Starry starry night

Guess what we woke up to on Saturday? A blank calendar. Whoohoo! I know that probably doesn't excite most people but we heaved a collective sigh and said, thank goodness. This was the first Saturday since May 28th we were both home with nothing on the calendar. That's the whole summer so far people! Why do I feel like I should shout? We've had a lot of fun this summer but sometimes fun can wear a person out and a day without plans becomes golden.

On Saturday we enjoyed a long leisurely lunch overlooking a nearby lake. The weather was perfection and it felt good to catch up on the two of us. When you're on the go a lot its good to take time to step back and smell the roses. Or the coffee. Or the lobster roll with basil fries-yum!

Saturday night we loaded up the car with our camp chairs, blankets, water for the dog, bug spray, citronella candles and possibly the kitchen sink and headed to the drive in. As we were making our way there I spied a friendly neighborhood bear chowing down in a nearby orchard. Pretty sure you'll have to click to enlarge the photo in order to spot him.

Bears look so cute and fuzzy sitting on their backsides like that, don't they? He tucked himself behind the bush as we approached so he's a little bit hard to see but he's definitely there feeling fat and happy.

Do you have a drive in movie theatre anywhere near you? I know most of them have been shut down but what a fun way to spend a Saturday night. The lot was filled with families and children of all ages, there were older couples, groups of friends, the family pet-you name it. Before the movie started Frisbees were thrown and footballs tossed and there was even a scout troop setting up tents for post show camping. The crowd was friendly and well behaved and we really enjoyed ourselves.

When we lived in NJ the last time, roughly 20 years ago, we used to take our girls to the drive in. We would put their sweet, just bathed selves dressed in princess pjs into the back of our station wagon and they'd watch in style with pillows and blankets.

Hubs and I were smiling as we remembered the last movie we saw there-101 Dalmatians starring the very evil Cruella DeVil. Or Cruella VaDil as she was known in our house. In case you're wondering, those are the sort of thoughts that squeeze the air right out of your heart. If you are in the early years of child raising just know that down the road it will be the little things that will sneak into your memory and tug at your unsuspecting heart strings on some far off day in the future.

Where was I? Oh yeah. At the drive in. We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful night...the sky turned all pink and golden as the sun set. It was cool and clear so if the movie got a little weird (Cowboys and Aliens) you could star gaze.

I love a starry starry night.

The song, the painting, and the real thing most of all.

Hindsight is 20/20

I did not blog today but linked two older posts over at Kelly's Korner in her Show us Your Life Series on Parenting.

Daydream Believer

Riding Bicycles

If you have something to share why not link up too?

Have a great weekend!

Mirrors

Brace yourself for some sentiment...I'm about to get sloppy.

When I was seventeen turning eighteen I left NJ to attend uni in The Volunteer State. That's Tennessee in case you didn't know.

When I was eighteen I didn't know.

I was out of my element in the fall of 1978.

It was love at first sight for me and the great state of Tennessee. I fell head over heels for the lakes, the mountains, a certain boy, the gravy, the people and let's not forget, the accent. If you've been reading my blog thinking I have the voice of a Jersey girl you might be surprised to know I have a little Southern drawl. Pretty sure I picked it up about five minutes after I set foot on Southern soil and there it has remained all these many years later.

I did not know one single solitary person on campus when I arrived so I decided to pledge a sorority. Oh, I know some of you out there are rolling your eyes and conjuring up every stereotype you've ever heard or imagined but y'all...these girls...they made my college years some of the best years of my life. For sure some of the most fun. Like most stereotypes I suppose there is a kernel of truth to some of what you hear on some campuses, but most of what you hear is hogwash (is that a Southern expression?). The girls I knew and still know had/have hearts of gold.

When I look back at my life I see that the college years stand alone. The world was at my doorstep and I had one foot placed tentatively out in it while keeping one planted firmly on the safe soil of youth. We lived in one another's pockets way back when and testing your wings was easier knowing someone was there to catch you if you fell.

I don't know if you've spent much time around college aged girls but let me tell you...so.much.angst. My goodness, we liked our drama and just writing that makes me smile. We could take our little problems and discuss and dissect and analyze and cry and laugh like there was no tomorrow. All problems are big problems when you're twenty. I will add that most of my drama revolved around a certain boy who shall remain nameless but who might possibly have married me. Problem solved.

