Musings of This, That and Other Things

I had to laugh, poor hubby.. we were out for supper with him facing the room and my back to it. We had a really good meal Dessert was delish, even if I wasn't allow it. To bad, I'm all about the pumpkin pecan pie. Homemade thank you very much. Anyhow, as we walk out I notice a woman devouring hubby with her eyes. She has him undressed and nekked on top of her, I see it, hell everyone sees it. ( later found out hubby had to 'suffer' it the whole time we were there. Please read the sarcasm in the word 'suffer')   She's been drinking with her girls for the better part of the two hours we've been there. Hubby is good looking, I grant you that, but sugar? Do you see who he's with? Do you see his hand on the small of my back? Do you see him not looking at you? 

Me being me, I am NOT letting this one go, if she can be ballsy so can I. I catch her eye, give her a smirk, a shoulder shrug and I saunter out. Tough shit, sweetheart, it's not you he'll be thinking of later on tonight.

Speaking of, and judge me if you wish, flirting and women... I have NO problem hubby flirting with other women. In fact I encourage him to. Looky looky, no touchy is my motto. I know a few women might have problems with this in regards to their own significant others,but I am not one of them. A man's ego pride is a huge part of who he is, like it or not. They love their egos/prides stroked/stoked.Hubby comes home to me every night and if he feels like a king because some hot chick batted her bedroom eyes at him then I benefit from it. But after 30 years, I betcha I can make him preen a whole lot better than any woman out there. I know my boy, I just get a kick out of letting him 'play'.

So not my brightest move. I was finishing a glass of wine, grand daughter sitting in the chair watching me. She wanted a 'drink' (it's what she calls a glass of water ) in the same glass. I wash it out, fill it with water setting it down in front of her. She picks up the glass takes a sip, rubs her belly and says, ' Yummy acohul Nammie'. Ask me how wide my eyes got. Oh.My. God.  Her mother is going to K I L L me. sigh. Bad move, dumbass.

To make matters worse, I busted out laughing. Yup, I did. 

I was in Costco going to spend copious amounts of money on useless crap having a looky-see the other day. I came across the chocolate Advent Calendars and sighed, sadness settling in on my shoulders. This would be the first year I wouldn't buy my children any. 23 yrs of buying some every year, watching their eyes light up at the different themed chocolate pieces. Last year I didn't think they got a huge kick out of them, one daughter moved out, the other had left it on the table. I thought that was it, last year. 

I mentioned it to my eldest recently and she brought me to task over it. I should of known, she's a mini me, little traditions such as this makes for warm fuzzies. I'm happy once again, I can still play 'mommy' to at least one of my girls. :-)

We were eating Thanksgiving supper at the kitchen table counter ( we don't stand on ceremony at our house) and we each took turns saying what we were thankful for. It went something like this:

Youngest Daughter: I'm thankful for meds. lol

Eldest Daughter: I'm thankful for the self demotion at work. ( stepped down from GM to shift leader, her choice ) 

Me: Im thankful for alcohol. That's all. 

Hubby: I'm thankful for when you both will have your own place. 

I lifted a glass and drank to that. 

Now sing with me... we are fam-mil-leeee 

Conversation between my two daughters on facebook, starting with youngest's fb status.

Youngest Daughter:  Thinks her little girl has a serious case of iwontlistentoanythingmymommysays.

Eldest Daughter: Ah, that is genetic. I'm afraid her mother suffered from chronic iwontlistentoanythingmymomorsistersay. It may be for life. I'm sorry to say it is incurable. On the bright side, extensive therapy has proven to partially alleviate the afflicted of symptoms once tested subjects have passed the initial teenage stage. 

Youngest Daughter: I fully understand why Mom took up drinking. 

Hello, my name is Jamie and my kids drove me to drink. 

What are your musings today?

Borrowing a meme. Love. it. Titled 'For Today'

                                          

I happened upon this from Gypsy Heart. Love it. Going to be using it from time to time...


For Today


Outside my window...
I see ice fog in the air.. winter's not far behind.


I am thinking...

that I need to go buy me a pair of kickass boots.


I am thankful for...
this warm sweater my sister gave me.


From the Kitchen...
I created yesterday. Today is leftover day.


I am wearing...
Lululemon.


I am creating...
a black and white album


I am going...
to make sure I get on the treadmill today.


I am reading...
Reader's Digest. Guess where? ;-)


I am hoping...
My daughter's move goes smoothly.


I am hearing...
the washing machine spinning like mad.


Around the house...
I'm ignoring housework. What's new...


One of my favorite things...
is coming back home after being away a couple of weeks. 


A few plans for the week...
The week's almost over but I am looking forward to hanging with my eldest Sunday.


Here is a picture for thought I am sharing...

Jonesing 

Wordless Wednesday- Scooby Doo

I don't see Scooby Doo yelling for Shaggy here..

