It's a Y Thing

Last September I wrote about how no one in the house knows how to replace the roll of toilet paper as needed. Life rolls on, winter passed, spring sprung and now it is summer. Week after week, day after day, it is my job to remember to keep the TP in stock and also replace the toilet paper roll. Especially the one in the “master bath”. Where the following occurs a couple of times a week:

Well, a couple of weeks ago while visiting a friend of mine in Florida, she had a toilet paper holder in her guest bathroom that intrigued me. It was a free-standing, chrome-looking two-foot tall toilet paper holder/dispenser. And there was no springy thing to have to deal with--just a metal bar to slip it on and off.. And the stand allowed for three extra rolls to be stored on top of each other--right there. This could be the solution I've been searching for, and also prevent my having to scoot my bare bottomed self across the bathroom in search of a new roll after nary a square is left hanging on the roll.

Back at home I did an online search and found this one at one of those bed and bath stores for $24.99: http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?SKU=16554120

It was all I could find, but I didn’t order it. Figured I’d find a coupon and then go in person soon.

Well the other day I went to my nearby TJ Maxx in search of some cotton skirts (score!) and headed to the linen area because Hubs recently mentioned all of our wash cloths have disappeared. Next thing you know I was on the aisle that had all sorts of bathroom items such as shower caddies.

And then I saw our new toilet paper holder….for just $12.99. There was one left. It was a great TJ Maxx moment.

I set it up that night:

And a day or so later this is what I found:

Some things will just never change. He says it's genetics.

Full Strawberry Moon – And This is Way Too Organic For Me

I was all set to write about how June’s Full Moon is called the Strawberry Moon because of course of the summertime fruit…and how I have not grown strawberries because I really don’t eat them much although I do buy the frozen kind because they are perfect for a smoothie but how I do grow other things in my garden. In fact, yesterday after I got home from work and right before I took the boys to a skatepark I went to look at my plants. I planted a lot of tomatoes and peppers in the front yard to see what does best this year: the back or the front.

Then I notice one banana pepper plant that has no leaves but does have something big and green on it:Yes, it is diguising itself. On the left is a nice bell pepper plant. And on the right is a bananaplant with one leaf.......
(see it on the right?)

(music comes to a grinding screech and halts)

On the right side of the plant is a huge, fat green worm. Hubs and the two youngest boys came over to check it out. After I was hollering, "Oh My Gawd, you Have to Come out Front NOW!!!!" The worm is still going to town munching away on the last leaf left. One son points out how its mouth is like an electric pencil sharpener.

I am really grossed out and want it gone. Never had anything like this before on a plant.

Then the boys noticed all these droppings on the ground right under the plant. I swear 2 nights prior I was all over this ground pulling out the weeds. I’m all, “Get a stick and get it off!”

Middle son did just that and this worm gigantor is clinging to the plant stem for all its worth and when its top half got pried away from the plant stem and the bottom 3 inches still clinging, it flung its head all around and back and forth like it was majorly pissed off. Youngest suggests we get it off and put it behind my car tire and then I back up and carry on to the skate park (so much for my thinking he was a sweet kid). Hubs tells us it will turn into a butterfly. I just want it gone.

Finally it gets pried off and I wanted it Out Of The Yard.

So we put it in the street and the black top was so hot that it scurried away as fast as it could toward the house across the street.

This morning I am still grossed out thinking about it. I have not yet researched what exactly it is called. But I bet it weighs a lot more than it did two days ago.

Who wants to come over for a sandwich with some banana peppers on it?

Hope things don’t get too crazy for you this Friday—be sure to look at that lovely June full moon. Technically it is fullest in the wee hours of Saturday.

Here is another kind of a strawberry:

22 Nights on a Blow Up

We are back home again after the boys kicked off the summer with a beach-going marathon. They spent hours in two different oceans in different Florida cities for 20 out of the past 22 days. And on every single day they also swam in a pool. For hours.

We travel with two blow up beds for the boys with their sheets and pillows. One is a twin for the Middle son and the other is a queen for the Oldest and Youngest. They went to bed at about midnight and usually had to be woken up at about 9:30.

