Mocking Me

I was driving down the road and I saw a mailbox…

and I thought …. wow – I would really like to have MY mailbox look like THAT.

So I bought some daffodil bulbs and planted them below my mailbox. The first year nothing. The second year lots of green stuff and a whole lot of nothing.

No biggy… I probably did something wrong, planted them upside down, bad soil – something. I will be more careful this time. So I dug up all those bulbs and dumped them (in a field next to my house – ssshhhhhh).

I replaced all the dirt with fresh new organic dirt with nutrients, yea nutrient that will do it.

I took each bulb and painstakingly planted them – ensuring the bulb was right side up.

Then I fed them more nutrients, yea nutrients that will do it.

And voila….

NOTHING!  Just some green stuff and few lonely blooms.

I mean really!?!

I know, I know – there are weeds – that’s my problem right?

Then.Can.You.Explain.THIS!?!

That’s right – the bulbs I dumped – haphazardly.

Yea – growing gleefully…

They are everywhere….

Just mocking me!

In the morning, I walk to my car, to go to work, and they peek their pesky little blooms around the corner of my forsythia and MOCK ME!

I can hear them… “you looking at me?”

NO! I am NOT looking at you! I am looking at my forsythia! Thank you very much!

MOM! The daffodiles are looking at me!

Don’t Be a Hater

How do they do it?

THEY.

Your THEY and my THEY are not the same THEY. Everybody has a THEY in their lives. You look at them from afar and you think.

How do THEY do it?

It may just be that their kids’ are so dang cute or maybe THEY run a successful company.

And you think …

How do THEY do it?

I mean – I am totally trying my hardest and I can’t do THAT.

I told my youngest just this week “Comparison is a loser’s game”.

He was a little peeved that I helped the middle schooler for 2 hours with homework and he got a measly 15 minutes of my time.

Really? You wish you had more homework?

He looked at me – and said “I just want….” Then he smiled and walked away.

Comparison is a loser’s game.

So I am trying my hardest not to be a Hater!

I have an amazing friend. She surprised me with the most creative gift in the world.

TheSportingMom Stick Figure.

I love it!

She amazes me.

If you would like your own stick figure all you have to do is pick a moniker, go to her blog (http://www.missingmiami.com/2012/01/moniker-monday/) tell her a little about yourself and voila!

Your own stick figure.

I posted on Tuesday and she had this amazing caricature ready by Wednesday night.

Amazing!

Oh yea! And if a Moniker and Stick Figure is not your thing. Maybe you like to just read a writer who places a picture in your head and transports you to another location for just those few moment in the day they you need to escape.

She does that too. Just visit www.missingmiami.com.

Or if Floofy Writing is not your thing.

She is doing the 500 mile challenge. She is going to run 500 miles in a year. Yea, about 10 miles a week. So her blog also gives you guidance and inspiration if you are a runner.

The ShellPrincess is also the Dementia Queen a board certified geriatric specialist through the American Occupational Therapy Association. Her blog (http://thedementiaqueen.com/) helps guide caretakers through the many stages of dementia.

She is also a wife and mother of 3 very active children.

Or….

Maybe you have the need for in home therapy. Because the ShellPrincess is also … 

Chief Operating Officer of Baker Rehab Group (http://www.bakerrehabgroup.com/) a rehabilitation company, one that specializes in maximizing independence in the home environment. Visit them on Facebook. http://www.facebook.com/#!/BakerRehabGroup

I am soooo lucky to have such an amazing friend.

And I do not hate her, i.do.not.hate….her.

I am not….. breath, breath, breath, a HATER.

I love you Sunny Girl! Keep on Truckin’.

Oh yea! There is a compliment in there somewhere – and I really love, love, love my Avatar. You rock!

Good Shoes

I picked my son up at school.

He said,

“Wait” 

“It’s raining. I don’t want to get my good shoes wet.”

“I have another pair I can change into.”

I am so proud that my son does not want to ruin his good shoes.

Here are his “not so good shoes”. I call them his school shoes. I have to agree they are “not so good”.

Here are his “good” shoes, btw.

He is conscientious about taking care of his “good shoes”.

LOVE – NYD

I love New Years Day!

