The Sandwich Life

I want to be THERE

I can’t believe we’re already to July.  I feel like we’ve hit the midpoint of summer and it’s one big slide back to fall and the schedule it brings.  We leave for Maine in two and a half weeks.  Can you just IMAGINE what it will cost us in gas?  Are we NUTS?  Yup.  But I can’t wait.  It’s kind of a financially decadent thing but one I think we all need.  Of course I will worry greatly about my mother while we are gone but her homecare worker is devoted and I know will step up if needed.  Work and life have been relatively relaxed of late but I do feel the need to get away.  Just AWAY.  Ernie’s oncology appointment is the week after we get back….I wish it were before we went but we’ll both try to put the worry aside. 

I love low tide….I just think it’s sexier but Leo loves high tide.  He has made me promise we’ll go to high tide at least three times this year.

I just want to sit on the beach, read a book, watch the boys chase each other in the waves, talk to my sister while we bob through the swells, watch Ernie doing crosswords on the beach, go back to the house and cook with fresh seafood and curl up with Ernie at night.  I want all the things I need to do at work and at home to not constantly pop into my mind.  I want to not worry about my mother. I want to take naps after being at the beach even if I do end up with sand on the bed.  I want the taste of saltwater on my lips and I want to see the beach roses. I want to watch my sister make lobster just the way my grandpa used to.  I want to visit the cemetery where my grandparents and uncle are buried and drive by their old house….the one I loved so as a child and dream about to this day.  I want to eat hot dogs with New England hot dog rolls and visit my favorite antique dealer Bob.  I want to feel more like myself….the way I feel when I’m in Maine.  I want to drive through the salt marsh on the way to Higgins Beach and Crescent Beach.  I want to visit Two Lights and scramble over the rocks.  I want to find tiny little crabs in the tidal pools and hunt for shells at low tide.  I want to be in Maine.  I want to be THERE.

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I love my sweet pea.

Monday, Monday

1.  Wonderfully relaxing picnic at Meadowbrook Park the other day.....  Owen hurt his hand on the monkey bars and not only did Dick have a band-aid in his wallet but later, when that one gave up,  Sasha actually pulled out a first aid kit in a tiny little Whitman's sampler tin.  Is that the cutest thing you've ever seen? My how times change.

2.  More vandalism in the garden at work this morning.  Sigh.

3.  Leo and Owen are both a bit sick today.  Owen has had a bit of a cold and is all stuffed up----I'm trying to convince myself that's why he's been so foul lately.  Leo now has a fever and a bit of a cold. Damn it all.  Kids aren't supposed to be sick in July!  And I'm supposed to have one of my best friends----Gisela---over tomorrow.....we'll see.

4.  O.K.....we just watched Nashville Star---the longest two hours on television but given how tired I was from both Owen AND Leo trying to sleep with us last night it was perfect.  They kept picking on performers/contestants for not being country enough....so why didn't they PICK country contestants???

5. Last time we saw Kane Welch Kaplin Kevin mentioned onstage (before they did David Olney/John Hadley'sPostcards from Mexico) that David Olney was touring with Sergio Webb and when they did this song Sergio used a megaphone....here it is at long last.  I  gotta admit that I love Kane Welch Kaplin's version of it but this pretty much kills me too. I don't understand what's going on with me and David Olney....it seems everytime he plays close by I'm unavailable.  One time several years ago he played in Chicago the day we were doing the Ann Arbor Antiques Market and then played Ann Arbor the day after we left.  He played a day or two after we saw KWK this spring but we couldn't get up there/stay up there after having seen them.  NOW after obsessively looking at his touring schedule  I found that he's going to be in PORTLAND, MAINE the DAY after we leave.  WTF???  Geesh..  One day David Olney...I just KNOW it....

6.  O.K.....I know nobody watches these clips I put on but they make me damn happy. I watched pretty much this whole video the other night before realizing it was Billy Bob Thornton....sometimes I'm clueless.....  Anyway, I kinda like what I've heard...it's all covers but for God's sake they do a MOTT THE HOOPLE song....(not this one mind you).....

