Recently, I spent a few meals in New Orleans.  It is true, whenever I get an opportunity to go to New Orleans; I measure my travel there in “meals” versus “days”.  For over two decades, I have had the pleasure to travel to New Orleans for business.  I have been fortunate to have seen the city during Mardi Gras, post Mardi Gras (the colorful strands of beads speckled the streets and trees), before Katrina, post Katrina (by several days, when cars, boats, and furniture were washed up on the sidewalks) and even now after the gulf oil spill (the Gulf oysters are plumb and flavorable).  The food is amazing. While other cities I travel to grow increasingly dull with chain restaurants in strip shopping centers,  Nawlins continues to display its own culturally entertaining world where food is a religion.  

Where else can you go and eat unbelievable cuisine at a funky neighborhood bar or at the grandest haute restaurant? And where celebrities, locals, businessman, and Jeff & Jane from Nebraska wait in line wrapped around Canal Street for a table at a restaurant that doesn’t take reservation.  My dilemma has always been there’s a myriad of foods to choose from jam-packed in only a few days. 

Sea scallops swimming in mushroom risotto, sizzling oysters on have shell, blackened fish, deep fried beignets covered with powdered sugar, Seafood po’boys, muffuletta, Cajun gumbo (a catch-all stew filled with seafood & spices), crawfish etouffee, turtle soup, bread pudding with whiskey sauce and creole jambalaya; the attraction to New Orleans food is only surpassed once a year by the Mardi Gras Parade. 

I usually branch out and go beyond the bars/restaurants on Bourbon Street.  But you could easily spend weeks at the French Quarter and still never scratch the surface of all the great gastronomic and cultural experiences.

Tujaques (pronounced “Two-Jacks”) is one of the oldest restaurants in the United States.  My story with Tujaques started eight years earlier when a former boss on hearing I was going to New Orleans for a business meeting, told me he had gone to Tujaques with a local “regular” and in turn he was given the VIP treatment.  He said the key is to go in the restaurant and instead of ordering off-the-menu just tell the waiter these two words; “Feed Me”.  And they’ll know what you’re talking about.  “The food will keep coming all night”, he said.  “Whatever the chef feels like whipping up in the kitchen, they’ll bring it out to you.”  He told me he had 5 courses including a side of homemade brisket with horse radish, and the tenderest fried chicken with garlic potatoes.   It is true they do have a “prix fixe” or “feed me” menu, but they provide this to all diners.  I never did tell him, even to this day, that this is a price set menu, which is served each evening with several courses.  VIP or not, everyone gets brisket chunks in horse radish. I let him think he was like a food critic in disguise, where really his ruse was known.  However, an insider tip, the “chicken dish” is not available on the menu, so for a “feed me” experience, you should order it.

 Unlike most of the places on your list to travel, which are tourist worthy for the sights, New Orleans combines two distinctive reasons to visit: the food and the culture.  Your taste buds will thank you. 

Resolutions?  I’ve had a few, but then again, too few to mention.  I did what I had to do, and saw it through without exemption.   To steal a line from Frank Sinatra, I have had a few New Year’s resolutions over the years; too few to mention.  

What is your New Years’ resolution? To lose weight, to exercise more, to quit smoking, to quit nagging, to save money, to get organized, to go to church more, to quit throwing eggs at parked cars…?

Early this morning, as I ran through the quiet neighborhood streets of our sleepy community, I noticed a smattering of white egg shell pieces under my sneakers.  Parent’s check your fridge.  If you’re missing a carton of eggs, you might want to have a chat with your child.   

Once again, it is the end of a holiday break and the natives are already restless.  I’ve seen a pattern; the end of summer break, Halloween weekend and now winter break, the kids are bored and restless and searching for a thrill of not getting caught while flinging eggs at parked cars.  They know it’s bad and they shouldn’t be doing it, but they like the excitement of wreaking havoc on a car’s paint job or just leaving a mess to clean up.

With another year upon us, kids (like adults) will mature, and with resolve will outgrow or change their bad habits.

Do you have bad habits you need to break?  Are you doing things, like over indulging on food, smoking… shopping, that needs to be reined in?   Isn’t that what a New Year resolution helps us monitor?  We want to make a change, but we enjoy the thrill of flinging that egg and not getting caught.  But over time too many tossed eggs, and we’re bound to be caught.  One more piece of chocolate cake, and then another and before we know it, we are in need of losing 10 pounds, 20 pounds, each year it snowballs.  

So we pick a date, usually the New Year; January 1, and decide to quit that habit.  But we know most resolutions are broken within weeks, some days, even within hours.   So make your resolution goals achievable.  Bad habits didn’t happen overnight, they developed over time.  Achieving your goal won’t happen overnight either, make it attainable in small chunks, one egg at a time.   

And when you feel that urge to break your resolution, think of a tradeoff.  And no, I don’t mean grabbing a 12 pack of toilet paper to toss in the trees.  Trading one bad habit for another is not perseverance.  I mean a walk outside versus a walk to the refrigerator, cleaning out your closet versus a shopping spree.  A trade-off.   

New Year’s resolutions are like jogging on eggshells, it feels unnatural, it’s not easy, and their most likely broken.

Good luck with your New Year’s resolutions!

Happy New Year!

What are your favorite New Year’s resolutions? 

5 Dozen Large Grade A Eggs Smashed in the Street

Another holiday season is upon us, and I have noticed a trend in the gift exchange at parties; White Elephants.   No, not the very large kin to the gray animal, but a tacky, outrageous, often re-gifted item.  

