bountifulplate

My daughter who is 15 got her learner's permit this summer.  She and I have attempted more than once to go and practice.  She has to get a certain number of hours under her belt before she goes on to "Segment 2" and then to get her license.  We have practiced in parking lots which really don't give you that "real life" experience.  I learned how to drive back in the Washington, DC area which has the infamous Beltway.  If you can drive on that you can drive anywhere!  I have found that I am way too nervous to be in the car with her right now.  She went with her dad over the weekend and came back and said, "Dad is much better to go practicing with."  I was like I definitely agree with you there :)  My daughter and I are very close, but she always remembers that I am the parent.  I know that I need to ease some of my anxiety about her driving so she doesn't feel so stressed with me when I'm with her.  I was just telling my daughter pre...

I think anyone can relate that when you live in a house with at least one other person, it is nice once in a while to have a little time to yourself.  My special time for  a while has been Sunday mornings.  I walk 5 days a week, most of the time at 6 a.m. with a special friend who I feel so blessed to have met.  So, on the weekends, my body still thinks it's time to get up early.  I go outside, get the paper, whip up some coffee and usually go on the computer and check e-mails and yes, go on Facebook.  This morning, I was chatting with one of my hubby's buddies from Ohio.  Quite a few of his friends are on Facebook, but my hubby does not want to go on, so I talk to his friends.  His friend and I talked for a while and then he needed to go.  Granted, this was all before 7 a.m.!  I find that the early morning, especially on Sunday's help prepare you for the coming week.  My "baby" starts 10th grade this week, so I know it will be a bu...

Yesterday, I got kind of an odd phone call.  I picked up the phone and a voice asked to speak with me.  She said, "I'm calling to follow up on an inquiry you made about continuing your education."  I was thinking to myself if I did ask for info, it must have been some time ago.  This woman kept persisting for more and more information and then said, "let me put you on hold and you can talk to one of our representatives."  I said, "look, even if I did go back to school for an MBA, it wouldn't be for a while."  I finally had to hang up on the chick.  They really don't take no for an answer.  I remember my husband being very concerned about his mom living at her assisted living facility and telemarketers calling and trying to get info out of her, like a social security number.  Having the internet full of your information for any random person to look at is kind of scary.  My 7 year old is on there because he won a "Diaper Derby" event i...

My 30th  high school reunion was this past weekend and living 10 hours away I had toyed with the idea of going to it, but decided it would just be too expensive and hard to work out.  I had lots of mixed feelings being that I didn't have the best experience in high school.  I think others out there can relate.  I was bullied at times by other girls, and actually couldn't wait for high school to be done so I  could graduate and move on with my life.  I have wondered sometimes what my high school friends were doing.  When I decided to join Facebook I hooked up with some of my old "peeps" and compared notes on our lives. My daughter is going into 10th grade and to her high school of course is the biggest thing in her life right now.  She is building much better memories than I had.   I have told her more than once that high school is just part of your life.  More things are waiting in the future - graduating high school, graduating col...

I had my son when I was over 40 years old and my hubby was over 50 years old.  I guess you could say our little guy was kind of a "surprise."  When he was little he cried more than the average baby.  I was kind of out of practice because my daughter was 8 when he was born so it had been a while since diapers and all-nighters.  Around the time of his birth things were very chaotic, we were traveling back and forth to Cleveland because my hubby's dad was ill.  After his dad passed we then cleaned out their house which was packed with stuff.  We made lots of trips back and forth to Cleveland, being my husband is an only child and at the time his mom was still in Cleveland in an assisted living facility.  I didn't notice that my son wasn't really talking or communicating.  As we soon came to find out he had Autism.  Being such a proactive person once I found that out I have done tons of research.  So many people along the way on this journey...

When I go to the grocery store I always seem to pick up bananas.  Even though 2 out of the 4 of us in our house really don't eat them, I still buy them.  My hubby will say, "why do you keep buying them if nobody eats them?"  I keep meaning to put them in his lunch and then get caught up just trying to get his lunch made before he leaves for work and  I end up just giving him some other kind of fruit.  So, I end up making banana bread or muffins every week.  My go to recipe for banana bread/muffins came from an old cookbook given to me by an old office mate at least  15 years ago.  I have adapted it several times, but this I have found to be the best recipe:  3 medium sized bananas, 1 3/4 cups white  flour, 1/2 cup white sugar, 2  large eggs, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1/4 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 6 tablespoons margarine or butter.   Mash bananas in separate bowl with fork.  So...

One thing that I have discovered (especially this past year) is that when you lose someone special to you there are two ways to view it.  One is positively and one is negatively.  I choose to view it in a positive way.  My daughter was very close to her grandfather (my husband's father) and he passed away back in 2005.  Just this past January we lost my mother-in-law (my husband's mother).  My daughter had gotten particularly close to her because her other grandmother lives back in Maryland.  When she passed away it was really hard on my daughter.  She is still actively mourning her grandfather and it's been difficult to comfort her and know just the right words to say.  One thing I heard recently is that when someone passes away one of the worst things you can say is, "I know how you feel."  Unless you have been in someone's shoes you really don't know.  The best words that I have found to comfort her and others that I know that are gri...