Tag Archives: working mom

The Perils of Absent-Mindedness

Posted on February 8, 2012 | 6 comments

Good morning!

After I sat in the drive-through lane at Wendy’s for five minutes only to discover that I was sitting behind a parked car, which explained why the line wasn’t moving, I decided to reflect upon the perils of absent-mindedness.

From Print Shop Professional 2.0

1) Traffic stoppage.  I have sat at a four-way stop sign waiting for the light to change, wondering why the people behind me were so impatient.  (Note to self:  Stop signs won’t change to green.)

2) Unnecessary car repairs.  Mark and I had to swap cars one day.  I was in the Ford Escape, and became quite annoyed when it wouldn’t start – only to realize that I had been pressing the air conditioning on/off button in a vain attempt to get the car to start, rather than putting the key in the ignition.  (My Hyundai has a push button start.)  I was grateful to have discovered this before I called for a wrecker.

3)  Retracing steps.  I work in an office building with three flights of stairs, and I am on the top floor.  It can be quite inconvenient to leave my office, travel down to the basement, forget what I came for, and have to travel back up again three flights to the point of beginning to remember what I needed.  Good exercise though!

4) Retracing steps, part deux.  I have been known to walk through the house repeating over and over again the item that I need to carry back to a particular room just to be sure I don’t forget.

5) Retracing steps, part trois.  (Ha!  And you thought I didn’t know French.  Actually, I don’t; I’m just guessing that “trois” means “three” in French – it could be the French version of Troy for all I know.)  I also have had to turn the car around at various points along various routes because I forgot to stop at the one place that I had intended to travel to when I left my point of origin.

From Print Shop Professional 2.0

6) Taking extra trips to the store.  I have been known to leave the house for one specific item from the grocery store, return back 30 minutes later with $100 worth of groceries, and realize that I never did get the one thing that I really needed.

7) Finding food in odd places.  I have found the peanut butter, and various non-refrigerated items in the refrigerator; I have found the ice cream in the refrigerator and not the freezer; I have found the milk in the cupboard once or twice.

8) Voice overuse.  My family has become very patient about repeating their menu choices – I ask in the den, take the ten steps to the kitchen, and realize that I have forgotten what they said, and have to call out the question again from the kitchen.

From Print Shop 2.0 Professional

9) Poor wardrobe choices.  Wearing your night-clothes to work is normally not recommended.  Wait – that’s just a dream I had!  I have, however, discovered that I was wearing mis-matched shoes.

10) Giving adult responsibility to a 10-year-old.  My daughter has learned quickly to remind me to stop somewhere when she sees that I am about to miss a turn.  I am very grateful that she has not learned to comment upon the phenomenon.

11)  Having something to laugh about – Priceless!

Have a great day!

Nancy

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Super Bowl, Dog Delivery, and Helping the Local Humane Shelter

Posted on February 7, 2012 | 6 comments

Hi Everyone!

I hope each of you had a chance to enjoy the Super Bowl Sunday night; it was one of the great ones – down to the wire, with plenty of excitement and great plays.  Some of the commercials were pretty funny, too.

Given my affinity for Volkswagen Beetles, it will not surprise you that the Volkswagen commercial where the golden retriever decided he needed to lose weight so he could chase the Beetle driving down the street was one of my favorites.  The E-trade Baby came through with his usual panache, too.  And for those of us who grew up with “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” the Honda CR-V commercial with Matthew Broderick was pretty funny too.  I’d love to know if any of you had favorite commercials from the game.

In other news, Darwin was falsely accused of chewing last night.  He walked into the den with a piece of paper in his mouth, and Mark was about to scold him for chewing, when Kayla called out from her bedroom that Darwin had been given a note and been bidden to take it to Mark.  Now, I am curious to know if Darwin actually knew to bring it to Mark, or if it was just an accident that the next place he went from Kayla’s room was to Mark.  I may never know, since I am not inclined to tempt Darwin with another such piece of paper.

