It's Monday. Have a nutty bar.

How to get rid of nutty bars. I never remembered to give them to the kids.

I just saw something flash before my eyes. I ask the following question:

“Was that my weekend?”

I could list all the things I meant to do, like respond to blog comments, over the weekend, but nothing like that happened. It was all a blur. I think I cleaned the house. I know I had some relaxing moments. I had an awesome training run/walk on Saturday plus I got to swim for 35 minutes.

The grandkids take up a lot of time and Sundays are 100% full of them, so there’s that. Yesterday after they went home, I went to a community band concert and sat outside listening to great music under blue skies and enjoying a gentle breeze. It was beautiful.

Normally when we go camping, I do no very little preparation anymore. Then when I get to the campground I realize I have no food worth eating and few clothes. I don’t really care, so it’s not a big deal as long as I have my running shoes and shorts.

But getting ready for a long vacation demands a little involvement from me if I am to be happy. I am making sure the food is planned out rather than relying on somebody else what’s in the camper. Usually there are plenty of canned vegetables, crackers, beans and half a bag of O’Brien potatoes in the freezer. For the upcoming trip, I am making plans. There will be ingredients and tools for a proper milkshake with Guinness added. I’ll also be making non-alcoholic milkshakes for friends up in Sioux Falls. You'll be so sorry you missed it. The spectacle, I mean. I will probably do something dumb. Maybe there will be photos. No promises!

Speaking of tacos, which we weren’t, but I was because I also need to make sure I have taco prep in the camper. I cut up a ribeye last night and over indulged in the most wonderful tacos. I found a lone ribeye in the freezer Saturday morning. I threw it in the fridge to thaw and last night I put the pieces in a hot skillet with some kosher salt. Corn tortillas, a tomato, a little garlic salsa and some white cheese. That’s it. No wonder I couldn’t stop eating them!

So for the sake of this blog, I keep wondering when something interesting is going to happen to me. I suppose … yes, it is true … that if I were to whine about a few things, get stuff off my chest, complain about certain people I know, complain about people I don’t know but don’t like or explain some family dynamics, I would have much more to blog about. But since all of that would lead to veiled and cryptic posts, I steer clear.

Maybe this will help:

I bought a going away card for a friend of mine yesterday morning. It said something like this: I’m sorry you’re going away. You’re the least annoying person I know. It made me laugh out loud in the grocery store. I would have paid double the price for that card. It was perfect not only for my personality, but for the recipient as well as the situation.

I shook out crumbs from my keyboard here in the office. I eat at my desk but like to think I am not four years old. Apparently I am fooling myself. My keyboard detritus looked like a bread truck had blown up on the highway. So what did I do? What any Gen X office worker would do: I brushed them onto the floor. Whatever.

I rarely refer to my status as a stepparent on the blog. I do not think of myself as a stepparent any more. I am a real, live grandmother and have the dishpan hands to prove it. Don’t rain on the granny parade. I work hard every weekend to be a good grandma for my grandchildren. But stepparent? No. Something in life that has nothing to do with my step family has dredged up old step family feelings of callous rejection and indifference and I’m fed to the back teeth with feeling like crap about something I have zero control over.

I was tickled pink to find an obituary on July 6 with the following mistake: Dead Guy born July 11, 2010, passed away July 2, 2010 after a lengthy illness battling Lou Gehrig’s Disease… Back in Journalism School (shocking, isn’t it? I am educated in writing and yet…) we were told that people would be fired for messing up an obit. I suppose it is just an oddity and a correction was printed. I didn’t remember to look the next day for a new listing. I was too busy staring at the torn-out copy that is STILL on my desk making me smile.

I mostly stopped arguing with my hair back in December 1995. I began wearing it naturally curly and letting the chips fall. Over time, I’ve become accustomed to the predictably unpredictable nature of my hair and although I still fiddle with it, I don’t fuss. But anyway, this isn’t about that. Back then I wore my hair shoulder length and as now, it blows into my face a lot. I was in outside sales, so I was in and out of my car all day long rain or shine. Also, my eyes are extremely photosensitive. I’ve had eye doctors call them photophobic. What do those things have in common? I hear you asking. Here’s the answer: I wear sunglasses all year long. I wear them into the evening. I wear them on sunless days when the glare makes my eyes water. I wear them all the time and if I don’t have them I get headaches that make me want to scream and can take an entire day to go away. I sometimes wear them in restaurants by big windows. That makes me look like a dope head or a dork or possibly a blind person but I do not want the Headache to End All Headaches and neither do you. All this is to say that most of the time my sunglasses are on top of my head. So there you have the long back story to a 2-second silly comment that made me laugh. I was in a meeting last week and in the middle of everything, my boss of 5.5 years looks across the table and quietly asks me, “Do you know you have sunglasses on your head?” I said, “Yes, is this the first time you’ve noticed?”

I keep checking on my tomatoes and am continually bummed that they are all still green and small. This breed is supposed to be pink and large. I’m not getting anywhere and the clock is ticking. But the plant continues to grow and is almost freakish in height.

