Sensory recall

Isn't it funny how a smell or a color or another bit of sensory input can transport us back to an earlier place and time?

I might have mentioned that our air conditioner is on the fritz. As in completely kaput and in need of replacement. It's been that way for a couple of weeks. Thankfully, relief in the form of a new unit is on its way later this week. Until then, however, we're rocking the open windows and fans -- ceiling fans, box fans, oscillating fans.

With temps in the 90s and humidity high, the sensation of hot, muggy air takes me back to my grandparents' house when I was growing up. Grandma and Grandpa didn't have air conditioning, so summer days and nights were spent with the windows open and fans blowing.

The adults would often head to the covered back porch to sit and visit. My favorite place to retreat to was my Aunt Molly's room. It was at the end of the hall, just past the holy water font and the bathroom with the peachy pink tile. Molly's room was painted lavender and had two or three rectangular windows positioned on the wall facing the backyard. The windows tilted outward, meaning any breeze would have to maneuver its way underneath the open panes before it could reach me.

I would lie down on the bed -- it was always made -- with the lights off. The gray box fan on the floor would be aimed toward me. I would lie perfectly still, avoiding any movement so as not to generate more body heat, and listen to the grown ups' conversation on the back porch just outside the window.

There was something peaceful about that hot, muggy quiet. The hum of the fan. The chatter of the outside world -- people talking, screen doors slamming shut, leaves rustling with the occasional breeze. The stillness of my own body.

It's a happy memory for me, a memory that is a silver lining 30 years later, when I'm sitting in my own house, wishing for air conditioning. 

In memory

Today is Memorial Day in the United States. A day to remember with gratitude the sacrifices of those who serve our country, especially those who made the ultimate sacrifice. Looking for something to do today? Go to a cemetery and place flags or flowers on the graves of soldiers. Pick up the tab for a military family you see at a local restaurant. Pray for the safety of those currently on duty in our military. Read this post, then watch the movie "Taking Chance," and be humbled and grateful.

If you saw this

If you saw this:

what would come to your mind? Would it be this:

If you saw this:

how could you not smile?

If you read this:

would you be surprised to see it on this:

If you saw this:



will you still be my friend?

At least he wasn't naked

We had our carpets cleaned yesterday. Because we're still waiting to get our A/C replaced, the carpet cleaners said it would take 24-48 hours for them to dry. We had furniture piled in the kitchen, the front hall and the bathrooms. We decided to pack up and spend the night in a hotel.

I told the kids to pack the field day clothes they would need for school today. Navy blue shirt for Charlie, light blue for Annie, yellow for Robbie -- the colors assigned by their grade levels. They were so excited for a mini-adventure, they all ran upstairs to pack. Even Robbie packed his own bag.

This is where your Spidey senses should be wigging out, as in "check the bag! check the bag!" Unfortunately, my sensors must have been turned off.

When we woke up in the hotel this morning -- everyone should have made-to-order breakfast before work/school, I pulled out Robbie's clothes to find that he must have pulled his yellow t-shirt out of the dirty clothes. There was not a whole lot I could do about it; I didn't have anything else for him to wear. So I (unsuccessfully) tried to scrub the dirty shoulder clean with a washcloth.

After I dropped them off at school, I stopped in the parking lot to e-mail is teacher:

Subject: I can explain...

Why Robbie looks like he's been shot in the shoulder and bled chocolate milk.

Short story: He picked out his own clothes (apparently from the dirty clothes bin) and I didn't check it until it was too late.

Long story: Wet/drying carpets (had them cleaned) and no A/C, so we decided to head to a hotel. INSERT ABOVE EXPLANATION. When it was time to get up this a.m., I discovered the chocolate milk massacre. I contemplated stopping at WalMart for a new yellow shirt, but I decided in a few hours the look would be the same.