I got a chance to go back by one of my favorite animal shelters the other day and walk a dog at lunch.  This is a really fun way to help out your local shelter and exercise at the same time.  The dogs that are in the runs waiting to be adopted love the chance to get to stretch their legs, and also the extra attention and petting they get (at least from me) as their walker, and the walker gets exercise while feeling that for that one day he or she has made a difference, at least for that one dog.  It also may help to make more energetic dogs more adoptable by allowing them a chance to burn off a little energy so that they are not quite as hyper when people come to choose a dog from the shelter.  Yesterday, I walked a dog named Blackjack, who answers to the name of Jack.  Jack was the biggest dog I have ever walked, and from the owner of Darwin, who often resembles a small horse, that is saying something.  Jack was not nearly as tall as Darwin, but imagine a cross between a lab and a Newfoundland, and you might begin to get an idea of his size.  Jack was solid muscle, which could have been a problem but wasn’t because he had obedience training and walked like a dream, never pulling on the leash and always listening to me when I told him to come or to keep up.  Quite unlike the twins, Darwin and Mandy, in my house, who make me feel like a crazed Hittite charioteer whenever I have them on the leash and try to exit the house.  Jack hasn’t been there long, though, so it was hard to get him to wag his tail, but he finally started to once I was taking him back to his pen.  I hope to be able to go back tomorrow (Wednesday) and then I will walk someone else.

Well, that’s about all for now.  I hope each of you has a great day!

Nancy

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Preparing for the Super Bowl – Home Edition

Posted on February 3, 2012 | 4 comments

Good morning everyone!

The biggest football game of the year, the Super Bowl,  is played this coming Sunday.  Here are some tips to be sure that you are ready for the big game.

1)  Pick the team you will root for in advance.

For some people, of course, this is a no brainer – they have been Giants or Patriots fans their whole lives.  Others may have decided long ago that it would be a cold day in a very, very hot place before they ever cheered for the Giants (or the Patriots) as the case may be, so their choice is easy also.  For some fans, though, choosing sides may be more difficult.  Even if your favorite team didn’t reach the Super Bowl, find some reason to pick one team over the other, even if it is as trivial as the color of the jerseys.

2) Carefully plan your menu for the big game.

It has been scientifically proven that any foods consumed between the hours of 5 p.m. CT and 9:00 p.m. CT on Super Bowl Sunday have no fat or caloric content, so go for it!  A heavy dose of appetizers and finger foods is strongly recommended, including chips and dip, cheese fries, potato skins, nachos, fried cheese and anything else you can get away with.

3) Educate small children in advance.

Carefully explain to small children that their behavior during this last game will need to be exemplary.  Help them understand that they can jump up and down and scream when the adults do, but otherwise they will have to find quiet ways to occupy their time while the game is on.

4)  Females, strongly encourage male counterparts to leave the remote control alone during the commercials for this one game.

Watching the commercials during the Super Bowl is as much a tradition as watching the game itself.  If you live in a household where the male of the house watches two programs at a time – the main show and the “commercial” show that he flips to when the main show has a commercial break – and you don’t think he can break himself of the habit, it is perfectly acceptable to hide the remote where only you can find it once the game begins.

5) Don’t forget to stock up on the beverages of your choice, so no one will have to leave the house during the game on a diet coke (or other beverage) run.

6) For “mixed” families – where members of the family are die-hard fans of opposing teams – separated by long distances, make sure the phone lines stay clear so that each side can call the other at key moments throughout the game to gloat explain the importance of crucial plays.  Unplugging your phone to prevent the other side from calling you when the game is over and your team lost is considered poor sportsmanship.

7) For the more technologically advanced, it is acceptable to tweet or text such updates rather than delivering them by phone.

8) The five hours of pre-game shows are optional, although the flag football game between former players, if they do it again this year, is worth watching.  Who wouldn’t want to see Joe Montana and Jerry Rice connect one more time for a touch down?

9) The half-time show is not optional.  A great deal of water cooler conversation the next day can revolve around the half-time show (ie., the entry into the English lexicon of the phrase “wardrobe malfunction.”)

