If We Were Having Coffee…12/13/15

If we were having coffee…you would probably notice that it is warm enough to sit on the deck and visit. Strange, you might say. Isn’t New Jersey suppose to be much colder  in mid December? Dang right! I’d reply a little ill tempered! Even though I’m not much of a cold weather person, I do like a white Christmas, or at the very least- a cold one and this 70 degree stuff is seriously messing with my HOLIDAY MOOD!!!

Okay. I’m better now. How was your week? Did you gets a lot done? Did you make some fun memories? I hope so!

If we were having coffee…you would notice that (except for the weather) it’s a pretty typical December Sunday morning around here. Miss Dee is still ‘asnooze working those teenage sleep genes, Mr D is off selling Christmas trees, because the only thing that trumps the “sleep gene” is the “cash gene”, and Hubby is off to the Eagles football game with his pop. I, myself, am praying that the team that showed up last week, causing the Eagles to have an unexpected win, shows up again today instead of the other Eagles team that has been massacred the rest of the season. Things are always much more pleasant around here when the Eagles win so keep you fingers crossed for me. Okay?

Other than routing for an Eagles win, I will be spending my day wrapping presents, cleaning house, and catching up on my reading.

If we were having coffee…I would share that Miss Dee, who has taken to making gift by hand the last few Christmases will probably spend her day (once she rises) being crafty. She found some cool ideas on Pinterest and we spent yesterday at the dollar store and the thrift stores finding the things she needs. I really admire her thrifty nature, especially since she gets it directly from me! Her friends always love the things she makes and this year they are decorative items that will be perfect for dorm rooms if they go away to college next year

If we were having coffee…I would point out the interesting pattern of drips running down the kitchen window. This is probably the result of a 20 year old making food at 2am when his eyes are partially closed and since those drips are not going to clean themselves (although that might have a better chance of happening than the culprit cleaning them himself) I better stop my chatting and get moving!!

Thanks so much for stopping by. Hope you enjoyed your coffee! This post is part of the Weekend Coffee Share brought to you courtesy of Diana at Part Time Monster. Don’t forget to stop and visit the other coll folks over there!!

 

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Invasion of the Outerwear

I’m pretty sure my son’s hoodies are multiplying.

Is this possible? If you leave them alone, hanging in the pantry overnight do they reproduce?  All I know is that every time I turn around, there is another hoodie hanging over something, somewhere in the house.

I guess this means that not only are they multiplying, they’re migrating as well!

Even he must notice this weird phenomenon because he complains about finding other family members wearing his hoodies all the time. Our answer: they’re always handy.

It’s true. Anywhere in our house, if you reach out your hand and spin in a circle, you are bound to make contact with one. Eerie.

I’m not sure if there is some authority I should notify about this. Who would be in charge of migrating, reproducing outerwear? NASA? Animal Control? Urban Outfitters?

For now, I’ll just observe and take notes on their behavior. I would advise you all to check your closets too, just in case…

 

 

K is for Keys,

Today, I am contemplating keys. Not piano keys or maps keys. Just regular old (where the #%$! did I put my) keys. Remember getting your first key to something? Suddenly you are a grown-up. You can unlock the world…or the door, whatever.

Giving my children their first house key was a milestone for both of us. To their credit, they have always been  very responsible. The first car key was much harder! The freedom and responsibility that comes with that one little piece of metal is enormous! It is cool, though, that they can display their personality through their key ring or lanyard. The first thing my son did when he started college was purchase a lanyard with the university emblem on it. My daughter has an Eiffel Tower on her key ring.

Hubby and I both have lots of keys. He has keys to both his parents houses and keys to the file cabinets in his office. I have a key (actually a fob) to the school where I work and keys to all the cars we own. There is also a large assortment of keys cluttering up our junk drawer. I’m no longer sure what any of these keys go to but I can’t seem to bring myself to throw them away.

I do realize that keys are becoming quite archaic. I’ve seen the new “keyless entry” cars with their push button ignition and houses with coded door entries. They’ve even developed smart phone technology that can lock and unlock your whole house with the push of a button! Me, I still like having an actual key. I also prefer books made of paper and butter made with cream. I’m just like that, but I do think we need to be careful about how much we rely on technology.

Case in point: A coworker told me the other day how she had come across this young girl in the mall parking lot who was very distraught. Being a mom, my coworker went over to see if she could help. The girl told her through her tears that she was locked out of her car.

“I think the batteries in the fob are dead, see.” she said and proceeded to point at the car pushing the button on the remote entry. My friend gently took the keys from her and used the actual car key to unlock the door.

Happy ending.

Aside from the fact that they are obviously handy items, every key is like a tiny little time capsules. Each one of them has a story, a piece of someone’s history. Maybe that’s why I’m so reluctant to throw away all those keys in my junk drawer. Imagine the stories that those beautiful old keys that you see in antique stores could tell. Think about how many hands have held them and all the purses and pockets they have visited! Pretty amazing.

The Art of the Promposal

If you have a 16 year old girl in your house you might have heard the word “prom” mentioned 1 or 2(million) times over the past month. It seems as soon as the holiday season was over, my daughter and her friends dived right into prom season. The actual event isn’t until May but there is SO much to plan!! <OMG> I do think it’s really cool that girls no longer have to wait around for a boy to ask them. They now feel comfortable doing the asking themselves or it’s also totally acceptable for them to just go with a group of friends. I mean, really it’s not about dates anyway. Prom is a rite of passage. It’s about celebrating your high school years. It’s about food and music and getting all dressed up. It’s about hanging with your friends. But, first, before all of that, it’s about the Promposal! 

For anyone not familiar with this term, you can Google it or check out some videos on YouTube but simply put a Promposal is a fancy or creative way to ask someone to the prom. To be fair, it’s usually someone that you know in advance will say “yes” so no one gets embarrassed. When you live in a small town, like we do, you naturally know everyone and therefore know everyone’s business as well.  Over the years I have heard of or witnessed lots of interesting promposels.

Even my son who is now in college was bitten by the bug. The first time he asked his girlfriend to the prom, he was hosting the school talent show. He and his rented tux went down into the audience with the microphone and a dozen roses and asked her in front of the entire audience. It was a moment! The second time he asked (same girl) was during their senior class trip to Disney World. He enlisted the help of her favorite character, Ariel, by asking her to pass a note while they were having their photo taken with her! He has his father’s romantic tendencies!

Here are a few more of my favorites:

• Boy and Girl are at band practice. Boy asks Girl to please get his guitar for him. When she opens the case, instead of finding the guitar she finds it filled with roses and a note…
• Boy has pizza delivered to Girls house with “PROM?” spelled out in pepperoni…
• Girl has friend deliver a wristwatch to Boy in the cafeteria with a note saying “Isn’t it about time we went to the prom?”
• Boy, who is lucky enough to have an uncle who has connections with the town road works department, “borrows” one of those electronic blinking road signs (the ones that tell you “road work ahead” or “lane ends”) and programs it to blink “KATIE, PROM? ❤️ JOE”. Then they place it on the road she takes to and from school. She got a lot of calls from her friends that day!…
• With the Principal’s permission, Boy invites Girl to Prom during the morning announcements…
• And, romantic in its simplicity, Boy has a huge crush on very sweet and pretty girl who lived in France for most of her life. He figures out how to write “Will you go to Prom with me?” in French and gives her a bouquet and a note in homeroom. Her answer? “Oui!”

I’m curious. Does this crazy practice go on all over or just here in the Northeastern US? If anyone has any other Promposels stories to share, I’d love to hear them!!