...the thing is, I was really searching for a Buddha.

I went shopping today and got all kinds of fun and funky porch furniture now that I can actually USE my porch and it is not covered with pine pollen and needles. For the past two summers, I have been on a quest to accumulate patio and outdoor furniture and accessories. My thinking is that down the road we will put in a pool, but when we do that we won't have the spare cash to "accessorize." I suppose, in a sense, I am doing that now. It is much like buying the jewelry and then the outfit to go with it, and God knows I am not above that!

Anyways, long story short, one of the things I have been searching for is a buddha statue for my garden. I am thinking it must be a regional thing, but I can find cherubic children, frogs, toads and such, and St. Francis of Assissi like they are going out of style, but simply no buddha. I suppose the quest continues...

Greater Oswego area Buddha, where ARE you?

Giving a little shout out to blue tonight. As much as my blue toenails are offending some on the internet these days, I love 'em! Then there is the red, white and BLUE which we are ramping up to celebrate this coming weekend in good old Fair Haven. I am headed to the ocean next week, and you know how much I love that. Finally, we can add Avatar to the mix. Gwynn went to sleep over at Emma's tonight, so in her absence, we watched it on DVD with Devin. He and Tim had already seen it in the theater in 3D, but it was still quite amazing if you ask me. I mean, I have been wide eyed glued to a screen now for three hours! SO, with that in mind, not much to type, due to eye fatigue, but much to consider about that blue world!
I SEE YOU!

Oh my dear sweet blog I have missed you so! You know something has become a real habit when you miss it this much!

Summer has begun, and has been non-stop already. We finished work Friday, went to camp Saturday to Sunday (thus no internet), ran to Lansing Sunday for Uncle Jimmy's funeral, which brings us to today. I am calling today my "official" kick-off to summer, and the first of the "Sole Sisters Photo Project," thus the foot shot, that will occationally grace this blog.

I had the nicest day today, doing nothing different than any other regular weekend day, but I did it on a MONDAY! There is such a different energy to the grocery store on a Monday. No one is in a rush, people are quietly going about their own business, things are picked up, well stocked, and you have time to linger, and choose, and create meals. I got home at my normal grocery hour, about 4, but had NO concern about getting dinner going. Dinner could happen in the next hour, or two, or even three, as we had no real time table, and no obligations to worry about for tomorrow. And best of all, I didn't need to pack ANY lunches!

Welcome summer, you are clearly here.

The Week of "Just Gettin' Through"

So, the school year came to its official end today, and not without drama. It was a very long day. As I walked away from my "next year room," and down my new hall to head towards home, I swung by Sue's Art room, so we could have a last moment in there...it is slated for demolition this summer. So many memories are in that room, some of my fondest being my time on maternity leave, when I'd bring Devin in for Pre-K and go sit and talk to Sue each day, with baby Gwynn in tow.

At about 3 pm we left her room behind and went down to grab some stuff out of my room from this year, the room that is no longer mine. While in that "nowhereland," we sat and had some time to talk like we haven't had in weeks. Finally leaving school at 4:35, we walked to the parking lot and laughed right out loud. Sue's car and my van were the LAST TWO VEHICLES in the school parking lot on the last day of school! How sad are we? In the end, then, what got me through? What helped me make it to the end of a long year, that ended in a long day? A long talk with a good friend, that's what! I am a rock, I am an island, and on that island, I have my good friend!

The Week of "Just Gettin' Through" continues with a day so full I have NO time to write. We finished with kids today, and Mom and Dad came up to watch Devin and Gwynn this afternoon, and tomorrow, while Tim and I finish up work. We went to dinner tonight at Vona's and bumped into my principal! Had the nicest talk, and it was just a real moment, talking as the real people we are outside of work, beginning that transition to summer. And summer, sweet summer, begins tomorrow!

The Week of "Just Gettin' Through"

So, today I begin, though, with an image of bittersweet. Isn't the end of the school year that way? Bittersweet?