Hello Past, meet the Present.

It felt like hitting a wall of 'The Past' at high speed.
BAM!
Back to when we were a posse of 3 and trouble followed us.

I'm having coffee with my bestie of 33 years and a boy I haven't seen since graduation.
That boy, sitting in front of me, replaced by a man who looks like him but has aged, for the better I might add. Silver at his temples, laugh lines complimenting his brown eyes. (Why do laugh lines always look better on a man? )

Where's my old buddy Tony? The one that was a little bit quiet and shy outside our group of 3. Donna and I knew him better, he was the first one at bat when we executed our mastermind trouble plans. The first one to pull a stunt and throw us both under the bus.
I want to grab Tony, shake him. I'm mad at him for making me feel every one of those 30 years we last saw each other. This isn't supposed to happen, it's supposed to be the boy I knew come to visit. I look at Donna. Strange, she doesn't look different, it's the same Donna I knew then. I look inside myself, same.
Damn it, Tony.
I feel desperate, I'm not ready for time to walk up and bitch slap me across the face like that.

But hold on a minute. Look.. Tony just laughed. Yeahhh, there he is, that's the boy from high school. Screw you Father Time, we're back from the future.
I relax, memories sliding along the rich baritone of Tony's laugh. Old school days, the three of us at the lockers or in the school cafeteria. Laughter bubbles out before I can stop it. Memories flowing like an old time movie reel, settling themselves back into my memory folder I thought I had lost.
Yeah.. I knew I'd see the boy again.

Look at him, the poophead, aged better than we did. We colour our gray, he proudly displays it. Tony with young kids to help keep him that way. Me a (young) grandmother, Donna biding her time.
There he goes, laughing again without a care in the world. 30 years gone by but pppfffhhhtt it's nothing to him. Dumb handsome boy, it's not fair.

Ohhh but it's soooo good having the 3rd member or our old posse back. Betcha if we had a couple more days, we'd be back on old turf. Donna planning trouble our next escapade, Tony & I ready for action.
But we'll never know. It's time for me to go back home, Donna to get back to work and Tony to head back to his young family.
I hug him goodbye but I don't want to let the boy go. I'm 30 years younger for a brief moment, carefree and ready to play.
But Father Time is mocking us, pulling us apart. The posse evaporates. Donna and I watch our partner in crime as he walks away.
We head back in,settle ourselves on the couch and allow the memories to flood the room. We laugh, we struggle to remember, we revel in our long standing friendship.

Young Tony will be back and once again we'll be sitting on the bench upstairs in school laughing loud enough to be chastised by the teachers. Tony causing us to laugh even harder, landing us in detention. Mission accomplished, trouble finds us yet again.

An hour later as Donna's boys walk through the door, we unfold ourselves from the memories. But the kids of the past are now melded with the adults of the present.
The future?  Today will become tomorrow's past and the next day is the future so how about we just live for the moment.

And what a moment it was...

Tony

The Posse

Going home

You can always go back but you can never go home again. We all know the saying. On one hand it's true, I'm walking testimony to it. But you can go home again... if only for a visit. I wish I had olfactory software,the scents of Autumn hit well... home.

Summer's done

Rain collecting

Garden things to be put away for winter

Fall scents.. breath deep

Vibrant colours soon to fade

Follow the fence

Playtime on a sunny Autumn day

What's tilting, me or the woods?

Leaves rustling with every step

Peek-a-boo sun

Solitude

Reflections

 Got a light? 

Does anyone hear it when it falls?

Why hello maples

Mellow yellows

Come...sit a spell

October's I Believe

...serrano prosciutto is king.

...I'm in a New York state of mind. Too bad my wallet's not.

...in home cooking, with wine. But not in the food. Well.. at least not much. 

...'JJ' leaving Criminal Minds sucks.

...despite my best intentions, I still managed to trip up.

...speaking of tripping up.. perfection is highly overrated.

...some adults use the word 'Epic' wayyy to much.

...I know the difference between perception and fact. Facts are indisputable, perceptions are open to interpretation. In this case, fact is I'm right, you're wrong. ;-)

...in Montreal Style bagels. Period. 

...shopping is sweeter when you pay only 5% tax. 15% in other provinces just blows. ugh 

...hubby and I will never reach an agreement as to what vehicle I will drive next. 

...it's frustrating how Post It notes don't do it for me anymore. I apparently need loud audio sounds from my blackberry calendar to remind me of everything some things. 

...my odometer will be slightly higher when I get back home after 12 days away. Daughter's had the keys. 

...What do you believe?

Wordless Wednesday- Carpe Diem

Carpe Diem

Retro

One of my Facebook status entries was my husband and I reminiscing about the 'A&W drive in' days.The waitresses would come out and bring lunch on a tray that would be balance on the driver's window ledge. At the risk of dating us, in our defence, we were very very young.

