Middle aged musings from farm & hearth
…just yet. I was going to try my hand at storm chasing this morning, but Earl petered out.
The last real hurricane I remember was Gloria in 1985. We took a beating here in Connecticut, without power for 7 days, trees felled everywhere. Here’s a picture from Gloria archives along Long Island Sound.
1. I think part of a best friend’s job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.
2. Nothing really stinks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you’re wrong.
3. There is great need for a sarcasm font.
4 Was learning cursive really necessary?
5. Map Quest really needs to start their directions on number 4. I’m pretty sure I know how to get out of my own neighborhood.
6. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you know that you just aren’t going to do anything productive for the rest of the day.
7. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after Blue Ray? I don’t want to have to restart my collection…again.
8. I’m always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten-page technical report that I swear I did not make any changes to. -such a sinking feeling…
9. “do not machine wash or tumble dry” means I will never wash this…ever.
10. I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring, Hello? Hello? but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voice mail. What did you do after I didn’t answer? Drop the phone and run away?
11. I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.
12. I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lite than Kay.
13. I would rather try to carry 10 over-loaded plastic bags in each hand while cutting off circulation in major arteries than take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.
14. I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.
15. How many times is it appropriate to say “What?” before you just nod and smile because you still didn’t hear or understand a word they said? (welcome to my WORLD)
16. I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars team up to prevent a jerk from cutting in to get past at the front. Stay strong, brothers and sisters! HOLD that Tiger!
17. There’s no worse feeling than that millisecond you’re sure you are going to die after leaning your chair back a little too far. -yep, this makes my blood run cold; been there, done that.
18. Sometimes I’ll look down at my watch three consecutive times and still not know what time it is.
That’s the slogan and I have a funny story. Obviously, slogans are meant to be catchy..something to remember, perhaps even raise an eyebrow. Coke is “the real thing”, Pepsi -“You’ve got alot to live and Pepsi’s got alot to give”. The old Chesterfield cigarettes “Blow some my way”, A T & T “Reach out and touch someone”. Motel 6 “We’ll leave the Light On”. Nike – “Just Do It” .
Roba Dolce says….
The best way to eat this stuff is slightly thawed out of the freezer. I pop it in the microwave for 15 seconds. I also like to wedge the raspberry chocolate almond between two chocolate cookies for a sandwich.
I left out a few bits of information…
Current flavors with more to come
Coconut Gelat
Dark Chocolate Chunk Gelato – for Chocolate lovers, it’s the bomb.
Raspberry Chocolate Almond Gelato – My absolute favorite
Pistachio Gelato- dreamy creamy
Wildberry Gelato
Blood Orange Sorbetto
Lemon Sorbetto
Mango Sorbetto
Raspberry Sorbetto
The gelato and sorbetto can also be found at the following stores – I ommitted these in yesterday’s post:
(if you don’t see the Roba Dolce brand label in these stores, it means the product is under their private label)
Winn Dixie
Shop Rite
Harmons
Giant
Shaws
Frys
Kings
Negotiations are in the works with Target, but it’s not a done deal yet. Fingers crossed!
OK, getting off my gelato soap box now.
Mike has branched out into another business while he has watched the housing market slow to a crawl. So far, it’s going really well and the company has grown ten-fold in the past year alone. A few years back he became a partner in Roba Dolce, America’s Most Italian Gelato.. A Rhode Island based family run company created by Mathew Olerio. This gelato is awesome..the sorbettos are to die for too…AND.. they’ve just won a contract to sell their gelato exclusively at Patriots Stadium!
A frequently asked question: What’s the difference between gelato and ice cream?
Gelato is just the Italian word for ice cream, right?
Answer: If you’ve ever visited Italy, you probably experienced creamy, delicious gelato. Many assume that the only reason it seems richer than American ice cream back home is because you are eating it right smack in the middle of the old country, not on your couch in front of the TV.
Ice cream legally has a minimum of 10 percent fat, whereas gelato is made with a greater proportion of whole milk to cream, so it contains much less fat. While ice cream is usually served frozen, gelato is stored and served at a slightly warmer temperature, not quite completely frozen and the flavor is more intense.
What I get out of that is… NOT AS FATTENING AS ICE CREAM!!!!.. and it tastes better.
This is their new packaging…
This man could not have been more beautiful…although, I’m saddened to see what he’s done to his face in recent years. Personally?..I think he should have allowed it to age gracefully. Just sayin.
Ok, not to make light of a sad situation, but since it’s me that had the sad situation… it’s OK to laugh now, isn’t it? Cause this is actually funny…and I give you permission.
Today I was at work and I got a text from my friend saying she was going to the vet (my vet) with her injured dog. SO…. I had a favor to ask…. read on in the link below.
http://catchjoyasitfliesby.blogspot.com/2010/08/it-never-ceases-to-amaze-me-how-one.html
This is me and one of my best buds, Joey. (the one in the above-linked post) Let me tell you a story about the photo below.
