About Last Night....

Sometime last week a text conversation my daughter and I were having took a strange turn and ended loosely like this:

Me:  I need to get a life.

Her: Take Sassy for a walk.

Me:  I need a date with something that doesn’t lick its own behind.

I was slightly hurt that she didn’t respond to that comment, because, mental image aside, you’ve got to admit it was pretty funny. (Turns out she was at work and wasn’t able to give the comment her full appreciation.)

Well, yesterday gave me my much needed, albeit unplanned, break from the ho-hum existence I’ve been living for the past several months.

First, our brief taste of spring ended abruptly yesterday morning with a good inch or two of thick, slippery-slidey slush, which was then followed by a good 3 inches of snow. Now mind you, this was somewhat of a surprise, because weather predictions were for rain during the day, then turning ugly sometime after 9 pm. By early afternoon, people were sliding off the roads left and right.

Well, this little weather event presented a problem for a dear friend and former co-worker who lives way out in the sticks and travels hilly, winding roads with very little shoulder and steep drop-offs.

Sooo, we decided to have a girl’s night at my house. I closed the store an hour early to avoid the stupidity and insanity of rush hour traffic combined with frozen, treacherous roads, and we had a lovely evening filled with conversation and much laughter. The fuzzier members of my household were pleased to have another warm lap and another set of fingers to provide scritches. Around 11:30 we finally realized how old we were and decided that sleep should be the next order of business.

At approximately 11:45 as I was snuggling down into my pillow my phone rang. It was Anna…calling. Although Anna frequently, and much to my dismay, texts me random things late at night, she almost never calls me that late. Now we all know what goes through a mother’s mind when their child calls them at such an un-godly hour. So I was relieved to discover that 1) she had not been in an accident, 2) she was not injured and 3) she was not in jail. She was, however, locked out of her apartment, with no car keys, and freezing her very tiny tush. Would I please pick her up and bring her back to the house? Well…yeah, of course I will haul my very tired self out of bed and drive across town on some very slick roads to rescue you in the middle of the night…I am your mother for crying out loud.

Before leaving, I knocked on the guest bedroom door to fill my friend in on the latest development and told her to get some sleep…I’d be back soon. Of course, she flat out refused to allow me to drive alone. So, after throwing some clothes on over pj’s and lacing up the boots we headed out into the night.  (At this point one really has to appreciate the irony in the fact that we were doing exactly what we had been trying to avoid earlier in the evening!) And, though honestly I’ve driven in worse, the roads were pretty darned bad. At about the halfway point I wondered aloud about the sex of the drivers whose cars (most of them 4wd) were languishing in the ditches along the way and offered up my own theory, to which my friend heartily agreed. Well, we rescued Anna, and on the way back to the house, Anna, after observing the abandoned vehicles along the way, blurted out her own theory about the sex of the drivers of those vehicles…oddly, or maybe not, it exactly matched the one previously suggested.

Finally back home nearly an hour later, we all crawled into our respective beds. But, I soon realized that my adventures were not quite over for the day.

At approximately 2 am I was rudely awakened by the sound of “kitty cat in reverse”. Every cat owner in the world knows what happens when a cat goes into reverse. If you don’t know, I can only tell you that things are going to get ugly. And they get especially ugly when said kitty cat is standing on the foot of one's bed. Although, I made a valiant attempt to save the day by leaping out of bed while scooping up kitty boy and dropping him (gently) onto the floor of the shower, my efforts were in vain. I spent several minutes taking care of that “situation”.

At approximately 6 am this morning kitty boy decided he needed his head scritched. Kitty boy can be pretty insistent for such an old guy.

I’m tired.

But, for a brief time, I “got a life”.

Sisterhood

My husband is sweet. After the post regarding no mojo he emailed me a very long list of blogging ideas. He knows me so well, which is wonderful…but kinda scary. I fully intend to keep that list for future reference, but the one subject that stood up and whacked me over the head was…

Sisters.

