Excuse Me Little Girl, Is Your Mother Home?

Interestingly enough, we can all be reduced to this feeling at times when it comes to our parents.......

But what's swirling in my life at the moment, keeping me awake some nights, is quite the opposite.....

There's an often subtle intersection in our lives, so sly that we may  not even notice, when we switch places with the ones who raised us up to be the people we are today. Those obscure moments when a parent suddenly can't do something simple that they've done all their lives. It might be something as simple as reaching that thing off the shelf that they need, to the inevitable relinquishing of the car keys. 

My own mother and I are going through this very process....slowly....one difficult step at a time. The car issue happened earlier this year, but not without the speed bumps! She, like most aging folks, faught me tooth and nail, telling me it was NOT going to happen! I got clever and had her ever-adored doc give her the bad news. That somehow seemed to soften the blow.

Just a few weeks ago I had a Facebook friend post that she had given her keys up to her children that day. The tone of her post seemed to be "matter of factly" about having to do it, rather than annoyed or bitter. I took it one step further and pointed out to her how brave she actually was!!! I told her she was not only showing great care of herself, but great responsibility in caring about the safety of others too.

Tonight I talked with my mom about her final wishes. It's not that it's an immediate issue or anything. It strangely seemed like a weird, reversed, right of passage talk, almost like them when they had to teach us the birds-n-bees!

You would think that growing up, getting an education, working and having children of your own would somehow prepare you for this milestone in your life.....but it doesn't. It feels so unnatural to me, yet it is so very natural and part of God's plan. 

And so we all at some point, will cross this bridge.....sturdy for the task at hand.....ready to make it work, but it don't come easy!

Swimming Past the Rope!

First, I must insist on apologizing. No really, I insist! There are ulterior motives afoot. I'm grasping for a match to reignite my writing fires! I innocently stumbled across some writing I'd started at least nine years ago. I found myself in disbelief that I had written it. Was that talent really coming from me? Had I thought of those clever words on those pages? For now, I'm going with yup. My author friends suggested using a blog to reignite those flames and release those juicy runs of entertaining sarcasm mixed with something hopefully relevant to say once in a while.....

But I could go em' one better....I already had a blog. It had died a few years ago, amongst the over-scheduled, under-energized world I lived in then, and still do for that matter. 

I am many things, one being a "Band Wagoner!" I will jump on the newest, funnest, or trendiest one working it's way down the parade route! I'm also the world's best book starter! I think I've literally finished maybe 5 my whole life, but I can start one like nobody's business! But that has nothing to do with this does it? Oh look, butterflies.......

The point was that I didn't start this blog so many years ago to write. I didn't even start it because I had something to say. In all honesty, the place where I live, I started it because it was the "now" thing to do. Problem was, it ended up feeling like a job, a job I wasn't that fond of! That corny, "Super Mommy" facade smacked me in the face when I strolled back in time today to see what I'd wrote about. How to make a cake, really? I mean, don't get me wrong, I LOVE THAT CAKE, but it wasn't a recipe blog, was it? My son, Asher, who is now 11, is as cute as they come in that size, but people can only be so entertained by pictures of his every move daily. Not interested in more of that, you probably aren't either.

So now I dare to want more! I dare to start again. I will swim out past the rope that's job is to define just how far I "should" go. Let's see what's on the other side..........follow me.

wordless wednesday.....BRING IT!

sunday citar......'CAKE'!!!

EASY, BREEZY, YUMMY!

i've been wanting to make a post about our

JELLO CAKE

since we made it for our cub scout cake sale!

this is one of my FAVORITE desserts to

make because it's so darn easy,

completely yummy,

and only as limited as your own imagination!

no real need for a recipe cause it's so easy to do....

first, gather your supplies to make two round

white cakes, any size or brand you'd like...

or if you're one of those 'stepford' women,

make it from scratch, lol!

once they've completely cooled, carefully

remove them from their pans....

then trace the pans on some wax paper

and cut out two pieces to fit inside of each pan.

(this step is crucial because if you don't do it,

then when you get to the jello part, they

won't come out of the pan)

poke lots and lots of holes into each cake

with a fork or a toothpick.

dissolve the one or two kinds of jello

you've selected into dishes with warm water.

