Boozin' the Soaps

OHMYGOSH!!! I hate it when people drink on the soaps. Today a girl with a broken hear downed the better part of a whole bottle of booze, drove to a man's apartment, drank more and she could still carry on a coherent conversation. She should at least have alcohol poisoning and at the worst, she should be dead on the floor! All this booze is to excuse what comes next--sex with the wrong man to ease the heartbreak of losing another. This is another ploy I hate on the soaps.
Also there is a girl who has a brain tumor and about six months to live( now in Soapland this could stretch out over the next two years or be over by next month..you never know how time will travel). She is with her best frenemy and they are drinking wine! WINE!!! Who gives somebody with a terminal disease booze???? Even refined booze, like wine?? And then guess what? The brain tumor girl got a headache and double vision just as she was about to spill her guts about some secret she has. Well, of course, she just drank a giant glass of wine!
I hate it when they do this kind of stuff. Mostly, I love my soaps but sometimes they just go too far!

Some Motherly Advice

Since today is the day after Mother's Day I thought it would be a good chance to hand out some advice about things I learned this weekend. Ready?

1. If someone invites you to a baseball game and it is 50 degrees outside and the worst wind storm in your area in a looooong time, just say no thanks. Here's why. If it is 50 outside it is 40 in the stadium. If the wind is blowing a t 20mph then in the stadium it is 100 mph. If you are extremely unlucky the wind will blow a sandwich and it will hit you. If you wear gloves, you can't eat. If you wear no gloves, you will wish you had. If you wear a hat make sure it is snug--and I really mean tight and even then you might want to hold it down with a scarf or at least your hand.

If you wear a hood make sure you tie it so only your eyes and nose appear. You will look crazy but you will stay somewhat warm. If you do try to eat something--don't take off your gloves. Eat a hotdog with no mustard. Then at the beginning of the 4th inning, you should leave. Go to a nice warm bar and drink beer.

2. If your kids want to feed you, don't say no. It was a magical experience having two(yes, two) meals show up and I didn't lift a finger. It was like, well, magic! Brunch and dinner. How lucky can a mom be?? Your kids might be little and they might make something that is less than yummy but let them do it. When they are the age of my kids they will be experts! My daughter has turned into quite a cook and her brother was the sous-chef. They actually hollered at me if I tried to do a thing. From eggs and fruit salad with Michigan Mimosas to LOBSTER( oh, yes, they did) it was a wonderful day. So suffer through burnt toast and a bowl of Rice Krispies. It so pays off in the end!

3. Don't get your panties in a bunch. Relax and enjoy each and every day. Read a little, exercise a little, stimulate the brain a little, laugh and talk with your family a little and rest a little. It makes for a perfect day.

4. If you think you should go for a healthy outdoor walk through the neighborhood and it is 48 degrees outside, rethink that idea. It is really really cold and the wind goes right through you. If you must go because you missed your yoga session, change into warm pants. Even a bracing cup of coffee won't prepare you for how cold it is outside when the wind is blowing and the sun isn't shining very much.

If you trust me on these things you will lead at least a moderately happy life. Trust me!!

Time After Time

It was a blast from the past for me this week. I was reminded how time flies by and some of our memories go with it. I always thought I would remember every student I ever taught and they would all be successful and happy.
I met one of my former students and her mom for lunch this week and I was amazed to hear that all the kids I had loved so dearly from the first three years I taught were a mixed bag of super success and failure and just plain everyday folks with kids and jobs.
Roosevelt School had a wonderful family feel to it when I started teaching there. The principal, Ed DeTomaso, was instrumental in making that a fact. We knew the parents of the kids and we had events they were invited to. We had social gatherings of the staff which bonded us together. It was a great place for kids to grow up and thrive.
I was young and naive and thought all those kids would be top shelf. How silly I was not to know that time can damage even the bravest and strongest of children.
On Tuesday, May 4, we went to our old Alma Mater, Kent State University to pay homage to the kids who were slain in the shootings of 1970. It always makes me so sad to go to that event. I didn't really know any of the Kent 4 but Sandy lived in my freshman dorm and I remember her as a pretty girl who always looked like a fashion plate.
Allison was in the freshman dorm where I worked in the cafeteria with my roommate. I always remember her with her flowing long hair with flowers in it(I think that is just a memory I made up in my head) and a peasant blouse and skirt pushing her tray towards us in a most leisurely manner. It is really hard for me to believe that either of those girls were a threat to the US!
I spent the better part of the day today emailing back and forth with my roommate as we struggled to remember everything that happened that day. We can hardly remember how in the world we got home. It was a most surreal day and we remember everything up til then.
Isn't that funny?? The person who got us home is such a faded memory neither one of us is sure who it was.
My roommate didn't know where her sister was and my husband didn't know where his brother was. They were students at the time also. My mother tried to drive to Kent to get us and she had a gun with a bayonet shoved through her driver's window at the border of the town of Kent.
My poor high school age sister and her boyfriend were huddled in the back street and the soldier thought mom was bringing in more dissidents. My little gray haired mother of all people. That's how crazy things were that day.
Time has a funny way of putting most things in perspective. I will never understand how one of my students ended up in jail and I'll never understand why someone ordered those soldiers to fire on a bunch of students.

