52 Weeks of Happiness - Week 19

 Being on vacation in Cape Cod last week made me really happy! Here are just a few highlights...

My niece making friends with hermit crabs

Dribble sandcastles bring a smile to my face, as I remember watching them being made on Blue's Clues with my much younger kids. Plus, they are just so cool!

Boogie boarding with Grandpa

My son made this racetrack for his cousin to run around. So many laps!

Another shark free beautiful sunny day

 One more thing about vacation that made me happy...the mindset that allows you to believe that yes, in fact your haul onto the beach did burn far more calories than contained in one innocent coconut frozen yogurt!

Mmmmm...Sundae School!

Stop by to visit Leigh and see what made other folks happy this week. I love this quest!

Randomly roasting

OK, so treating the weather like a toddler and giving it no positive or negative attention for acting out did not make it behave any better! Holy heat of hell! I just tried to walk the dog and two houses away he looked at me as if to say he thought he could use the toilet instead. It is windy out...windy...not breezy! Make no mistake that when it is 99 degrees out, a 31 mph wind feels like the breath of 100 dragons...not a breeze. The big cool off, down to 87, ought to be super swell tomorrow. I hope I have a clean sweatshirt!

So we're hope from Cape Cod now...

(no that is NOT everything)

After making it over the bridge and off the Cape, it took us an hour to travel the next three miles. I only started to lose it three times, I think (and that was due, in part to my son's insistence that the woman in the black Navigator was giving me dirty looks). After traveling a couple more hours in heavy traffic, my son pointed out a breakdown lane...yes, exactly where I felt like I was headed!

Oh Trader Joe's...I missed you by the time I left the parking lot! I am infinitely envious of those of you who can just run to Trader Joe's as needed, instead of stocking up on some random variety of yum-yums...hoping there were enough dark chocolate caramel and sea salt candy bars in the bag to hold me to the next visit...wondering how long to wait before opening the lentil chips so they aren't gone too soon...lamenting over those items left behind in some effort to display some self control.

I am not sure why I left without clipping a few hydrangeas...

The small white hydrangea I have, that has been scorched brown in spots by the sun, is just adding insult to injury.

Moving on...

The balloon border let us know it was the party room! Ah, the joys of taking a 15 year old boy to the pediatrician for his annual physical.

Neither of us really understood the purpose of this privacy cloth, so I suggested a cape.

I tried to keep an open mind at the Korean restaurant, but nothing about "fish flakes" sounds appealing, and everything about it sounds like goldfish food...oh that smell!

I have to go move some food around the kitchen counter in hopes that it magically turns into dinner!

I know Stacy is enjoying the east coast sauna as much as I am, so stop by and wish her some random cool thoughts!

52 Weeks of Happiness - Week 18

The hydrangeas here in Cape Cod make me so happy every year. They grow like regular old shrubs do at home...These balls of color are so much prettier! I am also happy that I could go outside to enjoy the flowers without melting!

<>

Lilies need love too!

I will have the hydrangea blues when it is time to leave, but for now they make me very happy!



Stop by Leigh's place to see what's making other people happy this week!

Sandy Random

Greetings from sunny Cape Cod!

I am ending my relationship with weather.com because of the lies. I have been toyed with enough, given promises of much lower temperatures (yes, well it is lower than 90) and even a few rain drops.

I am not morally opposed to having a little color on my skin. However, various patches of brightish pink were not the hue I had in mind. Due to the strength of 1,000 suns and an incredible lack of clouds, (hence the not feeling so much cooler) my SPF 50 was rendered nearly powerless. Then again, I could be cutting edge if splotches are the new rage.

Nauset Beach has not disappointed so far. Despite the beach being evacuated just hours after we left the other day, for a shark sighting, we haven"t been denied access. Of course the seals don't bring about the same ooing and ahing as usual, as it is more like wow that's close...ARE THE SHARKS COMING?...followed soon after by OK MOMMY'S NERVES CAN'T TAKE ANYMORE, EVERYBODY OUT!

In addition to seeing scraps of Lycra being asked to do the amount of work that an entire bolt of fabric should be responsible for, there have been some other gems...