10) Enjoy the game!  There really is nothing else like it.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Nancy

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The Evolution of a Painting

Posted on January 30, 2012 | 10 comments

Good morning everyone!

I finished my latest painting, a landscape watercolor, which is the first landscape painting I have ever done.  I took pictures of the painting throughout the process, so I thought you might like to see how the painting was done.

First, you must start out with an idea or a model of what you wish to paint.  This was my model.

The picture I chose as my model

Next, you take the surface you are painting (for watercolors, there is specially developed paper) and draw the main lines of the painting on there. Once the main lines are drawn, you start filling them in. Here, you can see where I have started to fill in the main set of mountains. If you look closely, you can also see the drawn lines for the meadow/valley below.

The Beginning of the Mountains

The next step was to add depth and color to the mountains. Getting the mountains right was probably the longest part of the process.

The Mountains

The next step was to fill in the meadow and other land in the foreground.

Foreground Filled In

A closer view:

A Closer View

Then it was time to start the detail work in the foreground. Here is the detail after my first session on working on it:

Part but not all of the detail

A close up of the detail close to the left side of the mountain:

Close up of the left side of the mountain meadow

The next painting session let me finish the details, and the painting.

The Finished Product

Here’s a closer look at the finished painting:

Close up of Finished Painting

And here is a look at the painting, and the picture that started it, side by side:

Comparison

The hardest part of painting watercolor is the need for patience – patience as you try to mix the colors in exactly the right, patience as you try to build up the right sets of color and patience to go back and try again if the colors don’t quite work the first time. I’m please with the final result though.

Have a great day!

Nancy

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Heeeerrrrreee’s Tyra!

Posted on January 24, 2012 | 6 comments

Good morning Everyone!

Tyra, on January 20, 2012

Today’s post is about our oldest dog Tyra.  Tyra, whose nicknames include Tyra Belle, Big Dog and occasionally The Saint (refer to the many posts about Mandy and Darwin to understand why), does not exactly receive equal time in this blog so today I wanted to focus on her. 

Tyra, looking up from the love seat

The main reason Tyra doesn’t receive more time on this blog is not that we love her any less than the other two dogs, but simply because she is the best behaved of the three dogs so she often gives me the least to write about.  To be honest, she is the best behaved of all five dogs we have ever owned, and that is saying something!  Tyra’s main goal in life appears to be to please us, while Mandy’s goal in life is to be happy and maintain her excellent self-esteem, and Darwin’s centers somewhere between playing and getting really good back scratches whenever possible.

Tyra, October 1, 2006 in the back yard

Tyra, 10 years old now, is an Australian Shepherd mix, we think, and came to live with us on February 14, 2004, about 10 1/2 months before Kayla came.  She was three when we selected her from the Humane Shelter.  The sign on the run she was sharing with another dog said that she was a Rottweiler mix, but I have lived with this dog for almost eight years now, and there is no Rottweiler in her anywhere.  We weren’t sure what she was until one day when we saw a picture of an Australian Shepherd, which was spot on to what Tyra looks like when we let her hair grow out.

Second Picture, Tyra backyard, October 1, 2006

Tyra was taken to the Humane Shelter by the first family that adopted her and left, the reason being that they had a baby and “didn’t have time to care for her anymore.”  I always have thought that to be incredibly sad for Tyra,even if incredibly lucky for us; I don’t know how you could do that to a dog as loving as she is.  She still has nightmares occasionally, when she will start to moan in her sleep – whether it is about that experience or something else, I don’t know – but a soft touch and just a whisper that everything’s okay and she’s safe with us at home soothes her, even if she doesn’t wake up. 