Maybe the economy has compelled the party hostesses to invite their guests to bring thrift store items to swap with other party goers over the traditional cookie or ornament exchanges or maybe it is for the sheer fun of it.   For whatever reason, the White Elephant exchange is sure to bring a laugh or two at any holiday party. 

The idea behind a White Elephant Exchange is to bring a wrapped, obnoxious gift that most people would not choose as a gift item.  A white elephant gift is usually a gift that is funny, creative, and the best white elephant gifts are a little bit inappropriate or irreverent. Usually a swapping of the gifts takes place based on the numbers the guests draw from a hat.  When a guest opens your gift, you know they are sincere when they say, “Wow, I’ve never received that before!” 

While in search of your White Elephant gifts, think of that SkyMall magazine you have read on airplanes.  Don’t you always wonder who uses this stuff anyway?  A White Elephant is your chance to re-gift those items you’ve collected over the years that are still in their packages stuff in your closet or basement.

Have you attended a White Elephant gift exchange? What was your favorite White Elephant gift? 

We have held a few White Elephant exchanges and here are some of the words used in the invite. 

“Bring a white elephant (an onerous, obnoxious gift) you can spare,

and we’ll trade your Sh*t with someone who may care.

 One man’s trash, is another man’s treasure,  

the bigger the laugh, the greater the pleasure.

 So bring a gift, no need to spend a dime,

if it’s useful or pretty, you’ve committed a crime.”

The fun in a White Elephant exchange is not only in receiving and trading the gifts, but also in hunting down and selecting the gift. 

In addition, if you really want to liven up the party consider requesting your guests go “green” and wear a tacky sweater they have hidden away in their closet.  You know the ones you didn’t throw out because someone knitted it for you. The tackier, the more hideous, the better! Nothing says cheer and glee than Snowmen, Santas and bells made out of yarn, sequins and applique, especially if they outshine the Christmas tree!

Have fun!  And let me know any suggestions for a White Elephant gift you have? 

I have included some ideas for your White Elephant gifts to make the exchange fun and so you won’t feel flummoxed when it comes to finding a random, but ever-so-thoughtful gift for your next exchange. 

• A package of batteries, with a note attached that reads, “Toy not included.” (Pretty clever, and still useful!)
• Long Live the King.  Anything Elvis.  An Elvis Stocking that plays Blue Christmas, Elvis Stacking cups, Elvis ornaments.
• Reindeer Poop.  Place malted milk ball candies (such as Whoppers) in a plastic baggy and attach this poem,  “I was too lazy so here’s the scoop, the gift you’ve won is reindeer poop!”
• Peruse the drug store aisles for usual items, like ear wax removal drops, or mustache bleach. These bizarre gifts are funny, and maybe even something your guest need but don’t want to admit it!
• Paul Frank Flannel Pajama set (that cute Monkey) at Target  $24.99
• A Big Foot Holiday ornament (or something similarly outrageous)
• Silk boxers with funny designs
• 36 Count Package of Toilet Paper It will most likely be the largest gift at the exchange, & something everyone could use.  (Make it the double rolls and give away 72 rolls of TP)
• “I Love Lucy” puzzle, or the “Brady Bunch” Game or a Star trek or Battlestar Galactic Calendar. 
• A broken ceramic holiday knick knack and a tube of superglue.  Even if the broken piece is missing, the glue is still useful! (Or break off the handle on a ceramic coffee mug and include it with the glue and the handle.)
• Cookie Decorating Kit (Cookies and icing included)
• Graphic T-shirts from the local Thrift Shop.
• A neck massager, candles, bubble bath and a bottle of sparkling wine.
• The Office Overtime Digital shorts Collection DVD (Everybody needs a pressure-valve release after a long day at the office and these “not seen on TV” video shorts will do the trick!  $15
• Hand mold kit.  (Especially if the party includes couples with children.)
• A live fish.  (Don’t forget to include a bowl and fish food.)
• Fruitcake (You’ve heard about the Fruitcake that gets wrapped up each year and the same one shows up over and over.)
• Striped socks with toes
• Magic tricks
• Chia Pet Plants, The Clapper,
• An armadillo beer can holder
• S’Mores & Hot Cocoa. A bag of marshmallows, chocolate bars, instant cocoa and a box of graham crackers.
• Pogo stick or Hoola Hoops
• Shake Weights

Please post what gifts you have received?  or the ones you have given that have gotten a good laugh?  Let me know so I plan for my next exchange!  Happy Gift Giving!

My Random Thoughts and learning for this week:

• Why is it the stores yank the Halloween merchandise off the shelves and replace it with Christmas?  Hello, there’s a holiday in November. 
• I have been practicing my fake smile and fake laugh in front of a mirror in preparation to see extended family on Thanksgiving.  JK
• My lean obsessed neighbor has their first year hosting Thanksgiving and they can’t find a recipe to cook a turkey on a Foreman grill. 
• My daughter should check the mirror after smelling her candle, because she went outside to meet her friends with a black nose.
• There’s a family that has been running around our neighborhood in big red suits in preparation for our  Santa Run.
• Preparing for all the laughter, drinking, and good times with the family. Let the family craziness begin.
• Family Guy has got to be the funniest parody of life ever.
• Paula Deen family snack before Thanksgiving,   breadsticks rolled in bacon.
• Thanksgiving is about being thankful, like the time when a certain family member who made their first turkey for everyone and it was incredibly dry, but everyone at the table pretended not to notice. 
• It always seems to disgust me, whenever I pull that moist bag of vital organs from the turkey.
• Americans enjoy their Thanksgiving tradition of waiting in airports. 
• Wild Turkey- a little whiskey for the stuffing or for the chef?
• An ultimate optimist is the person who starts a diet on Thanksgiving Day!
• The most frequently searched word on the internet today….sweet potatoes.
• National turkeys flee California for a red state.
• Folks, Turkey-tastrophy   hotline is NOT “911”.   
• The kids table is set for kids and adults nobody likes.
• Stores open at 3 AM Friday.  Don’t you just love the holidays?  Yawn. 
• Thanksgiving is about family, food, and football? In some families that order changes.
• I need to watch the Family Stone again to really appreciate my family. 
• I know I’m a family trooper when I let my guests watch “Dancing with the Stars” over The Good Wife!
• Holy Mac & Cheese, Batman! I actually made homemade mac & cheese from scratch and not from the box costing me twelve dollars more to do it! Can you say; Gruyere cheese is expensive?
• Carol Burnett on Glee. That woman is amazing.  Someone needs to get her & Betty White on a show together.
• Why is the stuffing so delicious- even though it’s cooked inside a turkey’s butt?
• Enough of the fun, is the turkey done?   
• Stores open at 3 AM Friday.  Don’t you just love the holidays?  Yawn. 

Thanksgiving Eve

I woke up this morning and thought to myself, this does not feel like the eve of Thanksgiving.  But, it is the Wednesday before the last Thursday in November and it is the day the rest of the kin arrives from out-of-town plus the Today Show confirmed that “today is the busiest travel day of the year.”  Yep, tomorrow is Thanksgiving.  

Most families have special foods that they serve on Thanksgiving, but this year we agonized over what meal to serve to the clan before the big Turkey Day meal.  Since we had relatives visiting we haven’t seen in years we ruled out takeout Chinese or Pizza Delivery.  Our culinary talents could do better.  So how about a buffet?  And do we use paper plates or the good China?  Do we save the beautiful centerpiece for the big day or use it on the “Eve”?  Placemats or tablecloth? What will we do without the football games on TV playing in the background?

We were so busy planning the Thanksgiving feast and making final preparations that the Thanksgiving Eve meal slipped past us.   No problem.  Thanksgiving eve needs its own traditions.  And today we will start them. 

For most families, Thanksgiving represents a wide range of traditions that are carried out; from the special recipes we eat once a year to backyard flag football, to the Macy’s Day parade,  to Charades or planning out your Black Friday shopping spree.   Whatever your family traditions and foods are, Thanksgiving is more about family togetherness than it is about turkey and pies. 

What I like about Thanksgiving is that is an American holiday that everyone can celebrate.  Other than the turkey and cranberry industries, nothing is being marketed in the stores.  No gifts, no candy or costumes.  It’s all about family and food and traditions.  

In our family, everyone has a role, from carving the bird, to setting the table, to making the pies, we all contribute to the meal.    Tomorrow when the great day dawns, I am reminded of the many hours of food labor, set before us but soon delicious aromas will fill every nook and cranny of our home from baked pecan pies to the twenty pound turkey basting in the oven.  From canned cranberries to jellied cranberry molds, from hams to yams, everyone has a Thanksgiving favorite food tradition. 

The cast characters change over the years- but no matter how big or small, our table always has room for family and friends.  This year our unpretentious kitchen will produce a big Thanksgiving number.  With relatives and guests from Houston, Phoenix, St Louis and Pittsburg, we will all gather for a day of eating spree and fun festivities and of course; the Dallas Cowboy’s football game.

To me, Thanksgiving is more than a big feast, it’s about homecoming and reunions with family and friends, where family traditions are performed and kin reconnect.

So whether your table is set right out of House Beautiful or whether it’s paper plates and mismatched stemware, it’s a table where your family gathers to give thanks.   I’m thankful I live in such a wonderful world with the people I love.

What are you thankful for? What are your favorite traditions?  What are your favorite foods?

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

The CPSC in cooperation with Dollar Tree announced Thursday a recall of 682,000 lanterns shaped like pumpkins, ghosts and skulls due to fire and burn hazards.

The problem is the bulb in the battery-operated lanterns can overheat, posing fire and burn hazards to consumers.

Several Dollar Stores nationwide sold the lanterns. You can return them for a full refund.

For additional information, contact Dollar Tree Stores Inc. at (800) 876-8077 (800) 876-8077      between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday, or visit the firm’s website at www.dollartree.com

Dollar Tree Recalls Halloween Lanterns

You can still find award winning quilts, pigs and pies at the State Fair this season, but based on the long lines at the concessions; the FOOD is the main attraction.   

Don’t get me wrong, I love to see the happy faces of the 4-H kids standing next to their blue-ribbon farm animals and handmade quilts, but setting aside livestock, rides and games, it’s really the food that draws most of us to the Fair.  And why shouldn’t it, there’s so much to sample!   

The Fair comes only once a year, so why not enjoy “food with no rules” for a day?   Our common senses are checked at the turnstile when we enter the fair; calories don’t count at the fair and there’s no such thing as a rip-off.    

Everyone loves the idea of a Fair, and no one more than me!   