Last Thursday I flew to Fort Myers, FL to join the family and close out the June vacay. I had not previously gotten specific, but I had never spent 9 days away from the boys/Hubs before--7, but not 9. After I flew home from West Palm Beach, the boys traveled back up the Atlantic, staying again with oldest brother in Satellite Beach, and checked out Sebastian Inlet, another surfer site. Then back to Daytona area to stay with MIL. From Daytona they drove across the state on I-4 and then down I-75 to Naples for a couple days before I joined them again.

It was another smooth, early morning flight (yay!). My grandmother lives in a condo by herself and we visited her for late lunches, and the boys swam in her pool for hours and we went out to dinner with her twice to celebrate her birthday and then my birthday. She is all alone and I panicked that maybe we needed to be with her all day. My Hubs wisely reminded me on Friday that it is my vacation and my birthday too and to relax at the beach in the town where I had many growing up memories.

Every day included the perfect combination of beach time, pool time, good food, Nana time and staying with a wonderful friend/former bridesmaid. Don’t you love those friends you’ve known longer than a Hubs? You can go without speaking for a couple months and then pick right up again.

I thought the boys might be bored with the Gulf because there are no waves whatsoever. But they were thrilled that since it is so much warmer than the Atlantic that I am able to wade right in and swim around. They played with each other more during this vacay than the whole school year, it seems. A manatee swam by and we had never been that close to one before. A dolphin duo swam by too. Middle son loved to swipe my ankle underwater when I was facing the other way and then he'd ask if I screamed (which I did) and then he said, “Darn, I can’t hear that when I’m underwater.”

The first night’s dinner out was for steak and Nana insisted on paying the bill. We cheerfully said we'd do the tip and she refused that too. So we let her do what she wanted (like you have to sometimes when the grands are pretty old). I told Hubs later that it sure is handy having the boys older. Nana is notorious for being a lousy tipper. Middle son was sitting next to her and we mouthed to him, "How much is the bill” and he was able to see it since she was occupied with digging around in her purse. He held up his fingers to show us. Then he was able to indicate how much money she gave the waitress. Hubs was able to discreetly meet up with our waitress afterwards for some tip supplementation......

The second night was my birthday at a restaurant on the water. I was almost dizzy with memories and felt much joy that day and night. I remember being there when I was 9 years old on vacation from Texas. I was there when I was 15 on vacation from California. I knew I’d go there on dates one day. I was there on dates when I was 20 after having moved to Naples from Calif.. And I was there last week with my guys and my Nana who hadn’t been to that part of town in years. After dinner we suggested that we drive to the pier for a walk and Nana said that she couldn't because she can't walk. We told her I'd drive her right to the entrance and then she had her walker and there is a bench toward the front of the pier and Oldest waited with her as we parked. Sometimes you have to tell the really old grands that it will be OK.

We arrived as the sun was getting ready to set. I told the boys how when I was 15 and on spring break vacay with my family there I saw a cute boy my age on this pier when I was alone at the beach. We looked at each other a couple times in passing. As I walked down the stairs that led to the sand and down a bit to where my towel was, I noticed he followed. I picked up a stick and wrote in the sand, “I'm Michele, from Calif." and approached him and told him I wrote him a note. He wrote back, "I'm Greg from Canada." and we talked for a while and exchanged numbers. I didn’t tell the boys that later at night we met back at the pier and kissed big time hidden by that little snack store you see in the photo.

The last night’s dinner was a cook-out by my friend’s pool. I met her on the pier too when we were 20 and had seen each other at some classes we were taking that year before we went away for our last two years of college at different schools. We struck up a conversation and felt as if we had always known each other and hit the town's dance clubs together that night. A couple of years later I introduced my fiancé to her and he immediately clicked with her too. In fact, Hubs and the boys stayed at her home for a couple of days before I arrived. Many aspects of our lives are opposite from each other but she makes me feel like I am the sixth of her five sisters.

So on our last day the boys spent almost 4 hours at the beach, 2 hours in Nana’s pool, and 4.5 hours in my friend’s pool. We went through 6 bottles of sunblock and two spray cans and one small stick (it's great for around their eyes). It was the most gorgeous night that I did not want to end--with the half moon out.

We made really good time on our 9.5 hour drive home yesterday. During the two hours that I drove, Hubs read his Father’s Day cards. We found one in the drugstore the day before that had a plunger on the front and when opened you hear kids' voices thanking their dad for always managing to clean up their big messes. Does anyone else have a family that manages to clog a toilet at just about at every house we visit? Hubs always has to ask our host for a plunger. Happened twice on this trip to two different boys.

