Saturday, August 28, 2010

It Skips A Generation

I love dogs. Intensely. My Mom isn't as fond of them, but my Grandma has always shared my passion with me. We've joked that some things skips a generation....

And I've found what has skipped me and landed on my son.

As a kid, I remember my Mom moving furniture around the house, rearranging couches and chairs and hope chests and usually it was all by herself and it never mattered what time it was. If the urge to change things came on, it was changing time. I grew up knowing I could move anything I wanted if I just used my leg muscles. An adult now, I don't really move furniture. Only when I have to, like with the addition of a lovely piano.

But guess who I called to help me figure out how to squeeze that music box in my living room? Yep. My Mom. Queen of furniture arranging! And I have not varied from that arrangement for the last couple of years. It is perfect.

Last night my son came downstairs and asked if I remembered offering to trade desks with him. Um, yes. Before that monster of a desk went up to his room, before it took two men to get it up there, I did offer to trade the roll top desk in my room for it......Was that offer still open? I guess, but how on earth will that desk come downstairs at 10pm?

He'll do it with Dad.

How does Dad feel about that? My gracious husband said sure, and after we emptied desks, moved enough dust around to make the air thick with it, shoved furniture out of the way and scratched up walls, the desks were switched around.

I fell asleep listening to my son moving things around in his room upstairs and it was a nostalgic feeling. It reminded me of being a kid, listening to my Mom do the same thing.

Mom, met your first Grandson, furniture mover extraordinaire!


Friday, August 27, 2010

Pardon Me, There's A Snail In My Salad

I understand that growing your own veggies leads to all sorts of dirt and bugs that you wouldn't ordinarily find on your grocery produce. And I thought I was totally cool with that. This is not my first year of veggie growing, after all. I've seen things and still eaten my veggies afterwards.

Until now. A few weeks ago I was making a new recipe, a lettuce salad with chicken and a Thai dressing. I have so much lettuce in our garden and the weather was warm, so it's perfect. I've got all the lettuce soaking in a huge bowl, and as I take them out I even give them a rinse.

My next handful of lettuce to be rinsed felt weird, like it was a big mess of clinginess. I looked down and dropped the handful in the sink. It was a poor snail, now very waterlogged and not good looking.

I scooped him into a cup and asked my son to take him outside to...um wherever. Come to think of it, I have no idea where the snail ended up. I tossed out some of that lettuce in the sink because it was weirdly slimy, but continued on with my rinsing and washing and drying and spinning.

All with the snail utmost in my thoughts.

When it came time to eat dinner, I could barely do it. The dressing tasted fine, but it was so heavy it made all the lettuce and chicken roll up into a sticky slime ball. It was very snail slime-esque.

I continue to eat my lettuce almost every night at dinner. I'm very proud of how lovely it looks. But on the inside, I'm crying a little. That snail will haunt my love of salad.

Needless to say, now every leaf of lettuce gets a thorough inspection in the garden patch. There will be no more snails drowning in my salad bath. I hope and pray.

Thursday, August 26, 2010

It's Come Down To This....

The final choice as to how my day is going to shape up.....

Should I go wash the dishes and fold the laundry and sweep up what looks like an entire dog made out of dust bunnies.....

Or should I reheat some coffee and sit down on my big comfy couch and read my book?


Decisions, decisions!

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

I'm Feeling A Bit Mother Bearish


Isn't this cute? A Mother Bear and her Cub, all sweet and nice and loving.

The thing with a Mother Bear is that she does not like to be poked with a stick. And whoa be it to the person who dares to poke at her child with a stick.

Fierce is the nicest word to describe it.

I feel just a bit Mother Bearish right now. And as you often find out as a human mother, this is something I just have to let my child work on. I want to run in with guns blazing, eyes glaring and teeth gnashing, but I won't.

I am going to daydream of those things though.

Sunday, August 22, 2010

I Love John Cusack

I love John Cusack.

I loved him before he stood in his trench coat holding his boom box over his head. Although, that was pretty awesome! Go Team Lloyd!


I have loved him ever since I was 10 years old, in the 5th grade, and saw The Journey of Natty Gahn. Sure, that movie was kick ass in it's own right, but John Cusack in that fedora was super dreamy.


What can I say? I'm a sucker for a drifter in a fedora.......


Saturday, August 21, 2010

My Dad's Favorite Cake

For a lot of people, knowing that your Dad loved German Chocolate cake and asked for it every birthday, is no big deal. It's like knowing your favorite color is green.

But my Dad died when I was four years old and I don't really know that much about him. I recently told my mom how much it means to me, how the best gifts she's ever given me, are stories or tidbits of information about him.

