Friday Funnies

Anyone with small children knows that at any given moment said small child may say or do something that could potentially cause liquid to come out of your nose due to laughter. On the other hand as parents we usually have to keep a straight face because said child really isn't trying to be funny. And so, I am starting my first weekly "column" of sorts, the Friday Funnies.

Each Friday I will try to post the "best of" the Marinoff boys. Here we go.

Mack and I were on Peter's laptop trying to find a coloring page that would satisfy this 5 year old superhero addict. It doesn't matter that I have looked for "Devildare", whose real name is actually "Daredevil", one million times and there is no such thing as a Daredevil (or devildare) coloring page because normal children have no idea that such a super hero exists. Anyway, I digress. We had been searching for a coloring page for a good half hour and I was beginning to lose my patience. We finally found one (a beaver, no less) when Peter's computer decided to hibernate. Here is the brief exchange that ensued:

Me: Oh, you've got to be kidding me! The computer is going to hibernate!!"
Mack: Until Spring?

I was kneeling down wiping Pierson's face and hands after an incident with a blue Gogurt when he looked at me and said:

Pierson: Hey, you have blue on your eyes!

Me: Yes, that's right! I have blue eyes..just like you!
Pierson: I don't have blue eyes! My eyes are red! (cue him growling at me like the little demon he can be)
Me: Yes, Pierson it would seem that on some days your eyes are in fact red.

After lunch I was putting a "Little Einsteins" (Thank you, Cass) movie on for their pre-rest time viewing pleasure. This is one of only a handful of programs that my children agree upon. While I was getting it ready this witty exchange took place between myself and my oh so smart boy who is oh so desperately trying to read.


Mack: Mama, I know what D-V-D spells.
Me: Really, buddy? What!

Mack: (With a serious look of pride) "DVD!"
Me: Wow..bud. You're really getting there.

Peter came home from work early on Thursday, I mean really early..like 2:00 which is such a rare treat considering he works in Frankfort. I was laying Pierson down for his rest time and apparently Peter and Mack were mixing up a little afternoon treat of chocolate ice cream and peanut butter. I came out and sat down with them while they ate their ice cream and we talked for a while when all of a sudden Mack got up from his chair, pointed at the seat and said:

"Look, I hatched a peanut butter!"

Apparently, he had been sitting like a "mama duck" on the peanut butter and ...well you get the rest.


TGIF!

Imagine...

As a child, and even right on up through High School, one of my favorite parts of the day was getting the mail. I never really got anything but every day held the promise that maybe, just maybe, today would be the day that something would come for me. What was I looking for? Sure there were the birthday cards from relatives but those only spanned a 2 or 3 day period during the year. Christmas time was interesting because I figured out somewhere around late elementary school that if a holiday card was addressed to "The Cutler Family", that meant me. I was part of the family. I think it used to drive my mother crazy that I opened a good 75% percent of the Christmas cards that came to our house.

I still love to get the mail. I still don't get much, mostly bills and catalogs but there are a few gems in my mailbox each month. The diamond of the bunch is my Cooking Light. When it arrives I read it cover to cover, sometimes more than once. This amazes my husband. He is a man who reads the Wall Street Journal. I read People and he reads Forbes. He consumes The Economist like a cookie and I consume..well I consume a cookie. We differ so much in our choice of reading material that you can imagine his sheer delight when I pick up his Fortune magazine each time it arrives and I immediately flip to the very last page to read a delightful column written by my boy Stanley Bing. Mr. Bing is the CEO of a Fortune 500 company and he writes about everything from his love affair with his blackberry (this is probably why I adore him) to his list of 50 bull***t jobs. From time to time I will peruse the rest of the magazine as well but I never miss one of Stanley Bing's columns. Today I started to read it and was so taken with the first paragraph that I want to share it with you. It read:

"This is the story of a guy named Fred who dared to see himself as something bigger. And because he did - because he was able to take that leap of faith - he made a good thing happen. Those who dare to imagine sometimes get what they want. Those who don't never do."

