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Posts tagged ‘fun’

Miranda: Eat your way out

Many of us are hunkered down in the midst of Snowpocalypse ’11. In New England, we’re supposed to get MORE snow on Saturday and then MORE again on Tuesday. Uhm, yeah. Where to put it all? Well here’s an idea: eat it! Seriously, if you haven’t whipped up a batch of snow ice cream this season, there ain’t no time like the present. Kids love this kind of “cooking,” so you can get a little creative mileage out of it too. My oldest son prepared a batch with the little guys before going back to college last week. He started with a recipe from AllRecipes but made his own variation, which appears below.

And yes, there’s a cat on the table. That’s how it rolls at our house.

Ingredients

  • 1 gallon snow
  • 1 cup white sugar
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 2 tablespoons maple syrup
  • 2 cups milk

Directions
Gather up a bowl full of totally pristine freshly fallen snow. Eyeball a gallon’s worth. Bring it inside and stir in sugar, maple syrup, and vanilla to taste. You may prefer less or more of each ingredient, so start on the scant side and taste as you go. Then stir in just enough milk for a creamy consistency. Serve right away, assuming you can get your family to stop eating it straight out of the mixing bowl.

I’ll be heading out to rustle up tonight’s dessert momentarily.

Enjoy!

Jenny: How To Enjoy A Day Off

The other morning I had the great fortune to stumble across an entire, glorious two hours between tours for kids to squander away at will.

And so, I ventured forth on my own little date with myself. This is one of my FAVOURITE things to do in the world, namely because:

a) I am free to do whatever the heck I like without considering anybody; and

b) I am fabulous company.

It’s funny, because while I am technically an extrovert, I’m absolutely not one of those people who finds being alone uncomfortable, threatening or in any way negative. (Note to self: this is quite possibly a side-effect of having children. Was I like this pre-kids? Hmmm. Must investigate).

No, no! Being alone these days is such a complete luxury and just so damn hard to come by, that when it does I savour every last drop.

Is that a magazine? Oh my heavens, I might actually READ THAT. Give me four!

Coffee? Don’t mind if I do! Make mine a super-size double decaf with a shot of tranquiliser. No, no, nothing fancy, just whatever you’ve got on stand-by.

A new movie out? Hells to the yes! Don’t tell me what it is, for I don’t really care, so long as it involves frozen Coke and Maltesers.

So, there I was on my little self-indulgent conquest, when what should I stumble on but this complete and utter delight of a West End store: Nook.

Nook, 19 Browning Street, West End

Isn’t it just….cute? I ventured on it, proceeded to slobber all over the lovely polished floors and then asked whether I could take some photos for me ole blog! And so I set forth, feeling like quite the mother who’s finally been let out of the house artist extraordinaire…

Mmmm…

Heck yeah.

Ah, I am so in love with sewing machines. In the same way that I’m in love with Edward Scissorhands. I think they’re so beautiful, yet have no idea what to do with them.

It even had its own resident cat. And while I’m not generally a fan (of cats that is, not residents), even I could acknowledge that this dude just added to the whole charm quotient.

In other words, my perfect date!

How ’bout you? Any other solo date lovers out there? Any fave/dream/ideas for outings?

x

[Cross-posted from Comic Mummy]

Cathy: Weekend Update–the usual frustrations and a dose of sunshine

So many things interfered with so many plans I had this weekend. I won’t bore you with too many details, but while Baby C took a nap, and Honey took care of things he needed to at home (some side job work, some gutter cleaning), I grabbed one highly reluctant son and one enthusiastic one to head up to the other end of the town to the historic district and York River Beach on Saturday. The sun was out for the first time in weeks. We dipped our toes in the water. We walked on the storm barrier rocks. We sat and lay on the sand, dug holes and let the sun warm us like we hadn’t since last August. Aaaaah….

04040914471The teen was acting a bit anti-social (I had interrupted his very important tv viewing agenda, and his afternoon shower before another sleepover at the fellowship) but I think he enjoyed himself in his own reluctant way. S thoroughly enjoyed kicking jellyfish away, digging a hole to semi-bury himself, and climbing and finding rocks and shells. I soaked up some rays, watched my guys be themselves, stood up straight without the baby on my hip and enjoyed the view. The sun, breeze and water are the best ingredients to rejuvenate my spirit after so much time spent indoors. People were all over the pier, walking dogs, cycling, sailing in the distance. It was a beautiful day.

