Berry Good

Hello!

Today was our annual summer trek to the local blueberry farm. Right now you're either jealous of all the exciting summer fun I have OR you are thinking, "GET A LIFE!!!!!" Today was the perfect day for it.... the clouds worked in our favor and the june bugs knew it was July (gotta love a bug-free day in the blueberry patch!), so off we were. I had to laugh, though. I spent 10 minutes before we left convincing my daughter that it was best to wear socks and shoes, not flip flops... safety, comfort, blah blah blah. And you KNOW what happened, right? The first family we saw (mom, dad and three young daughters) were all wearing flip flops, and to add to that, they were Amish. Boy, did my daughter give me a look! You can't win them all, I guess.

What's kind of cool, in an offbeat sort of way, is that this place is also a Christmas tree farm in the winter, which makes it neato to see the trees in their "teen" stage, ready for the holiday rush. Let's hope they get their looks in time for Santa's arrival because they were some of the sorriest trees I've ever seen! Oh how awkward those teen years can be (even for a tree)! :)

We netted just shy of 10 pounds of berries, most of which are still sitting on my counter. I've Googled a bazillion recipes.... jelly, jam, cobbler, coffee cake, smoothies, etc. Even as I drooled on my keyboard, I realized I wasn't fooling anyone, least of all myself.... they'll all go the old-fashioned way--rinsed and put in a bowl for quick snacking. I have lofty intentions for the tasty fruit, but first-grade baking skills, and that doesn't make for a good combination. But hand me a brownie box mix, some, oil, eggs and measuring utensils and I can have you halfway to chocolate heaven. Nothing to be ashamed of there!

Time to bag and freeze the berries.... viva la summer!

Cindy

Throwing It All Away/Joys of Summer Cleaning

Hello again,

Turns out I'm a season off... but what's new?! Spring cleaning slipped right by me (oh, darn!), now I pay .... SUMMER CLEANING HERE I COME! I realize from the get-go that I am hampered by my town's garbage ordinance.... only two bags outside of what will fit in the garbage tote, but they never said the lid actually had to close, so later on I'll be creating a curbside version of the "leaning tower" to get the most bag for my refuse buck.

I've been chipping away here and there around the house, largely avoiding the worst areas. I doubt any of you out there would blame me for that, right? After all, wouldn't want to get cleaning burnout on Day One, now would I? My favorite part was the bathroom closet. It's huge, and after about 10 years of living in this house and me shoving stuff in there and saying, "OK, I'll deal with that later" it turned into a true "hard hat" zone.... open the door at your own risk! I'm still trying to figure out why I had so many pillow cases and wash cloths. If you sewed all I had together, end to end, they'd circle the earth twice (don't you love when people say stuff like that? Anyway, I don't sew, so it's not happening). There were diaper rash ointment samples from when my daughter was a baby, and she's 12 now. I found THREE bath water thermometer gauges which are little doodads that are supposed to tell you when the water is "just right" for baby's sensitive butt (and assorted baby parts). It might tell you just what kind of mom I am when I let you in on this juicy little secret ... all three were still in their original wrappers! And somehow, she survived a babyhood full of baths without them. Amazing!!!

One shelf left to go... the shelf that has all the little hotel-sized giveaway things... conditioner, shampoo, lotion, soap, mouthwash, etc. I had to laugh at the shoe polishing cloth. Does any traveler really use that? Seems like nothing some spit and a few squares of toilet paper couldn't fix. Then again, I buy most of my shoes at Target and WalMart so what do I know? Maybe it's different for real leather, huh? I'll get to that at some point.... probably....

Anyway, time to water the plants..... catch y'all later....

Cindy

Road Trippin'?

Hello again,

Sorry about the disappearing act! Spring was not kind to us here, healthwise, but we weathered the storm with most of our limbs intact, and who can ask for more than that? My sense of humor has returned (strangely enough it coincides with my return to caffeinated beverages... coincidence? I think not!), so here I sit, sofa under butt, ready to blog.

For the most part, the only time of the year I can travel is the summer. I'm not one to take kids out of school, thanks to bad childhood memories of my grade school principal, Sr. Gertrude, scaring me three-quarters of the way to death over missing school for anything short of a true emergency. Too bad, too, because travel can be much cheaper in early October! Anyway, I've been auditioning trips we can take that don't involve air travel, though I still plan on charging the kids $10 for each bag they bring... gotta make the money where I can, times are tough! My problem is that it has been so long since I've done a "real" road trip, my mind is short circuiting on how I want to do it. If it's going to be five hours, do I pack a cooler full of sandwiches and drinks, then strap Depends on the kids and myself? Or do we stop every hour to enjoy every ball of twine and semi-historic birthplace, only to turn right back around once we get there because our week is up? I don't know. Thanks to Mr. Apple and the invention of iPods, the trip will be enjoyable for me either way because I can jam to Huey Lewis and Bananarama and no one in the car will care.... rock on Cindy's mix CD! LOL.... I digress. But truly, if half the fun is getting there, what the heck is the other half? That worries me ... a lot!

I suppose I'll find out soon enough... happy summer.... talk to you soon!

Cindy

What Do You Really Want To Do With Your Life?

Yesterday, my son had "career day" at his high school. He had selected his main areas of interest (making sure to tell me he had not chosen any of the four cosmetology options), and was actually looking forward to getting a first-hand account of the selected professions he signed up for. I warned him to take what he heard with a grain of salt. I mean, if you get a disgruntled pharmacist (scary, scary, scary if you think about it), he or she will highlight the bad parts of the career and downplay the good ones. Similarly, if you get a "everything is rosy 24/7" physical therapist, you might go blazing into the field only to feel really cheated when it's not QUITE how you pictured it. Objectivity is key! He really has no set idea what he wants to pursue, career wise, (once I burst his bubble that playing XBOX 360 for a living doesn't exist in the real world), so I was looking forward to his take on things. 