I spent this past weekend at a little informal reunion of some of the girls who were in my sorority. There were about 20 of us there this year, our third get together in six years. Each year we add a few new attendees who bring their photographs and memories and for a little while we remember what it felt like to be poised at the starting line of our adult lives.

I don't see these women very often although thanks to the magic of facebook we are in better touch as a group than we have been in years. We gather at a gorgeous vacation home set high up in the mountains of North Carolina courtesy of one of the girls. We relax. We hang out in our pjs and have long conversations. We share time in the kitchen and we take a lot of pictures, most of which I won't post here because somehow it doesn't feel right. We put our collective brains together as we try to identify long ago friends in old yearbooks and composites. We all pull out the reading glasses too. I guess some things do change.

Most do not.

We compare notes on aging and children and occupations and we marvel at the different paths we've taken that all lead us back to each other. Being with these girls is effortless. Sorry, but they will always be 'girls' to me. We grew into adulthood together. We studied and didn't study together. We laughed ourselves silly over pranks and antics and a few instances of questionable judgement and we cried over hard things that have happened to people we love in the intervening years.

Mostly though, we remember what it felt like to be weightless. I don't mean in pounds, I mean in life. In 1981 we were not yet weighed down by the seriousness of a grown up world. We were still figuring that out along with about a million other things. It was in this sorority, surrounded by these girls that I learned more about friendship and leadership and confidence than any place else. These girls encouraged me to be my best self.

We're all grown up now and as I look around I feel pride at who we have become. We are an accomplished bunch, working as nurses and teachers, pharmacists and therapists, CEO's of businesses and homes, raising families and caring for aging parents. If you were to stumble upon this group you'd see women over 40, okay most of us are over 50, who look like any other group of women. When I look I see something more. Behind the eyes she's there...the 18 year old girl I knew.

We still share something special that defies both description and definition. And we're still challenging and encouraging one another to be our best selves. Oh, and we're still fun too.

Pack your suitcase for the HP- Vol 37

It's that time again-whew! I can't believe it's Wednesday...I need to run a little faster on the treadmill to catch up around here. I'm glad you're playing along in the HP today. Everyone is welcome to join the fun and you'll find the game rules on my sidebar. Add your link at the bottom, after you read my answers of course, and then go visiting.

1. July is National Ice Cream Month...your favorite flavor? Soft serve, hand dipped or frozen yogurt-which do you prefer? And technically yogurt is not ice cream but its hot outside so I'll let that slide for today.

Hand dipped coconut. Or a vanilla soft serve dipped in chocolate shell. What I really love though, is gelato.

In Italy.

2. When you travel do you tend to pack too much or too little?

You'd think with all the packing I do I'd be a pro but I normally pack too much. Except this past weekend I had too little. I was fine but it was so hot I wish I'd had a couple more tops. I normally have just the right clothes but shoes are my downfall. Women need a lot more shoes for a weekend away than men do...at least I think so.

3. What's your favorite cleaning product?

Can I say my husband? He rocks at cleaning the showers. If not I'm going with good old Windex. I hate fingerprints on the glass top coffee table and doggy breath stains on the front windows.

4. What's the greater tragedy-an innocent person imprisoned or a guilty person set free? Explain.

An innocent person imprisoned. Both are a tragedy but the guilty person will ultimately be judged, maybe not in this life but for sure the next. An innocent person imprisoned loses a piece of their life that can never be reclaimed.

5. What's the longest trip you've taken by car?

Hmmm...we've taken a lot of car trips. I think our longest road trip by car would be the trip we took in September 09 from NJ to Prince Edward Island Canada. Or the end of the earth as my hubs likes to say.

It was about 1000 miles one way and most of the drive was beautiful. We both say this was one of our favorite trips ever, and that's sayin' something. I wrote three posts about it which you can read here, here, and here.

6. tennis-golf-canoeing-biking...pick one.

canoeing...I love to canoe and I love the water.

