Cupcakes, a Park and Time Well-Spent

I have a chronic malady. It's seems I have a complete inability to live in the present moment. I'm quite aware of the problem. I try very, very hard not to over-plan every detail of the future with intricate lists. (And decidedly, I'm succeeding at letting a few areas of my life go. Dusty house. Tombstone pizzas to the rescue.) But just as I've always assumed my eyes were forged on the future, life makes me blink and think twice about the past.

Alex and the dessert at Jones Brothers Cafe

This weekend I insisted that our family activity consist of something interactive. No movies for the Kramer cinema-junkies.  No siree. Perhaps we take in a friendly game of Laser Tag. Or brush up on some hitting in the batting cages at Rockbrook Village. Whatever. At least we wouldn't be watching...we'd be mixing it up by DOING.

Yeah. Well, that baseball movie came out this weekend. You know the one. Moneyball with Brad Pitt? So. It's a rare occasion that the hubby is so ardent about a film. But it's about baseball.

I found a compromise. The Aksarben Village sponsors a Farmers Market - right next to a theatre. So, perhaps we could take in the Farmers Market, then the movie. Well, the idea was a lovely one. Until we arrived at the event by approximately one hour too late. Sigh.  So we were down to just another weekend at the cinema, right?

Wrong. Before the movie, I became incredibly enlightened. Thus, my realization of my inability to live in the present moment began to dawn...

• At the Jones Brother Cafe, I watched an adorable baby/toddler (age completely unknown?) make an interminable mess of a cupcake and himself. It was obviously hilarious for the onlookers. The amazing part? His parents were laughing as well. Roll back thirteen years. Not me as a parent...I would NOT have enjoyed that moment. And why? I would've been thinking about getting the stains off Alex's adorable outfit. Silly. Stupid. Unimportant. That baby we saw yesterday? He has cool parents. Maybe I should get a nose ring and a tattoo.
• Cole has grown up. We went out to the lovely park (where the Farmers Market had been set up) to soak in the sun and watch the baby of the family climb around in the play area. Not an option. A ten-year old scares little kids away. (Did you know that?) We still let him run like a lune a across the wide lawn of grass. And yes, we timed him. Good scores too. We told him that, anyway.
• There were assorted dogs, puke on the sidewalk, kids on bikes (with helmets!) and parents trying to fly a kite in a breezeless sky. And I wondered why we didn't do this with our kids more. What did we do with our kids when they were young? Watch Spongebob?

Hope you enjoy-my Hydrangeas

Did you catch it? I'm either completely concerned with making plans for the future or immersed in what I didn't do in the past?  

You see, I had a wonderful day yesterday- and I almost forgot to notice it. 

My Daughter is Sick and Other Stuff

In the past week, I've heard of two cases of children with cancer. Both of the kids were approximately Cole's age. The word, "cancer", is ugly enough, but when it's mixed in the same sentence as "child"...unfathomable. The thought makes your stomach plummet. Your heart palpitates as you grieve for the family. And guilt takes over as you're terrorized by the possibility of cancer invading your own babies. You say a million little prayers as fast as you can. And no matter how deep your faith, you still wonder why.

Today I received a call that my Alex was sick. So, of course, I'm super paranoid. Should I take her to the ER? Boy, her fever didn't break very easily. And when it finally did, I was ready to dance a jig. My jigs aren't pretty, but I would've been willing to YouTube it.

I also played frisbee with Cole tonight. When was the last time I played with my son???? It's been way too long. And I'm a bit ashamed. (No wonder no one has been calling to nominate me for Mother of the Year.) Yesterday, when he told me he had to write about a really happy memory and his response was, "When I saw Harry Potter 7.2", I thought to myself, "enough of the movies already!" Our family needs to do some stuff. And once Alex is well, that's what we will do. Do stuff! Not sit around and watch. We're going to do stuff and LIVE.

And pray - never stop praying.

