Tag Archives: random

The Things Kids Remember

19 May

It’s funny what kids remember.  The best memories are the ones parents least suspect.  My fondest childhood memories are:

Homemade pizza on a snow day

After-school walks with my grandmother that too often took us to a pizza place

Playing Othello with my grandfather

Stopping for a Wendy’s Frosty after my orthodontist appointments

Picnics in the park

Summer days in my cousin’s pool

Going to work with my uncle and then stopping at Friendly’s for the biggest sundae they served

Illegal fireworks on the fourth of July

Watching the A-Team with my family

None of these memories are terribly out of the ordinary, but when I think back over my childhood, these are the good things pop into my mind.  A few of these events only happened a handful of times, but they left an impression.  At the time, my family probably didn’t even realize they were helping me make memories that would last a lifetime.    Just like I didn’t understand that two years ago my daughter and I did something that she would never forget.

Early on a Saturday morning we walked into town, stopped at the bakery to get two donuts, and ate them in the park.  It was such a simple morning.  I never gave it another thought, but my daughter loved that time we spent together.  She talks about all the time, so this morning we finally enjoyed a repeat.

The sun was shining and it was warm early.  We armed ourselves with a few dollars and a camera and set off for our walk across town. It was the most beautiful morning.  One we’ll both remember for years to come.  I even willingly broke my diet for a donut with my daughter.

rainbow sprinkled donut

This morning was worth every single sprinkled calorie.

What good memories do you have from your childhood?

Have you done any special memory making with your own children lately?

Harley Dreams

10 May

The other day I went to the Harley Davidson shop with my husband.  I don’t like it there, but I do it to keep my marriage sweet, just like he sometimes gets out of the car and actually enters Hobby Lobby.  I think he’s mildly allergic to Hobby Lobby, because he gets goose bumps and starts to sweat as soon as the front doors part to allow him entrance.  He must have spent too much time eating glue and crayons as a child, because he now has an aversion to anything that may resemble arts & crafts.

It’s ok though.  I don’t expect him to love Hobby Lobby, just like he doesn’t expect me to love Harley.  He drooled over the bikes and I, well, I just drooled.  I realize some women love to ride bikes.  They aren’t born with birth marks, they are born with tattoos and black boots.  I’m just not that into it.  I have a hard enough time driving a car with four wheels; I don’t even want to imagine me on two wheels.  Know what I mean?  I wouldn’t just need a helmet, I’d need full-body armor.

I’ve only ridden a motorcycle once and I wasn’t driving.  I was hanging on for dear life and screaming, “Don’t lean!  Don’t lean!  I’m goooonnnnnaaaa dieeeeeeeeeee…..!!!”

I can honestly say, I have no desire to get back on a bike.

What about you?  Do you go spend time someplace with your husband just because you know he loves it there?

Do you ride?  If so, tell us why you love it.  Win me over to the dark side with your story. ;-)

The Age of Invention

1 May

Hat Invention

I often wonder how some of the great inventors of old managed to create anything without duct tape.  It seems the perfect substance.

My son has used up so much duct tape, I feel like I should send him to live with the Redneck Chic.  First the wallets and now this!

In case you’re wondering what “this” is, it’s your ordinary all-purpose hat.  It comes complete with a fan in case you’re hot (or someone sitting near you is hot), a light for when you want to go spelunking (or take a trip into the back of the closet), and it has a hands-free drink machine.  This hat is fashion meets MacGuyver, and it’s all held together with duct tape.

This hat comes complete with two battery packs, one for the light and one for the fan.  I believe he also has a pocket for a batter charger.  What more could you need?

It’s the hat of the future!

Do your kids like to make things too?  I honestly believe my son enjoys taking toys apart and using their pieces more than he enjoys the toys.

Full of Wonder

24 Apr

Life is pretty fabulous.

I’m not talking about the extra-special things that may or may not happen to you.  I’m talking about the ordinary day to day, life itself.  It’s great because it’s unexpected.

You wake up in the morning, toast a bagel, argue with the kids over who spilled milk on their homework, and head out into a day of unknowns.  There’s no shortage of things that can make you wonder.

It’s a good life.

Take for example, this note that my daughter brought home from school.

Now that warmer weather is hopefully on its way to [my town] again.  I need to address the subject of proper clothing for school.

Please, girls should not be wearing any short shorts or shirts with spaghetti straps.  In addition, no pajamas are to be worn to school or any shirts or hats with innappropriate phrases on them.

See how they have to tell us not to wear our pajamas to school?

