In the Words of Gomer Pyle

Sur-prise Sur-prise Sur-prise!

I’m linking up with Flashback Friday today and the word of the week is 'surprise'. Visit Mylestones to read more ‘surprise’ posts today.

I’ve never been given a surprise party but my husband did pull off a nice surprise for my 40^th birthday. Mine is the third of the three September birthdays in our family so by the time it rolls around I’ve usually overdosed on cake and am happy with a nice dinner out. And jewelry. Jewelry is always good.

Anyway, we were living in Annapolis the year of my Big 40 (isn’t that awful-who thought of that anyway?) and it fell on a Sunday. We hadn’t made any serious plans (that I knew of), which was fine. The Friday morning of my birthday weekend I walked with my girls to the bus stop as usual. Just as the bus pulled up daughter2 turned around and very quickly handed me an envelope as she said , “This is for you’” and off she went. I glanced at the envelope and all I really noticed was that it had the words private and confidential stamped across it. 

Keep in mind daughter2 has always kept me on my toes and I will confess my immediate thought was she had gotten into some mischief at school and this was the letter of explanation. I even felt a moment of annoyance…why did she wait until she was hopping on the bus to give me this letter? It must be really bad. For the record daughter2 has never gotten into the kind of mischief that would require a letter from the school but at the time it did not seem outside the realm of possibility.

When I opened the letter I discovered it wasn’t from the school at all (sorry daughter2!)…it was from my husband. The letter said I should pack a bag for the weekend and he would pick me up from work at noon. I called him right away and reminded him I work until 4 but he assured me he had already sorted all that out with my school. What do I pack? Do I need dressy clothes? A bathing suit? What about the kids? Are they going too? You know they have xyz activities this weekend?

Sometimes I’m a killjoy.

He wanted to tell me to take a chill pill I'm pretty sure but instead he let me know that my mom was on her way down from NJ to spend the weekend with the girls. I must say this piece impressed me the most.

September is perhaps my favorite month of the year. Typically the weather is just right and then of course there’s my birthday. Hubs picked me up from work at noon but kept me guessing about the destination.

We crossed the Bay Bridge onto Maryland’s Eastern Shore and eventually made our way to the Brampton Inn, a charming B and B in historic Chestertown. The town sits beside the Chester River and is filled with antique shops, lovely old homes and some nice restaurants.

After breakfast on Saturday we decided to take a bike ride which hubs tricked me into believing assured me would only be a couple of miles but let’s just say it was ten times that. It was hot and that made me slightly cranky but the countryside was so pretty and he was so sweet I couldn’t stay mad. It also happened that my birthday coincided with Chestertown's Historic Homes Candlelight Tour and hubs had even arranged tickets for Saturday night followed by a nice dinner in one of the restaurants near the river.

My husband is always thoughtful and often surprises me with flowers or a Payday candy bar or by doing some job around the house that would normally be ‘mine’ but this was different. I think even more than the weekend I loved the thought that went into the planning of it all…getting my work in on the surprise, arranging for my mom to come down, booking tickets to the home tour…these things all were done in secret and were planned well in advance of the actual weekend and that made me feel special.

Isn’t that always the nicest kind of surprise?

I’ve included this picture because it just makes me smile.

I can overlook the ridiculous expression on my face as I blow out some candles, the sunglasses still perched atop my head, the mess on the kitchen table, the basement door standing wide open.

Instead I see decorations hung by children.

I see daughter2 at age 10, with her great big happy smile.

I see the gentle way daughter1 has her arm across my shoulder.

I hear singing and it is pure sweetness. 

That's not a surprise.

I wish I could use the word hodgepodge

My children tell me nobody uses that word but this post just screams hodgepodge. Sorry daughters!

So I got up this morning, usual routine...make coffee, check for animals before letting the dog out...did I mention the possum below the bird feeder last week? ewewew! I am so not a fan of the possum. Anyway, finally sat down to check my email/fb/blogs. First thing I do is look at my fb and note my hubs status.

Earthquake of 6.5 in Taiwan.