A long time ago in a far away land (ok, this same small town, but whatever) there were two women who’s paths never crossed. They never crossed because… she was the ex of the new boyfriend I had when I moved to this small town. And even though I had nothing to do with their break-up, I was still the next one. And, you know.. that’s kinda awkward. Especially awkward for me because I was the new kid in this one-horse town, and they had been a couple for many years. SO… I was alittle intimidated by her and made SURE we never crossed paths. It didn’t help that he never got over her.
Years went by and the guy and I inevitably broke up, a very good thing because it wasn’t a good thing. I met my husband and Joey met hers and we are still married to those men today.
Bear with me here…
From time to time I would see her… in the grocery store, in the hardware store… we had babies on our hips or groceries in our arms…and she’d glance my way but then turn away quickly. A SNUB! She hated me, Good God, she did. But didn’t she know I didn’t even KNOW her ex when they had their great fall? So I avoided her more.
More years… more avoidance… and then… The CALL. I was editor of a local publication.. and she had a business she wanted to advertise. She called to place an ad. GASP. I called her back…..
We got to talking, because we had to, you know….. and … I asked her if she knew who I was. She said she thought so, but didn’t know that she had ever SEEN me. We thought we’de meet at the Town picnic coming up and so we did…. Sure enough, she had no idea who I was… and that really makes perfect sense. The reason I knew HER… was because he still had pictures of her plastered here and there when I arrived. And truth be told? She could have given two __________ because she was so happy to be free of that relationship.
We are now great friends with so much in common. The above picture was taken in Newport. There were three of us girls on that trip. We rented a room on Bannister’s Wharf so that we could spend a full two days there shopping and browsing and eating. Missy took one bed and Joey and I shared the other. As we turned in for the night thoroughly exhausted , we turned out the lights…..and I said… “If you had told me 15 years ago I’de be sharing a hotel bed with Joey, I’de sooner believe Brad Pitt.”
To highlight the irony further, in this picture I am wearing a pair of Joey’s jeans, because I didn’t bring long pants and it was cold down by the docks. They fit me perfectly. I still have them, and I call them my Joey Jeans. Who woulda thought.
Ben is not impressed.
Totally unrelated, if you’re looking for a great and easy summer recipe to use up those excess tomatoes from the garden, my friend Joey just posted two easy and delicious recipes… see for yourself at
Catch Joy As It Flies By. I’m drooling over here!…..
What the hell are they thinking?!
PORTIMAO, Portugal (AP)
A 14-year-old Dutch sailor departed in secrecy from Portugal Saturday on her quest to become the youngest person to sail solo around the world, avoiding the media because her manager said she didn’t want the attention.
Laura Dekker said goodbye to her father and friends at an undisclosed Portuguese port enroute to Spain’s Canary Islands or Portugal’s Madeira Island despite almost windless conditions in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Portugal, according to manager Peter Klarenbeek.
Klarenbeek said the girl was in good spirits as she started sailing her 38-foot ship “Guppy” on a trip expected to last a year or more. The attempt has been criticized by Dutch child protection authorities who questioned the wisdom of a child risking the world’s oceans alone.
“She said goodbye to her father and friends and she sailed away into the horizon,” Holland’s MasMedia company, which has exclusive TV rights to film her voyage, said in a statement.
Laura had been scheduled to depart from Portimao, and photographers and television crews from around the world were at the resort in southwestern Portugal but ended up with no images of the departure. MasMedia is documenting the trip with remote cameras mounted on Laura’s yacht and offered to sell the footage to anyone who is interested starting on Sunday.
A Dutch court last month released Laura from the guardianship of Dutch child protection agencies who had tried to block her voyage because of fears about her safety and psychological health.
Masmedia’s director, defended the girl’s push to sail around the world, saying Laura is mature for her age and has proven that she can sail her yacht without help from anyone else after passing a maritime exam in the Netherlands for a vessel of her boat’s size.
She also insisted that Laura is uniquely qualified for the ambitious sea venture because she grew up with her father on a boat, and “is completely different from a normal 14-year-old girl.” Schaaphok said.
“She’s very wise and a little bit impatient, but she’s a very nice girl and she knows exactly what she wants,” Schaaphok said.
Laura’s first port of call will be picked based on wind conditions, and her departure came after she took numerous steps to reduce objections to the voyage =- including the purchase of a bigger, sturdier boat than the one she originally planned to use, and courses in first aid and coping with sleep deprivation.
She also used as evidence her successful solo trip across the North Sea to England.
In the end, the Dutch court ruled that her preparations were adequate and it was up to her divorced parents to decide whether to let her make the attempt.
The trip comes just two months after American Abby Sunderland, age 16, had to be rescued in a remote section of the Indian Ocean during an attempt to circle the globe. Earlier this year, Australian Jessica Watson, completed a 210-day voyage at age 16.
But while Watson remained at sea nonstop, Laura plans to stop at dozens of ports and may even return home to catch up on her studies before resuming her trip.
If Laura completes the voyage, any record she claims would be unofficial and likely to be challenged. The Guinness’ World Records and the World Sailing Speed Record Council have decided they will no longer recognize records for “youngest” sailors to avoid encouraging dangerous attempts.
I applaud the Council for no longer recognizing “youngest” records.