Like when she sees a certain smile my son gives in a picture and she says that is so your Dad, I am thrilled.

For me to learn that he loved a cake I find positively disgusting is actually a really cool thing.

It's the cake my son picked for his special birthday treat.

This is not a sad post. This is a post rejoicing in family! It's funny how generations are all bound together by more than looks.....and I find that completely wonderfully awesome.

Friday, August 20, 2010

Please Come Back Bats....

The mosquitoes are killing me!

I never really complained when you came into the house and hung on walls or swooped around ceiling fans. I may have been freaked out of my mind, but I wasn't mad. I swear!

I never killed you or asked anyone to kill you. I tried to get you out of the house as safe and unharmed as possible. Even set you down outside away from where the dogs could get you.

In return for all that niceness, I have certain expectations of you. I except to be able to sit outside at night and not get eaten alive by mosquitoes.

And let me tell you bats, you are missing out on some good bugs. The mosquitoes this year are the size of baby elephants and could feed your family and all your in-laws too.

So, please, Bats, wherever you went, please come back. I truly miss you.

Or, I truly miss being bug bite free. Pass the calamine lotion please.

Thursday, August 19, 2010

What Do You Do When....

What do you do when someone friend requests you on Facebook and his name is familiar and you have 7 friends in common and you can find his picture in your old high school yearbook but you are pretty sure you never talked to him and you can't dredge up any memories of actually having been in contact with him at all in real life....

Seriously. What do you do?

Worse, since all 7 friends we have in common are actual friends outside of Facebook, you start to wonder if your memory is going and you had classes with this guy or maybe he knew one of your younger siblings and he hung out at your house and you just can't remember.....

Hmm.

Maybe it's too early to be looking at Facebook and you need to drink more coffee and kick start your brain before making any life changing friend request decisions......

Now that sounds like a good plan!


Monday, August 16, 2010

Mom Senses Came With The Membership

Fifteen years ago today, August 16, I joined team Motherhood.

And as I look at my son today, I can not believe he was that little meowing baby, with tiny fingers and toes and a slightly misshaped head, that danced when he heard the Simpsons theme song that first night of his life.

Man, he was darling. Took my breath away just looking at his sleepy eyes and his bubble gum checks.

When his sister was born, I marveled at the fact that,yes, indeed, for reals and trues, she was a girl. A daughter! With massive amounts of dark hair capping a perfect chubby faced sweat pea. The bliss of holding her is indescribable and the fact that she loved to bite from the day one is something that makes me laugh now!

I know, some people wonder how they could love a second baby as much as they love the first, but I never wondered. I knew I would love each child of ours with the same fierce love.

And I have. Bit harder now, when they are growing and wanting a little less of my Mom sense to tingle when something is wrong....but that's what happened the day he was born. I got Mom senses and I can't turn them off!

That extra sense I didn't know I had and the stretch marks I wish to heck I didn't came with the membership to team Motherhood.

Best thing I ever joined.


Friday, August 13, 2010

I Miss Liquid Manure

Right-o. I never in a million years thought I'd say that, but I do miss liquid manure.

Now, to truly understand what I'm talking about, you have to be from a dairy town or a farm town. You have to remember driving down the two lane road and seeing liquid brownish green gunk being sprayed on the fields. You have to have smelled that smell so much, it became synonymous with 'home'.

Then you have to drive down that same road, through those same fields, and smell whatever the heck they are putting on those fields now. It's not good, old fashioned manure. It smells like a cross between dead, rotting carcasses and rank diarrhea.

It's permeates the car, it gets in the back of your throat and you can taste how awful it is....

So, you betcha. I miss liquid manure. I'm thinking of starting a petition to bring back that heavenly scent! Who's with me?


Thursday, August 12, 2010

I Am A Mother Of Teenagers

Holy Toledo!

How did my kids get to be teenagers while I am still so young?

Today we heard a preview for a movie we'd given thought to seeing, but it's rated pg-13 and I started to tease the kids by saying too bad you are not old enough.....

My husband softly said both kids are teenagers now.

I literally looked like this:

And screamed accordingly.

I'm just saying it was shocking.

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

I Will Never Yell Bingo

But that's okay!

If I was playing Bingo (big if since I do not like to play games) and I got a Bingo, I would just ignore it.

And instead of feeling embarrassed about that quirk, because it's not a supposed situation....I have played Bingo as a kid and never won even when I could have, I have decided to embrace it. So what if I don't yell Bingo?