Hubs is in Taiwan. Yeah. Well, he’s updated his fb status so I have to trust that he’s safe. I know the other evening he had dinner on the 86^th floor of a skyscraper there and I don’t particularly like thinking about him 86 stories high in an earthquake.

I guess I just won’t.

I move on to blogs… I always check my daughter’s blog first and she’s having a moment today too. She’s had a flu bug and she’s overloaded at school as it is and she is just the teensiest bit dramatic when it comes to feeling puny. Hey, she said it herself people!

Then she had to go and write about how a year ago she was home in England for spring break and it was her last trip there and she had to also add a photo of all of us standing in front of our house. All this to say my day is not exactly starting out as a 10 if you know what I mean.

How about some chocolate?

A few people asked for the truffle recipe…they are really easy to do and I think they made a nice little ‘party favor’ for our company on Saturday. I followed Ina Garten's recipe which can be found here. I used Ghiradelli chocolate and I did add the Grand Marnier which she says is optional but I think adds to the flavor of the chocolate.

Once everything is combined it needs to sit at room temp for about an hour before you roll into balls.

She suggests rolling them in cocoa powder or powdered sugar or both. I also rolled some in shredded coconut and some in chopped heath bar bits which were my personal favorite.

For my party I set them in paper cups and packaged them into small gift boxes, two per box. I tied the boxes with green ribbon that matched my table but all I have is one blurry picture of my table where you have to look hard for the wrapped truffles.

Replacing the chandelier is on our list of things to do. We finally recovered our dining room chair cushions a couple of weeks ago...I'd had the same fabric on them for over 20 years and it showed. I love the new fabric. Course you can't see it here but trust me, it's way better.

We still have a few projects to take care of in the house but we're slowly ticking them off the to-do list. Tomorrow I'm having plantation shutters installed in my family room and also in the sunroom.

I wrote a while back about my sunroom windows and how much I love them and all the light but there are temperature issues in the room so we needed to do something. I think I'll be happy with the shutters...they still let in a lot of light but they are insulated and will help keep the temperature more even.

Wow this post is all over the place. Nothing new there, right?

I told you...hodgepodge.

Random luck

You know the drill...it's Wednesday which means time for the weekly Random Dozen. If you'd like to play along just answer the questions on your own blog and post your answers here for all the world to see...

1. Do you prefer even or odd numbers? Any particular reason?

I can safely say I have never given this one moments thought.

2. On a scale of 1-10, with 1 being "not at all" and 10 being Carly Simon-worthy, how vain are you?

Mark Twain once said, “There are no grades of vanity. Only grades in ability of concealing it.”

Well after reading that I think I’ll go with a nice middle of the road 5. I can’t say I don’t care but I can say I don’t obsess.

3. Among these Irish stereotypes, with which do you identify most closely? Talkative, Proud, Inquisitive, Love to party, Hot-tempered?

I suppose some people might possibly describe me as talkative. Course if you follow my blog you didn’t need me to tell you that now did you?

4. How lucky do you consider yourself?

Do we mean fortunate? If that’s the case then I feel like one of the luckiest.

If we’re talking lottery tickets, contests, games of chance etc. then eh…not so lucky.

5. What is the subject of your favorite post that you've written?

I have lots of favorites…hmm…maybe I should revisit question #2. Most of my favorites have to do with my kids and/or England. Of my recent entries I will say this post. I blogged about our first day of school in the UK and a commenter suggested my daughter (who was heavily featured in my blog post) write about the same day from her perspective. And she did that here. I loved the connection. I loved the memory.

6. Describe March weather where you live in three words.

Cold, gray and snowy ….that sounds lovely and inviting doesn’t it?

7. How apt are you at detecting blarney when you hear it? (Smooth talk, flattery)

My radar for blarney is high.

8. How "green" are you, environmentally speaking?

We recycle and try not to be wasteful.

9. What is your favorite song this week?

I find this question quite stressful. It’s always so hard to pick a favorite song…right now I am loving Needtobreathe-These Hard Times. My daughters got me listening to them. The lead singer went to their university and they've seen them many times. I'm a fan now too...I love this band.

10. You are walking along and see a coin on the ground. What denomination does it have to be before you will stop to pick it up?

