Monday Musings

Well here we are again!  Feels like I was just here.  Wait.  I was.  I decided to post a bit on Friday which may or may not leave little to offer up on a Monday Musings.

I experienced a stunning contrast in boy vs. girl shopping this past Saturday.  Daughter #1 walked into a huge designer consignment shop.  I looked at her and realized that she could spend days hours in there.  So I said, we will go on and come back to get you.  Son #1 and I were actually on a mission to find some pants since his legs - for some reason - keep growing.  We walk into the mall and to a store that he's had luck at before.  He picks out a pair (yes, just ONE pair) to try on.  He quickly rushes to the fitting room.  Comes out in two minutes and says, 'they're good'.  I ask, 'don't you want to look at a shirt or another pair of pants?'.  He replies, 'I have three pairs of pants and that is enough'.  Then he looks at one shirt, likes it, and hands it to me.  Start to finish in the mall:  10 minutes flat.  We run a bunch of other errands and return to daughter #1 in 1.5 hours.  She's barely ready and seems distressed we came back so 'soon'.

I have often wondered how parents prepare for an empty nest.  I realize I'm a few years away, but the other night I realized that it actually comes gradually.  As our MSC (many small children) grow to MYP (many young people), they begin to have their own plans and agendas.  The other night the nest was empty due to a sports event, a friend sleepover and a babysitting job.  Yes, it will come.  And hopefully, I'm ready to leave my hand wide open to let the butterflies come and go.

After 20+ years of marriage, there's a weird phenomenon that occurs extremely often.  The Chairman has deadlines and says he'll be working 'late'.  Now that could mean anything from 7:30 til 2 am.  But somehow even without him specifically telling me the exact time, I have a good hunch when he'll be rolling in.  The other night I was throwing balls at the dog.  Then it hit me.  The Chairman should be coming home.  I'm guessing the very next car that I see will be him.  And guess what.  It was.  It happens that way often.  Weird.

Son #1 was bored the other night.  So I told him to make a dessert for us since we normally never have one and the meal was planned.  He loves cooking and baking.  So he pulls out a cookbook and remembers that our friend served us up delicious crepes a few months back and decides to make them.  They turned out perfect.  He stuffed them with gelato, homemade fudge sauce, and a sprinkle of powdered sugar.  I told him the next time we have company, he's responsible for the dessert.

I made these muffins yesterday.  They were healthy and delicious.  My modifications were that I added some ground flax, used a whole egg, and put in a few nuts.  Yum

Speaking of yum.  My mom is a peach.  Actually, the pie is peach.  And she brought it in yesterday to go with our supper.  It was kind of an early birthday cake.  She's the best and so is the pie.

Then there's this dog.  Her name is Lilly.

How do I know her name is Lilly?  Well on an extremely cold and blustery day I was sitting at the sidelines of a soccer game.  Lilly was there too.  Lilly was very well behaved but looked bored.  So was I.  I felt in my pocket and had some dog kibble in there that I give to Lisi when we are playing fetch.  So I look both ways and toss one of them in Lilly's direction when she isn't looking.  But what I did (I'm bad I know) was toss it just out of reach of her leash. She catches wind of the kibble and gets up sniffing around.  The owner was busy talking to the burrito lady next to her.  Lilly sniffs and sniffs and then starts pulling hard on the leash for the morsel of dog food.  Owner-lady says, 'Lilly what on earth has gotten into you?'.  She yanks Lilly to sit close to her again.  I feel bad.  Lilly is looking at me as I think she smells the other dog food in my pocket.  So I again look both ways and toss one right at Lilly's feet.  She eats it and looks appreciatively my way.  Just another way to fill some time at a frigid soccer game.

I've taken a few of those on-line quizzes that pop up on my FB feeder.  In the past few days I have found out:  "I'm 90-100% OCD (I take that as a high compliment), my parents should have named me "Emma", I act like I'm 26 (just shy of 24 years off), and I will only marry once (I'm sure the Chairman is happy to hear that).

So there you go!  Another Monday Musings posted before deadline!  Happy week ahead.  Make it a good one!