Here’s a taste of some of the foods you can try at Fairs across the country this season:  

Funnel cakes, Corn dogs, cotton candy, caramel apples, donut bacon cheeseburger (A bacon burger wedged between two glazed Krispy Kreme donuts), kettle corn, maple bacon cupcakes,pizza, Turkey legs, patty melts, calzone, five pound gummy bear (only $25.), chicken fried bacon, spiral potatoes, fudge, ice cream, bacon and cheese mashed potato bites, frozen lemonade, Pigs in the mud (chocolate covered bacon)  Koolickles (a dill pickle marinated in Cherry Kool-Aid), meats-on-a-stick (pork chops on stick) and of course , just about every type of food DEEP FRIED; fried alligator, fried snickers, fried Oreos and Twinkies, fried butter, fried ribs,  fried cheese pizza, fried chocolate strawberry waffle balls , fried Honey Bun, fried pickles, fried cheese curds, Texas fried Frito pie, fried snickers, fried smore, fried club salad, fried Chips Ahoy cookies, fried grilled cheese, fried peanut butter & jelly sandwich , fried cheesecake, fried pies, fried cookie dough, fried peaches and cream, fried pumpkin, and even fried beer!   

What I learned in life:    

• I learned the bigger the stuffed toy prizes are, the louder the midway vendors yell.
• Pig Racing at the State Fair; Squealy Nelson beats Snoop Hoggy Hog, Hamma Montana, & Christina Hoguilera. Swines racing for oreos?  Hmmm, sounds like the midway. 
• I learned you can even get your teeth whitened in between tastings of deep fried stuff.  Check out the dental demo.
• I learned to avoid the Twilt-A-Whirl area after dinnertime unless you don’t mind schlepping through vomit.
• What the cotton candy machine malfunctioned? That could leave a very sticky situation in the hands of fair officials. he he. 
• I learned Fair food vendors do things that no chef or person in the real world would dare. 
• I learned there’s lots of shopping, and things you can really use, like – an Armadillo Beer Holder. 
• An impulse buy, at the Fair…a hot tub? Why not?  I’ll take it! Load it into my car, water and all.
• A favorite thing to do at the Fair is to go to the children’s petting zoo…even if I did almost get eaten by a giraffe this year.
• I wasn’t even that close to that giraffe.  Wow, do they have long tongues. Seriously that’s my arm.  Hey, really…quit that.  I’m not lunch.    
• I’m pretty sure that was a drive-by sliming by some random, saliva-foamed mouth of an identified animal at the petting zoo.
• I learned at the Fair, size does matter.  Miniature sized animals, like pigs, are too cute, but oversized bunnies, not so cute. 
• I learned if you’re ever feeling down about yourself, go to the state fair and look around.
• I learned that roosters can “cock-a-doodle-do” pretty much constantly, not just at dawn. 
• Fried P&J, is it a meal or a dessert? 
• Deep fried butter!  Isn’t that one of the signs of the apocalypse?
• Whoever came up with deep fried Oreos should win the Nobel Prize.  I’m just saying.
• After five different fried foods and the cholesterol coma sunk in, my feet were draggin to the next food vendor. 
• Outrageous food item at some of the State Fairs this year is a burger patty between 2 Krispy Kreme donuts.  WTF?  My arteries are clogging just thinking about it.
• Corn dog pizza, really?  Apparently this food vendor wanted to save fairgoers the trouble of having to choose between pizza and corn dogs.

Corndog Pizza

• Speaking of food – butter anyone?  Every year, someone does a giant sculpture out of butter.  Where’s the giant popcorn sculpture? 
• I learned the Fair is not for the faint of heart.
• I learned I am getting too old when some of the fair rides feel like mild forms of torture.   
• Stuffing yourself with pizza and fried foods and then riding the rides is not an ideal combination. 
• Step right up and get your fried foods right here. Greasy, artery-clogging fun for all.
• Does Crisco sponsor the State Fairs?
• Hey, did I mention the fried Oreos are the bomb? 
• If you’re headed to the State fair, drink a Crisco smoothie to prep your innards. 
• Hello ginormous turkey leg and random fried foods! After eating everything, I need to go on a holistic retreat to purge.
• I learned people will wait in line for hours to be spun around and dangled upside down.
• I learned people will easily drop a C-note on various games involving darts, rings and softballs, in order to win a 5 dollar prize.
• Dad with eyes rolled up in his head, “7 hours at the State Fair, what have I done to deserve this?”
• You know you’re getting old when all your favorite bands are reduced to playing at the State Fair in 20 years.
• Pickles & funnel cake?  Enough said?
• I am like a binge-eater-let- loose-at-the-Texas-State-Fair-after-a- Paula-Deen-marathon.
• What there’s no Deep Fried Sloppy Joes? 
• Just watching the ride that looks like a whirling giant octopus being electrocuted while clutching its victims, um, I mean riders, makes me nauseous. 
• How far will they go with the stick-impaled snacks? Camel on a Stick in Minn? Huh? 
• The Texas State Fair isn’t the only place with some weirdo fried goods that will blow your arteries away.  Wisconsin has fried cream cheese and bacon.  Mmmmm.
• Someone call 911 for these guys in line for the donut burger.  Next booth, open heart surgery.   
  

  Krispy Creme Donut Burger. Hold the mayo, I'm dieting.

• And this donut burger; what genius looked at a burger and thought, “You know what this is missing? Krispy Kremes donuts?” 
• So how do they top this year’s Fair foods? 

PS I really do love the art and livestock too!  

