bountifulplate

Earlier this week I was hanging out with some other parents in a hallway waiting for our kids to get out of a music class.  It was totally quiet and everybody was kind of minding their own business.  Some were reading, others were looking at their computers.  A dad (who was also waiting for one of his kids) came walking down the hallway and randomly said, "does anybody here want to sign a petition?"  I don't remember what the petition was for, but I do remember it wasn't a petition I wanted to sign. The other parents kind of acted like they didn't hear him, but I looked over at him and shook my head no.  It was extremely awkward, nobody said anything after the guy said it, complete silence.  I went back to reading my magazine that I had brought, but it made me think of other "awkward" silences, like stepping into an elevator with a bunch of people or waiting in a crowded doctor's office.  Most people don't really know each other and if you do sta...

Customer service to me is extremely important. Sometimes it's one strike and you're out!!  Last year on my daughter's birthday we went to a local restaurant. We got terrible service, my stepson got sick from the food he ate and they completely forgot to sing my daughter "Happy Birthday" like we asked them to.  I was so upset about it, that I went home and wrote a letter telling the restaurant manager about our bad experience.  Within a few weeks, I got a letter of apology and a gift certificate.  A handful of years ago, I signed my daughter up for a camp at a pottery place here in town.  When I went in to drop her off for the camp, I was told there was no such camp and the clerk made me feel really stupid!  Again, I wrote a note complaining and I got a gift certificate.  I'm sorry, but a gift certificate is a nice gesture, but I have not been back to either place since my bad experiences and don't plan to anytime soon.  Conversely, I have sent e-m...

My father-in-law was such a sweet and gentle soul.  I never called him by his name, Larry, I always called him, "Pop-Pop."  It 's been seven years this month that he passed away.  He was in World War II where he played the saxophone and was a cook.  My father-in-law made the best pork chops and turkey stuffing I have ever eaten in my life.  When my in-laws would visit us from Cleveland, I would treat "Pop-Pop" like a king.  I would always make him french toast and we would linger so long over breakfast that it would almost be time for lunch by the time we were done talking.  To this day, whenever I eat french toast I think of him!!  The picture below was when Lauren was a baby and we were celebrating one of his birthdays.  The whole time I knew him he always looked the same, he never aged! Wish I could say the same for myself!  Check out my HUGE glasses :) He spent the last three months of his life in the hospital with heart problem...

A few months ago, I gave up two of my favorite things, Oreos and ice cream.   I routinely ate six or more Oreos a day, plus 3-4 times a week also eat a big bowl of ice cream after dinner.  Back in November when the doctors discovered my cardiomyopathy and irregular heartbeat, they put me on a low-salt, low-cholesterol diet. At my 3-month checkup, my cardiologist told me my cardiomyopathy wasn't any worse, but it wasn't any better either. He did mention that he still didn't like my cholesterol "numbers."  He said when I see him again in May if the "numbers" aren't what he would like them to be, he will be adding another medication to the three I am already taking!!  When I heard that, I decided I really needed to do something different.  I have made a real conscious effort to watch my salt and cholesterol intake and to try and walk 20 minutes a day. During Spring Break, we went to a resort that had all-you-can-eat buffet type meals.  To give Dominic s...

It's exactly six weeks until Lauren turns 16.   As soon as my daughter was the legal age to get her learner's permit back at the end of  last summer, we went and got it.  She and I tried a handful of times to go out together but I was too much of a "Nervous Nellie" and got her so stressed out that she was convinced she was a bad driver.  Her dad has been taking her out as many Sunday afternoons as he could.  I really appreciate him doing that while I got over all my anxiety about her being behind the wheel.  This past Friday, I decided to bite the bullet, put all the anxiety behind me and let her drive home from school.  I told her that I would try not to grip the side of the car, yell out or do anything else that might have really distracted her.  I put my arm up once, but that was it on the 20 minute drive back to our house.  I'm happy to report that she did amazing!! Her father taught her well.  It's hard for me to remember back to wh...

