It's Greek To Me

Well,  I guess I'm always the last to know.....

Last week when I was in the Bahamas and taking in some fresh air and sunshine, a poolside DJ was spinning records.  Nice.  But he wasn't playing just song after song, he was mixing two, three different songs at a time. Sometimes combining the Bee Gees with Three Doors Down works, sometime it doesn't, but the mixes were great fun to listen to.

Has this mixing business been around as long as I think it has?  And silly me, just listening to one song at a time for all of these years....

I found the following mix on someone's (who shall remain nameless but is very tall) Facebook and thought that anyone who needs a cheery place to be because of all the rain here in NOVA (or all of the snow in China) might enjoy.  Click here and press the play button to hear Norwegian Recycling, How Six Songs Collide:

http://www.aimini.net/view/?fid=hU4TtWvdjJ5gUf8qoYDi

Smile, it's (almost) Friday!

How to Remove Too Much Dark Hair Color

You may be surprised to know just how many hits come up on this Google search. Many, many people have asked this very question, and many many hair experts have answered. I'm telling you this on my second day of battle, sitting here with an odd combination of hot EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil for those of you not familiar with Rachel Ray jargon) and mayonnaise with plastic wrap rather loosely spun around my head.  This after spending $220 plus $35 tip to get my hair to it's "natural warm, dark tone."  Well, it is Halloween week and I could go Trick or Treating as Mortisha, which would be fun -- except that black hair does tend to make women of a certain age look a bit tired.....Brother Rupert out in Maine would say "to heck with the hair color, go natural, sis,"  but it's just not that nice and easy.

I'm a bit concerned about the hot EVOO/mayo treatment right now, as by the time I was able to actually touch the oil and get it on my head it was lukewarm - and the mayo congealed in the oil, which didn't look quite right.  I've now removed the plastic wrap (didn't really seem to be doing much good) and applied Selsun Blue (any medicated shampoo will do) on top of the oil/mayo combo and will wait 5 minutes.  Actually, last night I spent a cumulative of 90 minutes with Selsun Blue in my hair (it was Wednesday, a good TV night for ABC) and did see dark dye rinse out, so I am hopeful that this new application will have some merit.

Next will be another home remedy, that of the yogurt, beaten egg and lemon juice.  This could be tough, as yogurt in general gives me the willies -- it's just so slimy - I'm a cottage cheese person when it comes to coagulated dairy products.  And I don't have any plain yogurt, just the peach that Grandpa Jerry bought last week when he was here....thinking that maybe the added fruit will contribute some acidity and help strip the color.

You may ask why, after $220 plus $35 tip I don't go right back to my hair stylist and demand a redo.  But Girlfriends everywhere know what I'm up against.  Stylists are just never at fault -- after all I did want to go dark.  And I know that the only real option is to put more color on my already challenged hair follicles.  Plus which, do I really need a confrontation right now?  All that judging by those salon people - you really have to be up for it.   Anyway, it's just chemistry, simply put, and with enough hot oil, egg, yogurt and harsh shampoo I should be able to have some effect. Possibly 2% or so. 

The last suggestion is to just go with it -- enjoy the new look, buy some new lipstick, get a tan and be confident.  And I could possibly do this, except now that my hair is dry I'm noticing an unusual purplish tint -- hmmmmm...what to do? 

Let's Google it:  "What to do if your hair has an unusual purplish tint......."

Oy vey.

Snowe Lands one for Indecision

I am just loving the front page article in today's Washington Post on Sen. Olympia Snowe, Republican of Maine.  Of course I pretty much love anyone from Maine because that's where Brother Rupert lives, but Snowe's waffling on health care reform should be a model for indesisive people everywhere.  Needless to say, I've been known to noodle around a decision or two until I am incapable of any level of sound reasoning -- but with Snowe's strategy, I'm thinking that I may just be on to something.

The brilliance of Snowe's indecision is that "...for the past several months, (she) has been unable - or unwilling - to take a position on health-care legislation.  The longer she held out, the more concessions Democrats made to win her over...."  She refused to make up her mind, complaning of this and that in the bill until the Dems drafted it to her liking -- sort of.  She said  "Is this bill all that I would want?  Is it all that it can be? No, but when history calls, history calls."  She voted for the bill, the only Republican to vote with Democrats, but added a warning:  "My vote today is my vote today.  It doesn't forecast what my vote will be tomorrow."  Way to keep 'em guessing, Senator!!

