Apr 27
“There are some people that if they don’t know, you can’t tell them.”
Louis Armstrong
“Let there be Kix!” Kyle squealed during his first sleep over with his cousin Mikey. They celebrated this momentous occasion the way 2 year olds do when no one is looking. They flung cereal high into the air. That is until grandma walked up the hallway. “Boys! You need to clean this mess right away!”
Mess? Huh? This was not a mess! This was a party! The boys shrugged their teensy shoulders like dear ol’ grandma had lost her mind. Grandma summoned me to their room. Her face nearly froze when I ran the opposite direction for the camera. This precious moment would last forever — “keep throwing!” I laughed.
Grandma, whom I love dearly, told me I was making a mistake… but I dunno. These two cousins still enjoy the power of fun. Besides, snapping this picture was much more fun than vacuuming.
Apr 19
“Pull Over!”
One year ago. I hop out of the car. I dash over to my sister Sandra’s window.
“We are eating here!”
I am beyond joyful even though I must admit, losing my father was a jolt. In his honor, I share this page from my private journal because miraculously, his passing was one of the most beautiful gifts I think our family ever received — for it brought us back together.
I point across the sidewalk — amazed. This is the exact spot I was telling Ken and Marissa that I remembered being at with my dad when I was a little girl.
“Oh my Gosh!”
Sandra squeals. “How did you see this from the road?”
Sandra’s husband Don holds the door open as the six of us pile into this quaint Texas-style restaurant located in the heart of Wilmette, Illinois. One by one we step inside without saying a word. We cannot believe we are beaming when only minutes ago we were crying.
Marissa points to the bass fiddle player on stage.
“How - did - you – see – the – bass fiddle – from –the road?”
Marissa whispers into my shoulder while Sandra and I mimick our dad who was playing this imaginary instrument with his fingers the day he ‘came back to life’ at the hospital. He had been in a coma for days, then for an hour he woke up.
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Apr 18
“An ounce of action is worth a ton of theory.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
On Monday, April 21st, Victor, (the director at CBS19), will count backwards, then shout ACTION! As he ques me, several months of believing that a 2 minute food broadcast and webcast could actually include healthy dollups of family funnies, will come to life. There are lots of neat prizes – like a $50 gift basket filled with Barefoot Contessa brownies and Godiva Chocolate.
You, my new friends via blogville, are invited to take a sneak peak at the video page. This inside scoop link will be available in this blog on Monday the 21st. Until then I am hot gluing olive oil bottles onto backdrops. While I try not to knock anything over, I am going to re-run one of my favorite blog posts from January. I hope you enjoy POWER RANGER BANANA!
Kyle has just called me from school…He forgot the all important IPOD and wanted me to bring it when I picked him up. “Don’t forget.” He reminds me twice.
I’ve got a column deadline to meet, plus two meetings back to back, but his IPOD jumps to the top of my priority list. Lucky for him, I remember bananas are big deals. Yes, bananas.
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Apr 13
That’s the secret to life… replace one worry with another.
Charles M. Schulz
The other day I was strolling down the road, leaning back in the passenger seat, chatting on my cell phone, when abruptly the words, “call ended” flashed across the screen. Apparently my friend Bonnie had driven through a hole. She will call back…
Several minutes pass. The phone rings. Bonnie is talking super fast… “Tye fell out of the car. I don’t know how it happened…..”
“What?!!! Was the car moving?”
“No. I took him out of the car seat and he stood up, flew forward, and the next thing I knew, I was catching him sideways. I’m worried he is hurt.”
“Did he hit his head?”
“That’s why I’m calling you, I don’t know.”
“Is he crying? Is he in pain? Are his eyes rolling?”
“No. He is acting fine. He’s playing.”
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Apr 10
What was my son thinking when he wasn’t thinking?
I am ironing clothes for a trip Kyle and I are taking to Chicago. I have two more sweaters to finish then I can shove all these neatly folded stacks into suitcases. Kyle promises to help me when he is finished. I am not sure what he is finishing — and that is where this story takes a turn.
“Oh man,” Kyle shrinks into the sofa. “It didn’t work.”
“Huh?” I ask for my Pepsi bottle. “What didn’t work?”
“I saw it on TV. You put a Mentos in a soda bottle and it fizzes into the air. So I put a Spree in your Pepsi when you weren’t looking. I was going to surprise you.”
“Surprise me? With soda spraying into our ceiling fan? Why would you even think about doing something like that?”
“Don’t worry! It didn’t work. I put the cap back on.”
“Well, hand it to me. I need a drink.”
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Apr 07
“Why do I do this? Polish my nails at 3 am when I could have worn closed toe shoes?”
Obviously my subconscious brain is worried about sandals because truly, there is no logical reason to polish toes in the middle of the night…..
I thought I had broken this 40-something-hormonal habit- but no, it has apparently returned. Three nights in a row. I am running out of dishes to avoid washing. So last night I gave myself a pedicure. Picture this– I am sitting on the floor with my legs straight in front of me. I have a red wool blanket tented over my shoulders. Our house is always arctic. My toes are numb. They are separated with pink rubber thingys.
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Apr 03
What was my husband thinking when he wasn’t thinking?
Our house was unusually quiet for a mid-afternoon, so I asked my husband where our toddler son was.
Kyle? Yes, Kyle — our youngest child, our only son, where is he? Uhm, well, Kyle fell asleep during our bike ride, so I, well, uhm, left him in the carrier. You mean you left our son attached to the back of your bike? Alone? Unattended? Yeah…. No…. Ken was shuffling his answer and his feet. Did you take the carrier off? Uhm, well, no but I put the kickstand down. The kickstand? Yeah, I stayed in the backyard and watered the flowers. You mean to tell me that you left our son sleeping on the back of your bike with the kickstand down??? What if it would have tipped over? Debbie! Do you think I am nuts? I didn’t only use the kickstand! I leaned him against the house, too!
(It was difficult but I did not respond to the “do you think I’m nuts thing”. Needless to say, I rescued our little tike — but not until snapping this photo. I hate to admit it, but the whole thing cracked me up.)