I get so tired sometimes of the stay-at-home mom versus working mom debate.  The so called, "Mommy Wars." When I heard about Hilary Rosen  (a political pundit) making the comment about Ann Romney, "never working a day in her life" because she stayed home with her five sons, it kind of got me riled up.   I worked right up until about two days before Lauren was born in 1996.   Since then, I have been a stay-at-home mom.  I have had moms tell me they would rather work than be home with their kids and I know moms that would love to be home with their children, but can't for various reasons.  I've met working moms that didn't like me for the sole reason I stay home with my kids. They didn't even give me a chance to be their friend!! I admire working moms, especially single moms.  I have a close friend who is a working, single mom and I think she walks on water.  She is an incredible, amazing and loving mother to her daughters.  I went th...

I did something this week that I haven't done in a long time. I did some ironing! Back when I first started working and before I met my hubby, I used to iron my work clothes frequently.  Many a early morning was spent sitting on the floor ironing my clothes before I went to work.  When I married my husband, I told him I would do just about any household chore but ironing. He knew that if he needed a shirt ironed, he could do it himself or take it to the dry cleaners.  He started buying shirts that didn't require ironing :)  My daughter wears a uniform to school and I noticed that her two oxford shirts were really wrinkled and badly in need of ironing.  It took me a minute or two to locate my iron.  When I pulled it out of the box, it had black gunk of an undetermined nature on the plate.  Thankfully, the owner's manual was still in the box and after some troubleshooting, I got it clean with just soap and water.  I plugged it in and surprising...

Whenever I have to give my name, either over the phone or when I meet someone for the first time,  I always have to say, that's Catherine or Cathy with a "C."  The name Catherine was pretty darn popular the year I was born (1963).  In one of my classes in high school, I was one of  five or six Cathy's.  Katy, Katie, and Kate are all more popular versions of Katherine or Catherine now.  People just automatically want to put a "K" not a "C" when they spell my name.  When my daughter, Lauren, was born, I briefly toyed with the idea of spelling her name a little different (Lauryn),  but then thought she would be forever telling people the right way to spell her name. When Dominic was born, I didn't realize there was more than one way to spell his name. There is Dominick and Dominik.  My stepson goes by his middle name, not his first name.  Back in my early 20's,  I went through a phase where I really liked the name "Tiffany Crystal" f...

  One of Dominic's least favorite things to have done is getting his hair cut.  When it was time for his first haircut, he was probably about 1 1/2 or 2 years old.  He got himself so worked up (crying and gagging) that the barber could barely complete the haircut.  We attempted again six months later and he kept trying to get out of the chair and run out the door.  It wouldn't have been too big of a deal, except the barbershop was on a very busy street!!  After that experience, I decided the best thing to do would be for me to cut his hair. When I first started cutting it,  I used a booster seat on the floor and could strap him in so he wouldn't jump up and run around before I could finish cutting it.  He cried for probably the first 5 years every time I needed to cut his hair.  Since he has gotten too big for the booster seat, we started sitting on the floor to do his haircut.  His favorite saying during his haircut is always, "I am a...

This week on the Today show, the author of the scarymommy.com blog and a columnist from the Huffington Post were on talking about the scarymommy.com blog.  Her blog has an enormous following.  Thousands and thousands! She just published a book. The definition of scary according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary is "causing fright."  Putting scary and mommy side-by-side doesn't exactly give me warm and fuzzy feelings about her blog.  It's quite the opposite.  I am hopping up on my soapbox now and tell you why I am not a fan of her blog. First of all, motherhood is hard and it's tough.  There are days where, yes, you do feel like pulling your hair out!  If you are having a particularly challenging "mom" moment, that is when you take a few deep breaths and step away from your kids to gain perspective.  Second, do these moms that post nasty and unflattering things on the website not think ahead to the future and realize their kids, husband or signific...

I stopped wearing a watch a few years ago.  It seemed to either get scratched, lost or the battery would give out and it cost more to replace the battery than the watch was worth.  Each day always has 24 hours in it, but some days seem to drag, while others zip by.  That never ceases to amaze me.   If you ask any parent out there, no matter how many kids you have, you always wish you had more time to get everything done in those 24 hours.  I think back sometimes to one of my first jobs.  I basically had nothing to do and I literally would sit and watch the clock.  Those clock hands definitely don't move any faster if you're watching them!!!  Don't you sometimes wish you could stop the time? Especially when your kids take their first steps or say their first words? Time marches on whether you want it to or not.  One minute you're changing your kid's diapers, the next thing you know they are heading towards college!!  I have gotten used to...