A penny. I told ya I’m not wasteful.

11. Complete the sentence: "Every time I look outside my window ...."

I stand in awe of God’s handiwork....

12. What was the #1 song on the day you were born? See this site to find out.

The Twist? Chubby Checker? Seriously? That cannot be right. Well, of course technically I was just entering this world when The Twist was at its heyday. Whew…that sounds better. No offense to those of you who were dancing to it on my birthday…its just that for some reason I always think I’m much younger than I really am. Sometimes it is shocking to see my actual age.

They Flew Away on the Wings of Love

Or something like that.

So I managed to watch an entire season of The Bachelor and it was only slightly painful and more than a little bit uncomfortable most nights. I watched a few scenes in the same way I watch a horror movie and that is this-hands over the eyes peeking out between my fingers. There are actually more than a few similarities between The Bachelor and a horror movie but I won't go there today.

The first episode aired when my girls were home for the Christmas holidays so they talked their dad into watching too. Of course they went back to school in January and since it’s the kind of show that cannot be watched alone I made him stick it out with me to the bitter end. And pretty much every week at some point he would shake his head and say, “I cannot believe I’m watching this program!’ I seriously think the producers should hire my husband to give commentary over the show. He makes it so much more entertaining. I had a lot of fun texting my daughter during the program last night too…I think I only used the word vomit twice.

When I watch The Bachelor I find myself thinking of the parents....do they sign on for all of this from day one too? Or is this something their kid does...you know like leaving their room a mess or overdrawing their checking account or hanging out with friends when they should be studying for a test? Do they serial date and pick a mate in three short weeks and 'forget' to tell mom and dad? Do they fly high upon the wings of love and then mention it to the parents as an, oh by the way, kind of thing. 'Hey guys, I'm gonna need you to fly to a tropical island and give me your .02 on the biggest decision of my life and I may or may not listen to what you have to say'. Do the parents shrug their shoulders and just say, 'Ahh kids....they do the darndest things don't they?'

Dear darling daughters,

Thank you for not asking me to meet the loveS of your life on National Television while you are coated in rotten egg scented mud wearing a bikini. I am happy to know I will never hear my future son in law describe the ‘heat’ as ‘heat’ in front of millions of viewers. Shudder. I am especially thankful that your future mother in law will not refer to you as ‘the girl that everyone hated’.

Love Mom

Whose intuition is usually spot on in matters relating to her children

I'm thinking bicycles

So I thought I’d try something new today and link up with a Not Me Monday post. The idea is to post about something that happened but write as if it didn’t …a little tricky to explain but you’ll understand or not as you read….

While husband and I were busy running errands and preparing for dinner guests on Saturday afternoon daughter1 most certainly did not call to tell us her sister had been in a minor traffic accident. No way! How unbelievable would that be especially since daugther1 had her own fender bender as recently as April, which definitely did not take at least 5 years off of my life.

Daughter2 did not bump fenders with another vehicle as she was exiting a busy parking lot on Saturday after another driver waved her out. All drivers know it is perfectly safe to let another driver tell you the coast is clear. And of course daughter1 was not calling to break the news because daughter 2 was too distraught to speak coherently. In our family we always react calmly to situations such as this. Naturally my heart did not skip ten or seventy beats as I listened to the news because as I said I’m cool as a cucumber when one of my children call from hundreds or thousands of miles away to tell me the car that was purchased three short weeks ago now has a hood that is misaligned.

I certainly did not call my own sister while on the verge of tears and ask if she and my brother in law could get in their own car on a busy Saturday afternoon and drive out to the accident so husband and I could have a first hand report on what constitutes ‘minor damage’. I would never ask my sister to drop whatever she was doing and drive miles out of her way just to reassure my child and also me. I am not at all emotional. In fact…I’m a rock. And my sister and brother in law would not have already been en route to the accident site when I called because they are not super nice like that. We are not at all glad they are only half an hour away from the university and we know they never ever get sick and tired of us calling and asking for favors.

