A shoe hasn't called to me in years. The last one I remember was a Gucci bit loafer. I'm afraid the calm has ended, though. I accidentally leafed through the entire September issue of ELLE at the coffeeshop yesterday morning. (Which is all the more troubling because even though I was momentarily horrified, I was ultimately undeterred by the photograph of Jessica "lumberjack of love" Simpson on the cover.)
Yenny-hoo, within the weighty tome I saw advertised these Ferragamo platform sandals . Da-roooooool.
You just don't understand me and a certain kind of shoe. And this is that kind of a shoe. Which I guess makes me that kind of a girl. Cripes, they are FIERCE.
My husband's and my social calendar will afford me approximately, um, ONE place I could wear these in the next six months. Plus, I could go on a lovely vacation for what I imagine they cost (can someone find me a price?). But they continue to haunt me. I wonder what color toenail polish would go best?
Monday, August 25, 2008
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Bless His Heart
My husband just made me a Mojito. One. And I'm definitely affected. Something about having only 70% of your usual blood volume makes you more susceptible to alcohol. But IT'S SUMMER! I'm going to sit back and enjoy. Here's to you, Hemingway.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Could She, Should She, Would She?
After ten minutes of searching, I just unearthed my cv from a cobwebbed corner of Word documents labeled "Professional." Obviously, I hadn't visited there in several years. Yes, I'm dusting off the old academic resume. I swear I do not remember writing or delivering half of my publications or papers. Nonetheless, I may dip my toe back in the water by inquiring after an adjunct class or two for the spring semester.
Why the urge to make the dramatic return to academia after four years of working from home as a freelance editor? I just spent a thrilling weekend in the North Carolina mountains with three of my best girlfriends. They knew me through the bone-crushing days of English graduate school, the confidence-wrecking years of job searching and hopping, and the labor-pangs of writing and publishing. And then there were the marriages and two children each of us produced.
My three wise sisters gave me the push I needed to look at who I was, who I am now, and who I have the capacity to become. And, I cannot stress this strongly enough, THERE WERE NO CHILDREN ON THIS VACATION. Have no doubt, our weekend getaway WAS ALL ABOUT US!!! Wheeeeeee! Yes, we talked about our kids when we needed too, but we really pretty much just talked about ourselves. And--quelle surprise--everyone in the room listened! And asked questions! And posed theories and offered advice, both solicited and not. But even the unsolicited advice was valuable, for goodness sake. I for one drank up the atmosphere like wine. We drank that too, as you may have guessed.
And my conclusion (one of many, really) is that maybe I need to get back into that ivory tower and see how the view is from my window. Maybe it will suck. In which case I'll move on. But maybe I can get back into an old, often delightful groove. Honestly, I have toyed with the idea several times a year, but some recurring health problems kept getting in the way. I'm confident that later this year I will be finding some relief from the anemia and its cause, a thought that energizes me.
First, though, I've got to spiff up the resume and reconnect with some former colleagues. I wonder how much has changed in the last four years?
Why the urge to make the dramatic return to academia after four years of working from home as a freelance editor? I just spent a thrilling weekend in the North Carolina mountains with three of my best girlfriends. They knew me through the bone-crushing days of English graduate school, the confidence-wrecking years of job searching and hopping, and the labor-pangs of writing and publishing. And then there were the marriages and two children each of us produced.
My three wise sisters gave me the push I needed to look at who I was, who I am now, and who I have the capacity to become. And, I cannot stress this strongly enough, THERE WERE NO CHILDREN ON THIS VACATION. Have no doubt, our weekend getaway WAS ALL ABOUT US!!! Wheeeeeee! Yes, we talked about our kids when we needed too, but we really pretty much just talked about ourselves. And--quelle surprise--everyone in the room listened! And asked questions! And posed theories and offered advice, both solicited and not. But even the unsolicited advice was valuable, for goodness sake. I for one drank up the atmosphere like wine. We drank that too, as you may have guessed.
And my conclusion (one of many, really) is that maybe I need to get back into that ivory tower and see how the view is from my window. Maybe it will suck. In which case I'll move on. But maybe I can get back into an old, often delightful groove. Honestly, I have toyed with the idea several times a year, but some recurring health problems kept getting in the way. I'm confident that later this year I will be finding some relief from the anemia and its cause, a thought that energizes me.
First, though, I've got to spiff up the resume and reconnect with some former colleagues. I wonder how much has changed in the last four years?
Saturday, August 09, 2008
Snack Food Reviews
Recent quest: finding healthy and pre-made bites/dips/spreads to fill a spot in my kids' lunch bags this fall. I have plenty of ideas for fresh and home-made foods, but was interested to see what prepared food was out there that my kids might like.
For my test offerings, I checked all labels carefully and chose foods that 1) I thought the kids might like, and 2) I felt were healthy in moderation. The kids eat a low-fat, low-salt, low-additive, low-meat and low-dairy diet, so I am okay with them enjoying an occasional snack or two that may be high in fat or salt.
