I took my daughter to see Rango. Johnny Depp or no Johnny Depp, I couldn’t have cared less about seeing this movie.
I took her because we had nothing better to do. I took her because it was the only kids movie playing. I took her because I couldn’t concentrate on writing anymore and needed a change of scenery.
Imagine my surprise when I discovered that I liked this movie! It was great! It was funny! My daughter thought that it was too long, but she liked it anyway. Some of the characters were supremely unattractive (a fact with which Izzy agrees), so much so that they were…um, difficult to look at.
That’s really the only fault I can find with the movie.
Maybe we were predisposed to like the movie since we went to the Cupcake Fetish Bakery and loaded up on goodies prior to getting to theater.
I always liked the sound of “The Ides of March” from when I’d first come upon the phrase in my reading of Shakespeare.
In 1998, it took on a new meaning: the day that my father died. He was on hospice so his death was no surprise. My mother’s (who had died 2 years and 2 weeks earlier) birthday was March 13. He hadn’t been eating or drinking much for several days before her birthday, but on that day, he perked up. He was laughing and joking, almost his old self. He sat up in his hospital bed (that was in the middle of the living room) and asked for a fried clam dinner with french fries and cole slaw and dinner rolls and God only knows what else.
So, my brother ran out to get his requested meal, which (as you probably guessed by now) turned out to be not only his last supper, but also his last lucid day. We didn’t think it was any coincidence that it was my mother’s birthday that he chose to perk up, or that 2 days later he followed her and died.
I like to have a fried clam dinner on or around March 15th in honor of my dad, like I buy primrose around February 29th in honor of my mother. The only problem now is…where to get it!
Okay, so it’s March, not February. I meant to post this last month and just realized that I never did. One weekend, thinking about my New Year’s word which, as you may recall is “Edit”, I helped my daughter edit her room. We purchased risers to lift her bed up high enough to allow and underbed storage container to fit underneath. We dismantled the bed, vacuumed it all out, changed all the bedding.
My husband started during the week, working their way around the periphery (like at the supermarket? The way you’re “supposed” to shop to get the healthy food, right?). They attacked the furniture surfaces (read: clutter magnets) first: bureau, nightstand, corner table, desk. They next moved on to the closet, completing the top shelf and the floor.
I took over on the weekend, finishing the contents of the closet and all of the (5!) bureau drawers. When we were finished, we had 4 stuffed trash bags of things she didn’t need/want/use/wear anymore!
I was so motivated by how great her room looked that I proceeded on to do my own closet (well, most of it) and my (6!) bureau drawers. I took out 2 1/2 bags of cast offs.
I read the book :30 Days to a Simpler Life by Cris Evat about 10 years ago, and still have it. Okay, okay, I save things. It’s what I do. My mother threw away everything, including all of my childhood belongings, and I guess that I responded to this by never throwing away anything (at least, that’s what my husband will tell you!) but sometimes I really do need something that I haven’t used in 10 years! So I have my book out, dusted off, and am consulting it as a tool to help me with my objective for 2011: editing!
One of the most effective suggestions in this book, and the one I still use to this day, is this: go around the house (or you can focus on just one room; it’s up to you) with an empty bag and fill it. With what? With anything that you don’t need/love/use/want anymore. Anything that you can part with that will give you the gift of this: empty space. Go ahead, try it. The book suggests that you do it every day, but even if you only do it once, that’s still one whole bag less of clutter in your home.
Try to resist the urge to fill it back up right away (you know you’ll want to). 🙂
So, it’s that time of year again; when the anniversary of the day a relative died rolls around and you try to remember without being too sad.
This is my mother. At the time this picture was taken, she was a sister, a daughter. At the time this picture was taken, she was not yet a wife, a mother.
She was graduating from high school then, and her life was ahead of her. Too soon, it was over.
My husband took me for a ride a few days after she died with no particular destination in mind. We ended up at a local market with an attached greenhouse. As I walked around the store clutching my Kleenex, I was drawn to some colorful plants that my husband told me were primroses. For a moment, I actually felt happy looking at the little faces of the flowers, so on impulse I purchased one. I took it home and placed it on the little shelf above my kitchen sink.
