The Spin Cycle- Free Spin

So, in this weeks spin cycle I have to tell a story. I promised Maureen, and will finally come through for her. When you're through laughing at my family's craziness, go see Sprite's Keeper and find out what other spinners are doing in their free time...

Maureen inspired this memory by talking about a time when she was younger when she used a picture of herself as a child to tell people she had a new younger sibling. It didn't last long, and she had to fess up eventually. If you want to read the actual story, go visit Maureen. She tells it way better...

Onward, though. Marueen made a long story short. I'm going to make a short story long.

I should start by setting the stage a bit. My brother is 4 years older than I am. We grew up in the 70's in a small town in upstate NY. There was nothing progressive about us, or our environment. We went to a small school, with the children from about 6 other towns. My parents had very little contact with my brother's teachers. They went to a parent teacher conference twice a year, and that was about it. My brother walked to the bus stop by himself, and walked home again. No dropping off at the classroom door for our generation. Most communication between the teacher and the parent happened by note, or if the situation warrented by phone call (gasp). I tell you all of this because in today's society, my brother would have never gotten away with this at all.

During one of the first days in kindergarten, my brother F was asked to draw a picture of his family. He drew a Dad, and a Mom, two boys and a baby. Those of you that know me already see the problem. For those who don't: read on. From here on out, the teacher assumed we were a family of five. When asked about his siblings, F told the teacher about his little brother Tom, and his new baby sister, MB (me). The teacher thought nothing of it. And the school year progressed this way. When prompted, F would answer questions about his family in the same way- all 5 of us.

Then came the aforementioned parent teacher conference. You know, the one where the teacher gives the parent all the great artwork the kid has done for the past 3 or so months. Yeah, and my Mom got a picture with 3 kids. One of whom she knew nothing about.

You see, Tom was a complete fabrication. He never existed. My brother had managed to pull the wool over this teachers eyes for months. Think about it, a lot of the 70's kindergarten curriculum was focused on the people in your life, so Tom came up quite a bit. My mom suggested maybe he was an imaginary friend. The teacher insisted, no, F said he was a brother. She knew quite a bit about him. What he liked, where he slept. They talked about it a bit, and after deciding that my brother did not have any psychological issues, decided to do nothing about it. No fuss, no seeing a psychologist. Just let it go (yup, it was the 70's- you were still allowed to just be "a little odd" back then).

I'm not sure if the teacher was disappointed or astounded. She simply corrected my brother the next few times Tom came up, and Tom magically disappeared.

And you'd think that's the end, right? Ahhh, no. That would be far too simple. You see, I had this teacher 4 years later for kindergarten. And one day, as my brother met me at my classroom to walk with me to the bus, the teacher asked him if he ever thought about Tom. He smiled. As we walked away, I asked who Tom was. And he responded that Tom was our brother. He had died when I was little. But he cautioned me not to ask my Mom or Dad about him because it would make them really sad. So, I never did. Every once in a while I thought about how nice it would have been to have another brother. And I did wonder how he died (lest it happen to me...) On occasion my brother would hint that it had something to do with something my Mom did or didn't do, but he would never get specific.

I can't tell you how many years I thought this was true. Then one day I wised up. There were no pictures of Tom, no memories what so ever. Even the most distraught of grieving parents keeps something. A relative or friend slips up. Nothing. I was probably about 8 when I finally asked my Mom. And she laughed so hard I'm pretty sure coffee came out her nose. F had duped someone else. That was the end of Tom, though. The only times he was ever mentioned again was when my Mom wanted to threaten us. She would tell us she'd do to us what she did to Tom.

And now you can sit and ponder how I ended up even remotely normal, coming from this.

Have a good week, all. MB

Random Tuesday Thoughts- I'm baaaack...

Yes, people, it is Tuesday. The day when our thoughts turn to all things random. And we visit with the Un-Mom (who unlike your real Mom will not mention the state of your house, or how well your sister is doing). Read on, and then click on the nice picture above to get on with the visit (and bring some coffee and donuts for your visit. I hear she likes that). Oh, yeah. I'm back at work, so I can make the links work again. Woo hoo.

