Nosey Children Beware!!!

It has come to my attention that my teenage daughter (and a friend or two) has been cruising the pages of my blog, ladies!!!

Worse than that, she's using it as fodder to make fun of parents with her Posse!

What?!

Despite the fact that my blog is new, and rather short, as a Mom, I have ways of knowing what certain children (who trespass on their Mother's - or their friends' Mothers' - blogs) are up to.

This is Me glaring at You guys
~@@~

Fleece or Fleeced?

Someone! Please, tell me! What has happened to FLEECE!!!???

Remember way back when, in the late 80's or early '90's when either Land's End or L. L. Bean introduced us to the new and innovative fabric called fleece? Remember?!


Fleece started out light,warm and, well, it looked bulky but it really wasn't...

Fleece was fleece back then. Actually, back then, it was all Polartec. And it was all produced at Malden Mills in Lawrence, Massachusettes, by "The Mensch of Malden", Aaron Feuerstein.  You might remember that, in 1995, Mr. Feuerstein shot to fame for doing the right thing.  A fire gutted Malden Mills, ceasing production of Polartec and put 1500 people out of work.

At that point, Mr. Feurestein could have chosen to move production to Asia and shut down the local, now ruined, mill.  He didn't, though.... He repaired, rebuilt, and retooled - all the while paying his employees their regular salary and their medical insurance.  Mike Wallace featured Mr. Feuerstein on the TV Show "60 Minutes" because of this, and when he asked Mr. Feuerstein why he had continued to pay his  employees during the "hiatus", Mr. Feuerstein answered "Because it is the right thing to do."

"The right thing to do." Today, those words usually mean "The right thing to do for me" or "for my company" or "for the bottom line". How often these days do businesses - big businesses - do the right thing for their employees?

But I digress...

 In the beginning fleece was one weight. There were a few "bejeweled" shades of color, mostly trimmed in different a "bejeweled" accent color.  There was one fit.  It was warm, it was soft and comfy. It was like wearing your favorite childhood "woobie" (no relation to the Sahalie catalog's uber soft garment) out in the open.

Sure, there were some challenges at first.
Everyone looked like an oompah-loompah because the bottom was trimmed with some elastic-y trim to keep it at your waist, rather than being hemmed so it might fit in a more flattering fashion.

Fleece was static-y as all get out! If you had long hair, it was always sticking up or flying away or, if a hair fell out, it gathered like birds nests in your fleece-y armpits. Try to kiss a fleece wearing friend and the two of you could end up with 2nd degree burns and a black out in the neighborhood.

Fleece could go from soft and smooth as your favorite blanket to shag rug rag in one wash, it attracted lint like a pair of black velvet pants in a white cat household. Once you figured out that the best way to wash it is to turn it inside out, do up any zippers or snaps, and toss it in, that challenge was conquered and you were good to go.


People started to want more from their fleece. They wanted the garment to be windproof, weather resistant, less bulky, more colors, warmer, cooler.  Different manufacturers started using the fabric in different ways - lining jackets, outerwear "systems" (the multi layer garments where the fleece and other layers zip or button together, becoming more than one garment). Making it thinner, making it thicker... Making it out of recycled plastic soda bottles.

"Premium brands" like Helly Hansen, Marmot, and The North Face are other brands that offer fleece for "high performance" if you don't mind paying more and acting as a walking bill board. My hot pink Helly Hansen fleece is great, but it's made for the dog park - not the board room.

The stores have given us what we asked for - or have they?  The last several fleece garments that I have purchased have been almost weightless.  The fabric is so thin that it's nearly opaque.  I bought an "active wear" fleece that turned out to be what I call "1/2 fleece" - the fuzz is only on the exterior, it's uber thin, and offers almost no insulation whatsoever.

I've purchased several fleece quarter zips for my husband, who often gets cold, only to receive the exact same garment with a different label in it. The material is too light and thin, the weave too loose to provide the desired insulation. In other words - he's still cold!

So, where is it? Where is the fleece we all know and love? Why has fleece become difficult to figure out? At the end of the day, I'm looking for a warm, comfortable, not terribly unflattering fleece to wear. WHY CAN'T I FIND IT????

