August 25,1997

Eight years ago today,two things happened.
The first thing was that I had a freckle removed from my right foot. It was a big round spot on top of my foot,right between my big toe and the one next to it. Mom always called it a beauty mark and said that my foot was beautiful. Parents lie a lot, don't they?

I remember when I was about 5 years old and an older neighbor boy jumped on my sandaled foot. I kept screaming and trying to get away. He was convinced he was killing a bug on my foot. Hmmmph! Why didn't he know it was a beauty mark?

I may not have loved this spot all of my life but when the dermatologist decided to remove it,I was devastated. It had been a part of me for 34 years and I didn't feel like parting with it. I had mentioned that it had gotten lighter in color over the years and that sounded suspicious to the doctor, so off it went. There was nothing wrong with it and even now,eight years later,I feel a sadness wash over me when I see the empty spot where my beauty mark used to be.

The second thing that happened on this day was that Rich and I attended our last birthing class. After that,we were on our own. I felt safe in that class with other pregnant women,knowing we would all be going through the same experience. As long as we were in the class,nothing could happen to me.

On this last class,one couple didn't show up. They were in the hospital trying to have her labor stopped. She was carrying twins. She actually ended up delivering a few days before I did because I had just had Lillianna when she was being discharged from the hospital.

Once our class was over,I passed out a box of baby chocolates that I had made to every couple and to our birthing instructor. We wished each other luck and planned to meet at my house in January 1998 after the last baby in the class was born.Then we said good-bye.

For some reason,I remember this date every year and think about those two moments.

Mary Poppins 911

Yesterday I started thinking about Nanny 911. Lillianna and I watch that show every week. I know it has been compared to Mary Poppins because all the nannies are English but I realized Nanny 911 is Mary Poppins!

In Mary Poppins you have the dysfunctional Banks family. Jane and Michael are mischievous children who act out because they don't get any real attention from their parents. Mr.Banks is a workaholic who doesn't have time for his wife or kids. Mrs. Banks is wrapped up in her own world and gives little thought to her children as well.(She's busy fighting for the women's right to vote.)

Mary Poppins flies in. She brings a new way of thinking and a bright and cheery attitude. She speaks to the children on their own level.She makes them feel that she is interested in them,because she really is. Their attitude changes.
She gets the parents to realize how important being a family really is and to see what they were missing.

Mary Poppins realizes her job is done and she says goodbye to her beloved Banks family. There are some tears but Mary waves goodbye and flies away. The Banks family heads off to go fly a kite....together. And they all live happily ever after.

Sound familiar?

How is this possible?

Here is another article in News Of The Weird.

Recurring Themes
Among the more astonishing repeat stories in News of the Weird are reports of people who had somehow managed to swallow their toothbrushes. The Saudi Press Association reported in January that doctors at King Abdul Aziz Hospital in Taif had removed a toothbrush from the stomach of a 70-year-old man (who claimed to have accidentally swallowed it 22 years ago). And in July, the Associated Press reported that a Taiwan surgeon had removed an eight-tooth, accidentally swallowed lower denture from the bronchial tube of a 45-year-old man. The man said he had misplaced the denture three years ago and had been looking everywhere for it. [Agence France-Presse, 1-18-05] [Newsday-AP, 8-1-05]

They've got to be kidding. I can barely brush my back teeth without gagging. How the heck did people swallow their toothbrush or their dentures? I mean seriously. When did accidentally swallowing dental products become an issue?

What's next? What about an electric toothbrush? I suppose if it's swallowed while it's still on,someone would feel it and wouldn't wait a million years to tell someone.Right? Gosh,who knows anymore!! What morons.
What if someone swallows a bottle of mouthwash? Mmmmm....minty goodness from the inside out! How about a pack of dental floss? I suppose that would go down a bit smoother than the other bulky items but what would that do to your intestines? Of course if you swallowed a toothbrush and then swallowed the floss,maybe you could tie the brush with the floss and pull it out?

Have you ever swallowed any dental products? Do you really feel this is a public concern?

Idiot!

Lillianna and I are at Kara and Peter's office today while they are away with the kids. The office is located across from the courthouse on a very busy street. There is a small parking lot off to the side but other than that,it's all street parking with meters.

I happened to look outside the window just a few minutes ago and noticed this man standing by his car. The 5 year old boy inside the car was popping out the sun roof and pulling himself up so that he was sitting on the roof of the car. Non-stop traffic is passing by this car but did the man care? I don't think so. He looked to be the boy's grandfather but unless he is completely senile,he should have known better.