I always assumed that was a given, but I live in pajama-mama world.  You thought I was joking the last time I made reference to everyone in my town wearing pajamas as day clothes.  No sirree.  I tell the truth around here.

Next week, I bet they send home a note asking parents not to wear their pajamas when picking up their children from school.  It’s coming folks.  I may frame it when it comes, because nobody would believe me.

The other thing that about slapped-me-in-the-face and made me wonder is why some women feel the need to excessively self-tan.  I mean, I’m all about looking a shade or two darker than ghost pale, but why not quit a shade lighter than Dorito?

Fritos might be nice, but Doritos are just too much color.

 

It’s a wonder this thing called life.

Don’t you just love it?

What’s made you stop and wonder lately?

Artificiality

23 Apr

Stone Mountain, Georgia

Artificiality

~ by FringeBoy

I went to McDonald’s one Saturday night.

I walked up to the counter and ordered a tea.

The awful stuff gave me quite a fright,

For what I was drinking was pure artificiality.

I spit it out on the floor.

I said, “Adios” and

I walked out the door.

____________________________________________

First, I would like to say how pleased I am that my son expressed himself through poetry.  He wrote this a little while back and I just ran across it once again.  I’m 100% on board with his thought process.  I believe McDonald’s is artificial; however, who goes McDonald’s and orders only “tea”?

French Fries – Definitely.

A Big Mac – OK.

A Chocolate Shake – Very Likely.

But TEA?

He must have visited a British McDonald’s.  It’s the only explanation.

We’re certainly not poets in our house, but creativity sideswipes us sometimes.  Even my daughter was writing acrostic poetry tonight.  Although my children seems to be getting groovy with their words, don’t expect to hear them at any coffee shop readings.  We’re just not that cool.  But, we do drink tea.  That must count for something.

How about you?

Are you smitten with poetry?

Do your words pour forth in iambic pentameter?

On a scale from 1-10, how groovy are you?

I’m about a -2.

My Mission: Organization Part 2

29 Mar

I couldn’t leave yesterday’s post alone, now could I?  There had to be a part two, because by now, every single one of you thinks I am a slob.  I am not.  I’ve been reformed!

I ran to the dollar store and bought eight little plastic boxes.  Eight isn’t a magic number, but since I had a $10 bill, it worked with the budget.

Those little drawer organizers came in sets of three.  Now that’s a bargain!  The colors are what they had and cheapskates can’t be worried about the color of organizers that will be hidden in drawers and cabinets, at least this cheapskate isn’t worried.  I’m new to the whole organizing deal, so don’t burst my bubble and tell me everything should match.  Ok?

First I tackled the drawer that was a sea of serpent like phone charger wires, webcams, and other assorted chargers.  I moved all those to a plastic box and put the chargers we use the least into little baggies, so the wires don’t become like a bowl of spaghetti.

If I were really organized I might move my chapstick to the bathroom and put it in my makeup case, but I like to have a Burt’s Bees chapstick in every room.  Call me crazy.  I am.  I just hate chapped lips and I’m addicted to this stuff.

Here’s the cabinets in my kitchen island.  Pretty impressive, huh?  It might not be Martha Stewart good, but it’s a far cry from the jumble it was this morning.

I have a box for chargers, a box for extra party supplies (like ribbon, tissue paper, extra balloons, etc.), a box for for packing supplies that I use for my Fringe Vanilla (including my business cards), a box for batteries, and a box for kitchen gadgets that I only use once in a while.  Now I need labels, but one thing a time.

Is there a twelve-step program for reformed slobs?

Maybe we should start one…hmmm…God grant me patience to accept the clutter I cannot change…ya, I don’t know.  If you hear of a program, pass along the info.  I’ll try and find a sponsor.

That’s as far as my ten dollars and ambition got me.

You must check out this kitchen though.  It’s like nothing I have ever seen.  Ever!

After you look at it, you’ll be finding yourself a sponsor and signing up for twelve-step program too.

Today I’m linking with…
IHeart Organizing

Happy Weekend!  I can assure you, I will not be thinking of organizing this weekend, so don’t expect more pictures next week. ;-)

Washed, Dried, & Waiting to Wear: Why This Woman Sundenly Likes Laundry

26 Mar

Saturday landed me in the laundromat.  It wasn’t an all too terrible experience.  Besides the machines eating coins faster than I could dig them up from under the car seat (and from pockets of old coats and in-between couch cushions), it was nice to have all the laundry washed, dried, and folded in about two hours, give or take an hour since I don’t own a watch.