Even this year, when I have had a challenging year overall, I am somewhat sad to see it all end. I have been packing my room to move up to fourth grade too, which I do every so often due to variations in class sizes and such, and that is also in some ways a joy, and in some ways challenging, and therefore, bittersweet.

Then there is the whole aspect of my own children growing up, and another year passing. Devin is off at his grandparent's house, because school has been done for him since last Friday, and therefore, he is OFFICIALLY a seventh grader. I rememver seventh grade SO clearly. Then, as of tomorrow at 12:30, Gwynn, my baby, will be a 4th grader. Today I watched her, and her friend Emma, in their first SchoolWide Talent Show act. Then Gwynn, Emma, Emma S., and Jacque came and performed a play they had worked on on their own for my class. Watching my daughter excel at these things that she loves, that she does and pursues and perfects so independantly, well, let's just say it is yet another thing that is bittersweet. To see her shine is sweet, but that talent, that will take her far in life, will probably do just that. Take her far. Well, as long as Tim and I keep ourselves on the trajectory to retire AT 55, I suppose we'll be able to jaunt off to visit these kids of ours whenever we want, and wherever the world takes them! Won't that be sweet?

Today, to get through, because the day was full of kids, then packing, then meetings, then exhaustion, we went out to dinner. The deck, the water, the boats in mooring, a Stella, the homemade potato chips, the bouncy chairs at Pleasant Beach...need I say more? Thanks PB for getting me through!

The Week of "Just Gettin' Through"

With the common thread for this week's blogs being established, I spent a lot of today, observing my life, and wondering what really WAS gonna get me through. As much as yesterday's Field Days activities were actually quite fun, I spent most of today at school just being annoyed. I know that is horrible, and I should be above it and a better person and all, but I am just not. I am honest. That's just the way it is. Yet, when I got home, my most amazing husband, sensing my mood, sent me into the living room, with a couple of catalogs, my book and a beer, as he went to cook sloppy joe's for dinner. Thus the images, the best of both worlds of sloppy joe's, the bar in Key West that the two of us went to and just had a blast at, and the food, that soon, will be on my plate, yet not cooked by me. Yep, getting through Tuesday, that's what it is. Tim, you're the best - X's and O's!

nataliedee.com

The Week of "Just Gettin' Through"

I have to share that I am kinda like REALLY excited tonight! I have been wanting to change up my blog a bit, and have been putting that off until school is out. I have been putting a lot of things off until school is out if you want to know the truth, Well tonight, I got a little fix, merely by clicking on the Design tab here at good 'ol Blogger. In mere MOMENTS I got THIS cool new blog background and layout! WooHoo! It's the New and Improved "Thirtysomething, Farewell!"

It was just what I needed tonight, as I am having that frustration of all the stuff I want to do, all the projects I want to start to tackle, that I just have to, for sanity's sake, put off for at least for another week! This was the little teaser that made Monday OK. On to Tuesday next, what will get me through Tuesday?

Sunday/Sundae

Phew, what a busy weekend! There was the get together at Kath and Bar's yesterday, and then we went down to Lansing, for Father's Day, today. It was a nice time, and I took the first swim of the season in mom and dad's pool...even though it was only 78. Felt good to get sun, and to be in the water, the place I feel my best. Left Devin behind, to stay with his grandparents this week. He is DONE with school, but not the rest of us.
I have to say, too, that I am quite aware of my Sunday Grumpy meter ticking up a bit. I mean, it IS 9:30, and I could just go to bed and end it, but I am annoyed that I have to. That is the problem, I'd rather stay up late. It felt like summer all weekend, and tomorrow is the first day of summer for real, and all I have on my mind right now is that dreaded last week of work.
I am such a baby.
15th Sunday of my 40th year - jury is out again

...as has been stated before, some days are not for blogging. Some days are for spending time with friends who are like family. It is particularly special when two of those friends have a new baby, and you, the 39 year old with BIG kids of your own, get that chance to "go back." I got to hold, and feed, Samuel Widrick who was born this year on my birthday! A big year for him, his first, and a big year for me, my last in my 30's! Great day, and we have to be sure to do it again, sooner, rather than later! Again, summer's a comin'!