Head to your State Fair and enjoy a tradition, and don’t forget to try some deep fried foods that shouldn’t be fried.   Whatever state you live in, the Fair is sure to offer the sweetest, chewiest, gooiest, creamiest, messiest, crispiest, crunchiest, greasiest, saltiest, most awful for you, and yet irresistible foods!   Enjoy the Fair this season!  

What’s your favorite food at the Fair?  What’s your favorite thing to do at the Fair?  What other foods shouldn’t be fried?     

Fixin to Eat Fried Beer

Fried Beer is Disgusting

Fried Peaches and Cream ...Wonderful!

Fried Grilled Cheese with a side of fried Club Salad

Deep Fried Butter Stand from Indiana State Fair

The tamest ride at the Texas State Fair, The Ginormous Ferris Wheel!

Howdy Folks, I'm Big Tex wearing size 70 boots & a 75-gallon hat!

Autumn reminds me of Goldie Locks eating porridge at the Three Bears house.   Summer is too hot.  Winter is too cold and gray.  But autumn is just right; I could eat it all up! 

The long, lazy hazy days of summer draw to a close and make way for the cool, crisp autumn air and the sunshiny days.   And I love it!  The arrival of fall conjures up so many warm and cozy feelings for me.   What do you like most about the fall season?

I love the autumnal aromas of pumpkin, roasted chestnuts, baked apples, cinnamon and spice and at night hints of woodsy, smoky smells from bonfires floating in the open windows. 

I love how the landscape of green trees and countryside change to vibrant yellows, oranges and ambers.

I love how the early morning sounds of the high school marching band practicing and the train horn whistling travel for miles. 

I love The State Fair, corn dogs, Hay rides, pumpkin patches, Friday Night high school football, ice hockey and volleyball.

I love the tastes of autumn and eating ourselves silly; apple pies, turkey, squash with buttered brown sugar, chili and corn bread, caramel apples, hot cocoa with marshmallows, smores and monster themed cereals like booberry and count chocula. 

I love autumn and busting out my sweaters and boots. 

I love how by just stepping on one crunchy leaf this time of year can conjure up childhood memories of raking leaves into huge piles and jumping into them feeling the crisp maple and oak leaves bustling all around us. 

What do you like the most about the fall season?    What’s your favorite thing to do in autumn?

Here’s what I learned in Life and other random moments and thoughts:

• Every time I take a sip of my Starbucks pumpkin spiced latte, I am taken back to many years of autumns. Time machine-in-a-cup!
• A mom yelling, “Point! Point!” at the top her lungs at her son’s hockey game is trying to shout an offensive play for him to shoot the puck to the defenseman at the point.   A mom yelling, “Point! Point!” at the top of her lungs at her daughter’s volleyball game is trying to tell the girls keeping score that they missed a point on the scoreboard because they were chatting. 
• CPSC has recalled 10 million Fisher Price toy gym sets because of a choking hazard.  How big are these kids anyway?  
• The ONE thing I hate about Autumn. . . . . . Daddy Long Legs. Yuk.
• Skin crawling news, bedbugs attacking hotels and stinkbugs attacking the Midwest.  Double Yuk! 
• Bedbug registry?  Really?  You can call ahead to make sure your hotel doesn’t have any bedbugs registered.   
• That gives all new meaning to the bedtime rhyme, “Good night, sleep tight,
  Don’t let the bedbugs bite.  And if they do, Then take your shoe, and knock ‘em ‘til   They’re black and blue!” 
• This time of year my summer clothes are replaced in my overflowing closet with fall clothes.   Honey, don’t make me choose between you and my boots. 
• Other reasons to love autumn, men in flannel.
• Tough choices to make last week on the Fall lineup; Sheldon’s first date on Big Bang Theory or Betty White on Community.  Hmmmm.  
• S#*! My dad says, for heaven sakes, just shut up.  If you have nothing funny to say, what’s the point?
• I learned that the teenager new term for dating is, “We’re talking”.
• The economy is so bad Jimmy Choo is shopping at Payless.
• I learned it is not so comforting, when my seatmate, an elderly lady crosses herself when our plane takes a sudden drop.
• I learned I should look at the elevator floor buttons BEFORE the door shuts.  I got in an empty elevator to go downstairs from the 27^th floor and all the buttons were pushed going down.
• I learned the Ihop cheesecake pancake breakfast is a total calorie explosion.  Anytime you use the word “cake” twice in a breakfast food you know it cannot be good for you!
• Teen breaking up with your girlfriend the night before Homecoming dance by texting her is not cool, especially if the girlfriend doesn’t have a text messaging plan, paying .20 to get dumped.
• Never jump into a pile of leaves with a wet sucker. ~ Linus

What do you like the most about the fall season?    What’s your favorite thing to do in autumn?

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with Fisher-Price recalled several toys named below. Consumers should stop using the recalled products with inflatable balls due to choking hazard.  About 2.8 million were sold in the US. 

CPSC and Fisher-Price are aware of 46 reports of incidents where the valve came off in the US and eight incidents were reported in Canada. These include 14 reports of the valve found in a child’s mouth and three reports of a child beginning to choke. No injuries have been reported.

Name of Recalled Products: Baby Playzone™ Crawl & Cruise Playground™, Baby Playzone™ Crawl & Slide Arcade™, Baby Gymtastics™ Play Wall, Ocean Wonders™ Kick & Crawl™ Aquarium (C3068 and H8094), 1-2-3 Tetherball™, Bat & Score Goal™

 CPSC & Fisher-Price Recalls Healthy Care, Easy Clean and Close to Me High Chairs Due to Laceration Hazard

About 950,000 Healthy Care, Easy Clean and Close to Me High Chairs sold in the U.S. and 125,000 in Canada have been recalled because children can fall on or against the pegs on the rear legs of the high chair resulting in injuries or lacerations. The pegs are used for high chair tray storage.