About mid-morning, I logged into my e-mail and realized I'd missed a few messages from the night before. Including one from the teacher that said:


Field day dress: Green shirt

Wonderful! Not only did he go to school in a dirty t-shirt, but also in the wrong color. I'm so not winning Mother-of-the-Year this year. I replied with the same sentiment to the teacher who said "I was laughing at your earlier e-mail and I wasn't about to tell you 'green.'"

Have I mentioned I love this teacher?!

I snapped this picture of Robbie after school today. All that mess on the sleeve? Yep. It was there this morning. Luckily for both of us, he didn't seem to mind.

Stop him before he organizes again.

My husband needs a job. I am afraid of what will happen if he continues to spend the majority of his waking hours in our house.

It started with the brown bins. You know, the art deco-ish kind they sell at Target to make you think that THIS time you really are going to get your stuff together?

I think he said that the bins were for school, bills and mail. Or maybe they were for mail, bills and coupons? I can't remember. Right now in their dust-gathering spot on the dining room table, they are for random papers, newspapers and impossibly old school papers. (Don't ask me where the bills are.)

Then there were the big laundry tubs. 5 of them -- one for each member of the family. 4 blue and 1 pink, for Annie because she's a girl. Apparently Mike forgot that I possess a set of ovaries as well. Anyway, I was skeptical of the laundry bins because they are round. Who folds round clothes?

The kids weren't as skeptical as I was about the new laundry tubs. In fact, they love them:

I will admit that the tubs are handy for moving laundry in and out of the laundry room. So it wasn't all for naught, but they aren't working out exactly as Mike envisioned. (Three of them are sitting in the entryway as I type.)

But today, he moved from container cravings to higher realms. Higher as in he bought plastic bed risers to put under the frame of our bed. I went upstairs and felt like I'd fallen into the Princess and Pea fairy tale. Keep in mind that I am only 5'3" on a day when I'm standing up very straight. This new uplifting experience has raised the top of our mattress to about 31 inches. My bed is almost half as tall as I am. And the poor dog -- she can't jump on the top of the mattress anymore. She gets hung up on the edge and just gives you a look like "Hey, can a dog get some help here?"

When I asked him what had motivated him to put our bed on stilts, he didn't hear me at first. He was too busy looking at books on feng shui on Amazon.com, heaven help me. Once I finally got his attention, he said he did it so we can store stuff under the bed.

"Store stuff?" I asked. "We already store stuff under the bed -- dust bunnies, escaped fruit snack wrappers, fugitive socks and an eclectic assortment of Littlest Pet Shop toys and Legos."

Mike failed to see the humor or the logic in this.

"No, really," he went on. "See, I got these baskets to slide under the bed to store stuff." 

Again with the baskets?! But I hold my tongue because my dearly departed mother-in-law was famous for using laundry baskets as a haphazard filing and storage "system" and I think the mourning period is still in effect. Instead, I asked Mike what "stuff" he had in mind for the baskets. 

"The stuff that we have all over. The stuff in the closets."

"You mean the stuff we should just give away and be rid of?"

His body language conceded defeat on that one. But then he came in with the save -- "For shoes! We can store our shoes in the baskets under the bed."

Again, because I'm trying not to be too disagreeable I offered up an "ok," not mentioning that if we cleaned out the closets, there would be plenty of room in there for the shoes. 

I did ask what the acceptable weight load for these plastic risers is. He said something about using 6 risers instead of 4 so it will be fine. I'm thinking we might want to sleep in shifts, just in case. We are not the smallest people, after all.

I can only imagine what he's got planned for tomorrow, and I am afraid.

Playing catch up

Hey strangers! Sorry to be MIA over the weekend (not that anyone noticed). Yesterday was nonstop and today I had trouble getting going. Of course, now that it's 11:34pm, I'm awake and trying to catch up on some loose ends here.

