Sunday Stealing: The Clown's Meme Part 1

I found this link to Sunday Stealing on Coffee Slut's blog.  Since I'm still half asleep, answering some questions seemed like an easy way to get started today.

1. How old will you be in five years? 55

2. Who did you spend at least two hours with today? It's 6:30 on a Sunday morning and no one else is up.  If sleeping counts, my husband.

3. How tall are you? 5'7"

4. What do you look forward to most in the next six weeks? Spring Break!

5. What’s the last movie you saw? In the theater, some chick flik that I can't even remember the title.  DVD, Roman Holiday  We hardly ever go to the movies anymore but I love old movies.

6. Who was the last person you called? My son

7. Who was the last person to call you? One of my daughters

8. What was the last text message you received? My daughter, I think.  My cell phone died on Friday.

9. Who was the last person to leave you a voicemail? The pharmacy to tell me my prescription was ready.  I really need to get some sort of life going here!

10. Do you prefer to call or text?  It depends what I need to say.  I would rather email a stranger than call however.

11. What were you doing at 12am last night?  Sleeping

12. Are your parents married/separated/divorced? They had been married for 50 years when my dad passed away.

13. When is the last time you saw your mom? July :(

14. What color are your eyes? Green

15. What time did you wake up today? 6:00AM

16. What are you wearing right now? Jammies

17. What is your favorite christmas song? I love Christmas music so it's hard to pick just one: The Christmas Song, O Holy Night and White Christmas

18. Where is your favorite place to be? At home with a good book or in my sewing room undisturbed

19. Where is your least favorite place to be? Any place that is crowded and Texas in the summer

20. Where would you go if you could go anywhere? Ireland

21. Where do you think you’ll be in 10 years? God, I hope I'm retired!

22. Do you tan or burn? A little of both

23. What did you fear was going to get you at night as a child? The wolf my dad told the neighbor kids lived in our attic- don't ask me why he told them that!  Actually I was scared of everything as a kid.

24. What was the last thing that really made you laugh? I'm reading one of Jen Lancaster's books- I laughed the whole time I was reading last night.

25. How many TVs do you have in your house? I think 5 but the best one is in for repairs.

26. How big is your bed? Queen

27. Do you have a laptop or desktop computer? Both but I mostly use the laptop

29. What color are your sheets? Beige Ok, I really do lead a boring life!

30. How many pillows do you sleep with? 2

31. What is your favorite season? We don't have seasons here- just hot and humid for about 6 months, pleasant for about 2 weeks, damp and cold for a month or so, and then pleasant for another 2 weeks before it's hot again.  Back home in PA, fall was my favorite season.

32. What do you like about Autumn?  The colors of the leaves, crisp mornings and sunny days, the smell of the leaves, new clothes, the first day of school, football, Halloween, school supplies, the taste of a freshly picked apple and the smell of a new box of crayons.

33. What do you like about winter?  Sitting inside and watching the snow come down, hearing the DJ announce that there is no school today, Christmas, sled riding, coming in from the cold to hot chocolate or a pot of soup or chili, sweaters and mittens.

Saturday Morning Confusion

While visits to my paternal grandparents were filled with lots of love and homemade goodies, visits to my mom's family meant adventure!  I idolized my mother's younger sisters who were teenagers when I was born.  They played rock and roll records, talked about Frankie Avalon and Elvis, and treated me like a princess.  I couldn't sleep if I knew we were going "down home" the next day.

My grandmother or one of my aunts might decide to make ice-cream late in the evening and then the race was on to find all the supplies before all the stores closed.  Everyone would help crank and maybe by midnight we'd have ice-cream!

When I was 4 or 5 my aunt bought a motorcycle.  I felt like the coolest kid in town when she would take me riding. My favorite trip was to a dairy outside of town for the best French vanilla ice-cream ever.

In the evenings I loved to hanging around the kitchen table listening to the adults talk and laugh while they played cards.  Even my parents seemed less "square" on these visits.  Family and friends would come and go all  weekend.  Everyone was welcome and everyone was fed!  I remember going to a nearby Italian deli and getting fresh Italian bread and meatloaf for sandwiches.  Some mornings my grandmother would make doughnuts- what a production that was!

Even after my aunts got married, we'd still all come to stay at my grandparents' home quite often.  My uncles were great, especially the one who would say and do the craziest things and sing "Born to Be Wild"  and "Saturday Morning Confusion" as he went through the house getting the kids all stirred up. Believe me, it was wild and confusing when we were all there!   My other uncle teased us all about something- as a preteen, it was my Donny Osmond obsession that amused him.

Having twin cousins just added to the fun!  We made forts in the back staircase, drove people crazy until they would take us places and spent summer vacations together on the Jersey Shore.

