Category Archives: family

May 4, 2009 · 10:28 pm

Time to Cry Tuesday – Meatloaf and Mashed Potatoes

Meatloaf Dinner

Comfort food.

Everyone has certain dishes that make them feel safe. The tastes and smells that bring you back to your mom’s dinner table and remind you of what life felt like when it was simpler. Before the deadlines and the mortgage, there was…

meatloaf and mashed potatoes. Oh, and creamed spinach. That was one of those family dinners in my house that even my brother the vegetarian could probably still get nostalgic about.

Today was Monday, literally and figuratively. It was rainy and raw. Gary had to battle a lousy commute, Danny had tons of end of semester work and I was just banging away on the keyboard in the basement all day. It was a perfect day for meatloaf and mashed potatoes. (unfortunately I did not have any creamed spinach in the house). Jana will not eat anything with the word loaf in it, so we are clear to eat this delicacy until she returns.

Funny, two people asked me what was for dinner today and when I told them, they were both jealous. Meatloaf. The universal comfort food. (nice tagline). For me it is second only to rice pudding, but I reserve that for life crisis. Meatloaf is more the everyday comfort food, rice pudding is the ‘my life is on fire’ type.

So tell me, what is your comfort food?

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at 50-Something Moms Blog.

For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone.

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April 24, 2009 · 11:44 pm

The Big Two Oh!

jana_forever-young

I know I have already blogged about this once this week, but this is monumental.

Today is the 20th birthday of the fabulous Miss Jana. All you lurkers out there, the pressure is on to throw a comment in to wish my not so little girl a very happy birthday. Keep in mind she is in the home stretch of the semester and life is not all that much fun so she could really use a shout out from all of you.

In celebration of her birthday I will share my top ten most favorite things about Jana (in no particular order)

1. her hair (Dr. Jimmy is with me on this one)

2. her smile (thanks to the orthodontist who gave her the straightest teeth in the zip code)

3. her ability to suck it up in tough situations.

4. the fact that she will always be the one to tell me when it is time to get my hair colored (this could be one of the things I miss the most with her gone)

5. her kind heart

6. the way she taught me that it really doesn’t matter if a teenager’s room is a mess.

7. the way she treats her brother

8. her love for music (her dad made sure of that)

9. the way she hates to shop (where could that come from)

10. the fact that my behavior rarely embarrasses her

For the second time this week, but on the actual date you popped out, happy birthday Janny girl!

Now come on, let’s see some comments here…

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at 50-Something Moms Blog.

For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone.

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April 20, 2009 · 8:05 pm

Time to Cry Tuesday – Twenty!

jana_at_20

Indulge me – if you will – this little walk down the long and winding road of parenthood, for this week I will celebrate not only the birthday of my oldest child, but the anniversary of my 20th year of parenting.

What the hell!

Sometimes I wake up and forget how old I am.  I have had some weird dreams about not studying for a test, or being at camp or some other adolescent place and I totally forget that I am the mom of these young adults. I am embarrassed to say there are times when they are way more grown up than I am.

When I stop to think about it the whole thing is rather staggering.

Twenty years of “I’m the mommy, that’s why”. Two decades of being responsible for the well-being of other human beings. Two hundred and forty months of always being cognitive of other people’s whereabouts and safety. Seven thousand three hundred nights of being only as happy as my most miserable child.

You get the picture.

I have done many things in my life. Built a career, nurtured (or is that tortured) a marriage, made a house a home, navigated the nastiness of the healthcare system with my parents, built friendships and contributed to a community. But there is no other single thing I have done in my life that has had a greater impact on me than being a mom. Seriously. Not because I am expected to feel that way. Or because that is what I want my kids to think. But because it is simply…

True.

I am a better person for what they have taught me to be. From the moment they could reach out and hold my hand as we crossed the street, to the day when they had to push that hand away and ‘do it themselves’. They have taught me when to hold tight, and more importantly, when to let go.

Here’s to you, baby girl. Kiss your teens goodbye and grab your twenties by the balls. You are truly someone to proud of.

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at 50-Something Moms Blog.

For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone.

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April 14, 2009 · 9:36 pm

Mommy’s Time Out

mommys_timeout

I came across this rack of wine quite awhile ago and just stumbled upon this image in the archives on my laptop.