Found the Coconut Friday...and also finally found the time to paint my toes "Teal the Cows Come Home" blue! Loving it! Found my front porch to be the best place to paint them as well, and found the weather outside to feel most summery. It was a long week at school, and there is another long one coming up, but with blue toes I can dream of the ocean, knowing my toes will be IN the ocean in just a few short weeks! WooHoo! Found the coconut for sure!

Some events of the last couple of days have been so eye opening. Truth. What is truth anyways? Is truth merely perception as they say? What does truth, forthrightness, and honesty get you? Well, usually, screwed.

Case in point, the Frangelico and Freshman Year Debacle of 1989. It was my first year at Oswego State, and we were headed home for Thanksgiving Break. We were informed that our rooms could be entered, and not searched, but certainly scanned, in our absence. People ferreted away all outward signs of booze, and probably other varied paraphenalia. Underwear drawers were your best friend.

As I considered that notification, I made a conscious choice, to live out loud, and not hide. I had an empty Finlandia Vodka bottle and a FULL, yet cordial sized, bottle of Franjelico liquor that sat on my windowsill. The Frangelico had been part of a graduation gift from my Aunt Mary, and was displayed due to how cute the bottle was. It was certainly nothing one would get "loaded" on, and being that it hadn't been drunk as of yet, well, let's just say I drank pretty much everything else those first few months, so this bottle was, for sure, and in every way, just for "fun." I left it out, and left for home.

When I returned to campus I had a letter in my mailbox. I had to report to our RA, and then to the Dorm Supervisor, to answer for my brazen display of alcohol posession. Nothing ever came of it, in a disciplinary manner, but I was certainly told, don't do it again, alcohol is not allowed in a minor's room. And I "got it," but still.

Living out loud...being who I am...being truthful and not hiding. Got me in trouble back in 1989, doesn't serve me well now, but that's me, take it or leave it, I say.

Warning, I am going to be telling the truth right now! After school today I poured a little Frangelico in my iced coffee, which, interestingly, triggered this trip down memory lane. Then I went outside, and sipped, as I read a magazine in the sunshine, and it made all the difference. Even though it may take you down the road of debauchery with naughty 'ol me, I'd recommend it to each and every one of you.

Cheers!

Today SUCKED at work. BAD.
So, tonight, it's an "Encore Presentation" from "Cheryl and Sue's Mental Outlet."

For some reason, tonight, I got to looking at Sue's and my old blog, and our Foot Pictures from all of last summer. They made me so HAPPY. So much good is ahead...parties, cookouts, books, friends, quiet, vacations, pool time, house projects...and work will be OVER in 7 days.




Summer has begun with our annual 4th of July bash (didn't really FEEL like summer ie. fire pit was for fun, but also NEEDED, and Sue's fuzzy slippers) and I am reminded of the good 'ol "Bauer Family BBQ" every year on "Guiding Light." That was MY soap, back when I watched soaps. It was also my mom's and my grandma's. It is going off the air this year after like 70 some years. Soaps are just a thing of the past, I guess. Sad that my daughter won't be into them. Oh well, at least we'll still carry on with a 4th of July BBQ of our own.
-Cheryl
Posted by Cheryl and Sue at 12:27 PM 0 comments

...had a musical epiphany tonight. Why do I love John Mayer's "Who Says" so much? Well, aside from the lyrical irreverance? It is the simplicity, woven with complexity, the musical layering, that is so like Tom Petty, at his best. With that said, the lyrics to one of the best LIFE love songs ever, "Wildflowers."