Woof, Back Yard, October 1, 2006

When we got Tyra, our first dog, Shadow, had been dead for over a year, and I was starting to worry about our second dog, Woof, and how lonely she seemed to be getting.  Mark and I went to the shelter that day to select a dog, and as we were looking over the runs, we came across a pair of medium-sized dogs kenneled together .  One of the signs on the run said, “My name is Tyra, and I can sit!”  Mark said, “Sit,” Tyra sat, and the rest is history.  I haven’t seen her sit on command too many times since then, but bless her heart, the one time in her life it counted, she pulled it off! 

Tyra and Woof Camping in the Travel Trailer

Woof and Tyra had a cordial, not necessarily close relationship.  Or at least that’s what I thought until the day we went camping and I was walking both of them, and Tyra thought another dog was about to attack Woof.  Tyra immediately went into defense mode, and there is no doubt in my mind whatsoever that Tyra would have done anything possible to defend Woof. 

Kayla and Tyra, 12 days after Kayla came to live with us

Tyra and Kayla have a sweet bond.  Kayla took to Tyra almost as soon as Kayla moved in with us.  When Kayla learned that Tyra had only been with us since February, (remember, Kayla came December 1, 2004), something clicked and the two of them have for the most part had a rapport ever since.  Kayla does not boss Tyra around like she does the other two dogs, but is always sweet and gentle with her.  When she plays school, using the dogs to populate her pretend school world, Tyra is never a student.  Once, Tyra was the school nurse; another time, when I was unavailable, Tyra was the principal. 

Kayla's First Visit Ever To Our House With Mark, Tyra and Woof in the Picture

We learned quite by accident that Tyra also is prepared to do whatever it takes to protect Kayla.  One day when Kayla was four, Mark was grilling outside in the back yard and Kayla was with him.  Kayla heard the door bell ring, but Mark didn’t, so she went to open the door.  (That was a whole separate conversation.)  When she opened the door, there was a teenage boy there that she didn’t know, and Kayla got scared and screamed.  Tyra flew from the back yard down the hall to the front door, pushed Kayla to the side, and chased the teenage boy and his three friends (all of whom, bless their souls, were only asking for directions) onto the hood of their car in the 10 seconds it took Mark to realize something had happened and get out there as well. 

Our Family, Early in 2005

Tyra is not, however, without her quirks.  After all, she is only human canine!  She absolutely loves camping, and bananas.  All the dogs like going for a ride, but when we had our travel trailer, she would absolutely lose her mind as soon as she realized that we were going on an expedition.  She would laugh from the time we got in the car until we returned home.  I had never seen anything like it.  As far as bananas go, they appear to be a miracle cure for her for everything from arthritic hips to fatigue.  The mere sight or smell of a banana will start her prancing like a three-year old dog again. 

Why Won't They Give Me My Spot?

Tyra’s evening routine requires that she be given a seat on the couch beside Mark.  We got this picture of her on the sofa recently, when I was on one side, and Kayla was on the other side of Mark.  She does not look happy!

About time!

All was well, though, once she was placed in her favorite spot.

It's all good!

Tyra also gets extra privileges now that she has attained the status of the official geriatric dog in the household.  See, Life with a Geriatric Dog.  These include elevator service onto our bed every night and occasional joy rides in the car with Mark, Kayla and I while the other two dogs are left at home.  She also is indisputably the leader of the three dogs, although they all three of them ultimately defer to Mark.  She is a benevolent leader, fortunately, and we have been amazed at the restraint she has shown towards both Mandy and Darwin.  They really have to work at it to hack her off.

You will notice in some of these pictures that one of Tyra’s eyes is much larger than the other.  That is due to a condition called canine glaucoma.  There is no cure, and both we and our vet believe she can’t see out of that eye any more, but it doesn’t seem to have slowed her down one bit.  I watch her when she play wrestles with Darwin (they have their own version of mouth wrestling; I have yet to figure out any of the rules besides the cardinal rule, which is that Tyra wins.  Always.  No matter what.) and she just seems to look at him out of her other eye with a twinkle that says, “I can still beat you, even with one eye tied behind my back – but I won’t take advantage of you, even so.”

That’s my dog.

Have a great day !

