Along Life's Merry Way

Dinner Conversations

2012-02-17T21:37:00.004-05:00

My younger brother got engaged about a month ago! I am so excited for him and his fiance Kim who I love. When they called to tell me about the engagement it did not come as a surprise, in fact I actually predicted the date. Kim is a sweetheart, she's been married before and has a 14 year old son Ryan, who we also love. He is a great kid.

I should tell you that my brother has not always been the best at communicating with the rest of the family, weeks can go by before he will return a phone call, until this Christmas he refused to set up a Facebook account, he was marginally better at returning emails. Recently however I have figured out that he will answer my text messages immediately. Go figure.

Kim went dress shopping yesterday and tonight sent a message along with a picture to which I responded immediately. She and I continued to have a text message conversation when she shared that she, Matt and Ryan were out for dinner and that Ryan made a comment about how much he missed not seeing my dad. Sweet. A few minutes later text messages start flying in from Matt and the three of of us are having regular dinner conversation. Strange but true. Finally Matt sent me a message that says "Hey you've occupied Kim during all of our dinner, I think she likes you more than me." Maybe?

I suggested tomorrow night they eat at home and we Skype together during dinner. Kim wanted to know what I was making. I'm thinking chicken.

My 2011 Reading List

2011-12-14T20:00:00.006-05:00

I don't think it comes as a surprise to any of my blog readers that my spare time is usually consumed by spending time with my family and friends, watching hockey and reading. I'm also a list maker and it makes me feel good to check things off my list or in this case to look back and see what I have accomplished throughout the year. I think when 2011 began I had a goal of reading one book a week. So that was probably a little too ambitious; like starting a diet and hoping to loose 10 pounds in one week. So I didn't do a book a week but I must say I'm pretty pleased at my list here.

2011 Book List

The Good Thief

In the Neighborhood: The Search for Community on an American Street, One Sleepover at a Time

(Disclaimer I did start these two in 2010 but finished in 2011)

Room: A Novel

The Art of Mending
Churched: One Kid's Journey Toward God Despite a Holy Mess

Flight to Heaven: A Plane Crash...A Lone Survivor...A Journey to Heaven--and Back

I had surgery at the end of January and was out of work for 6 weeks. I thought having all this time off would provide me with ample opportunities to read. It was a good plan yet while I really wanted to read, my body fought me and well I slept A LOT. During those 6 weeks I'm sad to report that I only completed the following 2 books:

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close MTI: A Novel

Abide with Me: A Novel

Confession Time: Growing up I loved, loved, loved Little House on the Prairie. The books yes, but also the television show. Turns out 3 of the actresses from Little House all penned books recently and yes, I have completed the trifecta and have listed them in that order (win, place and show)
Confessions of a Prairie Bitch: How I Survived Nellie Oleson and Learned to Love Being Hated

Prairie Tale: A Memoir

The Way I See It: A Look Back at My Life on Little House

Two of my friends published books this year. One of my favorites of the year, was written by my friend Eileen Button.

The Waiting Place: Learning to Appreciate Life's Little Delays
The other was written by a faculty couple who I work with.

Cheap Love: Living and Loving on Less

Summer Reads (and probably my favorites of the year) I love summer reading. For some reason, I think it's better than any other time of the year.

Prayers and Lies
The Pilot's Wife
The Sweet Relief of Missing Children: A Novel

Cutting for Stone
Surprised by Oxford: A Memoir

The Book Thief

Maine

I actually read Maine, while I was vacationing in of all places, Maine.

And rounding out the year:
Life Is So Good: One Man's Extraordinary Journey through the 20th Century and How he Learned to Read at Age 98

This I Believe: The Personal Philosophies of Remarkable Men and Women

Whistling In the Dark

Gilead: A Novel

Man's Search for Meaning Probably the 3rd or 4th time I've read this one. Assigned it to my Freshmen class this year, and a little disappointed that they did not love it as much as I do. Maybe someday they will.)

The Slow Fade: Why You Matter in the Story of Twentysomethings Another college read. This was a faculty read about engaging our students when it comes to matters of faith and mentoring.

And finally

Holidays on Ice I love David Sedaris, but this "holiday" book may be just a little too dark and sarcastic for me. Although I have laughed throughout and then felt a little guilty for laughing.

Well, that's my reading list for the year. Already starting to think about 2012. Shameless plug for comments here but what have you read this year and really enjoyed?

Things that make me smile

2011-10-29T16:07:00.006-04:00

I cannot remember a fall semester ever being this busy, I feel like my office is a revolving door of students wanting career advice, and when I'm not in my office I've been speaking in various classes as well as planning some career events that I'm happy to say have gone really, really well. I like it when that happens. It makes me smile.

This past Thursday night a few of my girlfriends and I grabbed dinner together and then my friend Kathy and I made a trip to Lowes. I don't typically hang out at home improvement stores. Truth is I am not that handy, my home improvement talents seem to end at painting the walls. However this Thursday night I had my eye on something very specific, something that will be life changing in my little home.

That's right I bought my self an electric "fireplace" well it's more of a stove than a fireplace but I am giddy with excitement over it. Cold winter days coming up? Bring it! I will be toasty warm by my fire. It actually does admit a very nice amount of heat and the the flames are well, semi realistic. At any rate, it make me smile. A LOT.

At the end of Thursday night I pulled back into my garage and then happened to notice something sticking out from underneath my windshield wipers. My first thought was oh no a parking ticket, Kathy thought it was a political propaganda (tis the season) turns out it wasn't a ticket it was two tickets.
Someone, who has yet to reveal themselves, left me two tickets for the hockey game. Turns out I found the tickets at about 9:00 pm. and the game started at 7:00. Missing the game didn't bother me, and the surprise act of kindness really made me smile. Oh and the Sabres won that night too. Something else to smile about.

Just Some Sentences

2011-10-19T19:12:00.001-04:00

I baked again, today. Shocking I know but my department is trying to make nice with another department who we share a suite with. Actually we all get along quite well, we just rarely take the time to socialize with each other. So tonight, I made my friend's recipe for what she calls "Apple Crack" I'm not crazy about the name but the dessert is oh so good.

It's hockey season again and that makes me oh so very happy.

I'm loving fall in western New York and strangely enough I (the lover of all things light) am actually enjoying the darker evenings, it's a great excuse to my pajamas on early, drink hot cocoa and a good book. I'm currently reading "The Book Thief" which quite frankly is keeping me up at night. Apparently, I'm a bit behind the times because I asked a good friend of mine who is also an avid reader if she had read it yet. "Uh yeah, Mary about 2 years ago, where have you been?" I'm not sure where I've been but I'm certainly glad I found it.

"I think I flushed my keys down the toilet."

2011-09-27T21:36:00.002-04:00

I won't identify this person by name but today one of my friends accidentally flushed her keys down the toilet. Now of course this was an accident because who would flush their keys down the toilet on purpose? To make matters worse, these were not really her car keys but the car keys to a rental car that she needed to return to the car dealership this afternoon. She called the facility department on campus to see if they might some how magically be able to pull her keys from the toilet. The conversation went something like this:

"Hello, I'm calling to report a situation" Now by this time several of us had gathered around her trying to figure out a solution to her problem. Calling it a "situation" sent us all into fits of laughter.

"Umm hold on for a second" she said and then looked at us. "They want to know my name." Now it's bad enough to admit to your friends that you have flushed your rental car keys down the toilet, but to admit it to someone else? Well that takes courage. I'm sure the facilities folks will be talking about this for awhile.

Ultimately they were not able to find her keys, she had her rented car towed back to the dealership, picked up her car and unfortunately owes the dealership a hefty sum for the missing key. I bought her a hot fudge sundae tonight for dinner, it was the least I could do.

Surprised by Oxford

2011-08-15T21:32:00.003-04:00

I'm sure it is no surprise to any of my blog readers that I am a book fanatic. I've joked in the past about trying to figure out a way to get paid just to sit and read. Well, I still haven't figured that out, but I did learn about a website www.booksneeze.com that does provide free books to bloggers in return for a review on their blog. Sign me up! The first book I picked was Surprised by Oxford a memoir by Carolyn Weber.

I work in student development at a Christian college so a memoir about discovering one's faith during their college years, well that's just right up my alley. Carolyn Weber is a self professed agnostic who from London, Ontario who receives a full scholarship to Oxford University where she plans to study romantic literature. She has spent her life relying on intellect and reason to survive, but it is faith she finds at Oxford. Her book reminded me a lot of another memoir "Girl meets God" which I also loved. Carolyn in just her first few days at Oxford was challenged by fellow students to really think more about her faith, God and what it means to be a Christian.

The fact that Ms. Weber has spent her life relying on her intellect she begins to look at her faith from an intellectual perspective and asking a lot of hard questions. One of my favorite quotes from this book is an interaction she has with one of her friends regarding her spiritual journey " I don't know if I can do this.. It's no use, I think I may need to leave it alone." Her friends response "Friend, you are no longer the person you were when you arrived in Oxford.. Oxford has changed you, or rather, what God is working through you at Oxford has changed you. You have been brought across, over, beyond. You are now in a different place. Of course you will continue to love, to question, to study, to learn, to do everything as before and more, just from a different place, this change, changes everything.

Isn't that the truth? Once we know and understand God's love, mercy and grace we are changed and we can no longer look at things in the same way. Ms Weber's mix of literature, her academic experience along with her spiritual journey make this a book I will share with others and keep for some time.

Be Still and Know that He is God

2011-08-06T16:15:00.005-04:00

Be still and know that He is God
Be still and know that He is holy
Be still oh restless soul of mine
Bow before the prince of Peace
Let the noise and clamor cease
Be still and know that He is God
Be still and know that He is faithful
Consider all that He has done
Stand in awe and be amazed
And know that He will never change
Be still
Be still and know that He is God
Be still and know that He is God
Be still and know that He is God
Be still
Be speechless
Be still and know that He is God
Be still and know He is our Father
Come rest your head upon His breast
Listen to the rhythm of
His unfailing heart of love
Beating for His little ones
Calling each of us to come
Be still
Be still

I love this song, it challenges me in so many ways. While I would never describe myself as an overly active individual I have a very, very hard time being still. And what I mean by that is I cannot just sit and be still. If I'm watching television, I usually have my laptop, a magazine or a book in my lap. If I'm reading, I might also be plugged in to my ipod. Even my prayer life can be somewhat schizophrenic. A prayer for someone may remind that I should really send them a note or at least a phone call, and speaking of phone calls did I pay my cell phone bill this month? Some people might call this multitasking I call it restlessness. Even as I fall asleep each night I need background noise, the television or a white noise machine with crashing waves, a thunderstorm or perhaps the sounds of a babbling brook, although truth be told the babbling brook makes me think I have to pee.

This past week though I was forced to be still. At the end of June I did a back somersault with a half twist down a flight of stairs. The Russian judge gave me a 9.3 because I did not stick the landing. As a result of this tumble I took a trip to the emergency room for a CT scan of my head and some x-rays of my ankle. I left the emergency room thinking I had nothing but a sprained ankle and a lot of bruises. Turns out, I was wrong and the CT scan of my head revealed what my doctor called "suspicious white matter" which I later learned from my neurologist are lesions on my brain. They wanted to do further testing.

