If you get a chance.....

Last week, I said to my son "If you get a chance today, will you mow the lawn?". To me, that was Mom-speak for "Unless something significant happens like you ending up in the hospital or the Prize Patrol shows up to give us a $1,000,000., the lawn better be mowed when I get home from work." To my teenage son, "if you get a chance" means "if there is absolutely no one available for me to text or IM AND if every electronic device we own isn't working AND if I can't find a book to read then perhaps I might find the time to consider mowing the lawn". Needless to say, the lawn didn't get mowed last week.


With all of the rain we have been getting, it has been hard to find a day to mow the lawn and it is growing out of control. It is getting to the point where small animals could get lost in the tall grass. Today is overcast but, so far, no rain. In a few minutes, I will be waking my son up and telling him "Dude, mow the lawn today." Think he will understand?

UPDATE: I came home to a mowed lawn! YEAH!

A quiet interlude.....

Most weekends, I am running here and there. I might be transporting my son to an activity or doing errands. The thought of “stopping to smell the roses” may occur to me but there never seems to be enough time. This past weekend, however, I was able to do just that.

At baseball last Thursday, my friend, Lori, was there even though she had recently had surgery. Lori and I met thru our sons and youth sports. Her husband was my son’s favorite basketball coach and Lori and I served on the Little League Board together. Lori has two awesome sons who are both very athletic. My son and her youngest son have been on the same baseball team for the past two years and Lori was determined to be at the last game even though she should have been in home in bed recovering. That is the type of mother that she is – always putting her sons before herself. I believe that it does take a village to raise a child and I have always been happy that she is in my village because we share many of the same viewpoints on life and child-rearing. In addition, she is a fellow “Farmtown/Facebook” addict. She mentioned that she would home alone on Saturday and I offered to bring lunch over and keep her company.

I picked up lobster rolls (we are in Maine, you know) at the local hospital (which is well-known for it’s food!) and headed over to Lori’s a little past noon. The weather was sunny and warm and just perfect for dining outside. Lori lives in a log cabin on a wooded lot with a welcoming front porch where we ate. We could hear the birds sing but no sounds of traffic or other people. We sat and visited and, dare I say it, relaxed. We didn’t do anything exciting or solve any problems. We simply let the world go on around us while we took time for us. I was stunned when I looked at my watch and saw that it was 4:00 pm. We had wiled away the afternoon. It was wonderful.



We had been talking about getting together for a meal for several years but had never found a time when we were both free. In addition, it has been raining here in Maine at a rate of 5 times the normal amount for the month of June. For the two of us to be free on the same afternoon and for the weather to be so nice is nothing short of a miracle! I left her house feeling recharged and ready to get back in the thick of things. I hope that she enjoyed it too.

Here's to taking the time to enjoy life.

Gotcha!

In Friday Fragments, I mentioned that I have this weekend to myself as my men are at a boy scout camping trip. I also mentioned that one of my activities was a surprise. Now that the surprise has happened, I will let you in on the secret. It was a surprise for someone else that resulted in a fun evening for me.

As some of you know, Mary Ellen over at http://www.adoptingme.blogspot.com/ is one of my dearest friends. We have been friends since college. She is the stage manager for the performance of "Never Too Late" by the Oxford Hills Music and Performing Arts Association. Andrew Scott Turner is the director. Judy, Mary Ellen's college roommate, and I decided that we wanted to show our support and surprise Mary Ellen by going to one of the performances. Jamie, one of Judy's sons, agreed to tag along and we headed out to Norway, Maine last night.

After work , I jumped in my car and headed north for 1 hour to meet up with Judy. After a little confusion about where we were going to meet (all on my part, of course), I found her and we carpooled to the show. It was another 45 minutes into a part of Maine that I hadn't been to since my high school years. While no town in Maine really qualifies as a "big city", I do live in southern Maine about 1 hour from Boston. As we drove into Norway, I got a sense that I was returning to my roots as a youth in (very) small town Maine. Norway is a cute old fashioned looking town and the play was being performed in the local grange hall. What is the grange, you ask? It is a the largest agricultural organization in the United States and was formed over 140 years ago to provide service to rural areas on a wide variety of issues. There are still over 3600 different units around the country and Maine has many. Most small towns in the Maine have grange halls where they hold or held meetings. In addition, these halls often have stages, etc. for the community. Anyway, when we pulled into the parking lot of the grange hall, I noticed the building was a stereotypical grange hall as it was a little tattered but extremely sturdy. Going into the building, I was immediately transported back to my youth. There was a dining room area on the first floor and a stage area on the second floor just like the Community Hall in Liberty, Maine where I grew up. I spent many hours at the Community Hall volunteering at church suppers and performing on the stage. I just knew this was going to be a wonderful night.

