50-something moms post – Significant Other Sleepover

Have a college kid in a relationship? How do you handle the sleepover issue? Hop over to 50-something and let me know your thoughts on this one.

You are who you are…

… when no one is looking.

I love this message. If I had only one lesson to teach my kids in life I think this might be it. That and how to hold who that is and be that way all the time. What is harder than being true to oneself? Ok, getting a bit heady from a beer ad prompt, but hey, that is what advertising is supposed to about.

Nice work, Heineken. (no, they are not a client).

This, coupled with my family’s favorite TV spot of the year, “Let a stranger drive you home” renews my faith in standout creative. (W+ K did the TV spot, not sure on the outdoor). Go ahead, watch it even if you have seen it before. I LOVE this! Seriously, who does not love the cabbie? You have to smile when you watch this.

I thought this would be a nice way to kick off the holiday weekend. 

Now be careful out there. 

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at 50-Something Moms Blog. For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone

 :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  : 

Lawn Ornament Afterparty

I pass these three every morning on my walk. Today I felt compelled to share them with you. 

I simply love each one of them. Here is my take on the scenario:

Froggy: good chance he just did one of the bunnies. What, not what you were expecting? C’mon, look at that smug look on his face and his satiated stance. What else could have gone on here?

Bunny in the middle: Thinking this one was a witness not a participant. Seems kind of rejected or perhaps embarrassed.

Bunny on the right: Yep, this one looks pretty chipper and flirty.

What concerns me a little bit about sharing this with you all is the fact that I am starting to spill the contents of my warped mind into the blogosphere at a staggering rate. 

Oh, that and that fact that I am listed in some places as a mom blogger. Hey, nothing wrong with a little birds and bees lesson now and then. Or frogs and bunnies if you will. And the  co-mingling of species is a nice piece on tolerance. All in all I think this is a lovely little parenting post.

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at 50-Something Moms Blog. For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone

 :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  : 

To the young women on the cell phone on the train…

Did you think you were alone in that car? Were you under the impression that all of us sitting near you were deaf? More than once I have been on a train where people have aired their dirty laundry as if they were the only ones around. I have heard about family feuds, business deals gone bad, the intimate details of teen children’s social lives and marriages on the brink. But never have I heard a conversation quite like this one.

By the end of the 35 minute trip to the city I knew more about your life than I do about most of my dear friends. Because of the sheer stupidity of airing your dirty laundry on a commuter train, I will honor that by sharing some sound bytes with my readers. Hold on to your hats, kids, this chick is out there. Quotes are from her, italics are my commentary.

“So he said to me, “Tell your dad if all he cares about is his money, he can suck my dick.” 

Hmmm, good start, right?

“I mean he broke my heart and stole my money. I told him he is going to have to work really hard to win me back.”

Ummm, why do you WANT him back?

“He wants to know why we can’t just be together. It’s so sad cuz we used to have so much fun till he stole my (dad’s) credit cards.”

Wait, he stole your credit cards and you are thinking you can work things out?

“He complained that my family is just all about the money and I told him that is what Long Island is like. He’s from Brooklyn and just does not get it.”

Sweetie, I think he gets it fine. He seems pretty much about the money if he stole yours. And, correct me if I am wrong but I think there are plenty of parts of Brooklyn that are about the money. Have you ever been to the Heights?

“He gets all defensive as if I did something wrong whenever I want to talk about him paying us back. It is so weird.”

Weird? Sounds kind of psychopathic to me.

And this is my fave of all:

“I told him he needs to learn that going to school is better than stealing and dealing drugs.”

Ya think? What the hell!

I was told today that people sense my being and then they perform for me so I can blog about it. Could that actually be true? Could I be a cosmic magnet for the absurd?

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at 50-Something Moms Blog. For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone

 :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  : 

Time to Cry Tuesday-Nunley’s Ferris Wheel

Ever stumble upon a piece of your childhood and feel like your breath had been stolen? The sight of this old relic caused both Gary and I to stop in our tracks. Believe it or not, we grew up in the same town. Being way older than I – not really, but I like to say that – and having moved in his early teens, our paths did not cross until later on.

Both of us stood in front of this broken down blast from the past and realized that our very first experiences on a ferris wheel had been on this very ride. I remember exactly where it was positioned to the left of the doorway, just outside the main building that housed the carousel. And the little boats where right behind it. The thought of what was breeding in that water would make a modern day mama cringe.

Damn, that thing looked so big back then. And new(ish) for I am sure it had been around for awhile by the time I road it. 

Nunley’s was a sweet little amusement park on Long Island that seemed like a Six Flags to me when I was a kid. If you lived anywhere on the south shore in Nassau County, you knew Nunley’s. A promise to visit this magical place made everyone happy.

It was on its carousel that I first learned about trying to catch the brass ring. When you caught one your day was complete.

I suppose many are still out there trying to catch it again. 

Me? I was just happy to visit with an old friend. And share that memory with my husband. Who says you can’t go home again?

(FYI, this old baby now resides in front of Jordan’s Lobster Farms, another great south shore landmark. You might also like to know that the carousel has been restored and you can take a ride on it at Museum Row in Garden City)

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at 50-Something Moms Blog. For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone

 :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  : 

Harry Potter Landscaping

I have passed this house before and it never registered what those slates were up against the wall. If you look closely they are Harry Potter characters.

There is virtually no landscaping on this side of the house that faces the main road in a beach town, other than the lone red impatien planted by the brick wall. 

