Father's Day

Yesterday was Father's Day, and being a firm believer in man-made holidays, Valentine's Day included, Jules and I went out and bought a gift for Mike and gave him a card. Thinking that the whole gift should really be from Juliet, I had her tell me what she wanted me to write in the card. I got such a kick out of it! Here is her message, verbatim: Dad, I love you. Somebody always loves you more than the whole world. The Lord God does. 8 9 10 11 12. Dad's birthday is coming soon. Everyone loves Dad. Goodnight. Love from Jules. I think I will hold onto this card....

Tear Squeezing

It was chore time in my house the other day (I don't actually have a "chore time" but it does have a rather impressive sounding ring to it). I was in my glory vacuuming the house, scrubbing the floor on hands and knees, and generally feeling pretty productive (this is not a normal feeling). To make it all a little more interesting I started belting out a variety of patriotic songs I'd learned in high school. It started out with "God bless America, land that I love! Stand beside her, and guide her, through the night with the light from above. From the mountains, to the praries, to the oceans, white with foam, God bless America, my home sweet home, God bless America, my home sweet home!" While singing, I felt a little choked up about the grandeur and feeling behind the words and thanked my stars that it was only Jules to see me and she wouldn't notice, anyway! Some people don't mind to show their emotions, but I certainly am not one of them, due to my stiff upper lip dutch heritage. The general emotion continued while I sang the national anthem and "My Country Tis of Thee". Now here's the question I have. Why can't I squeeze a tear out at other sad events (say a funeral, or some other sad news) while I can easily get emotional over songs?

Spring Break, Sweat Pants, and Breakfast in Bed!

Well, it's Spring Break here and I am enjoying it!!! Me and my beloved sweat pants are becoming acquainted with each other once again. It really was a hard separation. It's not that I'm against wearing skirts (I wear them to school every day), I just hate wearing them in the winter when I have to wear stockings and then have to make sure I'm wearing a slip, etc. It seems that I've never properly invested in a number of GOOD tights so I'm always feeling uncomfortable in ones that are too tight, aren't quite long enough, or they stick to my slip, etc. Besides, I don't want to pay twenty dollars for a pair of tights that will promptly get holes in them! Sorry, Mom, I just ain't that into skirts. Men have it easy, in my opinion. Mike rolls out of bed, grabs a pair of jeans and a dress shirt (which never gets tucked in), and off he goes.... Though, now that I think about it, if that is all I have to complain about, I've got it easy. And somehow this post went off on a tangent because my intention was to write about how Mike made breakfast for me in bed and here I am writing about my sweat panted attire. ANYWAY, (ahem), I woke up to a nice surprise this morning. It was 8:30, a wonderful time to wake up to in the morning, and the strains of some classical music were making their way into our bedroom. Then in came Mike with a baking tray carrying my oh-so-necessary mug o' tea, a toasted english muffin with butter and light brown sugar melting on top, and a lovely bouquet of forsythia! And that was a great way to start the day, don't you think? Since then, its gone considerably down hill, but I have a lovely memory and I've come to the conclusion that Mike wins in the spontaneity department. Gulp! From an incurable romantic, this is a bit of a blow, but perhaps I'll recover from it....

"Bad" People

I'm writing this down so I don't forget. I was out with some friends the other day and was amazed at how well some of the moms remembered the cute things their children said, and here I could think of nothing funny or clever that Jules had said recently (horrors of horrors)!!! So I thought to myself, "Jules childhood will be one big blank if I don't start writing some of this stuff down!" Well, here is her most recent:
I was reading Jules her nightly Bible story and though I can't remember who the story was on, it was on someone "bad." Well, after hearing the story, Jules declared, "But we're not bad, mom! We aren't like that man."
Thinking I had a teachable moment, I responded, "Well, Jules, we are all bad. We're sinners!"
Jules - "Well, not BAD like THAT man in the story!"
Me - (trying to provide some concrete examples) "Sometimes we're bad when we're cranky, or we say something mean, or hit people!"
Jules - "Well, I DON"T hit people, Mom!"
Me - "You don't??? You just hit Laina this morning!!!!"
Jules - pause.... "Well, hmmm....." And that ended the conversation swiftly!!!