How great is that? Truer words were never spoken (or written) yet most of us don't even come close to realizing it. Why is it so hard to believe in ourselves? To figure out what it is that we want? I'm as guilty of this as anyone. Sure my life is great. I love being a wife and a mom but I also know that this is not my final destination; my final identity. I want to be known and remembered for more. The problem I find is that I don't know what that "more" is. When I left home for college I intended to major in Psychology. I didn't. What I did instead was get a degree in Journalism. That lasted me for about three years. Then I started having babies and my priorities shifted. I have a job at a very respected company that allows me the flexibility to be home when I need to, and have more time with my kids while they are small, but still bring home a paycheck. Like I said, my life is good, but I do know that someday I will want more. I know I have hidden talents that are simmering deep in my soul just looking for, or waiting for, the opportunity to emerge. I don't want to be that person who sits in her empty nest some day and no longer has her own identity. I love giving myself to my children now but some day when they are gone, I need to make sure there is still enough of me, the individual, left to continue on a path of self respect.

So, how am I going to do that? I don't know if I am any closer to answering that as I near the end of this post than I was when I began but I do know something that I will take from what Stanley Bing wrote. Imagination. We all have one. I spend hours encouraging my children to use theirs. Maybe it's time I start to use mine. Maybe it's time I dare to imagine a little bigger and actually make something happen. Not try to make something happen because as a coworker recently told me, "trying to is lying to". You either do it, or you don't. Maybe I need to be looking in other places for my inspiration. Sometimes the answer to our prayers is right under our nose. Maybe for me, it's in my mailbox. :) I'll keep you posted...

Shivasnaavocado

A few people have asked me why I decided to start a blog. I found it difficult to form a good response to this question because I guess I wasn't totally sure myself. Part of me wanted to do it so I could share little stories and photos of my kids. Part of me liked the idea of using my brain a little more and attempting to form a complete sentence. And then, when I least expected it, something happened to me at yoga last week that put everything into perspective for me.

It was the end of the 90 minute class and I was laying on my mat during Shivasna. For those of you who are not familiar with yoga, shivasna is where we lay down and practice deep, meaningful breathing and are supposed to clear our mind of everything. We are supposed to focus simply on our breathing and nothing else. Typically I am pretty good at this. In fact, it may be my favorite part of yoga because it's really the only time I have in my life to make sure I'm remembering to breathe at all. On this particular day I was struggling to focus. Perhaps it was our sub teacher who at close to 70 years old was in better shape than I could ever hope to be and was a little more militant in her teachings than our regular instructor. I was laying there trying to focus on my breathing when all of a sudden I realized I wanted an avocado. I wanted one really bad. And then the thought process took over and away it went. Within the next 26 seconds I thought (try to stay with me here):

I want an avocado
I want to stop at Meijer on my way home and get an avocado but I can't because my friend (who drove with me) needs to be home by 11:30 and there's no way we'd make it.
Maybe if I run in and try to pay for it at Starbucks. No, Starbucks really isn't part of Meijer, it's just inside of Meijer.
Wow..Meijer has a lot of produce and who the heck does the inventory for Meijer and how long would that take?
What would happen if Meijer burned down? The other grocery stores in town would be really busy trying to keep up with the demand.
Kristin, focus! Shame on you, you are not supposed to be thinking about anything right now! What is wrong with you?

When I later relayed this to my brother (who also does yoga) he said "Uh, huh..and?". I asked him if he thought this was strange that I was thinking of an avocado (and all the rest) when I was not supposed to be thinking about anything. He said "you were probably thinking about an avocado because it has that big seed, like a core and you were focusing on breathing and your core". Um, no Ryan, I was thinking about an avocado sliced and stuffed in a tortilla with some turkey and tomato.

So maybe you see where I am going with this and maybe you are very confused but the reality that came from this experience for me was that I need an outlet to let my thought processes go wild. My brain works at an alarming rate and before I know it I have woven this ridiculous web of chaos inside my mind and it needs somewhere to go. So, maybe this will be the last time you visit my blog or maybe you're just getting started because let me tell you, I'm just getting started. I have a lot to say. Stay tuned...and don't forget to breathe.

Here comes Peter Cottontail...

Happy Easter!

I have so many things I want to write about but I also seem to have developed a bit of a head cold and I can't stop wiping my nose long enough to do more than post a couple quick Easter shots from today.

This is what an Easter Egg hunt looks like in Northern Michigan when Easter falls on the 23rd day of March!

All bundled up with buddies Ryan and Megan

Excuse me, Could I please have some Spring?