On another bright note - I was driving to work the other day and saw a canary yellow VW beetle. It made me smile. What would this world be like without bright yellow cars? BORING! And to think that my mother hates yellow cars. Mom - let's learn to let go of the hate and love all.  After all, doesn't it take all kinds to make the world go round? I think you taught me that.

And for any of you who want to read some recent book reviews here are some links to my other (not-quite-so-popular) blog:

Sister by Rosamund Lupton

Bossy Pants by Tina Fey

Good day!

Ode to Laborers

So, I'm getting ready to head to bed on this late hour on Friday night, and I catch sight of my laptop. Some centrifugal force is forcing me to blog. It's not my fault. My fingers just keep typing despite my exhaustion...and I just have a few things to say.

Do you ever see your life as a television series? Perhaps I watched too much TV as a kid. It seems I'm always categorizing my weeks into themes.  This week: WORK! Alex started her first "real" job as a dietary aide at the nursing home. So, of course her Dad and I have been hoping she'd make us proud by whipping up the best pudding at Little Flower Haven's kitchen. The verdict is still out. Anyway, this new job of hers has got me thinking about purpose, working, career and that whole bit. Would you agree that there's a  cyclical nature for the affection of how one feels about their job?

                    Excitement-Disillusionment-Reward-Boredom 
                    (Repeat in any order.)

As a teenager, it's most important to learn how to work. That's our objective for Alex anyway. And she's really lucky to have been able to land such a great job in our little town of Earling. But as an adult, it's so easy to forget that we have choices. Here's a list of choices we have about our careers:

• The type of job we want
• The pay we want
• The amount of time we want off
• The people we want to work with
• How much TV we can watch during our shift
• If we want to work at all

Okay, maybe we can't choose all that. But we can choose this: our attitude about work. Having Alex start work this week made me reevaluate myself. And sometimes my outlook isn't all that rosy; and for no particular reason. Newsflash!We can all have a positive impact on the people around us every day - no matter if we count beans or pitch hog poop. It's simply our choice.

Percy, after a hard day of guarding the grounds.
So, here's to a happy Labor Day - and a great four day work week after that!

Happy Anniversary, Sniper Babe-

Yesterday marked 17 years of wedded bliss for me and my sweetheart. This day is always overshadowed by web-slinging, nerf gun fights and light saber duels since it also happens to be our son's birthday. And that's okay! Our children were part of the package...right? Right!

So, last night Doug asked me if I was upset that he didn't get me a gift. For one thing, I was way too tired to even consider the question. And another, I was little perturbed that he'd think I was that bitchy. We spent ten days in Florida this year. We just got back from a quick and frightfully expensive trip to Minneapolis. Last weekend we traipsed to the Flat Iron restaurant in Omaha where we feasted on lobster, ribeye  AND ordered TWO appetizers simply because we didn't understand how the menu worked. (Please let's put the credit card away for awhile.) But the climax? The climax occurred this Friday when we got to see Cowboys and Aliens. It doesn't get much better than that....except for perhaps a Nerf gun battle. (I hear artillery fire at this very moment.)

You see, we have the perfect marriage. Because when it comes down to it, we laugh a heckuva lot. It's the secret of our success. And the fact that I'm such a great cook. I'm sure my hubby would agree.

Mr and Mrs Doug Kramer

Mr and Mrs. Mark Kramer

As I finish this blog, I came across a photo of Doug's parents on their wedding day. Mark (rest in peace) and Mary Ann didn't need to shower each other with material gifts and a lot of hoopla. But they knew how to be happy with each other's company. That's all that really matters. That's all I need. My spouse, my kids, my dog, and a few smiles.

PS For you faithful followers, you might have noticed the absence of me stating "my cat." Skye has been missing for one week now. My optimism is beginning to wane...But I'm still holding out hope for the little beggar to show up at the back door. He's been as good as any cat could be.

The Color of Summer

While my husband boldly marches into autumn (championing our children off to school and eager to race his combine through the fields), it seems I'm desperately clutching to summer as its last days slip away too quickly. My coping strategy? Yellow. And orange. I've had this incredible yearning to paint like a …painting guy.