0404091439Sometimes, no matter how much laundry, lawn mowing, reorganizing, cleaning, etc., needs to be done, you just have to take advantage of the sun while it shines. And it helped me love the boys just a little more again – even if from 50 feet away. Maybe it was the distance that made the love happen. If K were grumbling next to me the whole time, I’m sure I would have grumbled back.

Later, we dropped him off and did the weekend home repairer’s trip to Lowe’s bathroom and plant departments. We bought a vertical yew for my piney mulch shady corner, and I had the sudden inspiration for a Jane magnolia tree I saw. I don’t wear much jewelry myself, so my indulgences in that regard go to adorning my yard.

On Sunday, we had hoped to take care of some things we didn’t on Saturday, but Baby C decided that steamrolling her parents all night was a better idea than sleep, so we woke up late. Since I had to pick up K, I had to go to service, therefore nothing got done. We were supposed to meet some other asperger’s families at Busch Gardens for the afternoon. Well, we made it to the park an hour late and without the cellphone (mine) with the phone number of the organizer in it, so we just did our own thing, enjoyed the afternoon and hoped we’d meet with them. We never did. Baby C had more fun on this one picnic table [below] than the rest of us did on the rides. She played “up and down,” danced, and smiled at everyone in the vicinity. She can be quite the charmer these days. Alas, this weekend, I kept walking out the door with no good camera, so these are all cell phone shots. But they still look fine to me.

04050915451So, no writing in the manuscript, even though I longhand wrote two big ideas for it in the past week. I’ll say that counts, though I still need to plug them into the manuscript and flesh them out a bit. No yard work on my part, except for buying trees. The summer clothes exchange is in the upstairs hall, and bathroom fixtures are all over the bathroom. Baby C’s home done one year portraits are put off for another week until we can set up the studio in the living room. But I had plenty of fun in the sun with my family. And that’s more important than griping about what didn’t happen from The List.

Bethany: The Fun of Letting Go

Life has been hellish lately.  And I don’t mean that in the Gosh-I-Just-Don’t-Feel-Right Sorta Way. No. It’s been hellish.  16+ hour work days, endless phone calls.  Teething baby.  Six Year Old Kid that feels neglected. And a husband who is still dealing with the unexpected death of his mother less than 4 months ago.  Not to mention a needless fight I had with my own mother… mostly due to my frustration with my current work situation. Does this have a thing to do with creativity?

You bet your ass it does!  When life is chaotic, my creativity goes down the toilet. In fact, one could say creativity just gets lost like everything else (routines, laundry, dishes).  And this spell with chaos is no exception.  So much so, I’ve decided to take drastic measures–I’m “quitting” all my works in progress.

Before you get all nutso on me, let me explain. I’ve been pushing myself to produce something (anything really) for a while now. Making myself sit at they keyboard and write until I felt I had written something decent, entertaining, and publishable.  And I think for the most part, I accomplished all three.  Though, from the rejections that I have received lately, apprarantly people in the industry don’t agree with me.  But that’s fine.  I’m all about going with the flow.   That is, until it’s no longer fun.

I started this book writing thing because it was fun.  I wrote fun stories, about quirky women, with lives as zany as my own and I hoped others like them.  Some did.  Other didn’t.  And still, more did. And didn’t.  In the end, I am right were I started.  Writing my fingers to a bone while my family sleeps and reaching for a dream.  Only in the last few months, I lost the fun part. I was so caught up in producing, I forgot fun.

Writing is fun. Most of the time.  And hell, if it is a really good story, it can be fun all the time.  At least until the 50th revision… but I am ahead of myself.  The point is, I’ve lost the fun.  And, man, if I am going to give up my blessed sleep for writing–I sure as hell better be having fun. So, all my current book ideas are headed for the file cabinet.  Virtual one that is and I’m gonna sit back and relax.  Let ideas come to me and see what will be next.

Hopefully a work schedule that finds itself a bit more sane, and a baby that will finally have teeth (and sleep!), and a son that enjoys being around his mom (instead of telling me, “Mom, you have your mean voice on.”).  Pray for me.  Because my muse doesn’t know a timetable. Nor does my work. And for this little “break” to work, they have to find a way to synch up somehow.  Or it won’t be any fun at all.

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