As small town as the location was, the performance itself really impressed me. It was a warm evening out last night and it quickly got very warm in the audience. I can only imagine how hot the actors were on the stage with all of the lights. They gave no indication that they were melting and performed beautifully. The play had a great deal of physical humor and was "laugh-out-loud" funny in many spots. I have season tickets to a local professional theatre in Portsmouth NH and this show was as good as any of their shows. All of the actors were great but one actor, Alyssa, really stood out. She is only 15 and was playing a 23 year old married woman. I had no idea that she was that young until it was pointed out to me. She carried her part off without a hitch. Bravo to everyone involved - especially to the stage manager.

We sent a message to Mary Ellen at the end of the show. She was stunned to see the three of us there. All I can say is GOTCHA! We traveled to see the show because that is what friends do. They support each other.


There is a sign on Rt 95 coming into Maine that says "Maine - the way life should be". Great local theater in an old fashioned grange hall with girl scouts selling refreshments at intermission is a great example of the way life should be!

Here's to local theater and the people who volunteer to make it happen!

Friday Fragments

I am now in double digits for posts and one great idea that I am following along with is Mrs. 4444's Friday Fragments. You can see the original Friday Fragment poster over at http://www.halfpastkissintime.com/. Her post always makes me smile.


What is Friday Fragments? A place to clean out all those random thoughts that bounce around your brain like the ball in an old fashioned pinball machine.



I have been reading (on my Kindle, of course!) a book this week that I have had a hard time putting down. I usually can figure out what is going to happen in a book but "The Neighbor" by Lisa Gardner kept me guessing from the first chapter to the last. I highly recommend it.



How does my dog know what day of the week it is? She leaves us alone on weekdays but on Saturday and Sunday mornings, she wakes up and does her best to convince us to get up and take her for a walk. Also, she knows if school is in session. I drive my son to school so she gets a ride every school day. She looks forward to this and paces back and forth in excitement. The first day of my son's summer vacation, when I got up, she opened one eye, looked at me as if to say "no way I am getting up", and went back to sleep.



Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson all passed away this week. They were all pop icons to those of us born in the 60s. Boy, do I feel old! I was at my son's last baseball game of the season last night when we all heard the news about Michael Jackson. Even the boys were stunned. Hopefully he will rest in peace and be remembered for his amazing talent and not the freakshow he had become.

Is it just me or do you ever wonder why they refer to deceased people as being "late" or "lost"?
Seriously, they aren't late. You don't need to keep dinner warming on the stove for them. When they say someone lost a relative, all I can imagine is an urn of ashes sitting in a "lost and found" at the local mall. In most cases, the people know where their deceased relatives are. They may not be with you as you want, but they aren't lost. Just sayin'.

My co-worker asked me for some personal advice yesterday. I know what I told her was NOT what she wanted to hear. However, she took it well and said the reason she asked me was because she knew I would tell her what I really thought. That made me feel good for some reason.

My two men are going to Vermont for the weekend. I am looking forward to a couple of nights by myself. Don't get me wrong. I adore my family but it is nice to have some time to myself. I have a couple of things planned already. One is a surprise. Don't you just love surprises?

Bravo to my son for a great report card. High honors for the quarter and all As and one B for the year. He ended up with a 90 average in Pre-Calc for the year and got the B. Not shabby for a freshman.

The Red Sox lost last night but they are still ahead of the Yankees in the standings. All is right in my world.

Here's to randomness.

Thankful Thursday

Do we really take the time we should to reflect on the things that we are thankful for? I know I don't, so on Thursdays, I am going to reflect on the things in my life that are great.



1) A loving husband who didn't totally freak out when I told him I didn't like the color we (ok, he!) painted the bathroom and I wanted us (him) to repaint it.



2) A teen who hasn't given me any reason to worry. He does well in school, has awesome friends and still loves his parents.



3) A job. I might not love my job but I work with great people and I have a job. I know people who don't.



4) My son has 2 healthy grandparents. My in-laws may drive me nuts on occasion but they are healthy and they adore my son.



5) Amazing friends. I have a couple of friends that I have had forever and I know that they are true-blue, be there forever type friends.



6) The internet. I have recently reconnected with a lot of childhood friends on facebook and we are having a ball. It is funny to see how people have changed and, also, how some things NEVER change. With some of them, I wonder how I survived all these years without being in touch!