Oh What a Beautiful Day!

I love the changes in the seasons that come with living in New England, and Spring is bursting out all over. Maybe our mild winter was more like a prolonged, cold Spring, but the lawn is turning green again and the flowers are popping up. The sun is out the birds are singing and the dog can spend time out side, which makes everyone very, very happy. Particularly the dog.

In SoFlo, where the yard grows year round, gardening is WORK, and it's hot and sweatty, and I thanked God every week when the lawn service came and did the lawn, and the hedges before moving onto the rest of the neighborhood. Here, in New England, the chores vary with the season. By the way, I hate raking. I have never used so much effort and so much time to get so little done.  Shoveling snow is a little better, but not that much.

With the appearance of sunny skies and warming soil, there are a few outdoorsy type things that have been calling to me, so I've been a little more pro active in my out door activities.

Last weekend, as you may know, I decided to clean out my Peony bed which took about 2 hours longer than I thought it would. The Peonies are coming up and I have my fingers crossed for everything else that received a bit of my TLC. Please pray for the non weeds in my Peony bed.

Today temperatures are in the 60's, the sun is out, MiniMe's Spring Break starts, and we are looking forward to a weekend by the sea - during which I am going to try to figure out how to add pictures to this blog! Our friends, Mike and Colleen, will be dropping by for lunch on Saturday and I believe we are going to Paul's Pasta for lunch on Sunday, it being my Bday and all....but I digress...

The pool, which we originally thought was a large pond, will be open in a couple of weeks, so I took the opportunity to dump a couple of pounds of shock into its murky depths. The darn pool was crystal clear all winter. After a couple of days of warm weather; BANG, I've got thousands of gallons of pea soup. ick.

There are beautiful plantings in a big ring around the pool (hence the thought that it was a pond) and the Iris are coming up first, poking their pointed leaves out of the ground. The Hostas won't be far behind them. I'll let you know if anything else (other than the onion grass) comes to life, but the Hostas and the Iris are all that I recall... oh, there maybe some Tiger Lillies.... but I dont' remember.

In order to keep the weeds and grass at bay around the pool and its plants, the previous owners had put white marble chips down as ground cover. The marble chips hadn't been raked or cleaned or whatever one does to marble chips, so we bought many bags of marble chips at the season clearance sale at a local nursery last Fall (see Pound Ridge Nurseries) so I heeded the call of the 20 bags of stone that Big Daddy had placed out there a couple of weekends ago, and released them onto the plants. I hope the Iris recover!

I called the siding people to get some estimates to reside my shingle house. (Hold me! I'm scared!) And I look forward to replacing some of the old windows, as well as putting in some insulation.Yes, we're on the far side of winter and NOW I'm thinking about insulation. sigh. Thank goodness for the mild winter.

I'm also looking forward to redoing my Kitchen and Master Bathroom (both Circa 1948). I'm sure I'll be happy when it's all done!

Have a happy weekend!

A Poll

What do we think of the new background? I changed it because I was tired of looking at the Dandelions on the old background.  I was afraid they'd blow off the screen and take root in the Peony bed.
By the light of day, this one is "groovier", I think...

I don't understand NASCAR

So, 200,000 people sit in their cars, listening to country music, in traffic for days, to get into a parking lot, to walk a mile from their vehicle to an arena, in order to sit in something called a "grandstand", to drink beer, tolerate incredible noise, breathe car fumes, and watch cars drive around an oval for 4 hours.
Then these same, now drunk and sunburned, 200,000 people walk a mile to their vehicle, take 4 hours to exit the parking lot, and sit in traffic for days, while listening to country music, to go home.
I don't understand.

Gay Marriage - We're going in

I have mentioned here my basic opinion of "Gay Marriage" and, as Maryland will soon sign "Gay Marriage" into law, I figured "no time like the present" to offend someone... plus, better to attack a controversial topic now and not in a couple of years when I have a huge following and my stance could conceivably cause more of a bruhaha. I like Bill O'Reilly too much to want to get fried on his show on Fox News Network. That's right, I'm afraid of being called a "Pinhead" on TV".