At this point,a police car with the lights flashing,pulled up next to the idiot old man. The boy was rolling around on the roof!
I watched the exchange between the two men and it was pretty clear from his expression that the old man didn't know what the big deal was all about. The officer talked briefly,shook his head in dismay and walked away. The old man shrugged and got the boy from off of the roof.

Is there any adult out there who wouldn't have known that it was not ok to allow the 5 year old boy to roll around the roof of a car on a busy street? Anyone?

Perception can change in an instant

If you would like to read Wednesday's post at DotMoms,then click right over here.
This is a story that just about broke my heart as I watched it unfold one day at the pool. I wish all parents were kind and loving to their children and to each other.
Wouldn't that be a great world to live in?

Working

Lillianna wrote about working with me at Kara's office yesterday and Friday.
If you have a chance,head on over to Lillianna's Place and answer her question about the best job you've ever had.

What a day

I have been working every day since last Tuesday and I am tired. I woke up at 5am for the 8th day in a row and dragged my butt to work. Tuesdays haven't been that hectic in the past month because doctors are on vacation so I was hoping for a nice easy day without too much effort on my part. I sucked down my Dunkin Donut's iced coffee on the 30 minute drive to work and hoped that was enough to get me through my day.

I got to work,put my things in my locker and went to check the list of technicians who were working with each doctor. I wanted to cry when I saw cross-outs and arrows and only Laurie's name with mine next to a doctor who was scheduled to see 26 patients from 8am-10:30am. Usually we have 3,possibly 4 techs with this kind of schedule because rather than being seen in the usual FOUR hours,it's being squished into 2 1/2 hours. Then I saw that there was only one tech with the other doctor who had 19 patients scheduled. For this particular doctor,that would require three techs.

I was told one tech was being sent to help from another office and she would "float" between both doctors. I told Bill,a fellow tech and our schedule coordinator, that I wanted to bolt out the door. I asked if he could pretend he hadn't seen me and was it too late to call in sick for today? He laughed. He was the one working alone with the other doctor,bless his heart. He always puts himself on the worst schedule.

I didn't know where I would get the energy for this but I had to suck it up,yet again,and do the job. Luckily,a friend of my mom's was my second patient and she put me in a happy mood. Other than one whiney patient who drove me nuts,it wasn't a bad morning and I was so happy when I finished the last one. What a relief. Since my co-workers still had the afternoon to contend with,I volunteered to be the "late tech" which stays until all the patients have been seen by the doctor,so they could go to lunch on time. They were all happy. Bill was very grateful.

Even though this day did not look like it was going to be a very pleasant one,it ended up not being too bad since the techs who had Visual Field Tests,Disc Photos and Ultra Sounds to do,came to bail us out when they had the chance. That made a big difference.Team work is very important and to have a coordinator who is compassionate and who has a good sense of humor, really helps to make a bad situation into one that is tolerable.

Does your supervisor or manager make your life better or worse?
(Get it? Better or worse? Like when you have an eye exam.....Is it better or worse? Ok,I suppose explaining that doesn't make it funny but.....I'M TIRED!)

What's in a name?

In 1974,my mother was pregnant. I was almost 12 years old. It was fun for me because I got to help pick out clothes and other items for "the baby." There was no ultra sound to reveal the sex of "the baby" so we had to patiently wait.

The hardest part was picking out a name. Mom came up with Brian Mark if it turned out to be a boy. I didn't care about a boy's name. Nana and I decided this baby was going to be a girl so the name we chose was extremely important.

I have always hated my name. How many times do I have to hear,

"Oh,are you the red,red,robin that goes bob,bob,bobbin' along?" How can you answer that? "Yes,that's me.How did you know?"

One dirty old man came into my work when I was 25 and when he read my name tag he asked,"So,Robin,do you have a red breast?"
What a perv! How could he not be ashamed of himself?

I have also heard,"Oh,so you're the Robin in the song,robin,robin,walking to Missouri. Can't afford to fly." Apparently that's some obscure bird song but several people have said it so it must be out there.

Then of course there's always,"Are you the Robin in Batman and Robin?" "Yes,of course I am. DUH!"

It's maddening. Robin is such a crappy name. (Sorry to anyone named Robin who loves the name. I wish I did!) When I lived in Israel and was introduced to someone new,they always asked,"Isn't Robin a boy's name?"