WINNERS
The three-year-old and/or the five-year-old have given their approval to the following:
Snyder's Peanut Butter Pretzel Sandwiches
Sesmark Sesame Garlic Savory Minis (rice crackers)
Nature's Promise (Giant's "whole foods" brand) veggie sticks (these have no nutritional value to speak of, but the ingredients are fairly innocuous)
Newman's Own Organics Fig Newmans
peanut butter rice bars
Kashi cereal bars in Ripe Strawberry and Blackberry Graham
Fruitabu fruit leather
Trader Joe's original hummus
Trader Joe's Multigrain crackers
Trader Joe's Chocolate Merengue cookies
New York Style whole wheat Bagel Crisps (a little too greasy for my comfort)
Trader Joe's peanut-butter stuffed pretzels
LOSERS
Odwalla Bar "Berries GoMega" (bleah)
Trader Joe's plantain chips (yum for me)
Trader Joe's green bean snacks (yum for me, too)
Kashi granola bars (and again, yum for the adults)
Seneca Red Delicious dried apple chips (meh)
Trader Joe's Tzatziki dip (N loved it until he found a cucumber slice)
Stella D'oro Garlic Breadsticks (I like)
I will update with a few more picks and pans over the next couple weeks, and also add a list of home-made or whole lunch foods that are favorites with my kids.
For my test offerings, I checked all labels carefully and chose foods that 1) I thought the kids might like, and 2) I felt were healthy in moderation. The kids eat a low-fat, low-salt, low-additive, low-meat and low-dairy diet, so I am okay with them enjoying an occasional snack or two that may be high in fat or salt.
WINNERS
The three-year-old and/or the five-year-old have given their approval to the following:
Snyder's Peanut Butter Pretzel Sandwiches
Sesmark Sesame Garlic Savory Minis (rice crackers)
Nature's Promise (Giant's "whole foods" brand) veggie sticks (these have no nutritional value to speak of, but the ingredients are fairly innocuous)
Newman's Own Organics Fig Newmans
peanut butter rice bars
Kashi cereal bars in Ripe Strawberry and Blackberry Graham
Fruitabu fruit leather
Trader Joe's original hummus
Trader Joe's Multigrain crackers
Trader Joe's Chocolate Merengue cookies
New York Style whole wheat Bagel Crisps (a little too greasy for my comfort)
Trader Joe's peanut-butter stuffed pretzels
LOSERS
Odwalla Bar "Berries GoMega" (bleah)
Trader Joe's plantain chips (yum for me)
Trader Joe's green bean snacks (yum for me, too)
Kashi granola bars (and again, yum for the adults)
Seneca Red Delicious dried apple chips (meh)
Trader Joe's Tzatziki dip (N loved it until he found a cucumber slice)
Stella D'oro Garlic Breadsticks (I like)
I will update with a few more picks and pans over the next couple weeks, and also add a list of home-made or whole lunch foods that are favorites with my kids.
Monday, August 04, 2008
Saddling Back Up
Oh for goodness sakes, people. You're making me look bad. I don't want to be the doofus who doesn't keep up her blog. For the past two months I've ignored it to concentrate on some other things, mostly addressing a multitude of complaints too tedious to list in their entirity. [Something about that word seems misspelled.]
A very recent occurance can probably educate you on what my life is like at this moment, and I will thus not feel the need to "catch everyone up" on what's going on with us:
Today, I caught dog W peeing on one of my favorite rugs. No, it was not lying on the floor. It was hanging dry in the backyard after I spent two hours cleaning it and another favorite rug yesterday afternoon in the kids' splash pool. A newly cleaned (and dry) rug. Now sodden and stinking.
But, yes, I was [not supposed to be] bending, crouching, swishing, leaning, and lifting wet wool. The labral tear in my right hip socket and that pesky hemoglobin count of 8 can make me unsteady, unstrong, and frequently unstrung. The chore was a labor of love and necessity. No one else was going to wash the rugs. It was time. It kind of hurt.
Don't you know the neighbors heard me yelling at the poor beast, and I SOOOO wanted to spank that little grey behind. But that little behind has seven stitches in it from last week when a cancer tumor was removed from between W's legs. And he had four teeth pulled the same day.
So, there you have it. About 50% of our current trials chez ML.
A very recent occurance can probably educate you on what my life is like at this moment, and I will thus not feel the need to "catch everyone up" on what's going on with us:
Today, I caught dog W peeing on one of my favorite rugs. No, it was not lying on the floor. It was hanging dry in the backyard after I spent two hours cleaning it and another favorite rug yesterday afternoon in the kids' splash pool. A newly cleaned (and dry) rug. Now sodden and stinking.
But, yes, I was [not supposed to be] bending, crouching, swishing, leaning, and lifting wet wool. The labral tear in my right hip socket and that pesky hemoglobin count of 8 can make me unsteady, unstrong, and frequently unstrung. The chore was a labor of love and necessity. No one else was going to wash the rugs. It was time. It kind of hurt.
Don't you know the neighbors heard me yelling at the poor beast, and I SOOOO wanted to spank that little grey behind. But that little behind has seven stitches in it from last week when a cancer tumor was removed from between W's legs. And he had four teeth pulled the same day.
So, there you have it. About 50% of our current trials chez ML.
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