Tag: life

Soap Floats

…Ivory soap, that is. I’m willing to bet you already know that if you’re as old as I am.  *ahem*

My dad worked at Procter & Gamble on Staten Island along with several of my Uncles for many years. College bound  family members were able to get summer jobs in the P & G warehouses, which was way cool… because we made ALOT of money during those summers.  I believe I took home about $300. a week.   We either worked on conveyor belts righting upturned bottles or boxes, made boxes with glue guns, or climbed on top of MOUNTAINS of soap… I’m talking mountains. And we scrapped them. These were defective soap, and so they needed unwrapping and then chucking into bins. We had a grand old time on the piles of soap, singing Van Halen’s JUMP at the top of our lungs. Whenever I hear that song it brings me back…
 
(If OSHA or P & G are reading this, I’m lying about all of it.)
Upon returning home thoroughly exhausted after my first day of work, I got into the shower and lathered up without ever touching a bar.  That’s how COATED I was with the stuff.  It didn’t thwart my love of soaps though… especially the funky and unique.   I steal all of those little tiny microscopic   soaps from hotel rooms… and forget about a box of chocolates or a fistfull of flowers. Bring me a delicious soap!  Well, chocolate’s good too.
 

   This is what got me going on the soap subject today…. look what I found at the grocery store…

Money Soap Jackpot and Florida Water Soap…. huh?… for $1.95 I bought a bar of each because my curiosity was getting the best of me.  What the heck is money soap for, cleaning money? Is it MADE out of money?  And we all know Florida drinking water is TERRIBLE AWFUL NO GOOD AND VERY BAD. (sorry Florida peeps,  but you know it’s true). So do you use this soap to wash your mouth out after you’ve swallowed some?  I had to google it.  Notice both bars unwrapped say Complexion and Toilet – New York.  So if you’re in New York you can use it on your complexion or the toilet? Would I want to use one product that specifies both?

Here’s what Amazon says:  FLORIDA WATER SOAP – Thought to bring a youthful glow to your complexion.  Enjoy the refreshing scent of Florida Water in this delightful soap.    

MONEY SOAP :  Believing Makes It So!  Luck Brings More Luck! Wash off the Bad Luck!
If you don’t get lucky…..  at least you will smell lucky!

Ok then.

The Gift of an Ordinary Day

 It’s the book I’m reading right now… (love it) … but it’s also the overwhelming need I had today  to recognize and truly appreciate the day before me. 

Right now in this moment… I need to appreciate that my kids are healthy and happy in the direction their life is taking.. we are not losing our house (yet!) to foreclosure, we are not struggling with a catastrophic illness, we still have jobs.  I went for a ride through the beautiful  early autumn woods on my horse.  MY HORSE! Something that was only a dream as a kid growing up in the shadow of the big city.  I stopped at the grocery store on the way home to pick up food for a refrigerator that is always stocked.  Then I took my other horse, ben, for a walk down the street in our neighborhood, admiring old homes and fading gardens without fear of being hit by a bullet.  There’s a guy sitting at home watching football who gives a damn whether I’m hit by that bullet.  Tonight we will go to the birthday party of a good friend and we are praying that he has many many more birthdays to look forward to.   

It’s not a perfect life – never judge a book by it’s cover and all that –  but today I have the gift of an ordinary and extraordinary day.  Life is good.

Doe anyone know what this is?  There are about twenty of these growing up out of the pine forest floor. They are not together.. but scattered about five feet from each other.

Mystic Pizza

 Today I  took my girl  (who apparently STILL NEEDS ME on occasion!  I won’t dwell on the fact that it usually revolves around replenishment of funds and stuff )  to Mystic Seaport for some retail therapy and Mystic Pizza – Do you know, they still play the movie in the actual joint? We had the Mediterranean and Buffalo Chicken specialty pies…  I will say, their pizza is OK… but it doesn’t compare to what we get at Modern or Pepe’s in New Haven. Of course, even in New Haven you can’t get the pie I grew up on in New York.  

 All over the restaurant there are photos of Julia and the cast, scenes from the movie…and other Hollywood icons as well.  Speaking of Julia… I have always loved her movies and she’s one of my favorite actresses.  I just don’t get the Eat Pray Love thing.. the book didn’t grab me and the movie didn’t either, although anyone could admire the scenery.  Am I the only one?

 

Winds of Change

I’ve been at odds lately ….
Stevie Nicks, one of my all-time favorites, 
 asks the question in one of my all-time favorite songs -.Landslide
“Can I turn with the seasons of my life”
Easier said than done.
The thing thats tugging at me the most right now is simply this..
This job…the one I’ve held the longest,
the one I’ve cherished the most
is slowly being outsourced.
Meaning…
 my kids don’t need me so much anymore.

They are slowly but surely getting what they need and want

from the outside world… as it should be.
But… that leaves me slightly at odds. I’m a little lost in that knowledge.
The not needing..you know.
And the what next?

Where were you?