I have two.

There is so much to say about them, that when I first started writing about them I discovered that it would be virtually impossible to keep it short and sweet, because my thoughts always went off in the direction of some crazy story of our antics. Posts about my sisters will have to be broken down topically…otherwise I’d be writing a book. The overview though is this:

We are one person. 

Really. 

We were just born 3 years apart, have 3 different body types, and have 3 different lifestyles, but we’re still the same person.

We share a telepathic and/or empathic vibe with one another.

A single, seemingly meaningless, offhand comment by one can result in the other two bursting out in laughter. Which makes those around us wonder if we’ve lost our minds.

Our voices are so similar we are often mistaken for one another over the phone. (I’ve even fooled myself, which is a story for another time.)

We know with pretty accurate certainty what one another’s reaction to a certain situation will be, because it is usually some variation of what our own reaction would be.

Our own children are our sisters' children…and for that matter, our brother’s children are our children.

Individually we are strong, intelligent women, but together we are a force to be reckoned with. (Don’t let this scare you, although we can be intimidating when necessary, we’re more likely to entertain you.)

We feed people. It’s our job. It’s what we do. And we do it very well.

(Thank you, Mom.)

We need, yes need, time together. And the really great thing is that our husbands understand and foster that need. (They usually benefit, because it usually involves a lot fun and a lot of great food).

We take our sister job seriously. That job is to love, support, elevate, care for, and be there for each other and our loved ones.

There is no jealousy or arrogance between us. 

None…zero…zip…nada

We are smart-asses…and we make no apologies for it.

We ALWAYS have a good time together.

My sisters…

They are my best friends.

I love them.

Grape Tomatoes...a reminder

I'm working on another post, really I am. It's taking me awhile, because the subject matter is complex.

Anyway, there was a little incident with today's lunch, which resulted in a reminder to myself. If it helps anyone else then my work is complete.

So, this morning I was running a little late.
(Which is pretty much par for Mondays, because there is the added bonus of hauling the trash out to the curb.)

As I'm tossing veggies in a bowl for today's lunch I come across the grape tomatoes.

Love the things.

Although they're small and bite-sized, I usually slice them in half. This keeps one from having to chase them around the bowl whilst trying to stab them with a fork. (I've come to the conclusion that when going after a whole grape tomato one has to be quick and decisive.) BUT, being trash day and needing to get out the door, I just threw them in the bowl, slapped the lid on it, and sped off.

Fast forward to lunch. Now, I very well could have taken the time to slice those tomatoes before eating the salad, after all I do have the tools here at the store to do it, AND I actually had the knife in my hand because I had just sliced a cucumber, but noooo! I'm tough...I can handle those puppies. And for the first few bites I had things perfectly under control.

But I got distracted.

Now, you must know I absolutely do not chew with my mouth open. (I very clearly remember the day my father made it known to the four of us children that we were all to close our mouths when chewing and there would be no further reminders!) But there is that split second between putting food in your mouth and actually closing your mouth. That split second when you're actually biting down on, oh I don't know, say a whole grape tomato, on the way to closing your mouth, when your mouth is still technically open.

And we all know what happens when one bites into a grape tomato.

Yep, that's right...a perfect little arc of seeds went spewing between my unsealed lips and landed gloriously on my freshly laundered pants.

I am sooo thankful I was dining alone.

Lesson, or rather lessons, learned!

No Mojo and a few other things...

There is just no creative mojo flowing these days...neither in writing nor in paper crafting. (I did, however, manage to put together a Valentine for my one and only, but that took 2 days and it was pretty simple!) I just have too much swimming around in this brain to settle down and concentrate for very long.

Sigh...this, too, shall pass...
always does.

