From Discover Magazine.

I am not a pageant Mom, for sure.  In fact, the weekend’s festivities were highlighted with me reminding Erin how much she *hated* being on the baton twirling team – a requirement for any girl who wins a title.  Nevertheless, Erin was named a grand champion of twirling with the group with whom she twirls.

Rah rah blah.  Yes, I’m proud of her.  Yes, she was outstanding.  Yes, all the other Moms hate me because I didn’t encourage and nurture her through the process.  But NO they don’t have to be the ones to get her out of the house for every event and listen to her grumpy crabbiness and the verbal sparring that occurs EVERY SINGLE TIME we have to be somewhere.  If she loved it, I would too.

Back to the popcorn, though.  After all the congratulations ended and the meetings were over, we loaded in the car to drive home.  We stopped at a cute little “general store” type retail that had some of the old fashioned pecan rolls and stick candy.  I spied a bag of buttery popcorn and the temptation was too great.  For $1.98, I was all in.

The popcorn melted in my mouth and was so delicious.  Until.   Until I accidentally chewed on the left side of my mouth – a side I always avoided when eating because of a sensitive tooth.  I heard a crack and pulled a kernel out.  Then my tongue rolled over my teeth and there was something missing.  Part of my tooth.

Now I’m going to the dentist and am debating whether I agree to another $1200 cap or if I should just tell them to pull the whole tooth for $200.  My finances dictate the latter and since it’s not a front (or visible) tooth, my vanity won’t get in the way.

Will know more in about two hours.  Wish me luck.

PS – The kernel I pulled out wasn’t a kernel at all.  TMI!

Erin pictured “jumping” for joy. Ha.

Okay so Blackberry phones are pretty awesome, but blackberries the fruit is even better.  Sweet, juicy, and boundless uses for this bramble plant.  However, the large seeds can be a turn-off for many people.  If you can overcome the big crunches from the seeds, though, there is magic in a blackberry cobbler.

Rachel recently celebrated her wedding anniversary with a blackberry cobbler… cooked with lots of butter and deliciousness!

As a token of my love, I cooked. Baked rather. A blackberry cobbler. Wanna see? Here’s some progression pictures. Because when I cook, I wanna prove it actually happened.  The verdict? The Accountant says it tastes good. However, it is quite runny. Water comes to mind. Flour next time. Really. Oh, I didn’t taste it. What? Is that weird? I don’t even LIKE blackberry cobbler! This was a labor of true LUUUUUURVE people!!!

That’s true love, my friends.  Cooking something for your true love that you don’t even like. It’s why on my husband’s birthday and Father’s Day I grilled out… not that I didn’t like the steaks, but I hated standing in the heat… because that’s love.

You don’t have to spend a lot of money to show someone how much you love them.  When you make something by hand – even when you don’t like doing it – it shows them.

Photo – even though it focused on the mulch instead of the blackberries – was taken by my iphone at my friend Michelle’s house.

I have reached an age where more and more of my friends are talking about how much they miss their Dad’s on Fathers Day.  One friend said, “I just wish I could hear my Dad’s voice today over the phone, but I lost him 15 years ago.”  Another has a fractured relationship with her father and said, “I wish I had a father on this special day.”

It reminds us to make every day count with your family.  Take the extra 5 minutes out of your day to pick up the phone and call.  Or give Dad an extra squeeze next time you hug him.  Me?  I was sitting next to my Dad on my brother’s couch on Saturday and reached up to rub Dad’s head.  He always loved when my sister would brush his hair and – apparently – he still adores a good old-fashioned scalp massage.   I hadn’t done that in at least 30 years.

In my own house, our aftermath is dealing with a grumpy husband who didn’t like us spending money on his gifts.  He got wind-chimes and solar-powered sidewalk lights.  I could have forced the girls to make him “coupons” for a free car wash or to trim the hedges, but actually getting them to honor the coupons wore me out just thinking about it!

How did you spend father’s day?  What did your kids do (if you have kids) to celebrate?

Photo of my brother playing with his one-year old on her birthday Saturday.

It was hard thing for me to realize, but I finally did.  No matter how nice, courteous, friendly, caring, and giving you are – not everyone will like you.  It even crushes my heart a little just saying it now, but it’s true.  Human nature calls for people to be jealous, envious, angry, and hurtful.  It’s only through wisdom that we learn to recognize these shortcomings in ourselves and know how to look beyond them or work past them.

Even so, there are people I don’t like.  And there are people who don’t like me.

Where spouses get divorced and boyfriends and girlfriends break up, this is sometimes also the way of friendships.  If you’ve been friends with someone for a short- or long-time and you realize it’s just not worth the effort you put into it and there’s something wrong or off-balance at the most basic level, then why be around that person if it makes you unhappy?