…my sister and I were talking on the phone. I was folding laundry, piles all over the bed.  Then a news flash on CNN.. a plane had hit one of the twin towers.  My first thoughts were “Oh, a pilot error, how terrible.”   Now riveted to the TV, my sister and I watched in horror as the second plane hit…and it was instantly clear this was no accident.

 Of all the images you can view with a google of the numbers 9/11, this one haunts me the most. This is the very instant when the world would change forever in a twisted and horrible way.  It brought clearly to the surface all the anger and hate that lies beneath. Until this time my generation lived in a relative time of peace.. too young to have been a part of Vietnam, old enough to have been around a while without the experience of living in war time.  I was so naive. 

  And then there was the time of rallying together.  We were One Nation again…flags hung from highway overpasses, doorways, bumper stickers…. waving from car antennas, worn on clothing.. we were again a proud nation standing strong together, caring for each other.  For a while.  We’ve drifted again -yet another tragedy, and we have no one to blame but ourselves.

Since the time he could walk he was taking things apart and actually fixing them as he got older.  He was aloof and sarcastic and funny at the same time.  When we were 10 years old  playing in the yard, I tangled with a bees nest and had three stuck in my hair. As I went running and screaming for my mother… his mom yelled out her front door “Arthur,  what did you do?’…..
When friends began settling down and he was invited to a housewarming party, he’d bring a large quantity of toilet paper and beer as a gift.
 He also made his own brew.
 He loved his dog, buddy.
Time went by.. he became a fireman in the tradition of his family.
And he was a good one.
On that day..that day…
he had the day off. 
But.. his station needed a tool to fix something and he happened to have it
in the back of his truck and he also happened to be the most capable fix-it guy.
So he crossed the bridge and went into the city…
Arthur T. Barry
We all have stories of that day,  where were you?

See you at the Fair

 I can’t think of a better way to start the fall season in New England.  Within driving distance we’ve got everything from a MEGA -Fair, which draws Saturday Night Band Talent such as the Charlie Daniels Band and Leann Rimes… to small town fairs that have all the charm you’de expect.  The kids love hooking up with their friends and we get to eat all that sinful food. 

There’s a certain elecricity in the air…the combined energy of good live music, the smell of woodsmoke and bar-b-q.. talent contests, agricultural exhibits and 4-H projects, the rides, the games, young lovers, families, gathering of friends old and new… it’s a love affair I’ll never outgrow.

His shirt said Ho Ho Ho.    I Believe.  

Guess I’m not quitting my day job…

 …just yet.  I was going to try my hand at storm chasing this morning, but Earl petered out. 

My favorite room in This Old House is the back porch. We spend alot of time out there…cool breezes off the fields gently caress even on the hottest day.
There are storm windows for what we hope is going to be three-season use.
While riding out the heavy drizzle today, I read this…the fall edition is a great issue….

Storm or no storm, that’s the question.

 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.

As Earl heads this way… or not…. our public schools have declared a half day today, my daughter’s college cancelled classes and recommended students go home.  We’ve got plywood ready for that huge window in the family room and we’re taking in the lawn furniture. But you know… I think it’s gonna be a bust.
My friend Cindy and I were going to act like a couple of stormchasers,  bring the boys and the cameras to the Rhode Island beaches this morning and take awesome wave photos.. but the webcams look foggy and the waves are minimal. Not worth the drive.  Might head down to our local beaches tonight… I love a good storm…
as long as no one gets hurt   ðŸ™‚

Have Mercy

    Tomorrow morning at 8am my son will become a high school freshman.  
 My baby.   
 The Youngest.  
 The last baby I’ll ever have.  
(Yes, that thought occurred to me long ago, but still.  Hush.)
Honestly, this boy was independent from the get-go.  In his first day of life he stared out from his hospital bassinet, eyes wide open with wonder, not a peep of protest or cry for reassurance.  The nurses marveled at his gaze, at his ability to follow them around the room with his eyes.  “They don’t usually do that so young!”. said one.   He never did bother to crawl… he sort of just GOT UP when he was 9 months old and that was that. 
Tomorrow starts a new chapter. He will attend a private catholic high school and this in itself will be strange territory.  I believe firmly in a good public education and it’s how we were all brought up. My mother was a public school teacher for 39 years.  For several reasons we (and he) decided instead of our town’s public High School,  this was the route he would benefit from the most.
For him the workload will be two-fold.   It was his decision to attend, and it will be up to him to keep up and apply himself.  ( “Required Summer READING LIST?  But… this is my SUMMER!!)    Getting him to sit in the dentist chair for an un-novicained root canal would be easier.  
  For me the ironing will be TORTUROUS  truly a labor of love.  And so will the letting go… something I’m not very good at. For now there is still the boy in the young man… and I’m cherishing every minute.  For now, there are still bike rides and sleepovers and xbox and turtle tanks and smores by the fire.
  Last night  over Buffalo Chicken Pizza and orange and lime sodas  we discussed what they might want to do when they grow up.  Two of the three shrugged their shoulders, and my son replied in all seriousness…
 “ I’m going to be a Trophy Truck Driver”
Ok then.