Nancy

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The Benefits of an On-Site Hotel at Universal

Posted on January 21, 2012 | 6 comments

Good morning everyone!

Some of this is going to sound like a commercial; I apologize in advance, but when something is enjoyable, it doesn’t make any sense to try to find something negative to say!

As you know, Mark and I took a trip to Orlando last weekend. Mark and I hadn’t been to a theme park in a lot of years (since Kayla was 4) and we were a little unsure how he would do with the walking and the standing in line given his rheumatoid arthritis, which is one reason we wanted to take this trip with just the two of us – if we ended up only being able to stay in a park for one or two hours, we wouldn’t have to worry about disappointing our daughter.  There were about 500 other reasons to have some time for just the two of us, so that wasn’t the only reason, but it was one.

Picture from our Porch the Other Day;It has nothing to do with anything I am writing about but it is pretty!

Then, as I was going through our options for a hotel room, I started looking at the three Loew’s  hotels that are “on-site” Universal Studio hotels – the Portofino, the Royal Pacific and the Hard Rock.  They are not cheap, but by staying at the Royal Pacific, we picked up a lot of extras that were worth their “wait”  in gold.  (You’ll understand and be able to groan at the pun later.)

The most important of those benefits was the fact that every guest at one of those three hotels has automatic “Fast Pass” entry to every ride that has one, which basically is every ride except for Harry Potter’s Forbidden Journey.  Granted it was January, with Fast Pass, we hardly had to wait in line at all (okay, go ahead and groan now); often we were able to walk right onto the ride as soon as we got up to it.  (The lines at Universal are astounding labyrinths; as we walked through them we tried to imagine what it would be like to have to wait if all of the labyrinth was full and came to the conclusion that it would not be fun.)  For those of you who, like me, have stood in line somewhere like Disneyworld or Universal for over 45 minutes to an hour for a ride, you can just imagine the feeling of soaring into the ride immediately!  I would have felt a little bad about it if the Fast Pass option wasn’t available to everyone if they choose, but if you are not staying at the hotels, you can buy Fast Pass privileges.  It costs $87 per person per day on top of the entrance fee, which is already over $80 for a single park, single day admission.  (In other words, it ain’t cheap.)

Hogwarts at Universal

Even though the Harry Potter ride does not have a Fast Pass entrance (yet, anyhow), staying at one of the three Universal Hotels also allows you to enter Islands of Adventure one hour early to go down to Harry Potter’s Wizarding World, so instead of waiting over 60 minutes to ride the Forbidden Journey, we had a wait time of about 10 minutes.  The second day, Harry Potter’s Forbidden Journey was one of the only two rides we decided to ride twice.  We waited 60 minutes in line for the ride that day, and easily came to the conclusion that the Fast Pass and early entry was what had made the trip possible.  The other ride we rode twice was the Spiderman ride.  It is one of the best rides in both parks!  Since Spiderman has a Fast Pass entry, it only took about five minutes each time to go through.

Hogsmeade at Universal

Another benefit of staying at an on-site hotel at Universal is proximity and transportation.  We were only a ten minute walk away from CityWalk and the entrance to both parks, and if we didn’t feel like walking, there was a water taxi that would carry us to and from the hotel along a canal Universal has constructed.  The hotel or the parks, I’m not sure which, also provide shuttle buses if you prefer.

We walked along the hotel path several times; it is a well-designed route, with landscaping that has a pan-Asian flair, including stands of bamboo and small stone statues hidden around, and lots of flowering plants, some of which were still flowering even in mid-January.  We tried the water taxi too; it was basically just a ride in a boat but the drivers were very friendly and after all of the hours we had spent walking, being able to sit down was fantastic!

The Water Taxi Pulling Up At CityWalk

Another benefit was the ease with which we picked up our tickets.  There is an automated “Will Call” Kiosk that you go to in the lobby, swipe the credit card/debit card you used to make your payments originally with, and out pop your tickets for your entire stay.

