Bookworm

It's 83 degrees in my house, but the humidity is not too bad (I mean, for these parts - my friend from Utah would pass out if she walked in here) and damned if I am going to turn on the AC when it is already almost 5:30.  You see, Larry comes home by 6:30 and the first thing he will do is walk over to the thermostat and sort of shake his head in that cute way he has and put on his frowny eyebrows and finally, when no one says anything, he'll ask, "Isn't it hot in here?"

Which of course it is - it's AFRICA hot.  But it's fun to mess with his head, so I am bribing the kids to say, "Oh, it feels okay," just to see what he does.  Or maybe I will tell him, "We're practicing camping, because it's SO MUCH FUN."

Hey, I've got to amuse myself somehow, don't I?

Yesterday our town movie theater showed Sound of Music on the big screen for only 5 bucks a ticket.  I took the girls and spent a blissful 3 hours allowing myself to believe that governesses teach children to sing fun songs and get rich captain widowers to fall in love with them. So much better than reality...

Today, in an attempt to be a good mom, I spent half an hour cutting out large circles from construction paper to make a summer reading bookworm/caterpillar for our kitchen wall.  Everyone gets assigned a color; each time a child (or myself) reads a book, he can write the title on his color circle and paste it onto the bookworm.  Like this:

That top hat's a nice touch, right? Gives it some class...

This teaches the kids something, but I am not sure what it is.  Maybe it makes it more fun to read?  I don't know.  But I definitely feel like I did something educational there.

Blueberry Buckle, With A Side Of Nostalgia

David managed to transform some of those blueberries from yesterday into this:

On my favorite plate, too...

Actually, that's only what's left - there was way more before we got our hands on it.  I rescued the remnants for the photo shoot.  And, gosh, that photograph almost looks Pinterest-worthy, doesn't it?  Who knew a $2 plate from Target and some rudimentary baking and photography skills could accomplish that?

All I can say is, I've come a long way from the days when I didn't know how to hyperlink and was asking other bloggers what a meme was.  I've been doing this blogging thing for just about 7 years now, and I still remember how excited I was to receive my first comment.  Oh, those were the days, people - I would write about my bra and receive 73 comments.  73!  I would post about the mess in my fridge and have German au pairs swarming my site.  A pox on you, Facebook and Pinterest, with your easy liking and sharing!  This blog feels like the Internet equivalent of a Flintstones car now.

Anywhoo, in a nod to the good old days, when recipes were on blogs and not on Pinterest, here are the Blueberry Buckle instructions:

Ingredients:
1 teen boy who is bored enough to mess around in the kitchen
3/4 sugar
1/2 cup shortening (David used butter, because he knows what he is doing)
1 egg (David used egg replacer, lacto-vegetarian that he is)
2 cups flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup milk
2 cups blueberries

1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup butter

Cream sugar and shortening, beat in egg. Alternate adding the flour/baking powder and the milk.  I don't know why you alternate.  If you feel like throwing caution to the winds, just throw it all together, but don't say I didn't warn you.  Spread batter in a GREASED 8x8 pan. Spread blueberries on top.

Combine last 4 ingredients to make a crumbly topping.  Sprinkle over blueberries.  Bake in a 350-degree oven for 45 to 50 minutes. There - that wasn't so hard, was it?

We double this and bake it in an 11x15 pan.  Our family laughs at 8x8 pans.  I have completely forgotten how to make a normal amount of food, actually.

Blueberry Season

I took the girls and a friend blueberry picking today.  No one cried, no one fussed, no one pooped in their pants.  It was almost boring.  But we've got lots of these:

I know, my photography skills are just amazing

And my resident chef (David, of course) is in the kitchen right now, whipping up a blueberry buckle. Sure, he's probably doing that to avoid schoolwork, but I don't care.  Summer is here in all its humid glory, and we must make the best of it.

Brian has been away all week at a Boy Scout camp, learning to sail a 30-foot boat. The boys sleep on the boat, also, so I've spent the week worrying that Brian's once-in-a-while sleepwalking habit will rear its ugly head and he'll sleepwalk into the bay.  Larry says I'm being ridiculous and vetoed my suggestion that we tell the sailing instructor to make Brian sleep with a life vest on.