So,naming my sister was very important to me. I wanted her to have a beautiful name that she would always be proud of and love.
I came up with the name Heather. For me,Heather brings thoughts of lavender and joy to my mind. I wanted that for my sister.

Nana found the name Kara in my dance recital program. She liked it.
I wasn't so sure about that. Then we decided on the middle name Beth. I just loved Bethie from Little Women. I was ok with that. Hmmmm....Kara Beth. It wasn't Heather,but it sounded pretty and had a nice ring to it.

Thirty years later,Kara is very much Kara and not Heather. I still love the name Heather but it would not have suited Kara at all.
Names are funny,aren't they? Do we grow into the name that we are given or are we destined to have a certain name?

What do you think?

Flashback to the 60's

This post was inspired by Carol's post about traveling.

When I was a child,no one ever had to tell me we were going a a road trip. I always knew a vacation was coming up when Mom bought two things: Doo-Dads and Chicken-in-a-biskit. Now I had always thought it was biscuit but apparently,I was wrong. I couldn't find any pictures of Doo-Dads but they were a mixture of cheese nips,pretzles and I think maybe peanuts.

Looking back,I can't imagine who thought up the idea of a cracker that tasted like chicken. How is that delicious? I ate them because I didn't realize the weirdness of it but now,if I want chicken,I'll eat chicken. I don't want something that tastes like chicken.

It's not like chicken is super expensive and we can't afford it so we buy things that have that flavor. Most people can afford chicken.
I remember being in England years ago and they had potato chips (they are called "crisps" over there) that had weird flavors: chicken,prawn and who knows what else. So apparently there is a chicken demand somewhere.

So I have two questions that I would like to throw out to you.
1)What foods did your family pack for road trips when you were a child?
2)What is the weirdest flavored food you have ever eaten? (If you have had vomit jellybeans from Harry Potter please don't tell me. I really don't want to know!)

Kids and sex....in the news again.

I read this article in southofboston.com last night. I was appalled. Why do kids believe that oral sex is no big deal? I can't imagine being an 11 year old girl and thinking this was ok. It is as far from ok as you can get.

BROCKTON — Police are investigating allegations that an 11-year-old girl performed a sex act on three boys, with one as young as 9, as the children played video games.

The allegations surfaced this week after a 9-year-old boy told his parents that the girl performed a sex act on him and two friends in a bedroom at the 9-year-old's home, prompting a call to police Monday. The boy's parents were home in a different room at the time.

"This is unusual, but unfortunately it is becoming more prevalent," Lt. William Conlon, chief of detectives, said of pre-teen sexual activity. "It is starting younger and younger."

Conlon said some children are becoming sexually active and parents need to keep a close watch on where they are, as well as what they are doing, even when at home.

Studies are backing up that concern.

One study by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy found that 18 to 19 percent of youths have had sexual intercourse at age 14 or younger.

Another study, commissioned by NBC News and People magazine, found 77 percent of teens surveyed considered oral sex "sex" but 43 percent did not consider oral sex "as big a deal" as intercourse.

However, when children as young as 9 and 11 are performing sex acts red flags should be raised, said Elizabeth Englander, a Bridgewater State College psychologist and author of "Understanding Violence."

"I would not accept the argument that they saw it on television," she said. "If my child is thinking about specific sex acts, perhaps the child has been shown pornography or has been sexually abused."

In the most recent case, police are continuing to interview people and gather information in the investigation.

The 9-year-old told his parents, and later police, that the incident occurred Sunday after the children watched a movie, "Hide and Seek," a 2005 horror film rated R for "frightening sequences and violence," according to the Internet Movie Database.

Then they went to an upstairs bedroom to play a baseball video game.

The 9-year-old told police the others went upstairs first and when he joined them the girl was already performing oral sex on one of the boys.

He said he went into the room and played video games with the other child.

The girl then performed the sex act on a 13-year-old boy and on the 9-year-old. He told police he did not want to participate but was pressured to.

The age of the third boy was believed to be around the same as the others. Police were trying to identify him.

The girl, interviewed at her home with her mother, told police the group watched a movie, went upstairs to play video games and the boys forced her to perform the sex acts, Conlon said.

The 13-year-old boy, when interviewed by police, also said they watched a movie and went to play video games, but insisted the girl "made them do it" and there was no coercion, Conlon said.