Changes came over the years- my grandfather who we adored had a stroke and then passed away when I was 12, my aunts got divorced and remarried, and my grandmother moved to a smaller house- but the adventures didn't stop.  I had my first lesson driving a stick shift in my aunt's VW Bug with my cousins and brother in the back seat screaming "We'll all  be killed!  On a Christmas visit while I was in college, my aunt threw me the keys to her brand new Camaro to take my cousins and brother to McDonald's.  This was a big deal for a girl who was rarely allowed to drive the aging family Gran Tarino!  I had my first beer in a bar with my aunt and Grandmother, who both swore to the bartender that I was old enough to drink.  (I wasn't)

We still get together every summer.  My grandmother died when my youngest daughter was a baby and one of my aunts died unexpectedly, but it's still always a crazy time.  Family times are at the top of my favorite childhood memories list!

Apples and Geraniums

Since the main reason I started this blog was to become a better writing teacher and help other teachers with their writing workshops, it seemed only natural to try the Writing Workshop on Mama Kat's blog  when I discovered it.  The prompt I chose to write about was "Tell about something you enjoyed doing as a child."



Visiting my grandparents and other family was one of my favorite things to do when I was a child.  My dad grew up in another small  town about 20 miles away so we visited his parents quite often.  I loved when my dad would announce on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon or evening,  "Let's go over home today."  I'd grab my book and maybe a favorite doll and we'd head off "over the mountain."  Our first stop was at my grandparents.  We would park in the alley behind the house and come in through the enclosed porch in the back that always smelled of the apples and geraniums my grandmother kept in there.  Grandma would be in her little kitchen cooking or baking something wonderful.  I can still see her standing at her countertop rolling dough for noodles or slicing apples for fresh applesauce.  She had one of those red stepstool chairs and I would sit and watch her work and listen to her and my mother talk.
My grandfather would be in his rocking chair  He loved to sit and rock with us and since my brother was the only one who would sit still long enough, he usually sat with him.  He and my dad would talk about fishing or hunting or what my dad's brothers were up to.   Sometimes they would go out to the garage to look at the car or a new tool or something.  (I learned later that many times they went out there to drink a beer or 2 as well!)  Maybe we would all go out to see how the garden was doing or pick a few apples if the season was right.
At dinnertime we would all crowd around the little kitchen table and eat fried chicken, mashed potatoes and noodles, corn and warm applesauce.  The menu rarely varied but occasionally during hunting season there would be some fresh game: venison, rabbit and even stuffed squirrel.  I always passed on the latter two. (Yuck!)
After dinner we would all sit in living room and the grownups would talk.  Sometimes my grandmother would tell stories about when she was young, other times they talked about people around town.  She might pull out her current afghan or quilt and show us.  I think I inherited her love of handwork and think of her often while I crochet or work on a quilt.  Some days my grandfather would hand my dad a newspaper clipping  to read.  (I imagine now that these were probably obituaries)  My brother and I would pull out the toy basket and sit in the front room and play with the handmade teddy bear, toy cars and Colorforms.  We loved that basket!

If it wasn't too late we would stop and visit my aunt and uncle.  My dad's youngest brother and his wife always seemed to be so much "hipper" than my parents.  They didn't have kids, my aunt worked and they even had a "hi-fi."  The best part of visiting them when I was young was my brother and I got to have Coke!  Once in awhile we would go there for dinner instead of my grandmother's.  Then we would have steak or hamburgers that my uncle would do on the charcoal grill.  They had french fry cooker that I thought was the coolest thing ever!

Occasionally we'd really make the rounds and visit my dad's sister and a cousin of his that we called aunt and uncle or old friend of my dad's. 

As I look back, there was really nothing exciting about these Sunday trips.  But I got the opportunity to hear a lot of stories and really learn a lot about my dad's past.  It was just such a comfortable feeling to know that you were loved and always welcomed.  I am sad that my kids never really got to experience this since we live so far away from most of my family.

Coming tomorrow: Part 2 Going "down home"- visiting the other grandparents.

Why is everyone staring at the empty spot in the corner?

We are about to see what kind of family we really are.  The barely one year old HD television has been taken off to the TV hospital  for repairs-hopefully at the expense of Phillips/Magnavox.  Yes, we have other television sets but this is the one that everyone wants to watch.  The Playstation and Wii are hooked up to it.  It is connected to the DVR and satellite dish.  It's in the room with the comfortable, reclining sofas and chairs. 
Results so far:  Husband is wandering around aimlessly. (He's been addicted to some shoot 'em up game on Playstation.)  My new fitness routine is shot- no motivation to get on treadmill if I can't watch TV, brand new Wii Fit is still in the box.  Kids are scattered to various spots in the house watching TV's with (gasp) no satellite connection.  Even the dogs seem confused since no one is in the living room.  But the silver lining:  It is SO peaceful and quiet right now.  If it wasn't for the fact that I won't get to see McDreamy and McSteamy tomorrow night in all their HD glory, this could be a good thing.