I spent the weeks leading up to the MRI stressing out, doing multiple Google searches of what brain lesions could mean and having a few melt downs here and there and praying. A lot of praying. I already have more than one chronic illness and the thought of dealing with another (Multiple Sclerosis) was not something I was ready for. My MRI was Thursday, I've had MRI's done before but I guess I forgot how tight those MRI capsules are, how loud they are and how still one must be during this type of examination. For each new "picture" that the technician would take they would tell me "this one will last about 2 minutes" and then you are put through two minutes of the most annoying noise I can recall. The sound is hard to describe, smoke detector? Air horn? Car Alarm? You get the point. For each new picture the length got longer. "This next one will be 7 minutes" Are you kidding me? At this point I had to come up with someway to avoid the torture that was going on around me. I started signing Don McLean's "American Pie" its an 8 minute song, the longest one I know. And yes it's true I know all the words. Doesn't everybody?

At some point during the MRI Steven Curtis Chapman's song "Be Still" came to me. I may have laughed a little, what choice did I have but to be still. And so I began signing this song to myself to block out the noise going on around me. "Let the noise and clamor cease" And for the first time in weeks amongst all the stress and worrying I had done I felt a sense of peace. His peace. I still do not know the results of the MRI but God does, and I am trusting Him.

Summer Reading

2011-07-02T15:48:00.006-04:00

I'm sure it is no big secret to any of my blog readers but I love to read. And summer reading, when I can spend the day outside in my Adirondack chair or on my porch swing reading There really is nothing sweeter than that. My goal for this summer was a book a week, that has not happened but I have been making my way through some good books. Here's what I've accomplished so far.

The Waiting Place: Learning to Appreciate Life's Little Delays by Eileen Button. Now I know I am bias because Eileen happens to be on of my most treasured friends but her book is outstanding and this is a book that should be on everyone's nightstand, whether you read a chapter a night or fly through it as I did and then start over.

Room: A novel by Emma Don0ghue. I'll admit I downloaded this book to my Kindle on Christmas day started reading it and then got side tracked by other books. It is the story of 5 year old Jack who has lived with his ma in "room" his entire life. To Jack room is his world but to his ma it is where they are being kept prisoner. Once I finally took the time to sit down and read this one, it was a real page turner.

Others that I have completed:
The Pilots Wife by Anita Shreve
Prayers and Lies by Sherri Wood Emmons
The Sweet Relief of Missing Children by Sarah Braunstein

Still on my list for the summer:

Maine by Courtney Sullivan
Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
The Memory of Running by Ron McLarty
Labor Day by Joyce Maynard

If you are looking for me I'll be outside somewhere most likely with my nose in a book. So what are you reading? Comments please!

My Kind of Town

2011-05-10T22:08:00.006-04:00

It was college graduation this weekend, I skipped it! I think in my 19 years of working for the college this is only the 2nd commencement that I have missed. I'm okay with that though. Instead of sitting through another commencement ceremony I was road tripping west to Chicago. I was hoping to be a part of one of Oprah's final episodes, but instead I settled for shopping trips to Crate and Barrel and IKEA neither which are located in my little city.

The real reason for the trip was to spend a few days with my brother, his girlfriend and my parents. I'm blogging about this now so that in a year I have a written reminder to never, ever take a 9 hour road trip with my parents again, EVER! They invited me along saying how much Matt and Kim wanted to see me and how we could all share driving responsibilities. Share driving responsibilities? Apparently sharing driving responsibilities to my parents means on a 9 hour trip my mom will drive 3 hours, my dad will drive for 27 minutes and I will drive the rest. So yes, I guess technically we shared driving responsibilities.

Other things that Chicago has that my city doesn't? Well these two.

My brother and his girlfriend, who I keep reminded him needs to be his wife. I'm pretty certain that it is going to happen, I just like to pressure him to make it happen soon. She does not seem to be too worried about though. They are in fact planning a future together. Our time at IKEA proved that, they are talking about what their next kitchen is going to look like.

Other things Chicago has? Well yes I have already mentioned Crate and Barrel and IKEA but also Whole Foods, Trader Joes, Costco and oh yeah a sweet little diner called the Honey Jam that has of all things on the menu white chocolate, raspberry waffles and pancakes and did I mention deep dish pizza? Yes, we shopped a lot and we ate a lot and we laughed a lot. And the weather there? It's a lot like the weather here but it seemed like the spring flowers there were a few days ahead of ours. I think I've mentioned before maybe once or twice how much I love spring. Look at these beauties.

And these. I think pink trees prove that God loves beauty and that he also has a sense of humor. I don't think I would have ever thought to create a pink tree. Both these trees are located on the grounds of the country club where my brother is a golf professional. He was extra excited this week because the day before we arrive he spent the day golfing with two players from the Chicago Blackhawks. They both sent him text messages afterwords saying what a great time they had with him. For a hockey fanatic this was huge, he referred to his new bff's several times while were there, and every time it made us all smile. Kind of the way pink trees make me smile.

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

2011-04-14T14:18:00.005-04:00

I once read that Kirstie Alley spent as much on flowers as she had previously spent on her expensive drug habit. I don't have an expensive drug habit, well I don't have a drug habit but I have decided that having a few flowers throughout the house makes me a much happier person. And because spring has arrived I have been able to take advantage of picking a few blooms from my own garden. My hyacinths smell amazing, it's the little things that make me happy.

Oh and for me right now it is the most wonderful time of the year! Spring has arrived and so have the Stanley Cup playoffs. Hockey every night from now until June! It's hard not to be giddy with excitement. Of course I'm cheering for the home team, the Sabres and it would make me oh so happy if they could actually make it out of the first round. I like their chances this year, new owner with lots of enthusiasm. Let's Go Buffalo!

Adventures in the Kitchen part 4

2011-03-30T18:18:00.010-04:00

If you have read my blog since it's inception you know that I was quite adamant that while plenty of great food blogs exist out there, this would not be one of them. And while I insisted that I wouldn't be blogging about my "expertise" in the kitchen, I lied. You can look back to June 2010 to see the original adventures in the kitchen.

While I may be pretty inept when it comes to cooking, I am a "little" better at baking but I could crush anyone when it comes to using the microwave. Imagine my surprise when I learned I could actually bake something in the microwave. This turned out so good that I couldn't resist the opportunity to pass it along. Did you know that you could "bake" brownies in the microwave? Now I know some of you are thinking, warming up a frozen pre-packaged is not baking but I'm not taking about those. I'm talking about baking brownies in a coffee mug.

Here's what you'll need.
4 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil

Mix all the dry ingredients and then spoon in an egg and then add the milk and the oil. Now you're ready to "bake" your brownie. Bake for approximately 3 minutes, if you have a powerful microwave like I do, you may only need to bake for 2 - 2 1/2 minutes. Enjoy!

Spring!

2011-03-19T15:20:00.002-04:00

This picture has absolutely nothing do to with spring, except for the fact that it was for sale at the flower show I went to yesterday. The flower show was a bit of a disappointment, seems this year's theme "Rock the Garden" was more about rocks then it was about gardens. Lots of landscape companies highlighting all the ways they can create a fabulous backyard oasis using stonework. Truth is I'd rather see more flowers.

But isn't this piano the gaudiest thing you have ever seen? At the same time, it's hard to take your eyes off it. It does not go with the color scheme of my house at all, yet I want it in my living room. Looking at makes me smile and I think had I had this piano as a child I would have practiced more. Perhaps I would have been a concert pianist by now.

At any rate spring arrives here sometime tomorrow and I couldn't be happier. Spring is my absolute favorite season for a number of reason. Each day that we get closer and closer to spring I know that I can once again say good bye to winter. Some of my favorite flowers, hyacinths and tulips bloom in the spring. I can finally put away the heavy sweaters, boots and mittens. New life, iced lattes, Easter, NHL playoffs. What's not to love about Spring?

If You're Irish, Come into the Parlor

2011-03-17T19:47:00.007-04:00

And this is where it all began. Well it probably began somewhere before here but this is the family homestead in County Galway, Ireland. My grandfather was born in this house and lived here till he came to the United States as a young adult.

I feel very fortunate that I have been able to travel twice to Ireland, once with my family and a second time with friends. My first trip to Ireland was for a friends wedding, she got married here.

Yes, that's right I have a friend who decided she was so special that she couldn't have just an ordinary wedding, she needed to get married in a castle and not just any castle but a castle in Ireland. It was the most spectacular wedding I have ever been to and I'm pretty sure that no other wedding I ever attend will measure up. This wedding and the two weeks we spent there are some of my most cherished memories.

The funniest part about my first trip to Ireland is that the day after spending a weekend in castle, we moved on to spend a few days with friends who live in Ireland. In the castle I had a bathtub the size of most people's bathrooms and a shower head the size of a small cafe table. Let's just say that I took my fair share of showers and baths while I was there. The friends that we stayed with had built a new home for themselves on their family property, we stayed in the original family cottage. My bedroom there? Well I could sit on the twin bed and basically touch all four walls, and the bathroom? My kitchen sink leaks more water than the shower in that cottage.

I don't normally consider myself to be high maintenance but it really is hard to go from being a princess to Cinderella.

Emails, books and other surprises

2011-03-08T18:18:00.005-05:00

After 6 weeks off recuperating from surgery. Countless hours of sleep, lots of television and a few very good books. I returned to work yesterday.

I had 1,732 emails waiting for me. Oh and these. To distract me from the massive amounts of email.

And if you are looking for some good book suggestions may I suggest the following:

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
The Good Thief
Flight to Heaven
Churched One Kids Journey toward God despite a Holy Mess

My Mundane Life

2011-02-17T21:23:00.004-05:00

Post surgery life has been a bit mundane. People keep telling me it's okay that I get up at 8:30 in the morning, take a morning nap and an afternoon nap. I feel like a 6 month old. I'm told that sleep is good, that is helping me heal. Quite frankly I'm annoyed by it. I'm not sure why but I envisioned these weeks off of work as being endless hours of reading, I stocked my Kindle with multiple books and I was ready to read. Problem is after about 30 minutes of reading I find myself drifting off to sleep. So instead of reading I have spent more time watching daytime tv.

Confession time - I'm amused by Regis and Kelly (at least their host chat time) what did they do last night while I slept? Regis is 79 years old and is way more active than most people I know. I'm less enchanted by the interviews they do and most likely who ever is on their show has already been on the Today show earlier in the morning or will show up on The View later.

I am not a fan of The View. I think the ladies of The View are quite rude to each other, they are more interested in getting their point across than actually listening to each other. I find them rude and insensitive.

I draw the line at watching soap operas, although my mom is a fan of Days of our Lives and I am embarrassed to admit that when she watched I was able to quickly pick up on what was happening in the lives of the residents of Salem, USA.

At this point in the day, I typically try to read, end up falling asleep and seem to wake up just in time to watch either Oprah or Ellen depending on my mood. I finally have permission to drive which has opened up a whole new set of opportunities for me. Tuesday I went to the post office, Wednesday to the pharmacy to have a prescription refilled and to buy hair color. I'm not sure if this is true or not but I believe the anesthesia they gave me in the hospital made my hair grayer than usual. Today I took my car to the car wash. And tomorrow I am quite excited about actually going out for lunch and spending an hour with my friends, I just hope I don't fall asleep in my soup.