The first order of business tonight is the Eversave/Red Mango giveaway. There weren't too many entries for this giveaway. Of the 5 commenters, only 3 were local. So I used Random.org to come up with Kristin as the winner of the Red Mango Save and an additional $5 in Save credit.

However, I didn't want Michele from GotchaBaby or Ms. Dawn to go away empty-handed. One of the things I love about Eversave is their referral credits. I've got quite a few racked up, so I used some of my referral credits to buy the Red Mango Save for Michele and Dawn as a gift from me. If all three of you will send me the e-mail address you use for Eversave.com, I'll make sure you get your prizes. (My e-mail is 4thfrog70 (at) gmail (dot) com.)

Speaking of saving money, yesterday I hosted a couponing class taught by my friend Cherie, aka the Queen of Free. We had 12+ people there and lots of good info shared. What I liked about Cherie's approach was that she advocates "practical couponing" as opposed to "extreme couponing." She is also very ethical in her approach to making the most of the coupons provided by manufacturers and retailers. If you haven't done so yet, head over to the Cherie's site and check it out.

This is Annie's last week of classes before 8th grade graduation. Holy sands of time, Batman! How did that get here already?! The boys go until the first week of June. They won't be happy when they still have to go to school and she doesn't.

Last week, Annie was in the school's production of Into the Woods, Jr. (an age-appropriate version of the original). She played Jack & the Beanstalk's mother. I know I'm biased, but she did a great job!

Also last week, Charlie brought this sticker home from the school book fair. I have no idea why he would have chosen this one:

Given that it's almost midnight, it seems like that's a good note to end on. Hope you all have a terrific week!

I scream, you scream for FREE ice cream

It's almost summertime! And summertime means ice cream time! (Well, for me, so does fall, winter and spring, but that's not the point of this post.)

Have I ever told you how I feel about ice cream? Let me remind you -- I LOVE it. If I could only eat one food for the rest of my life, it would be ice cream.

I like the 50-cent McDonald's soft serve cone for a not-too-indulgent treat. I like Maggie Moo's dark chocolate and Cinna-Moo mixed with almonds for something special. And if I'm near a Baskin-Robbins, it's definitely the chocolate peanut butter. And I don't keep ice cream at home because that would be trouble!

In fact, the only downside to ice cream is that pesky fat and calorie thing. But it seems that new frozen yogurt shops are popping up all over the country. It's like ice cream without the guilt. All-natural, probiotic, gluten-free and kosher. Not only is it delicious, it's also very PC.

And today through Sunday, I'm hosting one delicious giveaway with Eversave.com. One lucky winner in the Indianapolis area will win a Save at Red Mango Frozen Yogurt, plus $5 in Save Rewards to use on an Eversave daily deal of their choice!

 To enter to win this yummy giveaway, do the following:

• Sign up for Eversave Indianapolis
• “Like” Eversave Indy on Facebook and/or follow Eversave Indy on Twitter
• Leave a comment here telling me what your favorite ice cream flavor or combo is.

You can earn extra entries by tweeting: “I want to win a free ice cream Save from @EversaveIND and @4thFrog”

If you don't want to wait for the giveaway, you can snag this Save for yourself. Spend just $5 for two medium, one-topping frozen yogurts from Red Mango in Broad Ripple ($10.24 value). Here's the fine print:

• Eversavers may buy 2 Saves per person and 2 additional Saves as gifts
• Customers may use one Save per visit
• Customers may add as many more toppings as they like (that fit in the cup) for just 50 cents more!
• Promotional value of the Save expires on Nov. 20, 2011

Now, don't go feeling left out if you don't live in Indianapolis. Eversave is throwing a virtual ice cream social by offering great ice cream saves in several cities across the U.S. Click the picture below to find deals near you.

Disclosure: I'm promoting this giveaway on behalf of Eversave. In exchange for participating, I earned Save Bucks. The content of this post was all written by me, myself and I. And any change to the landscape of my butt as a result of consumption of ice cream is solely my responsibility.