You belong among the wildflowers
You belong in a boat out at sea
Sail away, kill off the hours
You belong somewhere you feel free

Run away, find you a lover
Go away somewhere bright and new
I have seen no other
Who compares with you

You belong among the wildflowers
You belong in a boat out at sea
You belong with your love on your arm
You belong somewhere you feel free

Run away, go find a lover
Run away, let your heart be your guide
You deserve the deepest of cover
You belong in that home by and by

You belong among the wildflowers
You belong somewhere close to me
Far away from your trouble and worry
You belong somewhere you feel free
You belong somewhere you feel free

Yeah, I am dreaming, of summer, where I feel free.
Thank you Tom, for musical peace, tonight.

It must be noted that 18 years ago today, Tim and I were officially engaged, although those that knew us well know that we were pretty much married after dating about 6 months, if even that long. It was "TimandCheryl" then and still is today. Even if I DID have to buy my own engagement ring.

Yep, you heard that right.

We were in Buffalo, visiting my family, and while there, my aunt was going to take us to a friend's jewelry shop so we could buy my ring. Not the romantic "sweep her off her feet" kind of engagement story some have to share, but trust me, it gets better! We got there, looked at a bunch of rings, and decided on the three stone ring, in gold, which a few more years down the road would be marketed by the diamond industry as "A ring for your past, present and future." What a trend setter I was! Buying it again today, I'd go for platinum...seems like more and more couples today go with platinum, and considering I wear mostly silver...but at the time, it just was gold...that's what ya did.

We were giddy with excitement, and Tim took out his Discover card, "the card that pays you back," to pay for the ring, only to find that the shop didn't take Discover! SO, I wrote a check for my ring! All the way home, in our little blue Mazda 323 I gazed and gazed at my left hand, and I still look at it today with such love, happiness, and joy for the blessing that is my marriage.

In case you were worried, Tim, as SOON as we got home, wrote me a check to pay me back, and, with that hurdle behind us, we just fast forwarded ahead and began to make wedding plans. But when I think back, on that whole year, the ring debacle is one of my very favorite parts! We started together, with nothing, and pooled all our efforts, financial AND emtional to be together. All we cared about was how were were going to be together, and nothing was going to stop us.

How I wish I had saved that cancelled check...our beginning...our engagement.

Sunday/Sundae

A little not so sure on the Sunday Grumpies today. I am REALLY not ready for Monday to come, could use another weekend day, but yet am quite mindful that summer vacation is only two weeks away. There is SO much to do at school between now and then, including boxing up my whole room for my move to 4th grade, but, I truly can't wait to have TIME to do what I want to do around this house!

This weekend, we did a bunch of yard cleanup. I have a perennial garden in the front of my house, in front of the deck we rarely use. It usually requires a quick clean up in the spring, mulch, and is good to go for the season. This year, it is growing like crazy, and I am wondering why. Could be the sun and warmth and rain we have had, but also could be the three GIANT pine trees that we removed last year from the adjacent yard. The garden now gets all kinds of sun, and the deck is no longer COVERED with pine needles and pine pollen. Suddenly, that whole part of my house seems like a new opportunity. I am dying to get a sisel rug, and some funky chairs, and set the deck up like the Truman Hotel in Key West. I know JUST what I want to get to fill out the perennial garden some more. I want to make up some flower urns. Yet, I have to go back to work tomorrow.

Then there was indoor work. It is SO much easier to clean out Gwynn's room when she is NOT around. She helped me with a lot this morning, but when she went shopping for groceries with Tim this afternoon, I HAULED! It was so needed. Now I know how we could rearrange so she could have a fun chair and a reading nook. I know the shelving I want to get to make a wasted space more useable. The same is true in Devin's room, and I want to get him a new overhead light to "complete" his room makeover. Yet, I have to go back to work tomorrow.

Even with all that work, it was a nice day. My new Blueberry Scone candle scented the house. I took a little time to read The Carrie Diariesin the sunshine. I had to run right out and buy that after seeing Sex and the City 2 on Thursday. And, we grilled steaks and had the first salt potatoes of the season. Not at all a bad day. Yet, I have to go back to work tomorrow.

14th Sunday of my 40th year...the jury is out.

Random Saturday Thoughts...

Again, sleeping in rules...and it's a good thing I did as it was a busy day today!