I really, really don't understand this issue.I don't even understand why it IS an "issue". Two people love each other, they want to commit to each other with the intention of spending the rest of their natural lives together, and in the case that someone needs to "pull the plug" they each trust the other enough with the responsibility and the keys to their safe deposit box.  How is this different than heterosexual couples? Why do we keep having to preface the words "couple" and "Marriage" with a classification? Why can't it just be marriage?

I lived in the town next door to Fort Lauderdale, FL for many years. In case you have been living in a cave on the side of a mountain in India, Fort Lauderdale is apparently second to San Francisco for its Gay populace. I got to know many gay people young and old. Couples who had been together for 20 years and people who'd never had a "real" gay relationship. They all had something in common: They were people. Fat, skinny, spendthrift, saver, homebody, person about town... double income, single income and trust fund babies. People.  

I keep putting the term "Gay Marriage" in quotes because no one has really settled on a term for this union of property, passion and payrolls - unless it's "Marriage", which offends some people. None of these offendable people, to my knowledge, are my friends. I'm pretty sure I scared them off during the last election. So, is it "Gay Marriage", or "Same Sex Marriage" or "Homogeneous Marriage"? All I know is that there is a 50 % chance that the "Partners" or "Spouses" are going to end up hating each other and standing in the middle of whatever neighborhood they are living, screaming at the other one about all of their indiscretions (real or imagined) and how much one hates the other's family. I'm sorry, that sounds like... I don't know... do they call it MARRIAGE???

What is there to be afraid of? If two people want spend the rest of their lives fighting about who puts an empty milk carton back in the refrigerator or whose turn it is to pick up all of the dog turds in the yard, who is it going to hurt?  I've heard that employers might not choose to provide health insurance anymore because all of the gay people in their employ might hook up and settle down. And if the employer provides health insurance for married couples and their families - now they might have to cover the gay spouse! Horrors! That might be a financial hardship on the employer! Really? Well, whomever ordered up "Obama sCare" took care of that - now all employers have to offer insurance coverage... of course now they won't be hiring people because they can't afford to insure their employees, so eventually there wont' be anyone left... I guess that's another topic. 

But I have some questions about "Gay Marriage".  Every hetero couple I know, the man sleeps on the left and the woman sleeps on the right.  What do gay people do? Do they sleep "head to foot" so they both get the feeling that they're on the Left side  - and Lesbians sleep the other way so they feel like they're on the right?

Do gay couples not have toilet seats because they don't need to put it down for their spouse? Or do they fight about who forgot to lift it?   

Do lesbians have custody battles about the makeup mirrors and expensive shoe? Is there any better way to live than with someone whom you can split the cost of expensive shoes and fancy make up mirrors?  Can you imagine coming home with a wildly expensive pair of shoes and not having to throw them into the back of the closet to let them "age", or run right outside and walk around on the gravel drive to scrape up the soles? Not that I'd ever do that. just sayin'.

Yes, I am traditional enough that I think marriage of any kind is between 2 people, but any 2 people who are willing to commit to the insanity known as marriage, are welcome to it!

Going Home

When people ask me what living in Florida was like, I speak my true experience. It was 18 years of culture shock.  There were great things – my fabulous friends, Cuban food, Coconut Grove Art Festival, my orchids.  As a kid, I had visited Florida many times with my parents, so visiting certain tourist attractions was fun, but it was never home.

I grew up in a quintessential New England town: As a teenager, I once ran a red light down town, and by the time I got home, my parents knew about it.  The traffic light is located in front of the police station and one of the constables had been looking out the window as I ran the light. He didn’t chase me down and give me a ticket, he called my Mom. I got into so much trouble! That was home for me.

After 18 years in South Florida, and due to the effect of the economy, Big Daddy was “made redundant”.  I wasn’t all that upset when he told me the news. In fact I was horribly conflicted because all I felt was joy and relief.  We’d really missed our New England way of life and now we would likely be going Home.  The SoFlo style just isn’t us. It’s not that there isn’t a lot to like, or that I don’t miss, but it just isn’t us.  Plus, I didn’t doubt for a minute that Big Daddy was going to get a great new job.