Staying “on the park” really made a difference in how much we enjoyed our short stay.  Hopefully, you will get the chance to do so soon!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Nancy

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Smart Marketing

Posted on January 19, 2012 | 8 comments

Good morning Everyone!

What a week!  I’ve been trying to write this post since Tuesday, which was the day we got back from a mini-vacation to Orlando.  Tuesday for whatever reason my internet didn’t want to load pictures (and how can you talk about a trip to Orlando without pictures?) and then I ended up working until extraordinarily late to get a brief filed.  (By extraordinarily late, I’m talking about times I haven’t seen since I was in college!)  Then yesterday I had an 8 a.m. check-up which involved fasting beforehand (nothing to eat from 12 until 8 – I am not exactly Miss Merry Sunshine in the morning anyhow, but me without food in the morning is an unhappy combination!)  Then, the check-up over and breakfast procured,  I went to work to recover from my late night session Tuesday, which translates to trying to get enough papers moved to see the wood of my desk top and pushing forward with other projects.  It felt good last night just to come home and collapse – I was in bed by 8:30 and asleep by 9:20, which was great!

A visual depiction of my week so far!

But now we have reached Thursday and I have yet to post for this week, so I better get started.

As I’ve already mentioned, we spent this weekend traveling – Kayla went to visit my Mom, who had bought the two of them tickets to see the Broadway musical “Wicked” this past weekend, and Mark and I decided to take advantage of the weekend to go to Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida.

Mark and I did have a good time, but I want to talk today about our first evening there, where sunny Florida was not sunny (but only because it was night) and COLD! The night-time temperatures when we were out and about walking were down in the high 30’s. (For those of you from colder climes who think the high 30’s is downright balmy, I suggest you try coming down here to Alabama or Florida in July when our temperatures are in the mid-90’s or higher with 200% humidity, and you will understand.)

All right, I admit it wasn't as cold as this!

It was so cold, in fact, that I had to pull out The Squash to wear. The Squash is a bright yellow fleece that I have had for ages; I used to wear it often with green gym pants which made me sort of resemble a summer squash, which is how it got its name. The Squash is one of my favorite fleeces – brightly colored and extraordinarily warm, with sleeves that are too long – just too long enough so that I can pull my hands into them and let the sleeves double as gloves when I need them too. Long live the Squash!

Me in The Squash at Islands of Adventure

But I digress (I can hear the shocked gasps!) We didn’t want to go to either of the parks in the evening, because they weren’t going to be open that late, so we decided to go to City Walk, an entertainment area Universal has constructed in an area between Islands of Adventure (their second theme park) and Universal Studios (their first theme park.) After we got lost trying to find the walking path from our hotel, the Loew’s Royal Pacific, to City Walk, then finally retreating to the lobby where, starting from the point of origin we finally found the path, we had been out walking in the cold for about 25 minutes and were glad for a chance to sit down in the warmth at the restaurant we had chosen for dinner, called Pastamore.  At least, it started out warm, but once someone decided to open some large panels in the front, the temperature quickly plummeted.

The Beginning of the Islands of Adventure Theme Park

When we finished eating, we decided to walk around CityWalk and look at some of the shops. There are a lot of nightclubs there, too, but we were planning on an early day at the theme parks and didn’t want to stay up that late. The shops were interesting, but they were all cold. I think they had heat, but the fact that they left two doors open at all time caused most of the heat to float away in the night sky. Because they were cold, we didn’t really want to linger.

Until we came to the Fossil Store. For those who don’t know, Fossil is a company that makes watches, wallets, purses, some jewelry, belts, and some briefcases/satchels. Mark and I like what they sell, but at first we just intended to make a brief sweep of the store and go on. That is, until we entered the store and found that someone had the good sense to close one of the two doors to the shop and keep the heat in. It was blissfully warm in there! Nor were we the only tourists who had a sudden penchant to linger around the store that evening; I counted about 15 or 18 tourists sharing the shop with us while we were in there, and the store is not that big.

