On a Lighter Note

Literally!




Find his Christian music inspirations here.

Hoarding

By guess who?

Last night Len tossed bits of popcorn to Dusty and Lucca.  Lucca doesn't actually eat the stuff, but she eagerly grabbed her prizes and ran off with them.  I laughingly remarked that she was probably taking them down to the basement, as I've noticed bits of plastic wrap and shredded napkin down there lately.

Ha ha.

Tonight I needed to clean up a mess of mine, and this is what I found in the basement bathroom as I plugged in the vacuum!  Quite the stash, huh?  Plastic wrap and napkins, of course, but also the bag from 5# of carrots and chicken packaging.  What a cat!

And, no, Mom, this is not the Lucca story I promised you this morning.  Yes, there's more . . .

This is What 2:40 Sounds Like at My House

The scene:  My room during flash card drill

Rebecca:
13.
13.
13.
13!
Mom!  13!
(with glee) hahahahahahaha
13!
hahahahahahahaha
13!
13!
Mommy, you need caffeine!
13.
13.
hahahahahahaha

etc.

I Love My Brother

Last month my family spent a week (our 4th year in a row!) enjoying each others' company while sharing a huge house on Saranac Lake, NY. How huge? Big enough to contain my parents, their 6 children (plus spouses), 19 grandchildren, and a few other assorted friends and relatives. We always have a great time.

So one day as I was hustling out the door on my errand to town, I caught sight of my brother (the country club executive chef) kindly beginning lunch preparations for the horde of children. The menu of the day included macaroni and cheese. From a box. With envelopes of "cheese" powder. Heroic work for a real chef.

What stopped me in my tracks was the butter. My brother was unwrapping stick after stick after stick--six in all! On questioning, he professed to be simply following the package directions. It was true--each box, with less than a pound of noodles, suggested adding 1/2 cup of butter!

I couldn't imagine that anyone could/would REALLY put so much fat into such a small amount of pasta. We good naturedly argued the point, and I got M to rewrap some sticks before I left. I'm pretty sure he added some back, though, because we ran out of butter the next day!

I must admit that I was hungry enough to eat some blazing orange mac-n-cheese when I returned from town, and it was tastier than I expected. But, yikes, at what price?

That was the beginning of the week's butter banter between the chef and the mom who cooks whole wheat pasta. There were jokes and comments and a grocery list with "butter" entered many, many times. We had fun.

And now, my mail:He sent my party (our parents' 50th celebration) check in this tastefully designed envelope.Every time I look at it, I smile and remember just how much I love my brother.

Yes, It's a Beer Ad

But when Joe saw it this weekend, he proclaimed it "the greatest commercial I've ever seen!"

It really is fun to watch, and so very BOY...
Did I mention he got a Nerf assault rifle for Christmas?

Sounds Like He's Seen My Desk

It is far better to do a few things well than undertake many good works and leave them half-done.

- St. Francis de Sales

If I Only Had a Brain

Joe's aunt and uncle are celebrating baptism anniversaries with several of their godchildren today with a trip to the Kennedy Center. He received his invitation weeks ago, and the event was duly written on the family calendar. Len's sister followed up a few days ago with an email. Yesterday we spoke about the arrangements--dropping Joseph off at their church and picking up from their house later.

You see where this is going, don't you?

1:40 p.m.: The phone rings. "Barb?"

Aaaargh! Joe was supposed to be at church TEN MINUTES AGO! I managed to COMPLETELY forget!

It turned out fine. Joe changed, we hopped in the car and zipped down the highway, arriving at the Kennedy Center just a few minutes after the rest of his group. He didn't even miss the instrument petting zoo before the performance.

It was almost pleasant driving into DC without traffic--zoom, zoom. It would have been nice to not have to drive so far, but the worst part was really that feeling of totally losing my mind.

So What's With All That Posting Yesterday?

Lately I've been strict with myself about online time, which has meant almost no reading or writing of blogs. I went crazy yesterday, writing several posts here and posting many recipes on my cooking blog. Why? (To the tune of "It's My Party"): "It's my birthday, and I'll blog if I want to..."

I Am a Terrible Mother

Yesterday Lauren stayed home from school--nausea, abdominal pain, can't lift one's head off the pillow. I was solicitous--calm, quiet, serving a special chicken, rice, and egg soup. She didn't experience the worst possible intestinal symptoms, and actually recovered pretty quickly.

Today it was David's turn. He stayed home from school. I made the special soup. I was kind. But part of me harbored a secret joy . . . no rush hour lacrosse driving today!

First, the Good News

My just-laundered linens are on the bed, fresh and clean.

The bad news? The digital thermometer I keep in a pillowcase has also just been laundered.

Lost in Translation?

I went to a meeting yesterday that dealt with some serious issues, but there were a few light moments. Most of the attendees were bilingual, although the principals spoke primarily Spanish. There was a translator for the few of us English-only speakers.

"Rosa" did a great job, but the difficulty of thinking in two languages simultaneously was apparent when she began explaining something to us in Spanish. The best moment came, though, when two parties were speaking and Rosa began explaining their conversation, not noticing that they were already speaking English! We really did laugh out loud. ;-)

Let's Hope the Whole Day Doesn't Look Like This

I wear kayaking pants under sweats for my cold pre-dawn walk with Dusty. This morning:

Attempt #1: Get legs in sweats but somehow miss the inner set of pants.
Attempt #2: Manage to put on both sets, but they are . . . backwards.
Attempt #3: Success!

Enjoy YOUR Friday. ;-)

The Wonderful World of Make-Believe

Becca is great at independent play. She'll paint, work puzzles, leaf through books, draw, and arrange the animals on her bed. And then there are her imaginary friends...

A while back, she asked me if she could go to Brianna's house. Encourager of creative play that I am, I asked her if Brianna's mother was home. She had complete control of the answer, but said, "No." So I said, "No," because of course she may not go over if a grown-up isn't home. Cue ten minutes of weeping and wailing!

Sometimes I wish I could enter so deeply into a world of my own making. Don't you?

How to Find Out Whether Your Husband Reads Your Blog

1. Back your minivan out of the garage you've owned for 14 years, onto the slightly curving driveway you've used for just as long.
2. Make a large tire-arc in the rain-soaked, recently seeded grass.
3. Return two hours to later to find the grass has not yet sprung up and covered your tracks, so to speak.
4. GET THE RAKE and fluff up the grass so he won't notice it when he gets home.
5. Don't tell, but write about it to the rest of the world.
6. Await his comment.