Gwynn and I shopped today FOR NINE HOURS! Now, you do have to know that it takes us 45 minutes to get to the mall, so part of that time was driving, but still! We started with lunch at Panera. Then did a marathon shop at Kohl's. Gwynn got the cutest maxi dress, among other things, and I bought myself Jessica Simpson's "Fancy" perfume as my "congrats" to myself for losing 20 lbs. I LOVE that fragrance, smells like caramel, and I loved it even more so when a friend said her husband thought it smelled like tobacco! Sexy! I know, I am weird! Then we hit Barnes and Noble, Pier One, and the mall. At six we decided we were hungry and got Friendly's. Then we shopped some more! What a trooper that girl is! We just talked and shopped and ate all day long!

O.P.I. nailpolishes really are the best, and the NAMES! Today's purchases..."Teal the Cows Come Home" and "I'm Not Really a Waitress!" Blue and Red, for the rest of you...we have a vision of painting our toes for 4th of July!

One odd thing today. Gwynn realized, when we got to the mall, that she had left her purse in the dressing room back at Kohl's. We went back, and were happy to find it had been turned in to Customer Service, BUT someone had taken the $30 she had in her wallet. How schmucky is that? It was SO obviously a little kid's purse. That is like taking candy from a baby. Gwynn was a little upset, just because she thought she "felt weird that someone had been in her purse." Can't say that I blame her.

Finally, driving home, it was all foggy, and I kept feeling like I was IN a Twilight book and a werewolf was going to jump out in front of my car...I am NOT going to dream about that tonight, I am NOT!

Found the Coconut Friday!

OH, Chinese fortunes you continue to play with my mind. Back in the winter, I got the fortune "The measure of time to your next goal is the measure of your discipline," and I knew I had to discipline my writing. NOW, I get this...

"Life is a mountain not a beach."

WHAT? Summer is within reach! WHAT ancient Chinese secret are you trying to impart upon me now? I suppose it's that old law of physics, the Conservation of Insanity. We had little insanity this weekend, so a bit had to sneak its way in in the form of life span mental angst? Aargh! WHY did we get CHINESE?!

Not much time tonight to blog, as I was busy having a night on the town with my bestie Sue! A Thursday night OUT, so like college, starting the weekend EARLY! We headed to Ruby Tuesday's for dinner, and then to the bookstore, and then to the movies to see Sex in the City 2. Miranda, Charlotte, Samantha, and especially Carrie seem like old friends, and it was so great to catch up with them. Yep, some nights are less for blogs and more for good friends.

Perhaps as a reaction to Oprah's Debt Diet playing on the TV, I made "Clean Out the Fridge Soup" tonight, and if I may say so myself it ROCKED. I love soup, anyways, anytime, but in particular when it is rainy and cold, as it is today. We are in Upstate NY I know, but still, 55 on June 9th is pretty damn awful. Soup made things a little better at least.

So, tonight some "Encore Presentation" thoughts from Sue's and my Blog, circa 2006. WOW! We've been writing for a really long time!

Soup is Life is Soup

Soup is just such a simple but wonderful thing. It is goodness in a bowl. It has so many connections with health and wellness, and serves us well as a complete meal in one pot. Complexity and simplicity, inherent to one recipe. Soup is the real deal.

And also, what myriad of life lessons do come from soup! Ingredients go together sometimes with the randomness of immediate availability, as they did tonight. Sometimes ingredients need to be sought out, with great specificity of care and thought.

Then in the cooking process, things simmer, combine and recombine, finally, usually successfully, creating something new altogether. Edible fortitude, new and different, and exciting, comes from things ordinary. Things allowed to simmer emerge anew.

