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They laughed!

..the husband… the kids..
maybe even the dogs…
…at my CVS $10. reading glasses.
They’re calling me grandma.
He cracks me up, in particular…
because it will catch up with him soon too…
They USED to call me eagle eye, just so ya know.
I was always the first one to be able to read the road signs
way off in the distance. The husband always challenging me,
trying to beat me to it.  Never did.
Yes, we’re that kind of mature 🙂
As the eye dr. said to me after an eye exam where
I proudly read off the words at the very bottom of the chart,
not meant for distant reading…
“Well, for now, that’s incredible vision. But you’ll be back.
It catches up with all of us eventually!”
Just hush.
 So I caught him….
stretching those arms away from his face to read a menu, yes I did.
 and I said..
” How’s that working for you “? …

Show me the Love….

 Have you begun spreading a little love around your house yet?
The 14th is just around the corner.
Doesn’t matter if no one else gets to see it, you know.
You matter too.

This strawberry cake was just because.
Just because I longed for it.

 The manchild found this old ball jar in a rock wall way out back…
Makes a perfect tealight holder

Candycorn… it’s not just for Halloween anymore.

 So here’s the part where I want YOU to show me the LOVE.
Take a picture, or use one you’ve taken before, or
that someone has taken of you, or one from the family archives…
that in your mind represents LOVE in some form or fashion. 
Use your creativity, this doesn’t have to be hearts and flowers.
This has to be a picture of your own, no pinterest finds, ok?
I would LOVE to see what you come up with.
On Valentines Day, my post will be your depictions of Love.
Love,  Karen

Well that sucks

 

Because I was over the moon in love with the house of decrepitute on the water in the post below, I did further research last night, and learned it is already on deposit.  *sigh*    Not only that…. the taxes on the old girl as she stands right now, are $18,000. annually.  Once we renovated, the value would go up and our taxes per year would be somewhere in the mid $20K’s…  That’s just not do-able unless we win some major lottery in the coming year. So , for now, our seaside fixer-upper remains a pipe dream. 

 The sad thing is not really that it’s out of our league… what I find disheartening is  many of these homes which have been on the Connecticut Shoreline for over 100 years, are being torn down and in their place, bigger and in some cases  tacky residences are being put back up. The old trees around them come down too.  We are the rare exception that prefer to renovate and keep the old house standing….and to be fair, that’s probably because M has the ability to do so.    What’s worse –  to the average middle class family?… it will never be feasible again to have a second home or even ONLY home.. on the water for summer family enjoyment.  This is a dream that was far more attainable 30-40  years ago.  Nowadays, even if  you can afford the purchase price, the taxes will kill you instead. 

  I am going to follow the house’s progress, and will report back to you exactly what the soon-to-be owner does with her.   Do you think maybe, if it turns out to be a tear-down (likely)….  they’ll let me have the purple glass door knobs?  I just might ask.  If I do, I’ll make one of them a give-away on the blog.   

Another Grand Old Dame

 This  1890 beach house here in Connecticut has been for sale for some time.  It’s not abandoned, but severely neglected and only occasionally visited by the owner. We heard it was on deposit when we first inquired last year, but it is for sale once again at a drastically reduced price. I wonder if Hurricane Irene has something to do with that.    She sits right on the water with a high seawall, no room for expansion, as the houses on either side are right up next to it.  Mike is going to look into whether it can be salvaged as is… a girl can dream, you know.

 We walked around the outside only, M wanting to determine if the house is sound before pestering the realtor. The pics are taken through glass, a bit rude, but there are similar pics online, so, hopefully no offense.
I love the old fireplace. We’d sandblast it to get the paint off and bring it back to  its original face.

   

 This New York Times, sitting on a table at the window is dated July 25, 1979.

 Not crazy about the very bulky, busy seawall…
if we ever had the chance, I would want to soften it somehow.

   

I bet you’ve fallen for her too 🙂 

Ben & Rudy’s Excellent Adventure

 What a glorious morning at the Beach.
Packed the two boy dogs in the car..
and cruised on down to the water.
You’re not making fun of his sweater, now are ya?
He lost it soon after.

 The sky was incredible…

  And something odd was discovered…
Red sand all the way down at the far end, near the southernmost Jetty….
I have no idea what it is, some sort of mineral?

Ben made a new friend.. we’ll call him Fabio.

Fabio with his Dad…

Heading back down the beach, I found some treasures… shells you don’t find here
when summer people arrive.