(i've never measured this step and always had great

results, i'd guess it's about a cup or so)

then spoon over the cake and allow to dribble

into the holes....as much or as little as you like.

cover both pans with plastic wrap and allow

to chill in the fridge for at least a couple of hours...

when they're done, CAREFULLY remove

the first cake from the pan and place on the

decorating surface you plan to use...

today we made the 'flag' version of the cake...

you will usually use whipped topping for

your frosting (although i suppose you could

use frosting if you chose to) because the

combination of white cake, fruit and whipped

topping makes a FANTASTIC treat similar to a shortcake!

frost your bottom layer with the

whipped topping. we didn't do it this time,

but feel free to throw some of your

delicious fruit choice on top of this first layer

so that it's right inside your cake!

then put your top layer on and frost that too!

then decorate the top with your remaining fruit!

this was the final result of ours and it was not the fanciest,

but it was FOR SURE the first to go!

now let's use our imaginations.....

how about:

*red and blue jello with strawberries or raspberries and

blueberries for the FOURTH OF JULY?

*yellow and purple jello with lemon zest and slices for EASTER?

*green jello and lime zest and slices for ST. PATRICK'S DAY?

*red jello and strawberries or raspberries or cherries

for VALENTINE'S DAY?

*orange and dark purple (black cherry) jello and

dark cherries w/ orange zest for HALLOWEEN?

*green and red jello with strawberries or raspberries

or cranberries w/lime zest for CHRISTMAS?

the possibilities are virutally ENDLESS!

wondering where the 'citar' is......

"Your good friend has just taken a piece of cake

out of the garbage and eatin it. You will probably need this

information when you check me into the

Betty Crocker clinic."

Miranda-'Sex in the City'

sunday citar....'i'm no julie'

it's been only recently that i've re-entered the

wonderful world of blogging once again.....

and with that comes the weekly occurance of

SUNDAY CITAR!

it's a wonderful idea from my adorable

friend tab @

http://tabithablue.blogspot.com/

so i'm tying another new obsession of

mine into my sunday citar

and it is

(insert drumroll here)

JULIE & JULIA!

one of my newest and all time

favorite movies now!

partially because it's about blogging,

and also because it's wonderfully acted,

delightfully witty and adorable,

and about something i love to do....COOK!

if you haven't had the privledge, it's a must see!

(warning: this is a 'chick flick' so you may

want to wait til the men are gone)

it's the journey of how blogging made one woman

very famous! each time i see it i want to be

a better blogger....

oh, and learn how to add cool little gadgets

like count-downs to my blog!

i'm planning on a blogging tutorial some time

in the near future with one of my

other dear friends, ashlee,

who coincidentally is a blogger as well @

http://mommyunscripted.blogspot.com/

stop by both for a visit....they would love that!

but back to the movie...

it's set in two different eras, two different

countries, America and France,

and it's charming and addicting!

check out

http://www.sonypictures.com/homevideo/julieandjulia/

for a great trailor!

it stars Amy Adams (on the left) as the real Julie Powell (on the right)

and Meryl Streep (above)

as Julia Child (on the right)

now for the citar.....

"I sincerely believe blogging can save America."

John Jay Hooker

"The influence of blogging is overall

a very positive force in the media."

Garrett M. Graff

wordless wednesday-"sprung" (w/a disclaimer,lol)

believe it or not.....

it's march 23rd!

but when you live in

MICHIGAN

whatcha gonna do?

(now here's the disclaimer)

my pc has a bug

kinda like the weather today

so i can't access my own pics.

so i nabbed this from a relative...

sunday citar....'changes'

it's about that time again....

ahhh, just love sundays for so many reasons....

and one of them is 'sunday citar'

created by my wonderful friend tabitha blue

@ Fresh Mommy!

with the season changing,

as well as the time, air and color of the sky,

i thought that 'change' would be a perfect

thing to share some inspiration about....

ENJOY!

"I can be changed but what happens to me,

but I refuse to be reduced by it."

Maya Angelou

"If you begin to understand what you are

without trying to change it,

then what you are undergoes a transformation."

Jiddu Krishnamurti

"Failure is not fatal,
but failure to change might be."
John Wooden