Farewell Twinkie, Goodbye Ding Dong

My heart is heavy today.  Hostess brands has closed its doors and sent home its employees.  Over  18,000 people are unexpectedly out of work right before the holidays.  Their remaining health flex plan funds are forfeited, as are their vacation days and any chance at severance.  I am sad for these people and their families.

For me, Twinkies and Ding Dongs are symbolic of a simpler time . . . when people didn't freak out about food . . . before anyone knew or cared about hydrogenated anything . . . when margarine was a health food . . . when a huge blue tub of Crisco graced a shelf in every pantry . . . when Kool-Aid was synonymous with fruit juice, and kids' upper lips were tattooed with a neon mustache all summer long . . . when children roamed their neighborhoods without sunscreen, and burned all that pure sugar "fuel".

. . . Wait . . . I just had a revelation as I was typing the last paragraph.  This is somewhat embarrassing, but I feel compelled to honesty--rather than just deleting this whole post.  The truth . . . I just realized that my mother never bought Twinkies . . . or Ding Dongs . . . or Sno-Balls . . . or those perfect cupcakes with the white curlicue.  Come to think of it, she probably called them "junk food".  When I did get them, it probably involved some subterfuge.  Memories are flooding back to me . . . sneaking across the street from Lakes Junior High School to the Circle K to purchase contraband Ho-Hos, Hubba Bubba and Lik-A-Stix, not to mention Funions and Munchos (stock for me and a few friends).  Come to think of it, Mom probably would have killed me if she knew what I was up to.

So my memory really isn't of a simpler time as much as it is about a time when I was simpler . . . about being a kid . . . and a bit of sadness because my kids will miss out on that perfectly chalk-white cream filling and those beautifully rolled chocolate layers.

I think I'll get some tonight, before they disappear from the shelves, so I can share these sweet memories with the next generation.

Gratitude A to Z

We're half way through November.  Since I've missed the boat on Thirty Days of Gratitude, I'm going to borrow my friend Jan's idea of a Gratitude Alphabet.  Here are some of the things in my life for which I am most thankful:

A--Avon, North Carolina ("the beach" to my family)
B--Baths and Bacon (it's a tie)
C--Coeur d'Alene, Idaho
D--Dad (aka Grandpa Dave)
E--Easter (my favorite holiday, for many reasons)
F--Family (including all the halves, in-laws, steps and twice removeds!  I love you all!)
G--Guardian Angels
H--Home, Sweet Home
I--Interesting People (I'm blessed to have many of these in my life--you know who you are!)
J--Jeff (words fail me)
K--Kids (I am incredibly grateful for all of my unique and beautiful children!!)
L--Laundry (but only when it's clean, folded and put away)
M--My Mother-in-Law (who I am happy to call my friend; and my Father-in-Law, who is pretty cool too!)
N--Noticing Little Things (particularly in the midst of chaos)
O--Old Friends (the ones who can pick up the story in five minutes, even when you haven't talked to them in five years)
P--Peppermint Joe Joe's (especially the dark chocolate covered ones)
Q--"qi" (this word has earned me more points in Words With Friends than any other)
R--Reading Stories
S--Scott (my favorite brother)
T--T21 (Patrick's special gift)
U--the United States of America
V--Valentine's Day
W--White Christmases (the only day of the year when I really do want to see snow)
X--Christ Jesus (the traditional abbreviation from the Greek--not some Communist plot to take Christ out of Christmas)
Y--Yarn (it reminds me of my Mom)
Z--Zzzzz (sleep, in any duration or location)

Buddy Walk 2012

Thanks again to everyone who so generously sponsored our Buddy Walk team, including those who walked and those who made donations!  It was a great event.  There were fun (free) activities for the kids--moon bounces, pony rides, a petting zoo, face painting, and more.  Everyone there seemed to be enjoying themselves--from the youngest to the oldest.  And, best of all, the 2012 Buddy Walk raised over $190,000 to help people with Down Syndrome in Northern Virginia!

We all left saying how much we are looking forward to next year.  Will has named our team "Patrick's Pack" in honor of our future Tiger Scout.  We hope to have many more friends join us next year.  Watch this space for details when they become available.

Here is the photo of this year's team, which was taken at the "finish line".

The Top 10 Reasons to Start a Personal Blog

In the past few weeks, I've had several people tell me that they've thought about blogging but haven't taken the leap for one reason or another.  For what it's worth, here is my Top 10 list of reasons to start a personal blog . . .

#10--To have one place in your life where the typing is neat, with all the i's dotted and t's crossed, when everywhere else in your life is covered in crayon and Sharpie.

#9--To remind yourself that you actually can put together a coherent thought every once-in-a-while.

#8--To see your child's eyes light up when he spots a picture of himself "on the Internet."

#7--To "brag on" your children. (I love this expression.)

#6--To brag on your husband.

#5--To have a place for all those pictures of your adorable baby :)

#4--To share your knowledge and experience with others who might benefit from them.

#3--To share your deeply held beliefs with others who might benefit from them.

#2--To record your memories, so you can look back on the highlights, as well as the little moments, in your life.

And for all the Zagnuts . . . The #1 reason to start a personal blog . . .

So you can post a photo of your baby sound asleep in his first Halloween costume!

Hurricane Sandy (or how Jeff finally found time to install the new garbage disposal)

Please don't misinterpret the tile of this post.  I am deeply grateful for the fact that this hurricane turned out to be just a big rain and wind storm for our family!!  I am also well aware that this was not the case for countless other families, and know of at least one that is still waiting to hear from loved ones who took a direct hit.  We are praying for everyone who has been affected by Sandy.