That got me to thinking about other things gone the 'way of the dinosaur'.     ( which is how most 20 yr olds look at me now. sigh. Little shits, what do they know. Pardon me, I digress)

Let's see if a few jiggle your memories.

The Tabletop 5¢ Jukebox. Believe it or not, in my hometown, we still have a pizza joint complete with the jukeboxes. Grant you I think it's 25¢ for 3 songs now. Inflation. Sigh. But it wasn't a Saturday night without that greasy pizza and our nickels. I betcha lap dancing must of been born out of our seat boogies. ;-).

Rotary dial phones. ( shall I mention party lines in this as well? Ok, just did. ) A few years back we were scoping out an antique sale, my youngest was around 6 yrs old at the time. We spied this rotary dial phone,retro green in colour. I pointed it out to hubby, the memories bubbling to the surface. My daughter stared at it, knowing what it was but not understanding the big metal round 'thing' in the middle of it.
"Mom", she pushed on the numbers," How do you call someone with this, it's broken."
I laughed putting my finger in one of the holes and I turned the dial ever so slowly. Her look of amazement was priceless. I'll never forget that look and to this day I have been searching for a specific workable one.

Barbies, Schmarbies. Cut out dolls and paper clothes with tabs was where it was at, my bloggy friends. The hours we spent using our imaginations, creating rich stories and taking care not to rip the tabs. Tape was never far away. Rarely was there any arguments between my sisters and I. Unless of course,one of us ripped the shoulder tab off. There was no hair to cut off the dolls, no sharp little shoes to step on and pierce the tender underneath of your foot. No clothes of minuscule sizes to put on and have the barbie's finger rip it. It was cheap entertainment but it kept us out of our mother's hair for hours on end. Brilliant.

Knockers. Remember them? Those two balls secured by a rope on either end with a ring in the middle. Some made of teeth shattering plastic,others of coma inducing marble. Lol dangerous much? But ohhh la la, we had a claim to fame and the envy of all our friends if we were able to clack those things non stop. Eventually we'd bean ourselves, leaving nasty bruises that would have teachers, in this day and age, call foul against the parents. How many split lips and crushed fingers did you suffer from them? I was pro but I willingly suffered blood loss for the fame. Fun? Yes. Painful? Those things could be used as a torture device I bet.

The Irish Rovers. Green Aligators song. I know, I just threw that one in there. We used to make my dad sit on the couch and play it over and over and over and over again. Sing he did, every single time. :-)

The old Coke. You know the one. Pop the top off the glass bottle, take a swig and feel your sinus burn off making your eyes water. Nothing could make you burp better or satisfy more.  Now, THAT was coke. Period.

 So.. wanna Retro?  :-)

Wordless Wednesday-Water Whirls

Water Whirls

October's Open Letters

Dear (so called) 'Professional' Person,

You took your position and abused it.  Watch you don't fall face first in the crap you enjoy spraying. Your true colours makes you ugly, inside and out. Your comeuppance ( go get a dictionary, sugar) isn't far behind.

Signed,

Find some class. 

Dear Cheese Puffs

The way you slowly melt on the roof of my mouth when I apply a slight bit of pressure.. the way you release all your cheesy goodness... the way I can't stop when I'm with you.. is it any wonder I snarl when someone else touches you? 

Signed

Your Obsessed Fan

Dear Dance Floor Traveler, 

There are a lot of women in that room. We all need room to move, make up your mind where you want to be and stay within a three foot radius of it. Like we all do. Back me into the wall again, and you won't like how I 'bounce' off it straight back to you. 

Signed, 

Space Cadet ( again ) 

Dear Rain,

Piss off, Eh

Signed,

Sunshine Starved

Dear Brain, 

Not a good time to start thinking in the dead of night. You go places you've no business at. Shut down, shut up and sleep. 

Signed,

I gotta thinkin' problem

Dear Justin Bieber,

Your photo op with the Hooter girls on the front page? You're still wet behind the ears, boy. Fail.

Signed,

Newspaper Reader

Dear Me, myself and I

Hang on ok? 

Signed,

Me, myself and I

Dear Carbs, 

Some days you are my happiness, some days my curse. Why can't you and my body play nice with each other? I'm more than willing, so um get with the program already. 

Signed,

Carbs whore

Dear Person who is enjoying my coffee card, 

I hope the next cup you drink burns your entire mouth, ass.hole. That will be a good hint to turn a card in when you find one.

Signed, 

Coffee Karma

What's in a name?