Firstly, is anyone else experiencing the great waffle shortage of 2009? LG is a big waffle fan. Specifically, he likes the mini waffles. But every time I go to the market to buy them, they are out. For weeks now, they have been out. There is a sign on the freezer case saying that the Kellogg's people are having some Eggo issues, but they are working to clear up the problem. Really? A waffle shortage? This is absurd. Fix the problem people. My kid is getting bored of french toast sticks!

Have you ever noticed that the things your kid likes most are the ones that annoy the living hell out of you? For instance, that song that Rosie O'Donell and Elmo sing together? Makes me cringe, but makes LG dance with glee. Grrrr.

Speaking of Elmo, Happy 40th to Sesame Street. Sesame Street was first broadcast the year before my brother was born (sorry Uncle F, didn't mean to give away your age...). Which really makes us first generation viewers. Back in the day when there was no Elmo, and Mr. Hooper still ran the store. Many a good hour was spent learning to count with the Count, and doing "the pigeon". Props to them for making it 40 years on TV. And still one of the most popular shows out there.

What the hell has happened to our national psyche? I can remember not ten years ago, when people realized they were a few pounds overweight, they joined Weight Watchers, cut back on the Twinkies and Yahoo and sighed about it. They realized that the problem was them. We all felt sorry for them, and didn't eat our cookies in front of them.

Now? Not so much. Obesity is an "epidemic" now. Which really makes it sound like a disease. Something you couldn't avoid with a little excersize and fewer McDonald's visits. Don't beat me, I realize for some folks it is caused by a real life medical condition. But let's be honest, those people are few and far between. And stop calling your overweight condition hereditary. Your propensity to gain weight might come from your Mom's side, but your Aunt Sally isn't stuffing cream puffs down your throat. Stop blaming ad campaigns, too. It's not Krispy Kreme's fault that their de-lish donuts have gone from a Friday morning office treat to an everyday habit for you.

I think the heart of it lies in the same place that the debt problem does- our mis-conception that we can and should have it all. All the designer clothes we want. All the cheese burgers we want. We shouldn't need to deny ourselves. Nothing is a "treat" anymore. I didn't grow up this way. Most of us didn't. But I'm a little worried my kids will. In recent months, I have had to resist buying LG everything I saw that I thought he would like. When I do buy something, I've tried to put it away for Christmas or his birthday. It is hard, though. The first step is admitting you have a problem, right?

Ahhh, I told Maureen from Island Roar that I would tell a story today and totally forgot. Uhm, next Tuesday. I promise.

Ok, folks, back to work for me. Have a good week, and we'll see you next Tuesday for more Random.

Spin Cycle- I hate to admitt it...

This weeks spin is supposed to be the hidden thing you don't talk about that you hate about being a parent. But you'll have to go see Sprite's Keeper and the other spinners to hear about it. It would be a really bad thing for me to start down that track right now. Not enough sleep. Too many sticky finger prints all over my house. I'm like the Pandora's box for parenting angst at the moment.

I did take o for his first afternoon of daycare today, though. That being so, right now I'm alone. All alone. I ate lunch. Nobody was on my lap. I drank hot tea without worrying about who it might spill on. The TV has the volume on and the captions off. And about every 3 minutes I remember that he's with someone besides me or PB and I want to go get him. For as much as he's a needy 2 months old, he's also cute and cuddly. And he won't be that way forever. Sniff. I'm a wimp.

LG made my night last night, though. Lately, he's only wanted PB at night. If he wakes up and needs attention, only Papa will do. Which isn't fair because he only cuddles at night. But last night was different. I had a dinner event to go to. So the boys were on their own. PB gave everyone a bath, and went through the whole bedtime routine. Apparently, LG kept saying, "Kiss Mama. Kiss Mama." Awww. PB ended up leaving him in his crib wide awake. Which is where I found him 20 minutes later when I got home. And I got an hour of snuggles that made up for all the ones I've missed recently. Woo hoo.

