"Grown" Kids

Hi, everybody,

What is a "grown kid" anyway? When you hear someone say, "Her kids are grown", do you get visions of a woman whose life is completely her own, one whose days are spent deciding just what to do and when to do it? A woman whose house is perpetually picked up and who eats cheesecake and wine for dinner if she feels like it? If a man or woman is single and perhaps dating a friend or relative of yours and he/she has "grown kids" ,do you think, "How nice. No complications." But isn't the term "grown kids" really an oxymoron? If you're a kid, you're not grown, right? If you're grown, then you're not a kid, right? This all brings me to today's blog. Certainly by the standards of most world cultures, I have 3 "grown kids". However, at times, they seem anything but grown. One of them still likes to sit on my lap. (I won't say which one.... Okay, okay, if you insist, it's Tim. Now if that didn't put a weird image in your head I don't know what would). One of them was here last week and left a jacket with a button that needs sewing and she stole my toothpaste when she left. (Don't you just love it when that happens? I laugh just thinking of myself searching for that elusive tube of toothpaste before work yesterday morning). One of them was out of underwear for 2 days while waiting for me to complete washing about 25 pairs of panties (okay, Tim again.) A couple of them have junked up my bathroom shower to the extent that it could double as a spa. Come on over. There are 7 bottles of shampoo, apricot sloughing stuff, 2 loofas (sp?) a foot scrubbing brush, various razors, my face wash (another thing I was searching for yesterday morn)...okay now it's week later and I'm continuing this blog. In the name of truth, I must report that Bob, in fact, stole my toothpaste and that it's really not Tim who sits on my lap and runs out of underwear..Aside: I hosted bunco here last night. I'm still recovering. Tonight I've had to clean up the kitchen by finishing off those extra pieces of Texas sheet cake, those toffee peanuts, and a few M & M pretzels. It's a tough job, but somebody has to do it, right?....Back to "grown kids". Well, I think I'm a bit guilty of this myself. I recall a time not so long ago when my brother, sister, and I were home and we all sat at the kitchen table while our mother (who was probably only 99 then) made all of us glasses of iced tea. It never occurred to us to get up and help or make our own...So, send me your thoughts on "grown kids". I'm studying the topic...

Kidding around and growing but not up,

I remain

Tizzie/Tiz/Tizmom/Mom/Liz/Elizabeth

Driven to Distraction

Hi, Sunday Slackers,

Have you ever cried over junk mail? Before tossing a piece yesterday, I got rather emotional. What, you might ask, could cause such a reaction? Do you really want to know? It was an invitation to subscribe to Sirius/XM Radio. Why, you ask, would someone cry over THAT? I’ll tell you why. A few years back I drove off a car lot in a new car with a sunroof, heated seats, and a free subscription to XM Radio. On my maiden trip home, I laughed so hard at a comedy routine that I nearly drove off the highway. I used to LAUGH in my car. In fact, Laugh USA was my preferred radio channel. I could keep myself well-entertained and felt that my eventual subscription price of $15/mo was an investment in my mental health. As an added bonus, I always had a joke to tell. You all remember how clever and funny used to be, right? So, what happened? When we went to Ireland for 10 mos, I canceled the XM subscription , and we sold Bob’s car. Since we returned to COMO in June, we have replaced neither. We are a one car family. I don’t find myself guffawing and driving off the road much anymore. In fact, now that we drive back and forth to work together each day I mostly find myself saying things like, “You know it wasn’t really your turn to go, right?” and “Have you ever driven all the way to work (it’s 4 miles) without cussing?” So, the Sirius/XM solicitation reminded me of one bright shining moment when my tousled tresses were blowing in the wind as I whisked down the highway in my very own new car howling with abandon….

Siriusly lacking,
I remain
Tizzie/Tiz/Tizmom/Mom/Liz/Elizabeth

Feelin' Flaky

Good afternoon, Snow Day slackers,

Shouldn't you be shoveling your driveway, eradicating ice sickles, or at least cleaning out your junk drawer? I guess you are plopped in front of your computer instead. I know several of you are supposed to be "working at home today". You know who you are...Like you, I began my day with high hopes of accomplishment. We finally got our photos from Ireland printed (Thank you, Nancy. I know you have one more reason to murder me now). There are over 700 of them. Bob and I plan to put them in albums today. Other things on my list of what to do with an unexpected gift of two days off include: organize my tax stuff, clean out the refrigerator, and finish reading _White Teeth_, my book club book. None of those tasks is particularly unpleasant. However, as of 3:14 PM, I haven't begun any of them. Here's what I have done instead. I may have set a new record in calorie consumption. I've had chocolate sheet cake, angel food cake, oatmeal with brown sugar, more chocolate cake, toffee peanuts, and, of course, the healthy lunch that Bob thinks is all I've eaten: soup, carrots, grapes, and a half a sandwich. I've talked on the phone and /or texted Mary, Mom, my brother Bob, Mary, Molly, Jody, Tim, Mom, Mary, and Nancy. We've compared snowfall rates, flake size/composition (ice pellets - not snowflakes - are falling Savoy, IL), and how we are occupying ourselves. Bob and I have watched _Citzen Kane_ which I had never seen start to finish. Bob is now napping, and I'm staring out the window at the blizzard and awaiting the once-in-a-lifetime experience that our weathermen have predicted: snow thunder. It is like a rainstorm with thunder and lightening except that snow, not rain, falls from the sky. It is quite rare, but the conditions are right today. So, I'll let you go finish your jigsaw puzzle or stir the soup while I hunger for thunder.

Eating cakes and watching flakes,

I remain

Tizzie/Tiz/Tizmom/Mom/Liz/Elizabeth

Feelin' Flaky

Good afternoon, snow day slackers,

Shouldn't you be shoveling your driveway, eradicating ice sickles, or at least cleaning out your junk drawer? I guess you are plopped in front of your computer instead. I know several of you are supposed to be "working at home today". You know who you are...Like you, I began my day with high hopes of accomplishment. We finally got our photos from Ireland printed (Thank you, Nancy. I know you have one more reason to murder me now). There are over 700 of them. Bob and I plan to put them in albums today. Other things on my list of what to do with an unexpected gift of two days off include: organize my tax stuff, clean out the refrigerator, and finish reading _White Teeth_, my book club book. None of those tasks is particularly unpleasant. However, as of 3:14 PM, I haven't begun any of them. Here's what I have done instead. I may have set a new record in calorie consumption. I've had chocolate sheet cake, angel food cake, oatmeal with brown sugar, more chocolate cake, toffee peanuts, and, of course, the healthy lunch that Bob thinks is all I've eaten: soup, carrots, grapes, and a half a sandwich. I've talked on the phone and /or texted Mary, Mom, my brother Bob, Mary, Molly, Jody, Tim, Mom, Mary, and Nancy. We've compared snowfall rates, flake size/composition (ice pellets - not snowflakes - are falling Savoy, IL), and how we are occupying ourselves. Bob and I have watched _Citzen Kane_ which I had never seen start to finish. Bob is now napping, and I'm staring out the window at the blizzard and awaiting the once-in-a-lifetime experience that our weathermen have predicted: snow thunder. It is like a rainstorm with thunder and lightening except that snow, not rain, falls from the sky. It is quite rare, but the conditions are right today. So, I'll let you go finish your jigsaw puzzle or stir the soup while I hunger for thunder.

Eating cakes and watching flakes,

I remain

Tizzie/Tiz/Tizmom/Mom/Liz/Elizabeth