Summer

Summer smells like: sunscreen and chlorine.
Summer tastes like: fresh raspberries.
Summer looks like: a starry night sky.
Summer feels like: a warm breeze as you swing.
Summer sounds like: splashing and crickets.

Read the sign!

No Soliciting means just that! Do not try to sell your stuff here, idiot. Maybe I need a new sign that reads "No Soliciting - if you choose to ring my doorbell anyway, I can choose to be rude." Who thinks that in this day and age door-to-door is an effective means of marketing anyway? Grrr!

Getting Fit

So I've started "running", thinking I could enter a 5K this summer, and it would get me fit at the same time. I thought, "runners always talk about how cathartic running is, how it clears their heads and gives them thinking time - I could use some thinking time."

BAH.

The only thing I'm thinking about is how my lungs are burning and my joints are aching, and how I really hope I don't collapse on my neighbor's lawn because that would be embarrassing. Like jiggling my fat around the block and wheezing so loud it echoes isn't.

Addiction

I wonder if junkies feel sad when they lose their vice. Especially if they really like it. I really like TV, and am sad we canceled the dish. Sort of feeling withdrawal-y. I want my DVR...

Sad

The saddest thing in the world is a baby that could walk yesterday, but can't today. (Think healing thoughts for the sprain.) Darn those tricky stairs!

The second saddest thing (or maybe a little further down the list) is reconstructing your ipod.

Clean Rooms

"A thing of beauty is a joy forever." Unless it's your kid's clean bedroom. Then it is a joy for about a minute and a half.

Vegetarian Crafts

Just kidding. This is not a post about fun with food. Although there were a couple of vegetable puppet shows back in high school...

I got some disturbing health news this week. In addition to blue eyes, I have inherited sticky veins. My cholesterol is high enough that the doctor wants to medicate. I'm not thrilled with that idea, so we are trying a diet change to see if that can make a difference. I'll be eating vegetarian for the next three months to see if it helps. Let me tell you, the kids are thrilled. So is the hubs. We'll see how it goes. So far it's weird to try and cook without meat. I feel like it's all side-dishes all the time.

Now, for the crafts. I've been in a very crafty mood lately. I used some scraps of fleece to make winter hats for the kids and myself. They turned out very cute. I also finished painting the name letters for my son's room. And the best part - I actually got them hung up on the wall! Woo hoo! Also, there is a sale at the craft store this week, so flower clips and hair bows will be forthcoming.

Go Me!

I Lo-o-o-ove doing home improvement projects. Wait. Make that, I love finishing home improvement projects. (Which is sometimes hard to come by since the hubs isn't super handy.) I especially love it when I do them all by myself. The sense of accomplishment is what's addicting. Last year I replaced the kitchen faucet while he took a nap, and I still gloat over that.

So I have had a mirror leaning against the wall in our front room for months. And it has been grating on my nerves every day. Now that the baby is mobile, it's become a safety hazard. I really need to get it on the wall.

The mirror has keyhole mountings, and they didn't match up with the wall studs. Here is what happened several years ago when we (the hubs was helping this time) tried to hang a bathroom cabinet similarly.
Charming, no? We nailed a board into the studs, and then hung the cabinet on the board. So now there is a huge board sticking out the sides, and the cabinet tilts, where the bottom half rests back against the wall. I did not want this to happen to the mirror.


So I did some research and found these.
Drywall anchors. You drill a hole in the wall, then tap these in, & then put in the screws. The anchors have little wings that prevent the screws from pulling out of the wall.

This is how the mirror has looked for months.

See it lean.

I am a terrible photographer, but this is (supposed to be) a picture of the drywall anchor in the wall and the screw in the anchor.
Then I hung the mirror!

Look! It's level!

Ta Da! Here it is securely hung on the wall. Now it won't topple over onto the baby. (Pardon the drywall dust on the floor.)
And the best part is I did it by myself! GO ME!!!

Cooking with Kids

My two girls received cookbooks for Christmas, so yesterday and today they made dinner. It was a lesson in patience for me. But I know I have to keep doing that with them, so they learn to cook for themselves, and don't go to college thinking a meal is a bowl of Minute Rice with butter and salt. *ahem*

It was nearly 8:00 tonight by the time we ate. It took my oldest a long time to get through everything. And part of the reason was that she is left-handed. You wouldn't think that matters in cooking, but it totally does. Especially when she was chopping.

In the end, everything was delicious, and I was so proud of them. I have a stomach ache at the moment, though, because pudding s'mores are not meant for old bellies.

Facebook

I was recently introduced to Facebook, the great time-sucking monster. As a result, I've been put back in touch with many of my high school and college friends. It is fun to see how everyone turned out, but I have also been struck by the different paths everyone's lives have taken.

In high school we were pretty homogenous. We were happy that way, too. We strived for it. Conformity is the ultimate goal in high school. Our hair, make up, clothes, backgrounds, senses of humor, and senses of self were all extremely similar.

Since then, however, it amazes me how different we have all turned out. Everyone has had different challenges that have shaped who they have become. There have been terminal illness diagnoses; infertility; organ transplants; adoptions; deaths of children, spouses, and parents; moves to "the big city"; moves out of country; divorces; remarriages; political, professional, and artistic successes; "coming out"s; and it goes on.

It's also interesting to see how certain personality traits have intensified over time. The funny girl is downright hilarious. The hot guy is still hot. The girl who was only slightly imbalanced back in high school is now full out crazy. Yeah. She scares me.

Yet, no matter how different we are now, somehow, we are still friends because of our shared background. It's like a garden. Same soil, different plants. We grow differently but we're all rooted in the same place. And just like our conformity helped and strengthened each other back then, our lives are richer now for knowing each other in all our variety.

Helmets

At what point is a child a candidate for one of those full-time protective helmets?

The baby is learning to stand and balance and he isn't very good at it yet. Today he bumped his head on the tub, the window sill, the high chair, and he pulled the safety gate down on top of himself, among other more usual falls and knocks with his toys. I've spent all day comforting and kissing his boo-boos. This kid needs a helmet.

Turkey Dinner

I made a huge dinner today. A bone-in turkey breast, mashed potatoes (from scratch), gravy (also from scratch), green beans, carrots, and homemade rolls. Go me!

I like to cook. I don't like cleaning up. The hardest part of making big dinners is getting everything done and hot at the same time. Dinner will be something easy tomorrow. Sandwiches or soup. Leftovers are the best part about turkey.

Now the confession part. All of this was supposed to happen yesterday, for New Year's. I forgot to thaw the turkey early enough, though. Oops!

Happy New Year!

I've been hearing "New Year, New You" all over the place lately, and it is annoying! I think we should be trying to improve all the time, not just wait for New Year's Day. This is part of why I don't make resolutions. The other part is that I have a problem with consistency, and know I wouldn't keep them. ;) But here's hoping that everyone had a great holiday season, and is looking forward to a bright shiny 2009!