Saturday night musings

Unfortunately, the Frank Finkel file is fraught with falsifications.

CHALLENGE:  Who the fuck is Frank Finkel??

I'm a sucky blogger

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You wanna talk about sacrifice?!

You wanna talk about sacrifice?!

Today is Ash Wednesday, the start of the Lenten season.  This is a time of reflection for many, some find purpose in making personal sacrifices during this holy period.  Me, not so much.  Rather, I am a VICTIM of Lent. 

My husband is one of those people that believes in the power of cleansing his soul in the weeks leading up to Easter.  AGAIN this year, my husband has informed me that he is gong to be practicing a Lenten fast.  

Okay, so what exactly WILL you be eating?  Is it a vegan diet?  He isn't really clear.....from what I can gather he can eat paint chips and Quinoa.  As you may recall, I am already living with a vegetarian, my daughter Maeve.

ARE YOU  KIDDING ME?  I'm a confirmed meat eater, a person that generally dislikes vegetables, and for the most part, the family cook.  So, for any that may ask....what am I doing for Lent?  I'm trying to put together a meal that doesn't suck for me the meat eater, and looks like I care about their ridiculous dietary demands.

I will say, I got caught up in the "hype" of doing something for Lent...it had been a while, so I decided, that outside of my Herculean effort on the home front, I would also make some personal sacrifice(s).  I chose to forego something, AND add something of spiritual value to my life over the next few weeks...I suspect I will fail quickly at both.  In terms of something I will do without, I will attempt to quit cursing over the next few weeks.   Those that know me are saying, 'yeah, that'll be the F-in day".  Probably right, but F-you, I have God on my side.  What I will attempt to do to ADD to my spiritual existence is to go to church every Sunday.  Unfortunately, since that Holy Lenten Decision, I have made plans to visit my NY childhood  friends In Foxwoods this weekend.  That would mean that I will be in Foxwoods on Sunday morning. For those that know this crowd,  you will understand that I will most definitely NEED some holy intervention by Sunday morning...but those very reasons that I will NEED holy intervention is exactly why I will find myself physically limited in my ability to receive any sort of absolution. We'll see how I do on this very first Sunday.  I think mass at Foxwoods, if there is such a thing, will be a hoot.

SIDE NOTE:  a little off topic, but not too much.  Tom and my FIRST official date, we were in our early 20's, was a home-made meal at my apartment in Chelsea MA.  In terms of "good ideas", I'll let that sentence speak for itself.  I cooked my specialty;  shake-n-bake pork chops and Betty Crocker boxed au gratin potatoes (you will see a reference to this SAME menu in an earlier blog entry).  We then proceeded to drive over the Tobin Bridge into Boston and had a few cocktails at Clarks (again, for those in the know, time to roll your eyes).  Well, flash forward a few weeks, I was invited to Tom' s parents house for Sunday dinner.  Apparently Sunday = pasta night, even amongst the Irish.  Well, while we all squeezed around the kitchen table and the spaghetti and pasta/meatballs was put on the table for all us MEAT EATERS, Tom's Mom Anna had a special delivery for her VEGETARIAN son Tom - a meatless lasagna. I looked at my "boyfriend" who had happily scoffed down my pork chops with no word about how he has made a moral/preference decision not to eat meat, and I should have known then that this was a guy I might want to marry.

Ummm...Really, it was nothing

My daughter Maeve decided to try out for Cheerleading for the first time her Senior year.  She was very excited when she made the team, and she quickly informed us that she would need about $175 for supplies and a jacket (we wonder how much a part that snazzy JACKET played in her desire to cheer).  Anyway, this was the basketball cheer team, they practiced on Wednesdays and cheered home games. 

I am ashamed to admit that prior to this past Tuesday night, I had only attended one of her games.  Well, I knew there was a home game Tuesday, and I was PROBABLY going to go…then I get an email from my husband; Maeve called – it’s SENIOR NIGHT tonight!!! She didn’t really elaborate on what that was, but it involved parents.  So, okay, I’m not a total a-hole stepmom, so I of course planned on attending.  We get there, ALL the other (mostly basketball) parents know everyone on the court, in the stands, etc.  Clearly they have been following their sons basketball careers for many years together.  So yes, I feel as if we stuck out like sore thumbs.  Well, we come to find out that on SENIOR NIGHT, before the game, each Senior cheerleader and player go to center court and the announcer calls out the parent’s name, at which point the parents ALSO go to center court where they receive a hug and a bouquet of flowers from their child and applause from the entire audience in gratitude for all their dedication and support all these years.  They do this one by one mind you.  All the other parents had tears in their eyes, the end of LONG road together, etc.  To say I felt like a fraud would be an understatement.

To make it even worse, I immediately realized that this would be a good story, so at the end of the game I made it a point to get a picture of us all together just so that I could post it on the blog. 

It Doesn’t Take Much

I never minded being single on Valentine’s Day, but I DID hate dating guys that claimed that Valentine’s is a made-up holiday and that they weren’t going to be manipulated or made to feel guilty by the likes of Hallmark.  You know the type.  They claim to be independent-minded romantics, they would prefer to do something special on the day & time of THEIR choosing, not the choosing of some marketing machine.  Let me ask you – when you have had the misfortune of dating such a man – did he EVER do anything special on any other day?  No, of course not.  And you know what?   It doesn’t take much.  

Example:  I came home from work to a home-cooked meal, one of my favorites (that Tom could cook), Shake-and-Bake pork chops with Betty Crocker Au Gratin potatoes.  See how happy I am?!

Tom in return, got a shovel:

Now before you come down on me for getting Tom a shovel, first – see how PLEASED he is with his gift?!  Second, we already have a shovel, but we only have ONE, so I have (ahem) unfortunately been unable to help with shoveling this year.  This RED shovel (how throw-up cute is that?) is a sign that I will now be out there with him shoveling.  In Theory.

And at the end of the day...EVERYBODY wins.

Funny Valentines, sort of

In going through my scrapbook (YES, I have a scrapbook, but it's cool, not gay-crafty), I came across some stuff from years ago that is pretty funny.  Most of this will be my stuff, but some of it was created by my husband when we were dating back in the late 80's while working at The Middlesex News.  His stuff was generally funny, but truly sweet.   This particular piece (3 pages) was delivered following a particularly unhappy time during our relationship.  I can only assume that Tom's difficult nature was the cause of the rift.

Hands OFF Ladies!

In case ANYONE had any doubt as to why I fell for my husband Tom..I think this 1977 photo of him in 9th grade is pretty self-explanatory.  YES, those are side-burns, he was able to grow a FULL beard/mustache at this age....VERY manly.........