While BD looked for a job – there were some great options as soon as word got out that he was no longer with his previous employer – we talked about where we would live.  After 18 years of culture shock I wanted to go HOME.  Very few of my SoFlo neighbors interacted in my part of the ‘hood. the neighbor's kids were pyromaniacs when they weren't trying to kill each other. I rarely saw anyone I knew on the sidewalk (though my good friend KimO still mentally waves to me as she jogs past my former home), and I never felt comfortable enough to even let MiniMe play in our yard by herself. Play dates were hard to come by because MiniMe had to go to private school and it was such a drive between our home and the homes of her friends. So she was lonely, too.

There were some job opportunities in and around The Big City. Big Daddy needs access to major airports for his job related travel, and I wanted access to museums, shopping and cultural opportunities, so we knew we didn’t want to be more than a 1 hour train ride away.

We thought about moving to the town in which I grew up. I still have family living there, the schools are blue ribbon, and there are only 3 stoplights (up one from when I was a kid). Sometimes it’s a little like that country music video –Craig Morgan, I think – where the farmer is driving his combine down the state road on the way to his next field with a pretentious, cell phone talking moron in a drop top beemer hard on his tail.(no offense to any drop top beemer drivers is meant)

I could imagine MiniMe stopping at the same Western Auto for help with a flat tire on her bike – no money in her pocket – and the owner helping her fix it then saying “just tell your Mom she can drop the money by when she gets a chance.”. That’s the kind of town I grew up in. The constable who turned me in to my parents for running that red light? His son is a constable now. Unfortunately, my Mayberry was just a little too far from the beaten path for Big Daddy who didn’t relish a 30 minute drive to the closest train station, then a 1 hour train ride to The City.

Big Daddy, on the other hand, grew up in a commuter town with a stop on the Metro North Hudson Line and, if he was going to work in The City, he wanted to be in a town with a train station.  I though I saw my New England fantasy life slipping away.

Smack between the two towns in which BD and I grew up is the quintessential Snow globe town in which my Mother in Law grew up. BD had many fond memories of the town where he had spent a lot of time with his grandparents. I fired up the laptop, entered my favorite Real Estate Search Engine (www.williamraveis.com) and entered the name of the town.  I swooned with joy at the pictures of the antique center hall colonials with their wide board floors and their 12 over 12 pane windows.

I delighted in the Chamber of Commerce pictures of down town that appeared to have plenty of parking (which it still does at 7AM, the time the photo was taken), the train station, and the recreation department’s vast menu of activities for MiniMes of every age.

I looked up the public school system and nearly cried with relief – public school would be a reality!! And there were no metal detectors at the doors of the schools! Spanish is taught as an elective – not as a first language! Be still my heart parsimonious heart.

With a little more sleuthing, it turned out that one of my childhood neighbors lived in the town, and another was a pastor at a church in the next town over.  Is there anything better than moving to a new place and having people who already like you because they liked you “back then”? Or someone whose name you can enter on the “in case of emergency please call…” line on school forms? Is there anything more lonely than an empty “in case of emergency please call…” line on a school form?

Big Daddy had a couple of job interviews lined up, and we realized that the move was going to need to be made sooner rather than later.  We made a reservation at a big, old inn and my Mom stayed with MiniMe. I made plans to look at rental homes with a real estate agent who was an associate of a friend of my hair stylist in Florida.  She’s now one of my besties.  I miss my stylist.

My Agent/ Bestie pulled a great rental out of thin air for us (or so it seemed), we plunked down a heart stopping amount of money for a deposit, and six weeks later we moved in.

Within a few days of our arrival, I was being teased by the regulars at the local coffee shop for wearing winter clothes (it was 80 the morning that MiniMe and I flew out of the Fort Lauderdale Airport and 50 when we landed that afternoon), the size of our moving truck (colossal), neighbors were stopping us on Main Street to invite us to stop by for coffee.  People knocked on our door to welcome us to town.

Remember my childhood neighbor that was living in the same town?  She arrived 10 minutes behind the moving truck with a bag of goodies that included all kinds of local information, take out menus complete with recommendations, sweets from the locally owned businesses, the phone number of her pediatrician, hugs and loads of good cheer.  