Bedwarmers

2011-02-08T20:36:00.003-05:00

People think I'm crazy when I tell them that I have actually trained my cats. Molly and Moses came to live with me 8 years ago. I like the idea of having a dog, but with out all the work and extra care required of dog ownership. So I set out to train the cats as if they were dogs and it has worked. Moses and Molly (almost always) come when I call them. Moses responds specifically to whistling but not just any whistling my whistling and he is especially fond of the tun "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" typically I get a 95% response rate with that tune. Molly will fetch a small cloth ball and return it to me and both of them are more than happy to oblige me when I ask them to come sit with me and keep me warm.

I've also trained them to go to bed at night, typically around 7:30 or 8:00 p.m. I will say "time for bed" or "let's go up" they then follow me upstairs to the office, where they hunker down for the evening. All this training has gone to pot since my hospital stay. I was gone for 10 days and while my mom lovingly cared for them she did not try to put them to bed each night.

My first night home from the hospital was horrible, I felt lousy and they were very aware of my intense pain and quite frankly my lack of interest in them. I didn't try to instill my bed time rules but instead have allowed something I know I will be sorry for. The cats are now sleeping in bed with me. I had always said my bedroom would be a cat free zone, but as I sit here in bed, Molly is warming my left side and Moses is taking care of keeping my feet cozy. I actually find their purring to be soothing and their snoring to be a bit amusing.

It is still up for a debate how long I will allow this to go on, I'm also wondering how easy it is to retrain a cat.

Food Glorious Food!

2011-02-07T21:34:00.003-05:00

I ate a scrambled egg today, that's big news considering my last "real" meal was January 25th the day before my surgery. After surgery I went home with the instructions of staying on a liquid diet for a couple days and then begin introducing soft foods into my diet. Turns out that pesky little bowel obstruction happened before anything other than lemon ice passed my lips.

When I left hospital number 2 they too advised just liquid until I see the doctor again. That appointment happened this afternoon and he deferred to my surgeon who I meet with tomorrow. So for the last week I have had a diet of broth, yogurt, oatmeal and get ready for it, milkshakes; which really is not that exciting. I am craving something salty in a big way. Yesterday was Superbowl Sunday, besides Thanksgiving, I can't think of any other day when food seems to take center stage. My mom has been here taking care of me while I recover and my friends have been incredibly amazing at blessing her with meals each night. Last night my friend Laura brought my mom all the fixings for submarine sandwiches, chicken wing dip and chips and chopped veggies for dipping. It was all I could do to not just stick my finger in that dip and taste real food again.

I was an emotional wreck today, I blame it on pain, exhaustion and a lack of protein. I cried on the way home from the doctor today, I am desperate for a tuna fish sandwich or something that I actually have to chew. As my mom and I pulled into the garage I looked at her and asked "A soft boiled egg could be considered liquid right?" She agreed of course and quickly got to boiling water for me. When she handed it to me I asked her to stick it in the microwave for 30 more seconds to make it just a bit hotter. In that time it turned from soft boiled to scrambled and quite frankly I have never tasted something so good. Tomorrow after I meet the surgeon I am really hoping for a tuna sandwich or maybe some mac and cheese.

A Tale of Two Hospitals

2011-02-05T20:57:00.003-05:00

I checked into one of my city's large urban hospitals on January 26 for a scheduled hiatal hernia surgery. This larger hernia had been giving me problems, lots of problems for some time so my doctor and I decided it needed to be repaired. She recommend a surgeon and while I have had previous surgery with another I went with her suggestion because she seemed so adamant and well quite frankly I do trust her opinion.

Unfortunately the surgery did not go as I had planned it was open vs. laparoscopic which means a MUCH larger scar and unfortunately more time in the hospital. This is actually where my nightmare began. I was moved to my room about 10 p.m. and spent the rest of the night in a post anesthesia confusion. At times I had scripture verses running through my head providing me comfort and other times I saw strange pictures on the walls and then when I would finally feel the ability to drift to sleep I would be awaken by the nursing staff, they needed blood, or to check my blood pressure and temperature

At 4:00 am the next morning I sensed a strange presence in the room. Turns out it was not an employee of the hospital but the daughter of the 78 year old patient in the bed next to me. Did you see that I said 4:00 am? Turns out this woman is a Nurse Practitioner who had worked at said hospital for 28 years and considered herself a VIP. For the next 4 days she turned into the cruise director and our semi private room was the place to be. Problem is I was in extreme pain, tired and just wanted peace and quiet. The 78 year old patient, her husband, and their 40 something year old son insisted on watching Jerry Springer and Judge Judy every afternoon. Since she and her husband are both in their 70's volume was an issue. I did my best to put my ear phones on and the nursing staff were also kind enough to provide me with a pair of ear plugs. The last straw for me happened on Friday night which apparently was their 60th wedding anniversary, when the whole anniversary party came to visit. At one point in our semi-private room she had 8 visitors at one time. Thankfully at this point two of my dearest friends Kathy and George came by to hold my hand and wipe away my tears of frustration.

I insisted on being discharged the next day, I wanted nothing more than to be in my own home in peace and quiet. This was a mistake. From the moment I arrive home I could not stop dry heaving, from Saturday through Monday afternoon I ate 2 spoonfuls of jello, a bowl of lemon ice and few glasses of cranberry juice. On Monday afternoon when the pain in my stomach and back was so back and the heaving continued I called a good friend with several years of nursing experience. She suggested she meet my mom and I at small community hospital just a few minutes away from me. Turns out all my pain, inability to eat was because of a bowel obstruction. The nurse in the Emergency department quickly conducted what I can only say is the most uncomfortable procedure I have ever experienced the NG tube. The horrible tube is shoved down one of your nostrils to your throat and then eventually empties all the "crap" that has been sitting in your stomach unable to leave your body. I had the NG tube for 3 days and pray that I never have to experience that again. 6 days later after a much for quiet experience at small community hospital I am home resting in bed. Turns out my original surgeon of choice is now practicing at small community hospital as is the father of one of my co-workers. My Physician's Assistant who visited me throughout the week happens to be the best friend of my dear friend Kathy. I am praying that in the future I have no more need for surgery, however if I do, I certainly know where I am going.

Reading Lists

2011-01-04T21:08:00.003-05:00

So far 2011 hasn't been that kind to me and I started it the way I finished 2010, sick. Yesterday was my first day back to work in 2011, today was my first sick day of the new year. I probably should have stayed home yesterday, but after 16 days of vacation, I was anxious to get back to work and see my coworkers and hear about everyone's holiday, oh yeah and to get back to work. But as the day went on I could feel myself getting weaker, and I'm pretty sure no one appreciated the fact that I was hacking up a lung all day long. So today I stayed home, I slept till 11:00. Boy did that feel good! And I have spent the rest of the day cozied up in my recliner reading.

I've finished 2 books already in 2011. Granted I started one of them in 2010 and was almost done when the new year rolled around. The first book I finished was "The Good Thief" it is probably not a book that I would normally pick up, but my city has chosen it has an all city read and I actually had it on my bookshelf, a gift from my sister in law from 2009 that I had not gotten to yet. Set in 1800 New England this was a fast moving story that reminded me of a lot of Dickens books.

My second book "In the Neighborhood: The Search For Community One Sleepover at a Time" was my book clubs selection for the month. Based on a true story of a murder/suicide in an upper class neighborhood. The author begins his own sociological experiment of trying to get to know the people in his neighborhood. It was a good start, but I believe more ideas will be brought out in our book club discussions than were talked about in his book. It did make me realize however how thankful I am to be living in the neighborhood that I am. I do know my neighbors and they know me. There is a lot of comfort knowing that you are surrounded by good people who look after one another.

I received a Kindle this year for Christmas, and I am wondering if it wrong to love an inanimate object? Probably, but I really am having fun with my Kindle. I'm not sure if I have mentioned this before but I like immediate gratification and the Kindle provides that for me. See book, download, start reading. As quick as that. Amazon offers lots of free books (Just like the library) my friend Gale pointed out. But I get to keep them! I pointed out to her and I don't have to wait. Immediate gratification.

More Holdiay Fun

2010-12-29T10:37:00.003-05:00

I'm back home now after spending the last 6 days celebrating Christmas at my parents house. I think six days is really too long, but we did have a wonderful time together For the most part. There was what will now go down in family history as the Scrabble incident.

I arrived there on the 23rd and was immediately told by my parents that they would like me to pick up my brother at the airport. His flight arrives at 10 p.m. Neither one of my parents like to drive after dark, but I was expecting at least one of them might like to accompany me to the airport. No such luck they were quite content curled up in their pajamas watching the hockey game. Happily Matt's plane arrived on time and we were both back home a little after 11. Although everyone was exhausted we stayed up until 2:00 in the morning, chatting and catching up. I really hate that I only see my younger brother a couple times a year.

Matt initiated a Scrabble game on Christmas eve, just the two of us head to head. We are both pretty competitive but I did not realize how competitive my brother was until we started playing this game. Now let me say for the record I prefer playing Scrabble online, it adds up the points for you which is for me the least favorite part of the game. Things were going along swimmingly until I put an S at the end of a vertical word and used that S to create a new horizontal word that ended with a triple word score. According to my brother THAT was an illegal move? "WHAT are you talking about?" I asked. "How is that an illegal move?" "You finished a word with an S, that was your move, you can't make two moves in one turn." Matt argued back. Clearly NY rules and IL rules of Scrabble are very different. I looked at him in total disbelief knowing that I had played this way for years and had never been challenged. I'd love if some of my blog readers would chime in on this one.

We pulled out the very small rule book and both argued our points, he continues to insist that if my letter S was in the middle of my horizontal move it would be okay but not at the beginning? I had never heard such crazy talk in my entire life. At this point for me it really was no longer about winning the game but educating my brother on the rules of Scrabble. He did not seem interested in learning. After a few more moves it became evident that in order for harmony to reign for the holidays we should stop playing. So we did, in the middle of the game, we folded up the board and put it away. Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

The rest of the holidays were consumed by one family gathering after another 4 days worth! I arrived back home yesterday afternoon and have been enjoying the quietness of my own home. I've got a stack of books to read, a new Kindle and far too many Christmas cookies that my mom insisted I take home with me.

A Tale of Two Weekends

2010-12-11T19:13:00.006-05:00

Last weekend was insane, this weekend was wonderful.
Last weekend I had to get up early, teach a 4 hour class, clean my house, do laundry, and finish all the paper work to refinance my house

This weekend I celebrated Christmas with the girls in my book club, I slept in this morning, met a couple of dear friends for coffee, finished my Christmas shopping and wrapping. I now have 2 weeks to relax and enjoy the holiday season. My weekend would have been complete if only I had run into this man. And his sleigh.

These pictures were taken last year with my cell phone camera. Today, I had my real camera with me and was hoping to run into this jolly old man who seems to have taken it upon himself to bring cheer to the shoppers in the Rochester area. Unfortunately today he was elusive.

Rude Student Behavior

2010-12-04T21:10:00.003-05:00

For the last two Saturdays I have had the privilege of teaching adult students in one of our non traditional programs. Now I realize that the freshmen college students I teach are also adults but sometimes some of them really do not act that way. I've got two classes left with this group of freshmen. I've really enjoyed them but some of their behaviors are beginning to bug me. I realize what I am about to say will not surprise anyone, but why must students send text messages during class?

I set my standards the very first day of class, you do not need your laptops for my class, they'll be no Facebook or Solitaire on my watch and there will be no texting. I've had to occasionally remind a student of these rules, but this last Thursday one of my students nearly sent me over the edge.