What a brilliant marketing idea. I wonder why I have not seen or heard of this since. So, of course I did a quick search and found their website. Rather unimpressive but I found their little blurb quite charming:

We All know that being a Mommy is a difficult job.  A Mommy’s Time Out is a well deserved break. 

No spin. No pretense. No psuedosnarkiness – (go ahead, click the link. Yes I have yet ANOTHER word in UrbanDictionary. I am become a regular Merriam Websterwitz).

I like that they went for the simple, to the point message.

So here’s to you Mike Cincotta of Selective Wine Estates – a job well done. And chances are there won’t be anyone ‘going motrin on you’ for trying to relate.

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at 50-Something Moms Blog.

For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone.

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April 8, 2009 · 10:23 pm

Guerilla Holiday

guerilla_matzoh

No, my guests did not behave like primates. That’s the other gorilla!

A new record was set in my household this Passover. Menu writing to table in 23 hours. Pretty impressive, even for me.

There are those that cook ahead and plan for weeks. Their tables are set 2 days in advance (no Karen, I am not talking about you… specifically). Not me. I need to feel the pressure of impending guests breathing down my neck before I can move towards getting it together. Between work and social obligations there was simply no time to address this holiday (or any other, who am I kidding) before it was on fire.

In the past there have been many casualties: the year I spoiled the  chicken soup by putting hot matzoh balls into cold soup. Tip: this curdles the soup. Gary had to run to the Jewish deli for soup at the 11th hour that year. Or the time I dropped 2 dozen eggs in the driveway; very messy. But this year was pretty smooth. I did shatter both a tupperware of frozen soup (the soup survived) and one more crystal wine glass from my wedding registry (a miracle there are any left after 20-blah-blah years). Other than that is was smooth as silk.

Most important, I was surrounded by those I love. Sadly some were missing for out of state reasons, but we still had a great night.

And for the record, NO ONE cleans like Joanne!

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at 50-Something Moms Blog.

For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone.

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March 18, 2009 · 9:34 pm

Out of the Mouths of Moms

cursegraphic

We had an interesting dinner conversation tonight. We have a full house/table with Jana home from school. The dynamic shifts, as do the seats, to bring us back to the original four. We fall back into the way we were when she still lived here. There is truly nothing more comforting than a family that is whole again.

The conversation at our dinner table is always pretty lively. There are no rules. No taboo subjects, for me anyway. I believe in open discussion and the right to speak your mind as long as you are respectful to others. It was always this way, but somewhere along the line I guess I loosened up the reigns on cursing and *questionable family topics*. Especially for myself. Come to think of it I would say I am the one that says the most outrageous things at the table.

Not sure how it started, but for some reason I had a run of topics come out of my mouth that left my kids… well almost stunned.

Danny: Wow, think of a list of the most outrageous things to hear a mom say and you pretty much hit them all.

Jana: With each topic I did not think it could get worse… and then it did.

Me: Really? Crap, are you guys going to need therapy from this?

Jana: Nah, it’s fine.

Danny: Don’t worry, the damage was done a long time ago. We’re good.

Gary: this is definitely going to be a blog post!

Perhaps I should consider some restraint in the future.

Probably unlikely.

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at 50-Something Moms Blog.

For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone.

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March 3, 2009 · 9:56 pm

Men and Their Meat

your_right_in_liking_meat1

American Meat Institute, 1947

Nice title, right? I am sure I got your attention with that.

Today was Gary’s birthday, and I am a total loser that I did not capitalize on it and do some little heartfelt birthday thing for Time to Cry Tuesday so everyone could send him their good wishes. Please feel free to jump out of the lurking mode and send him a shout out a day late.

For his big day we let him pick the restaurant. This guy, who is the picture of low-fat eating 364 days a year,  jumped out of the box and craved a good old- fashioned, testosterone boosting slab of meat.

We walked into the steak joint and quickly noticed that my girlfriend and I were amongst maybe 6 women in the entire restaurant. Tuesday night in the land of steak was all men. Table after table of guys chewing the fat, seated around overloaded plates of meat, meat, meat. Kind of an odd scene for me. It almost took on the feeling of some old time movie.

A primal, back to basics birthday for the man.