MiniMe (who, mind you, had just gone trick or treating in SoFlo and brought her 5lb load with her), got a bag of candy from a neighbor who was glad to see a kid in the community, plus a Christmas stocking loaded down with treats from our Agent/Bestie who stopped by to make sure we were settling in. I’m sure there was more, but I might have blocked it from my memory but  I filled her Christmas stocking with dental floss, toothbrushes and toothpaste.

I started referring to our address as “123 Fairy Tale Lane”.

MiniMe was kindly welcomed into the 5^th grade of her new Catholic school upon her mid year appearance.  A couple of weeks later, she was already getting invited to skating parties, birthday parties, slumber parties and after school playdates.

There was a constant bustle of friends old and new and family stopping by, saying hello, coming for dinners. Getting reacquainted. One night my daughter said to us at dinner “Mom, Dad, I want to ask you something.”… BD and I looked at each other for a clue, but neither of us had anything… “WHERE have you been hiding all of these people? WHY don’t I know them?”. I really had no answer for this. I was stumped. MiniMe went back to her plate and said, “I just want you to know that I think it’s great!”.

I needed a moment just then, and I still do just writing this. 

 Though I miss my long time SoFlo friends, I am so glad to be home.

The Saddest Thing I Ever Read

You will not believe what I read yesterday. It made me so sad that I had to tell you about it, even though I'd rather let it stew a bit... But this sad thing was burning a hole in my psyche so I just had to get rid of it. I needed to tell someone. Thank God you are here!

So, I ran a few errands yesterday, and ended up having some time to kill before I picked up MiniMe at school. The library is across the street from the school, so I returned some books and cruised the stacks for more. I couldn't find any new titles that really caught my eye, and truth be told I still have a couple of books left over from the last " library run" my family made. I wandered on over to the periodical shelves. Picked up a magazine and sat down for a quick read. I love magazines, but I hate them. They pile up, they mock me with their articles about organization and stylish clothes and Interior Design.... but I digress...

I had picked up a very popular lifestyle magazine and I started flipping through it's pages. I came across an article where an editor had asked some of that month's contributors to answer a few random questions.

The question in question here was: "What one thing have you gotten rid of that you never really missed?".

And the Saddest Thing I Have Ever Read was a response to that question.

The response was: "Negative people. I am constantly reevaluating relationships. When I realize that a friend isn't being supportive or positive, I politely disengage."

Seriously, I thought that that was the saddest thing I have ever read. I realize that no one wants to be around the ever negative Nelly, but to just go through life, evaluating how supportive and positive your friends are?  And then if they aren't "Shiny Happy People" all the time, you just cut them loose? What an awful and selfish way to look at friends and friendship.

I don't even want to give the person's name or the title of the article or the title of the magazine. I don't want to "out" the person, because it's just too sad. They may someday come to their senses and I don't want their new friends to be afraid to love that person based on the response they gave at that one moment in time.

Yes, there are cases where we have to cut people loose from our lives. People whom we thought were our friends, who turn out not to be our friends. But that's not what we're talking about here.

I need to tell you that I have fabulous friends and I love them. They are beautiful and friendly and funny and wonderful and supportive, not to mention good for my ego. I hope that I am the same for them.  If your friends don't make you feel this way, you should cut them loose and find new people. No, just kidding! Love your friends.

We all have different types of friends; the other Moms at school with whom we have nothing except our children in common, the other women in our yoga class with whom we occasionally have a cup of tea, and what I call "Forever Friends". 

I don't have many friends, but the friends that I do have are Forever Friends. Some people count all of their acquaintances, neighbors and fellow book club members as friends. I do not. I hold friendship as an honor near and dear to my heart. My friends can call me in the middle of the night, they can tell me that my jeans make my butt look fat and they can suggest that I wear Spanx under the dress I just bought. They can talk to me about their wins, their losses, their kids, their parents. Well, I've already established that they are my friends so I'm just repeating myself here.

We can't all be positive and supportive all of the time. We just can't. Stuff happens. It happens to all of us and when stuff happens, sometimes we need our friends. We need our friends so that we can't tell someone the stuff that we can't tell our family or the world at large. I know for sure that there have been times when I was an absolute neurotic mess and I tried to be nice to everyone, but sometimes my problems or issues just got the best of me. And if there is ever a time where my friends are not being positive or supportive (as if), I hope that it's because it's time for me to be supportive and positive for them.