The piece, written with outstanding color ("Snowe forecasts" and "Mount Olympia" -- just lots of great puns and word plays) by reporter Dana Milbank, goes on to explain exactly how Snowe gained control over the legislation, and what it means for the future of the bill.

 But what I love about Snowe's strategy is that in refusing to take a position, she showed true power and skill - she negociated by non-decision, "They've got me voting yes, preserving my leverage.  Voting no, preserving my leverage."  How often does someone who can't make up their mind have leverage and power?

In my world, indecision shows weakness and lack of information; a waffling that looks to someone else to decide.  But I'm reading Snowe like:  I'm going to take my time to decide, get YOU to throw out the parts of the puzzle that feel wrong to me, and by the way, I won't cave just because you are pressuring me. She takes the adage "I'll need to sleep on it," (a parent's saving last words) and expands it to "I'll let you know when I am good and ready, when I have all the facts, and when the facts fit what I am trying to accomplish."

BOOM!

 Let's hang in there, Olympia, and get what we need:  America wants your indecision!

Find the article on:
 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/13/AR2009101301771.html

Nick's Enthusiasm Takes the Field

I haven't written much about Nick -- Strauss Football Player #2 -- so thought I would put out some good vibes for him and his Oakton Freshman team.  The OHS Freshmen were undefeated until last week, when Westfield beat them.  Nick came home disappointed and tired -- he played a tough game.

  I love to see Nick on the football field - the word that his three's preschool teacher used to describe him still fits in almost any situation and especially on the field:  ENTHUSIASTIC!!  Nick loves the excitement of being on the team, being a strong player, and mostly being a teammate.  It's all about the peeps for him --  way to go Nick! When he recovered that fumble two years ago for Chantilly,  little did we know that we would have so much more exciting football in our future with him.

Nick recovers a fumble at the goal line - 9/07

At the T. C. Williams game last month, Nick paved the way for this handoff by quarterback Kyle Downer(#10) to Gerick Charles (#26).  I f you can't see Nick's number, it's because he's blocking his man to the ground.  Chris Durant (#69) gets in the play as well.

Nick makes the tackle against T.C. Williams - 9/09

The OHS Freshman are working hard at being a team and their effort is paying off.  I look forward to finishing up the season with them AND to three more years of fantastic Oakton High School football! 

GO COUGARS!

Bill Cosby and Me

How old is Bill Cosby?  Anybody care to wager a guess? No?  Why not?  Could it be because you've simply lost track of good ol' BC? Yes, I'm thinking that's it.  Yet he filled an entire basketball arena for the Miami University Parent's Weekend -- pretty much filled it. 

Saturday was a wonderful day with Jake on the beautiful campus of Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.  All five of us were together again.  We walked and toured and talked and ate, and after a long day, we were ready to sit and enjoy an evening of laughs. We snuggled into our seats in Millet Stadium (stadium seating does tend to challege the Strauss girth and long legs), and we waited for Bill.

Alan asked, How is old IS Bill, do you think?
Maybe 80, Jake replied.
I think you might be right, Alan responded, he's a great storyteller.

I really, really just froze.

80?  I don't think he's that old, I said.  But I feared it was true because Jake and Alan are usually right about this kind of thing.  I  booked tickets to listen to an 80 year old man tell stories, for an entire evening?  What was I thinking?  I have a hard time listening to engaging, young, interesting people. I have a hard time sitting through a good movie. As we continued to sit and wait for Bill (the stage was set in the middle of the arena with a folding chair and a small table on which were a box of tissues and a bottle of water), I began to panic.

I'm too hot, I complained.  I'm thirsty, I need to get out......
Relax, Mom, I was told.  Take off your jacket, your down vest and your sweater and relax.

But really, I thought, how long can an 80 year old talk?  An hour?  An hour and a half?  Possibly there would be an intermission so he could collect himself and I could get a glass of wine.... Alan was already snoring next to me.  The boys were elbowing each other and smacking their gum.  I can do this, I thought.  This is lovely family time.  Bill must still be very good or they  wouldn't have booked him for such a large event.  He must do this all the time.  He must have new material.  He was really funny on the Cosby Show back in the day, sort of cute, I guess....or maybe that was his little girl, his daughter or granddaughter....

