Leaving for Las Vegas

I’m treating my mom to a Las Vegas vacation for her 70th birthday. She’s always wanted to go and loves gambling, so we should have a grand time. We leave on a 7:00 a.m. flight tomorrow (Sunday) and get home at 12:30 a.m. early Wednesday morning. The flight times aren’t great, but this way, we get three full days.

I’m going to try to post mini-entries using Jott in order to keep my daily blog goal for December. We’ll see how that goes …

My Dog is an Addict

Several times a day, Daisy starts jonesing for the taste of blanket lint on the tongue. When she finally emerges from underneath the covers, Miss Rooty gets all happy-prancy and is good for a few hours until her next fix. I can only hope that Benson won’t succumb to the same temptations.

Mango in Poem

Even though I’m a writer, I have not written or read much poetry. However, I’m trying to open myself to the genre. A great resource is The Writer’s Almanac, a free daily electronic newsletter that features a poem along with literary and historical notes.

In the December 2 issue, I enjoyed a poem entitled “Eating a Mango Over the Kitchen Sink” by Phebe Hanson, from Why Still Dance (© Nodin Press, 2003). I know, I’m talking mangoes again! You know how sometimes you come across a word or person or thing that’s not common in your world and suddenly you find it everywhere? That’s what’s happening with mangoes for me right now. So here’s a snippet from the poem.

But a mango is a different story, impossible to eat except leaning
over the sink, tropical juice dripping down my pale Minnesota
winter wrists as I gaze
out at snow raging against my windows, like the storms of my childhood.

What’s the Point of Holiday Cards?

The holidays are incredibly busy times, especially for people with children or large families. Tradition calls for mailing out cards to show that you’re thinking of the recipients and are sending your best wishes.

However, with today’s computer automation, many cards are simply the product of an assembly line without any personalization. Purchase pre-printed cards, generate mailing labels, affix stamps, send.

I catch myself feeling like these cards are more of an obligation than a real connection. Am I expecting too much? Would I rather get nothing? Am I ranking that sender’s love by how much time was put into the card?

An attitude shift is definitely in order. As I look at each card, I will remember what I value about my relationship with the sender — why I enjoy having that person or family in my life. I will be jolted into calling or e-mailing someone that I’ve lost touch with. I will ooh at pictures of kids and pets. I will read the copied letters with curiosity over the things I didn’t know.

I’m not sure how I will extend my holiday greetings this year. I may go green and call everyone on my list, or I may run my own card assembly line. I’ll try to add personal notes if I can. But no matter what, I’ll trust that they will all know that I’m thinking of them.

Free Will

Humans are blessed with free will. We can do absolutely anything that we want to, for good, bad or otherwise. So how come we so often waste this time we have living? After reading Kurt Vonnegut’s book, Timequake, I got thinking about what it would be like to relive ten years of my life precisely the same as the first time.

I look back at periods of my life — hours, days, weeks, even years — and I don’t think I’d want to relive them. They weren’t necessarily happy, satisfying, or productive moments. They didn’t make my life or the lives of my friends and family better. They didn’t have any effect on the world.

Now, not every minute of my life has to have meaning or add value. I couldn’t handle the pressure! However, I think it’s good to be mindful of my time — to remind myself that I have free will and can be doing anything I want to. Do I need to be up at 3 a.m. watching a That 70’s Show marathon? Not generally.

How do I really want to spend my time at any given moment? It’s a question I will actively ask myself more often.

How to Slice a Mango

From Sunday’s post, you know that I’ve resisted buying a mango slicing gadget. It’s not that I eat countless mangoes, but any kitchen gadget is a temptation. I can finally be at ease with my non-purchase, for I now know how to properly slice a mango with an ordinary knife.

For more great tips, check out Lifehacker’s Top 10 Food and Drink Hacks. I can attest to the endless magic of vinegar. And I’ll definitely have to try the tip for chilling a can of Coke in two minutes.

Crocadilius Shitus

I’m reading Kurt Vonnegut’s book, Timequake, for my book group. It’s not a book I’d normally select, so I borrowed a copy from the library.