Ask me what I miss most about SoFlo and I will tell you. It's my friends. My wonderful, wacky, supportive, loving, foodie, yoga practicing friends. I love them very much.

Paula Deen, I'm Really Ticked at You!

Full disclosure up front- "Big Daddy" is a Type 1 diabetic and has been for 35+ years.  Type 1 Diabetes is aka; insulin dependent, Juvenile Diabetes, or "oh, the bad one". Other celebrity Diabetics include Jay Cutler, Mary Tyler Moore, Brett what's his name that sings Every Rose Has it's Thorns. FYI, all Diabetes is bad. Doesn't matter if it's Type 1 or 2, if you've got Diabetes, it's not good and you need to take care of it. And you need an Endocrinologist to help you, not your regular Dr. or your Ob/gyn. If you need any information regarding Diabetes, don't ask me, go here: Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation or here: www.diabetes.org. I'm not a Doctor or a Nurse or a Health Care Professional of any kind. So don't listen to me. Educate yourself.

Diabetes is known as "the silent killer" because when a diabetic dies, they never die of Diabetes. They die from the effects of diabetes - kidney failure, heart disease, heart attack. Fun stuff like that.  So the actual "Deaths by Diabetes" go horribly under accounted for.

First off, let me say that I like Paula Deen's show. I have no problem with the amount of butter she cooks with because I know that her "deeshes"  are once in a while meals, not everyday fare. (For my every day fare, please see Rachel Ray or Kraft Mac n Cheese. Big Daddy makes himself salads most nights) To be truthful, I never once saw Paula cook something that made me run to the library to check out one of her cook books.  Too many ingredients, too many pans, too much clean up.  I like her banter with her hunky sons and her cute as a button husband, Michael. If Santa Claus were from the South, Paula and Michael would be "Mr. an' Mrs. Claw- uz" and we'd all get "P'cawn Clustah's" in our Christmas stockings. Even if we're naughty.

Honestly, unless you are one of Paula's sons or a close family member, it's likely that Paula Deen never bought your groceries, planned your weekly menu or stuck a fork in your mouth, so back the heck up and don't blame her for contributing to obesity in America. Free Will and Self Control my brothers and sisters!

I felt sorry for Paula Deen when I first heard the rumors that she had been diagnosed with Diabetes.  Having known Big Daddy for 25+ years, I know how the disease can affect a person, and the problems that can result from not getting diagnosed quickly. I hoped for her that her diagnosis was immediate so that the effects of Diabetes wouldn't ravage her kidneys or cause numbness in her extremities, or, God forbid, blindness.

Then Paula was all over Morning TV, announcing her diagnosis, the timing of the appearances coincided with a new season of her show on the Food Network (she's on GAC at noon, too).  She didn't just announce that she had been diagnosed with Diabetes, but also that she had been hired as a paid spokesperson for a non - insulin diabetes drug by NovoNordisk! ok. hm! Yeah, 2 years at $6 million a year! Well, giddyup, sister!

I'm thinking; "Wow! How lucky is Paula Deen!? She's making a FORTUNE as a paid spokesperson for Diabetes as well as the "over 50" set. She's going to have absolute top notch care for her Diabetes, though I know she's going to have some issues to deal with - lifestyle change and all - but she actually has the opportunity to completely reinvent her show! She can do it all over again! Go back to the very first episode and remake all of her dishes in a healthier way! Rewrite her cook books!".

Then, I saw an episode of one of her sons' new show "Not My Mama's Cookin'" where the host (sorry, I don't know which of the delicious hunky twosome it is... they're interchangeable in my mind,what with their dimples, sparkly eyes and big smiles, their Rhett Butler accents and Southern Gentleman ways, not to mention that those boys cook!) anyway... give me a moment to fan myself here... the Paula's Son takes one of his Mama's recipes and remakes it into a lighter fare. Then at the end of the episode, you see the down home phone call between Mama and Son. Paula Deen takes a bite of Son's reformulated version of her cooking and fare swoons with enjoyment, assuring Son that she cain't hardly tayust the dif'runce. So darn cute!