The curtain to the stage finally separated....and there was Bill in his Miami University sweatshirt and Crocs; the crowd whispered, then stood and applauded with so much love that I retreated - this was just going to be something else.  But I did feel a teensy bit discourgaged when Bill walked through the audience holding on to someone's arm, then tripped up the steps to the stage.

He did look pretty much like 80.  He could blame the tripping and the arm-holding on cataract surgery that he'd had a week ago....somehow someone forgot to tell him how long it takes to recover from cataract surgery.....Bill, you need new people, is all I could muster.

So, FYI, Bill is 72.  He can tell a story, he really can.  And while I didn't laugh as much as the rest of the audience and certainly not as much or as loud as Al, there were some cute lines that made me smile. 

Two hours and 10 minutes.....that's how long an 72 year old story teller can talk....who would have ever thought?

An Acrostic Poem for Sam

Today is the day after Sam's 17th birthday.  Three years ago I wrote an acrostic poem for Sammy that I still love to read.

The form of an acrostic is easy:

a-cros-tic n.  1.  A poem or series of lines in which certain letters, usually the first in each line, form a  name, motto, or message when read in sequence.  2.  A word square. -- a-cros`tic adj. -- a-cros`ti-cally adv.

I especially like this form of poetry because it's all descriptors.  When I wrote the poem about Sam,  I remember getting stuck on the letter "R," I couldn't come up with a single word.  So, I put my draft on the kitchen counter and soon my mother-in-law and I had more "R" words than we needed.  True to the open form, we just glommed all the words together.  I read it today and can't believe I had such a block.

If you are celebrating someone or missing them or even struggling with them, write out his or her name and think about them, think about who they really are and what they mean to you right now - then put some words on paper in line with the letters you have written.  For me, writing poetry is first reflection, then form.  It's also an opening - so scribble, scratch out - just stick with it for one day. 

I've adjusted the poem below only slightly - Sam was a freshman in high school the year I wrote it.  Today he is a senior, but little else has really changed about him.

Sam, Almafi, Italy, 2009

An acrostic poem for Sam on his 17th birthday:

S – Strong - inside and out

A – Agile – on the football field or on the dance floor, you got the moves

M – Muscular – is it those power bars…or possibly your hard work in the gym

U – Uber-senior – it’s who you are this year, and that’s a good thing

E – Eater of Cheeseburgers – you the man

L – Lover of Sherman – who you love to snuggle with the most

D – Dashing – your smile says it all

A – Arguer – just for the sake of it…especially with me

V – Video game master – let’s see, what’s your favorite game right now…?

I – Intelligent – you have a mind that’s all your own

D – Dancer – you love a good time with your friends

S – Skier  - One of your favorite things

T – Tall – Just like me, only more so

R – Rock – and Roll…rhythmic, reliable, reasonable, rational, reserved

A – Athletic – and a good sportsman…the most important piece

U – Unusual – who is that in there? Sometimes we wonder….

S – Sweet – Sam-a-lama-ding-dong….even at 17

S – Super – you are the best middle son I’ve ever had!!

Sam, Deer Valley, Utah, 2009

Feeding the O-Line and Getting Them Back in School

Question of the day:

How much did I spend on pizza during the month of August, 2009?

a.  >$270

b.  >$500

c.  <$1,000

d.  >$1,000

I wish I was the type of person to keep this kind of information handy.  But a basic calculation starts with:  always at least 5 pizzas, always just cheese, always delivery.  That gets us to an average of $65.00 per order.  I want to say we ordered at least 10 times last month - but that seems tragically low and unimpressive.  I went to my calendar, hoping I could piece together the individual days that the boys were all here.  It is truly just a big blur.  And part of the problem:  I now have TWO O-Lines to feed....possibly I'm confusing them, possibly they were all here at the same time, along with the rest of the football team....possibly....

So, since I am unable document, I'm going with the conservative (c.)  above.  But let's not forget about the cases of Gatorade, the Bubba Burgers, the family-size bags of  Doritos Scoops, and the Pumpkin Bars....

I love Sam and Nick, my two very own O-Linemen, and any others who walk through my door with them. 

But I worry - who's going to feed them while they're in school?

GO COUGARS!!!

The Smell of Pumpkin Bars is In the Air!

It feels like fall here in Northern Virginia.  No turning leaves or cold frosty mornings, but I felt it yesterday afternoon  - it's just there - the slant of the sun, the slight shift in the temperature -- our world is turning towards autumn. 