Every time I looked at it, I remembered my mother’s death with a pang that was then tempered with a little bit of calm. In the spring, my husband planted it in the back yard.
Each year that followed, I brought home another little primrose plant and in the spring we planted it outside. Over time, all of these plants thrived and soon, without specifically intending to do so, I’d created an entire garden of  primroses, which became sort of a tribute to my mother. I was very sad to leave it behind when we moved.
This year when I was browsing at Trader Joe’s I spotted some primroses which (of course) immediately evoked thoughts of my mother, so I bought one. This spring IÂ intend to plant it in my kitchen herb garden to revive my mother’s tribute garden from years past.
I chose yellow for the first plant because when I was growing up, she bought me an outfit that I refused to wear: yellow pants and a yellow shirt. “Who wears that color pants?” I complained. She ended up returning the outfit which I wouldn’t have been caught dead wearing. Years later though, I recall this incident and wonder, “Why couldn’t I just wear it? Give her what she wanted?”
It’s ironic that yellow is now my favorite color.
Also, “You Are My Sunshine” was a song she loved and sang to us frequently when we were kids.
She died on leap day, February 29. We joked afterward that she chose that day purposely, so we would only have to feel sad about the day she died once every years. She was nice like that. 🙂
The Kennebunk 2011 Winterfest was yesterday in (you guessed it) Kennebunk, Maine. It was great that it wasn’t February 25th, since we got (yet another unwelcome) snowstorm. It was fun, but would have been more so if it had been about 10 degrees warmer (I’m just sayin’).
It kicked off with a pancake breakfast at Duffy’s for $5.99 per person (the money went towards supporting the Winterfest event) which included a drink and 2 enormous pancakes. I didn’t photograph them because they weren’t anything special…they were too big, too thick, too pale, too insubstantial…a disappointment really. When we were leaving I saw some smaller, thinner, better browned pancakes coming out of the kitchen, but it was too late for us. I mentioned to the server that maybe the kid portions should have been one pancake if they were going to make them that ginormous; maybe they listened? It was also a little bit disconcerting that the food arrived so quickly. In one case, I saw people’s pancakes arrive after they had barely sat down and they hadn’t even gotten their drinks. I also felt like they were rushing to get us out, but wasn’t sure why.
Next year, I will go to Perfecto’s Caffe on Main Street in Kennebunk for breakfast instead.
Then next stop was the Kennebunk Town Hall where a craft show was held from 9am-2pm. There was a big crowd here (even Elvis made an appearance!)Â Dory’s Dogs was there making Nutella and Banana Crepes to die for. I took a bite and died right there. They were amazing. I couldn’t get a picture because my hands were covered with Nutella…I wasn’t worthy.
The kids had the option of making some glass bead projects, but those were not cheap. The key rings were the least expensive project at $3, then there were earrings, bracelets, and other projects, some costing as much as $15. The two women running the craft were awesome: funny, patient, helpful. The kids loved it.
Next: the scavenger hunt. They were given “clue bags” and had to go around to area businesses to get the different parts of the snowman and then assemble it at the end to get the chance to win a DQÂ or a toy store gift certificate (we’re still waiting for the call that we won…). This is where it would have been very helpful if it was a) warmer…it was in the low 20’s) and b) did not span the construction zone at the bridge or c) include the Mail It Unlimited Store that was way out of the way from the general location of all of the other participating stores. There was a shuttle, but there were supposed to be two (if found out later that one broke down). The one that was running was never at a stop when we needed it, and it was so cold that it was better to keep moving.
After some compromising (that involved driving to the last two stops that were past the construction area) we finished the hunt and headed for the Soup Contest. This was awesome. You paid your $3 and then sampled coups from 18 different pots and then voted for your favorite. It was tough; some of them were excellent, but some were decidedly not. After telling them that they should have had separate categories for cream soups and broth soups, I picked the Farmer’s Chicken Soup to win, and Izzy picked the Hot Sour Soup to win. My runner-up was the Roasted Chestnut with Sage and Creme Fraiche. This year, they didn’t disclose which local business made which soups (as they had done last year) so we were voting blind.