OK, that’s it for now. Have a great day.

Why I will shop at my new local Trader Joe's

For anyone not quite clear on why Trader Joe's is a big deal, here's some information for you. I am the sort of person never completely free of skepticism, but this organization makes an effort and so far has a good reputation. It is good to know that most of what I can buy doesn't make me stand in the aisle and waver for 10 minutes. Some of you know that I actually do that, my conscience screaming at me the entire time. I can hardly stand to buy tuna, for instance. Eggs: ditto. Beef: difficult. Chicken: forget it.

You don't need to be a hippie to care about these things. I like to stay as far away from politics as I can, but if one person makes a crack about how a Republican like me can care about such things, it will be a smackdown. Don't be close-minded and think you know so much. Now let's all be friendly and read what TJs has to say about my new favorite local grocery store! (except that it hasn't opened yet)

This is from Trader Joe's customer updates page:

A Note to Our Customers About Trader Joe's Seafood
3/23/10 Update:

In our efforts to offer seafood options that fit customer needs ranging from food safety and taste, to concern over the environment, we have established the following goal: all of our seafood purchases will shift to sustainable sources by December 31, 2012. This applies to all formats of seafood we offer: frozen, fresh, canned, etc.

We are working with third-party, science-based organizations to establish definitions and parameters for this goal.

It is our intent to have this goal function as a seafood policy that addresses customer concerns including the issues of over fishing, destructive catch or production methods, and the importance of marine reserves.

We aim to use our purchasing power to leverage change within the seafood supply community.

We support leaders within the industry who are making positive efforts to "get off the red list" (e.g. freshwater farmed salmon, closed-containment farmed shrimp).

In addition to the mandatory Country of Origin and Wild/Farm-Raised information currently provided on our seafood labels, we are in the process of enhancing our package labeling for all seafood items to include information on species' Latin names, origin and catch or production method.

Based on customer feedback and in support of our work to source sustainable seafood we stopped selling Chilean Sea Bass in 2005, Orange Roughy in July of 2009, and Red Snapper in March of 2010.

As with all the decisions we make about the products we offer, this is an ongoing process. We look forward to sharing updates on this work in the near future.

Trader Joe's Products are Sourced from Non-GMO Ingredients
Our customers can be assured that all products in Trader Joe's private label are sourced from non-genetically modified ingredients. Our efforts began in 2001, when we determined that, given a choice, our customers would prefer to eat foods and beverages made without the use of genetically engineered ingredients. Our process has been to identify any product containing ingredients that could potentially be derived from genetically engineered crops and work with our suppliers to replace offending ingredients with acceptable alternatives.

A Message to Customers Regarding Canadian Seafood and the Seal Hunt Issue
The Issue: It's been reported that some fishermen off Canada's East coast near Newfoundland kill baby seals in the off-season from fishing.

We looked into this, and we think it's important to tell you that we do not purchase any seafood items from the areas where the killing of seals is taking place. Our seafood products that are labeled "Product of Canada," come from reputable suppliers on Canada's West coast, or come from Alaska and are simply processed on Canada's West coast. None of these suppliers are involved in the seal hunt. In addition, we have no plans to purchase any seafood products from the East coast of Canada.

A Note About Eggs
At Trader Joe's we listen to what our customers tell us about the choices we give them. Thanks to their valued feedback, in 2005 we made an important change in our egg selection. As of this time, all Trader Joe's brand eggs come only from cage-free hens. Now customers looking for cage-free eggs need to look no further than the Trader Joe's label. Any conventional eggs sold in our stores are in a brand name carton, not under the Trader Joe's label.

It's good to look for good things

Visit Michelle at the delightful Nature Notes Thursday to learn something fascinating.



One rose bush had all the leaves eaten off it, do you remember that I mentioned that? I put a wire fence around it and now the leaves have grown back and there are even flowers beginning to bloom.

It's good to protect things as they grow.


The rhubarb plant was put to good use this year by someone who sells homemade jam. She took a fair bit of the plant and now it is back and looking better than ever. It's ready to feed anyone who needs pie or cake or sauce.

It's good to put things to use.



My tomato plant is going great guns. There are 9 tomatoes on the vine and countless little yellow flowers scattered high on the plant. I'm going on vacation and may not get to enjoy my tomatoes, at least some of them. I will ask others to pick them when they're ready and let them enjoy.

It's good to share what you have.

Question Mark Kitty

Question Mark Kitty came back twice this weekend looking for a handout! He is fine and walks without a limp!

That's about it for exciting news around here. After all the busy activity of the weekend, the rain today kept me in the house watching movies I recorded back in February, reading and doing a little exercise.

I have been mixing gourment blend bird seed mix with black oil sunflower seeds and guess what? I've seen at least one pair of cardinals. I don't know if pairs of cardinals adopt areas the way the mourning doves do, but I have seen a female and a male cardinal and assume they're a pair.

