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Outside My Comfort Zone
My comfort zone is rather smallish area which I am forced to step out of more often than I’d like. I am not a risk taker. No siree. I don’t like to ski – I don’t like the feeling of being out of control. The first and last attempt was on a bunny hill in Wisconsin (which the Hubs insists isn’t proper skiing). All I remember is a lot of packed icy snow, and ending up in a heap off-slope, under the ski lift, skis akimbo and stuck in the ground. Descending steep flights of stairs make me really, really nervous. My kids are well aware of this and when…
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Lessons I’ve Learned From My Father
My father is a very wise man. I have learned many lessons from him over the years, and I’m sure he has a few more gems left to impart. My dad is a bit of a perfectionist. When I bought a loft bed from a fellow student during my sophomore year at university and needed a ladder to go with it, he made me one. It was stained, varnished, and perfectly angled so to lie flat and sturdy on the floor. The loft frame itself was constructed of raw timbers and bolts; it was akin to putting Mercedes hub caps on a Gremlin. When I admonished him for the overkill,…
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To be a Princess…
My lovely daughter is a princess fanatic. Her favorite princess is (now) Rapunzel, followed very closely with her long-time favorite, Ariel. She has nearly all the dresses. All the movies. She can talk endlessly on all things princessy. When she grows up, she wants to be a princess…or a veterinarian. Or a Princess Veterinarian. So when Kathy at Mama’s Losin’ It suggested the prompt “If you had to choose a Disney princess to live the rest of your life as…which princess would you choose and why?”, I knew who I would be (because I’ve had this conversation with Pea before): I would be Belle. And here is why: She’s pretty.…
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Some Things Never Change
School these days – boy, things are different. We learned to type on typewriters. In high school. My children are learning to type on laptops, in kindergarden. We learned addition and subtraction. My kids are doing things like “Number bonds” and “chunking”. We had hot cooked meals and homemade desserts. (Ok, so MY kids still get this, but we’re lucky.) Our school district back at home? Everything provided by a food service, delivered shrink wrapped and really pitifully less-than-healthy meal options. Nachos, anyone? We were taught to tie our shoes in kindergarden. Now, parents teach their children to tie their shoes (which is why my 8-year old still doesn’t really…
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This One Time, I Met A Boy
“Go! You might meet someone”. These are the famous last words spoken by my mother at the end of a very long day of moving apartments. I was tired, and a bit grubby, and not entirely in the mood for going out that evening. My mother, on the other hand, was kind of tired of her 30-year-old daughter being single. She was optimistic. I was just pissy. However, I had promised my friend Valerie that I would go out with her to this party, and I didn’t want to back out on her at the last-minute. I took a quick shower, threw on some clothes (I’m normally agonizing over what…
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Things My Mother Taught Me
This Sunday is Mother’s Day, and for the third year in a row, I won’t be able to get back to the U.S. to spend time with my Mom. I really miss her. My mother is a lovely woman. She has a great sense of humor, cares very deeply for people, is easily hurt, and is very protective of the people she loves. However. She is not the world’s best cook. ducks In all fairness, she will likely admit that it isn’t her first love, and to be honest, she doesn’t care much about food one way or another. Which, admittedly, is a fair reason for not liking to cook.…
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Dusting off the Cobwebs
One of the prompts on this past week’s Writer’s Workshop was: “What have you been too busy to pay attention to?” This was one that I couldn’t pass by. This one, dear friends, will write itself. The answer to this (aside from my ever expanding muffin-top) is: my blog. *sniffs* I’m slightly mortified that the entire month of April slipped by without a single post *hangs head in disgust*, particularly with so much going on. Despite so much going on. Given that I had so much going on. I didn’t necessarily have a shortage of ideas….they just weren’t playing out. (Seriously, if you could have been in my head last…
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My Life Stories…such as they are
Everyone has those stories that you tell over and over, some which you love to tell…and some which you wish no one would ever, EVER bring up again. Ever. I will admit, I must be a perfectly boring person, because I have LOADS of these stories to recount about my friends (where I was an observer)….but me? I can’t seem to remember anything actually memorable. Ok, none that are memorably funny. No falling – repeatedly, dependably, frequently – off of bar stools (hey, Jim! :waves:) or peeing on my white cowboy boots in the parking lot of the local fun days (that would be Christie) or flirting so long with…
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Top Trends of 2011 (That I Want To Forget)
My family went to Center Parcs between Christmas and New Years for a bit of a getaway. We had a wonderful time, but I have to admit, while we were there, I saw some fashion trends that pretty much made me want to wash my brain or gouge my eyes out. Some things you just can’t unsee. Thank you, Mama Kat, for reminding me that I wanted to write about this, anyway. Yes, another list. (I think I mentioned that I love them). And yes, it is a bit…snarky. 5. Feathers. Feather hair extensions…feather earrings. Unless you are under 14 – or Cher – please, don’t. 4. Animal knit hats….on…
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The life of one turkey saved. Maybe.
Today is Thanksgiving for all my American friends. However, since it is just another school day for us, combined with the fact that my Husband is on a business trip somewhere in Germany, I won’t be cooking a turkey, or anything resembling a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. (Particularly since my 5yo doesn’t really like turkey.) Somewhere on a local farm, a turkey is thanking me. Appropriate, hmmm? Anyhoo, for our “Thanksgiving” dinner I suppose I’ll just make something the kidlings like to eat. Like pizza. Maybe a turkey-shaped pizza. *ponders* * * * * * The other thing I won’t be making for Thanksgiving is a pumpkin pie. Mostly because, with the…
