Calling All Carnivores

Anybody have a favorite steak marinade that they'd like to share? I'm grilling tomorrow, and I'd like to try something different . . .

Like Mother, Like Daughter

"Put that down!
It will break!
It will break!"
It broke.
Shards of glass dust tiny toes,
and the air reeks of my irritation.
I taste bitter words.
"I just get nervous," she says.
I'm cut.
She sounds so much like the worst of me.

Studies show that Obsessive Compulsive disorder has a strong genetic component. Studies scare the shit out of me.

The Gardener

Every year I plant the seeds,
and every year they grow.
I work the earth and pull the weeds
and care for what I sow.
And, when the tender shoots break through
reaching for the sun
I find I'm reaching with them . . .

(random, stolen picture)

in awe of what I've done.

******

Forgive me, I'm feeling a touch melancholy and sappy. Today is Baby Puppy's last day of school. I can't believe her first year of school has come and gone! Sure, it's just pre-kindergarten, but, still . . .

My baby.

My little sprout.

When Angels Sleep

Snuggled deep within a cloud of soft and snowy white,

the angel says her bedtime prayers, then whispers, sweet, “Goodnight.”

She gently rests her tired head upon her angel wings.

With a sigh and closing eyes, she soon begins to dream.

Her golden curls tumble down across a peaceful brow

that knows no cares or worries

and rarely wears a frown.

Her long black lashes flutter as she giggles in her sleep.

And I can’t help but sneak a kiss

upon her rosy cheek.

She snuggles closer to me.

I whisper, “Love you true.”

When angels sleep, when angels dream,

they look a lot like you.

And, the devil behavior of the day is forgotten.

The Standard Warning

Always check with your physician before starting an exercise routine.

To which I would add:

call an ambulance during your exercise routine and consult with an undertaker after!

Oh, my aching from 3 weeks of training knees!

Join The Movement!

Lately, I've been feeling like Cinderella with no Fairly Odd-Parent in sight. I'm serious, and that's the problem. Too serious. Work, work, work. Busy, busy, busy. Hell, if I even think about stopping to smell the roses, I end up pruning the bush (pervy Google search alert).

Yesterday, I read this amazing post by Kristin H. She compares her use of free time (being eternally productive, like me) to her husband's use of his free time (doing whatever he wants, like my husband). I could so relate. I bet that most women could.

I am not man-bashing, here (neither was Kristin, by the way). Not at all. I am admiring the seemingly masculine ability to take a nap and let the dishes wait. I am envying the dude skill of owning a little personal time and not squandering it doing laundry. And, I am proposing that we ladies learn to emulate these masters of relaxation.

Join the movement. Take your "me" time like a man.

Politics As Unusual

For me, anyway.

Yesterday, I was watching Meet the Press, and a strange thing happened. As I was listening to the heated debate about who was best equipped to speak softly and swing a big dick, Obama or McCain, I felt overwhelmed by exhaustion. The television voices screaming at me sounded like overamplified gibberish. I switched off the TV and took my coffee outside so I could listen to the birds chatter. The birds were making more sense.

Here's the strange part. I am a total political junkie. I actually watch Bill O'Reilly and listen to talk radio for the sheer joy of becoming incensed. I eat this stuff up. So, if I'm tuning out election coverage in self-defense, just imagine how the "normal" American public is reacting!

Perhaps, that's the real election year strategy for both political parties. Bombard the voters with bullshit until they throw up their hands in disgust and stop caring. With so many news cycles to go before November, I'm afraid that it just might work.