She was sitting directly to my right when during the middle of me leading a class discussion she pulled out her phone and began to send a text. "Put that away there is no texting in my class" I said to her quietly. I actually do not like to embarrass students, perhaps that is part of my problem. She put it away and then 5 minutes later she pulled it out again. "Put it away" I said this time a little louder and I thought with more authority. She rolled her eyes at me and stuffed it back in her pocket. A few minutes later she pulled it out a third time, once again I told her to put it away. Now, I'm really pissed! If your texting is more important than what is happening in class than please don't come to class. I glared at her and she once again puts it away. I am being 100% honest when I say that after a few minutes more she pulls it out one more time. This time her hands and her phone remain underneath the table, as if I am an idiot and really don't know what she is doing.

In the meantime, I'm trying to lead a class discussion on Men, Woman and Biblical Equality. We're also discussing the idea of Ordaining Woman and a woman's role in the church. It is a great conversation that my class and I are having. Yet while I'm leading this discussion Ms. text-a-lot is busy working her thumbs. She is close enough to me that I could kick that darn phone out of her hand and sending it flying under the conference table I think to myself. Yes, that's what I'll do I'll kick it out her hands. Wait is that appropriate behavior for a college instructor? What if I break the phone? I really don't want to break her phone but I really wish she'd stop texting. It is so distracting to me. Yes, I'm going to kick it on the count of three, 1,2, Oh wait I'm trying to listen to another student share her thoughts about woman in ministry.

Ultimately I did nothing. I'm a little disappointed in myself. I kind of wished I punted it out of her hands. But then again if I had, I might be cell phone shopping to today and I really did not have time to do that.

Things that arrived today..

2010-12-01T14:55:00.006-05:00

December 1st and the first real snowfall of the year have both arrived. That's just swell. Every year when the first snowfall arrives I ask myself over and over again "Why do I live in this part of the country?" I am not a winter enthusiast, I wish I was, but I'm not. Here's the problem, I love being outside and as soon as the first snow falls it reminds me that for the next 4 months I will be trapped indoors. Now I will say that the snow is quite pretty, but it's also cold and wet and slippery to walk and drive in and I just don't like it. Someone recently asked me if I had any winter note cards to sell. I have pictures from every other season besides winter. Proof that I really, really do not like snow.

I have completed all my Christmas shopping, my list this year was much, much smaller since my family this year decided to draw names instead of all of us buying for each other. I'm not sure why we didn't do this sooner. At any rate, my online shopping is done. The beauty of online shopping? Well the first is obvious, never having to step foot in a crowded shopping mall. The second? Multiple deliveries from the UPS or Fed Ex man. I can't help but get a little giddy when I see these trucks turn down my road and wonder if it's for me. One gift arrived today.

The third thing to arrive today? What I thought was a used book I ordered turned out to be paperwork as thick as a book. I've decided with interest rates being as low as they are to refinance my house. I'm psyched about the money I will be saving and the fact that I have taken 5 years of the life of my loan. I am not so psyched about the load of paperwork I have to do.

Questions

2010-11-17T20:38:00.004-05:00

I've had a couple of very interesting encounters this week. By interesting I mean strange and perhaps a bit disturbing.

Encounter Number 1 - Let me set the stage for you, the freshmen class I teach was involved in a service project at a local church. They were hosting a banquet and we volunteered to help set up, serve and clean up. An acquaintance of mine was in attendance and while we were cleaning up, she pulled me aside and quietly asked if she could ask me a personal question. "Sure" I said weakly, "I think you have a problem with your thyroid" she said bluntly. Okay,first THAT was not a question and second, how rude! After I got over my initial shock, I did share with her that I am in fact being treated for thyroid disease. "Well" she said "you might want to get your levels checked because your eyes are bulging and your right eye is a lot worse than your left." Thanks for that! I spent the rest of the night staring at myself in the mirror and judging the size of my bulging eyes. Here's a picture of me and my left eye. I'm so ashamed of my bulging right eye I've decided to wear a patch and refer to myself as Ahab.

Encounter Number 2 - I'm sitting in my office and my assistant Kathy shares with me there's a dad on the phone who wants to talk about career counseling for his daughter. I don't particularly enjoy phone calls from parents, I consider college students to be adults and feel that if they need my help they should ask for it themselves. So dad explains that his daughter is not a student, nor a an alum of the college, but that they live close to campus and that his daughter really needs some career counseling. I explain that my plate is full, he then goes on to tell me that his daughter really needs career advice and that she will be in town over Christmas. "She doesn't live here?" I ask. No she lives on her own, she's 48 years old. What? I think dad is the one who needs help.

Tradition, Texting and Taco Soup

2010-11-07T18:35:00.004-05:00

Better sit down for this one folks, I have a major announcement to make. I cooked again today. Yeah that's right I cooked. Well if you count throwing cans of vegetables into the crock pot cooking. But around here, that is about as good as it gets.

I love traditions and for several years my friends and I had the greatest tradition going. Homecoming weekend at the college we would pass on all the college festivities and just show up at my friend Lisa's house, sit around her dining room table talk and laugh about all our college memories and eat taco soup. It is the most perfect soup on a crisp fall day. Unfortunately that tradition ended about six years when Lisa and her husband decided to flee the chilly northeast for the south. I still have not forgiven them for leaving, but I'm working on it. I still show up at their old house on homecoming weekend looking for taco soup. Fortunately for me the new home owners are also friends of mine.

So this morning I decided that I know how to use a can opener and a crock pot, I'll make taco soup. Of course I wanted to let Lisa know that I was thinking of her and making her famous soup, I sent a text message to her husband (Lisa refuses to keep up with today's technology) The text message was simple "I'm making taco soup, you should come over" The response text from Chris just minutes later "We'll be there in 17 hours."

Lisa and I did chat later today, she wanted to know how the soup turned out and to tell me that they received my text during church service. Shame on you Chris for texting from church! The soup turned out great and the chat reminded me just how much I miss my sweet friend.

I believe that Lisa and I along with two of our other friends Eileen and Karine have started a new tradition, a gathering of the 4 of us over Columbus Day weekend. I realize that in order for something to be a tradition, it needs to happen more than once, I think I can safely say that the experience the 4 of us shared was so energizing, uplifting, and valuable that it something we will want to continue for years.

And if anyone is interested in trying Lisa's taco soup, come on over there's plenty.

More Random Thoughts

2010-10-25T20:25:00.002-04:00

I made a big salad and a baked potato for dinner tonight. Baked potatoes always make me think of my friend Christy. Christy is a vegetarian and not long ago at a charity dinner she asked for a vegetarian meal. Now most places would have some sort of pasta option, but that particular night the vegetarian option was not one, but two baked potatoes. As Christy would say "not cool" can you blame her?

This past Friday, my friend Gale and I had a great dinner together. She was trying to talk me down from all of the anger and frustration I was feeling toward one particular student. This student clearly does not like the rules I have established for my class, things like what constitutes a free write when it comes to journal writing, no side conversations in class and no texting. This student claims to have the superior ability to multi-task. Well guess what? It does not matter if you can stand on your head, chew gum and quote your favorite author. There is NO texting in my class! This student also decided to do a free write in their journal on the word free. Thanks for that!

That same night when I arrived home in the dark I noticed that when I drove into the garage the kitchen door was wide open. This totally freaked me out, I believe I have already mentioned in a previous blog my OCD tendencies. I asked myself the following questions:
Did I shut the door when I left this morning? I'm sure I did.

Maybe I did shut the door but left the garage door open? If that's the case did someone enter my house through the open garage door and then close the garage door and leave the kitchen door open?

If that's the case what are the chances of someone actually being in my house waiting for me to return? Now it is this very thought that REALLY FREAKED me out. So I took a deep breath, pulled out my cell phone and pushed 911 on my cell. Then I walked inside with my thumb on the send button.

I checked the downstairs bathroom, empty. The kitchen pantry, empty. The hall closet, also empty. Okay all the possible downstairs hiding spots are empty. Then I slowly walked upstairs. My office closet empty, bedroom 1, empty, bedroom 2 empty. And then final the master bathroom. I was terrified pulling back the shower curtain I had visions of the shower scene from Psycho rushing through my mind. Of course I realize that in that particular scene the killer was on the outside of the shower, but I was convinced someone was hiding behind my shower curtain.

Thankfully when he stabbed me it was just a superficial wound and the police officers arrived just a few minutes later. Or the shower was empty, I'll let you decide. One thing that has come from this unfortunate event is that my OCD is again at an all time high. I still do not know why the kitchen door was open. Perhaps Molly and Moses my very overweight cats have learned a new trick?

Almost Heaven, West Virginia

2010-10-12T21:48:00.004-04:00

Several years ago my cousin's young son asked if he could marry me. I told him he couldn't because we were family and you could only marry your family member if you lived in West Virginia. A few minutes later when John's dad came into the room I overheard him asking his dad if they could move to West Virginia.

West Virginia, I'm sorry I made jokes about you especially since I had never visited your lovely state. Actually while I can now say I've slept in your state for a couple nights, I still don't feel like I know you that well,see you just happened to be a central location for 4 friends coming from NY, VA, SC and MI. And while I still don't know you that well I did appreciate your hospitality. My friends and I had an amazing weekend together.

We stayed in your state's capital and while I seem to recall seeing the gold dome of your capital building as I drove into town, the remainder of our time was spent in a hotel room and then in a hotel lobby and then in a local cafe chatting, laughing and reminiscing with friends.

The four of us have not all been together for about 9 years, some of us have seen each other for short visits from time to time but for the 4 of us to be together for a weekend, I can only describe this feeling of complete contentment. I am inspired by my friends creativity, their love for their families and their passion for their friends and their faith. The only way this weekend could have been better is if we didn't require sleep, I know each of us wanted to eek out as many hours together as possible.

When we did venture of of the hotel we did find the coolest little bookstore, which included tin ceilings and exposed brick. While it was small it included all the best books you would ever want to read, each title that my friends and I came up with we were able to find. Along with some amazing greeting cards, I could have bought about 12 of them, but I settled on two. We all hope to return their next year for a book signing when our friend Eileen's book comes out.

And then as if God was smiling on us, across from the bookstore was the sweetest little cafe that had the best sundae I have ever had, a pumpkin sundae. Pumpkin ice cream, caramel, chocolate chunks, nuts and whip cream. The only thing sweeter than the ice cream was this precious time I was able to spend with my dear friends.

As I ventured home from this weekend, I kept thinking of things I forgot to share or to ask and was wishing the weekend could have lasted just a little longer. I'm already looking forward to next year and what I hope will be a new tradition in each of our lives.

The one where I brag about my niece

2010-10-02T21:29:00.002-04:00

My niece Q. is one of my most favorite people on the planet. She lives an hour from here so I do not get to see her very often, but today she and my brother decided to come by for dinner and to celebrate his birthday. It's been over a month since I've seen her and during that time, she has started Pre-K. Not pre-school she informed me Pre-K, apparently there is a difference? She also had her hair cut and is sporting bangs, "Like you aunt Mary."

I was talking to my mom on the phone a couple weeks ago, Q was visiting them and my mom asked her if she wanted to talk to me on the phone. She took the phone and I began asking her questions. Silence. I asked her something else, nothing. Finally my mom took the phone back "Mary did you hang up?" "No, I'm here." "Q why aren't you talking to Mary?" my mom asked. "I was playing the silent game." Nice.