7. What sound drives you crazy?

smacking...as in food. shudder.

the kids on dirt bikes in the woods behind our house sometimes grate too...I understand they are kids but on a peaceful evening the sound is jarring and in my opinion upsets the balance of nature.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

I have so very many random thoughts. Sigh.

How 'bout this-we put in a new mailbox. And by we I mean the mailbox guy put in a new mailbox. It required concrete and 100 degree heat and all day and in case anyone has forgotten I have a hubs who travels.

The mailbox has brass numbers on the side but I have very cleverly edited those out. I love the new look...so much better than the old one with the rust spots and the tilting post. It's the little things in life, isn't it?

Questions for the HP-Vol 37

It's possible this is one of those weeks where I'm coming and going but I'd never abandon the Hodgepodge. Well, someday I might but not today. Here are this week's questions...come back tomorrow (Wednesday) to link your answers with all the internets out there.

1. July is National Ice Cream month...your favorite flavor? Soft served, hand dipped, or frozen yogurt...which do you prefer? And technically yogurt is not ice cream but its hot outside so I'll let that slide for today.

2. When you travel do you tend to pack too much or too little?

3. What's your favorite cleaning product?

4. Which is the greater tragedy-an innocent person imprisoned or a guilty person set free? Explain.

5. What's the longest trip you've taken by car?

6. tennis-golf-canoeing-biking...pick one.

7. What sound drives you crazy?

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Monday Thirteen

Yes I know this sort of post is supposed to be written on a Thursday and then I'm supposed to call it Thursday thirteen like everybody else, but I have thirteen things today so Monday thirteen it is. I've been traveling and having fun and not reading blogs or writing blogs or commenting on blogs so I have lots to catch up on. I won't be catching you up on everything right now but I am going to throw a few random thoughts out there so I can begin to de-clutter my brain. In my defense I started this list before I left town last week.

1. U2. Oh my stars. They were positively amazing. Seriously, I'm lacking adjectives. Best concert ever.

2. Did I just use the expression, 'Oh my stars'? My grandma used the expression 'Oh my stars'. She also liked to say 'Well Good Gravy' and 'Land Sakes Alive'. She did not however, follow U2. Land Sakes alive has an interesting origin-it stems from that long ago time when people were making the dangerous trek from Europe to America via the rocking rolling sea. As you know, many died or spent weeks or months in misery as they crossed the ocean. As land appeared they would proclaim, "Land, for the sake of God, we're alive" which was shortened to 'land sakes alive'. That's how I sometimes feel when I step off a boat.

Didn't know when you started reading today that this post would be both random and educational, did you?

3. You need a picture of U2, right?

Wait...that's not Bono. That is actually hubs and his brother who just so happened to be at the concert too. He lives a long long way from NJ so we don't get to see him very often. His company box was on the other side of the stadium from our company box and fyi-Giants Stadium is pretty darn big and the security around the corporate boxes is tight. Hubs made friends with one of the area supervisors on our side of the stadium and he happily escorted us over to the other side so we could say hi to the brother before the show started. Nice people are nice.

4. Here's the set-

Positively massive and it had so many tricks of lighting and sight and sound. The screens were just incredible and it's all impossible to capture in a photo but really, it was amazing!

5. Let's change topics and talk about my recent new addictions. Blue Diamond Wasabi Soy almonds would be one. If you haven't tried them and you like a little zing in your snacks then these are for you my friend.

6. Here's my other new addiction-Pinterest. I knew I shouldn't even go there but go there I did. There is pretty and clever in abundance on this site and I cannot look away. I'm at JoDaley if you are already there or you want an invite to join.

7. Words With Friends is an old addiction but if you play send me your screen name-again, Jodaley

8. I really don't need more addictions. I have a blog, remember?

9. Hubs and I might be a little bit intense. This has absolutely nothing to do with anything but is just something I've been thinking about lately. I especially noticed this when daughter1 was home recently. She'd only been in the house a short while before we were more or less grilling her about her job. Sometimes we are too much. We know this but we just can't seem to help it.

10. My new favorite website-What Kate Wore. Is anyone else more than a little bit fascinated by the Duchess of Cambridge? This website is devoted to her wardrobe.

11. The Bachelorette. Land sakes alive, please just let this season end.

12. I saw a few minutes of the new show 101 Ways to Leave a Game Show last week...they actually sicced a dog on someone. Good gravy! I won't be watching this one. Is that how you spell sicced?