I am 36 years old today and will no longer be shackled by my lack of desire to yell Bingo!

I'm too busy yelling other things.....

Be Careful!
Dinner time!
Have a good day!
What were you thinking?
Crap to heck!
Emma! Sarah! Olive!
Stop Barking!
There's a Moth!!

I may be Bingo-less by choice, but I like to think my life is one big win!

BINGO!!!


Monday, August 9, 2010

I Never Feel More Like Suzy Homemaker Than When....

I have filled the freezer with provisions.

After spending an hour pouring over recipes and making a two week menu plan, then going through the cupboards and making my grocery list, I shop the commissary for bargains and deals. Granted, being the commissary, it already has bargains and deals, but like every store, it will clearance or mark down items.

What I really want is chicken on sale. I know. I hate raw chicken. But if I can get lucky and find it on a clearance sale, I will buy it up.

Yesterday was my lucky day.

Or unlucky because I really do hate dealing with raw chicken.

As I stood in front of the chicken, looking at packages and prices, I discovered boneless skinless chicken breasts on half price sale. Yippee! I grabbed those packages. On an even better sale were packages of chicken tenderloins. Usually I avoid these because of that weird tendon thingy that turns my stomach, but for $1 a pound, how could I walk away?

I couldn't. I bought lots. I came home, put it in the fridge and cooked dinner. Then I wanted to sit down and read book number 76 of the year, but I couldn't. That raw chicken was calling to me. I chopped it up (pulling that horrible white thing out of every single piece) and cooked it. Now I have the freezer stocked full of cooked chicken, ready to toss into a stir-fry or roll into a chimichanga at a moments notice.

I feel like a domestic queen! A slightly nauseated one, since all that raw chicken was really not nice, but still, a queen!


Sunday, August 8, 2010

The Joys Of A Camping Life

I always wanted to love camping. The idea of sleeping outside, cooking over a fire, smelling woodsmoke and burned hot dogs and the scent of the wild outdoors all pleased me.

The actual doing, not so much.

Turns out, I am a puss-puss baby. I like my comforts. I like a soft bed and two pillows and a place to sit that is bird poop free....

When my husband and I bought our tent trailer, I was thrilled. A real bed! With room for pillows and blankets and a mini fridge and lights and it was a dream come true.

The first year we had it, I counted the times we used it to make sure we were using it well. I didn't want it to be a frivolous purchase. After we took it to Alaska and back, I knew we were hooked. Camping in a new place every night takes on a whole new wonderful meaning when you aren't setting up a tent and blowing up air mattresses...when you just pop up your trailer and all of your things are stored ready and waiting.

We have turned into a road travelling family. We love the camping life! A new place every night, a new adventure around the corner.....and it's not just about what we see. Our CD player broke during this trip, and instead of the kids just plugging into their ipods, we all talked; we joked; we laughed until we couldn't breath (that might have just been me and it scared the kids but they shouldn't be so funny!); our son became our very own book on tape and read a couple Sherlock Holmes to us....

Smores and campfires and giant moths and bats swooping over our heads and pit toilets that suck toilet paper in and magnificent views and hidden covered bridges and driftwood shaped like a fork are all part of the joys, but by far, the most joy filled part is just spending time with the family.


Saturday, August 7, 2010

Seventeen Years Ago Today....

Seventeen years ago today I did something that changed my life forever, for the good and for the better.

I said, "I Do."

When you find the right person for you, it's the right person for you whether you are 16 or 36 and all the years between and all the years to come....I'm glad we were smart enough to know that way back then and not waste a moment of this wonderful life we've been given.

Husband of mine, I love you.

Thursday, August 5, 2010

A Windshield View

Every family road trip will find me peering out the windshield, camera at hand, waiting for the perfect windshield view to take a picture. I'm looking for a picture that will stand alone in our scrapbook of the trip, one that will define what we saw and did.....

We started our trip off with lots and lots of typical Seattle/Tacoma traffic....

We crossed over into Oregon on our favorite huge bridge into Astoria....

A side road off Hwy 101 that called to us, saying ocean views this way & delivered as promised...

Breathtaking views of the Oregon Coast, that made us fall in love with the ocean all over again...

A view of my sister and brother in law's finally working trailer lights.....

The Avenue of the Giants....Redwoods so tall it's impossible for words to describe.....

Possibly the only straight stretch of Hwy 1......

Or our first view of the Golden Gate Bridge, complete with fog.....

I have too many choices this time! Too many different aspects of our trip! And I can honestly say, having too many memories I want to hold onto is definitely not a bad thing....
It is a sign of a trip well traveled.