CPSC and Fisher-Price are aware of 14 reports of incidents, including seven reports of children requiring stitches and one tooth injury. One of these incidents was reported in Canada.

Consumers should stop using these products immediately and contact Fisher-Price for instructions and a free repair kit.  For additional information, contact Fisher-Price at (800) 432-5437

Fisher Price High Chair

Ocean Wonders Kick & Crawl

Baat & Score Goal

Baby Playzone Crawl and Cruise Playground

1-2-3 Tetherball

Baby-Gymtastics-Play-Wall

Baby-Playzone-Crawl-Slide-Arcade

It felt like a thousand degrees outside.  Thank god, I was already 4.6 miles into my 5 mile run. I was almost at my goal.  My body glistened from head to toe in sweat, my side had a stitch, my left knee ached – but the focused person that I am, I kept going. 

Despite the pain, I couldn’t believe the incredible pace I was running.   I turned the corner knowing the finish line was near.  I picked up my pace.  This could be my PB (personal best). 

Springsteen’s “Born to Run” was blaring on my Nike connected iPod and was briefly interrupted by a voice that said in my ear, “… point four miles until your goal”.   I was on a runner’s high, pure euphoria and nothing could stop me.  I focused on my steps on the gray pavement. 

I clomped forward in the bright Texas morning.    I was nearing a turn off from the street and onto an alley lined parkway ahead.  Each alley was surrounded by eight foot wood fences that led to the backyards of my neighbor’s houses. I looked over now and then and saw the backs of my neighbor’s houses whizzing by.  But for one second I looked up and caught a glimpse of it,  almost too late; a silhouette of a five foot tree that was dangling out from the back of the boring alley.   

But wait.  Halt.  I put on the sneaker brakes.   “Was that a Gardenia tree?”  Could that lush waxy green pint size tree be sprinkled with fragrant white gardenia blossoms?  Without hesitation, and forgetting to pause my iPod, I backed up and approached the large bushy tree and stuck my nose right into the white fragrant flower and its magnificent aroma filled my nostrils.  “Ahhhh, yes, gardenias.” 

Over the years I had stumbled upon dead frogs, smashed snakes, the smell left behind from a wayward skunk, dozens of rabbits and once shared my path with a coyote.   It never fazed me.  I kept on running, like the energizer bunny. I kept right on going and going.   So why stop now?  For a flowery bush? 

“This smells so gooood!” I said out loud, still bent over sniffing the sweet flowers swallowing their smell and feeling much happier than I had been all morning and forgetting for the moment the pains afflicting my runner’s body.

I had always loved the smell of gardenias.  I had even tried growing a Gardenia bush or two over the years.   My black, clay soil and my black thumb prevented them from surviving.  I learned that not too many temperamental Gardenia bushes survived the hot Texas sun.  

I pondered for a few more moments and then returned to my run.  I wouldn’t make my PB that morning. I stopped just long enough to raise my overall time and since I did not pause my timer on my iPod, my overall pace was higher as well, but I’m glad I stopped to smell that Gardenia bush.  Finishing my run, I silently laughed to myself.   “Had I just acted out a real life cliché?” 

We all know the old cliché; “Take time to stop to smell the roses.”  It reminds us to take time to appreciate the situation you’re in or to slow down and pay attention to what’s going on around you.  Do you forget to, “stop and smell the gardenias”?  Are you too busy to enjoy life?

Have you ever had an experience in your life where you just took a few moments to truly appreciate what life is all about? 

Some unknown author once said, “If I had my life to live over, I would have talked less and listened more.

I would have invited friends over for dinner even if the carpet was stained and the sofa faded. 

I would have eaten popcorn in the “good” living room and worried less about the dirt when you lit the fireplace. 

I would have taken the time to listen to my grandfather ramble about his youth.

I would have sat cross legged on the grass with my children and never worried about stains.

I would have cried and laugh less while watching TV… and more while watching life.

I would have gone to bed when I was sick instead of pretending the earth would go into a holding pattern if I weren’t there for a day.

I would never have bought anything just because it was practical, wouldn’t show dirt, or was guaranteed to last a lifetime.

When my child kissed me impetuously, I would never have said, ‘Later. Now go get washed up for dinner.’

There would have been more I-love-you’s, more I’m listening’s.  But mostly, given another shot of life, I would seize every minute of it.  Look at it and really see it. Try it on, live it, exhaust it, and never give that minute back until there was nothing left of it. “

Frequently, I am now known to take a detour from my normal running route in order to run by a particular alley.  I always look forward to turning the corner and seeing the waxy green leaves sprinkled like snow with white blossoms spilling into the alley.

I stop to smell the sweet and refreshing gardenias.  And I hope others see this jogger pausing for a moment to enjoy what life has to offer.  You should too.  We’re only here for a short visit. Don’t hurry. Don’t worry. And be sure to stop and smell the flowers along the way.

Have you ever had an experience in your life where you just took a few moments to truly appreciate what life is all about?  Let me hear from you.  

Step2 Transportation Station Toys were recalled due to choking hazards. 

The Land of Nod Vegetable Toys were recalled Due to Laceration Hazard

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firms named above announced a voluntary recall of their two products.