Stopped at a red light it registered what this was and this image is the result of a split second decision to take the shot before we moved. For once, I was not driving.

I wonder what drove the homeowner to paint these slates and keep them as the sole adornment on their property. 

Odd at best.

I find myself singing the Mysterious Ticking Noice video song in my head when I see this. Go ahead, what the video, there is nothing that is both more annoying or more addictive.

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at 50-Something Moms Blog. For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone

 :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  : 

Neverland Sleepaway Camp

 

Ok, for those who wondered why there was no Michael Jackson post, here it is.

We were at an outdoor seafood place by the water today and saw this guy wearing a Neverland Sleepaway Camp t-shirt. It looked worn so my guess is he has had it for quite awhile. What a perfect weekend to break it out. Note the kid and the MJ silo in the picture. 

Like many in my generation, Michael Jackson was the soundtrack of my coming of age. He was our peer. Yet while we were riding bikes and doing homework he was traveling the world and performing on our TV sets. This took its toll on him and the impact grew in ways we will never understand.

As we grew up, he grew stranger. His talent became overshadowed by his eccentricities. The adoring public turns on a dime – in life and in death. Now he is simultaneously being judged and canonized. 

Here’s to the King of Pop, may he finally rest in peace.

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at 50-Something Moms Blog. For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone

 :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  : 

Pick Your Nose

Once again, I am jealous of a product name and sorry I did not come up with it. Both the item and the category are brilliant. A little further online digging and I came up with these, which are just as clever.

Pick Your Nose Cups are hysterical. What kid would not love to drink out of one of these. And Party Animals is the perfect name for the series.

Do you think the idea for these came one drunken night when someone was drawing on all the cups at a party? For those who do not know, I went to art school. Stuff like that happened all the time. We even went through a Christo phase when we wrapped peoples’ cars while they were sleeping. I think we wrapped the trees and the front door too. I need to find those pictures.

Now you can understand why I am so envious when I see a product like this. Surely I should have come up with this idea. Although I don’t know how lucrative they were because if you will note the price tag, I found this at Home Goods and they were only $4.99. I need to be careful at these places, I was snapping away all sorts of funny pictures and I think the staff was starting to get weird about it.

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at 50-Something Moms Blog. For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone

 :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  : 

Um, did you steal that dress?

Tomorrow is graduation in my town. If you read Time to Cry Tuesday this week you saw the emotional side of Jana’s graduation 2 years ago. This post is to make you all laugh, and get a full picture of the runaway train I call my life. I thought it was time for a little levity since all my girls are a bit weepy this week – myself included. Nostalgia is contagious. It is kind of like a contact breakdown.

The picture above is the bottom of Jana’s graduation dress. Why we had to buy one is beyond me because they wear gowns, but a day or two before graduation we were frantically pulling sundresses and espadrilles off  shelves in an attempt to have the perfect outfit.

Jana walked into the cafeteria to wait with all the graduates. She was sitting at a table with her friends when someone asked, “Hey Jan, did you steal that dress?” She looked at them like they were crazy and said, “Yeh, I steal all my clothes, why?”. The answer was an honest one, “Well, I was just asking because you still have the security tag on the bottom of that dress.”

Typical! 

For some reason that spring everywhere I shopped they left the security tags on. No really. I swear I am not a kleptomaniac. A maniac, yes, but not a klepto.

The best part of this story is that we cleaned her closet this week and found the dress, security tag still fastened. I put it in the bag for the Good Will bins and drop it off this week. I hope they don’t track me down from my used clothes and try to arrest me.

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at 50-Something Moms Blog. For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone

 :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  : 

City Sliquors

Thank goodness I had my camera and we hit a red light. I must have passed this place a million times and never noticed it. Oh wait, maybe those flags are a dead give away that this is new. (sharp, right?)

This is on 21st Street in Long Island City, if you were wondering.

What a perfect name, I wish I had thought of it.

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at 50-Something Moms Blog. For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone

 :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  : 

Would you buy a used vacuum?

Jana is moving into a new apartment in August and we are busy shopping for all the domestic items we can think of. We have become involved in a bargain hunting game with her roommates and their moms. Today I found a really inexpensive vacuum at Target and was so excited about it. I know, scary that a vacuum excites me. Actually that kind of sucks. (sorry)

We were talking about it at dinner and Gary suggested that we could get a much better quality vacuum, used on Craigs List. By the looks of the Madison page for vacuums, he is not wrong.

But seriously! A used vacuum?! Doesn’t that have kind of an EW factor to it? Danny thought by buying a used one we ran the risk of purchasing a vacuum that had been used to pick up poop. Hmmmm, can you pick up poop with a vacuum? Maybe tiny poop, like mouse droppings or maybe even some kitty litter encrusted cat feces. I was thinking that in a college town vomit would be more likely. You know, the kind that hardens a bit overnight on the rug and then you sprinkle some baking soda on it and then try to vacuum it up. What? Does it sound like I have experience with this? Maybe.

We were 3 to 1 in our family, opposed to the idea of the used vacuum due to the possible ickification of it. We decided to ask friends who stopped by our table on their way out ofthe restaurant. They were split. Surprisingly he said no to used while she is a big fan of Craigs List and was in favor.

We decided the only way to settle this was to bring it to the blog for a poll. So, even if you are a lurker, please cast your vote as this is of dire importance to national security. Or maybe we are just curious.

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at 50-Something Moms Blog. For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone

 :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :  :