Well, but isn't the lighter fare and healthier cooking supposed to be Paula's platform, now? I mean, millions of diabetics are going to run to their doctors and ask for Paula Deen's medicine, after all it must work for her, and just look at the way she cooks!

My opinion (which is experienced and informd) is that, if a Diabetic is going to live their Diabetic life in the lime light, and be a paid spokesperson for a disease and a drug company, you need to walk your talk (I know I hate airy fairy cliches but sometimes they have their purpose) and it suddenly became apparent that Paula doesn't plan to change a damned thing.

One's health is a private issue - assuming that you keep it private. Paula didn't ever have to tell us. It's not our business what happens with Paula off screen. Even if Paula talks about her off screen life on her show, unless you receive an engraved invitation from Paula Deen herself, the rest of it is None of Our Business.

However, Paula has chosen to go public with her Diabetes. For three years, Paula kept her health issues to herself - I applauded that at first, since (see above) it's not our business and because she had to make some big changes in her lifestyle and probably her cooking. At least that's what I thought.

Now, I wouldn't have an issue if Paula said "Ok, y'all, I got the sugar problems, so I Cain't eat most' this stuff no mo-wah, but I grew up cookin' this way, and I jus' don' wanna stop! If you're lahk me an' have some health issoos, maybe ya wannah cut back on the butter and use a little more olive oil in its stead or mebbe go online t' mah website an I'll put up a lighter version of this recipe ahwn they-uh fer yuz."
Stuff like that.

But, Paula Deen made a very public choice; to air her personal health issues (that she shares with millions of people throughout the world), to become a paid spokesperson for a major player in the Diabetes drug industry (a company so deeply entrenched in the production of Diabetes medications that one cannot choose to take one's business elsewhere), and to basically say "Yep, I'm goin' take the muh-neh 'n run!".

Paula Deen had three years to get her treatment regimine in place, to alert those around her that a drastic lifestyle change needed to be made, and to reinvent herself and her show as the outlet for the spokesperson she's being paid to be. Instead, she dropped an extra large turd into her pecan pie.

Pandora's Box

I've had writer's block today. Normally, I'd have just abandoned you all to your own devices, especially since Day 1 didn't end in any tears, gnashing of teeth or hystrionics. Did I do something wrong?

Someone told me that if you are going to do a Blog, you at least have to do it every day for the first 90 days. I didn't realize I'd enrolled in a 12 step program. "Hi, my name is Melissa and I've lost control of my life". ("hi melissa, welcome")  You see, I started a blog and now I understand that I'm supposed to do 90 posts in 90 days....

My major problem today is that, for years, I've had thoughts about the stuff that would make good posts or interesting (to me) stories. And today I can't think of just one thing to talk to you about...It all wants to come out!

Do I talk about the time a friend suggested that I eat more dairy to combat joint pain? Well, that resulted in my current situation, where for a period of time, I'm going to have to banish 1/2 & 1/2 from my coffee, not to mention almost everything else worth eating.

I think we should get to know each other  a bit better before we discuss my position on Gay Marriage (which is basically this: if two people want to fight over how the laundry is done or who needs to scoop the catbox, then God Bless them, there's not enough love in this world!), the election (done with it already), Free Will (you've all got it and choose how to use it)... I think you know where I'm going.

We could talk teen parenting, but currently, the only talk I want to have is how poorly behaved one of MiniMe's friends is and I don't want her mother to stumble accross it here before I explain it to her personally in as nice a manner as is possible. for me. God help us all. On the other hand, maybe we can talk about it here and you all can help me! That's a thought.

How about my TV boyfriend, Mike Rowe? You are going to hear a lot about Mike Rowe. In fact, when I figure out how to get pictures on this blog, you'll see pictures of him. What?! You don't know who Mike Rowe is? You've gotten this far with out Googling him or asking your 5 year old? Ok, I liked you, but this is not the blog for you. Just sayin'. You're welcome to stay, but you are going to have to brush up on your Mike Rowe.