I really can’t say enough about how he is a great dad every day and especially on their 22 day surfin’ safari. It brings me to my knees when I think of what our kids have in a dad (and mom).

The boys went to look at their rooms right away when we got back home and said, “Oh wow, look at those clean beds all made up!”

The only injuries are the soles--especially the big toes--on the bottom of these little feet. Ripped up by the concrete from 22 days of pool action.

And today they were out with their friends, at the park and the county pool. It is Go Skateboarding Day. And of course the Summer Solstice.

The Part about the Chocolate Cake is not a Ritual

This is what happens when no one else is home, pre-menstrual hormones are flaring, and I could kill someone for chocolate but luckily I found a box of Betty Crocker mix I bought a month ago in the pantry:


Who even needs icing?

I have had a productive past few days. I cleaned two refrigerators from top to bottom while listening to Hall & Oates Greatest Hits.
(on far left is a bottle of anchovy sauce--what do I do with that? Next bottle is Ponzu--I recommend it--it is soy with half the sodium and has citrus).

I found 25 items of clothing in my closet to give away to Goodwill. Picking them out was easy. But it took a long time because while in the closet I went through my boxes of memories. You know how in "Bridges of Madison County" Francesca had a week to herself each year and she spent that time going down memory lane, wearing her special dress, certain jewelry and listening to certain music? Well it was sort of like that but not exactly.

First, I have been reading some of my journals that I wrote from age 15 through 22:


Then I took a look at some of my love letters I received in years before marriage (one box from Hubs and one box from those prior beaus). Hubs used to put cologne in his cards....on a piece of Kleenex--it still lingers there faintly. Ode to the days of snail mail love letters.


I began my week of alone time with a cook-off ritual: grilled steak, baked potato, green beans from my garden and salad with gorgonzola cheese. By the end of the week I decided to make do with what is in the cupboard and freezer. Here I took Progresso cream of mushroom soup, added spaghetti, shrimp sauteed with onion and garlic, and added bacon and parmesan cheese. If I had peas they'd be in here too.
I watched some me-time girl dvds including "An Education", "Sunshine Cleaning" and Season 1 of Saving Grace (all with fantastic acting and I recommend).

I look forward to my alone week and its rituals every summer while Hubs stays a little longer with the boys in Florida (granted I have to work every day but I am up late with the remote in my hands for once and can keep the bedside lamp on reading till 1:00 a.m.....). Anyway, he is thrilled they are old enough to be on a surfin safari with him. But he told me he will need a break from them when we get back. I miss these guys tons!
(OK, this is from 5 or 6 years ago but they are still my beach boy babies).

I'm off to Florida--the Gulf!!--for my birthday for a few days. Wish me a safe flight. Let me know if there is anything else you want to know about me.

Something Old, Something New

When we were in FL last week, we went to a minor league baseball game on our oldest son's birthday. For 14 years we've been the parents of at least one boy and I believe this is the first time we went to a minor league game...and I highly recommend it. The ballfield we went to is named after Jackie Robinson. In 1946 Jackie Robinson was on a minor league team playing an exhibition game and Daytona was the only city in the area that allowed him to play on their minor league field. The next year he broke the color barrier and played on the Majors for the Brooklyn Dodgers. There is a museum with historical info all around the park. This ball park was built in 1914 and the press box you see in the background here behind my middle son is 50 years old.
If you have a chance to see a Minor League baseball game (Bull Durham anyone?) this summer, do it! It felt like small town fun. More enjoyable than the big expensive places. Seriously. I have visited this town with this ball park for almost 25 years and have somehow missed thissmall town American past time. Do it this summer. There were girls on the field doing tricycle riding contests and plenty of girls in the stands too.

One worker's job was to round up different kids or adults for various entertaining contests. I saw him scouting us out and pointed to my oldest son saying, "It's his birthday". My son was led away and a few minutes later he was on the field with another boy. The contest was to eat a Moe's burrito the fastest for a gift card. Ooops--he just had a big cheeseburger for dinner before we arrived. The other kid won.

It was a gorgeous, breezy night and the park is on a river, the scoreboard was manual and the parking is free. Here is am, one happy mom.
Toward the end there was one man in the stands who was hilarious, trying to get the opposing team at bat or the opposing pitcher all razzled with his loud commentary. Here are my three guys. I guess they are getting older. They had a great time, no one fussed at each other, and none of them asked for a single thing like popcorn or a drink. All the music and antics had them pretty occupied.

