Summer Musings

Hi,Summer Slackers,

Has your summer slipped away without enough fun to show for it? Are you still waiting for a break in the weather -- like maybe a day in the low 90s -- to start enjoying yourself?


You must be wondering what I've been doing this summer. I've accomplished a few things. I have taken my razor out of storage and managed to shave my legs a few times without ending up at the ER... Nancy has painted my toenails, so I look like a modern, well-groomed gal. I have cleaned the back porch floor and will get to the furniture soon. Why, I'll be out there reading a book and sipping mimosas any month now...I have taken my swimsuit out of the mothballs and am preparing to go to a pool party this weekend; however, I'm afraid I did forget to go on a diet. Maybe next summer...Is have rearranged my dresser drawers so that the first thing on top is no longer a black turtleneck...I have eased my guilty conscience by simply not buying any hanging plants for the porch and subjecting them to my tortur...er I mean nurturing... I have gone to the Dairy Queen once when I really wanted to and enjoyed a medium dipped cone...I have had a few "Tizhaps". I bought a new cheese grater. A certain person insisted on talking to me while I was grating which distracted me and caused me to grate my own knuckle. Ouch!..I managed to make a florescent light bulb explode in my car, spraying glass over a rather large area..

As the summer winds down, I have started hearing those words no mother ever wants to hear, "Mom, when can we go shopping for my first apartment?" Now some of you who are helping your first child move into an apartment are thinking that I'm a particularly negligent curmudgeonly mother who can't take joy in her child's progress. But that's not it at all. I could show you my basement and garage and what happens to all those "darling" bedspreads with matching pillows and had-to-have pieces of furniture, the dishes, the bookshelves, the toaster ovens..Somehow whatever we already own won't be the right thing. It won't be cute enough or modern enough (okay, I do still have the rolling cart I put my TV on in college and sometimes it even has a TV on it) or hip enough for the roommates. Do you think anyone would take my crockpot which has part of the lid held together with duct tape? How about my skillet which has half the Teflon scraped off? My pink towels with bleach spots which give them a bit of a tie dye appearance? So, if you see me schlepping around Bed, Beth, and Beyond with a cart full of crap while accompanied by a perky college girl, remind me to smile and enjoy myself.

So, write and tell me what YOU'VE accomplished this summer. Or better yet, what you haven't accomplished.


Sweatin' and frettin',
I remain

Tizzie/Tiz/Tizmom/Mom/Elizabeth/Liz

Six Reasons to Go to Branson

Hi, blogpals,

Recently, Mary,Mom, and I enjoyed a fun getaway in Branson, MO. Branson is the Nashville/Vegas of the Midwest, in case you don't know. There are 138 shows in town. I have now been there six times since 1991, so it got me to wondering why people go there and why they go back. So I've come up with what I think are some of the reasons. Ready? Here goes..

1. To feel young again. Despite our status as Baby Boomer babes, Mary and I were NOT the oldest people at most of the shows --- we made sure of that since we took Mom with us to all the shows. However, there were plenty of senior seniors wandering the streets and shows of Branson.

2. To feel really old. When you look at the photos advertising Paul Revere and the Raiders in full American revolutionary gear you kinda see the passing of time, shall we say? At one show, one of the young cast members looked into the audience and exclaimed, "Look there. We have one under 50. Really. Come look at her!"

3. To buy CD's that will no doubt be rare gems on e-bay 30+ years from now when you might need the dough. After all, if only 50 were sold, they'll be worth a lot, right?

4. To take a scenic train ride. While it never said exactly what "scenes" we would see, we did expect more than trees and junkyards..

5. To learn some folksy jokes. You know you need one or two you can tell your kids, grandkids, or parents. Try this one: A four-year-old was watching her grandmother put on her makeup. She asked, "What are you doing, Grandma?" Grandma replied, "I'm putting on makeup so I'll look pretty." The little girl replied, "When does it start working?"

6. To shop with your sister, the fashion maven, so that she can tell you what is "in style" and "youthful". Of course, she is an expert on these things... Nonetheless, I continue to put stake in her advice. So, I turned myself into a regular hottie at the Eddie Bauer outlet. Check me out sometime.

Bob and I plan to go back in November to see Ireland's most famous music import next to Bono : Daniel O'Donnell. He's there in November as are Bill Medley, Paul Revere and the Raiders, Tony Orlando and more..Come join us. You know you want to!


In other news...

Tim and Megan are having more critter problems. This time it's swallows (ones protected by the government, of course) building nests above their front door. Poor Megan has been swooped down upon a few times. Tim thinks he has the problem under control. If only they would swoop down on the prairie mice instead....Worst critter story I've heard lately --absolutely true and verified by my friend Bunny at work -- a girl went into her upstairs bathroom at her home in Texas (You may think this is an urban myth, since I've given you specific details such as the person's sex, the location of the home, the bathroom, etc, but it's absolutely true.) and started screaming. When her mother came up, there was a dead squirrel in the toilet. No kidding. The sewer people could not figure out how it had gotten there...Not much happening here in COMO. Bob is mowing the lawn. No reports of snake attacks yet. Nancy is lounging on a yacht with her friends at Lake of the Ozarks. Don't know what Molly is doing other than not calling her mother. Don't know what Tim and Megan are doing other than not calling Tim's mother. Me? I'm sitting here with nothing better to do, just like you are. My only goal for the rest of the day is to go to the Dairy Queen and get a chocolate-dipped ice cream cone.

Happy 4th to you and yours!

Chillin' with no chillen,

I remain
Tizzie/Tiz/Tizmom/Mom/Liz/Elizabeth




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