Samuel Gompers, My Hero (or I'm on Strike!)

Only kidding, kind of. Here's your thing to learn for the day, in case you don't already know who Samuel Gompers was. In short, he was the father of American labor unions. I'm oversimplifying, but look him up in Wikipedia if you want to know more. Suddenly my life is so much easier now that I'm washing only my own clothes, buying groceries and cooking only for myself (mostly double fiber toast, pretzels and chicken salad). I feel like I'm back in college. It's great.

I didn't just get up and automatically make the waffles this morning. When kiddo woke up, he asked me if I'd made them. After I reminded him of the strike (I don't think he'd thought of waffle implications until he missed the Saturday morning aroma), he asked me to make them. I asked him if he thought he could be polite and respectful to me. He answered "Yes, ma'am", so I gave in. I think my code word to stop the surliness will be "waffles." We'll see how it goes. Even if they don't change their ways, I'll feel less resentment about being taken for granted. Now, if I can tackle the guilt about walking past the milk section at the grocery store. But it helps that grocery shopping is so much easier when you're only buying bread, pretzels, chicken salad and Diet Cokes!

Weekend Project - Gardening

Here are some plants I bought at Lowe's this week. Of course, they always sit in my yard for at least a week (usually two or three) before I get around to planting them. Lowe's had NO begonias. How can that be? Begonias are my never fail annuals. I saw some at Ike's, but hate to make a special trip. I need avocados, so maybe will hit Ike's and Fresh Market in one trip today. Of course, Ike's may not have begonias anymore, especially if Lowe's is out.

My new favorite, full sun plant, is a mounding zinnia. It's covered with small white or pink blooms all summer long. It was a happy accident last year and I plan to use it in as many full sun beds as possible. My others are vinca (sun), impatiens (shade), and asparagus fern (part sun) - I plant that in the flower boxes with the begonias and a little engish ivy (forgot to get that). Hope my ferns come back from last year, particularly my precious maiden hair fern. I need to cut back all the dying daffodil foliage which is burying the ferns. That's my poison ivy bed, so will have to suit up for that job. If I ever irradicate the p.i., it will be a miracle. Afer extensive research, I learned that the urushiol oil in the leaves can stay active for up to two years (in the dead leaves). So even the copious quantities of Round Up I used last year may not protect me even if I killed every last bit of the evil plant.

I'm also going to try yet another Shasta daisy and plant another gardenia. Cannot believe the gardenia I planted last year survived the winter. I have a hydrangea to plant, too. Oh and a pepper plant and some basil for my suddenly jungle-like herb garden. The thyme, oregano and rosemary are going crazy, as well as the pesky mint. It's nice to have them for cooking, but they're not looking very attractive - they need major cutting back.

Waffles are done and laundry's going, so maybe will get a few things done today. Happy Memorial Day!

The Next Adventure!

Here it is, Saturday morning again. The first waffle is cooking and I'm here, in one of my favorite places to be. In front of my computer in the kitchen. Two solid weeks away from my kitchen, laundry room and family has made a big difference in my outlook. I don't know for sure that the teenager missed me, but he seems a little kinder since my return. Or less surly. And I know he missed my weekly waffles!

I am still not caught up on putting things away and all the other deferred housekeeping stuff. They did fine with laundry and groceries while I was gone, but two weeks made the dust worse, as well as the kitchen floor and counters, the bathrooms, and on and on.

I plunged into my business clients as soon as I got over the worst of my Montezuma's Revenge. I'm happy to report that I picked up a new client this week and the possibility of one more. I'm feeling very encouraged by the demand for my services. If that just pays for our vacations, I'll be very happy indeed. A new kitchen floor would be great, too. So far I'm in the hole when I compare my spending with my income, but it'll be fine.

Part of this money hole I'm in is due to the cruise I booked this week. We'll go to the eastern caribbean - St. Thomas and St. Maarten toward the end of June. I'm so excited because our son has wanted to do this for a long time. I think he was hooked from Titanic. Go figure. The Travel Channel cruise shows and of course, the cruise line commercials have reinforced this desire. Royal Caribbean has great programs for teens, including rock walls, basketball courts and a teens-only dance club! The girl who helped me at CruiseOne has a 10th grader, too, and she's done this very cruise. She said her girls had the best time and always make good friends they stay in touch with. Who knows, there could even be a shipboard romance! He's too young to remember The Love Boat (can you hear the theme song in your mind?) There are things like Johnny Rocket and a Seattle Coffee, so I have a feeling we might not see him except at night in the cabin.

We lucked into a great balcony stateroom special! After my group trip to Brazil, the idea of time to myself with coffee on the balcony is heaven to me! They also have spa special on the port-of-call days, so I'm premeditating on the idea of heading back mid-day to take advantage of the spa. Also heaven. I need to start back with my walking so I can keep up with the guys on the sightseeing. We'll be gone a whole week, and my husband isn't thrilled about missing a whole week of work and I know it will kill him not to be able to check messages from the ship, but I know it will be good for him and I also know they'll manage without him. He hasn't given me any flack about it, so I know he's happy.

I have lots to do before then. If you're thinking of a Cruise and need help (I was totally overwhelmed by things like triple occupancy and all the choices), let me know and I will give you the wonderful CruiseOne girl's contact information. She made it SO easy and had lots of good tips. What are your vacation plans? I'd love to hear!

Waffles

For the first time in three weeks, I'm sitting down to make waffles. I left for Brazil on April 21st. In the picture, if you look closely at the topmost peak in the distance, you can see Christ the Redeemer statue, a famous landmark in Rio de Janeiro. This view is from Sugarloaf Mountain. I didn't make it to the foot of the statue earlier that day, with the rest of the group. I was, how shall I say it, indisposed. I'm still not quite 100%, but am feeling much better. As glorious as the trip was, I am happy to be sitting in my little kitchen, making waffles for my family and just appreciating all the wonderful things about home. Now, for those back episodes of Grey's Anatomy!

Back from Brazil

These are just a couple of the beautiful sights I beheld on my trip to Brazil. Iguaçu Falls is a wonder of the world - more magnificent than Niagara Falls, and I've seen them both now. The other photo is the view from my hotel room in Rio. It was an overcast day, the tide was high and the ocean current was strong, as you can see. I have lots of other beautiful photos but will have to dole them out slowly!

I'm just now feeling better after being home five days. I had some kind of flu virus or the Brazilian version of Montezuma's Revenge, or a combination of both. The good thing is I've lost a few pounds, but I lost a few days of enjoying my trip. The travel home was grueling, but I figure if I can make that trip, I can go anywhere! Lots of good stories and amazing differences in their culture and ours. The two things I miss the most are the fresh, plentiful pineapple and all the friendly kissing of cheeks!