When I saw him after his volleyball practice, I was all excited to see what he thought... if anything had clicked. Much to my disappointment, all he got out of the experience was, "I know I don't want to be a speech pathologist." When I asked why, he told me he didn't know, but he knew it wasn't for him. Talk about bursting my bubble! One down, about ten million careers to go.... guess ya gotta start somewhere. Until he figures it out, I suppose I'll continue selfishly leading him down career paths that would most benefit me now or in years to come, namely psychiatrist, geriatric physician, chiropractor, massage therapist, personal trainer, auto mechanic, plumber and electrician. One of those ought to take if I try hard enough! A girl's got to look out for herself, right? 

Hugs to all... have a wonderful weekend!

Nurse Mom

I'm not sure if I should put a quarantine sign on my front door OR if I should just run out in the street in hot pursuit of my sanity... or BOTH! My son started getting sick about 6 weeks ago, and we'd been riding that almost-bronchitis roller coaster. Finally it hit the fan last week and we ended up in the ER.... now THAT one happy place, isn't it? And where are the hot doctors? Where are the eager interns? Not at our hospital, that's for sure, and believe me, I was looking (nothing else to do for the hours and hours we were stuck back there!). Then they admitted him overnight to pump him full of stuff.

We get over that hump (at least I'm hoping at this point!) and then my daughter starts with the sickness on Sunday. The child who missed one day all last year has been enjoying a three-day vacation from the throes of sixth grade (I don't even remember sixth grade, but I'm sure it was a blast!). And yes, the 11-year-old drama queen has moved her theatrics into high gear, and I expect she will receive an Oscar in the category, "Best Effort in Whining," pre-teen category. Then again, this is the girl that thinks split ends could pose a true risk to her physical well-being.

While I don't know if I am coming or going, I'd gladly take on their sickness. Their suffering is my suffering (in more than one way!). Time to run to Target to hang out in the medicine aisle for a while. commiserating with other sick-kid-weary moms. 

Flu, flu go away.... don't bother coming back.... EVER!

From Marcia to Carol

Waking up is hard to do. Today, I decided my best option was to wake up to reruns of The Brady Bunch on TVLand. Part if it is simple--it takes me back to when I was a kid and livin' was easy... a nice memory. Part of it is that the remote is on the other side of the room, and I ain't gettin' up for nothing, swaddled in my polar fleece blanket, cup of joe in hand (I am thrilled to give in to every last one of my lazy genes before noon on a Saturday when I don't have anything else to do). 

But what's funny, watching The Brady Bunch as a 41-year-old mother of two and not an impressionable 11-year-old, is that I realize that I've officially crossed the threshold -- I have moved from dying to be the beautiful, stylish Marcia to envying the life of Carol. I WANT TO BE A CAROL!!!!!!!! Why wouldn't I?? And you know the number one reason why? ONE WORD -- Alice!!!! I want to be a Carol and have an Alice! Anyone who has ever watched the show knows how unrealistic it is (matching sets of perfect kids, handsome dad, awesome house ... for the sake of this blog entry let's forget all six kids shared one bathroom.... kind of ruins the picture of perfection), but that doesn't mean a girl can't dream, right? Carol had it so good. I wonder if she really ever appreciated Alice? Carol never worked, yet she had Alice to cook, clean, look after the kids and dispense invaluable wisdom (the kind of wisdom that really never TOLD you what to do but caused YOU to think and sort out the answer for yourself..... all too often lacking in today's world, if you ask me). Maybe best of all, Alice had Sam, the butcher boyfriend who hooked the family up with the primest (not a real word, I know, but I like it so it's OK.... creative license) cuts of meat at what I'll assume was a discounted price (not that the Bradys ever worried about money). That Carol was a lucky, lucky girl.

Now that I've come to terms with another facet of growing older, I can enjoy the rest of my weekend..... climbing that mountain one step at a time. Who knows, maybe one day I will have it all figured out (doubt it, but it keeps me thinking until lunch).

Here's hoping one day my ship will come in, and my Alice will be on it! :)

Cindy

Five Bucks for WHAT????

You've probably heard, but just in case you haven't, European-based discount airline Ryanair (I will admit I have NEVER heard of this airline.... and I'm probably not alone) is considering a $5 fee to use its airplane bathrooms. I would say this is the craziest news story of the week, but calling 9-1-1 because you didn't get your Chicken McNuggets probably takes the prize. I'll save that one for another day, as it is just CRYING for me to mock it via blogdom!

But seriously, does the airline realize the ramifications of charging for using their airplane lavatories? Forget the fact that airplane bathrooms are usually creepy, if not plain gross (but please believe me, if you don't already know for yourself, they are model-home wonderful next to those on commuter trains.... still an experience I bear bone-deep scars from). But what are your other options if you decide you don't want to spend $5 for this "luxury"? Are there cans, jars or buckets available free of charge? You just know there will be a wise guy (or girl) who will threaten the flight attendant with a "what if I don't pay" scenario.... what then? If I was a flight attendant, I would not take that chance, even if it came out of my own paycheck!

I guess it's a sign of the times... we seem to be paying for more and more of life's taken-for-granted freebies. But aren't some things sacred? Charge me for the ketchup packets, plastic grocery bags and the rubber band around my newspaper, but don't mess with the queen's throne! Some people will never get it.... 

The plus side of it all? Look for stock in the Kimberly-Clark corporation to go through the roof. Why? Because they make Depends adult diapers, of course! Ah, the bright side of things! Gotta love it....

Have a great weekend!

Cindy