However, as I was chopping up veggies for a yummy salad last night, I realized that I totally forgot to mention the sweet little salad spinner in my list of favorite necessary unnecessary things. If you have one you already know why this is a must have...if you don't, well you seriously don't know what you're missing. I picked one up at the "Mart" for a whopping $3 last spring after being told for years that I needed one. My initial thought was, "Yeah, yeah...sure, sure". This thing eliminates the soggy dish towel or paper towels spread out on the counter, plus it is great fun to use! (Just don't let go of the lid until it stops spinning!) It works for any just-washed fruit or veggie or any other food item you need to de-soggify. (Don't you love my made-up words?). It's also really handy for removing the excess water from thawed shrimp before tossing them in the saute pan.

The other handy kitchen wizard item I need to mention was a Christmas gift from my mom...the FastaPasta cooker. Cooks perfect al dente pasta in the microwave. Forget boiling the water, dumping in the pasta, bringing back to a boil, stirring, testing, etc., etc., etc. Just add the pasta, water, lid, microwave for the specified time, and "fo-git 'bout it!" (spoken in that bad Italian accent I like to use). PLUS you won't need a colander to drain the water off the pasta, because there is a built in strainer in the lid. I also used it boil some baby Yukon Gold potatoes to perfect done-ness, and you can steam rice and veggies in this thingy, too! (A note to my sisters who also received one...GET IT OUT AND USE IT, ALREADY!)

Finally,
HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!
I love ya madly!
May there be chocolate in your future!

After the Storm...

Whew! We made it...so far, anyway, because it looks like the thaw is going to be a long time coming. First of all, city, county, and state road crews deserve major kudos for the unbelievable job they did in clearing the streets and highways.   Then there are the unsung heroes out there with snow blades and heavy equipment who volunteered their time and resources to aid in the snow clearing process. If not for them, many people, including me, would still be stuck at home. (Someone is getting home-baked goodies.) Many people learned many things from this event, or at the very least were reminded of many things they had long ago forgotten. Here is my list:

1.                  Snow days are supposed to be about eating bacon on the couch, and watching movies with a warm, buttery bowl of popcorn on your lap, and sledding, and snow ball fights, and snow men, and warming up with a mug of homemade hot chocolate topped off with a great big ol’ marshmallow.

2.                  I’m not sure how it feels about me, but as far as I’m concerned our snow blower is my BFF. I’m thinking about letting it have Anna’s old room.

3.                  Clearing your driveway of 20 inches of snow matters not when you are met with the same amount on the street. 

4.                  A snow blower with one tank of gas can clear a two car driveway four times, finish off half the neighbor’s driveway twice, make a path from the front doors to the mailboxes of two more neighbors, dig out the end of the driveway after the snow plow has been through, and still have gas left for another day.

5.                  Snow blowers are just not practical on stairs or decks.

6.                  Say what you will about living in the sticks with no one around for miles, but there are advantages to having neighbors.

7.                  No amount of yoga can prepare your body for the after-effects of a day and a half of snow clearing. Those after-effects don't really kick in until about day 3. (I'll be fine if I remember not to make any sudden movements.)

8.                  The National Weather Service warned of the possibility of becoming disoriented and lost during blizzard conditions, but they made no mention of the same danger while trying to navigate parking lots which have become mazes of mountainous barricades of snow.

9.                  Even at sub-freezing temperatures solar gain is a beautiful thing.  

10.              Frigid temperatures don't scare menopausal women. In fact, there's not a whole lot that will scare them.

11.              Two feet of snow is the amount at which an Australian Shepherd can become stuck. However, with enough enticement (think impertinent little rodents with swishy, bushy tails), they can bulldoze their way through.

12.              Starlings are evil little bastards.

13.              Creative driving becomes an art form as two lanes of traffic, without warning, become half a lane.

14.              One little incident can make a person ice-aphobic for life. (Okay, so maybe it wasn’t that little and the proper term for it is pagophobic, but I like my word better).

I'd post pictures...but I DON'T HAVE A CAMERA (birthday hint, Honey).

Why can't I get the song, "The Morning After", out of my head???

(I've got you singing it now, too, don't I?  You're welcome!)