Cabin Fever. Stir Crazy. Oh My God! These are very common words out of my mouth these days. Today is March 20th, the first day of spring and while I'm sure that this is true somewhere, I'm looking out my window at a yard full of snow and a thermometer that says 30. A month ago I found myself saying to strangers in the supermarket, "Isn't it great to see the sun! It doesn't even matter how cold it is...as long as there is sun". Then, two weeks ago I could be heard saying "Just imagine how great it will be when we get back in the 30's. 30 will actual feel warm compared to this!" Well guess what? It's 30 and it's cold and I'm crabby.

Mack and I just finished filling little plastic Easter eggs with goodies for an Easter egg hunt that we were invited to take part in on Sunday morning. I bought the boys the cutest little Easter outfits this year with great hopes of having plenty of Kodak moments of them carrying their blue satin trimmed wicker baskets in a race to collect the most eggs. Instead I now know I will get to see them in the same dingy snowsuits I've been looking at all winter and they'll probably still have their jammies on underneath. In my crankiness I'll probably give them plastic Target bags instead of the baskets to collect their Easter eggs with. Ok, so that's not true but it tells you my frame of mind right now. I'll be sure to post some pictures on Sunday so those of you living where spring has actually sprung can see what I'm talking about.

We choose to live here. Sometimes I need to be reminded why. The best reminder usually comes on that first perfect late spring/early summer day when the sky is the bluest blue you can imagine and there is not a cloud to be found. When the breeze is warm and you invite it to blow across your face. When you know that hot dogs and potato salad are what's for dinner and that there will be a long walk around the "circle" with the whole family, and probably half of the neighborhood, before settling down for the night. When bedtime whispers turn to talk about what we'll do tomorrow knowing that there are more options than there is time. We live here because it's home.

What's in a name?

Year's ago when I started my cookie business I contemplated naming it "Just Desserts". When I ran the name by a dear friend who I considered to be quite intelligent and worldly she responded with a blank stare and said she didn't get it. I was sure I had heard this expression many times before and thought I could put my own spin on it's meaning and that if I branched out from doing "just cookies" (which didn't have the same ring) and took on other desserts as well , then I surely had the perfect name figured out. Clearly I was over thinking the name thing and settled, simply, on "Kristin's Kookies".

Today I decided to start a blog. I knew right away that I wanted to call it "Just Desserts". This time around the meaning wasn't strictly of the edible nature. Just Desserts means getting what you deserve. When I was thinking in terms of cookies I was thinking a reward; go ahead and reward yourself, you deserve it..your just desserts. Perfect right? I thought so too. So I researched the literary meaning of Just Desserts and here is what I found (pay attention) :

The noun "desert" (accent on the first syllable) is generally used to refer to an arid, barren expanse of land; the noun "dessert" (accent on the second syllable) is a sweet course or dish usually served at the end of a meal. However, the word "desert" -- when spelled like the former but pronounced like the latter -- also refers to a deserved reward or punishment. Therefore, someone who does wrong and is punished in a suitable manner has received his "just deserts." Many people, unfamiliar with the "reward or punishment" meaning of the word "desert," mistakenly assume that the phrase "just deserts" is properly spelled "just desserts" because of its pronunciation. (The usual reasoning is that a dessert is a type of reward one is given at the end of a meal, so someone who receives suitable rewards or punishments for his actions has gotten his "just desserts.")

Did you get all that? Nothing like starting off on the wrong foot with misspellings..in the title of the blog for Pete's sake. But I will stand by my original spelling since I do have the cookie thing going for me. Now my intention with this name is certainly not meant to be negative. I would never say to someone "you got what you deserve!" That's a little bit like saying "I told you so" and I make it a rule not to go there either. However I do firmly believe that when making choices, no matter how big or small, we must be accountable for our actions. It's something I drill into my five year old almost on a daily basis. Every day when I drop him off at school the last thing I say to him before he marches off to take on his day is "Love you buddy, make good choices today". At the end of the day that's what it's all about isn't it? Making good choices. Doing the right thing. Life rewards us when we do the right thing. It doesn't always seem that way and sometimes it takes a while to really get our Just Desserts but there's a little something called Karma and I choose to believe in it. These rewards that life sends our way appear in strange ways. Sometimes it's just a smile or gesture or even a spoken Thank You for a deed well done. Sometimes it's the ability to stop and take a deep breath and realize that you are strong enough to take the high road and not let the little things get to you. Because when you do sweat the small stuff then you deserve the strife it brings you. Let it go. You have a choice. Make it a good one..and when in doubt, eat a cookie.