I don't even know what to say about this. I remember being French Kissed at the age of 15 by an 18 year old boy that I had had a crush on all summer. He finally asked me out on a date and I was thrilled. When he took me home,he stuck his tongue in my mouth and I swallowed my gum by mistake. I was shocked and horrified. What the heck was his tongue doing in my mouth?

Now, at 11,there is more than someone's tongue in your mouth to worry about. It's a scary world out there!

No day off

My sister is going away for a couple of days.She has asked me to work in the office and answer the phone for her while she is gone. Since the 3 days I agreed to work for her are my regular days off, I will be working for 13 days straight without a day off. Luckily the pay is good and it will give us extra money to spend in Disney in November, but 13 days with no day off.....what was I thinking?

TIMBER!

The funniest things make Lillianna happy. If I am sitting on my bed,she likes to come and sit on my lap facing me and rock. She rocks about 3 times and then we fall to the bed and she says,"TIMBER!" It's not like bungee jumping. It's more like the difference between "upright" and "reclining" in a seat on an airplane but she likes falling while I hold on to her. Maybe it gives her a sense of security. Maybe it's just the crazy mind of a 7 year old. Who knows?
I love the sound of Lillianna's laugh so if Timbering makes her happy,let's Timber!!

What funny things do you do with your children?

The Lipstick Chronicles

Today,over at The Lipstick Chronicles,there is a post called Dishing With the DotMoms.
It's part one of an interview with some of the DotMoms about books: what we read,how often we read and what we like. I am one of the lucky moms that was interviewed.

I think it's so cool to be on someone else's blog. Yup,I am a dork. I'm not ashamed to admit it. Go ahead and check out the interview. It's really quite interesting.

Look Ma,no cavities!

I remember that used to be the catch phrase,in the olden days,for Crest,Gleem or Colgate toothpaste. It was a phrase I never got to say. No matter how much I brushed,flossed or used those red Butler tablets,I always had cavities. Remember those red tablets? After brushing all the enamel off your teeth,you chewed up a tablet,swished it around in your mouth and then spit it out and.....smiled in the mirror! All the red spots were the areas that you didn't brush well. It was a shock sometimes,it really was.

Every time I went for a cleaning at the dentist's office,I crossed my fingers and hoped for the best.It never helped. There were always cavities. When I was 13 years old,I had 13 cavities. It was depressing. It seemed like I was destined to have a mouth full of silver fillings. How attractive!

Well,after 38 years of going to the dentist,(I started when I was 4 years old),I can finally say,"Look Ma,no cavities!" I had my cleaning today and the dental hygienist said my gums looked great.I didn't have any tartar and she didn't think I had any cavities. When Dr.Q checked my x-rays he said there weren't any cavities but a piece of one of my fillings fell out so he would replace it at my next appointment. I was so stunned that I didn't have any cavities! Even Dr.Q was surprised. He said,"I think this is your best check up ever!" I've been going to him since I was 16 years old.

So,I wanted to share my good news with the world because to me,this is a miracle!!!

Premonition

Yesterday,Lillianna and I spent our typical 3 hours at the pool.At 5pm she asked if we could stay until 6pm. I wanted to get home,shower and make dinner before Rich arrived home from work at 6:30pm so I told her we could stay until 5:30pm. At 5:15pm it started to get dark and we heard thunder. I decided it was a good thing we were leaving in 15 minutes.

The clouds began rolling in at 6:05pm, but Lillianna and I were safely in our jammies after our shower by the time the thunder became rumbly enough to scare her. Then she saw lightning and began to yell in her room. She is quite a dramatic child so I didn't really pay much attention to her cries of,"He's never going to make it home safely," until she became upset. I asked who wasn't going to make it home? She replied,"Daddy,"

Well, that did throw me for a minute but I reassured her he'd be ok and I went about making dinner. I had the urge to call Rich on his cell phone to make sure he was indeed alive but in a storm like that,the last thing he needed was to be distracted looking for his phone and talking to me so I continued what I was doing and Lillianna calmed down a bit.

When Rich walked through the door he was frazzled. Here is his story.

"I was coming down the road and all of a sudden the sky just opened up and it started pouring. I couldn't stop because there were cars behind me and I couldn't see in front of me. There were branches falling off the trees and debris hitting the car and I saw the wind pushing half a tree onto the road. I didn't want to stop and didn't want to get hit by the tree so I slowed down because I didn't know what was happening with the tree. The wind let up a little bit so I drove past the tree and just as I went past the tree,the wind blasted again and half the tree fell down into the street. I couldn't see what happened but the cars behind would've had to stop.
There was debris all over the streets for the rest of the way home. I passed at least 4 accidents."