The Land of Nod “Play With Your Veggies” toys were recalled because the metal wire in the toy asparagus can become exposed, posing a laceration hazard to children.  The firm had received a report of an exposed wire in the asparagus. No injuries have been reported.  The recall involved The Land of Nod toy vegetables sets made of felt wool. The toy set has six vegetables: radish, onion, asparagus, tomato, lettuce and carrot. The asparagus is the only toy vegetable involved in this recall.  The toys were sold at the Land of Nod stores in Illinois and Washington, the Land of Nod catalog and www.landofnod.com from October 2007 through February 2010 for about $25. 

For additional information, contact The Land of Nod at (800) 933-9904 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 

Step2 Recalls Children’s Transportation Station Toys Due to Choking Hazard

The Step2 Company’s Sand & Water Transportation Station Toys (about 56,000 units in US and 7,700 in Canada) were recalled because the light blue plastic wheels on the train cars can detach, posing a choking hazard to young children.

The Sand & Water Transportation Station is a standalone play station for children ages two and up. The toy station consists of: a round blue plastic table, including train tracks, train cars in blue, red and yellow, toy sailboats and a hand rake/shovel. A red Step2 logo decal is on the side of the table. Train cars with grey wheels are not included in this recall.

The toy was sold at Target and other major retailers, specialty stores and by online retailers from December 2008 through June 2010 for between $49 and $59.  For additional information, contact Step2 at (800) 347-8372 

Summer’s almost over. School is back. Sports are back. Waking up early is back.

I hope you enjoyed the summer break and you are looking forward to fall.  I love the fall. I love the cooler mornings, pumpkin spiced lattes, Boo Berry and Count Chocula, carving pumpkins and the new season of my favorite shows, hmmm Dexter. I love fall sports. I live to watch football; of course, I’m from Texas. We loooove our Friday Night Football. And yes, I’m one of the few Dallas Cowboys fans that’s actually from Dallas. I also enjoy watching our son and our billet son’s hockey games and watching our daughter’s volleyball games.

Most parents are glad school is back, but if you’re not one of them, remember only 39 more weeks until summer break. 

This week’s blog is once again dedicated to my random thoughts about school, student driving, sports and what I learned in LIFE.

Enjoy!

What do you love about fall? What’s your favorite school story? What’s your favorite sports or fall pastimes?

• I learned that in one week, “I’m bored, mom” had been replaced with, “I hate school”.
• My neighbor said her kindergartener came home from her first day of school and she asked her, “What did you learn today?” Her daughter replied, “I guess not enough because I have to go back tomorrow.”
• Fall is here and once again I’m a total hockey and volleyball mom cheeraholic.
• Hey, big guy two bleachers behind me, stop dissing on number 12! I’m a total rageaholic when you mess with my kids.
• A big week in our household; our daughter just got her driver’s permit; watch out world!
•  I learned that when my best friend survived teaching her daughter to drive and my schadenfreude was on low, I agreed to save the $600 and teach our daughter to drive.
• The pragmatist in me says, we’ll never teach her to drive defensively in six months, while the narcissist in me says she’s the next Danica Patrick.
• I learned I am the wrong person to teach driving since I suffer from lead-foot syndrome.
•  We learned to set beginner driving rules. No radio. No cell. No “permit” driving in school zones. No applying mascara. No permit driving in the rain or at dark, or when the stars and moon are both aligned with ……
• No student driving in rush hour. The morning rush hour here is from 6 to 10. The evening rush hour is from 3 to 7. Friday’s rush hour starts Thursday morning.

• I learned that shouting “You Nincompoop!” doesn’t get the same respect as other choice words.
• I learned our kids never really learn to swear until they learn to drive.
• I learned with 3 female drivers now in our family, we may want to change our personalized plates to PMS24-7.

• No, the difference between a flashing red traffic light and a flashing yellow traffic light is not just the color.
• And if you actually stop at a yellow light in Texas, you will be rear-ended, cussed out and possibly shot.
• Um, tell me again why we didn’t send her to driver’s school? Next time; traffic school.
• I learn that having a daughter old enough to drive makes me want to run to the liquor store and pray I get carded.
• I learned that with school here again, I miss the simple days when my kids were younger and all we had to do was figure out what Scholastic Books we wanted to order each week.

What do you love about fall? What’s your favorite school story? What’s your favorite sports or fall pastimes? Do you a driving story experience to comment about? Have a great week!

Have you ever been cruising along writing and then “bang” you hit a wall, you get stuck on a metaphor? Or maybe you should have used a simile? You think and think, but they all sound so cliché.  But you do know that YOU ARE stuck.  You just can’t find the exact phrase for your paragraph and you are about ready to throw in the towel.   However, don’t bite the bullet, yet.  You still have another hour of writing left today.  Oh well, try not to rack your brains over it.  

Where did all these phrases come from anyway?   Come to think of it, where did the phrase “rack your brains” come from?  Evidently, the origin of this expression came from a medieval instrument called a “rack”.   It was used to torture prisoners by placing the victim’s hands and legs in a rack type apparatus and then the person was stretched over rollers slowing dislocating and tearing the limbs from the body.  This gruesome torture is compared to “racking” your brain when you are trying to detach your ideas, words or a memory from your brain and it’s torture to do so. 

Do you get writers block, while torturing your brain for the perfect words that fit your scene to a tee?  All writers do.   Don’t get hung up on semantics, you have to keep writing.  It’s just a draft.  Move on. 