Post-It Note Tuesday

I thought I would try out the Post-It Note Tuesday from Supahmommy's site and rant about a couple of things that are really ticking me off right now.

Impossible Dreams?

I am spending my 3 day weekend catching up on my reading, and today I am reading a wonderful book called The Next Thing on My List: A Novel by Jill Smolinski. A brief summary of the book so far is that June Parker, the main character, is trying to complete a list left behind by an acquaintance, Marissa, who was killed in an accident while June is giving her a ride home from a Weight Watchers meeting.  The list consists of things that Marissa would like to accomplish before her next birthday since she has achieved the first goal of losing 100 pounds.  As June moves throught the list, she deals with issues in her own life as well as the guilt she feels over the accident.

Since this is kind of a milestone year, I thought it would be interesting to list what I'd like to accomplish by my next birthday in November.

1. Finish at least 1 quilt(or any craft) project. It seems I like collecting the supplies and the initial excitement of projects much more than following through to completion.  Although I promise I will finish the quilt I started years ago for my son if he moves out.  (See #3 below.)


2. Lose 40 pounds. I have a binder full of diet recipes, numerous healthy cookbooks, a treadmill, a Y membership, a shelf full of exercise videos and a Wii. I can't understand why I'm still fat.  Oh wait, you're actually supposed to use all these things?

3. Get my firstborn moved into a place of his own. I love my son but I really think I'd appreciate his <ahem> unique perspective on life so much more if I only had to listen to it when he came by for dinner or to do laundry once or twice a week. I know his sisters share my sentiments.  (If I can ever figure him out I'll write about it some day.)

 

4.  Go on a vacation.  We visit my family in Pennsylvania every summer, but due mainly to the kids activities and summer jobs, we haven't had a chance to do much else in recent years.  Now that they are all  responsible enough to stay home if they can't join us, we might get to go on a real vacation. OK, they probably aren't  responsible to be left at home but CPS can't come after me for abandoning them at this point.  Leaving all 3 of them together probably won't work either.  This may have to be a goal for my 60th year.

 

5.  Buy some fun new clothes. (After I get started on #2)  I came out of the bedroom the other day and both girls told me I looked like just like Grandma. 

 

I originally thought this would be a list of 10, but I'm already getting depressed thinking about trying to achieve just these five things.  Excuse me while I go mix up something in my new cocktail shaker.

Long Live the Queen

If my daughter insists on acting like a little princess, would that make me a queen?  Because if someone doesn't soon get an attitude adjustment, it is definitely "off with her head."

Maybe her plan to go to college out of state isn't such a bad thing....

I Suffer from PPS (Pre Party Syndrome)

If you stopped by from Friday Follow and I haven't returned the favor, be patient with me! Today is one of my top ten stress days of the year. ( See this post: 10 Days and Counting ) I handle big stress pretty well (open heart surgery, accidents, etc.) but I do "sweat the small stuff!"  I guarantee I will cry at least once today, yell way more than once, and start in on the liquor we bought for the party by the end of the day.  The family has already been SO helpful- my son volunteered to watch a friend's puppy for the weekend, to the dismay and delight of our menagerie, Moonbeam(youngest daughter) informed me that she will be in her room for the weekend because she has to finish reading and annotating Huckleberry Finn for AP English by Monday- an assignment she's known about for weeks- and my wonderful husband has already suggested  that maybe I should go take one of "my pills."  Add in some job "drama" from the last week and we have the perfect recipe for a breakdown.

So, I will be visiting you all soon provided I don't end up in a mental facility (or jail.)  Although, it would be quiet, food is provided,  no cleaning ... Naa, they probably wouldn't let me have my laptop.

I'm sure these things didn't happen to June

I decided I would actually cook dinner yesterday since I figured there would be a revolt if I offered leftovers one more day.   So I pulled out the ingredients to make a vegetable stir fry.  (I'm trying to keep Moonbeam, my vegetarian save-the-Earth girl, happy.)  I put the Wok on the burner, put some oil in it , turned on the heat and then decided that I would go look for some photos I wanted to add to my Facebook page.  I was having a great time looking at old pictures and located the picture I was looking for.  I came out of the bedroom to discover the house filled with smoke and Ralph opening all the windows. Did you know that hot oil really creates a lot smoke when neglected?  Now, when I left the room, my husband was in the living room-which opens to the kitchen-, Moonbeam was on the computer-next to the kitchen- and the other 2 kids were upstairs in the game room-directly above and open to the kitchen.  NO ONE noticed anything until the house filled with smoke?  Seriously?  We had get all the animals out (2 dogs, 4 cats, and 2 birds) and sit outside for about 20 minutes until the air cleared.  My son's comment (this is the 23 year old who is still living at home) :  "Yea, I smelled something burning but it smells like that a lot when you're cooking so I didn't think to say anything"

And he wonders why I keep showing him ads for apartments.