TWTW - the one with the rainbow

Have you ever gone to Target wearing red and blended in with the staff? Lori did on Friday. We also did a big Sam's trip. I painted my nails with a new color Debbie had on last weekend - Essie Muchi Muchi - and booked a cruise for next year so we will be with our cruising buddies Jill & Frank in the Southern Caribbean at the end of April.

Saturday dawned bright and sunny. Lori and I dropped stuff at my Mom's, went to see my father-in-law in the hospital, then moseyed on up to Peace Valley Lavender Farm in Doylestown. I got some plants to flank my front steps, lotions and potions and honey lavender shortbread cookies which are amazing.

We stopped for lunch at the Pineville Tavern and it was perfect eating outside weather. Dropped Dad & Carol's carpet cleaner off on the way home and spent a quiet afternoon on the couch with los perros.

We celebrated my brother's college graduation from Villanova University, including an appearance by the cardboard cutout of him that attended his high school graduation party in lieu of him.

There was also a little rainstorm that yielded a fabulous double rainbow. That's some sort of awesome luck for your entrance into life after college. 

Sunday I didn't leave the house all day. I did a little work on the basement reorg project, did five loads of laundry and put all of them away, read, hung out with the dogs, did a face mask, and planted the lavender I got on Sunday. It was a good self care day. I was glad our first stranger renters were at the shore house this weekend and enjoyed it.

Things I'm not learning: when I send MFD to get mulch, he will come back with more flowers and crowd the bed. At least I superseded him on hanging planters this year and got them cheap at Produce Junction on Saturday instead of the million dollar ones he likes to buy from Home Depot. After he finished planting his extras, he mulched the beds and we're pretty set for the season...as long as my previously planted bulbs come up.

Weekly food prep: breakfast is egg muffins with baby bellas, tomatoes, and cheese; lunch is chicken/brown rice/veggie bowls; snacks are snap peas and bell peppers, mango and strawberries; dinners are chicken thighs and veggies and chicken salad (from Sam's) on rye with a side of veg.

I was supposed to be at the shore this weekend, but I have to say I had a great one at home. I always love when Lori stays with us and any time I get to see many family members at once is awesome. 

Where are my Stella & Dot jewelry fans? I'm hosting an online trunk shopping party if you're interested. Forty percent of the profits from my Trunk Show will go to Paw Works, a no-kill, animal rescue in Los Angeles (www.pawworks.org). Shop this link: http://www.stelladot.com/ts/1mag6 or let me know if you'd prefer an invitation via email or facebook if we're friends on there. 

Linking up with Biana at B Loved Boston for Weekending &

Thursday Thoughts

1. If you have a photo of your kid crying with Santa and you post it online, I love you, because they make me laugh. A lot.

2. Fucking trump. I've seen many people state this eloquently and of course I begin with Fucking trump. I've written this and deleted it 100 times so I will just say supporting the registration of Muslims in this country...people born and raised here as American as you and me who have done nothing wrong...I just can't understand how people are okay with that course of action for their fellow citizens. He has made it okay to be a fascist, racist xenophobe in his bombastic, blowhard fashion. He taps into the fear that lives inside of everyone and exploits the hell out of it. There is PLENTY in life to be afraid of...fear mongers are total assholes for exploiting any of it.
 What it means to be an American is to push for the rights and protection of ALL Americans. Not just the ones that look like us. What it means to be an American is to live in a place where differences are okay and people are free to practice the religion they choose or none at all. I think some people have forgotten that.  If I was a Muslim I'd feel pretty uncomfortable in my own country right now. And I have to think ISIS loves what is going on here. I say fuck that.

3. My unconventional favorite Christmas song:

4. You know what I did this week? Booked Great White Shark Cage Diving in South Africa. Do you know who says that? Crazy people. After I did it, I sent MFD this totally from your wife email: Don't ever say I don't do what you want to do because I completely do not want to do this but it's booked. Can sharks smell fear? Do people crap themselves on this excursion or will I be the first? Is my plaque being made for the Best Wife Hall of Fame dinner? I also got my hepatitis A shot Monday. Next up: typhoid. Forty days out!

5. This'll do. Thanks to Gena for sharing.

6. I died laughing at this all week. Thanks to Joe for sharing.

7. The other day I came home and went back out front to get the mail about 10 minutes later. I saw MFD's car in the driveway and was wondering where he was because he never came inside. Uh, not home dumbass, because we switched cars that day and I drove his.

8. I went to see my newest little girlfriend Amelia at Michelle & Bob's on Monday night, and tonight is Lola night. I love visiting with my little friends, hugging and kissing them, and then give them back to their parents and going home and sitting in my quiet house to read a book. LOL

9. Check out this kick highlight video my brother Sean made. If you don't have time, skip to the last bits. They're my favorite.