Life is such a balancing act, of balancing my "ingredients." School, Family, Work, Friends, Self, Responsibilites, Activities. These things all go into this crazy soup called my Life. Ingredients need to be added now and then. Seasonings add spice, sometimes too much, sometimes too little. Creative modifictions need to be made, and can be made through the joy and freedom that is cooking and that is life. My soup needs the attention of an occational stirring. My soup needs to simmer, be tasted, allowed time and granted patience. It is at times altered, and changed, and in the end comes a new combination. Forever different, somehow the same, often hard to say how or when, and often too intricate to recreate. Basic and complex all at once. Fresh, and alive. Yes, life surely is a soup, and soup, sometimes, you help make life a little better...thank you!

Just downloaded this CD, on realease day, (love that!) by famed opera singer Renee Fleming. It is a collection of rock songs, some somewhat obscure B sides, some current, and some older. They have amazing arrangements,and she is singing them, not as a soprano at all, but in her lower register. It is an amazing recording! One song that is blowing my mind, "Hallelujah," by Leonard Cohen, a song so many love but I just never "got" really works for me on this CD.

Of course, not only did I get sucked into the music, but her website as well. I have been reading biographies, and news releases, watching YouTube videos, and listening to all of the original songs, done by the original artists. God that sounds like a K-Tel records advertisement, but then again, as I have admitted before, I AM a cover song junkie. As I read, this quote was the one that really hit me over the head and made me realize why I was connecting so much...

"It just struck me as an interesting adventure," she said. "In this stage of my career, I'm facing a kind of maintenance program. I've been on this plateau, where there's no place to go, other than to stretch myself artistically. And this seemed to fit."

YES YES YES! Now, Renee is 51 and has be "at it" professionally for a lot longer than I have, but that is still such a sentiment I believe in! You do reach plateaus, throughout life, professionally and personally, and how you traverse those plateaus says so much about who you are as a person. Once you've made the climb, do you just stay there, or do you consistantly push yourself, creatively, to new places? Well, Renee surely took herself to a VERY new place with this recording, and I am loving it as a backdrop to my continued creative evolution through this blog. Thanks SO much Renee! OH, and by the way, Mom, who was a Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam student, just like Renee, my latest reader, you will need to give this one a listen!
I love ya!

Homework...ah, homework.

It was another one of those "teach all day teach all night" kind of day. It is certainly the downfall of being an educator, feeling like the things you deal with all day, are the same things you must assist your own kids with at night. Sometimes it feels like work never ends and you go right back to the same thing in the morning.

Gwynn, being in third grade, and VERY able, really doesn't need much help yet when it comes to homework. She is also very responsible, very self directed, and, I think, still finds homework fun. Devin on the other hand, has been a much harder sell, but is starting to come into his own.

Tonight, he had a 200 word essay to write on the book Al Capone Does My Shirts. He had already done his research, about Alcatraz, and fired off a 297 word report in record time. It was very well written too! When he asked me to "look it over," though, I was very much reminded of how I learned to write. I'll give some credit to my teachers of course, but so much credit goes to my mom. Mom would sit with me, and read over my work, and help me with phrasing, sentence fragments, subject verb agreement, tenses, and overall style. Then it was up to me to put all we talked about into my final copy, and to edit. Tonight, I was mom. Life sure does come full circle.

Sunday/Sundae

Phew! Made it through the weekend of CRAZINESS! Am unwinding, as we speak, with glass number three of wine, and bed is not far away! Gwynn's second dance recital of the weekend was today, and both of her dances went well. Then mom and dad came back here and we cooked out, in the rain, but hey, we started BBQ season back in March, so it was a minor annoyance. About all I have in me is...

How I avoided the Sunday Grumpies today...
1.) Sleeping in until BLESSED 9:30 AM!
2.) Being too busy to BE grumpy
3.) Watching beautiful dancers for three hours...seems long, I know, but it flew by!
4.) DUKE'S Mayonaise! I am in LOVE with the stuff, and you can only get it down south. Mom and Dad brought me 4 jars from their recent trip to Tennessee! Kinda felt like the 15 lbs Iost being given back to me...in some weird way. Expiration date on all jars, January 2011, so I will have to ration. Yes, I have issues.
5.) Eating yummy grilled chicken and drinking luscious Finger Lakes wine...not my normal iced coffee, but whatever:)
6.) Talking on the phone for a while with a dear dear friend and realizing we are both doing PRETTY damn OK, finally;)

A long weekend, but a wonderful weekend...we're in the home stretch and I am ready for it!
13th Sunday of my 40th year...VICTORY CHERYL!