Alex’s bathroom now has yellow and orange shapes in her room of reflection (aka, her bathroom). And those terrifying roosters that I fell in love with merely six years ago? The ones that covered the soffit in the kitchen? GONE! Now the cocks have been steadfastly covered by the color known as “stained glass sun.” It's yellow. Sure, it’s a bit monotonous now, but wait til I get the courage to crack a nail in the wall and add some art. Or something that looks like art for the low, low price of $5 or less. Just don't let me buy anything with a rooster.

Alex's Powder Room

 Now, I’m not terribly superstitious, (Wait! Yes I am! ), guess what came popping out of one of my seemingly barren flower pots this past week? Orange and yellow flowers. Sorry, can't tell you the genus or species. But they were real pretty.

And speaking of yellow and orange...Look at my kids' hair! No wonder I love those colors...(You have to look for the strip of orange in Alex's hair.)

 Blogging has been a bit on hiatus. Been watching old 30 Rock episodes with the hopes of enhancing my writing skills. I hope to come back strong in a few weeks…I've actually been writing episodes in my mind. When I was young, I wrote to the Love Boat with hopes of getting on the show. I didn't make it, but received an awfully nice response.  So now I've been considering sending an episode idea to Tina Fey at 30 Rock. Wonder where that will get me.

School Pics

Second school day of the year, and guess what I forgot to do, again. Yep. Take a pic of my darlings before they're off to class. And my eldest even started high school this year. Pathetic. (I forgot last year too.) The matronly pride burns when I see all those Mom postings on Facebook with their smiling young-uns with backpacks. I truly want to slap myself because Alex and Cole have new shirts from Old Navy too. Well, you good mothers can bask all you want with your adorable photos. Because take a look at this! Now who's jealous...

Alex and Cole with a celebrity-BLUE! See how happy he makes Al?

The Demise of a Shopper

Apparently, sometime in the past ten years I lost my passion for shopping.  I know, devastating. But I realized something today, at the biggest mall in America, standing in the middle of Forever 21 while some band sung  oh-so-profound-yet-undecipherable lyrics. Shopping's not my thing anymore. And I imagine the  words that must come to my hubby's mind when he's forced to delight his senses at Bath and Body are,"This really sucks." (Insert F word if you're a realist.)

 I long for those Gymboree days with Raffi singing in the backround his while my mom and I oohed and ahhed over the daisy-print dress for Alex or a lime green sweater vest for Cole. Now we go into shops dripping with sex, and between the daisy duke shorts, disco shirts and stripper-studded ankle boots, I just can't get excited anymore. Once in awhile I'll point out a floral dress I don't completely oppose. That usually gets me a barf signal from my teenage rebel.

What about my stores you ask? The "mom" stores. Sigh. You can only package a banker in so many ways after 14 years.  I walk into some of my favorite stores-who I can only hope haven't sold their souls to sweatshops in China or India,btw... But I eye the racks.  "have this." "have that" "oh! My button-down shirt comes in purple (eggplant) this season? Fabulous! I only have light purple (violet), red (crimson), white(white), off white (butter), orange (melon),etc. I really do get the feeling that designers say, "It's for the working mom! She won't care...just add some cheap looking bling or a tacky print. It will make her think of her youth!" Really? Oh sure. Like watching Mrs. Roper on Three's Company.

Now, these are obviously the ramblings of a terribly ungrateful wench who has more than enough to wear. So let me end with something a bit more positive. There was one particular purchase that made me feel abundantly good. Have you ever heard of TOMS?

 I read about the company and the shoes in Oprah, of course. For every pair of shoes purchased, they make a pair for a kid in need. Yes, some kids in the world don't have shoes to wear. Can you even fathom?

Anyway, the marketing for toms is mainly word of mouth (Oprah probably tipped the scale a bit), but here is my small contribution as well: TOMS. So maybe shopping isn't all bad. I just needed a cause.

TOMS