Oh, but I guess I do have one thing I hate about being a parent. Professional relations who refer to me as "Mom". Yeah. Not so much. Last night was a business event. I didn't have to go, but I did to keep my fingers in the proverbial pie. And almost everyone I saw called me "Mommy". Now, technically I'm not back from leave yet, so this is the first time they've seen me since o was born. I would agree that congratulations are in order. But to call me "Mommy" in front of other professionals? Grrrr.

Ok, enough for today. I have a refrigerator to clean and a car to empty of child shrapnel. And then maybe some shoe shopping, who knows. I say it again, one day a mom who's kids are in school is going to take over the world. Right after she gets a pedicure.

Random Tuesday Thoughts!

This will be the last RTT during my o leave. This time next week, I'll be back at work. So, enjoy the last of the garbled wreckage that is my "stay at home" mindset. Then go visit the Un-Mom and see how the random falls.

First, Halloween. Oh, it was fun. LG trick or treated for the first time. He went to 5 or 6 houses, and by the last ones he was saying "Trick or Treat" and "Thank You" to the people at the door. He was a little lion:

While this happened, o hung out with me by the nice bonfire our friends made and handed out some candy.

My favorite part of the night was when two high school age boys showed up to trick or treat. It was a little later in the night, but they were both dressed up (one was in a home made "Max" from "Where the Wild Things Are" costume!) and very polite. They were really excited to see o dressed up as a penguin, which kind of surprised me.

It's my last week home with little o. Sigh. We had just hit a rhythm to our days, and now they'll change again. It'll be good to be back at work, though. As you can see from my blog posts, staying at home all day does nothing good for my thinking. Too much daytime TV for me.

PB and LG have started cooking together. When PB asks if LG wants to help, LG will go into the kitchen and drag a chair up to the counter to get ready. Anytime the whisk comes out, he automatically needs to help. And he's pretty good at it!

Last night they made me the turkey burgers from a recent post. Yummy. And look how happy he is to stick his hands in the icky turkey goo!

So, PB and I listen to CD's very differently. I put the CD into the player in the car, and unless I absolutely hate the song, that's it. I listen to all the songs in order. PB, on the other hand, skips over any song he's not interested in. Which means we listen to the same 5 or 6 songs over and over, or we listen to it for five minutes and then the radio goes on. Argh.

Ahhh, o has woken up (might have to do with the fact the PB just woke LG up, and he's screaming at the top of his lungs. Not a morning person, apparently.)

Have a good week folks.

The world keeps on Spinning...

Happy Halloween! This weeks Spin Cycle is about Halloween. No specifics, just Halloween. Here goes:

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. Why? Because it gives people an opportunity to do fun stuff. Bring cookies to work, have a party, do something special with your kids. No, we shouldn't "need" an excuse to do those things, but we do. And I like all those things. The cookies, the parties and the fun stuffs. I like seeing how creative people can be, and trying to think of new things to be. Until this year, I decorated the house and all. Woo hoo!

I really like the holidays now that LG is getting older. Here is last year's picture:

I love this picture. He was so happy to put on his costume and crawl around the room. We didn't go out and trick or treat, but he wore it to his parade at school. My little giraffe.

Now this year:




Not the greatest picture (and sideways, to boot), but he still likes getting into the costume. This year, he's a lion. And he roared and stalked around. He even wanted me to put his hands into the mitten paws (yeah, I was amazed, too). Fun stuff. He's excited to go trick or treating. We'll probably only go to a few houses, but it will be fun. o is going to be a penguin.

I think, more than anything, I like what Halloween symbolizes. Maybe it comes from working retail for so many years, but to me Halloween is the beginning of the "holiday" season. I don't mean just Christmas and New Years, but the whole year end holiday season. From here out, we only have a few weeks between big holidays. Days off from work and school, eating too many treats, going to parties. I just love this time of year. I like all of these holidays. I like baking, and shopping, treats, getting dressed up in clothes you wouldn't wear any other time of the year. The stuff most people hate? Yeah, I love all of that.