Q knows that I am a career counselor, and she likes to inform me from time to time of her plans for when she grows up. Her latest occupational dreams? Ballerina, Baker, Sharp Shooter. Yes, that's right Sharp Shooter.

Mixing It Up!

2010-09-19T18:51:00.003-04:00

My friend Beka is on a 3 month road trip, volunteering her time at various farms throughout the country. She's blogging about here experiences here http://mygreenorchard.wordpress.com/ you should read her blog.

Beka has done many blog entries about "Mixing it up" you know trying something new and different to get out of that rut we tend to find ourselves in. I was thinking about Beka today for many reasons one because it just so happens her favorite football team and my favorite football team were playing against other today, and no surprise but her team CRUSHED my team. And secondly because today I decided to mix things up a bit.

Now my six faithful blog readers may want to sit down for what I am about to say will shock you. Ready? Today I baked. Yes that's right I baked, and along with baking I also cooked. I'm sensing some shouting and the words What? Are you kidding me coming from a particular friend I have living down south. Yeah, you know who you are. Okay now I'm not exactly sure if you all consider browning ground beef for taco salad cooking but here in my house, well that's about as close to cooking as I get.

Now let's get on to the baking. First of all it's been rather fall like around here and I've been craving apple crisp. This morning I decided I would make apple crisp, so here I am mixing it up. But let me take this even one step further. I live in NY State, the number 2 producer of apples in the United States, yet I am not a fan of her apples. My favorite apple by far is produced in Washington State, the Granny Smith apple. There is nothing like it. But today I decided perhaps I have been to harsh regarding my states apples surely there is something comparable to the Granny Smith? So I mixed it up, wandered the produce section of Wegmans as I read the descriptions of the various apples. Now my first hang up with NYS apples is that most of them are red. For some reason I like my apples to be green. I finally settled on the Paula red. It promised to be tart (Very Important) and crisp (also important) no one likes a mealy apple.

So this afternoon, I peeled my apples, and gave Ms. Paula Red her shot at winning my favor. And the result? Well Paula, I'm sorry but you just don't measure up to my granny, but you were still good and so was the apple crisp.

For those of you who are NYS apple lovers I'm curious to hear from you what your favorite apple is. I'm willing to give others a try.

Confession Time - I own pink crocs.

2010-09-08T20:22:00.004-04:00

Two years ago at Christmas, my younger brother Matt gave me a pair of pink crocs. I was surprised by this very strange gift. Matt is what I would call a snob (and I mean that in the nicest way possible). He's a golf professional, who cares more about the way he looks than anyone else I have ever met. He works out, he is very careful about what he eats, he buys designer clothes and grooming products. He is what some would call a metro sexual, although I'm not sure many people use that terminology any more. So I was a bit confused as to why he would give me such an ugly pair of shoes. "These are great" he exclaimed "we got them in the pro shop awhile back and you would not believe how comfortable they are." He then acknowledged to us that he had his own pair (not pink) back home. "Careful Matt" my brother Mike warned "don't let too many people know that or they may take away your man card."

At any rate, Matt explained since they were closing the pro shop for the season and they had a lot of crocs left, mostly kid sizes (did I mention I have ridiculously small feet) he thought he'd grab me a pair. This same Christmas season, my 11 year old cousin was sporting her brand new Coach boots. She promised I could have them when she outgrew them, since at age 11 she and I had the same foot size. I'm not sure I'm cool enough to wear Coach boots though.

So for about 18 months these crocs sat in my shoe cupboard. Another sad fact about me, I keep all my shoes in a bottom kitchen cupboard by the door where I immediately kick them off as soon as I enter the house. Finally this summer I pulled them out and thought they would be good to use as garden shoes, if they got muddy I could just hose them down. I'm afraid to admit this, these are the most comfortable shoes I have ever owned, why haven't I worn them before? Uh because they are pink and they are ugly. This morning I wore my crocs to work, well actually I walked out of the house and then got in the car realizing what I had on my feet. I ran back in and put on my not so comfortable black loafers.

The blog about nothing

2010-09-08T19:22:00.003-04:00

Seinfeld is probably one of my favorite sitcoms it aired for 9 seasons, it was called the show about nothing. It still airs on various cable stations as well as on Fox at 11:00 pm on week nights. It is one of the reasons I am usually tired when my alarm goes off in the morning. It doesn't help that my second favorite sitcom Friends airs after Seinfeld.

Last week The Father's House a mega church here in the area had its "Service about nothing" I don't attend The Father's House but I was able to catch their late service online, and their service about nothing, was actually a very powerful, worshipful service.

I thought today I would write a blog about nothing. I'm still new to this blogging thing and quite frankly I'm not sure if I am very good at it. I find myself blogging a lot at night when I'm tired and then if I look at my blog the next day I find all sorts of errors that I have made. So I'm writing a blog about nothing that is hopefully error free. How did I do?

I Like Doughnuts on Sunday

2010-09-07T21:12:00.008-04:00

I like doughnuts on Sunday; I blame my aunt (and of course my lack of self control). Growing up my aunt would often take my brothers, cousins and I to what we affectionately called the doughnut mass. Really it was just Sunday mass at Canisius College followed by doughnuts, and refreshments in a large hall. There really is only one doughnut that I truly like the ones with white cream and chocolate icing. Not to be confused with Bavarian cream which quite frankly reminds me of phlegm. .

There is a Tim Horton's located between my church and my home so it is a very tempting for me when I have my Sunday craving. Now I will say that Tim's probably would not be my first choice however it is convenient. Tim Horton was actually a hockey player who played for both the Toronto Maple Leafs and my favorite team the Buffalo Sabres. Unfortunately Tim died tragically in a horrific car accident, I think it was poor choice for them to name their doughnut holes Tim Bits considering the way he was killed.

A small coffee and a doughnut at Tim's cost $2.09. I typically hand the cashier $2.10, and he or she then hands me my order and then I wait. Typically after a few awkward seconds the cashier says "oh did you want your penny?" Umm, yes I'd like my penny, it is after all still my money and when did it become okay for businesses to assume that you really don't want your change, even if it is only a penny. I have an old glass bottle just inside my kitchen door. I dump my spare change in the bottle on a pretty regular basis. Spare change adds up quickly, I probably cash my change in 4 times a year and typically end up having between $65 and $85. That is a lot of pennies, of course I realize it would be a lot more if I didn't spend that $2.09.

Stream of Consciousness

2010-09-04T15:58:00.005-04:00

I was actually dreading the start of a new semester and if I am being a 100% honest (which I do try to be) I was really, really dreading teaching my freshmen course this fall. The main reason for that is last fall when I taught the class the group dynamics were absolutely terrible, the students didn't seem to click with each other and quite frankly I felt several of them were not academically ready for college work. It was a very long semester for me and when it was over I didn't care if I never taught this class again. Fast forward 12 months, here I am teaching the same class and I after only 2 days I am absolutely flabbergasted by the difference between the two groups. During this past Thursday's class one student raised her hand and said "this is so embarrassing, but I really have to use the rest room but this discussion we are all having is so great I don't want to miss any of it can we pause for two minutes?" WHAT? I literally laughed out loud and was happy to grant her request.

Today I went to the mall, I hate the mall but I needed some new bras, this was not a task I was overly excited about. Apparently 80% of woman are wearing the wrong bra size and I believe now that I am probably one of them. I tried on multiple bras in what I thought was my size but they all felt wrong. So after about a 35 minutes I gave up on the bra buying business and instead bought myself some new yoga pants, a long sleeve t-shirt and a new blouse for work.

I was going to spend a good part of my day today getting my note cards ready to sell at our homecoming bazaar in a couple weeks, instead I've done three loads of laundry and baked chocolate chip cookies. Oh yeah and I still need some new bras.

Ready or not, here they come

2010-08-27T19:18:00.004-04:00

Today was move in day for the college freshmen at my campus. I have a love/hate relationship with this day. I've worked at the college for 18 years, which essentially means that I started working at the college the year these students were born. Whoa. I love this day because I think the freshness and enthusiasm of these students is down right infectious, yet it also signifies the end of the summer, the laid back days and long nights. When the semester begins I often feel like a mouse on one of those crazy exercise wheels. It depresses me that by 8:00 in the evening it is already getting dark.

So I'm exhausted by all of today's events. Along with meeting the new freshmen, I also met our new graduate students in social work, met with my awesome student mentor to discuss our class, I also had a meeting with a fellow staff member to plan for another class she and I will be team teaching, provided career advisement to a seminary student and tried to put out a couple fires that have been burning.

I know there is some left over macaroni and cheese in the fridge, it is mere 20 feet from where I am sitting yet I don't have the energy to get up and reheat it.

Things that make me go hmm

2010-08-10T21:19:00.003-04:00

I realized today in the grocery store that I only buy green dish detergent. Not green as in environmentally friendly, but green the color. I don't think I have ever considered another color. I don't know why that is, maybe one of these days I will break out of this rut. Other odd things about myself that I have noticed lately I love hummus but I am really not a fan of the chick pea. I adore tomatoes but would pass on tomato sauce most days of the week. And finally a new mystery today, emptying the dishwasher I counted 9 plates, 6 bowls, and about 14 glasses. Apparently I am heavy drinker. The mystery however is that there were no forks in the dishwasher, which makes me wonder - what exactly did I eat on all those plates?

Yes officer I was taking pictures

2010-08-04T20:48:00.010-04:00

Those that know me know I love to take pictures. I'm quite obnoxious at it, I take pictures that most people wouldn't never think to take pictures of, unless of course they are like me. The last few years I have been taking my camera into places that most people would not even think to take a camera; inside various stores, gift shops and supermarkets. Yes, I said supermarkets.

This past weekend while visiting one of my dearest friends in Philadelphia I found myself at Whole Foods. I think I could actually cry when I think about how pretty it is inside Whole Foods, the rainbow display of beverages, drinks from fruits I have never even heard of. Don't even get me started on the aisle dedicated to coffee and tea. And I must not forget the honey, fresh honey multiple kinds kept in vats to keep it warm. I could go home with warm honey from Whole Foods. I'm not sure why this makes me so excited, it just does. Unfortunately I do have one bone to pick with my new found love, they have a strict rule - No photography allowed. It's written on their door. It killed me not to take pictures, but alas I do tend to be a rule follower.

A couple years ago at a pottery store in Maine I quietly took a picture of some vases I thought were absolutely adorable and I loved the way the owner had them displayed. I took out my camera and quickly snapped a couple pictures. I was quickly scolded and asked to refrain from taking any more pictures and of course as a rule follower I gladly obliged though quietly feeling somewhat bitter. This has not deterred me from continuing my ways. I have noticed that if a store is large enough I'm pretty good at snapping pictures without anyone noticing. I may be a rule follower but I'm also kind of sneaky and if I can get away with something with out anyone knowing (within reason of course) I'm going to do it.

This past week however in the city of brotherly love, or more specifically a suburb of the city of brotherly love I was up to my old tricks. My friend had taken me into a quaint gift/flower shop. I took a few pictures of a table place setting, some candle holders and then finally a row of fresh flowers sitting in pails.

After taking this last shot of the flowers the owner threatened me from across the store "you take another picture and I'm calling the police!" Seriously. I quickly apologized and we left the store pretty quickly. I'm not sure why he felt it was necessary to threaten me that way. My friends and I debated this a bit, perhaps he was worried that I was taking pictures so I'd know the lay of the land and he was worried I might come back and rob him. So for all my blog readers if you happen to find yourself in Peddlers Village outside of Philadelphia and you feel the need to steal some fresh flowers here's what they look like and where there located. Of course I cannot reveal the name of the store to you, that just wouldn't be right. And I'm not sure I even noticed it when we went in.