10. Ecard of the week: 

September Recommendations

Hello hello friends! You know the drill. Skimmers, recommendations are in bold (and typically clickable). My brother Sean is joining me this month. He turned 21 on the 19th and made some time for his old ass sister's blog posts. Thanks Swan!

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Among the realm of topics I could’ve explored, I chose TV shows because I feel they consume a large portion of a college student’s spare time. This is also a debate that you could have with almost anyone out there without reaching a compromise. It seems like no individual has the same “Mount Rushmore” of television shows as another. (Yes, I know I am discussing top five television shows while Mount Rushmore contains only four figures)  Nevertheless, here are five television shows that I could watch on a loop for as long as I can.  Keep in mind there are great shows that I have never watched or am frankly just forgetting. 

1. Entourage – I think it is fair to say that only males will agree with me on this. The idea of gaining superstardom and living with your best friends is pretty damn cool to me. I have seen every episode an embarrassing amount of times and I’ve never once been tired of it. 

2. Seinfeld – It goes without saying that this is one of the all-time most popular television shows. I also know that it is a true hit-or-miss show; if you like it, you probably love it and if you don’t, you probably think George Costanza is the most annoying person on the planet. I can place full blame on my brother for getting me into this show, seeing that he’s seen every episode seemingly a hundred times over. 

3. SNL – Say what you want about how this show has evolved over the years, but I always loved it through its peaks and valleys. In its heyday, it was piss-your-pants worthy with figures like John Belushi, Dan Akroyd, Steve Martin, Will Ferrell, Bill Murray, and Chris Farley among others.  It may have lost some consistency, but Lorne Michaels will always find a way to make me laugh. 

4. Lost – Lost was probably the most captivating show that I have ever watched.  Although it takes forever and a day to get through every episode, I’d do it willingly. 

5. Newsroom – I will preface this by saying this show is NOT in my top 5 all-time. I feel that I just found a loophole because it is a show I am currently watching and I could not decide where to go with my fifth choice. I really enjoy the perspective this show offers. It offers accounts of a fictional news team breaking some of the most important events of the last four or five years from the BP oil spill to the Boston Marathon bombings. The intertwining of personal relationships and professional obstacles surrounding these events make it very addictive.

Honorable Mention: The Office, Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones, True Detective, Dexter

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1. Try the local foods when traveling. I don't think you get the full experience otherwise. If I'm going to have a beer, I try one from a local brewery if it's offered. Out west I had the bison burger and tenderloin, the elk chili, the huckleberry everything. If it's local and in-season, even better. 

2. E-bags packing cubes. You can get them on Amazon but they often run sales on the E-bags site. You can purchase cubes of the same size or cubes of varying sizes. I took a large suitcase and used three large cubes, one medium, and four small. I took my suitcase into a hotel room once on our trip, and that was to re-pack it the night before we left. These e-bags made my life awesome on our road trip and were well worth the money to me. 

3. Jackery external batteries. I have two of these in orange and they freaking rock if you're on the road. They re-charge your phone multiple times and the color makes them hard to lose. 

4. Short USB cables to go with the above. They don't crap up my purse. 

5. Columbia Women's Arcadia II Rain Jacket - For a sweet $60 you, too, can be kept dry. I needed a rain coat for our National Parks trip because rain will not break me. This one was cheap and fits well. I only used it one day, but it was good as a windbreaker too. 

What are you recommending this month my friends?

Wherever you go, go with all your heart - Confucious

Tonight my youngest brother graduates from high school. When he was born, I was suffering through senior year calculus in that same high school and daydreaming about being free from whatever it is you learn in calculus. My uncle, a teacher at the school, called me out into the hall to tell me Sean was born. I was 17. Now he is 17, and leaving high school. Excuse me while I have a where did the time go moment.

Congrats to my cousin Courtney, who is also graduating from Neshaminy tonight

In hindsight, high school graduation is like standing at the precipice of the Grand Canyon and peering down into the abyss, thinking, "How do I navigate down there without killing myself? Am I strong enough to make it back up?" Of course I wasn't thinking this the night I graduated  in June 1995. I was thinking about what color comforter I wanted for my dorm room at the University of Delaware, if my precisely curled under bangs would hold up under the rain that was supposed to arrive later in the evening, and going to get something to eat at Houlihan's with my friends when graduation was over. I thought of anything besides leaving the familiar in August.

It is clear the future holds great opportunities.  It also holds pitfalls.  The trick will be to avoid the pitfalls, seize the opportunities, and get back home by six o'clock.  

~Woody Allen, "My Speech to the Graduates," Side Effects, 1980

High school graduation brings enormous change - every day for 13 years you got up and you went to school, and you had a lot of safety nets. College is an abrupt on your own experience - the courses are harder, the professors don't give a crap about your excuses, everyone has a hangover and yours is not the worst, and you must sail your own ship.