7) A home to live in. It may not be as neat and clean as I would like (hey, it's baseball season!) but it is a nice house in a location that I love.



8) I am grateful the sun is finally shining today. After 5 times the normal amount of rain for the month, we are all anxious for some sunshine.



9) I am thankful that I have a weekend to myself to look forward to. Hubby and son are going on a boy scout campout and I will have the house to myself. I love them but it will be nice to have some "me" time.



10) I have an extended family that I cherish.





What are you thankful for today?



Here's to appreciation!

One week down.....

Today marks Day 7 on my new diet. I joined a 12 week diet club that a friend of mine was starting. We are following the Transitions Lifestyle program and meeting once a week at her house. We are paying $5.00 a week with the person who loses the 2nd most percentage of weight getting their money back and the winner taking the rest of the money.

This diet is a Glycemic index plan so basically it is low carb and low fat. When I first looked at it, I wondered what I would be able to eat but I have found that it isn't that bad.

I have discovered that:

Egg beaters in the microwave is a very yummy and easy breakfast - esp. when you throw in some peppers and onions and top it with a little salsa

My son is a vegetarian and I have been stealing his fake sausage and fake bacon products. The fake sausage is pretty good.

Green bananas have lower carbs than ripe bananas.

How much I like a good stirfry.

I have a lot more energy when I eat fewer carbs.

That fruit just doesn't cut it when you want a "dessert".

That the worse thing about a diet is that you are planning what you are able to eat so you
think about food all of the time.

I really need to work on drinking more water.


I welcome any and all diet tips - what worked for you and what didn't work.

Here's to being healthy and (hopefully) looking better!

Everything I need to know......

As parents, our job is to teach our children the ways of the world. From manners to math to how to tie your shoes, we spend a great deal of time and energy teaching the next generation. However, in this journey I call motherhood, I have learned many things from my son. Here are the top 10 things my son has taught me:

1) I now enjoy baseball. I used to absolutely hate baseball. Now I am a big fan who rarely misses a game. Part of this lesson was self-preservation (I was there, I might as well enjoy myself) and part of it was because I was the designated parent who sat and watched the games on tv with him. Nowadays, I am probably a bigger fan than he is and I will be very sad when he stops playing.

2) Today's teenagers are much more tolerant than we were at the same age. From boys wearing skinny jeans to kids in special ed to a student planning a sex change operation, the teens in my son's school are much more open and accepting than the students were back when I graduated.

3) Our family has made a pledge in 2009 to be more green and this is due to my son's encouragement and concern for the environment. We probably would have gotten to this point but he made it happen much faster.

4) The importance of music in our schools and in our lives. I cannot carry a tune in a bucket and am much more likely to be listening to a book on my MP3 player than music but I have realized how important music is. My son has always been an advanced student in math but I saw his creativity soar when he started playing an instrument in 5th grade. Did you know that schools with strong music programs have higher graduation rates and fewer behavioral issues? There is a strong correlation between music and math performance. Music is truly a core subject and should not be the first item on the chopping block when they have budget cuts.

5) Children have an unlimited capacity to learn and that most children want to learn. I have great memories of playing math games and word games in the car when we would drive places. He was having so much fun that he didn't realize that he was learning and when it wasn't fun, we would stop until another day. In Cub Scouts, I taught my 2nd grade den to play chess. Everyone told me the boys were too young. They weren't. They completed the chess belt loop and had fun at the same time. The highlight was seeing one of the cub scouts call checkmate when playing against a Harvard-educated father!

6) There are some really amazing kids out there and we have a great future ahead of us. Today's young adults are so much further ahead academically than we were. Many of them are active volunteers who are already contributing to the community. I can't wait to see where they take us!

7) My mother was much smarter than I ever gave her credit for. All those things that I never thought I would say? Yup, those words are coming out of my mouth nowadays.

8) Boys and girls are born with certain inherent traits. As a child of the 60s and 70s, I read all the nature vs nurture arguments on gender. Are boys and girls really that different or is it because of the way we were raised was the question of the decade. Within a few years of having a son, I knew the answer is that there are certain traits that are simply "all boy". They didn't make sense to me and they made perfect sense to his father.

9) I learned a desire to become more organized. In some ways I am better than I was but mostly I am a work in progress in that avenue. How did I learn this from my son? His unorganized ways drive me insane and I am determined to find a way for both of us to be more organized!

10) I also have realized that the best, most important job in the world is being a parent.


What have you learned from your children?


Here's to the kiddos!