Speaking of gems, I am not sure how many years in a row we have seen this guy. The speed he moves at coupled with the look of determination on his face does not make this look like a hobby.

When I see someone like this well-toned individual, I have a moment where I feel safe from the sun's rays, as I assume they are all focused right on his reflective skin surface. Glad I had on sunglasses!

OK, this guy was positioned right near us at the tidal pool. I guess all of the small children made it seem like a safe place where nobody would stomp his creation or trip in his moat. We were relieved that he ws standing on his knees, so that we were less likely to lose my niece and nephew.

Now either he was building for his own personal pleasure, or his family doesn't care much for him, as I never saw anyone approach the castle.

Nearly an hour later, and his rolling and body grooving technique were too much for my son and I to take seriously. It was also determined that his back might have been just a wee bit too hairy to get a smooth finish on those walls.

I thought my daughter was gesturing from higher on shore to alert me that there were fins in the water, but it turned out she just wanted to be sure I saw these folks dancing. They had their music playing quietly, and what better place to bust the ballroom moves out.

The news report claimed that 3,000 people were evacuated from the beach the day before, and yet here were the lifeguards appearing uninterested and without binoculars.

I felt much safer when the skipper finally arrived!

Stacy has finally arrived back home after her whirlwind cross country excursion, so go see  what random souvenirs she brought back!

A memory by any other name...

Some possible titles suggested for this post... 


What kind of fish is that? 
Threading the needle? 
Past meshing with present? 
Inchworm? 
Circum-decision 


I am fairly certain that you are nowhere near guessing where this story is headed given all of these titles.  


Today my sweet son, who came into this world with an incredibly off-center cone head with a very decent sized hematoma, turned fifteen. In honor of his birthday, and since we are in Cape Cod, he suggested I honor him here by telling this little story. Warning: this is going to be a bit graphic, and seemingly not quite the appropriate birthday homage. On second thought, maybe it is exactly the right way to salute a fifteen year old boy. Here goes...


It was a bright and sunny day about six years ago. A bunch of us had just spent a grand afternoon on Nauset Beach. As we were walking back to the car, the boy started to whine a little bit about his bathing suit. I didn't think much of it, as it was a bit of a walk and we were all pretty hot and tired. Suddenly his complaints took on more of a sense of urgency, so I decided to try to help him out. I figured we would just get the sandy suit off of him and he could make the seven minute ride home in a towel. To insure his privacy while I investigated the matter, I held up a towel as a screen. As we tried to pull off his bathing suit, it seemed to be stuck on something...well on one thing in particular. Oh my gosh! My son's bathing suit mesh was trying to circumcise him one bit at a time. Seriously. Some wayward piece of foreskin had made its way thru the bathing suit lining and could not find its way back out. This situation was going to take more thought, tools and privacy than the public beach parking lot could provide. 


Six of us piled into the Chevy Tahoe beach mobile, and I tried to drive as calmly as possible. The daughter was six years old at the time and was sitting in the back seat crying with concern for her brother. The only real description I had uttered was that he was stuck in his bathing suit. I do not know what uncurable diagnosis made for tv movie she had conjured in her head that warranted such upset, but on I drove. Some passengers kept trying to offer words of reassurance. I finally said "You did not see what I saw back there!" 


Upon arriving back at the house, my son gingerly walked up to the bath tub to get his sandy self ready for whatever magical remedy he hoped I had, while I basically went on a frantic search for scissors. I walked into the bathroom, our eyes met, and I knew he trusted me. Then I was eye to eye with the one-eyed menace who didn't look quite as confident. Mesh bathing suit linings have pretty tiny holes. Skin that has found its way through one of those little openings looks very vulnerable. I knew I was not wielding good sewing scissors that were likely to perform precision snipping. One wrong move was going to be a very bad thing. I decided to make a cut in the fabric much lower than the inchworm. I then told the boy to just hold on to the suit while I ripped the lining up to free willy. Phew. Mission accomplished. Circulation and better ability to walk restored. 


The daughter was relieved, my brother finally found out what the actual problem had been, and the husband continued walking around without a care in the world. (Seriously?)


My son wanted to make sure that I rolled out as many synonyms as possible, and while the effort was not terribly grand, I would be remiss if I left one of his favorites out. Protect everyone's tallywackers from attack bathing suit mesh!