Mark ended up buying a watch for me; it is a nice, somewhat dressy watch for work. It is made out of my favorite precious metal, rose gold, and has Swarovski crystals embedded around the rim of the front.

Had the store not been warm, we never would have stayed in it long enough to find the watch, so kudos to the manager at the Fossil Store at City Walk at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida for extraordinarily smart marketing – with heat!

Have a great day!

Nancy

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It’s Time To Stop!

Posted on January 13, 2012 | 8 comments

Hi Everyone!

radio cassette tape car combo

Years ago, when cassette players were the equivalent of CD players or even MP3 players in cars are now, cars did not come with cupholders.  At all.  Many were the drinks then that got spilled in cars because people believed the drinks were securely held to the back of the car seat beside them by available heavy objects such as books or purses.

A MakeShift CupHolder - found on the blog "Just a Car Guy" on blogspot.com

Apparently, the first cupholder for cars was designed around 1950, because the November 1950 issue of Popular Mechanics contained the following picture and  article, which I found listed at BoingBoing.com, in an article submitted by Cory Doctorow.

Early, early cupholder

The Popular Mechanics article explained the following about the new design;

Travel snacks can be enjoyed while the car is in motion with a dashboard tray which prevents cold drinks or water glasses from tipping over. The tray hangs from two cords which are held on the dashboard by suction cups. Bottles or glasses rest on two disks which are suspended below the tray on chains. When not in use, the tray can be folded into small space for storage in the glove compartment.

Early 12 Ounce CupHolders

This design did not go very far, obviously, because most cars in the United States did not have cupholders, that I recall, until the 1980’s or so.  (Apparently, according to at least one source I found, cup holders are not a big deal in Europe in automobiles even today.)  Finally, however, a car designer somewhere along the way came up with the idea of placing cupholders in their cars by taking areas that otherwise would be blank space, and hollowing out a little hole, about the size of a 12 ounce can of soda or a cup of coffee, somewhere in the console between the driver’s seat and the passenger’s seat.  Another bright car designer realized that the occupants of the vehicle most likely to want drinks and need cupholders to avoid spilling would be youngsters in the back seat, at which point the back seat console complete with cupholder was born.

Cupholders in Back Console

So far, so good, but then another trend started – the birth of the soda fountain at your local gas/convenience store.  Originally, drinks came in about 12-16 ounce sizes that easily fit into your cupholder.  Then the convenience stores decided to make people think they were getting a better bargain by making drink cups bigger, and the 32  ounce cup was born.  At first, these cups did not fit into the cupholders in cars, but as their popularity grew, the carmakers enlarged the cupholders to accomodate the larger size cups.  32 ounces is a lot of anything, but still manageable.

Difference Between a 12 ounce and 32 ounce drinks

But today I stopped at a convenience store to grab a drink, and the only two sizes available were 12 ounces and 44 ounces, sort of the Alpha and Omega of cups.  I think it’s time to stop, people.  44 ounces is a lot of liquid!  To get some idea of how much consider this:  44 ounces is the equivalent of one third of a gallon of milk! While the 44 ounce cup at this store was designed so that the bottom of the cup tapered to fit into the standard (32 ounce) cupholder in most cars, I am sure there are many other such cups out there that do not, and quite frankly, I think the carmakers are running out of space to do any more enlarging!

Example of a 44 ounce drink

So, help out this new movement to stop the Super Size trend by selecting drinks no larger than 32 ounces when you get ready to purchase one, whether from a convenience store or a fast food place, before we drive the auto industry (further) to its knees!

Now, please excuse me so I can take a sip of my super-sized 44 ounce drink that I bought anyhow.

Have a great day everyone!

Nancy

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Inappropriate O’Fences

Posted on January 10, 2012 | 8 comments

Good morning Everyone!

Kayla is at an age now where one of our joys is listening to her thoughts and vocabulary expand.  Of course, she doesn’t always get every word right the first time, but the things she says can really surprise us.