Let's just say that my husband can't leave for work on Casual Fridays with out me saying (at least once) "C'mon honey! Just go put your workboots on and a zip front hoody and say "Hi I'm Mike Rowe and You're My Job!" ... or how about "It's time to get dirty!"." By the way, I think he smells like Arm&Hammer or Dryer Sheets. Mike Rowe, not my husband.  More on Mike another time. Ok there's going to be alot more and probably frequently.

There's only one other other man for me - Fitzwilliam Darcy... sigh... Yes. That Mr. Darcy. What's her name from Sophie's Choice - Meryl Streep, thank you - won a BAFTA the other night and, when she ran to the stage to collect her prize, her shoe stayed behind in true Cinderella fashion.  Mr. Darcy was right there to help her. Yes, that was Collin Firth to you. To the female world it was Mr. Darcy, a part he played to perfection some years ago... he's never lived it down. sigh... Mr. Darcy. yes, yes. yes....

I have a new obsession which I'm happy to share with you, too: The Pioneer Woman. She's a Blogger, a Food Network TV Show, a Home Schooler and a poster of pictures of hot cowboys wearing chaps.  I think I love her.

Ok, so on the topic of Home Schooling, I may or may not have thought of a new post. Maybe I'll write one and "keep it in the bank" in case there's a day that I'm too busy watching Deadliest Catch or Fox News to actually write something.

I'll think of something!

GruvE Blog 101

Hey there, and welcome to GruvEMom Living. I'm glad you could join me for my first ever post on my first ever blog. Please make yourself a cup of tea (preferably Harney Tea's Irish Breakfast) or coffee (preferably from Zumbach's Rosters in Connecticut) and spend some time with me. Is that a cupcake you're eating?

For years my friends have told me that I should write a book or write articles or just keep a blog. So, here I am, on a President's Day Weekend of 2012, trying to figure out how to "blog".  In other words, we're under construction so please excuse the mess and keep your shoes on in case you step on a nail. And clean up after yourself, I have enough work to do, already!

There's no topic that's off limits as far as I'm concerned. I'm glad to hear your respectfully expressed opinion, whether you agree with me or not. Should it differ from my own or that of any other crazy person who might be motivated to post here, I expect all of my peeps to be respectful of each other and our views.

My most recent accomplishment is that I've begun to get rejection letters for an essay I wrote! Nine submissions and so far, 2 rejections. Awesome! Do you KNOW what that means??? At least 2 people from 2 major National publications have read my "Querys". I'm darn near notorious! Actually, come to think of it, for a particular features editor at a very popular lifestyle magazine, I probably am notorious... Well, I really think that essay would work for that magazine!

I think being a famous author would be great. Think about it. The picture on the back is whomever you want it to be, or whomever you choose to be at the time.  People buy your book, see the picture, and - as long as you don't tart yourself up just the same way again - never  recognize the real me.... genius! On the other hand, I would blow my cover all the time. I'd be at a book store and stalk my books... someone would pick up a book, look at the preview or comments on the leaf, put it down and buy another one... I'd have to know - why didn't they like my book? Why did they buy the other one? I would be "persona non grata" in bookstores around the country and my picture would be up in library's like one of the FBI"s most wanted at the Post Office.

Ok, it's 7:30 I gotta clean up from dinner (aka throw away the pizza box) and get ready for "The News From Home". That's my family's nickname for the show "COPS".  I lived in the birthplace of "COPS", Hollywood, Florida,  for 20 years. When we first bought our house - which I assure you was in a VERY NICE neighborhood - COPS was frequently filmed on our street.

So, keep coming back. The more I write, the better this blog will get. I can be an acquired taste in person, too - I totally get that and I'm sure I'll offend you or tick you off at some point.

If you are my friend, I love you like chocolate. Thanks for stopping by. If you are a new reader, well... you may have been lost when you got here, but, consider yourself found!

Blog with  you soon - feel free to give me your feed back or ask me a question.
Melissa

8:34 - Update - COPS was not on tonight - NASCAR was on in its stead, so we're watching "Parking Wars"... a fine documentary about meter maids, parking enforcement and car boot squads in and around South Jersey, Philadelphia and Cincinnati. And yes, I realize it's 8:34 and COPS was supposed to be on at 8. It took me this long to figure out how to edit this post!