Overall, it was a great day: good food (except for the pancakes), good exercise to work it off, good fun with tweens.
When it’s winter and the “Can we go out and do something today?” questions are about to put you over the top, give in. I did; we headed out to the 2:45pm showing of Gnomeo and Juliet at the Wells Five Star Cinema.
There has been a dearth of (good) movies for kids lately, have you noticed? I wasn’t that excited to see this one (I don’t even like gnomes), but it was the only game in town. This movie was actually very good, adorable and funny (and~did I mention?~ I don’t even like gnomes…or pink flamingos!). All of the kids in the audience seemed to really enjoy the movie (one little girl was talking to the screen at one point, but in a cute, non-annoying way). I even laughed out loud more than once. In case you’re a fan, Elton John sings the songs in the show.Â
Gnomeo and Juliet are just so so darn appealing you can’t help but love them and root for them. Don’t worry that it’s just all about the kids though; this movie has plenty of adult humor. My daughter even got one of the subtle play-on-words jokes that went over my head (hel-lo; how embarrassing!). One of the funniest parts was the scary lawnmower from h-e-double hockey sticks sequence (“Your grass will be afraid to grow!” Heh heh heh…).
This movie was a very manageable hour and 24 minutes long, so the whole afternoon will not be wasted even if you don’t agree that it was worth your time, but I’m pretty sure that you will.
P.S. Stick around for the “Crocodile Rock” full cast dance at the end of the movie. 🙂
My Valentine’s Day started off great with a bouquet of flowers, with yellow (my favorite) being the dominant color. from my husband. I received them on Thursday night, since he would be at work for the next several days. I love flowers and was completely surprised (and thrilled!) with my gift.
I got to take my tween daughter Izzy out for lunch to celebrate our Valentine’s Day in advance. We went to one of “our places”, the Weathervane in Sanford and ordered way too much (fried)  food, as we almost always do.  After that, we continued up Route 109 to the Cupcake Fetish Bakery where we got dessert for ourselves, and we also picked up a little something for my son and his girlfriend (Chocolate Dream with vanilla buttercream frosting for Anthony, Strawberry Nirvana for Lauren). The baker made little cupcake bites up (see slideshow below) for free samples in honor of Valentine’s Day and they rocked!
We came home and Iz worked on her valentines to bring to school for her friends tomorrow, an eleventh hour decision. “This will be the last year, Mom,” she said. I recall her making the same statement to me just about a year ago…
Hmmm…we’re sitting here eating cupcakes for supper…it’s starting to feel sort of like Valentine’s Week (is that wrong?)… 🙂
“The first wealth is health,” said Ralph Waldo Emerson.
You can say that again.
After not catching a cold for years and years, I have had two (this is my second) in one month.
How did this happen? True, my friends have had colds, and my husband and daughter are just getting over colds, but I have been surrounded by sick people every winter, not just this one, and have not gotten sick. At the first sign of a cold, whether it be my own or someone else’s, I took my Airborne and never gave it another thought.
Needless to say, this is not working this winter. (Hmmmm, I wonder if they’ve changed the formulation of Airborne…note to self: check on this!).
Okay, to be honest, the other thing that’s different this winter is that I am not religiously exercising at least 3 times a week as I have during winters gone by.Why not? That’s easy: I just don’t feel like it. In fairness to me, though, it’s also because a lot of the “found time” I’ve used for writing used to be carved out for exercising. Oh, and I’m eating small baked goods (read: sugar) way more often than I was last year. There is a school of thought that says sugar (in addition to feeding one’s soul) feeds one’s germs…
If your best efforts (Airborne, extra Vitamin C, good ol’ fashioned careful hand washing, and not touching your face)  fail to ward off that cold, what do you do? Besides suffer, I mean.
Chicken soup.
