Tags
Britney Spears, cooking, Detroit, domestic goddess, Halloween, Holidays, Oscar Wilde, Pitbull, Pumpkin, Strobe light, Teenagers
I skipped posting last week. It’s not a crime. I was busy making memories. I have (tried to convince myself that I) have made peace with the fact that I will never have the cleanest house….or the biggest house….but if I have a house that kids still want to come to, I’m doing okay. A week ago Friday, we had a pumpkin-carving party for my daughter’s posse. They ate pizza & candy, and carved pumpkins by the moonlight.
I was excited to use our fire table for the first time that night. I read through the directions, and then recruited one of my daughter’s friends and my neighbor to help light it. When they figured it out, it was great!
I was happy. We left the patio and went to the driveway to watch Devil Dog play with her friend Ali.
Now, dig back into the recesses of your mind and remember what I always tell you about my life. One step forward, many steps back. We hadn’t been in the driveway for 5 minutes, when we heard a crazy, loud pop. We looked around and couldn’t figure out what it was. A few minutes later when I got back up to the patio, I saw that one of the lava rocks from the fire table had exploded, flew through the air, and landed in the outdoor sofa cushion. Are you kidding me? That damn lava rock sat there smoking, and mocking me. Reminded me of a guy I used to “date”.
I decided to take the high road. Looked at it with a glass half-full. I decided I was thrilled that one of us hadn’t been sitting on the cushion at the time. I turned over the damaged cushion and moved on with my life. The kids finished their pumpkins, sang songs around the fire, and then went to a haunted corn maze. They are such a motley crew. One boy had a broken arm/hot pink cast. One girl had a broken toe/garbage bag around the foot. One boy has seizures, and had to avoid the strobe-light section of the maze. Another girl has had adverse reactions to strobe lights in the past and had to do the same. In spite of the maladies, and complications, they figured it out. Some made it through the maze. Some were in tears before they took the first step. In the end, they gathered back together to bid each other adieu for the evening. As another mom and I watched them take a solid ten minutes to hug each other good-bye, we laughed and couldn’t help but wonder what high school graduation will be like!
After the pumpkin-carving party, I continued to stay in the Halloween spirit. I had to redeem myself from a recent meal I created – one of the more disgusting culinary delights of my adult life. Oscar Wilde said that experience is simply the name we give our mistakes. I disagree. I named mine Crappy Dinner for Three and created a pin to memorialize it.
The redemption was Mummy Dogs…lovingly prepared by moi:
I know – the eyes are a little big. But, look how nicely they’re dressed.
In preparation for being within 50 feet of Halloween candy, I had the concoction below for lunch yesterday with a hummus/pumpkin seed tortilla chip chaser.
Um, ick. Even if it did give me a month’s worth of vitamin A, C and green vegetables it didn’t make me FEEL GOOD like the bottle said it would. Plus, the magic elixir wasn’t enough to keep me away from the siren’s song of these temptresses.
Peanut butter pumpkins, be damned! I can’t be trusted around you!
I’ll cut myself some slack though. I’ve done better nutrition-wise this year than others. But dang! I really need to get some cardio in my life. I hate cardio! I really freaking hate it! Even when I was more athletic than I am now, I didn’t like it. It seems like I know more people these days who are marathon runners than aren’t, and, I so totally and completely admire their commitment and accomplishments…but it really makes me feel inadequate…especially when I feel good about taking Devil Dog for a ½ mile walk every morning.
Oh, well. Just like I can’t compare my home with OPH (other people’s homes), I can’t compare my activity level to OPF (other people’s fitness), or I’ll make myself crazy.
However, I have made the commitment to attempt to hit my target heart rate once in a while. Not only have I created a cardio playlist loaded with Pitbull and Britney Spears. Well, loaded in this case, means two songs. Inspired by my friend Lynn, I have also purchased a Groupon for kickboxing! I was so glad to learn that they have a For Dummies orientation! I haven’t figured out a date on which I will throw myself in the ring. I have, however, determined what I am going to wear:
After all, looking good is half the battle!
fridaydebrief 