Usually I am doing laundry every waking minute of my life almost every day.  I know some people pile it all up and save it for a once-a-week marathon, but my washer tends to leak and it would be a full-on flood if I did twenty loads in one day.  Besides one of us is always running out of something, especially FringeMan.  I doubt he has enough work pants and sweatshirts to make it through a week.  So, I wash often, until my dryer died an untimely death and forced me to the laundromat.

I can only hang so many clothes in my house to dry before I get claustrophobic and feel like I’ve been sent to a sudsy purgatory.  Because the weather was cold and dreary, outside was not option.  It’s really never an option since I have nowhere discreet to hang clothes.  I doubt my neighbors want our undergarments waving in their windows.  Know what I mean?  We just don’t have much of a yard.

All those words and I could have just said, Saturday I went to the laundromat.  Why you stick with me, I’ll never understand, but I do appreciate.

So while I’m in the laundromat twiddling my thumbs and keeping my children from using a wayward sock they found as a slingshot to sail quarters through air, I thought how nice it would be to have multiple washers and dryers in my house.  I mean, imagine… not one, but two commercial size loaders whipping the dirt from clothes faster than you fill the hamper…it’s almost as good an idea as hiring a housekeeper.  Ok, not really, but it’s still a good idea.  Too bad Sears doesn’t have a two-for-one sale.

Sears, do hear me?  Your washers and dryers are too expensive!  Can I become a product tester or something?  We have lots of dirty clothes.

After I finished fantasizing about super-capacity red washers, I thought about how lucky I am to have a washer and dryer.  I could be walking to a creek to beat the body odor out of my son’s gym socks.  Praise the good Lord for modern conveniences!

Then I thought that in the olden days people wore their clothes multiple times before washing.  I mean, they must have.  They didn’t have many clothes to rotate.  My mind kept thinking.  I couldn’t stop it.  They only bathed once a week and I doubt they had deodorant.  Good heavens!  They must have stunk like dirty dogs in the rainy season.

I know what my son smells like after gym class and I force him to bathe daily, against his better judgement.  Imagine if we only bathed once a week?  Our furniture would smell like toe jam and armpits.  I have a terrible sense of smell and still, I think I would die of olfactory overload.  No amount of candles can cover week-old rot.

So this morning when I woke up to find the hamper full.  I did not even complain.  I just pushed the pile of clothes down as far as they’d go and determined to buy a bigger hamper.

I’ve decided I like laundry – clean, folded, and waiting to wear.

The end.

My Mind – Streaming

21 Mar

Happiness over the sun shining several days in a row.

Pain from a rogue migraine.

Frustration.

Enjoyment.

Thankfulness.

The mind battle over weather to eat the last scoop of ice-cream in the freezer or NOT.

Intense love.

Anger.

Isn’t it amazing all the emotions we can go through in a day?  If you’re a hormonal woman, you can run through all those emotions in five minutes.

I’m going nowhere with this…welcome to my stream of consciousness post.  Be scared, very scared.

I have damp and slightly smelly laundry hanging all over my house, because my stupid dryer stopped working.  Actually, it will work for two-minute intervals, but FringeMan said unless I want to burn down the house, I should NOT attempt to use it.  He’s declared it dead, and he fixes nearly everything, so if he says it’s ready for the grave, it’s beyond resuscitation.

Mourn with me people!

There are underwear hanging from the towel-bar in the kitchen.  Now is not a good time to stop by, but I’m sure everything will be dry by seven o’clock tonight when the ladies arrive for Bible study.  NOT.

The sun is glowing on my front porch/lawn and I am so tempted to cast my laundry out as if I were spreading grass seeds.  It would dry quickly, I am certain; however, my neighbors may never fully recover from my public display of a freshly washed load of whites.

For the past two nights my daughter has become Susie-homemaker.  She even busted out the broom and mop.  Her room nearly sparkles.  She told me that “we should do this spring cleaning every year, because it looks so nice.”

“Spring cleaning?”  I said.  “What you did is not spring cleaning, it’s just CLEANING.  You should be doing this every week.”

Stunned.  She was stunned.

I guess I’m pretty lax when it comes to my standard of clean for my kid’s rooms.  I do regularly send them to clean, but my expectations are generally low.  Even when it does get good and clean, it doesn’t last long, especially if more than one child is involved.  Messes multiply in the presence of children.  They can’t help it.  At some point, I believe they were genetically altered to create disaster from order.