I’ve recently heard of two girls who had “friendship” break-ups.  The person at the receiving end of the break-up is always the one hurt the most because – face it – no one enjoys being rejected.  My worst friend break-up was due to being blindsided.  I went to a party at her house and had perhaps one of the best times of my life laughing, cooking, eating, talking.   Three families got together and we meshed really well.

However after that she told me she didn’t like my children so didn’t want to be my friend any longer.  I was crushed, devastated.  I didn’t understand how one of the happiest moments of my life could lead to that end.  It was very painful.

That’s why it’s also really hard to see when it happens to school-aged children.  Have you ever had to break off a friendship?  Why?  How did you do it?  Face-to-face honesty or did you just slowly stop talking?

My brother has an above ground swimming pool that 1) His new puppy loves mudding under (they’ve put in gravel now to stop this), and 2) That often causes earaches when water gets in his ear.

Another brother offered a tip:  Put a drop of alcohol in the ears to clear out the water.  Apparently it works.  Not sure I’d want to try it though!  My solution was to hop on the foot opposite the ear that’s affected while tilting my head to allow the water to run out.  It also seems effective.

Swimmer Ear Remedies reports that alcohol is indeed a good option.  In addition, a hair dryer set to warm (not hot) can be used to dry the water.  But be careful… if you have swimmer’s ear you need to seek medical attention.  How can you tell?

Use this simple test to see if you have swimmer’s ear: grab your ear and pull it forward gently, and wiggle it. If the pain increases you more than likely have an ear problem that can be helped with one of the following remedies. If the pain stays the same, you may have a middle ear problem which will need medical attention.

Nothing hurts worse than an earache.  Except maybe a toothache.  Or a gall bladder attack.

Ay yi yi!  As I re-read the site I realized how often I talk about being poor as a child.  How embarrassing!  While we didn’t have a lot of money, we were well provided for.  We had food, we had shelter, we had clean clothes, we had toys.

These are things all parents want for their children.  A friend of mine going through a divorce just bought a house.  Because her divorce is not yet final, her soon to e ex husband had to also sign the paperwork. Once the divorce is final, he will be removed from the deed just as she will be removed from the deed of the house he is in.

However to get him to sign, she had to remind him that having a stable home is what the 3-year old needed in order to have a sense of stability.  He signed.  Proof that most parents – even during bitter times – do try to put their kids first.

I have never experienced divorce by my parents or in my own marriage, but I’ve read more and more about people who are in the situation.  One friend and his wife have four rambunctious boys separated.  Another friend started a new life with a new woman.  I think I keep hearing about it because when money gets tight (and it does when the economy tanks), couples fight more and marriages fall apart.

How can you save a marriage when money is tight?  Talk.  Talk about money.  Come up with a plan.  Then have a plan B.  Don’t blame your partner.  Seek counseling.

What is the greatest gift you can give a child?  A roof over their heads?  Regular meals?  Not embarrassing them in public?  A good education? (Note there is no talk here of the latest and greatest toys, gadgets, or vacations…).

I think the greatest gift you can give is a home filled with love.  With love, a child may never even realize how poor they are.  They may not care if they don’t own that perfect pair of high-tops or the to-die-for jeans from the Miley Cyrus collection. With love and nurturing, a child can excel at school even if there are years of bad teachers or classmates.  With love, the absence of a roof overhead and regular meals can build character and compassion rather than one of entitlement and rotten behaviour.

And that’s why today I am expressing my love and appreciation to my own Mom and Dad who are celebrating their 52nd anniversary.   We grew a lot of our own vegetables.  We had about three good changes of clothes – it was enough.  We got a doll at Christmas or a football.  We celebrated birthdays with our choice of a meal that night.  My brother always picked pinto beans which was “Ewww” to me but he loved those beans (and really they weren’t too bad with ketchup) and Mom cooked them to celebrate his day. We went camping in tents or a rented trailer instead of traveling somewhere exotic like skiing in the mountains or going on a Caribbean Cruise.

Mom and Dad – you gave us the best gift of all with the houses full of love (we moved a lot as a military family).  It didn’t matter if we found shelter in trailers, apartments, or single-family brick homes … we had each other.

Thank you and happy anniversary!

I love this concept of dust-mopping shoes for hardwood, but wouldn’t it be fun for a wet mop, too?

Seriously if you’re going to mop, invest in a good one – today’s tip for housecleaning brought to you by Improving Your World.

Cheap mops can hold more dirt and you’ll find yourself mopping dirty water all over the place and more often because it’s not actually getting clean. Do yourself a big favor and get a good mop; not the most expensive one, but a good one that won’t make the floor dirtier as you clean.

I think it’s time for me to invest in a better mop!