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Funny or Not, Dayton, Here I Come
One of the first hardcover books I remember truly loving (that wasn’t a children’s classic) was an Erma Bombeck lifted from my mother’s bookshelf. I was about 10 years old when I read the book – yes, I was a very mature child – but there was something about the dry wit in Erma Bombeck’s writing that I just “got”. I was ten, so it wasn’t that I was necessarily relating to the content, particularly when her mentality towards housework was such was a direct opposite of my mother’s own style; I mean, for a child whose early morning directive was “you can be late for school before you leave…
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I’m Sailing….Sailing Away
Today is the day. The day that has got me through this dreadful winter. Through 70+ inches of snow and who knows how days of many sub-zero weather. (Ok, Tom Skilling from WGN probably knows, but whatever.) Through the down coat, the pale, dry winter skin and hair electrified by static. I’m in Florida. Port Canaveral to be exact. And I’m boarding the Disney Fantasy. For seven days, I won’t be cooking, washing dishes, scrubbing toilets or folding clothes. I won’t be making beds. I will be kicking back, reading my book, splashing in the pool, trying not to eat too much fattening stuff, and generally turning off my brain.…
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Finding Purpose and Being Enough
While the rest of the house quietly sleeps, I am cleaning bathrooms and mopping floors. Yes, mopping. I can’t vacuum just yet, because it’s still too loud, even though I did manage to find a relatively quiet one after reading reviews on sites like https://allgreatvacuums.com/best-cordless-sweeper-reviews-for-floor-and-carpets/. My husband hears it from a mile off so I do try to avoid it. I do love mopping though; it’s so peaceful, and as the mop sweeps back and forth across the hardwood, the sponge squeaks softly, the rhythm hypnotic, as I ponder my purpose. Yes, my purpose. An odd thought at 11:30 at night, but so is mopping, I suppose. There really is…
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Show Me Saturdays: What I See
Most mornings, this is the first thing I see when I open my eyes. There is no need for an alarm clock. Her stomach is more accurate than an atomic clock. On days when my husband is home, she leaves me to sleep. She knows if she tries, I will roll over and ignore her until 6:30 a.m., so she will pester my husband to be let out at 5:30 a.m., every morning, like clockwork. Because I have scolded him in the past for feeding her so early (and establishing a bad habit), after letting her out for a morning wee he will now return to bed. At least…
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Fun “Muppets Most Wanted” Activity Sheets
It looks like my kids aren’t the only ones excited about the next Muppet movie: We’re counting down the days to the Muppets Most Wanted release because we love the Muppets here – and because we set sail on the Disney Fantasy the day after the March 21 release, we’ll get to see it at sea – double the Disney love! In the meantime, we’re experiencing another wave of sub-zero temps here in “Chiberia” and the cabin fever is getting bad. Thankfully, Disney has provided some Muppets activity sheets to help pass the time. We will be making door hangers (which my nine-year-old is keen to make to keep his little…
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Conquering Fears
I am not a very strong public speaker. Let me rephrase that. The thought of standing in front of a group of people and speaking makes my gut churn. I fear saying something stupid and embarrassing myself. So when my son’s teacher asked me to talk to his class about blogging, I died just a little inside and then agreed. You can imagine how my anxiety level rose when, a few days later, he pushed back the talk time by 30 minutes – so I’d be talking right after they spent 45 minutes in the gym on bouncy castles (as a reading reward). He assured me that he would calm…
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Some Kind Of Cake
There is something about being holed up inside the house, fingers curled around a hot cup of tea for both heat and caffeine, a worn afghan wound around your legs, while the wind blows wildly outside, slipping through unseen gaps in the windows as snowflakes swirl in hazy late afternoon light . There is something about being all cozy and warm…that made me crave cake. (This is me, not getting skinny.) I wasn’t sure what I wanted, other than something I could dig into while it was warm from the oven. I think what I had in my head was an old memory of a cake, perhaps made by my…
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Sing Along With Disney’s Frozen
My family absolutely fell in LOVE with Disney’s animated feature Frozen, and when I received news that they would be releasing a sing-along version nationwide on Friday, January 31, Miss M and I were thrilled. THRILLED. Today I was sent a link to a sing-along version of “Let It Go”, one of our favorites. I played it for Miss M as she was getting ready for an after-school snack. She sang loudly and with much GUSTO and with no particular affinity to note or key. And loudly. Did I mention she sang loudly? I appreciated her enthusiasm, I really did. I may have to consider going to a later, less…
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Silent Sunday
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Silent Sunday