Lastly, since The Golden Girls is set in Miami I have always been confused about the amount of time they spend in jackets and heavy sweaters. Especially being women of a certain age. That's been on my mind a lot today.

No wonder I keep myself busy.

The sleep of the innocent

Last night I slept like I hadn't slept in ages and when I was still dreaming I was completely confused about a few things. I didn't know whether to wake up or sleep in. I didn't know if the holiday had already passed. My Aaron is up in Minneapolis at a track meet (His relay team won first place! His brother's won third!) and I dreamed I was talking to him, but he was already home and that's what set the confusion in on me. My awake brain often questions my dreaming brain and there I was asking myself questions like When did Aaron get home? Do I go to work today? Are the kids still here? Other dreams had me equally confused and I wasn't clear about things when I woke up, either.

Maybe I slept so well due to the 5k I ran yesterday morning. As I turned the corner right before the finish line, I looked up at the clock and couldn't believe my eyes: It said 34 minutes!

What? I ran almost the entire route, I should be coming in between 30 and 32 minutes. I felt strong and I had decent form and I wasn't fatigued. Crap. I crossed the finish line at 34:38 and decided, after a pout, to take it as a warning: I need to train more for the half marathon in October. And maybe do a few more 5k events before then.

I filled up the bird feeders yesterday and within 90 minutes the first one was empty. But I just love seeing the greedy little monsters darlings sit in the chain link fence over by the garden.

At church this morning I thought of amusing ways to describe what it is like to get ready for church with two children and then I realized 90% of you already know what that's like and really it isn't all that amusing because I am not Erma Bombeck, God rest her hilarious soul. At least I am no longer in a one bathroom house with a teenaged girl. Now that was murder on a Sunday morning.

Have a happy day!

You're so sweet!

There’s a cookout at our house tonight if you’re in the neighborhood. Yes, a cookout on a work night, which will make me feel like the holiday weekend is four days long rather than three days long.

I have no problem with that.

It’s just hamburgers, brats, potato salad from Fareway (who needs homemade? Fareway rocks!), chips and dip and if I am feeling generous, maybe I'll clean some carrots for that dip as well. Probably blueberries by the handful for anyone feeling fruity.

It’s a pretty simple menu, but this isn’t a dinner party with candles and a tablecloth. Someone is bringing dessert, so it will be a surprise. I only hope it isn’t sugar-free.

That doesn’t sound gracious, but I just don’t eat sugar-free food and I hate it when it is foisted upon me. Like Jell-o. Do you realize that one of the best places to buy already made Jell-o is when you’re down at the hospital? But did you also realize that some places like hospitals and cafeterias don’t specify sugar-free when they sell it to you? I think that’s a crime and something should be done.

There is a Wendy’s by my office and when you order a baked potato you get fake butter that isn’t even margarine. It’s the heart-healthy stuff. You also get fake sour cream – low-fat or something like that. Again…a crime because that’s ALL they serve. You do not have a choice. My body wants the real deal stuff so it knows what to do with it.

I’m all for a substitute if that’s your thing. I just don’t like it being forced on me because I don’t like that stuff. So it would be like feeding hamburger to a vegetarian and telling them it is meat substitute. Not funny. I get a tummy ache from that fake fat and sugar-free stuff.

And we’re talking about a tummy ache that makes me go home. So yea, if you want me to go home, feed me some sugar-free Jell-o.

You know what I hope dessert is? Unfrosted cake! I may be the only person who makes cake and then doesn’t frost it. I get along well with children at birthday parties because they lick the frosting off their cakes and I eat their naked cake. Then I scrape my frosting off and divide it among the children present.

Or if one kid is lucky enough to be sitting next to me, I will slide it onto her plate and she wins the frosting lottery. Their parents love me.

Unless it's buttercream. Then you're on your own and if you touch my plate, I will stab you in the head with my fork.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Last January or February, back when we were in winter’s death grip, I decided to forego 5k runs this year. I'm not sure why I decided that.

Fast forward to July and I registered a few days ago for a 5k right here in my own ‘hood. If I had a lock, I would ride my bike. I could walk to the starting line. Maybe I should. Or not. Probably not.

Anyway, here’s hoping I don’t kill myself. I have 40 minutes exactly to finish it before my niece’s 1-mile race begins. This means I have to run. My best 5k time is something like 30 minutes plus a few seconds. Last year I think every 5k got a better time than the previous, but I don’t remember finishing in less than 30.

I'll be sure to let you know so none of you burn with curiousity all weekend. I know how you are about curiousity.

Google disabled my gmail account!

My gmail account was disabled when I tried to log in this morning. When I got things set straight and looked at my inbox, I discovered the reason for it: spam. Someone got hold of my email and sent out stupid emails about pills.

Do people even pay attention to those emails? How is this any way to make money?

So if you got a stupid email from me, Google put a stop to it. I saw 11 emails that didn't make it through, but I don't know how many went out before they got suspicious.

Now the day just can't go anywhere but up! I suppose there are worse ways to start in the morning.