So now I've been chastised about picture taking in two states. I'm pretty sure it will not deter me from future picture taking antics.

I thought I'd include a few from throughout the years.

These are sweet little drawer pulls, I found in gift shop in Maine called Art and Soul. I have no use for drawer pulls like this but I thought they were absolutely adorable.

I'm not sure exactly where this picture came from, but I have kept journals for as long as I can remember and I just loved how simple they looked and the quote at the bottom "If your life is worth living it is worth recording"

From LL Bean of course. This display took me immediately back to my childhood and how when we visited my great aunt's house the only game she had for us to play in her small backyard was croquet, but we would spend hours playing it. $129.00 seems like a lot of money to me for a backyard game and it made me wonder what ever happened to my aunt's set.

And finally aren't these berry bowls pretty? I didn't know that they made special bowls for berries but I'm sure if I had some, I would eat more fruit.

The One Where I Had Dinner With The President.. And a few other random thoughts

2010-07-23T20:55:00.010-04:00

If you have been reading my blog this week, you know that I have been on vacation in Ogunquit, ME one of my favorite places in the world. While we were there we visited Portland, Freeport, Kennebunkport, York, Wells, and lots of other places in between. When we visit Kennebunkport we always make time for a leisurely drive down Ocean Ave where there are some spectacular homes with some of the most gorgeous ocean views. One of those homes located on Ocean Ave is the home of former President George Bush and his wife Barbara. Here's a picture of their lovely home.
We've joked every year about how much fun it would be to actually run into the Bushes somewhere around town, but then again, what are the chances of running into a former president? Apparently better than I thought. Wednesday night we decided on dinner in Perkins Cove, of all the places in Ogunquit, Perkins Cove is probably one of our most favorite hang outs. There are several restaurants in Perkins Cove along with some cute shops selling pottery, jewelery and of course cheesy t-shirts. Lots of lobster boats, sailboats and some of the prettiest gardens I have ever seen.

So that night we decided on Barnacle Billy's, it has some great views of the cove along with amazing food. My mom always orders the crab cakes there even though I tease her that Maine is not necessarily known for its crab, but she insists they are still outstanding. It was while we were waiting for our salads to arrive that my mom says to me "Oh look it's Barbara Bush" and she gives me a funny smile that I read as there's a Barbara Bush look alike. And then all of a sudden people are clapping and my mom's look changes and I realize quickly that the Bushes are in fact going to be joining us for dinner. Okay so you all know I didn't actually dine with the Bushes but they did sit down about 30 feet from us. I was able to snap a couple very poor pictures of President Bush as he walked by our table and then another one of their table while they ate. But of course that was it, I certainly wasn't going to make a spectacle of myself and I wasn't exactly sure what the secret service might do to me if I got too close.

Apparently Barnacle Billy's is a favorite spot of our former president as I noticed several pictures of him throughout the years dining there.

Oddly enough on this night I almost met my demise. Ogunquit has a great public transportation system and they like to shuttle beach goers via trolley. The trolleys all have "Olly" names I don't know why but throughout town you can see Dolly, Holly, Lolly and so forth. Well on this particular night perhaps it was my excitement over seeing a former president or perhaps I was focusing too much on the picture I was about to take, I was almost run over by a Jolly the trolley.

We are home now and I must confess that while it is great to be home, I miss Ogunquit already and cannot wait to get back. And one final thought, a pet peeve actually why is that the restrooms at thruway rest stops are always at the far end from the entrance of the building? I'm stopping because I have to go! I am not interested in a happy meal from McDonalds.

When is 35 cents worth a dollar?

2010-07-19T21:43:00.003-04:00

Today we decided to take a little road trip, to view a couple light houses, do some sightseeing and just be tourists. We wandered towards York beach which tends to be very touristy and it made us quite thankful that while we enjoyed driving through this town, we were not in fact staying there. There is a huge beach in York that must run for 5 miles. The only parking at this beach is by parking meter. So as my mom and I were stuck in traffic, a beach goer stops at my car window and asks "Can you spare some change?" So I reached into my change tray and handed him what I had only about 35 cents in dimes and nickels. To which he says "thanks for your generosity, here's a dollar." He then hands me a gold coin, a Jefferson 1 dollar coin. I had no idea these things even existed. After he walked a way I felt a little guilty that I didn't search harder for more change for him.

Beautiful Place by the Sea

2010-07-18T21:29:00.006-04:00

I'm currently on vacation in Ogunquit, ME. This happens to be one of my most favorite places to visit. It is hard not to relax here. I tend to be pretty frugal as a rule but for this trip we splurge with an ocean front room. Today I woke up, looked out my window and watched the waves of the Atlantic ocean crashing on to the shore in front of my window. I sipped coffee, both hot and cold watching those same waves and marveled at how the beach in front of me disappeared as the tide rolled in. I started reading a new book, which I could only describe as a "beach read" which was perfect because hey I'm at the beach. I belong by the water, there is not one other place that I feel so relaxed and refreshed at the same time and this is only day one of my vacation.

The one where I check the locks

2010-07-10T19:51:00.004-04:00

I think about Lot's wife often. I'm talking about Lot from the bible, Lot's story is told in Genesis. I don't think about Lot very often, just his unnamed wife. I'm sure she had a name, and I'm sure it was quite lovely however the bible never tells us what is was. The reason I think of her often is because as she and Lot and their family were fleeing Sodom she did what the Lord told them not to do, she looked back on the city they were told to leave and because of this she became a pillar of salt.

I am not a biblical scholar, nor do I pretend to be one, but I'm pretty sure the lesson from Lot's wife is that we need to obey God's commands, however I wonder if Mrs. Lot was not a little like me and dealing with OCD or Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. I dislike this about myself and I'm really trying to work on it. I wouldn't describe myself as over the top when it comes to OCD, I'm certainly not like the character Monk played byTony Shalhou and I'm not even in the same ball park as Howie Mandel however daily as I drive away from my house I look over my shoulder multiple times to make sure the garage door did actually close. I've watched it close, told myself it was closed and then I find myself circling the neighborhood to make sure that yes it is in fact closed. I do this with locks on my doors, windows, the oven and stove.

The blinds in my bedroom have to be a certain way, and I cannot stand seeing the warning label at the bottom of the blinds reminding me of the strangling hazard that blinds can be to small children, it's hard for me to relax in bed seeing the bright yellow warning label. I've often driven back to my office hours after I've left to make sure that I did in fact turn off my space heater, of course I could contact campus security and have them check for me but that would mean 1. admitting I have a contraband heater in my office and 2. admitting that I can't remember if I turned it off or not. Thankfully, it turns out I have always turned it off and the building where I work has never been in danger of burning down, at least not at my hands.

Over the years, my chronic checking has been getting worse however I am reminding myself regularly out loud that almost 100% of the time the iron is off, and so is the stove, the doors are locked and the garage is closed. I think it's working but I may go check just one more time. Kidding.

Farmers, Flowers and Strawberries

2010-06-26T17:24:00.011-04:00

I really love the local farmers market. I don't ge there as often as I would like but today it was the first thing on my agenda to do. It's true that in my neck of the woods I can get pretty fresh produce anytime I want at my local Wegmans, but shopping at the local farmers market provides me with an opportunity to chat with the growers as well as run into friends and neighbors. This is also the best time of the year for strawberries, my most favorite fruit.

I had one other stop on my agenda today and that was a visit to a city park I had heard about but had never visited before. Maplewood Park in the city is apparently famous for it's rose garden and now I know why. I would guess there must have been over 2,000 rose bushes in so many varieties I quickly lost track. It really was a beautiful spot in the city and while today may have been my first visit it certainly will not be my last.

10 Things I Like

2010-06-15T22:40:00.004-04:00

My friends and I were joking the other day about what sort of people we are. While life is not always easy I do tend to be a glass half full sort of gal and I think part of the reason for that is I tend to find joy in the small things. Such as:

The way my cats curl up in their cat beds. Molly, especially likes her bed and I just love how sweet she looks as her head rests on the edge. I especially like on mornings when I wake up and find them sharing one of the beds and they have to figure out how to untwist themselves from each other.

Hockey - I really like hockey and while most people fuss about how long the season is, I'm currently going through withdraw, the season ended one week ago tonight and I already miss it.

Coffee - Hot, cold, it doesn't matter. I also like the fact that the baristas at my favorite cafes know me and my drink of choice. Perhaps this is a problem. It also helps if I have some nice dark chocolate to go with my coffee.

My camera - I've been taking pictures for years, but last year I received my first digital DSL and while I still do not understand many of it's functions, I'm having a blast trying to figure it all out.

Toe nail polish - Yes,I realize this may sound silly, but I love toe nail polish, especially in the spring and summer. If I'm going to bare my feet for everyone to see, I'm certainly going to decorate my toe nails in a pretty color. Currently I am wearing a funky shade of purple called Grape Going.

My deck - I consider my deck the bonus room of my house. The weather here prevents me from using my bonus room as much as I would like, but once the weather does cooperate this is the spot I choose to spend the majority of my time. It really is nothing special, but it is my special little haven.

My niece - Okay I don't just like my niece I love her, and I love the way the back of her neck smells and how her hair curls when its wet, how she squints when she smiles big. I love how she will thank you for hours for something little you have done for her. "Thank you for the dental floss, aunt Mary" she said over and over when she came to visit a few weeks ago and told me she had a piece of apple skin stuck between her teeth.

Reading - I wish I could figure out a way to get paid to read. I would never retire. I currently have 5 books sitting on my nightstand and I've realized recently that I need to develop better reading habits, instead of trying to read 5 books simultaneously I need to focus on one at a time.

Scrabble - I'm addicted to scrabble on Facebook and I know I am not alone in this addiction. I'm actually wondering how many employee hours are lost because of Scrabble, I'm also wondering if anyone plays Solitaire anymore.

Lavender - I'm a very amateur gardener and I have a lot of "favorite" flowers, hydrangeas, roses, delphiniums, daisies, pansies. But when it comes to scents lavender is by far my favorite. I can walk by the lavender in my garden, and suddenly the scent of it stops me in my tracks and immediately I feel more relaxed and at ease.

Adventures in the kitchen part 2 and 3

2010-06-11T19:42:00.003-04:00

I'm very happy to report that the strawberry rhubarb pie that I planned to make this week turned out to be better than I expected. In fact I made two strawberry rhubarb pies this week. As I mentioned in my previous blog several of my girl friends were coming over on Wed. night for pizza and cards and I promised them dessert. So Monday evening after chatting with my mom I got down to pie making. Things went relatively smoothly, much better than my first pie baking experience and I was pleased with the outcome. Assignment done, or so I thought. On Tuesday I tried a slice and deemed it acceptable for guests and breathed a sigh of relief. However on Wednesday when one of my friends got wind of the fact that I made the pie on Monday, she deemed this "unacceptable" and claimed after two days the crust would be all soggy. I took another look at the pie and turns out she was right (insert heavy sigh here).

Now I must tell you that I do not like to let people down but at this point I was ready to make my old favorite standby dessert; dark chocolate brownies. But friend number 2 said she was soooo looking forward to strawberry rhubarb pie. So I obliged and made my second pie of the week. It turned out great, maybe even better than pie number 1. I'm also happy to report that today, two days after I made the pie, the crust is still holding up and is not soggy. I just had a piece for dinner.