Lillianna was so relieved when Rich came home and I was stunned that she had sensed he was in trouble when I was completely oblivious. It really shouldn't have surprised me because she has always been able to see things that are unexplainable.
Thank goodness Rich came home safe and sound.

I'm not dreading the weekend

Today is Friday.(Sometimes I like to state the obvious.) I enjoy my Fridays since it's one of my days off but as the day wears on, I start to dread the busy weekend ahead. However,tomorrow is also going to be a day off for me. Saturdays I work two jobs: 7:30am-12:30pm at job #1,then 1:00pm-9:30pm at job #2. Not tomorrow!
Do I hear a big YAHOO!!!!!!! Come on people,cheer with me.

Originally,Jess was supposed to swim in Boston tomorrow but due to her shoulder injury, she wasn't able to make the trip. I told her months ago that I would take Aug 6th off just in case she could come because Lillianna and I were dying to meet her. The worst that could happen was that if she couldn't make it,I would have a day off. I know we will meet up eventually so although I won't meet her tomorrow,all hope is not lost. I'm hoping she goes to school in Massachusetts or at least a nearby state!(No pressure,Jess!)

So,today,after delivering our cable bill and eating lunch,Lillianna and I are heading to the pool. The temperature is high....too high to think about,so being immersed in cool water is the only fun solution.

Tomorrow is family day. We are thinking of going to the zoo and then out to dinner.
That's Lillianna's plan,anyway.

Have a great weekend!

Another advertisement that made me crazy!

I was clipping coupons a few minutes ago when I came across an ad for Always Pads.
Next to the coupon it said, "Have a nice period." Now why does that lead me to believe that a man wrote this ad? How does one have a nice period? Even Midol can't completely eliminate the cramping and head aches. The only way for me to have a nice period would be to have the week off from work,heavy meds to mask the pain and someone to rub my back for 4 days. It also wouldn't be so bad if someone were on staff 24/7 to run and fix the weird things I often crave during this time. If I can't have that,then there is no way to have a nice period,even when using Always pads.

So,to the delusional people at Always....get another slogan,please. You're just pissing me off with this one. And I'm not just saying that because I have PMS!!!!

Does it taste like chicken?

I read the following story in News of the Weird.

Mark Nuckols, a business student at Dartmouth, has begun selling a tofu-like food, Hufu, that is flavored to resemble what he believes is the taste of human flesh. His target audience is those who already enjoy cooking with tofu, as well as any actual cannibals who might settle for artificiality in order to avoid legal problems and logistical hassles. Nuckols said he has never tasted human flesh but based his recipe on cannibals' reported descriptions of the flavor. [Stanford Daily, 5-25-05]

Come on! Seriously,folks. Who the hell would buy this stuff? I want names!!
Is it you?????

Just a dream

The other night I had a dream about Lillianna. In my eyes,it was a nightmare. I wasn't Lillianna's mother. I was her babysitter.
She lived in a huge house with a selfish,hip and happening mother named,Linda.
Lillianna was still the precious,funny and loving child she has always been but her mom was not very nice.

In the dream,Linda called me to come over and watch Lillianna. She said she had to go to work. When I got there, I could see that a huge pool party was in progress and Linda was having a good old time for herself. I was told to keep Lillianna in the house. I hugged Lillianna and kissed her and we went to find something to do. She looked longingly out of the window at the people having fun in the pool.
"Can I go swimming too?" she asked me. I told her no. Her mom said no. In my head I couldn't imagine why Linda wouldn't let Lillianna join in the fun. It killed me that she didn't appreciate this child.

Finally I went outside and asked Linda why Lillianna couldn't swim. "It's too cold!"she insisted. "Keep her inside. I'm busy," and she ran off with her friends to have a cigarette. Lillianna looked at me with her huge sad eyes and I hugged her.
I could feel my heart breaking. I wished she were my chid.
Then I woke up.

I hate that dream.
Lillianna is such a joy to us. She is filled with life,laughter and love.

I let her go swimming on Monday with her friend Maddie even though it wasn't that hot out. She was so grateful. Suzie and I just laughed. As long as we didn't have to go in and the girls were happy,we didn't care if they swam all day.
I agree to lots of things that Lillianna asks to do because life is short. You gotta have fun when you can get it.

Thank goodness it was only a dream and I am really Lillianna's mom. It's the best job I have ever had.

