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Mommy/Daughter Day

Today is a big mother/daughter day.  Around 3am (ugh) this morning my father woke up to fly to Florida to visit with his brother for a few days.  My mom, who has MS, hasn't been feeling well and my parents have a dog.  So I came to stay last night.  D is in NYC for a conference but returns late tonight. We're both going to stay over my parent's house and then the shuttle taking us to the airport is coming at the @ss crack of dawn tomorrow (aka 5am) to take us to the airport.  We're flying to Seattle and then D's parents are driving us to Vancouver. So sweet!  We're going to spend a week with D's family in Canada (cooler weather here I come!) And celebrate his grandpa's 90th birthday!

Look familiar?

But today, there is much to be done.  There are errands to run. There are suitcases (or rather singular, ONE suitcase, since it is so freaking expensive to pack two!) to be packed.

And then, a very special mother/daughter dinner.  You see, my father's tastes are ... well ... very limited.  As in toddler's have a wider range (probably). So my mom doesn't get to try new foods very often.

When I was in 5th grade, my class went to an Indian buffet for lunch and it was great.  My mother and I went back a few weeks later and hated it.  Since then, I've started eating Indian food and again, fallen in love. So tonight, it is mom's turn to sample Indian food again!

A little mother/daughter bonding can't hurt.  I'm excited to get to spend the day with my mom .... and hang out with their dog.  Who I love. And miss terribly!

What are your plans today? As an adult, how do you get meaningful time with your parents?

You Can't See Me!

When I was a freshman in college, my friend and I were walking into the campus center.  And as I walked in and saw some gorgeous football players (not a guarantee in my school!) walking up the stairs, I tripped.  Not sure what over, but that's irrelevant.  Point is I tripped.  And covered my face.  I guess I assumed if I couldn't see the guys then they couldn't see me!

Sometimes my logic amazes even me!

So what made me think of this?

Today I went to the bathroom at work. I tried to go into the stall by the window but it was locked.  So I went into the next stall and force of habit, looked at my neighbor's feet.  Except, I couldn't see any.  Which I thought was odd.  So naturally, I bent over even further.  And there were her feet.  She was doing #2 (or rather, waiting until I left to do it) so she raised her feet to be anonymous.

I kinda get it, and kinda think it's crazy.  It's not like we all don't have the same bodily needs from time to time.

Then again, who hasn't gone into a bathroom and acted horrified at the smell that you encountered.

Maybe in the end we all just want to give off the impression of being perfect?  If that's the case, I've failed!

And I guess the real question is ... do you do #2 in public places?

Privacy vs. the Blog!

It is so easy when blogging to share.  You can write whatever you want and if you turn off your comments, you'll never have to hear anything about it!

But with great power comes great responsibility (this is a line from a movie ... can someone comment and tell me which one? I seriously have no idea...).

What do I mean by that?

Well, when you blog, just how honest are you?  Are there certain topics that are off limits?  Do you use full names?  Or just first? Or letters? Or made up names?  Do you post pictures? Or do you consider that too personal?

I've come to realize everyone has their own style.  Some people are very open while others are very secretive.

When I first started blogging (you know, a whole FOUR months ago lol) I only really read Beth's blog.  So I kinda used her example.  But morphed it a bit.

You see, my actual, real, legit first name is somewhat unique.  And I don't want anyone to find me! (Shhh, I'm hiding.) So I had to come up with a name. I could explain where Sara comes from, but that's unlikely to happen in the near future.

Now as for D, his name actually starts with the letter D.  Whenever possible, I do use the first letter of someone's name.  But, sometimes it's too confusing.  So sometimes I pick another letter.  Don't hate me.

But what about topics?  This is especially timely because JUST LAST NIGHT, I found myself in a conversation about sex toys that I did not start.  (Here's lookin' at you, Kim and you, Rusti.)  Now the conversation itself didn't upset/worry/bother me. (And since I know you are just DYING to know ... no, D and I do not and have not ever owned nor used the sex toy they were discussing!)

But, D had a stricken look on his face.  He was suddenly fearful that "once you put something on the internet, that's it."  It's there and there is NO going back!

This doesn't worry me quite as much.

Plus, I'm 99% anonymous.  A few people know who I really am and only a FEW (as in 3) that I know in real life know that I blog.  And one is my husband.  I'm not too worried.

But even though I am anonymous, I'm not naive.  I fully imagine one day I will open up my blog and tell my family about it.  And when that day comes, I don't want to risk them going back through my entries and discovering something.  (Basically, if my mom and MIL were to read this post tomorrow, would it be ok? If the answer is yes, the post can go up!)

So family (with the exception of memories and good/funny stories) is off the table.

I also don't discuss coworkers (good technique, make sure one of the THREE people you know in real life is a coworker! It helps keep you honest!), friends, or my husband.  Again, except for memories/funny stories.  If I mention a person who was in my life previously, I have to be certain of two things: (a) they will never ever ever read my blog and/or (b) even if they did, I would not care if they did realize I was talking about them.  If you can pass BOTH of these two tests, the story goes in.

I also keep a lot of my private life, private.  At first I didn't even say what state I lived in.  That changed.  But I haven't talked about my work except in mostly abstract terms.  And that's intentional.