At the end of the opening chapter, Kurt quotes his alter ego, Kilgore Trout, as saying, “being alive is a crock of shit.” A previous reader illustrated the page with this pencil drawing …

The Aesthetics of Doing Dishes

I have to avoid kitchen supply stores, or I will compulsively browse for hours as I compare small appliance models against each other and handle every tool. My mom feels I have far too many gadgets than are necessary. Why use a salad spinner when shaking the lettuce leaves in your hands works just fine, she asks. I tout the usefulness of each item I own and boast that I don’t even have a mango pitter. After all, even though my kitchen is the largest room in my 950-square foot house, I don’t have unlimited space.

However, I sometimes dream about owning a sleek, stainless steel dish rack. More like artwork than a practical sink accessory, this dish rack can be displayed proudly on a kitchen counter at all times. I imagine the random crystal water glass, hand-thrown pottery coffee cup, or crème brulee bowl drying peacefully against its modern grates.

I’ve resisted the seductive power of this shiny bauble and have remained loyal to my rubber-coated, powder-blue dish drainer. I probably bought it about 15 years ago for my first apartment after college. After all of these years, it doesn’t even have a nick in its coating. With its diminutive size, it nestles perfectly within one bowl of a double sink and stores neatly underneath most any size cabinet when not in use. It is the perfect companion to my old automatic dishwasher that can’t handle all of the tableware and cookware I go through each day.

My many feet of open counter space already attracts too much clutter, so I prefer hiding the dish rack away when it is not in use. I don’t want to be constantly reminded of dishes in progress — dishes washed and waiting to dry, or dry but not yet put away. At any rate, my dishes are less grandiose than in my fantasy. My mismatched cutlery, ceramic coffee mugs, and huge plastic popcorn bowl would embarrass a gleaming dish drainer from some place like Williams-Sonoma.

I’ll stick with my trusty inexpensive model that encourages prompt dish washing without fanfare. Duty done, I can tuck my little helper under the sink where it belongs, next to my uncoordinated beige rubber sink liner and yellow rubber gloves (both of which aren’t nearly as hardy and have been replaced several times over the years). I see no need to upgrade to all that flash … at least for now.

My Mom Turns 70 Today

December 7 is both Pearl Harbor Day and my mom’s birthday. Wanda grew up on a farm in Dassel, Minn., along with four sisters. She joined the Air Force after trying college for a year. While stationed in Battle Creek, Mich., she met my dad, Robert. My cousins thought they were so fun and hip. Everyone else in the family had children when my folks got married (my mom was the youngest). Mom and dad would breeze into family gatherings in their “exotic” Fiat automobile with Old English Sheepdogs in tow. They’d talk about living in Italy and their other adventures.

Even after settling down in Duluth with two kids, my mom maintained her same free spirit. She taught me how to be a strong, independent woman who could do anything I wanted to in the world. She’s still a cool, fun lady with a great sense of humor and a generous heart.

Happy 70th birthday, mom. I love you very much!

P.S. – For those keeping track, I finished the lemon cheesecake and my mom’s tribute book at 8 am this morning.

Abysmal Time Management

With a lot to do today, I sat down this morning and wrote up a task list — I even included time estimates. I couldn’t have been more off base. I started out well by getting my freelance work done in about two hours. The rest of my to-do’s have gone completely haywire. The culprits?

• Go to scrapbook store – Browsed 2.5 times longer than intended to and spent twice as much.
• Go to Target – Shopped in addition to picking up photos (and who spends just 30 minutes in Target anyhow?).
• Make lemon cheesecake – Should have reviewed the recipe first to learn I needed five hours instead of one.
• Make mom’s tribute book – Who was I kidding with this time estimate? After buying all the crap that I did, I’m already four hours into this with at least two more to go. I’m giving the book to mom on her birthday tomorrow. Ya think I could have started it sooner?
• Go to Pilates and walk dogs – Skipped out of desperation.

Of course, I’m kicking myself for my gross underestimations and for doing things not on the list. I started out the day with good intentions, really I did! I’ll be paying for it well into the wee hours of the morning.