Now I’m left to contemplate snowpants, more specifically whether I should chuck the beat up pair of pink ones hanging from the hook in my hallway.  It seems odd to keep out a pair of snowpants when you sent your child to school in shorts, but I’ve shoveled my way out of many April snowstorms.  I am leery of this summer weather, enjoying it fully, but leery just the same.

I’ve notice spring doesn’t really exist anymore, not in the North East anyway.  We go from snow to 80 degrees overnight.  When I was kid, we had what we called “spring jackets”.  There’s no need for them now.  One day you’re wearing a snow suit, the next day you’re wearing your bathing suit.  It’s a bit of a shock for our bodies, but I’m sure we’ll survive.  I just pray we do not go back to snow suits.

That’s it.  My brain just shut down.

You can move on the emotion that rejoices when I fall silent.

Many happy spring blessings to you.

Date Night: Taking Chances

17 Mar

Last night I went on a date with my husband.  That’s two months in a row, possibly a new PC (post-child) record.

I woke up feeling like Mexican food, because, honestly, Mexican food combines all my loves – cheese, fried, meat, cheese, chips.  Throw some salsa on it and a side of refried beans with cheese (of course) and you have a spicy meal.  It’s all good and it’s generally cheap.  Besides, I love bright colors and Mexican restaurants are usually full-on tacky.

Love.

We just don’t have any Mexican restaurants near where we live.  It’s kinda spooky.  If we had known enchiladas would be so hard to come by, we may never have moved here in the first place.  Even our Taco Bell is a case of food poisoning waiting to happen.  Note:  I happen to like Taco Bell and they are usually fairly clean; however, this one is an exception.   When an eleven year-old boy, my son, even thinks a place is too dirty to eat, it’s bad.  Health Department where are you?

For this cause, FringeMan took to searching the internet.  He came up with a Mexican name, claiming to serve food, about 30 minutes from our house.  We’re adventurous, so we set out, our tummies rumbling for spicy.

As we pulled into the parking-lot, my spidey senses kicked into high gear.  At first glance, things didn’t appear quite right, but the lot was full, so we proceeded.  I entered, took one look around, and would have bailed, but FringeMan thought it seemed worthy of a try and we had very few alternatives.  McDonald’s was around the corner.  Enough said.

We stayed, we ate, we survived to tell the tale.  Besides, they had a beautiful mosaic on the wall below the counter.  If I ever live in the southwest, I am so gonna pimp my place with mexicali mosaics.  Rest assured we would have the tackiest house on the block.

Why is it some dives have the best food?

I had chili cheese enchiladas that came with rice and refried beans.  They were more than I could eat, but I gave it my best shot.  They were very cheesy, very good.  I’m not sure I’ll ever go back, because let’s face it, I’d be pushing the odds of getting food poisoning; however, I have no regrets.  Sometimes you have to risk your abdominal well-being and eat on the fringe.

What about you?

Where do you enjoy eating out?

Would you test fate and risk eating at a dive?

Ten Trivial Things I Know

15 Mar

I admittedly do not know much, but these few things I know.

My son’s room will never be truly clean.

Laundry is a constant.

In America, free speech is welcomed until it clashes with mainstream media.  Then you best be silent or grow a very thick skin.

My daughter is growing up because she wants me to do her hair every single morning.  This is a first in her ten years of life.  Now I’m watching YouTube videos and scrambling to learn how to create any other look besides bedhead.

My body needs a diet.  My mind hates that idea.  My clothes like me a few pounds slimmer.

Every year when winter melts into spring, or even when it hesitates, I buy a new pair of shoes, as seen here and here and here.  (The first pair is terribly ugly. The second two pairs are much cuter.)  Shoes seem to be my lifeline out of winter’s depression.

I really cannot think of a good reason to bungee-jump.  Ever.

My Facebook friends are very wise.  Last night I put together an advisory board and they fixed my problem in moments.  Really, we have an amazing resource called friends and family.  We ought to tap into that resource from time to time.

I am very picky about which foreign countries I would like to visit.  There are many on  my must-see list, but others tend to fall off the little “earth” I’ve created in my mind.

I don’t do “puke” well.  Just yesterday a little girl riding in the back seat of my car uttered the words, “I’m getting car-sick.”  Immediately I panicked.  “You’re not gonna throw-up – Are you gonna throw up – Tell me if you feel like throwing up – Please don’t throw up in the car!”   I scared the car-sickness right out of that poor child.

Now it’s your turn.  In this world of constant unknowns, tell me what you know.

 

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