This invisible line between what is allowed and what isn't will only get worse once I get pregnant and/or have a kid.

What are your rules regarding privacy on your blog??

 

This was written in response to the prompt:What are your thoughts on blogging and privacy...where do you draw the line?

Aren't We All Doctors?

Have you ever noticed how many doctors there are in the world?

Ok ... obviously I am not literally talking about doctors. But I'm amazed how people become doctors without ever having to go to school.

You might be shaking your head or disagreeing with me.  But think about it.

You don't feel well.  A friend/colleague/coworker/spouse/family member asks what is wrong and you tell them your head/foot/shoulder/big toe hurt.  They may ask a follow up question, they may not. Regardless, they are almost certain to tell you (a) what is wrong with you and (b) how to treat it.

No, I don't just mean that "you should see a doctor."  But rather, you should take this medicine, but not this one.  You should elevate/heat/ice for 10 minutes/1 hour/15 days.

Maybe it's just me? Maybe I am just surrounded by unlicensed doctors?

And don't think I don't do it too.

Now when your are a mom you have to diagnose.  I get that.

But be careful! Diagnosing your toddler could quickly grow to diagnosing any ailment on any person near you.

My Accountant Says...

(Sorry ... another Sex and the City reference ... "my therapist says...")

Anyways, I'm back.

My immediate family all use the same accountant.  Could we do the taxes ourselves? Possibly. But that's a topic for another day.

Source:http://bit.ly/jC8HKY

So last year I got a return but my siblings owed (state and Federal).  I can't remember about my parents.  Anyway, our accountant told us to claim we were single (which at the time I legally was) and zero exemptions.

Let me tell you, that sucked! It was a lot more money out of my paycheck (ok ... not a lot more money, but enough that I'd notice).  But we listened.  And this year, we all got rebates.

Which got me thinking.  My accountant, I listened to without really a moment's hesitation.

Doctors, not so much.  Now I'm not talking about big things like cancer where we'd probably do anything our doctor recommended.  I'm talking about "proactive" things like lose weight, eat healthier, exercise more.  Ok, technically these could all be "big" things some day but at least in the present they aren't IMMEDIATELY life threatening, so more often than not, we ignore the advice.

For instance, my orthopedist recommended I wear a boot a few hours a day and do some exercises to help my foot.  The boot I'm pretty good at wearing.  The exercises?  Not so much.  I keep saying I'll start.  But alas I don't.

Maybe tonight will be the night!

I bet our accountant was pleasantly surprised when he saw our IRS forms and saw that we ALL listened to his advice.

If only all professionals got the same response...

My Safeway National Dairy Month Shopping Trip

D and I are huge dairy fans, and D loves the opportunity, any opportunity, to eat outside, so I jumped at the chance to participate in Safeway’s National Dairy Month.    

As we try to be healthier, we’ve come to realize just how important dairy is in a healthy lifestyle.  It is also a very tasty addition to any diet!  D and I both love milk, though he drinks more of it than I do.  We’ve also started really liking the Yoplait yogurts that taste like dessert (some of them actually do, it’s amazing!).  We’re also big fans of cheese, though our tastes differ.  I like cheddar, gouda, brie, and mozzarella.  While D likes all those, he also likes swiss, and blue cheese, and any stinky cheese.  I cannot even smell some of his favorite cheeses.

Now when buying dairy, there aren’t very many special considerations.  We have no allergies, though we do try to look at labels to get the items that are healthiest for us.

The same is NOT true when deciding on a recipe.  D and I have very unique considerations when it comes to food.  A bit hard to explain.  But suffice it to say, we keep Kosher-style, meaning no mixing meat with dairy.  This often means I have to edit/alter recipes I find to make sure there is no mixing.

Two of our favorite dairy ingredients are mozzarella cheese and pesto sauce.  Since we were going to eat outside I also wanted to make sure we had something accessible for outdoors.  So sandwiches it was!  I found a few recipes online at an awesome website http://packyourpicnic.com (seriously, go take a look, I’ll wait!).   And edited them.

D and I go both enjoy food shopping so we usually do it together.  I either write up a paper list (old fashioned I know!) or give him the list to put on his Ipod touch.   Now I love our local Safeway.  The produce department in particular is so inviting.  It makes me want to taste everything (I resist!) with all the bright colors.  No matter when I go in or what time of day, it is always neat and inviting.  It isn’t cramped like some other grocery stores.

Thrilled about our shopping cart!

I love a good deal and have been a Safeway club member for a while. Take a look at the pictures in the slide show.  You’ll notice all the deals I got just by having my free membership!

When I cook, D always likes to help.  Now as for the recipe: toast the bread. On one slice put about 1T of pesto sauce. On the other slice place sliced tomato and mozzarella cheese. Place that second slice under the broiler for about 5 minutes. Assemble sandwich, slice, add some cheddar chips to the plate and

good to go! Oh, but don’t forget the raspberry green tea with REAL raspberries!

I think what excited D most about this whole thing was getting to eat outdoors.  He loves it, me not so much.  But tonight it was dinner outside.  Just look how happy he is in the pictures here!

This project has been compensated as part of the June Dairy program for Safeway. Make sure you look for #SafewayDairy.  As always, all opinions are my own.