Hi! I guess I have not posted in a while. Well…

1. It was the holidays.
2. My computer crashed.
3. My dog ate my passwords.

Okay – none of the above and all of the above.

Did I mention – I love New Years Day (NYD).

It all started many moons ago. When there was nothing to do on NYD but watch

College Football…………

alllllllllll daaaaayyyyyy looooooooonnnnnnngggggg…….

and it was acceptable to drink champagne allll dayyy longggg.

Yes! I started loving NYD in college.

I hated going out on New Years Eve because well – it’s crowded… and expensive… and pretty much impossible to get a cab at 12:01am.

On the other hand, you can have a house party….

but if you are like me - you fall asleep at 11:49 which is just wrong and then you wake up at 12:01 – pop a bottle of champagne and take a sip and then fall asleep again.

Really?

So I decided I love New Years Day because….

1. Somebody was smart enough to schedule football alllllll dayyyy looonggg.
2. The holidays are over.
3. You can’t change the past.
4. You can hope for great thing in the future.

I am not sure where it all started but…

On New Years Day we eat…

1. Pork: To look forward to the future. (pigs cannot look backwards)
2. Greens: For prosperity – $$$$
3. Beans: Usually black eyed  peas but I really wanted black beans this year.
4. Oysters: de rigueur

My son called me while I was at the grocery store and said “can we have a chocolate fountain” so…..

We had a gathering… with Pork, Greens, Beans, ……..

Oysters, Champagne….

and a Chocolate Fountain.

And Friends…

and Long Lost Friends…

and these people we love - we call them “the littles”.

Another thing I love is …  men that shuck oysters.

OH YEA! And My In-Laws – which made it all possible.

Happy New Year!

imPERFECT PARENTING

On Saturday, November 5^th my son’s soccer team won the CYO City Semifinals in double overtime, PKs.

On Sunday, November 6^th my son’s soccer team won the CYO City Championship in double overtime.

Yea!

             Boo!

                             Boo? Yea – Boo!

                                                                     Why Boo?

My son did not hustle, he did not really play his best, he was a step off. He didn’t play as good as I know he can.

Truthfully?

No – Not truthfully -

I don’t think I can truthfully assess whether he played good or not. I do NOT know enough about soccer and I have NO clue how hard it is to run sprints for 1 hour straight.

I find myself expecting so much from him.

I am SURE he played a skilled game and that his team could not have won without him.

I am also SURE his teammates played a skilled game and that he would not have won without them.

What is wrong with me!?! That is NOT rhetorical – tell me in the Comments section – what is wrong with me?

(Okay – don’t do that – I am very sensitive.)

On Saturday night I realized I had NEVER told Jake Congratulations! I told Jackson – he was on fire, I told Dominic that his goal was key. I told Aiden that he turned the game around.

Later that night – I apologized for not saying Congratulations.

How lucky am I that Jake is NOT me?

Okay – don’t pretend you have never done this. Maybe not with sports – maybe with grades or an instrument or how they treat their little sibling – this expecting too much thing.

Could you imagine at the end of each day our kids enumerating everything we could have done better that day?

Hey mom…

      … maybe you should buy more fruit

                                            … or serve us more veggies…

                                                                        … or wear a little more makeup.

I know you can do it.

I think you’re just not hustling.

I know you can do better.

What was wrong with morning routine?

You seemed a step off…

                       … you seemed really tired…

                                                           …. maybe you should go to bed earlier…

                                                                                                             … drink a little less wine.

Wow.

You KNOW YOU have done it – in the car – after a game – don’t pretent you haven’t … enumerating each misstep …

Even…

               when…

                                   they win.

Sometimes I don’t go all crazy with all the great things he does – sometime I worry about him getting too full of himself – sometimes I worry other parents will think I am bragging.

So here goes. If you are adverse to moms who brag…

STOP! DON’T READ ANY MORE!

Brag Alert! Brag Alert! Brag Alert! Brag Alert! Brag Alert!

I am very proud of my son Jake!

• He is an awesome and skilled athlete.
• He had a goal this year  – that everybody on his team would score a goal (that alone makes my heart melt) and he almost reached that goal.
• He stopped the PK that won the Semifinal.
• He is a team player.
• He scored the final goal in the Championship.
• He rocks!

