Shaved legs--Monday Memory

This weekend we were watching the Track and Field finals for the US Olympic Team tryouts. As we watched I commented to Tarzan, B used to run hurtles, he was awesome to watch, T ran relay, she was so fast, C did the long jump she was really good, and so on. I bored him with my continuing monologue about how the children had performed in sports while in school. Then...

I caught his interest...

It seems that when T was in 5th grade the school was having a track meet in May and it was hot, hot, hot. I bought her a really cute red shorts and tank top outfit. She refused to wear it and came out of her room ready for the track meet in jeans and a t-shirt. I knew that would never work, it was way too hot to be dressed like that for a track meet.

I asked T several times, in different ways, why she would not wear the shorts. I thought it might be because she thought it was immodest. No, it wasn't that. Maybe she didn't like what I bought her. No, it wasn't that. Finally, T burst into tears and said, "I have hair all over my legs and it's embarrassing."

I said, "Oh, I can fix that," I took her in the bathroom and shaved her legs and she gleefully went off to the track meet in a cute red shorts outfit.

As I thought about that, I recall more than once when the "rules" had to be changed to meet the needs of the individual. The one thing I wish I could redo as a mother is to make more times when I gave my children a little more control over their rules.

Maybe you can take this to heart and ease up a little on some things with your own children.

Yum, Google find

I totally found this with a Google search...yuuuuummmmm. I haven't made it my own yet, so enjoy in its original form. The link to the original webpage is on the date.

"Just Beachy says:
October 31, 2007 at 6:41 pm
This recipe usually goes over very well. I usually double it though.

Cookie Dough Cheese Ball

8 ounces cream cheese (softened)
1/2 cup butter
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup powdered sugar
3 tablespoons brown sugar
3/4-1 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup finely chopped pecans

1. Blend first 3 ingredients until creamy. Add powdered sugar and brown sugar mix well. Fold in choc. chips. Cover and refrigerate 3-4 hours. Shape into ball, wrap in saran wrap-again refrigerate 30 minutes or more. When ready to serve, take the ball out of the wrap and roll into the pecans or toffee bits. Serve with graham cracker sticks or vanilla wafers."

Let's talk--Thursday Thought

My thought today comes from http://segullah.org/. Inspiring, short essays about women with whom I share a common interest.

"...People need to talk. How will we learn what others have to offer if no one talks?”

I'm sorry I can't tell who wrote the article but it is an excellent read and one that makes you take stock of your own lack of appreciation for simply loving your neighbor with a kind word.

A Happy Father--What I saw Wednesday

For Father’s Day, we went to a million star hotel

Notice, there is only one sleeping bag. Tarzan was going to sleep sitting up (suppressed laugh). I ended up unzipping the bag so we could both be covered.There was a fabulous nail salon
We had a gourmet dinner and ate outside on the “patio.”
For breakfast, we prepared a meal in the kitchen in our suite
And ate on a lovely dining table with a fishing theme for the center piece
Later, we discovered there was a swimming pool (I love this picture)

And Dottie took full advantage of it.

The resort had a special diet for Dottie and Lucy
We found time to lounge in the shade. Well, it was shady when Lucy fell over asleep.
We visited a museum
With antique farm equipment
Tarzan found time to hunt for dinner where he first found bait and then a meal
Happy Father’s Day doing just what we wanted to do.
(And then there was my hair, yikes)

Brain Muscle Confusion-Tuesday Tip

Here is some info I got from Woman's Day (My Mom gave me a subscription this year).

1. Crossword puzzles and salmon help keep your mind sharp (My Mom does crossword puzzles every day, and she is sharp as a tack at 86)

2. Stimulate coordination by brushing your teeth with the hand you don't normally use (I did this and guess what, it was weird. I am a counter, I count the number of strokes when I brush my teeth, among other things, I couldn't count when I brused with my left hand.)

What do you do to exercise your mind?

Going to College--Monday Memory

When our oldest was off to college, we flew to Boston with him. The first is the hardest to let go. It's a scary world out there.

When we got to Boston, we stayed in a hotel close to Havard Square which was a good thing because everyone WALKS everywhere in Boston. We both lost 5 pounds the 4 days we were there, just from walking. I commented that when you are in the west, if someone sees you walking they ask if you need a ride; when you are in the east if someone sees you driving, they wonder where you are going.

I called around to see about a tour bus and they were sooooo expensive. For some unknown reason, I called a limosine service and found out I could have a limo for the whole day for the price of a ticket for just one of us on a tour bus.

Our limo driver took us all over town, we saw all the tourist spots and even went to his favorite pizza place where we stayed in the car, in the middle of a VERY narrow street, and he ran in and got us pizza. It was so kewl. Everywhere we went, people looked at us trying to figure out what celebrities we were.

But the real memory is this:

As we walked our son to his dorm the last day, I looked at the other parents bringing their children to school. All of the students were bright eyed, smiling, standing tall, walking with alacrity while the parents looked worried, slightly slumped, acutely aware of the reality of life.

As I look back on that, it serves as a reminder to me to always keep that childlike innocence around, to remember what it feels like to be excited for a new adventure, to find joy in every experience and not allow the realities of life to weigh heavy on me and bring me down.

Special Post

We need traffic on our business website. Please go to http://www.growsticks.com/ and poke around for a minute. Send suggestions to me on how I can make it more user friendly and any other comments including things like "yuck, I hate your design." We want your honest opinion.

The reason we need traffic is that we are trying to become affiliates with the NBA. They told us we didn't have enough traffic on our website to be accepted.

Kind of snooty don't you think? After all, the whole purpose of becoming affiliates was to drive traffic to our website.

Anyway, your help will be appreciated.