Every day we went to the beach. That is not new. Even though we live four hours from the nearest beach, these guys have been in the ocean or pool since they were babies. In fact, they never sit down. They are in the water the whole time. And the more waves the better.I am pretty shy of cool water, plus I was reading books or listening to music. Or getting more sunblock on them when I had the chance.
Middle son always likes to get buried and so I complied. He even asked me to put Cheese Nips on his back to see if birds would feed off of him. They did not.
We worked our way down the Atlantic Coast (Hubs is one of six kids and his three brothers all live in different towns on the coast, and I love all the women they married, and I got lots of girl time). The destination was the beach every day, although one day we went out on boats in West Palm Beach and basically had a 4 hour long "tailgating party" in the water. It can get wild--there is even a boat that delivers pizza and there is an area with younger people and potentially a wild time. Some boats had stripper poles. (No strippers, just the poles). Not near us though. Although my middle son spent a lot of time sitting on the edge of the boat in one direction for a long, long time. I asked what he was looking at and he said, "the fish."
(This is not my photo--I got this from Google images of Peanut Island in West Palm Beach. There were no women dressed like this there. Everyone wore teeny tiny bikinis. I was out of place in my tankini).

Toward the end of the afternoon my SIL made a drink of Malibu rum and Coke for the two of us. I had the drinks on a boogie board for just a minute and suddenly my niece was swimming by and kicking water in them. I let out a blood-curdling scream. A huge ray had swam by a few minutes prior. But I wasn’t screaming about the ray—I was screaming about the ocean getting into the drinks.

One beach I love is Juno Beach-- has nice showers. My youngest son got his back burned toward the beginning of the vacation and a few days later it peeled. Water from the shower formed under bubbles of skin on his back--that was a new experience.


Walking to a pier with a big cousin to buy a slushie was a first too.
(Bongo drum boy is in the background)

I stayed behind to play the role of the surfer girlfriend.
Been doing that for a long time......even before kids........

You know what they say-- you are a couple before kids and you will be a couple after the kids leave the nest. I look forward to being a surfer's girlfriend for a long, long time.

Mowing the Lawn Is the New 30-Day Shred!

Well, I mowed the lawn for the first time in my life. I am not sure if I ever want to do it again. One thing is for sure—it was a great workout and had my heart pumping harder than Level 2 of the 30-Day Shred.

If you know me a little, you know that Hubs is a Yard Man and the reason we had boys is to turn them into Yard Men. Well, I have a new respect for my boys, who start mowing the lawn in fifth grade. Oldest son has a couple of lawn customers in the ‘hood and I seriously think he needs to charge more than the $20 ($25 with edging) that he charges (although my two oldest charge $40 for one neighbor who has a big job).

I flew back early from vacay a couple days ago and left the boys in FL for a couple more days and we knew the lawn would need cutting. In fact, Hubs even brought it up a couple times such as, "I wonder how much it has rained--I bet the grass is getting long." Oldest son has a friend filling in for his customers so Hubs suggested that I call this buddy and pay him $20. I decided to do it myself. I could spend that $20 on a manicure (which I need now) or lunch and a movie!

At first I thought I would tackle the front yard one evening and leave the backyard for another evening because it has a hill, but I ended up doing both on Tuesday night. Here is a photo a neighbor took of me:

Just kidding! Found that on Google Images. I did wear glasses like that though.

Before I got started I asked Hubs over the phone where exactly do I start? So I began close to the house in the front yard and went in a perimeter around pinestraw beds until I had a small area left. I only took out one half of a plant. I thought it would be fairly easy to push the mower since it is called “self-propelled”. It actually took some stamina to maneuver! I didn’t want to have to pull that starter ring out any more than I had to so I gripped the handle for all it was worth and now a couple days later the bones in my hands are still sore.

I called my Hubs after the front lawn was done and gasped in the phone like that “Malcolm In The Middle’s” friend in the wheelchair who gasps and inhales loudly and slowly in between words, “I.…finished…the….front....I’m..…getting......water......inside…the....…house…now.”

I spotted some mountain bike riding gloves in the garage that have pads on the palm area and the fingers cut out so I wore those for the backyard. It took me four tries to start the mower this time and the backyard took about 30 minutes at least and I never let go. Can I tell you how many times I interrupt my husband when he mows? I wasn’t about to have to start it again or else I’d quit.