52 Weeks of Happiness - Week 17

One would think that this being our twelfth summer trip with the two kids to Cape Cod would give me some idea what we might need. I am not very good at packing, not very good at all. As a result it is not one of my favorite things to do, but I keep my eye on the prize!

I am very happy that three out of the four of us (leaving the one I am not in charge of in any way to his own luggage devices) are ready to go tomorrow!

Note Nauset Beach hat. Obviously mom did this one.

I am not sure what shorts I wear everyday as I did not see anything I wanted to pack

I suppose I should take some inventory of what this little lady actually put in her bag.

I am happy that we got ourselves these cool (yes, so very cool) bracelets last year to commemorate our fabulous boogie boarding days. We all wore them to activate our powers this evening!

Stop by to visit Leigh to see what is making her and her other friends happy this week!

Random heats up

I am not going to talk about the weather. Instead, I am going to act like it is a misbehaving toddler that I wish to give no negative (nor positive) attention to. I will just sit here and be thankful for the air conditioning, and the much cooler forecast I saw for Cape Cod during our upcoming travels. (No, I haven't looked at that forecast in the past twenty-four hours because I need to believe it hasn't changed much.)

I have some moderately disappointing blog news to kick things off...

1) I have been unfollowed by someone. When I am not busy letting it bother me, I tell myself how it really shouldn't bother me.

2) I feel like I have let you all down, in that we waited too long to test that toilet paper. The survey is now closed, and I will never be able to share the glorious questions that I am sure were contained within. I will tell you this, as much as I disliked the first box of toilet paper, the second was worse. My daughter emerged from the bathroom exclaiming "What was that? I don't do rest stop toilet paper!" Also, in case there were any inquiring minds, we did not check off all 500 boxes for the 165 sheet diary roll (just 24). I hope my failure to provide an end to this illustrious tale does not cause me to lose more followers.

I am happy to announce that I colored my hair yesterday, without incident. I look $6.00 (price of box) better! I do not think this is the boost needed to propel me towards my 25th reunion. Make no mistake, it is not that I looked any better then, rather it would've been nice to give the impression that I had finally learned how to use styling tools and products (and makeup beyond mascara).

I used a can of tuna fish the other day, and was instantly reminded of why I don't do so more often. Ew, that smell! I was wondering if that smell appeals to anyone without four legs and fur. I am not disputing that a tuna melt sandwich is a delightful thing, but that whiff in the air? Bleah.

The other day, I saw a picture of myself with my cousins, and I was wearing overalls. I don't think the photo was old enough for me to be rocking such a look. There was another shot in which I have overall shorts. Why could I not get enough of that dreadful style on myself. Now that I have mentioned my cousins, I realize that there is an actual professionally taken portrait of me with other cousins, and I was wearing...corduroy overalls! Wow! How many cycles have those pants lived? Or, was I just perpetually out of fashion?

Speaking of pants, I saw something in Walmart that made me shudder the other day. (As if that sentence could've ended a different way.) I was way too close to get the camera phone working, and also had my daughter right next to me. Those three women would've taken both of us down. The one I wanted to pose with had leggings as pants, and they were working overtime to hold things in place. I just hope she had a lot of tools at home to help her remove them from, what I can only imagine must've been almost to, her esophagus.

Remember the peer-to-peer awards where my husband works? (Click here if not.) Well, in an effort to make them even more, oh I don't know, cheesy? They've been renamed...

Oh yeah?

So far he has received a plastic salad bowl with a lid and a freezable insert, oh and a little cup for dressing. I just can't fathom what fabulous thing he did to be allowed to choose such a swell gift.

Why? WHY did I not trust my instincts that were shouting at me that the recipe said the wrong size loaf pan?

Well, I guess that was enough random information, that you probably didn't need to know, for one week. I appreciate the opportunity to lighten the load in my mind before I start packing for vacation...so much to do! Plus, the people across the street are mulching, and I need to go keep watch in case they burst into flames. I would totally leave my fortress of cool-itude to douse them with the garden hose if needed. I am that kind of neighbor.

Stacy is still out traveling and giving more proof to the notion that my US geography knowledge stinks! Stop by to visit!