Rudy bound around the beach with pure joy, barking at the waves, jumping in and out of the foam…
if only we could all let ourselves go, exactly like that…

 Heading back to the Jeep, we deposited a bucket of shells and 
 about five pounds of sand all over the interior.
She is now broken in 🙂

My kind of day.  

I Love This Stuff!!

 Are you a peanut butter nut, like I am?  If so, you have to try this brand, it is soooooo good.  My favorite three ways to enjoy peanut butter are spread on a sliced apple, spread on bread with sliced  red grapes instead of jelly, or right out of the jar using a Hershey bar for dipping. 

 Anyway, back to the brand. I am not paid for anything I salute here on the blog, I’m just passing along something I found to be really really good.  Peanut Butter & Co. !  I like the founders story…and these folks are do-gooders too, even better.   

About the Peanut Butter Guy
Lee Zalben is the founder and president of New York City’s world famous Peanut Butter & Co., and the man behind “gourmet peanut butter.” Lee grew up in Philadelphia eating a lot of peanut butter. And while an under-graduate student at Vassar College, he always won the fierce competitions he and his friends held for the wackiest but best-tasting peanut butter sandwich during late night study breaks. It was then where the idea of opening a peanut butter sandwich shop sprouted.

After college, Lee worked in advertising and publishing but he never forgot his dream of opening a peanut butter sandwich shop. While walking in Greenwich Village one day, he spotted a vacant storefront near NY University. Quitting his job the next day, the 26-year old entrepreneur-to-be started developing a business plan for his dream shop. On December 21, 1998, the vacant storefront became the Peanut Butter & Co. Sandwich Shop, offering not just various kinds of peanut butter sandwiches like The Elvis and Pregnant Lady but also peanut butter in newfangled flavors like Dark Chocolate Dreams and Cinnamon Raisin Swirl.

It was only a matter of time when people started clamoring to take the peanut butter home. Today, Peanut Butter & Co. is sold in ten delicious flavors in over 10,000 stores around the country and in Canada, the U.K., Japan, and Hong Kong. And the sandwich shop has turned into a pilgrimage site for many peanut butter lovers all over the world. Lee’s dream to open a peanut butter sandwich shop did not just become a reality, but he also created the market for specialty peanut butter.

My favorite flavor so far… and it is DREAMY delicious.

Age and Beauty

They don’t  travel well together. 

It would seem, in the eyes of our culture, that once we have gathered an abundance of one (if ,indeed, we are LUCKY enough) ,   we lose the other.  Does it bother me that nowadays my skin is always dry, I’ve got grey hairs where I never thought they’d appear, my muscles ache and the frown lines and age spots are permanent?   Hell yeah.  Do I want to fret over it, let aging  define me, now that I’ve stepped over the line of middle middle age?  Not if I can help it.  It’s a waste of time and energy.  And you know… there really is something to be said for experience that comes only with age.  A feeling of being more comfortable in your own skin, dry, drooping, wrinkled and spotted as it may be.  There is liberation in allowing yourself to be exactly who you are, no apologies.  I didn’t give myself that permission during my youthful years.

  I read an interview last night with Demi Moore – You know… I feel sorry for her right now, she’s just been hospitalized for exhaustion, etc. and I applaud her for getting the help she needs during what is surely a horrendous time in her life.  I can’t image the pressures of being married to another celebrity 15 years your junior in that world of dominating youth and glamour and perceived bodily perfection.  In the fish eye lens, everything they do is scrutinized… their relationship status, their mental  status, their body weight, their flaws, etc. etc. etc… the media circles like vultures waiting for the animal to start the decline.  Is the glory in that profession worth the agony?

 Anyway… the interviewer asked her how she felt about her body and this is part of what she had to say… the part that stood out and deserves applause.

  “I think I sit today in a place of greater acceptance of my body, and that includes not just my weight, but all of the things that come with your changing body as you age. I am now experiencing my body as extremely thin, thin in a way that I never imagined somebody would be saying to me, “You’re too thin, and you don’t look good”.   I find peace when I don’t see my body as my enemy, when I step back and have appreciation and look at all that my body has done for me.  It’s allowed me to give birth to three beautiful children,  allowed me to explore different roles as an actor, allowed me to be strong.  You can’t look at yourself  in the mirror and tear your body apart. You have to look at it and say….

“Thank you.
  Thank you for standing by me,
 for being there for me no matter what I have put you through”. 

I will admit here that I hesitated to post this next picture.. because it’s a very raw ME.
Just out of bed, No makeup to cover dark circles, no moisterizer to conceal fine lines…
but it’s honest.  
 As I look in this mirror, I am honestly saying.. THANK YOU.