And I for sure did not eat a chocolate truffle that I was wrapping for my dinner guests to take home as soon as I hung up the phone. I don’t head straight for something chocolate when I’m feeling helpless and missing my kids. In fact I don’t miss my children one tiny little bit nor do I wish for one second that I were close enough to give daughter2 a hug along with a whole plate of chocolate truffles. She hates chocolate and wouldn’t like that at all. She is 19 years old and everyone knows that 19 year old daughters never ever need hugs and kisses from mom.

Visit My Charming Kids for more Not Me Monday posts.

Whoever wrote Let It Snow Let it Snow Let it Snow probably lived in Florida

So here's how the week has looked from where I sit....

Monday morning-a couple of inches are all that remain of the 8 or so inches of snow that fell last week. It's sunny and bright and things are beginning to melt.

Tuesday evening-snow begins to fall. It's lovely. A very heavy wet snow which causes the trees to droop and sag but lovely nonetheless. It's heavy enough to take out the satellite signal halfway thru girls night on American Idol and it stays out so we miss the women's figure skating short program but, oh well. What are you gonna do? Can't control the weather, right?

Wednesday morning-The township plows passed thru our street several times throughout the night and we wake to clear pavement. Yes!

Our snow plow guy has buzzed the driveway overnite as well so hubs is off to work and I hit the grocery store in anticipation of a weekend dinner party. The weather reports say more snow is on the way for Thursday so I don't want to have to get out in it to shop.

Right.

Like I could get out.

Thursday morning-we wake to SNOW. Husband's office is closing early but he can't get out of the neighborhood anyway so he decides to work from home. Too bad his laptop refused to connect. Hmmm...he'll just watch some news. Too bad the satellite is out once again.

It's gonna be a long, long, long day.

And he's definitely going to need a hobby when he retires.

Thursday-WHITEOUT. Drowning in snow here. The normally efficient township plows cannot keep up. Our plow guy is nowhere to be seen. Perhaps he's absconded to the sunny warm Caribbean on the money he's made plowing driveways this winter.

Husband periodically runs the snow blower and moans about how we need the super deluxe jumbo model if we're going to live here. I take pictures and pray husband doesn't have a heart attack shoveling snow.

If it could talk it would say, 'I quit'.

Dog is beside herself....wheretopeewheretopeewheretopee?

Thursday evening. STILL SNOWING. Miraculously the satellite reappears and we are able to watch American Idol results and the women's free skate. Were they awesome or what? Way past our bedtime too but we bundle up and clear the drive and walkway one more time. Kinda fun to be out in the snow at nearly midnite but also thinking time for this nonsense to end.

Snow plow comes overnite. Yay!

Piles snow in front of garage containing my car. Boo!

Not that I'll be going anywhere because hello, two feet of snow,

maybe more depending where you measure.

Friday morning-STILL SNOWING. You've got to be kidding me. Husband races out of bed when he hears plow to beg/plead/bribe them into moving snow from in front of garage. Hubs has them laughing when I come out. Snowplow guys have been up all night. We give them coffee, apples and granola bars. They move snow as best they can from in front of garage but are pretty limited when it comes to options of where to put it.

Satellite is out. Big surprise.

For the record everyone tells me the cable does the same thing up here.

Whatever.

Husband's office is closed.

Hmmm..gonna have to come up with a project for him today.

Besides moving snow.

Co-workers call him from UK.

They are in his favorite curry lunch spot.

Husband wishes he were in Oxford having chicken biryani instead

of in NJ moving snow by the truckload.

Without a truck.

Husband hoists snowplow onto deck. For the 37th time.

Dinner party guests email...are we on for tomorrow?

Yes. Definitely.

Snow has to end sometime right?

Come by dog sled if you must.

Read some blogs.

See people in California with sunny bright blue skies and convertible tops open.

Hear about people spending weekends at the beach.

Sigh a little.

But recognize too the beauty that is all around.

'Tis a season.

'He has made everything beautiful in its time...' Ecclesiastes 3:11

From California to the New York Island

Yesterday I answered questions in the weekly random dozen and one of those questions has stayed with me. It was this- ‘Are you more of a NY or California type?’ And I guess I should say that its really the answers to that question that have stayed with me. Its funny that most people who played along instantly thought California=sunny beaches, laid back people and warm weather all the time and New York=busy crowded streets and loud aggressive types.