This weekend, we went to the hospital to visit someone, and on the way into the hospital Mark was roughhousing with Kayla, just a little bit.  She looked up at him and said sternly, “Playing in the hospital like that is inappropriate.”  Both Mark and I had to stifle a laugh.  (Somehow, laughing out loud in the hospital waiting room also seemed inappropriate.)

Sunday night though, I laughed out loud.  While we were eating spaghetti and bread on trays in front of the TV (it was the playoffs, after all!), Mark started teasing Kayla about something.  She informed him that doing so “while I’m eating is O’Fences.”  I started to laugh, and had to calm down enough to explain that the correct word was “offensive.”  Mark thought it was funny, too.

Have a great day everyone!

Nancy

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Posted in Out of the mouths of babes...., working mom

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Memory

Posted on January 9, 2012 | 12 comments

Good morning Everyone!

I’ve been thinking lately about memory and how differently it functions for different people.  I have a good memory for numbers and odd facts I’ve run across, but if I ask you in the den whether you’d prefer cream of chicken or vegetable beef soup for lunch, I’m likely to have forgotten your answer by the time I take the ten steps to the kitchen. 

I have a sister who has an excellent memory for things that happened in our past.  Sometimes, when we’re talking and she mentions something that happened when we were children, I wonder whether we, in fact, shared the same childhood.  (Yes, Stacy, I know that we did and that your stories are true;  I just remember so much less than what you remember; you’re amazing!)

I have an excellent memory for phone numbers, of all things.   I can remember many phone numbers off the top of my head, which means I’ve never really bothered learning how to program many numbers into my cell phone.  I find it interesting though that when I am trying to remember a number I am not that familiar with, I usually get 6 out of 7 digits correct, and the 7th is pretty close to what I need, although not exact.  That 7th number that I miss will a) be within plus or minus one digit of the correct number, and b) will be somewhere in the middle of the number, not at the end. 

I can remember all kinds of odd facts from things that I have read; those facts pop up in association with other things.  Sitting here now, I can’t really come up with a random fact to share with you, but if we were having a conversation and something you said struck up some kind of association, I would have a plentiful store of facts to share related to whatever topic I have associated with our conversation at the time. 

If I am going through an exceptionally unhappy time, I will blot memories of that time largely out, even the happy memories.  I have two years of my life (grades 9 and 10 in high school in Fairfax, Virginia) that I have only the spottiest memories of.  I remember more and more about those years, though, the older I get, which is interesting to me as well. 

The hardest things to remember sometimes, unless you are just lucky enough to have the event become one of those stories that gain the status of “family-sharing memories” that are trotted out frequently because they really are very funny, are the little day-to-day events that make life a pleasure and a gift.  I am fortunate there; I don’t remember them better than anyone else does, but between early e-mails I sent when we got Kayla, a series of letters I wrote to my aunt, uncle and cousin and my grandparents for about two years, and then this blog, I have a treasure house of recorded memories I can go back and read about at my leisure. 

All humans have memories of one sort or another; it is interesting when talking to Kayla to see what she remembers and what she doesn’t from the early years of her adoption.  I find that over the years I have gradually acquired the status of institutional memory for my firm, simply due to the number of years that I worked there coupled with the positions I have held as I worked my way up.  I am one of only two people with the longevity to be able to do that.  It always amazes me when I am able to pull up facts from a case that is somewhere between 10 – 20 years old; somehow, after a little bit of thought, the memory I am searching for just pops up from the depths of my storage banks. 

How does your memory serve you?  Are you one of the very fortunate few that has a photographic memory?  Do you tend to remember physical things, such as dance or sports moves, better than thought type memories?  (My physical memory is close to non-existent, making activities such as golf a never-ending adventure!)  Are you the family historian who can remember events no one else does, or are you the number cruncher or walking encyclopedia able to pull random, or not-so-random facts out as needed?  Whichever type of memory you have, I do hope that, unlike me, you are at least able to remember what type of soup someone wants for the ten steps it takes to get from the den to the kitchen!

Have a great day everyone!

Nancy

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Posted in Just stuff..., working mom

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