frazzled & frumpy

I am very punctual. So much so that I feel like I'm late if I'm not at least 5 minutes early. Luckily, the Handy Man shares this character trait. Unluckily, it isn't inborn and my children (especially the teens) are still learning. It is because of this that I have been considering NOT going to a party. See, it's almost over, and I feel like it would be better not to show up at all. But, it's an internet/blogging/linkup party, so it isn't as if the other guests will look over their dessert plates and wonder why I couldn't get there on time. Still, I am throwing my hair up and putting on lipstick and my favorite top. Larissa , the party's host, is one of the sweetest people on the planet, and I'm sure will excuse my tardiness. (If you haven't read her blog, you should. Along with being sweet, she's incredibly smart and writes like a dream.) For the party she simply asked what we've been up to.  I have not been up to blogging, if...

I grew up in the good old days. The ones where children roamed the streets all day and their parents had no idea where they were.  I played at any house with a child my age--even if my parents didn't know theirs.  I would wander home around lunchtime, if the strange mother of the house where I was playing didn't already feed me a PB&J (I'm sure kids had peanut allergies back then, but not once was I ever asked if I had one. I didn't, so it's okay.)  We played till the sun went down, then you'd hear the clarion call of the neighborhood-- "Timmy!  Sally! Jane! Come home!" One of my favorite friends was Lisa.  She lived on the corner of my street.  My sister, Ellen, and I would go down to Lisa's house.  Sometimes we would play house or modeling (my dream was to be a supermodel, so glad that one came true.), but the best game we played was 'Queen'. In this make-believe world, Lisa was the queen and we were her servants.  Why, you ma...

I'm a sucker for gifts. If you want to get on my good side, anything wrapped in shiny paper will do. Chocolates make me melt and flowers will make me positively giddy. Since I started blogging, I've found that comments have the same effect.  It's so nice to know that someone is reading and enjoying what I've written. Yesterday, I got a lovely gift, like hazelnut wrapped in chocolate ganache. It melted in my mouth and left me with  the sweetest surge of serotonin.  It was from  S. Staus whose blog Periphery has become a part of my daily routine.  Her gift was this- Liebster is a German word that means 'dearest' and it is given to up and coming bloggers with fewer than 200 readers.  I've seen it around as I've perused blogs this month, but didn't imagine someone would be so kind as to award it to me.  S. has a true knack for blogging and I was surprised to read that she's so new to this world.  She can be funny or thoughtful, and her posts al...