Excellence is not a skill.  It is an attitude.  

~Ralph Marston

Sean is heading to Villanova in the fall to study business and play soccer on a scholarship. He's smart and has taken honors and AP classes throughout high school. He's committed: four to five times a week he heads to North Jersey after a full day of school to practice and travels around the country throughout the year to play soccer with the Red Bull Academy.  He was kicking a soccer ball around as soon as he could walk, and it shows on the field. I was away at college during most of his baby years, but I  never remember him playing with anything besides a soccer ball.

He has many hidden talents, like imitating accents and killing it on stage in the drama club, which I saw him do twice this year. Once in a play, which is hard enough, then once at Improv night, which I can't even imagine thinking quickly enough or being brave enough to do.

As you can see, Sean with all of his talents and accolades is a source of much pride for me and  my family.

But the thing I am most proud of is not an award he's received or the induction into the National Honor Society or the scholarship he's worked hard to get. The thing about my brother that I admire most is that he is kind. He thinks of others and their needs and feelings; and that's not very common in a 17 year old male. It's one of the most selfish times in our lives as humans. He is a good person with a good heart and that is what I'm most proud of today, the day of his high school graduation.

From a little boy with blond curls and tiny sambas to a grown up with adult aspirations and a great sense of humor and self...congratulations, Sean. I love you.

As  Neshaminy recedes in your rearview, I know you will continue to learn and grow and kick ass on the field at Villanova. And I know you will continue to be kind and humble and excellent in whatever you decide to do, in this new chapter of your life and beyond.

There is a good reason they call these ceremonies "commencement exercises."  

Graduation is not the end; it's the beginning.

  ~ Orrin Hatch

Congratulations class of 2012 - be a positive force in the world, in whatever way you can. 

He ain't heavy, he's my brother

My brother was born when I was 6. I was totally fine as an only child, but there was no sending him back.

My brother comes home June 4, 1983

To the outside world we all grow old. But not to brothers and sisters. We know each other as we always were. We know each other's hearts. We share private family jokes. We remember family feuds and secrets, family griefs and joys. 

We live outside the touch of time.

~Clara Ortega

My brother used to wear superman and batman capes pinned to his clothes. He watched the Batman with Adam West over and over on VCR tapes. He also watched Police "Macademy," Moving Violations, and Revenge of the Nerds, on a loop. I wonder if my parents knew it said HAIR PIE.

1984

My brother used to say "funda funda funda TATS" for Thundercats and "oh FANKS" for thank you. He used to say "You know better - n- dat" when you did something he thought you shouldn't do. He used to subsist on poptarts and peanut butter and cheese sandwiches. He could sleep anywhere, anytime - he used to lay down on the ground at the Ground Round restaurant and fall asleep while everyone ate dinner.

Stephen's first day of kindergarten - 1988

My brother was big for his age. He was a gentle giant who was always nice to everyone. He had a good heart from the time he came into being. He always had friends over and collectively they made our house smell like outside and boy.

Being a savage with Patrick Dillon in 1992, and again in 2006 in college

My brother has helped me balance myself without knowing it. When our parents split up during my junior year in high school, we were plunged into a world where everything we knew was different overnight. Our relationship with each other was the only thing that remained the same. Being six years older than him, I looked out for him and in doing that, righted and steadied myself. As the Hindu proverb says, "Help your brother's boat across, and your own will reach the shore." My protective instinct for him is still fierce and probably always will be. At life's small and big moments, we will be there for each other, and that's a comfort not everyone has. At my college graduation, my stepmom snapped a photo of us walking around campus, and we've recreated the same walk at his high school and college graduation, and at my wedding. It's our thing that we do now in life's big moments.

My brother was only 12 when I went away to college. Every time I came home he was different and taller. He excelled in soccer, and received many accolades, including Gatorade Player of the Year,  NSCAA High School All-American, and Courier Times Player of the Year. He continued playing in college on a full scholarship, followed by a short stint playing for the Pittsburgh Riverhounds. He went on to coach men's soccer at UCF in Florida before moving back home and getting his masters from Holy Family. He's made us proud and still does today as a history teacher and soccer coach.

Weirdly blond at Duquesne, signing autographs at the Riverhounds,  NHS Alumni game w/Sean in 2008

My brother has a lovely long-time girlfriend that I love. He is a pincher. He sends funny text messages. He yells "Not today, Lance," at serious bikers on the roadways. He mumbles and then gets annoyed when you ask him to repeat himself. He knows the fat man walks below. He let me ply him with my music and my movies when he was growing up and still likes a lot of them today.

Stephen & Aub

 Happy birthday to my brother Stephen, one of my favorite people on earth.

Our brothers and sisters are there with us from the dawn

of our personal stories to the inevitable dusk. 

~Susan Scarf Merrell