No one listens to me around here.

It is still my birthday week, however; so last night - after yoga - I treated myself to a salad and some birthday chocolate for dinner.  It seemed like the right thing to eat.  Tonight? We are having pizza, purportedly to congratulate David on his SAT scores, but really because I forgot to plan anything for dinner.

Well, not forgot, exactly - more like, didn't bother...have I mentioned it is hot and humid out?

Oh, and before I go, the flowers in the glass vase on the rickety table actually managed to die before being knocked over, so I replaced them with a bunch that my friend gave me for my birthday:

AGAIN with the photography skills!

And that's it.  I need to go order the pizza so Larry can pick it up on the way home from work.  Yup, I'm even too lazy today to pick up my own pizza.  That's what humidity will do to a person.

Summer Livin'

Whew! I spent a long time today searching for a beach we would like in Maine.  I finally landed on Scarborough Beach State Park/Pine Point Beach,but it took a while.  If anyone has a better suggestion, let me know.

Looks good to me....

Then I had to inform Larry that he would not be allowed to put his diabolical plan - you know, the one where he drags all of us through the mountains of New York/Vermont/New Hampshire for 6 days before going to the mountains of Acadia for a week - into effect.  I mean, hello? Rachel and Susie are the only kids who even get enthused about a family vacation anymore; and they have waxed rhapsodic about the 2 days we managed to get to a beach last year while at Cape Cod.  I did promise Larry that, when he retires and it is just the two of us, he can take me to all the mountains he wants.  But this year, we are GOING TO THE BEACH.  And then to Acadia.  Hey, the kids do have to have something to complain about later.

Gosh, I hope it doesn't rain.  Is there anything worse than rain on a camping trip?  I don't think so.  Again, it would be one thing if it were just Larry and I, curled up cozily in our pop-up camper, reading while rain drummed on the roof.  But with 4 kids, 2 of whom accompany us only under protest? A rainy day feels about as cozy as the Donner Party.

I think I'll end on that lovely thought this evening.  And a question: where are you planning to go this summer?  Not that I need to give Larry any more ideas....

51 Isn't So Bad, So Long As There's Cake

What victory looks like

First, a little update: those flowers?  STILL THERE. You can tell that it isn't just the same picture as last week, because there are all those little dead flower petals I didn't bother to clean up. Also, the water is starting to look a tad icky.

Look, I never claimed to be a great housekeeper.

AND I did it all without resorting to hidden putty or duct tape.  I'm telling you, you commenters are a devious lot, every single one of you.  It actually made me sort of tear up a little, all those helpful suggestions on how to cheat on this bet. Your dedication to my winning this marital dispute knew no legal or ethical bounds.  Such loyalty!  I knew there was a reason I love the blogosphere so much.


Anywhoo, I've been missing because it was a very busy birthday weekend.  Yoga class, a movie with Larry, a trip to the local yarn store with a dedicated friend who dropped everything at the last minute to join me (it didn't hurt that she knew I'd be using my birthday discount there, I guess), a couple of episodes of Orange is the New Black over at a friend's house in the evening...

And that was just Saturday.  Sunday, my fit friend forced me to bike 14 miles; but she made up for it by meeting me and another friend for a birthday dinner later. I spent Sunday afternoon enjoying my birthday loot:

A lot of chocolate, a neat sewing book, YARN bought with my birthday discount, a jewelry tree that I need because Anna made me get my ears pierced last year, and an awesome IPad cover that Susie convinced Larry to choose from my Amazon wish list - who could ask for more?

Do try to ignore the finish on that coffee table in the picture.  We bought the table secondhand in pristine condition years ago from a lovely old gentleman who was downsizing.  He and his wife had owned the table for 40 years, and there was nary a blemish on it.  It gleamed.  The table was, essentially, a tribute to the wonder that is maple; a song, as it were, celebrating the beauty of nature and the wonders of fine craftmanship.

Of course, when we brought it home, the kids couldn't resist sliding on their stomachs across its shiny, smooth surface.  Anna, unfortunately, was wearing a belt with a metal buckle at the time.  So, yeah - within 24 hours of being in our house, that beautiful table sported a nice long gouge across its center.

At least we didn't have to waste any time trying to keep it nice, right?