7.  O.K....so I listened to the Vertebrats thing on WGN but I must admit that I'd had a couple of glasses of wine and Ernie'd had a whiskey or two (hence him actually calling in) but anyway that night I had all sorts of odd dreams (as I do most nights.....) and the next morning I thought to myself, "did Kenny actually say they were considering another reunion next summer?" and then I told myself that no....that must have been part of one of my dreams.  I considered emailing him about it but I feared that he would respond, "Cynthia...how much wine DID you have?" so I didn't do it.  Now that I can listen to the whole thing again however I realized tha the DID say that and it wasn't a wishful dream.....  What freaks me out is thinking that I imagine that would be their 30th anniversary.... Woo-hooooooooo!!!1

8. O.K....I guess I'm off to bed....

Random Notes from a Sandwich Weekend

1.    I HATE MY COMCAST connection.  Sigh.  Sometimes it’s fine but sometimes it SUCKS.  Do any of you local readers have alternate internet service you would recommend?  This is making me nuts.

2.    I love the farmer’s market with all my heart but man it can be expensive.  I guess I’m feeling really broke right now as grocery store prices are freaking me out too.  Mind you I don’t begrudge the vendors the money----they deserve it and more but I did cringe when I paid $7 for the bag of green beans.  All that being said I was pleased with my somewhat restrained haul of beautiful green beans, sweet little baby zucchini, tomatoes, peppered goat cheese and some pork steaks.  Oh…and of course chocolate chip cookies for Leo (no nuts mind you) and an ice cream sandwich for Owen.

3.    Owen pretty much enjoyed the farmer’s market, particularly when we bought him that ice cream sandwich.  Leo, on the other hand, said we walked so much that his legs hurt.  Yup, the same guys that races around the neighborhood just couldn’t take walking up and down a couple of aisles.  We suggested that as soon as we got home we have him put his feet up and rest, perhaps use a heating pad and drink some liquids to replenish fluids.  He just growled at us.  It’s really fun to pick on Leo.

4.    Farmer’s market highlight:  I got to meet LBOTP and elusive peanut(let me just say the peanut is adorable)!

5.    I’m thinking of painting my dining room orange.  I’ve had a green in there that I’ve never been happy with and I’m thinking orange would work with what is in there as well as the deep gold of my living room.  We’ll see….Ernie’s not totally on board yet….

6.    I feel SO much better now that my friend Kathleen told me the reason she had snakes in her car was because when she put her lawnmower in there IT had snakes in it.  Then she told me that she could smell when they were there and she’d see one down by her feet and then it would slither up behind the dash.  EEEEEEEK. It never occurred to me that she continued to DRIVE HER CAR WITH SNAKES IN IT.  This is someone I consider a very close friend.  I may have to consider.

7.    An unnamed cat (I’m thinking it’s Bob) has begun dragging dirty clothes from the pile next to the washer in the basement and up the stairs and into the kitchen.  This is the same cat that grabs Lego wheels and takes them downstairs.  Huh.

and then again...

I was searching for a youtube clip of Pere Ubu's Non-alignment Pact....one of my favorite songs.  Couldn't find one and landed on this instead.  Very different but it gets me in the same place in my chest oddly enough. It's a Kieran Kane song off the album he and Kevin Welch did in Australia a number of years ago. I gather the images were put together by Howie Klein of Crooks and Liars and Down with Tyranny.

I'll warn you....if you're feeling down this can make you cry.

Not a bad evening but then again....

The evening started out fine. I left work fifteen minutes early, swung by the grocery store for something for dinner. I left almost $40 lighter.  How did that happen? I was just getting stuff for dinner....

O.K...I did get a 12-pack of beer
4 ears of corn
2 packages of thin pork chops....one would probably be enough but not if Owen is really hungry...
4 heads of garlic just because we were out
a package of hummus....I usually make my own but it looked good
some pita bread

How on earth does that add up to almost $40? Idon't know how I'm going to be able to afford these guys when they are teenagers. I was planning to throw the pork chops on the grill, steam the corn and have it with some of my swiss chard thinnings but right now it's after 7:00 and I haven't started anything and I'm
cross. Tired and cross. Owen slept with us last night and reminded mef why I don't want him sleeping with us. He's a noisy and active dreamer...of course that's true of him during the daytime too.

The boys were in major disgrace because of not sharing their damn playstation Indiana Jones game nicely. I turned it off and of course they acted as though I had shot them. Owen eventually cheered up after he went and apologized to Parker and Dema. Leo continues to look like a pained andsullen teenager. I was trying to sit outside and have a nice time RELAXING but between Leo's grumpiness and Owen whining because I
wouldn't get in the pool with him I gave up and came back inside feeling kind of like Leo. It's just one of those evenings that I wish my children would go away. Not too far mind you and I want them safe and moderately happy and all that....I just would like them to remove themselves from the premises until they are ready to happily fall asleep---and take all their Lego with them while they're at it.