Tea with honey (oh heck, even just the honey! A nice, big tablespoon of it!).
Rest in bed (or on the couch) under the comfy blanket with your best pillow (and biggest box of Kleenex).
Okay, who are we kidding? You know that you’re going to end up having to go to work. Get up as late as you can and get back in bad as soon as you can.
Try not to annoy the fam with your coughing (read: try not to be annoyed with the unsympathetic fam).
Use cough drops, DayQuil, NyQuil (save money! buy generic!)…whatever makes you feel better.
Remember that “This too shall pass”. Even if it doesn’t feel like it will anytime soon.
I was returning my books at the library this weekend, two of which happened to be about cake baking, when one of the staffers said, “Have you tried that new cupcake bakery in Sanford?” “There’s a new cupcake bakery in Sanford??” I asked (of course, she had me at “cupcake”). She did a little research for me and discovered Cupcake Fetish Bakery, 883 Main Street in Sanford.
An hour and a half later, we were there. It’s in a little group of stores next to Get Fired Up! The parking lot is just before the shops, and if you see St. Ignatius St. on your right, go back! You’ve just passed it.
When you enter the shop, the counter is on the right, but if you look to the left, you’ll see Amy the baker through the window, plying her craft. Jennifer will take your cupcake order, which you can get boxed up to go, or you might choose to sit at one of the cute little tables (as my daughter Izzy and her friend Madi did)Â in the shop.
Our choices today were a Chocolate Dream Warrior cupcake with pink vanilla bean frosting, a MegaDough cupcake (complete with chocolate chip cookie on the top and cookie dough hidden inside!), and a red velvet whoopie pie. We took a Coconut Bunny cupcake and a traditional chocolate whoopie pie home with us. All were excellent.
There are different items every day, but not all of the menu items are available every day, so check out their Facebook Page to find out what they are offering the day that you are going. They categorize the cupcakes as “Groupies” and “Rock Stars”… hmmm…wonder what that’s about?
Note: the menu states that they will close early if they sell out!
After the bakery? An hour of Wii Just Dance 2 to work off the goodies. 🙂
Can you believe that we’re (possibly)Â getting (yet) another storm tomorrow? Just in case you exhausted your personal Top 10 list of things to do, here’s another bunch of ideas.
Go sledding. By now, you (most likely) have piles of snow that are plenty big enough for the kids to sled on right in your yard.
Go snowshoeing and/or ice skating (if it’s possible to get to a rink).
Have a snowball fight. Better yet, suggest it to the kids and you (mom or dad) stay safely in the house and watch from the window.
Go swimming…if only to break up the monotony. Lots of hotels/inns offer off-season (read: cheap)Â passes you can buy to use their pool.
Send them outside with their hula hoop. Really.
Have a “P” picnic (not that kind of “P”! Been spending too much time with the pre-schoolers??). Pizza, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, pancakes, popcorn, pretzels, pineapple chunks…have it INDOORS. Spread out an old quilt/blanket/sheet on the living room floor (move the coffee table, or whatever ou of the way) and have your picnic supper in front of the TV for a treat.
Wii Just Dance 2…this is worth the effort for mom and/or dad to get up off the couch to play.
Make cocoa. This make some planning to make sure you have some in the house before it snows. Swiss Miss is good enough (per Consumer Reports), especially if you top it off with mini-marshmallows, whipped cream, cool whip (or all of the above)…Fluff will also do the job very nicely (careful that the volume of Fluff doesn’t outstrip the portion of cocoa. 🙂 )
Pretend it’s still summer. Send the kids out to play with their sand pails and shovels (or kitchen utensils and plastic Tupperware bowls) to dig (or “cook”) in the snow.
Make snow angels. Take pictures for the scrapbook.
Finally: avoid keeping the TV on those news programs that just spew an endless loop of doom and gloom and have some fun instead!
I took my daughter to see Rango. Johnny Depp or no Johnny Depp, I couldn’t have cared less about seeing this movie.
Karen Creamer Author, Coach, Speaker 
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