Whew! I feel better.

There I am done.

I am not done being a crappy parent – but realizing you have a problem is the first step.

The Great Gift of Sharing

What I love, love, love, love is sharing an experience.

OH! You’ve never had sushi. I’ll take you.

Better than an experience is sharing an experience.

When you share a new experience with somebody you get to relive the first time all over again.

Having Inigo with us has allowed my family the great feeling of living our first Halloween experiences all over again.

Here are some of our Halloween sharing experiences.

Pumpkin picking – “Go pick a pumpkin.” They are old enough – they don’t need help. The young girl working at the stand said, “You know they are going to pick the biggest one.”  And you know what – they picked the biggest one. It was about- hmm – about 40 lbs. Eventually, with some guidance, they found a pumpkin that was a managable size for carving.

Costume selection – Of course it was the week before the big event so most of the costumes were sold out – but we finally found costumes. 

Booing – For those of you that don’t know what booing is. You go to a house, ever so stealth, you put a bag or bucket of candy at the door, you ring the door bell, and you run.  We literally boo’d 5 families this year. Why? Well because Inigo needed to do it more than just one time in his whole life. That is the positive spin. But I was not born yesterday. The real reason is that the kids love any excuse to ring a doorbell and run.

Pumpkin carving:  Finally – I remembered to take picture.

Getting all the gook out - and no… a food fight did not break out.

The planning of the face.

The carving…. from pumpkin to jack-o-lantern

Pumpkin seeds…

(Yes – fruit is in the picture – because I need Inigo’s mom to know that we have fruit for  Inigo to eat.)

Jack-o-lanterns in all their glory.

With their makers.

Decorating…

Other random Halloween pictures…

There is snow on my pumpkin.

The pizza man, a rapper and a vampire – unlikely friends.

Crazy Capitals Fans.

Nice Vampire.

Mean Vampire.

Healing after Halloween

There is only one logical thing to do the day after Halloween.

After a day of candy and candy and…..

candy.

Heal!

How? Make Chicken Noodle Soup.

That’s right – I feel it – you feel it – everybody feels it the day after Halloween.

Sick! Unhealthy! Blah!

Halloween is a tradition – but it is a tradition from which we must heal.

So the day after Halloween I made Chicken Noodle Soup.

Start with a whole Chicken in a Pot – a big pot.

Then add some vegetables. These are pretty basic. Carrots, Celery, Onion and Green Peppers.

Chop it up and put it all in a pot …

add water… covering the chicken.

I added about a tablespoon of salt, a teaspoon of pepper and a bay leaf.

Cover, bring to a boil and simmer for about 1 and 1/2 hours.

My friend told me that boiling the bones make a more nutritious soup. Nutrients - make me feel like a better mom.

Which all of a sudden really, really, really important – more than ever since I have somebody else’s child living with me.

Every day I ask him - how does your stomach feel. Well I did not have to ask today – I knew – because it is the day after Halloween.

And…. Everybody’s stomach feels a little – oookkkeeeyy.

After the boiling part… take the chicken out of the broth and put it in a big bowl because it cools faster. Once it is cool enough to handle separate the chicken from the bone and discarde the bones and skin.

You are supposed to discard the veggies – but I just could not do that because it seems like such a waste. So I separated them from the broth and put them over some left over rice. Just in time for a very healthy lunch. (with a little Parmesan Cheese – yum)

I strain the broth so it is nice and smooth. I don’t have any fancy sieve or cheesecloth so I put a piece of paper towel over my pasta strainer and it did the job. There are little bits of gook in the paper towel and yes I did throw that out.

Then I cut up more carrots (3), onion (1), celery (5) and green pepper (1). I put it all back in the pot and let it simmer for about 20 minutes. I turn the pot off and add the chopped chicken.

A few minutes before dinner time I cooked egg noodles.

I put the egg noodles in a bowl and spoon the chicken soup and veggies over the noodles. I put some shake cheese (aka Parmesan)  on top.

Vwalllaaa!

Good ole’ fashion healing.

Oh yea – all the ingredients cost less than $20.00. Also I did not use all the ingredients – I have carrots and celery left over.

Also after a lunch and 5 dinners I have tons of left overs.