Happy birthday Gary, hope you enjoyed your meat!

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at 50-Something Moms Blog.

For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone.

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February 14, 2009 · 12:23 am

Dan in Danville

dan_as_prize

Seriously, it is not child abuse when they are willingly participating in a humiliating act. Actually, this is the second time Danny and I have staged a shot like this. We love these machines. It makes me laugh because when his sister was little we had more than one meltdown in front of one of these machines soon after I had used the words, “This is absolutely the LAST quarter”.

This weekend is college tour roadtrip volume one. Hard to believe we are doing this with ‘the baby’ but we surely are. The pediatrician was right, nobody goes off to college still wearing diapers.

On the long strange trip of Route 80 to Penn State from NY we came across a town called Danville and new that we HAD to stop there for dinner. At Perkins! Everyone loves Perkins! I have fond college memories of the Perkins in Rochester (at 3AM).

So this is Danny in Danville. And yes he carries my warped affection for the absurd. After all, I labored with this child on my birthday and he was born at 1AM the next morning.

We are practically twins!

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at 50-Something Moms Blog.

For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone.

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February 3, 2009 · 12:26 am

Time to Cry Tuesday – Sunrise, Sunset

sunrise_sunset

The title of this post is for my brother. This is how I will be able to tell if he is reading. What, it’s not all about me and my blog?

When we were growing up my mom had a friend with a beautiful singing voice. At every Bar or Bat Mitzvah she would get up and sing Sunrise, Sunset with the band. As you would expect, all of us kids would roll our eyes, giggle a little, suffer glares and shushes from our parents and fidget our way through to the end of the song.

Years later, at my brother’s wedding, she got up and sang it again. As young adults the eye rolling was replaced with a wink, we had long since learned to stop fidgeting and our parents were way too busy full out weeping to worry about the likes of us.

Fast forward a quarter of a century. (this, too, is for my brother – everyone loves to think of themselves as being married for any fraction of a century, right?)

This past weekend I attended the Bar Mitzvah of a friend’s child. But this was not just ANY Bar Mitzvah. This, my friends, was the celebration of the last of the First Thursday children coming of age. The First Thursday group has existed since the month he was born, he is our measure for the length of our friendship and as you can imagine, he is our little mascot of sorts because of it. (surely every 13 year old boy would love to be referred to this way.)

Yes, number 18 has now become a man. Funny, but he still looked so young to me. Until the video montage looped its way into my line of sight and I saw all those kids frozen in time as they were when they were small.

Then I looked back on the dance floor and caught a glimpse of my sweet *J* (not Jana, this is my other J) in that beautiful blue satin dress the color of her eyes, of *N* and *K* in those drop dead sequin numbers with the high heels that would surely cripple the likes of me. And *V* dancing up a storm as if the whole damn world was her living room and she had it by the balls.

That’s when it friggin’ hit me. Like a ton of corny, OMG-I-have-surely-become-my-mother bricks…

I could have been singing the lyrics to Sunrise Sunset in my head.

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at 50-Something Moms Blog.

For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone.

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January 19, 2009 · 11:32 pm

Time to Cry Tuesday – Sadness and Hope

Today marks a bittersweet Time to Cry Tuesday installment. The excitement and sentiment of hope surrounding the inauguration is tempered with sadness for our family. Must be some bizarre alignment of the stars that I should be writing of loss for a second Tuesday in a row.

This past week we lost a beloved family member. She was a woman who always looked you in the eye when you spoke. Hell, even when you were on the phone. Her infectious laugh and high spirit, even in the face of hardship, left us in awe of how she navigated a less than perfect life.

I believe that each person leaves a mark on this earth when they leave. Along with the great void that remains in her absence resides the essence of her special brand of optimism. Her wild sense of humor and ability to draw people together is carried on through the grown son she leaves behind. His home is filled with love, many friends and lots of children! They will carry on her memory with stories of the impact she made on their lives. And they can move forward with the comfort of knowing they were the light of her life.

I am pretty sure that wherever she is, they read blogs. And if she happens to read this I am sure she would say something to the effect of, ‘Who the F was she talking about?’

Once a jokester, always a jokester.

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at Mid-Century Modern Moms and at 50-Something Moms Blog.

For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone.

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