13. #13 already? I haven't even mentioned the weekend but the weekend deserves its own post which will be coming. It's all in my head right now but I'll get it on my blog just as soon as I get life reorganized at home. Traveling tends to turn things upside down, doesn't it?

A 'Beautiful Day' in the Wednesday Hodgepodge Vol 36

Welcome to the Wednesday Hodgepodge....is it just me or does the summer seem to be flying by? Here are my answers to this week's questions. Add your answers in a link at the bottom and then go see what the neighbors have to say. After you see what I have to say of course.

1. July 20th marks the anniversary of the first time man stood on the moon. Flash forward 42 years to July 8, 2011 which marked the start of the final Space Shuttle mission. Should we continue to explore space? Should nations devote more or fewer of their resources to exploring space? Would you want to go into space if the opportunity arose?

We've learned a lot thru space exploration, and not just about space so yes, I think it needs to continue. Things like invisalign, scratch resistant lenses, global positioning satellites, cordless phones, weather and security surveillance, Kevlar, carbon dioxide filters...all of these products have NASA connections.

I will go into space when I can be transported there in the blink of an eye. If I have to zoom there in a rocket type contraption that involves spinning in a small confined space then you can forget it.

2. What are three things in your freezer?

Ice, because every drink needs some. See question 4. I recently bought a box of NY Strip steaks and a box of ahi tuna steaks from a well known company that sells door to door. We had some of the tuna on Sunday and it was delish.

3. If you could see any band/artist perform live tonite who would it be? It has to be someone living-no Beatles, Elvis, etc.

This one...seeing them perform live has been on my wish list for a long long time.

4. Ice-cubed or crushed? Or are you one of those people who don't like ice?

This ridiculous question is the kind I can spend far too much time thinking about. If there's a choice make it crushed but really, as long as there is ice of some sort I'm happy. I like a lot of ice in my drinks and six+ years living in a country where that is not the common practice did nothing to change my opinion. True story-daughter1 and I were in a restaurant in the UK one time and she asked for a coke with ice and the waitress said, "We're out" and daughter1 said, "Out of coke?" and the waitress said, "No, out of ice" to which daughter1 said in an incredulous tone-'You're out of frozen water?" Daughter1 never got used to the no ice thing either.

So funny how you can miss even the little things that bugged you about a place too.

5. The owner of a small restaurant outside of Pittsburgh recently announced he was banning children under six, saying they regularly disrupted other customer's meals. You can read the story here in more detail but isn't this a perfect topic to discuss in our Wednesday Hodgepodge? Have at it friends...what are your thoughts?

We always took our girls to nice restaurants, starting from the time they were very young. I think this is how children learn to behave in civilized eating establishments. By eating in them. If you only take your kids to venues like the Golden Arches then they are never going to learn that running and shouting and eating while playing are not the accepted form of behavior in most public places.

The thing is, if you're in a restaurant you have to be prepared to deal with whatever your child dishes out. That might mean that sometimes you pick up and leave before you've gotten your meal. If Johnny isn't getting with the program then no, he shouldn't be ignored by his parents. He should be taken out of the restaurant as a courtesy to the other patrons. There are seasons to parenting and having young kids means that sometimes we don't get to do what we want. I love children and have worked with children in some capacity or other most of my adult life. I have a lot of patience when it comes to kids of all sorts and variety. I have less patience for parents who pretend they don't notice that their child is disrupting all of life around them in a public venue.

6. What was your first car? How did it come to be yours?

My first car wasn't really my car but our family's second car that I was allowed to drive. It was a Chevy Nova, kind of an ugly rust color and it had brakes that when barely tapped had the potential to catapult you through the windshield. Perfect for a brand new driver.

You're jealous I know.

My real first car was a Toyota Celica and it was a great car. My parents surprised me with it my senior year of college just before I was to begin student teaching.

I had never driven a stick shift before but my brother taught me on some pretty steep Tennessee hills which, as it turned out, was a good place to learn.

7. If I had a nickel for every time I vacuumed up the dog's hair I'd be rich.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Regarding question #3-

tonite my wish is coming true.