Autumn is a fragrant time, so I like to fill my house with fall scents:  Pumpkin Bars and Yankee Candles....

First up, Pumpkin Bars.  The recipe below is straight forward and claims only a few basics from the pantry.  Pumpkin Bars taste fantastic, but focus on the smell of baking pumpkin - it's rich and inviting.

If baking isn't in the books right now, light an Autumn Wreath scented Yankee Candle.  We like the cinnamon and apple smells, but there's also something spicy to this scent that many of the other fall fragrances can't match.  Autumnal, indeed!


Pumpkin Bars

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
4 beaten eggs
1 (16 oz.) can pumpkin
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup cooking oil

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Stir together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, soda, and salt.
In a seperate bowl, beat until combined eggs, pumpkin, sugar and oil.
Add dry ingredients to pumpkin mixture and beat until well combined.
Spread batter in 15x10x1 inch baking pan (do not substitute another size pan - you will have soup in the middle!!) This size pan is easy to find -- I bought mine at the grocery store.
Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the middle is firm.
Cool completely.  Frost with cream cheese frosting (recipe follows).  I sometimes buy the cans of ready made Cream Cheese Icing.

Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients:
2 (3 oz.) pkgs. cream cheese, softened
1  stick butter, softened
2 teaspoons vanilla
One box confectioner's sugar

Beat together cream cheese, butter and vanilla until light and fluffy.  Gradually add sugar, beating until smooth.  Spread over cooled cake.

ENJOY!!

Why Blog Now?

Why blog now?

Blogging has been around for years. I've been around for years. Why did I start blogging two days ago? The short answer is this:

5:00pm - 7:00pm

It's the time of day when I'm waiting for things or people to happen.  Waiting for the boys to come home, waiting for dinner, waiting for the meeting to start, waiting for time to pass.   I don't like it - the passivity of it -- waiting on someone else to get my evening moving.  Remember how active I am?  I can literally roam around the house with no focus during these hours.  Wierd, but it's been happening for years.

So what to do between 5:00 and 7:00 - and I'll be honest here, sometimes it's between 4:00 and 8:00?  Drink wine?  Eat snacks?  Watch Oprah?  Take long walks by myself?  Write?

I decided (after trying many of the other options first) to write.  Up I went to my beautiful room, to my desk and my yellow legal pad and lovely pens and well, fell asleep just thinking about journaling.  It has always felt so useless to me.  And when I re-read what I have been able to  force to paper over the years  -- eeks -- what was I thinking?  Really, it just means nothing to read it. 

I write other stuff, too.  Short stories, essays, poems, letters.  But I never attempt to publish, because I never perfect.  My tenses are always wrong.  I split infinitives.  I use "there" when I mean to use "their" -- how embarrasing is that?  But, if you've stuck with me, remember how I don't care how I look on the tennis court or on a long run? 

Those of you who read the Washington Post may be familiar with an advise column by Carolyn Hax called "Tell Me About It."  I love this column (actually, I love all question/answer columns no matter the topic).  In one series of questions a reader asks:

People always say you have to make yourself happy.  What goes into that?  How does one make oneself happy?

(Aren't you glad you're not an advice columnist right about now?)

Carolyn responds:

Figure out the things that make you feel confident/fulfilled/energized; that give you a sense of purpose or accomplishment; that tap into your natural ablilities and strengths and that don't put you at the mercy of any one person, and orient your life around those.

Wow - that set me back a step or two.  Especially the "...that don't put you at the mercy of any one person...." 

So writing does that for me - it energizes me and gives me a sense of purpose, and I think that it taps into some natural gifts that I have been given.  AND it keeps me from the mercy of my dear family, who are building their own beautiful lives while I am cooking dinner for them.  Sharing what I have written gives me the first part - confidence.  Spelling, verb tenses, participial phrases - they won't hold me back anymore (although I'll be looking things up)!

So on I go, how about you? Fill-in-the-blanks below:

_____________ make me feel confident/fulfilled/energized

_____________ give me a sense of purpose or accomplishment

_____________ tap into my natural abilities and strengths (w/out putting me at the mercy of another person)

Participate....run your OWN race!!

Getting Started

Well, it was a great day -- full of outdoor activity which is what I love! My friend, Mae, once refered to me as "such a jock!" We got a good laugh out of it - because while I like to move and be active, I'm pretty much not great at most sports. So, I run, but I'm slow. I bike, but my butt gets tired. I yoga, but I barely touch my toes. I play tennis, but I never know where my serve is going. I ski, but I'm always in control. I golf, but I miss the ball.