I’ve never lived in California but its true the first thing that popped into my head was sunny beaches. I have lived on the East Coast and currently am just a hop skip and a traffic jam away from New York City but the question didn’t even say NY City…just NY. Pretty much everyone read it and immediately thought city.

I think one of the lessons living in an international community has taught me is not to make assumptions about people based on stereotype. I’m not at all criticizing anyone from yesterday. I get it...for the most part people were thinking of the weather and based their answers on that or the idea that Californians are laid back and New Yorkers aren’t. I will just point out though that Northern California is known for some pretty good skiing and the Hamptons are not too shabby if we’re talking beaches. And I’m pretty sure that Silicon Valley houses more than a few driven types and Warwick NY is sleepy town USA.

The question made me pause yesterday. I thought about it before I answered and I'm not so sure I would have a few years ago. As Americans living in England we were sometimes on the receiving end of a few stereotypes. I attended a field trip with my daughter's 8^th grade class shortly after arriving in the UK and a speaker from a middle eastern country informed the students he wouldn’t want to live in America because it’s not safe to go out after dark. You might be shot-everyone owns a gun right? The kids were bewildered. They laughed. This was not the America they knew unless you count paintball and water cannons. My husband took part in some team building ‘events’ during a work conference with people from all around Europe and his team insisted he take the golf shot because 'he’s American and don’t we play a lot of golf'?

And no one has a passport?

And everyone is really loud?

And they all dislike George Bush?

And they don’t know anything about politics outside of their own country?

Those are a few that come to mind. Of course we weren’t innocent either. We had the notion like most people I think that the Brits are all reserved and not terribly friendly and the food would be not so great and the weather would be dismal. Oh wait. That bit about the weather was mostly true. And I guess in most stereotypes there is a kernel of truth, which is how they got to be stereotypes in the first place.

I find myself giving more thought to my interactions with people these days, taking in what I know of their background, pronouncing observations less broadly. We were often called upon to ‘defend’ Americanisms…to point out that yes, some Americans are loud, especially tourists on the tube in London which could sometimes make me cringe and want to fake a British accent, but not all Americans are loud. Some are gentle and soft spoken. And plenty have passports we’d say, as we pointed out that a flight from NY to California requires no passport yet takes several hours and does indeed cross a few time zones. And obviously not everyone dislikes George Bush because he was elected President of the United States. Twice. And as for politics…well, America is a great big country and I think we can agree that just keeping up with our own political nonsense is a full time job these days. In fact lately Americans seem to be tuning in more closely than ever before.

We had to face our pre-conceived ideas about the British too. The day after we moved into our house in the UK my British next door neighbor arrived at the front door with a cake. It was wonderful as were most things we ate over there. Ask me about English cream, sausage and mash, sticky toffee pudding and scones with clotted cream and jam. My across the street neighbor took me shopping in Windsor my first week in the village…just a fun day out to show me the route and the best places to go. Are the British more reserved than Americans? In general yes. Are they unfriendly? No. Some are, some aren’t. Just like Americans. And the Dutch. And South Africans. And so on. I remember quite clearly a misunderstanding I had with a German friend. She became quite angry and later apologized. She explained with some embarrassment that it was her English (or lack thereof) that was at the heart of the matter. She interpreted something in a way it wasn’t intended yet she hadn’t wanted to tell me she really didn’t understand what I was saying. She worried so about her English. She didn’t want me judging her. And the whole time we were talking all I was thinking is wow, I wish I spoke three languages like she does.

The world is huge. That sounds so simple and in essence it is. We don’t all approach life or hardship or celebration or work or leisure in the same way. Even within America there are ‘cultures’ and when I read the question yesterday I found myself thinking about what I know about California and New York. About people I’ve met who call those places home. About how California and New York are different in geography, cuisine, fashion and climate yet people are people. Maybe there is a California type and a New York type and also everything in between. Yet for every person who ‘fits the type’ there is another who breaks the mold.

'Some people weave burlap into the fabric of our lives, and some weave gold thread. Both contribute to make the whole picture beautiful and unique." Anonymous