Wearin' Of the Green

OK, so I'm not wearing green today. I'm not Irish but I'm married to an Irishman. My kids feel Irish on St. Patrick's day so we have always celebrated and more often than not I wear green and the Irish husband doesn't.

When I was young, it was a good excuse to drink and stay up late. When the kids were little, it was a good reason to make a cake or cookies with green icing. Today, I'll get taken out to dinner and will probably have a beer.

We are eating out not because it's St. Patrick's day but because our son is looking for a house and once in a while he wants our input. We're glad to do it and appreciate that he still respects our opinion. He's not had the Irish luck though unless it's bad. Everything seems to be going wrong but I have Swedish optimism and tell him to keep looking on the bright side. Today we'll see if it pays off.

Our daughter bought us all an Irish button for today. It says "Member of the Irish Drinking Team." I am the token Swede on the team. She named us that after we came to visit her and found we all had something in common--wine tastings and beer tastings!!! Not too shabby! We all think it is pretty funny! We'd all have better figures if we were members of The Irish Hiking club but Fate has handed us this commonality and we're going with it.

If you are Irish or not, a drinker or not, a hiker or not, have a happy St. Patrick's Day and remember on this day, everybody is Irish. Welcome to the team!

It's So Taxing

OHMYGOSH!!!!!!!!!! I hate doing my taxes. I always have a giant stomach ache while I do it and I really shouldn't. It is so easy to e-file these days and I keep all my receipts and I never have much of a problem.

Even if you goof, it kind of catches you and you can re-e-file with no problem. Can you guess that I goofed this year?? It was just a misunderstanding of a term so I am not in trouble or anything but my stomach feels like the IRS is going to come pounding on my door at any moment. Honest mistakes are forgiven right??

I never did our taxes while I was still working but since I retired and since you could do it on line and basically be walked right through it I started doing them about 4 years ago. I've done fine too. Even this year.

I thought I would feel a whole lot better if I wrote about it but the funny thing is I don't really. I should probably erase this whole thing and stop thinking about my shortcomings but this blog is about what is on my mind and believe me, this is on my mind!!

I have to give myself a giant pep talk and try to accept my foibles and mistakes and move on. Think I'll move on to Florida in a couple of weeks. Yep, that's the ticket..and I'll have my refund to keep me warm(in case FLA has crappy weather while I'm there)!!

A Swing and A Miss

YIKES!!! What were these women thinking?? Poor Charlize Theron looks like somebody played a trick on her and put those mittens over her boobies...and she wore it! Have to give her credit for guts.

The girl from Avatar looks spectacular from the knees up but what is with the stuff at the bottom of her gown?? What is that stuff?? It looks like fake leis from the craft store....except giant. I don't know how she even walked in it.

The woman from Up In The Air just looked plain old ugly. The dress may have been beautiful in real life but it wasn't for her and she should have left it on the hanger.

Remember yesterday that I said I think some of the stylists hate the stars?? I'm pretty sure these ones did!

Dressing Up

Dressing up is not my thing so I admire when the stars do it well. A lot of the gowns were beautiful but these were my favorites. Kate Winslet was my pick for the best. I thought she looked beautiful. It was simple and elegant and let her beauty shine.

Queen Latifah is always one of my favorites. She is such a beautiful girl and the dress she was wearing was so gorgeous. Her lovely lavender dress had just enough glitz and the glitz curved around her body in a most flattering way.

My biggest surprise was Gabourey from Precious. I have only seen her in very casual, college type clothing so it was wonderful to see her so dressed up and looking beautiful. She is a big girl and that dress was very flattering and the most lovely shade of blue. The bling was there but in just the right amount.

Some of the older women made a big splash too. Meryl Streep was gorgeous and age appropriate in her white gown. Helen Mirren also hit the mark in her dress. I loved the glittery but sheer sleeves. She looked lovely.

Sometimes I think the stylists hate the stars and convince them to wear something that is totally ugly or inappropriate but these women had stylists who respected them and their bodies.

I'm all for that.