I was dying by the end and my face was burning red. When I was going downhill I prayed my legs wouldn't give out and send the mower flying and me on the ground. Luckily that didn't happen. But I am glad no one saw me at this point (unless they were laughing behind curtains). Some walkers saw me at the front yard, which felt weird. Usually my role is to just bring out the glass of ice water.

(here is the finished backyard--photo taken from a hill area)

About the 30-day Shred—in the winter my sons got a kick out of seeing me do this dvd (until I quit after day 11) and my youngest son has asked several times when I am going to do it again. I told him I would this summer because I won’t have to get up early and help with anyone’s school lunches, nor will I have to be at a ballfield 4 out of 7 nights). Later that night when I talked to my Hubs on the phone I heard our youngest son in the background call out, “Did she do the Shred yet??!!” And Hubs turned to him and said, “No, she mowed the lawn!!”

The First Day and the Last Day of Vacay

I am back from my summer vacation #1 and anticipate more posts coming with photos. I left for vacay as a parent to a 13 year old eldest son and am back now, the mother of a 14 year old. I can tell you that the number 14 sounds much older than 13, just like the number 7 was such a jump from 6.

One item that my son wanted for his birthday while on vacation was bongo drums. We have no idea where he got this idea. He told us this, “I see myself on the beach, playing them, in between surfing.” We said, “We see you on the beach, sitting quite a ways away from us.”

So we found them in a guitar store a week before we left town and hid them in a corner of our bedroom, under a sheet. I tried to find a box for them but never did. I made a mental note to myself a few times to be sure to put them in the Suburban before we left. He kept telling us which ones he saw on Amazon and that we only had a few more shopping days left.

We always leave for Florida (we are lucky to have many relatives who live in various beach locales and we visit several times a year) really early in the morning. This is so that we can spend 3 hours at the beach the first day to “get the road off”. Of course we always get too little sleep the night before our 5:00 a.m. wake-up. In the morning I got this idea to clip some roses and gardenias to bring along and as soon as I got into the SUV they spilled out of a plastic cup and watered the carpet before we even left the driveway. So Hubs got all huffy and mumbly and went back into the house to wrap them properly in wet paper towels and foil and came back out a few minutes later. That woke me up a little.

In fact, this adrenaline surge over the flower fuss situation was all a good thing because it jarred my brain more awake and when we were about two blocks away I said, “We have to go back!” The bongos (and another gift) were still under a sheet in our bedroom. The boys asked what I forgot and I said it was female related. There were no more questions. So into the house I went and came back out with this item the size of a microwave oven, wrapped in a blanket, and into the back of the SUV it went and then into the guest room at my mother-in-laws for a few more days until his official birthday.

By the way, this birthday son is the one who hurt his clavicle from that linedrive baseball. The orthopedic doc said it was most likely a stress fracture and there was nothing to do for it and to let any pain be his guide and he’d feel much better every passing week. I am happy to say that he was able to boogie board and play the bongos while in Florida. Thank goodness, as he is a complainer. He’ll admit it. Oh, we are open about that. Sort of like the first summer after he was born. He cried for three months. A few years ago we put two and two together and realized he was just complaining non-stop those first three months. So we are all really happy that he is on the mend, as he is not a good patient (but what 14 year old starting summer vacation would be?).

I had a wonderful time off and have been visiting my MIL and my BIL and SIL’s for over 22 years and some things we did the same as usual but we also had some new experiences.

I flew back yesterday from the West Palm Beach airport and I can’t believe it but I am putting in writing that I actually had a really good flight. The key to air travel from FL is to fly early in the a.m. Every night, including the night before I flew, an incredible rain storm came through, tossing palm fronds everywhere, with thunder and lightning galore. I am so so glad I was able to leave on a Monday a.m. and not Sunday night.

So the last day also started with an early wake up call and I was in the air at 7:30 a.m. with blue calm skies, no one eating on the plane, and a Starbucks coffee in my hands, and getting close to finishing the book, “The Help”, and no weird plane noises or bumpiness, or flight attendants acting foolish.

I didn’t take as many photos as I should have but will get them on the computer hopefully tonight. Right after I mow the lawn by myself for the first time in my life. I’ll report back on how that goes.