One weird question about Halloween, though. How old is too old to trick or treat? When do you go from being happily received at the open doors to skulking around corners with shaving cream and tp? When I was a kid it was 12. Once you were a teenager, you were done. But the last time we had trick or treaters, there were high school kids coming to the door. With real costumes on. Uhm, to me that says get an after school job and go buy your own darn candy. What do you think?

Ok, I'm done. Go see Sprite's Keeper and see all the other spooky posts.

Random Tuesday Thoughts

It's still Tuesday, right? I haven't missed it? Time for some "Random Tuesday Thoughts". Read here, then go see Keely and the other Random players...

Tonight is my "off" night, so I have time to hang out with the laptop. What's an "off" night? That means from midnight to 4:am I am not responsible for children. No monitor, no 2:am bottle. I will put in my earplugs, only to be awoken if there is an emergency (or two kids screaming at once). Ahhh, the off night.

I went to buy new glasses today. LG seems to think my glasses are the holy grail of things to swipe. As a result, they look like I went to war and back in them. And PB reminded me that I haven't had a new set in a while, so off to the "Eye Glass Store" I went. And the whole experience reminded me why I wear contacts. Argh, with the trying to find decent looking frames (and the annoying sales woman who kept steering me to the half frames that make me look geriatric). Then I got to sit with annoying sales woman to decide what kind of lenses to get. I will give her this, she was rather kind when she saw my prescription. The last lady asked when I'd be putting the down payment on the seeing eye dog... At least this woman was honest enough to admit that if I only wear them once in a while, I didn't need the top of the line, Scotchguard lenses (no krappe, they Scotchguard the lenses for an extra $75!). I apparently got off cheap. Only $300 after my 30% discount and mail in rebate. WTF, people. How do people with multiple children in glasses, and glasses themselves do this? This is just wrong.

The mall had the "Santa" area all set up already. It wasn't open yet, but it was there. I suspect that on Sunday, all Christmas hell will break loose. It did look festive, though. Almost had me humming a Christmas carol. I will hold out until black Friday, though.

I realized today that I only have two more weeks home with little o. Then back to work with me. While I think I suck at the whole "stay at home Mom" thing, I will miss spending my days snuggling the little guy. It's a whole new perspective when your biggest goal is to get in a load of laundry and a shower before noontime. Now, I know real stay at home Moms do a heck of a lot more than that, but in my short siesta from the labor market, this is what I do. And I only have two more weeks. Poor o, though. This is really the only time he'll get me all to himself. LG had me for almost two years. o will have to share from now on. Sigh.

Ok, time to go watch the dancing show. Good times. Have a good week folks.

Spin Cycle- Yummy Stuffs

This weeks Spin Cycle is supposed to be to share one of our favorite recipes. I found this one earlier this year, and we really like it. And it's actually pretty timely. So, maybe you won't be having one of those leftover turkey sandwiches where you try to squish everything that was on the table between two pieces of bread this year...

I bring you- The Best Turkey Burger EVER!!!

1 1/2 lbs ground turkey
1 medium sized zucchini grated
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp dried basil

1) Arrange the racks in the oven so that your top rack is about 2 inches from your broiler (this assumes you have a top broiler). Do this before you turn on the broiler, trust me. Get the broiler nice and toasty.

2) In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients. Form into your favorite patty shape.

3) Place them onto a broiler pan and cook them for 6-8 minutes each side (12-16 in total).

These little lovelies are great. Put them on any kind of roll you like, with almost any condiment. Both PB and I warn that you should give them a nibble before you start adding stuff, though. They taste pretty good without anything!

Now, for all those people saying, "My kids would never eat zucchini!"- No worries. They will never know it's in there. I promise. PB had no idea until I told them. The only purpose for having them there is to keep the burgers moist (which they do surprisingly well).

I usually hate a turkey burger. They tend to be dry and tasteless. But not these guys. They are yummy. Even LG eats them without blinking.

Go, try them. And then head over to Sprite's Keeper's place for other yummy things to get you through this winter!