Then I tried to figure out the fucking blood pressure machine because I'm supposed to be checking it three times a week and calling my doctor if it's over a certain number.  Checked it today at the pharmacy when I ran over to pick up my mother's new insulin.  It read 155/91 and I was rather embarrassed to leave that reading on the machine but nothing happened when I hit clear so I scurried out. Anyway so I got frustrated with the blood pressure thingy so Ernie picked it up, figured it out immediately and said his blood pressure was 107/63. I said fuck you but I think I did it lovingly.....kinda.

I gave up on dinner and tossed some macaroni and cheese at my children.  Now here I sit trying to force myself back into a good mood. It's not like anything bad happened....sometimes daily life just takes the oomph out of you. Then Ernie and I got into a discussion about whether we could manage to have my mother live with us. It's not a fun discussion.

Not a bad evening but then again not one of our best....

Summertime

Owen at bat:
(he still wants to come play baseball with you Don)

Leo begrudgingly watching his brother's t-ball game and being tormented by gnats:

Random Summertime Notes from the Sandwich Life

1.  When we got Owen glasses last year before he started kindergarten we decided to splurge and get two pairs in case one went missing. This was VERY wise as he takes them off to play and was always misplacing a pair or leaving it at someone's house. 

Now....however....he has lost BOTH pair.  geesh.

2.  I think the whole family is bleary this morning.  The boys were up WAY too late but we had the loveliest evening, sitting in the yard and eating dinner with our dear friends Ann and Bob, watching Sophie, the guys and a gaggle of neighborhood kids dive in the pool, chase each other through the field and catch fireflies, listening to music (David Olney and lots of Kane Welch Kaplin), getting bitten by mosquitoes and watching the candles flicker.  I guess it truly is officially summer.

3.  T-ball game tonight for Owen....can't decide whether I want it rained out or not.

4.  Talked to my mother yesterday afternoon and she'd had a very hard day and was in tears. I torture myself sometimes trying to figure out whether we could fit her into our house.  I just don't know if I can make it work on a number of different levels.  One worry subsides and another is there waiting to take its place, huh?

5. Talked to Judi and ordered her to stay away from all things to do with cancer on the internet.  You can drive yourself crazy that way.  I totally understand because I have done it too....

6.  The Vertebrats radio clip from WGN is online....listen to them play the wrong song and hear from Kenny...oh and Ernie after a whiskey or two (to keep him up late)....

Random Reasons I Love My Husband

1.  We were sitting outside in the yard the other day when he got up and came back with long extensions cords and a boombox.  He then proceeded to put this on:

2.  He took the boys to Toys R Us today to get a new Indiana Jones action figure because the whip on the original one broke.  Then, as he put it, he turned into me and bought them a truck for the Indiana Jones truck chase.

3.  He bought mulch for the garden and started mulching the beds that needed it the most.

4.  Because Owen can make him laugh so hard he turns bright red.

5.  Kieran Kane and Kevin Welch make his heart light.

6.  His head is FILLED with more songs and musical knowledge than I can imagine and it spurts out randomly.

7.  He is the absolute rock of our family.

8.  He likes going  to the garden walk.  If anything he gets more excited than I do and given that he does all the hard work in the garden---that's something.

9.  Because when I pull the wheelchair up to the car for my mother she tells me that when Ernie does it it's much easier.  O.K. this irritates me...but just the same....I love how good he is to my mother.  He likes talking politics/current events with her.

10. Because he won't start reading the current newspaper until he's finished the old one.  This makes me crazy but I've never met anyone who can get as much out of a newspaper as my husband.

11. Because I looked at a picture from when Leo was a baby and I realized how much younger Ernie looked.  It never occurs to me that he ages.  Made me realize how damn long we've been together.

12.  He's more or less agnostic but his best friend is a pastor.

and last but not least.....

13. He cuts out all the cereal box offers and sends them in for the boys.

Not a good way to start your morning.....

Normally the front entrance of my workplace looks something like this---a beautiful stone lantern surrounded by gardens:

This is what it looked like when I got to work today:

Evidently some people thought it would be fun to spend a Saturday night destroying this and tossing some of it in the pond....