As I prepare to fly down to celebrate my Dad's 80th birthday, thoughts of immortality swirl around in my head, his, mine, my kids. I think of my Aunt who will be there with her four adult children, two daughters,two sons. 
Sons, that will carry on their family name. 
My Dad will not have that luxury. He was blessed with five girls, (sadly one lost at a very early age. I often wonder what Cindy would of looked like today, the person she would be.) 
So who's to carry on his name? 
"Pffttt", shrugging his shoulders, he looks anything but concerned about it.
I think about his reaction or lack thereof. I've come to realize that a name is but just that.. a name. 
The archives will show our descendants and ancestors,the information stored on disks or hardcopies in some government cabinet or vault somewhere, proof for those who will have a need to know.

But today, for now, there are four of us, all girls. We all carry some trait of our family name, if not on paper then somewhere within us. We are related by blood, yes, but family unit we grew up in are the ties that bind as well. We are who who we are.. John and Louise's daughters. We have private jokes, funny little sayings we grew up with. The four generations long recipe we and our children make, a favorite when we are all together. 
I think about our children now and those yet to be born, I know we've passed along, in some form or another,the family 'way'. They don't bear our maiden names but these cousins will recognize some part of our family tree in each other. These traditions and memories are what makes us ... us.

I know this because as my father before me, my husband and I have brought into this world no sons, we were blessed with two beautiful strong willed daughters. We have forged a new family the four of us, complete with jokes,sayings & traditions of our own. But if you look closely at the threads of who our daughters are, you will see John,Louise and their daughters. You will see continuum. 
What's in a name? 
"Pfftt", I say, as I shrug my shoulders. 
What matters is the heart and pulse of a family. Past. Present. And future.

Wordless Wednesday-Texture

Musings of This, That and Other Things

Looks like I'm boarding yet another airplane in a couple of weeks. It'll be my third time this year. This one, however, is a pleasure trip. I'm going back to my folks to celebrate my dad's 80th birthday. Ugh... hits in the solar plexus. 80.. wtf happens to time? Does it just poof five/ten years later before someone warns me? Sigh.

But I'm looking forward to seeing everyone. Most of the extended family members were invited. I hope they come out to honor the head of our clan. 

I'm going to venture a guess and say the boys next door got lucky last weekend. What was my first clue? The couple of girls running up and down the street sans tops. 2:30 in the morning. Hootin' and hollerin'. What's the funniest is the ability of those girls to make little fools of those boys next door. Somehow it was easier seeing the girls run topless than it was painfully watching one of those boys running behind them in nothing but his skivvies. We definitely hold all the cards . after all who else could talk a male down to his tighty whities, middle of the night, in public... We are all powerful.

Congrats to James Jones for standing up for his disabled daughter. Calling out the bullies on the bus. Got arrested for it. I'm in his corner, my two girls were bullied in school and nothing was done about it. It shaped who they are today. They've been called bitches.. I take a bow on that one, they got it from me. Today they don't take shit from anyone but I can still see the scars on the inside.. Nothing has changed, the schools of today still can't get a handle on what is now a commonality. Sad. :-(

Merengue, not so much. The instructor nicknamed it ' Your best Pee Pee Dance'.  Cha-Cha I can work with, no problem. Salsa? A definite good to go. Of all three, I think it's the easiest. For me. I can pop that hip, swivel them in quarter turns. Heck, eventually I'll get the hand movements too. But for the love of all Latin dances, I can NOT booty shake. I have the equipment for it, I just can't get it working like it should. Dumb ass. ( pun intended.)  I'm taking a Salsa Burn class once a week till the start of December. A latin fitness workout that can burn up to 700 calories?  75 minutes of cardio, squats and poppin' various body parts? I'm so there. But booty shake? Jus ain't gonna happen,honey. 

I never got into Glee, much to my disappointment. I have no excuse other than I couldn't tape it at the time. That's how I watch most of my shows, taped. But I did happen on 'The Big Bang Theory' this summer, reruns granted, but I got hooked on it. I'm very much a C.S.Is type of gal along with Biggest Loser but it's different show to add to my repertoire, . Look at me expanding my horizons. ;-) 

Figure skating used to give me such a rush. 6 am in the arena, freezing cold till I started flying across the that frozen water. The sound of steel slicing through ice, my muscles engaged from head to toe. The feel of flying through the air and executing a perfect jump. It was awesome. Doing a routine in front of 400 people? On one hand a rush, on another, terrifying.  So what gives me a rush nowadays? Photography. Flat out. Soothes my frayed nerves, brings me to a world where people cease to exist and the weight of the world disappears for a while. I love when I can capture what I see/perceive. While I can't work magic with a pair of skates anymore, I can sure try with my camera. 


Speaking of, I introduced my youngest to the world of photography, hooked her first go round thank you very much. It gives me such a kick to see her work that camera. I hope I've created a shutterbug monster and she surpasses me. She says she stops hearing what's around her when she focuses on a shot. It's captivating to see her engrossed in the craft, leaning  just this way to get that special shot or crouching way down trying to frame the moment.  Yes, you can colour me happy. :-) 


What are your musings today?