Satisfied?

When I was young, there was a girl in my Sunday School class (also named Wendy – there were 5 Wendys in that class!) who invited me to her birthday party. I didn’t know any of her “real school” friends — she went to a different elementary school than I did. So at Wendy’s house, there was this amazing swimming pool. I commented how beautiful it was. She, clearly embarrassed at how much her family had acquired, told me thank you, but compared to her friends’ pools, it was very modest.

A cousin of mine, when he was 20-something, told me that he and his wife did not want to live in certain areas of town because they didn’t feel they “fit in” with the yuppies and up-and-comers. They wanted to live where they were because they could be themselves and not feel pressured to be something else or, worse yet, have to hang out with insufferable snobs. (He didn’t exactly say that, being as he considered us to be those people, but that’s what he meant.) At the time, I really did not understand.

Andrew and I have been very fortunate. We’ve built a successful business and saved wisely. We live comfortably. When we moved east from the midwest, we were a little stunned by the cost of living – and since our rates didn’t go up, we felt it. But we were lucky and found a house we could afford (barely) in a nice and very safe neighborhood with great schools.

Well, it’s funny. I look around and see such excess. Some of the homes around here – some of our kids’ friends’ houses – are huge. McMansions. Each kid has his own bathroom. And walk-in closet. And the houses are decorated to a T. Beautiful landscaping. Really, these homes are put together with care. Perhaps a decorator’s care, but care just the same.

I used to think I’d always want more. But here we are renovating our modest home to make it our own. I choose to stay here. I choose not to raise the boys with the expectation that they should have XBox, PS2 and GameCube at their disposal. Or (horrors) in their bedrooms.

I used to think that people who had everything they dreamed of began to dream about bigger and better things – like changing the world. But, sadly, I’ve learned that that isn’t true. They dream of even more. And I can’t, in good conscious, start that cycle here.

But the problem (challenge?) is that we already have so much more than most. And I’m a little embarrassed. And like Wendy from Sunday School…sometimes I feel I need to apologize for it.

Camp.

I finished registration for SUMMER CAMP this week. Every year, this totally pisses me off. I hate planning my summer in January. Okay, I’m done.

Tech support.

One of my clients is a large and well-known non-profit with almost 300 “branches”. While much of the work I do for them is research and marketing related, I was brought in last year to help with the statistical report showing how each branch was doing with funding, membership, diversity and a slew of other things. It was just awful – each filled out an Excel spreadsheet (not of my doing) and I had to combine and analyze (not to mention fix the gross errors) of the lot. It was a disaster. But I did it. (Perhaps Andrew helped a little.)

So when they came back this year, I said yes with the caveat that we design an online survey so the info would be collected in a spreadsheet in an organized (and hopefully accurate) way. So it’s up now. It wasn’t an easy process, and I had to learn an entirely different back-end computer system, but it’s live. Whew.

The phone rings. 7:30 pm. At night. Someone can’t make it work. It’s not right. It’s giving error messages. Fix it. Talk to her. Fix it. Well, this morning I did talk to her. And you know what? It was human error. What a shock. The information was entered incorrectly. But, I put a note up with the survey so no one else would make the same mistake.

And.

We buy salmon from a guy named Avi. Avi goes to Alaska every summer and fishes – processes, packs and freezes the fish. Sound ick, but it’s amazing. He brings it to our house every month, as we order it. (He also smokes his own salmon, which is superb!) So the phone rings and it’s Avi asking for help with Microsoft Outlook. I helped him, of course.

But how did I get to be tech support? I am not a techie. Yes, I’m a little geeky, but does that mean I get to help everyone with their computer problems?

I thought that was Jeff’s job. Or Andrew’s. Or Geeks on Call.

Raisin.

Ever wonder what the color raisin looks like on the walls?

Fourtwentynine.

Shout out to Kristin who just started her blog, Fourtwentynine. She’s irreverent and funny.

Hey, I didn’t know she likes Eddie from Ohio! (I didn’t think I knew anyone except Sarah who has even heard of them….I have a signed CD Make sure to see her kids at photos of kate and jack – great stuff! Welcome to the blogsphere, Kristin!

I’ll have the Moo Shi Pork.

There are more Chinese restaurants in the U.S. than McDonald’s, Wendy’s, and Burger Kings combined.

Surprised? I was. The rest of the article is interesting, too. Takeout Taking Over US Households

Crowded house.

A new study shows that the 3.5 million Ashkenazi Jews are descended from only four women. Who are these women, you may ask? I did. Only to get a huge laugh from Andrew. Okay fine. What concerns me is how I’m going to fit all my relatives here for Seder.

Fat ass in a glass.

I’ve tried a lot of different drinks in my life. Sex on the beach. Fuzzy navel. Zombie mudslut. But can you imagine ordering a Fat ass in a glass? There was an article in the Washington Post, A Bittersweet ‘Champagne of Maine’ about a coffee brandy that is really big in Maine. Though I’ve never tasted it, the article says it tastes like equal parts alcohol, sugar and coffee-pot slag and adds that “it puckers the cheeks, coats the tongue with syrupy sweetness and leaves a mouthwash feeling on the lips.” Sounds oh, so appealing.

Evidently Allen’s Coffee Flavored Brandy is the most popular hard liquor in Maine, with 98,000 cases of 60-proof drink sold each year. That’s 1, 176,000 bottles. Considering that the population of Maine is 1,321,505… well, you get the picture.

In all seriousness, it seems that there’s a real problem in Maine. Maybe it’s because it’s so damn cold. Everyone knows that brandy warms the soul, right?

Allen’s mixed with milk or cream is called a Sombrero. But I really love the drink’s popular nickname — ‘fat ass in a glass’. It also has a couple other nicknames, Maine Martini, Slut Juice, Wide Russian, a Poor White Russian Trash. I’m sorry – do you know any other drink that has 5 nicknames?

Jeff & Michele, when I visit you up there, can we make some?

Shalimar.

I just got back from the funeral home. My neighbors’ 19 year-old-son and his friend died in a car accident over the weekend. It was a full house. Hundreds of people. Though I don’t know her very well, I smile and wave to this woman twice a day and have for almost 7 years.

I waited in line for 20 minutes until I got to her. She hugged me so hard and sobbed on my shoulder. She told me to hold onto my boys. My tears fell.

As I walked away to sign the book I realized that her perfume was lingering with me. And, at least for today, the scent of grief is Shalimar.

And now a message from our sponsor.

Remember I told you about This Day in the Life – a book with day diaries from women and my mom is in it? Well it’s out! I just finished reading it and really, really liked it. (My mom had pre-ordered it for me from Amazon!) And now, I hear it was given a positive review in PEOPLE Magazine. They wrote:

“This satisfying collection of diaries from 34 women across America details the events of one day in the lives of each: June 29, 2004…The ensemble is simultaneously mundane and captivating–it resonates with drama, humor and pathos. This is one unremarkable day you’ll wish could go on forever.” [3.5 five stars out of 4]

So forgive the commercial message – I’m just really excited for my mom.