We have lived in our current house for thirteen years in December. Though this was not the first house we ever bought–that honor goes to a house in Kenosha, Wisconsin–we did buy this one after renting for three years, so it was very exciting to make plans for a few pieces of new furniture and paint colors other than “Landlord’s Choice White”. When we first starting hunting for new home items, Jim picked out a Prairie-style recliner for the family room. We both adore the chair–if we could afford it, our entire home would look like Frank Lloyd Wright provided the furnishings himself–but I was more excited about a rug…
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When A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words About Another Picture
It’s the time of year when I start to plan what I’m going to do for holiday cards. I’m one of the dinosaurs that still sends them, you see. I used to make them myself: papercrafting, when I had time to do it, was a blast. I loved expressing my creativity on my holiday card project every year, and if the card didn’t have a picture element attached to it, I included one in the envelope so our friends and relatives who don’t see us very often can check out how much the boys have grown during the year. For the last few years, I’ve ordered cards online, and that’s…
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Somebody’s Gotta Do It.
It’s probably not news to you, but I’m very extroverted. I can talk to just about anyone, I’m very comfortable in group situations, and I do tend to, as my sister calls it, “always choose the Fun Pass”. (My sister ORIGINATED the Fun Pass, by the way. We’re good at Fun.) A dear friend I’ve known since high school is not extroverted. (Nothing wrong with that!) In fact, we’ve had countless conversations over the years about how anti-social and introverted she is, in direct comparison to my place on the other end of the spectrum. If I had a nickel for every time I’ve heard her say, “I’m just not…
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Member Of The Rotary Club
I will never, EVER get used to seeing Adam Ant and Duran Duran vinyl albums in antique shops. It nauseates me to see my youth tossed into plastic milk crates right next to the milk glass, art deco costume jewelry, and old, dusty pillbox hats. That said, coming across a “vintage” rotary dial phone–also from my youth–next to all of that same stuff last month didn’t really bother me. Go figure. Maybe it’s because I didn’t hang posters of rotary dial phones on my bedroom walls, and I certainly didn’t spend every waking moment swooning as I watched rotary dial phone videos on MTV. It occurred to me when I…
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Nearly Wordless Wednesday
Still trying for the perfect picture. Helps when you get off the moving sidewalk to spend a few minutes grabbing shots. I’ll get it someday.
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Beeeeeeep!
Thanks for calling. Melisa is not here at the moment; she’s busy dealing with the remnants of a day that started out wonderfully with a Dailey Method workout and a LISTEN TO YOUR MOTHER webinar and slowly disintegrated into a seemingly endless grocery shopping trip during which she spent a king’s ransom to restock her pantry and refrigerator with food for the coming week plus Thanksgiving. Her eventual release from the checkout, after feeling judged by her fellow shoppers for how much she had in her cart, resulted in a longer-than-usual drive home due to construction and then an eventful transfer of groceries from the car to the kitchen, during…
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Sunday Smatterings
I just made that title up. Well, I make up all of my titles, but typically I will think about it for hours and often will have a title in mind before I even sit down to type out the post. Anyway, this one just shot out of my brain and through my fingers, into my computer and onto the screen. And I hate it. But it stays. *** My feet are in Chicagoland again, at least temporarily, and I’m ready to dive into my regular work/workout/taking care of things around the house schedule. This weekend has been great for easing in: yesterday Jim and I did our workouts in…
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Concrete Jungle
New York City’s Central Park is amazing. I have been there several times and there’s always something new to see. I was looking forward to walking around there on Wednesday afternoon, and as Liz and I moseyed through the winding paths I took tons of pictures. All of the scenery is impressive, really. I mean, check out this gorgeous view of The Mall, the main walkway that runs down the center of the Park on its southern end. The beauty that nature provides was only half of it. I am, for some reason, drawn to concrete ornamentation. Central Park is full of it and I created quite a collection of…
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Shells, Sea Glass And Colones
I told Liz that, while in New Jersey, I wanted to take a side trip down the shore to the Seaside Heights area, which was hit the hardest last year by Superstorm Sandy. She and I headed down there this morning and took a long stroll on the boardwalk. The businesses that are still intact on the boardwalk (there are lots of them!) are closed for the season and we were two of just a handful of people out there, not counting all of the construction workers who were fixing everything. As quiet as it was, I was able to imagine a bustling, noisy, funnel cake-smelling amusement area thanks to…
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Greetings From New Jersey!
I have been waiting for this day for what seems like forever (amazing how three and a half months can feel like forever!): I’m back in the same state–the same room, even!–as my sistuh-from-anuthuh-mutha. I’m so excited to be here I might possibly cry at some point. It’s been interesting, telling people before today that I was going to New Jersey. I got questions like, “Why would you go there?” and funny looks ranging anywhere from scowling to nose crinkling to head shaking. New Jersey has a bad rap. In fact, I was going to embed a video of Fred Armisen portraying former New York governor David Paterson on SNL…