Changes

The other night I went Christmas shopping. Like a good and frugal Dutch wife, I had received a coupon to JCPenny, and who am I to not use a coupon??? Especially when you only had to spend ten dollars in order to get ten dollars off! I don't ignore those types of deals. Anyway, so I meandered over to the toddler department only to find that I no longer was in the right department. Jules no longer fits 3T clothes, so I had to find out where the next size up was located. After some searching, I found it. It actually made me a little sad... It was time to admit that my baby really wasn't a baby anymore and there was no more shopping in the infant section. Life keeps on moving whether I like it or not!

Central Park

I'm catching up on blog posts, in case you haven't noticed. I received a scolding from my sister, and who am I to ignore a scolding? So, lest I forget some of the fun things Mike and I have done this past fall and winter, here goes. Our small family made our annual trip to Central Park this past November (or was it October???). Anyway, it was a beautiful fall day. The sun was shining, the trees were showing off their fall colors, and Mike was making fun of me for wearing my coat - yes, I was the only one wearing a winter coat in the entire park. Some things never change. We went to our Green Cafe, ordered sandwiches, and found our old picnic spot under an evergreen tree somewhere in the vast park. Our lunch was delicious (isn't it always better when someone else makes it?), and then it was exploring time. Mike and Jules wandered around wisely climbing rocks out of my eyesight. I've come to conclude that I'm a real chicken with pretty much anything slightly dangerous. I used to get heart palpitations whenever I took Jules to the park - I'd imagine terrible things happening - constantly. In my mind I'd see her falling off the slide and I would constantly be following the poor child around and telling her to "Be careful!" As I was saying, Mike is wise enough to do things where I can't see. After some rock climbing, it was time to go for a walk. We checked out the statues of great literary figures (can't believe I've never seen them before) on the promenade (I think that's what it's called), and then we watched all sorts of people doing all sorts of antics in order to make a buck. There was the bubble man who made ENORMOUS bubbles. A hit for Jules! Then we listened to a variety of classical and not-so-classical music. Then off to the ice cream stand to make Niccy happy. We checked out some...interesting modern statues, and tried to determine what the artist was aiming at. Some determinations are better left unsaid. Anyway, what's a trip to the city without getting crapped on by a pigeon? Thankfully, it wasn't me who got hit. Yours truely, Jules, seems to be taking after her mom in that department. Thankfully, it was more of a slight splatter than a full birds eye strike. Sigh. Next year we might make it to the zoo... We'll see. There's just so much to see and do when it's a gorgeous day in the city...

Me and My Crock pot

My crock pot and I have this love/hate relationship. Let's start on the positive side, though. Is there anything better than walking in the door after work and finding that dinner has been a'simmering in that pot all afternoon? The idea that I don't need to rustle up a dinner is sheer BLISS! When Mike calls on the phone and asks "What's for dinner?" I can answer (with triumph in my voice), "I've been cooking all afternoon!" (never mind the exaggeration). Okay, lest we get carried away, let's be realistic here. Have you ever noticed that a lot of crock pot recipes end up all tasting the...same? Seriously, if you place veggies with your roast in there, or if you put veggies with your chicken, it all ends up tasting the same. Your carrot no longer tastes like a carrot but like roast and that goes for about all your other veggies... So, that's where the love/hate thing comes in. Convenience? Check. Taste? So-so. I would like to say this excludes a good pork roast. Put some barbecue sauce in, or use a McCormick Pulled Pork spice packet, or (heaven-forbid), you actually follow a recipe, and you will have a effortless, delicious dinner! (That's what is on the menu tonight - hence the enthusiasm).