What I do, though, is participate - even if it's not pretty (it just usually isn't). I live my life on this principle - participation - and it's how I raise my children.  Try, see if you like it, give it a good chance, and then, in the words of Joan Benoit Samuelson, "run your own race." Don't run the race of the guy next to you, run your race. Don't run the race of your classmates, run your race. Don't run the race that I set up for you, run your race. You get the point. There is so much pressure to be perfect and to conform to the idealistic norms that society sets. I get sick of all of the stress that we manufacture (and believe me, I manufacture plenty on my own). This is not to say don't try, or don't compete or don't care about winning - just own the pace and the race, let the guy next to you do the same.

Let me tell you about my first marathon (this is where my kids roll their eyes completely to the back of their heads), but it is a prime example of the "participate at all costs" principle.  Remember, I run, but slowly and not especially well, so stick with me!

It was the Chicago Marathon, known to be one of the flatest and thereby fastest marathons in the country.  30,000+ runners, 26.2 miles....finishing was a definate question for me.  But at the pasta dinner the night before the race, set in the enormous McCormick Place Convention Center, I sat with veteran runners, people who had run marathons in every state; one guy had run the Chicago Marathon for the past 26 years with his brothers.  The table was overflowing with stories of wonderful times on the marathon course, new friends made, memories to last a life time.  These people were pros, I tell you.  I was the baby, the pup...this is what I heard:

Ah, your first marathon, you'll love it.
Ah, your first marathon, the crowds will carry you through.
Ah, your first marathon, the best race you'll ever run.

And I was convinced.  It's a trait of mine, to believe the good things people say, even if they're not true, even if they couldn't possibly be true.  I want things to be good and, OK, easy.  But Joan got up as the last speaker, almost as we were leaving, trying to reason with us as we high-fived each other over our water glasses:

There are going to be more than 30,000 runners out there, she reminded us.  Don't run this race for anyone but you.  Not your running partner or your friends back home, or (she should have said) the new friends you are making as I speak.  Run for yourself.  Because, at the end of tomorrow, each of you will have your own time and your own experience.

Hummmm, she did put a teensy bit of fear in me, but I prefered to listen to my new friends.  I slept well that night.

Round about mile, say 21, I was cursing the man from Chicago who told me the crowds would carry me away.  Nope, it was my own tired legs moving step by miserable step doing all of the work.  And what about the euphoria of my "first?"  Wasn't feeling that, either. Then, in what I now think was a compromised state rendered by dehydration and exhaustion, it came to me.   I remembered what Joan said.  And she was right on.  This IS hard, and I am all on my own. 

I did cross the line - THERE was the euphoria I was waiting for, along side of the fainting and vomiting.  But I did it, I participated, and my new friends were well on their way home by the time I came to.  I've quoted Joan ever since.  Her reason in the face of unbriddle excitement brings me back again and again.

So, get out there, people!  Run your own race, play a game, start a blog - PARTICIPATE!

Welcome

Well, the spagetti sauce is stewing and it is 5:28pm. It's my youngest son Nick's 14th birthday, and with this great occasion I celebrate the opening of my blog! I'm excited about writing and sharing my thoughts on the things that really matter to me. I might write about something as lofty as a poem, as twisty as my teenagers, or as fluid as the stuff that I noodle through on a long run.

I'm a great comsumer -- so will report on new products and services that I find and love. I'll share many of the things that make mothering great and, of course, I'll complain about the stuff that bugs me -- will be interesting to see if they balance out. Don't worry -- this is NOT about recipes -- (but I do cook and will share good stuff). This about the heart and soul of my life: parenting, running, entertaining, decorating, volunteering, writing, reading, friends, wine, and (OK) food.

I'm planning features like "How Not to Get Your High School Junior Through Spanish III," (I've made every mistake in the book) and "What Experts Do You Really Need to Hire," (I've hired them all - watch for my review!) and "Military School: Is it For Your Son?" (see note on Spanish III, above). This won't be just about my kids or my husband, although they do stir the creative juices. I'll also write about people and events in the news that strike me as interesting or funny or sad or wierd - I expect to have plenty of material.

I'm new at all of this and my writing is a bit rusty, but please join me as I start this new journey. Welcome!!