I love you,Pumpkin!!

Have you ever had a dream like that?

Mock vs real

My friend Suzie and her daughter Maddie came over on Monday for a playdate. Suzie brought seafood salad,chicken salad and egg salad for lunch. I had never really given any thought to seafood salad but I figured I would like it so I tried it. It was delicious. When I went to the store to buy some more the next day, I saw a sign that said that it was made with mock crabmeat mixed with mayonnaise,celery and lettuce. Mock crabmeat? Hmmmm. I wonder what the heck that is.

Today,I bought Chicken Of The Sea real crab in a pouch. I had a coupon so what the heck? I mixed it with mayo,celery and lettuce. It was........Fine. It didn't taste as good as the mock crab.

Now why would that be? Do you eat seafood salad? Do you prefer mock or real?

Happy Birthday Harry!

I got an email from my friend MaryJo today. We have worked together for the past three years but she recently decided to leave. Luckily,there is always email!

MaryJo has a quick wit and an incredibly wonderful sense of humor so it is no surprise that her children do too.

Today is her son's 5th birthday. Here is what happened,in her own words.

Harry woke up and said,"Hey I have an idea.Since today is my birthday, I should get everything I want."

I said,"Within Reason."

He responded with,"The reason is it is my birthday!" Who can argue with good logic!!!!

Well, certainly not me. Happy 5th birthday,Harry!

Just trying to read my book in peace

My mom gave me The Passions of Chelsea Kane by Barbara Delinsky yesterday. She had read it and liked it and passed it on to me. I have picked this book up a few times in stores and in the library but never read it. Yesterday I started it and I had a hard time putting it down when I had to go to sleep.

This morning I vowed to spend a little "me time" and read my book. What was I thinking? As soon as I started to read,I realized Rich had 15 minutes to shower,eat breakfast and make lunch so I got out of my chair and made his lunch for him. He left for work at 9am and I sat on the couch to read. A few minutes later,Lillianna asked if I would help her with her blog. That required a few trips to my bedroom to read her post and then publish it. Just when I thought I could take a break,she decided to write another post. (She is not allowed to publish anything until I read it first.) So I got up again to make sure everything was ok.

Finally she was done posting. A few minutes later she came in to the living room because somehow she had rolled off her bed and hurt her arm,hip and leg when she landed on her pair of sneakers. First of all,she sleeps in a double bed. How the heck did she roll off that thing? Second of all, how did her sneakers cause multiple injuries? She's a size 12 for goodness sakes. These aren't sneakers for BigFoot! She said she needed more hugs and kisses,which I gave her,and then she was on her way.

A few minutes later she came in for a snack. I told her to eat anything she wanted. I JUST WANTED TO READ MY BOOK!

I think this is why people stay in the bathroom for so long. It's the only quiet place to read!

Do you have time to read without interruptions?

The rude and nasty driver

I was on my way to work this morning when I encountered a rude and nasty driver. Oh, I am quite sure you are shocked by this since most drivers are polite and courteous,aren't they?

I was at the end of the road,trying to go straight across this road which has traffic moving in both directions and then to take a left and merge into two lane traffic. The tricky part is that just because it's clear on one side,doesn't mean it's clear on the other side. Sometimes,you just have to wait.

Apparently,the impatient lunatic behind me,must've finished her double shot of Dunkin'Donuts coffee and was just not able to sit for the few seconds it took to make sure I wouldn't get killed when I pulled out of the street.
Maybe it was the 95 degree weather,although her windows were up so I am guessing she had air conditioning or maybe it was the fact that she was just a raving bitch, but right before I was going to pull out, she began to frantically honk the horn and gesture rudely.

I couldn't believe it. I wanted to laugh. She looked ridiculous. So, I looked at her in my rear view mirror and threw my hands up over my hand. Kind of like the "raise the roof" dance that Lillianna learned in Hip Hop Class. It may have been goofy but she was being stupid. Did she want me to plunge into the traffic so that I could be killed? Like I always tell Lillianna,"There's no where that I want to be so badly,that I am willing to arrive there,dead!" Wasn't the saying, "Arrive Alive!" a few years back? Ya, well I think that's a good motto to live by!!
Don't you?

Lillianna's Place

Lillianna decided that she wanted to write on her own blog. Apparently, she has a lot to say. Gosh, I wonder where she gets that from? It's just a mystery to me.
You can read her first post over at Lillianna's Place.

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?