Adventues in the kitchen.

2010-06-04T19:55:00.010-04:00

I believe in my very first blog I indicated that this would NOT be a food blog. And now after only 1o entries I am writing about my adventures in the kitchen. It may sound crazy but this morning I woke up and the first thing that I thought was wouldn't it be fun to make a rhubarb pie this weekend? "WHAT?" I said this out loud because 1) it was such a random thought 2) I really have no place in the kitchen and 3)the last time I tried to make a pie it turned out very bad, very, very bad. So bad in fact that my friend L. who I consider to be one of the kindest, sweetest people I know looked at the pie, laughed and said "no wonder no man has ever married you, don't you know the way to a man's heart is through his stomach?" Okay, so she really didn't say that, but she did laugh A LOT at my baking abilities and we started again from scratch.

These are the pies from my first pie baking experience. My friend C. said it reminded her of the old just say no to drug campaigns with the fried egg, this is your brain, this is your brain on drugs.

So on to the pie adventure number 2. I've left a voice mail for my mom, on those rare occasions when I decide to cook or bake something my mom serves as my phone a friend. Oddly enough as I'm waiting for her to return my call, my next door neighbor knocks on the door (my next door neighbor is a trained chef). He'd done his own baking today and hands be a slice of angel food cake with fresh berries, a slice of mixed berry pie and a slice of blueberry pie. I'm pretty sure I will not be making a rhubarb pie this weekend, but a few of my friends are planning to show up here Wednesday night for a euchre game perhaps I will make them a rhubarb pie. To be continued.

Tradition! Tradition!

2010-05-29T20:51:00.002-04:00

I love Fiddler on the Roof, it may be one of my top ten favorite musicals. But this blog really isn't about musicals but about traditions and my love for them. For instance my family always goes to 4:00 mass on Christmas Eve and then we return home for a huge Christmas Eve dinner. My mom and I for the last 15 years have been taking a summer vacation together, just us girls where we do all sorts of things that the men in our family would hate, and we laugh about it.

Memorial Day is also one of those days steeped in tradition for me. It's where every year for the last 35+ years my friend MJ and I meet at the end of the street we grew up on (where my parents, and her mom still live) to watch our hometown Memorial Day parade. In terms of parades this is a great one. Lots of fire trucks, girl scout and boy scout groups and the local high school bands. There are three actually the two public schools that are located in the the village and the all girls Catholic school that I attended. My school's band is clearly the best of the three. You may think I'm bragging, but it's true they are an outstanding band have recently performed in one of the Disney parades and in Washington during the inauguration for President Obama.

But I digress, this is not about which of the local high schools has the best band, but about friendship and tradition. MJ is my oldest and dearest friends she was the only other girl, my age on our street growing up. We were surrounded by boys and the two of us were in fact tomboys, we were viscous kick ball, 4 square, and kick the can players. Except when we weren't. We tried gymnastics together and together we failed miserably. We both continue to hang our heads in shame that neither one of us ever mastered a cartwheel. We tried synchronized swimming for a summer, we were better at this, but we decided at the end of the summer it wasn't for us. Neither one of us was real excited about the thought of putting jello in our hair for performances.

MJ would say she saved my life once. I tripped and fell in the middle of a 4 lane road as we were walking to the drug store to get our daily pixie sticks. Instead of waiting for me to try to get up MJ dragged me safely to the other side of the street. "You could have been killed by that El Camino" she stated as the rusty looking car/truck slowly drove by us. "Yeah, but wasn't that your brother Dan?" I asked. "I'm pretty sure he would have stopped before he hit me."

She was also with me the day I was taken home in shame in the back of a police car. Our plan that summer morning was to go to the local public swimming pool. My backyard pool was not sufficient that morning, we wanted to practice our diving off the high board. So we threw on our bathing suits and jumped on our bikes and headed for the local pool. The local pool is located at the bottom of a very steep hill on a very busy 6 lane road. We were not allowed to cross this road but fortunately for us at the bottom of the hill was a pedestrian bridge that our parent's deemed safe. "I dare you to pedal down the hill, instead of just coasting" MJ said to me. Never one to refuse a dare I agreed and took off. Big mistake. I flew down that hill and lost control of my bike flying over the handlebars and rolling the rest of the way. I was bloody from head to toe. A local police officer happened upon us and decided that I was in no condition to ride home and instead opened the back of his cruiser and so began my first and what I'm pretty sure will be my last ride in the back of a police cruiser.

So this Monday, MJ and I will sit on the corner of our street surrounded by other friends, neighbors and family we will reminisce about the year we sold balloons in the parade for 50 cents while this years hawkers are charging $5.00 for a can of silly string and $10.00 for crazy Dr. Seuss like hats with what appears to be a marijuana print on them. I will remind her of the summer I wanted to be blond and we used sun-in to achieve that goal. She'll remind me of when the two of us along with our brothers stretched Stretch Armstrong a little too far and his insides oozed out all over my parents bedroom and how Stretches sticky insides got all over her hair and how it needed to be cut because it couldn't be removed any other way.

We will laugh at the fact that one year when we decided to attend VBS together the pastor asked me to leave because I was talking to much. He told me I could come back the next day if I could be quieter. Neither one of remembers is we went back. My mom insists that we did. We'll shake our heads over the fact that the first boy either one of us ever kissed was the same boy. He's long gone of course but our friendship remains. At the end of the parade we will walk home together and insist that we need to get together more often and like most summers we may catch up a few times but if we don't we know where to find each other on Memorial Day.

The home office

2010-05-26T09:41:00.005-04:00

I am fortunate enough to work from home once a week. Don't get me wrong, I truly enjoy my colleagues and the college students I work with but this mid week reprieve really does allow me to catch up on emails, planning and other projects. Oh yeah and I get to wear a t-shirt and yoga pants. Although today the forecast is high 80's so I'm wearing a tank top and shorts. For 8 months of the year my home office pretty much consists of the chair by the window in the corner of my living room. But when the weather cooperates I move my home office outdoors. I truly believe I am far more productive in the outdoor office, with the sun warming my skin and the sweet smell of flowers.

Random Thoughts

2010-05-21T20:30:00.002-04:00

I'm having a garage sale tomorrow, I'm really not a garage sale kinda girl but my neighborhood association holds this event every year and I've lived here 10 years so I figured maybe it's time to get in on the fun. I haven't had any fun yet and for the last few days I found myself saying over and over "why am I doing this?" I still don't have the answer to that, although it did feel good to go through the house and start purging items. My house is small and I have always thought of myself as someone who really does not have a lot of extra stuff, but I have managed to fill three tables with junk, excuse me, treasures. My other problem with having a garage sale? Being tied to my garage between the hours of 8 -4 on a Saturday. I have lined up several friends to come visit me though out the day and I will bribe them to stay with promises of good strong coffee and dark chocolate brownies.

My plan after the garage sale was to use any money I made to buy flowers for my garden. I couldn't wait and spent this afternoon at my local nursery forking over $80.00 for annuals. I can't wait to plant them all and just sit on my deck and admire them. Have I mentioned how much I love spring?

Finally I have become obsessed in the last few weeks with a bake shop in the city. They only make cupcakes, but these are the most amazing cupcakes I have ever had. The bakery also does a good job marketing themselves and their flavors of the day. I "won" a contest with them today which entitled me to one free cupcake if I buy 5. I know what you're thinking, I didn't really WIN anything but there flavors today were just so enticing. In the end though I decided I really wanted flowers for the garden more than I wanted a cupcake. This was not the case last week when I just had to have a mounds cupcake. Dark chocolate with coconut filling and a dark chocolate frosting.

Sometimes I have to scratch my head and laugh

2010-05-11T19:48:00.005-04:00

I'm one of those people who really, really enjoys her job. I love working with college students and alumni, assisting them as they begin their career journey. But sometimes I just have to shake my head and laugh. I manage a small career center, basically I am the only person in the office who does career counseling, provides cover letter and resume writing assistance, mock interview, job search strategies, etc. My philosophy of career development is that I want to empower others, to provide them with the tools they need to be successful but ultimately they are responsible for the final product. Over the years I have had some real strange conversations with students Here are just a few:

Student - I hear you write resumes.

Me - No, sorry you heard wrong, but I'd love to teach you how to write your own and I'd be happy to assist you with writing one.

Student - Well you don't understand I'm VERY busy.

Me - (nodding my head, trying to show my empathy skills) I'm sorry to hear that,I'm pretty busy myself. I need to provide services to all the students and alumni here at the college so you can see I really can't write your resume for you. But again, I'd be happy to teach you how to write one.

Student - Well I just don't have time, I'd be happy to pay you to write it for me.

Me - Gee that's very kind of you, but you see the college is already paying me to teach you how to write a resume, so it would really be a conflict of interest for me to take your money.

Student (Leans close and whispers) I promise I won't tell anyone.

This volleying went back and forth for a few minutes before the student finally asked me if I could recommend a resume writing service to her. I couldn't of course because I had never had to recommend a resume writing service. Every other student I met was very eager to learn how to do this, it is after all the first step in a job search. This student did come back a few weeks later after learning what a great deal I was, or perhaps the time commitment it would take to tell her story to someone who was willing to take a lot of her money to write her resume for her.

Interviewing Skills?
Student walks into my office and says she is really nervous about an upcoming internship interview and asks if I can assist her in any way.

Me - Sure, I'd be happy to do a mock interview with you, but before that let me give you a handout on preparing for an interview. I give her the handout and she looks excited.

Student - Wow this has sample questions that an employer might ask?

Me - Yes, along with questions that you may want to ask the employer.

There is a few moments of silence while she is looking over the handout.

Student - Where are the answers?

Today's conversation with a student takes the cake though and I'm still shaking my head in disbelief.

Student - Did your assistant tell you why I made an appointment to see you?

Me - Well she make a note on the calendar that you had some questions about your job search.

Student - Yeah, I have not received any job interviews and I'm trying to figure out why.

Me - Okay well, can you tell me what sort of positions you are looking for and how many resumes you have sent out?

Student - (Blank Stare) I have no idea.

Me - You have no idea?

Student - Haven't you been sending out my resume for me?

Me - (Blank Stare) Why would I be sending out your resume?

Student - I thought that's what you did here.

Me - (Another Blank Stare) No, sorry and besides, how would I know what positions and organizations to apply to for you? You and I have never met before.

Student - Oh that's true. So maybe that's why I haven't been called for an interviews?

Me - Umm Yeah.

You're Off and Away

2010-05-07T18:22:00.004-04:00

It's graduation weekend at the college I work at. It's always such a bittersweet time for me, I love the college students I work with, I love getting to know them, listening to their dreams, calming their fears and frankly just being in relationship with them. But then darn it all, they decide after 4 years or maybe only two that it's time for them to leave. Why do they do that? Why am I in a profession where each year I have to say good-bye to some really awesome people. But this is what's supposed to happen and as hard as it is to say good-bye, I am excited about what lies ahead for these graduates.

I've always been a fan of Dr. Seuss, during graduate school I lived on Forest Park Ave just a few short blocks from Mulberry Street. "And to Think That I saw it on Mulberry Street" was the first book he published. Forest Park itself also has a place in Dr. Seuss history. It is one of the largest municipal parks in the United States and includes a zoo. Dr. Seuss often spent time there studying and drawing elephants. My graduate school roommate and I loved this park and once became very, very lost among its 700 + acres. Perhaps that is a story for another blog.