The best way to get off the dime is to skip the perfectionism and move on by the seat of your pants.  Remember that getting in your word count is the goal, and getting it down on paper is more important.  The perfect phrase can come later; besides many phrases have lost most of their impact because of overuse.  So don’t be lazy and fill in with a trite simile.  Be more off the cuff and stick to your guns when it comes to your writing goals.   Move on without the perfect phrase. 

Besides if you push the envelope, that perfect phrase will be there later or maybe it’s not needed in the scene after all.  You get the gist of it.  

Here are some a few of my favorite phrases or words translated:

• Synonym- a word you use when you can’t spell the other one.
• Syntax- a way in which you pay for your misdemeanors.
• A brief- Why do lawyers write a 10,000 word document and call it a “brief”?
• Parasites- What you see from the top of the Eiffel Tower.
• Pharmacist- No, it is NOT a helper on a farm.
• Polarize- No, it’s NOT what penguins see with.
• Toad- What happened to an illegally parked frog. 
• Vacuum Cleaner-  A broom with a stomach.
• A writer is somebody for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people. -Thomas Mann

What are your favorite clichés and quotes?  Have you heard any new “go to” phrases? 

As children across the country start school, we as parents need to remember one very basic safety rule:  if your child rides a bike they need to wear a helmet.  Their brains will thank you. 

As parents, we’re not idiots.  All parents worry about their kids’ health and safety. We protect our children with cupboard latches, electrical plug covers and car seats, but when it comes to our kid’s recreational activities we relax the overprotective paranoia and give in.  I know.  I do it too.  I see kids riding bikes and skateboarding through my neighborhood streets without helmets. My neighbor’s give-in too. 

And yet, sports and recreation accidents, such as bicycling, skating and skateboarding account for 10% of all head traumas.  Of these head injuries 88% of that could be eliminated if helmets were worn.  Then why do only 8% of all riders wear helmets?

In some states, like mine, it’s mandatory to wear helmets while riding bikes, but not for skateboarding or skating, or even motorcycle riders do not need helmets.  Really?   Riders, you gotta wear helmets! Parents, you gotta get your kids to wear helmets!  Not encasing your head in this protective layer when you’re moving on anything except your own two feet is just stupid.  Plain stoopid.  Helmets protect the head from injury.  Think of jello in a jar shaken up.  That’s what happens to your brain if your head hits the pavement hard.

Why do parents let their kids ride their bikes or skateboards without helmets?  We parents give in when our children complain that their helmet messes up their hair, or that their helmet makes them too hot, or it’s not “cool” to wear a helmet.  My kids have also pleaded with me saying, “mom, we won’t fall off our bike.”  And for the most part they do not.  “But,” I remind them, “we always wear seatbelts in the car, and we’ve never had an accident.” 

Maybe we need to be reminded ourselves on what can happen to their brain when it’s not protected should they fall.  Demonstrate to your kids how a helmet can protect their precious brain by dropping an egg into a styrofoam lined box.   Then drop the egg on the pavement.  Point made.  The helmet cushions their head. 

My kids ride bikes, skateboard and play hockey.  When I see them, they are wearing helmets.  However, I was horrified by a youtube video I saw of my teenage son preforming skateboarding tricks sans a helmet.   If your stomach can handle it, check out the first few seconds of the attached skateboarding video where my son flew over a staircase and landed smack-dab on his back and conked his head!  Turn up the sound and you can actually hear the “thud” of his noggin hitting pavement.  Not cool.  He is a poster child for why kids SHOULD wear helmets and the motivation for this blog.  And yes, he has since been reprimanded (so no hate emails please) and he does get up and walk away.  He is reminded over and over to wear a helmet.  He wears it while ice skating and we now pray he wears it skateboarding, even when we’re not looking. 

Kids wear helmets!  Your parents are not being overprotective paranoia freaks; it’s just one less thing for us to worry about.

Do you have your kids wear helmets?  Is it a law in your state? 

 I was horrified by this youtube video I saw of my teenage son preforming skateboarding tricks sans a helmet.

“An estimated 500,000 persons per year in the United States sustain a brain or spinal cord injury. In fact, injury is the leading cause of death among children and teens. The most frequent causes of these injuries are motor vehicle crashes, violence, falls, sports and recreation. The good news is that most injuries are preventable!” ThinkFirst

Go to the ThinkFirst National Injury Prevention Foundation’s web site to learn more about programs aimed at helping people learn to reduce their risk for injury.  www.thinkfirst.org

CPSC in cooperation with Circus World Displays has asked consumers to stop using the Levana Wireless video baby monitors.  The wiring in the baby monitor camera can overheat and emit smoke, posing a burn hazard to consumers.  There have been several reports of the camera portion of the monitors overheating and smoking. No injuries have been reported.

This recall involves Levana wireless baby monitors with model number LV-TW300. The receiver front is white and green with six round buttons and the printed word “Levana”. It is 7 inches tall and includes a stand/base. The camera is all white, about 5 inches tall and is attached to a 3 1/2 inch long white base. The camera can rotate and swivel in various directions. The camera and receiver each has its own A/C adapter.

The product is manufactured in China and sold at BB Buggy & Health and Safety stores nationwide and on the Internet between February 2010 and May 2010 for about $200.

Consumers should immediately stop using and return the baby monitor directly to CWD for a refund or replacement with a different model. For additional information, contact Circus World Displays toll-free at (866) 946-7828