Ahhh, another Saturday...today's random thoughts...

1. I love a lazy morning. Gwynn and I both got up at about 8:30, my natural rhythm time. She spent the morning drawing pictures for her dance teachers to give them at recital tonight, and I ended up drinking coffee and re-reading my whole blog. It was awesome. 3 months in...1/4 of the way to 40! Next time I re-read, I am going to do so with a notepad, though, to take a tally of how many times I revisit certain themes. There are patterns, for sure, and I can only imagine that tracking them a bit will bring me even more insight into ME:)

2. Devin FLEW today! He had the opportunity, through scouts, to participate in the Young Eagles program and go up in a Piper Cub aircraft...just him and a pilot! He called me moments after touching down and was HIGH! The best quote, "Mom, I was up in the plane, and we had the window open, and I put my hand right out it!" SO like me, jumping in to the experience, and making it the most it can be. Taking the measured risk. I was so excited for him, and HE is so excited to seek out another flying experience. Oh boy, we've created a monster!

3. Lime Melonade Seagrams are good....and Calypso Coladas are even better! I found the coconut!

4. Recital tonight and tomorrow...D was high on flight, G on performing, me, perhaps after this weekend, on SLEEP:)

Coconut Friday!

It's gonna be a crazy busy weekend, but at least two things can already be checked off the list...Middle School Picnic for Devin and Dance Dress Rehearsal for Gwynn. Now is time for a drink for ME:) Ironically, "Kokomo" by the Beach Boys was playing as we drove home from rehearsal. Now having been to the Florida Keys, and Key Largo specifically, I kind of feel like that song could be a Carribbean bucket list of sorts. Where next? If I got to choose, I'd probably go with Aruba, but I am not picky either. After this weekend, I think I'm gonna need a vacation!

Kokomo lyrics
Aruba, Jamaica, ooh I wanna take ya
Bermuda, Bahama, come on pretty mama
Key Largo, Montego, baby why don't we go, Jamaica

Off the Florida Keys there's a place called Kokomo
That's where you wanna go to get away from it all
Bodies in the sand, tropical drink melting in your hand
We'll be falling in love to the rhythm of a steel drumband
Down in Kokomo

Aruba, Jamaica, ooh I wanna take you to
Bermuda, Bahama, come on pretty mama
Key Largo Montego, baby why don't we go
Ooh I wanna take you down to Kokomo,
we'll get there fast and then we'll take it slow
That's where we wanna go, way down in Kokomo.

Martinique, that Monserrat mystique...

We'll put out to sea and we'll perfect our chemistry
By and by we'll defy a little bit of gravity
Afternoon delight, cocktails and moonlit nights
That dreamy look in your eye, give me a tropical contacthigh
Way down in Kokomo

Aruba, Jamaica, ooh I wanna take you to
Bermuda, Bahama, come on pretty mama
Key Largo Montego, baby why don't we go
Ooh I wanna take you down to Kokomo,
we'll get there fast and then we'll take it slow
That's where we wanna go, way down in Kokomo.

Port au Prince, I wanna catch a glimpse...

(sax solo)

Everybody knows a little place like Kokomo
Now if you wanna go to get away from it all
Go down to Kokomo

Aruba, Jamaica, ooh I wanna take you to
Bermuda, Bahama, come on pretty mama
Key Largo Montego, baby why don't we go
Ooh I wanna take you down to Kokomo,
we'll get there fast and then we'll take it slow
That's where we wanna go, way down in Kokomo.

Aruba, Jamaica, ooh I wanna take you to
Bermuda, Bahama, come on pretty mama
Key Largo Montego, baby why don't we go...