As they cross the platform and collect their diploma's I wish I could hand them each another gift, "Oh The Places You'll Go" by Dr. Seuss. I realize that this is not exactly an original idea but I've worked with enough students and alumni to know that this particular book is full of wisdom

Graduation is a new beginning with lots of excitement ahead. But it's also about choices we have and decisions we have to make. Choices! This is so liberating for some and absolutely terrifying for others. But as Dr. Seuss reminds us, even when we make bad choices we are a resilient bunch, it's okay to make a wrong choice, we'll bounce back and we can learn so much about ourselves from mistakes that we've made. He also teaches us about patience. This is tough one and I'm afraid for this year's crop of graduates they may need to be very patient, it's a tough job market. My advice to these students is don't let that scare you, work at what you love, even if you don't get paid for it. Volunteer with an organization that you believe in, serve others, network, stretch yourself, make a difference! The first step is usually the hardest but remember "Kid, You'll Move Mountains!"

Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You're off to Great Places!
You're off and away!

You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself
any direction you choose.
You're on your own. And you know what you know.
And YOU are the guy who'll decide where to go.

You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself
any direction you choose.
You're on your own. And you know what you know.
And YOU are the guy who'll decide where to go.

You'll look up and down streets. Look 'em over with care.
About some you will say, "I don't choose to go there."
With your head full of brains and your shoes full of feet,
you're too smart to go down any not-so-good street.

And you may not find any
you'll want to go down.
In that case, of course,
you'll head straight out of town.

It's opener there
in the wide open air.

Out there things can happen
and frequently do
to people as brainy
and footsy as you.

And then things start to happen,
don't worry. Don't stew.
Just go right along.
You'll start happening too.

OH!
THE PLACES YOU'LL GO!

You'll be on y our way up!
You'll be seeing great sights!
You'll join the high fliers
who soar to high heights.

You won't lag behind, because you'll have the speed.
You'll pass the whole gang and you'll soon take the lead.
Wherever you fly, you'll be best of the best.
Wherever you go, you will top all the rest.

Except when you don't.
Because, sometimes, you won't.

I'm sorry to say so
but, sadly, it's true
that Bang-ups
and Hang-ups
can happen to you.

You can get all hung up
in a prickle-ly perch.
And your gang will fly on.
You'll be left in a Lurch.

You'll come down from the Lurch
with an unpleasant bump.
And the chances are, then,
that you'll be in a Slump.

And when you're in a Slump,
you're not in for much fun.
Un-slumping yourself
is not easily done.

You will come to a place where the streets are not marked.
Some windows are lighted. But mostly they're darked.
A place you could sprain both your elbow and chin!
Do you dare to stay out? Do you dare to go in?
How much can you lose? How much can you win?

And IF you go in, should you turn left or right...
or right-and-three-quarters? Or, maybe, not quite?
Or go around back and sneak in from behind?
Simple it's not, I'm afraid you will find,
for a mind-maker-upper to make up his mind.

You can get so confused
that you'll start in to race
down long wiggled roads at a break-necking pace
and grind on for miles cross weirdish wild space,
headed, I fear, toward a most useless place.
The Waiting Place...

...for people just waiting.
Waiting for a train to go
or a bus to come, or a plane to go
or the mail to come, or the rain to go
or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow
or the waiting around for a Yes or No
or waiting for their hair to grow.
Everyone is just waiting.

Waiting for the fish to bite
or waiting for the wind to fly a kite
or waiting around for Friday night
or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake
or a pot to boil, or a Better Break
or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants
or a wig with curls, or Another Chance.
Everyone is just waiting.

NO!
That's not for you!

Somehow you'll escape
all that waiting and staying
You'll find the bright places
where Boom Bands are playing.

With banner flip-flapping,
once more you'll ride high!
Ready for anything under the sky.
Ready because you're that kind of a guy!

Oh, the places you'll go! There is fun to be done!
There are points to be scored. There are games to be won.
And the magical things you can do with that ball
will make you the winning-est winner of all.
Fame! You'll be as famous as famous can be,
with the whole wide world watching you win on TV.

Except when they don't
Because, sometimes they won't.

I'm afraid that some times
you'll play lonely games too.
Games you can't win
'cause you'll play against you.

All Alone!
Whether you like it or not,
Alone will be something
you'll be quite a lot.

And when you're alone, there's a very good chance
you'll meet things that scare you right out of your pants.
There are some, down the road between hither and yon,
that can scare you so much you won't want to go on.

But on you will go
though the weather be foul.
On you will go
though your enemies prowl.
On you will go
though the Hakken-Kraks howl.
Onward up many
a frightening creek,
though your arms may get sore
and your sneakers may leak.

On and on you will hike,
And I know you'll hike far
and face up to your problems
whatever they are.

You'll get mixed up, of course,
as you already know.
You'll get mixed up
with many strange birds as you go.
So be sure when you step.
Step with care and great tact
and remember that Life's
a Great Balancing Act.
Just never foget to be dexterous and deft.
And never mix up your right foot with your left.

And will you succeed?
Yes! You will, indeed!
(98 and 3/4 percent guaranteed.)

KID, YOU'LL MOVE MOUNTAINS!

So...
be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray
or Mordecai Ali Van Allen O'Shea,
You're off the Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So...get on your way!

Oddities along the way

2010-05-02T20:40:00.008-04:00

For the last two years my friend and I have been working on a photo book we have titled Oddities Along the Way. Yesterday while driving on some back roads near Altamont, NY I found myself behind a pick up truck with two goats in the bed of the truck. Now this is something I have never seen before, truly an oddity. My original reaction, was to quickly try to take a picture, I had not one but two cameras with me for goodness sake, unfortunately the speed limit was 55mph and these were after all country back roads that I was not familiar with and quite frankly I do value my safety more than this book I'm working on. My friend does not think I'm committed enough to our project. She may be right, it seems that I have allowed more oddities to pass me buy than I have been willing to sacrifice myself for. At the moment our book is more about missed opportunities. I have however caught the crazy Christmas man, who it seems is also the crazy Easter man.

Laundry

2010-04-27T19:32:00.004-04:00

I've been doing my own laundry since I was a teenager, this is probably one of my least favorite household chores, along with cleaning the bathrooms, vacuuming, cleaning up after the kitties, doing dishes, loading and unloading the dishwasher, grocery shopping. Okay I guess I am not a fan of any household chores. But I digress.

I have some friends who really enjoy laundry and take pride in being able to get out those really tough stains. Before they were home owners my brother and sister in law would bring their laundry to my parents each Saturday. This would be a day long adventure for them, they'd come in with two baskets and for some reason 8 hours later they were still working on the laundry. I couldn't understand that, especially when if I were in a real hurry I would just throw a weeks worth of laundry in all together and wash everything on the cold cycle. Everything still comes out clean. Right?

So over the last 20 + years I suspect I have done approximately 2, 400 loads of laundry. In my parents basement, in the college dorm, the laundromat, and my own home. Once during my graduate school days I spent a Friday evening at the laundromat with my hypnotherapy text book. Yes, it's true I took a class on hypnotherapy, and as a graduate student I had no life so I did my laundry on Friday evenings. It was during one of these evenings that a male patron loudly asked to all who waited patiently for our clothes to finish spinning or drying "Does this tiny bra belong to any of you?" Mortified I looked up to see this "gentleman" holding one of my very tiny bras. And what did I do I looked up quickly and said "Nope not mine." And that Friday night I lost one of my bras. I am however very proud to say that in all of my years of doing my laundry I have NEVER lost a sock. That is a true story.

Good Books and Poker

2010-04-26T20:36:00.003-04:00

Several years ago my friend K. thought it would be a good idea to start a book group, she thought it would be a good way to force her to read (it hasn't). So we formed a little group, and over the years have read a total of 54 books to this point. We've had a few that have been out of the park home runs and a few that well none of us have finished and we've wondered why did we chose that one? We've shared some great meals, laughed a lot and have had some amazing conversations. Our friend G. does like to remind us from time to time to stay on task that we are a book club NOT a social club, it is hard with 8 women not to get off topic and really just enjoy each others company.

A few months ago K probably craving more social time and less book time thought it would be fun if a few of us got together to play cards. So we set up our first Poker night. Okay not really we set up our first Eucre night, none of us knew how to play Poker. Truth is we are not really great Eucre players either. The conversation during a Eucre game go something like this.

K - Who remembers how to keep score?

Silence

L - Well I think I do. Yeah, I do were good to go.

C - Who dealt again and what's trump?

M - I dealt and remember C you are my partner - I just put down the Left bower.

G - Oh Okay

K - Are you two cheating?

Lots of idle chit chat about what's going on in our lives, work, food. Boy that Shack pizza is good tonight. Is Shack pizza ever bad?

M - Whose turn is it?

Lots of laughter

C - M did you deal that?

M - Yes

C - Okay pick it up

More Laughter

C- You know we would all be shot in Western times.

It takes us about 90 minutes to play one round, but we have a lot of laughs doing it. I'm thankful for both my book club and my "poker" club.

Spring!

2010-04-24T22:47:00.001-04:00

I love spring, it is by far my favorite time of the year. Why? Well for one it means that winter is along way off. I live in NY state, in a part of NY state that sees a lot of snow, a LOT of snow, although this year folks have remarked on what an unremarkable winter it has been, that we actually only had 7 weeks of snow and that people are moving back to NY state because of our wonderful weather. I enjoy living in a part of the country where we do actually experience 4 distinct seasons, and I have to say that this spring for some reason has been especially beautiful. I love taking pictures, I have a camera with me at all times, and many times I stop to try to capture the beauty of the seasons, but I've realized lately that it is difficult to capture the true beauty of spring, and that sometimes it is better to just stop and enjoy it.

Those pink trees are my favorite and I find myself giggling as I look at them and stand in amazement at their beauty. Scripture does tell us though that beauty is fleeting, and before we know it those crazy colors have turned to green and we barely give those trees a second look. Slow down, stop and look at the trees.

Seriously, Why I am starting another blog?

2010-04-24T22:02:00.000-04:00

This is the second blog I've started, the first one I thought I would dedicate more to family and my photography but I realized that after having it for two years I had only updated it 5 times. I have since deleted all my posts, however I have kept my url for the site because I like it and I may go back and use it more for my photography, but no longer for family photos. I'll save those for Facebook.

I've noticed something lately about the blog world, everyone has one and there are lots of really talented people out there with amazing blogs, unfortunately there is also a lot of junk. Hopefully this will fall somewhere in between.

So who am I and why am I starting another blog? I'm a lover of life, and enjoy good cups of coffee, being surrounded by my amazing family and friends. I am passionate about my faith in Christ. I'm a full time college administrator - where I assist students in trying to "figure out what they should do for the rest of their lives" in my free time you can find me curled up reading good books, often several at a time, trying to grow flowers in my garden and taking pictures of anything and everything.

I've noticed lately that there are lots of blogs about food. This will not be one of them. I have a hard time finding my way around my kitchen and if it were not for the resale value of my house I probably wouldn't have one. I am a master of the microwave however and I have begun to master the crock pot. I've been known to whip up some tasty baked goods from time to time but these instances are few and far between.

Again I'm not sure how or for what purpose I will utilize this blog but I'm a keen observer of things around me and I'd love to tell you about it.