it! When does that even become an option?

What do you think is an appropriate punishment for this man? Do you think it was ok for him to kill the geese?

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there.
A special wish goes out to my dear friend,Cheryl, who is days away from giving birth to her first child,Lincoln.
I hope you all have a day filled with laughter and love.

Hot Feet

Last night,as usual,I went to bed before Rich did. At some point I woke up in the middle of the night. I'm not sure if he was just getting into bed or he happened to wake up suddenly but he sweetly said, "It was kind of cold in here so I put another blanket at the foot of our bed so our feet will be warm."

To most people that would sound like such a loving thing to do but I HATE HOT FEET!
I was too groggy to complain but I stuck a foot out of the bed to cool things down a bit. When I woke up at 5am the blanket was in a heap on the floor. Oooops. Now how did that happen?

Do you like your feet to be hot or cold when you sleep?

Mother's Day Presents

When Lillianna was 2 1/2 years old,I wished for a noodle necklace for Mother's Day. I figured this was a good age for her to start making me presents.I didn't share my thoughts with anyone and looking back, I think I should have.Rich is an artist. I imagined that while I was at work on a Saturday (this is back when I only worked 6 hours on Saturdays and not the entire weekend!) he would help Lillianna paint some pasta and then string it into a beautiful necklace for me. I couldn't wait to wear this wonderful piece of jewelry.

When I opened my present on Mother's Day, I was surprised to find an addition to my fairy collection. Now don't get me wrong, I adore my fairies, but I had my heart set on a noodle necklace! I looked up at Rich.He was clearly confused by my lack of enthusiasm and of course, I didn't want to hurt his feelings but I sadly sad,"I wanted a noodle necklace!" He just stared at me. "A what?" he asked. I explained my hopes and dreams of pasta jewelry. He explained that he had no idea that I wanted a noodle necklace and that the thought of Lillianna making anything for me at 2 1/2 years of age never crossed his mind. I thanked him for my fairy but the loss of noodles stayed with me.

Luckily, once Lillianna went to pre-school,I have been overwhelmed with homemade gifts. Her hand prints with a poem hang in our dining room. There are two of those.We take out her Christmas throw rug with one red footprint and one green footprint on it. Those feet look so tiny now but they looked to be just the right size when she first made it! My,how time flies.

The pin she made in pre-kindergarten is something I wear every Mother's Day, although I do try to wear it throughout the year because it's just gorgeous. Lillianna picked out all the stones and rosebuds herself and then Miss Mary hot glued them on the plastic pin. It's mostly purple since that is my favorite color and I adore it.

This past Monday, Lillianna made me a big bucket of silk flowers in her Brownie troop. She chose the flowers herself which always makes me smile. I am thrilled that the flowers are silk because I kill real plants and now I will be able to keep this forever.

Yesterday,when Lillianna got home from school,she told me not to look because she was going to hide my present. After dinner she ran into the living room with my gift. In her little excited voice she said,"Mom! I just can't wait any longer. I have to give you your present." I had to laugh. She is so like me in this way. I can never wait either.

She presented me with a baby food jar filled with bath salts that she made in school. The jar was decorated in purple material with a purple flower on top. I knew she could choose the scent of the bath salts herself and I was secretly hoping she didn't go with the purple theme and make them smell like lavender or lilac which I hate! I opened the jar and sniffed the salt. Ahhh.....I was suddenly on a beach with a tropical drink in my hand. Now, how did I get here?
"Mom! Open your eyes!" Lillianna ordered. I could barely follow her request.My lids felt so heavy.I was suddenly so relaxed. "What scent is this?" I asked.
"It's pina colada," she said smiling. Then she burst into song, "If you like pina coladas..... and getting caught in the rain...." Leave it to my 7 year old to know a 70's song.

I gave her a big hug and thanked her for this fantastic gift. She said,"I know you don't take baths,but maybe you could smell it every day." I told her I definitely would. And that's just what I did before I left for work this morning. It was lovely.

What was the first gift your child made for you?

Girl Talk

I am way behind on my blogging! My newest DotMom's post was on May 3rd but here I am 4 days later and I am just getting around to posting it on my own blog.
You can read Girl Talk here.

Is selfishness and stupidity a crime?

I'm sick of hearing about the runaway bride. I guess now they are saying she is mentally ill. No one knew this before now? If she didn't want to get married and she felt like she needed time on her own,then fine. Go. But tell your parents you are going away. Do you have to make them suffer and think that you are dead? What kind of moron are you that you would fake your own abduction? I think she needs to be brought up on charges.

It should be illegal to do this and to waste all the time and money it took to try to find her when she wasn't really lost! The boy who cried wolf got eaten by the wolf!! No one has the right to put their loved ones through this childish behavior.

What did you think when you heard she wasn't really abducted? Do you think she should be punished?