You can't stay the same. If you're a musician and a singer, you have to change, that's the way it works.
Van Morrison

Well, my son finally played "Brick House" tonight and, if you are a regular reader, you know I heard that this was going to be an upcoming jazz band selection while in church a couple of Sundays ago. We were also treated, tonight, to a phenomenal jazz rendition of "Ironman," and I truly FELT Ozzy in our Highschool auditorium! Then there was "Moondance," it is always a wonderful night for a moondance after all.

The kids were great, and I love that I can still hear a group of kids playing and, instantly, go back to my band days. Tim and I were in our glory, moving with the music, tapping our feet, remembering good times. It was such a great feeling back then, to be part of a group making music. I miss it in some ways, but am fully enjoying it through my kids, and that is a new perspective. As Van says up above, you can't stay the same, you have to change. That is true in music. That is true in life.

How much do I LOVE Mexican food? You know what got me through today? It was simply knowing that, after his allergy shot in Auburn, Tim was going to stop at Connie's, this hole in the wall over by the prison, and bring food home for dinner! I didn't have to think about food, cook it, or pretend to clean it up while actually leaving most of it for Tim. Heaven! And it was going to be Mexican to boot...beans and guacamole and tortillas and salsa...all the good things in life! I cracked a Bud Light with Lime at 5 o'clock and turned on some Jimmy Buffet tunes while awaiting his return home! I fully believe in treating yourself well. You know, there is always all of this stuff on about how Americans eat out too much, but for us, there is NO WHERE TO GO so a treat like this is what is should be, A TREAT!

I made another observation about eating out just recently. We stopped at Burger King on our way to the camp last weekend, just to get some quick food we could eat on the go. We SO rarely go for fast food, and the kids, quite frankly, balk at it, but I, every now and again, can go for a Whopper. Well, I was eating said Whopper, with cheese even, and it just didn't taste as decadant as it used to. Then there were the fries. They just were not as greasy and salty as I remembered. I mentioned it in passing to Tim and he said that they probably changed their recipes to be "healthier." REALLY. I mean, COME ON! Is fast food, in any way, really healthy? I want a menu for those of us that don't eat out all the time and I want FULL FAT FRIES!

Give me my Full Fat Fries, we need more Fruitcakes in this world, and less BAKERS!
(if you got the Jimmy reference, go pour yourself a margarita - you rock!)

We had Devin's National Junior Honor Society induction tonight, and I couldn't help but reflect on my own induction into National Honor Society, not my sophomore year, or even my junior year, but, yes, my SENIOR year of Highschool. I had always been JUST beneath the grade requirement, having an 87.something when you needed an 88 to be considered. All of my friends, even my boyfriend, were in Honor Society, so, throughout high-school, it was just something that bugged me. I always felt that little bit left out, that little bit inadequate. Then it got personal. As we got to be seniors, I really wanted to be inducted, as NHS members wore special collars at graduation, and damn it, I was going to have one of those collars!

The day of induction at our school was a mystery, as was whether or not you would be inducted. The ceremony was an assembly for all, and we went down to the middle school auditorium, and I sat in the audience, with the rest of the student body, watching most of my friends, who, of course, were sitting up on the stage. Then the members came down into the audience, carrying unlit candles, "tapping" their inductees and escorting them to the stage to light their candle, sign the registry and be pinned. My best friend Jeanne, a member, walked around and around and around that auditorium, and finally, I SWEAR when EVERYONE ELSE who was being inducted had already been tapped, snuck around behind me and tapped me in! I was going to have one of those collars at graduation! Finally! I had made it IN!

I went up on stage, and lit my candle, and signed the registry, in very shaky handwriting for how keyed up I was! I stood there, and finally, could faintly make out my parents' faces in the FAR back of the auditorium, part of the ruse. I looked down and realized there was a REASON my mom had tried to get me to wear a skirt that day!

Today's induction was not a mystery, and Devin looked every bit the part, with his navy jacket, tie, and wise beyond his years smile. Reflective as it might have made me on my own life story, I look forward, even more so, now, as a proud mama, to his. It is only just the beginning.