This morning we awoke to quiet.  The storm was very loud last night, and I had a hard time falling asleep--as did one of my children, who spent the night alternating between the couch in our bedroom and the floor next to the dog.  But, in the end, we were left with a wet yard and a few feet of our neighbor's pine tree hanging over our fence.  For those of you familiar with our yard, the tree fell just above our statue of Mary in the back corner.

The big news today is that, since his office "suspended operations" in anticipation of the storm, Jeff is installing the "new" garbage disposal.  I only qualify its age because we have actually owned it for quite a while.  It's one of those gross, disruptive projects that there is never time for--unless, say, your company suspends operations for a day or two.  YIPPEE!!!!  The old (leaky, smelly) monster is gone and, after the inevitable mid-project trip to Lowe's, the new one will be installed shortly--barring any unthinkable problems that could arise in the next hour or so.  So, there you have it, an up-side to this otherwise bad situation.  Do I feel guilty that we got so little damage that Jeff is able to spend his day installing a garbage disposal?  Yes . . . but I would feel just as guilty if there were no new appliance involved.  (And I can't even begin to tell you how happy I'm going to be without that old gross disposal underneath my otherwise clean sink!!)

Isn't it beautiful?!



The Girl in the Mirror

I wrote the following in my personal journal.  I'm sharing tonight because of a friend's Facebook post about a similar experience she and her daughter had at Target today . . .


August 12, 2012

I just returned from Target, where Nora and I were shopping for AHG khaki slacks and a dress. We came home with the pants, but no dress. The word "skanky" kept coming to mind as we looked through the racks--poorly made, looked like a nightgown, and looked like a beach cover-up. These were the options. None even made it to the dressing room.

As I sat waiting for Nora to try on the khaki's, I overheard the mom next to me talking to an older daughter about a younger sister's continued rejection of dresses. "She looked so nice in the one, but I guess she isn't ready to accept that sort of dress--one where you can see the complete shape of her body. But, she looked great in it!" Minutes later, the girl in question emerged from the dressing room with a whole pile of dresses that were tight fitting, too short, and generally way to grown up looking for the 13ish year old I was watching. She too left Target without a dress. Good for her!!

I need to find a place for Nora to buy clothes that she loves and looks good in. When I was a girl, my mother very generously, and sacrificially, took me to Nordstrom's Half Yearly sale twice a year from the time I was a pre-teen. I'm not sure that our budget can include Nordstrom for Nora and Lucy, but there must be a place--and it may be their own bedroom mirror with the wardrobe arriving in the mail. Target's fine for underwear, socks, and AHG uniform pants, but it's no place to build a self image.

Happy 9th Birthday Nora!

Nora turned nine today.  It seems like yesterday that Jeff was speeding to Fair Oaks Hospital, following a brief call to Dr. B in which I said, "Hold on, I'm having a contraction."  Next, I heard his voice yelling from the phone in my lap, "GO TO THE HOSPITAL!!" 

When we arrived, my name was already on the big white board.  An aide took us to the room, and said our nurse would be right in.  The minutes ticked by in the half-lit room and it began to dawn on us that we might have been forgotten.  Jeff went to the desk and, within seconds, our room was buzzing.  A few minutes later, Dr. B came in, checked me and said that Nora literally would have been born in the car if I had sneezed on the way to the hospital.  They immediately started an epidural, and Dr. B said I should expect a baby in less than half and hour. 

Dr. B's shift ended a few minutes later, and Dr. Fisk came on duty.  About fifteen minutes after the shift change, he walked into our room.  Except for minor interruptions for contractions, we had a nice chat--for about five minutes.  At that point, Dr. Fisk casually asked the labor and delivery nurse what Dr. B had estimated as a delivery time.  She calmly answered, "He said 30 minutes," checked her watch, and added,  "That was about 40 minutes ago."  What happened next can only be fully appreciated by my friends who know Dr. Fisk.  Let me just say that he's a former army doctor, and absolutely no-nonsense.  I'm pretty sure he levitated as he flew across the room for gloves . . . and I know the nurse did when he yelled that the baby's head was out and needed to be suctioned.  All's well that ends well, and two days later we took home our beautiful first daughter.  (Just to be clear--Dr. Fisk is an outstanding doc!  Most recently, he delivered our little Patrick--but with a much longer wait.)

I remember that night like it was yesterday, but it was (literally) a lifetime ago.  I can't imagine what it would have been like to have had the next four babies without Nora.  She's doted on all of them--from shuttling diapers for David, to shuttling Patrick himself.  Nora is an AWESOME sister.  There are so many times that she's put her little brothers and sister before herself.  Even today, when we were shopping with her birthday gift card from Grandma, I had to stop her from spending the entire thing on a Halloween book that Lucy wanted.

Tonight, we are celebrating with a "Girl Party" in the family room.  In our house, that means Mom, Nora and Lucy.  The boys were all supposed to be on a camp out, but it was cancelled so folks could prepare for Hurricane Sandy.  Nora kindly let the boys watch the first movie we rented, but we sent them to bed before "Twinkle Toes" (Lucy's choice) started.  We painted toenails, ate cheese puffs, and assembled a Lego Friends house.  There is really nothing sweeter than watching two sisters being friends.  Now it's time for the "slumber" part of the party!

 

 

Good night Nora.  Happy Birthday!  Love, Mom