That’s life.

I wanted to play Scrabble tonight. But I lost. But Reed and Max brought The Game of Life out. Again.

But as usual, this game was anything but boring.

As you can see above, Max decided on a commitment ceremony in lieu of a wedding. We’re fine with it. We want him to be happy.

I got a phone call halfway into the game. When I left the table, I was a doctor with $100,000 salary, an expensive, stylish home, and a big old pile of money. When I came back, my salary was down to $20,000 (WTF?) and almost half my money was gone. I never did get an explanation about where it all went. I suspect it was split amongst some of my opponents.

Max won with $1.8 million. Andrew came in second at just over a cool mil with Reed barely behind. I was the big loser. Sigh.

But here’s the thing. I heard more about their days, their friends, their football game, their thoughts during this Game of Life than I’d heard in a long time.

So it really IS all about spending time together.

That’s life.

Seedy?

It took many years for me to realize that not all dads cut the seeds out of watermelon before serving it. Because my dad always did.

I loved watermelon. It was refreshing and tasty. And easy to eat, since there were no unsightly seeds. No need to worry about swallowing one or spitting one out. No seeds. Really.

Later, they started selling seedless watermelons. I’ve never had one that had the same oomph, to tell you the truth. But I sure like the idea of it.

To me, a great, juicy watermelon IS summer. So, I was very excited when Andrew brought a big one home from the farmers’ market the other day.

And last night, he served it.

It was juicy and delicious and the perfect chilled temperature.

Only one problem. It was chocked full of seeds.

Now I’m not saying that Andrew doesn’t love me as much as my dad does.

But, I do have to wonder….

Smelly boys.

I’ve been noticing lately that my sons’ friends are starting to smell. I mean no disrespect – it’s normal! But my guys aren’t there yet. Well, that’s not 100% true. Their shoes smell beyond belief. Our mud room is an olfactory experience to match no other. But I digress.

The pre-teen boys. They stink. Not your kid, if you’re reading this. I mean your kid’s friends. All this brings me to something I read today from Trendcentral:

Disney Fragrances for Boys: Smells like tween spirit! After positive response to a similar product with the release of the animated movie Cars in 2006, Disney Consumer products is launching Pirates of the Caribbean and Buzz Lightyear branded fragrances targeting 4- to 11- year-old boys. While the average age of male fragrance buyers is decreasing, and with few options on the market, tween boys are turning to aspirational brands such as Axe. Disney’s fragrances on the other hand will be specifically made for tweens. Scheduled to hit stores in September just in time for back-to-school, they are expected to be allowance-friendly (between $9.95 and $19.95), and be available at tween hangouts like Wal-Mart, Kmart and Duane Reade.

Is it just me or is this just ridiculous?

And while I’m asking questions, have you ever caught a whiff of a teenager wearing Axe?

OMG.

Overheard….

Max: Come here. [giggle, giggle] You gotta see this.
Reed: What? [insert bored sound here]
Max: [serious giggle] No really, guys. This is good.

{watch them walk from snowball stand to the nice grassy area by the fire department training center}

Davis: You’re right. That Diet Coke bottle is filled with lemonade.
Reed: LEMONADE. {insert raucous laughter here.}

Boys will be boys.

So I have to wonder. Was it the firefighters who left that Trucker Bomb?

I’m not the foodie in this family….

But I’ve watched enough Dinner Impossible and Ramsey’s Kitchen Nightmares to know what should happen in a restaurant.

1. It should not smell like dirty sponges.
2. The waiter should be easily understandable.
3. If seated by the waiter station, the waitstaff should at least keep the personal chit-chat to a minimum. I mean really, do I need to know some of that stuff?
4. When you ask what the soup of the day is, it is not a good sign when the waiter leaves to check and comes back to say, “Tomato and Noodle. The same as we had yesterday.” Okay, then.
5. Did I mention the smell?
6. When asked what the best thing on the menu is, it is never a good thing when he tells you the most expensive item from each category.

Okay, so we ordered. (It was just Davis and me. I can tell you that Davis would never complain. I can also tell you that if I had been there with Andrew, we might have left or spoken to the manager. Read on….)

The meal was served. Admittedly, it took a little longer than I thought it should, but it was not totally unreasonable.

Davis had the Waffle Benedict.

1. The bacon was not even half cooked. It was fatty and limp and disgusting. I did mention it to the waiter (ewwww) and, to his credit, he offered to bring some other bacon to the table. We declined, as even perfectly crisp bacon becomes less appealing after removing uncooked bacon from a dish. Know what I mean?
2. The fruit garnish looked awful. I know, it’s just decoration. But it should look nice, shouldn’t it?
3. ON THE POSITIVE SIDE, the hollandaise was really nice and the eggs were pretty close to right on. Davis didn’t care for the waffles, but I thought they were tasty.
4. The potatoes were great.

I ordered poached eggs with turkey bacon.

1. The eggs, though poached lightly as I like them, looked disgusting. I’ve seen pretty poached eggs. It’s possible.
2. The toast under said eggs was the soggiest I’ve ever seen. Must be from the run-off from the poached eggs. But yuck.
3. The turkey bacon was okay.
4. My fruit garnish was equally blah.
5. The potatoes were great.

I know you think I’m being really particular. But this place is known for its eggs and breakfast dishes. I expect more. In fact, it’s called Eggspectations. So what I really meant to say was, I eggspect more.

After we ate, I couldn’t find Daniel, our server who was supposed to take care of us, to get the check. I wouldn’t have been in such a hurry if it hadn’t smelled so yucky.

So while I’m no foodie, and I’m certainly no restaurant reviewer, I am not all that happy of a customer. And I’m in no hurry to go back.

Note: We tried to go to Strapazza for soup and salad but they had a power outage and all the employees were sitting outside the dark restaurant. Sigh.

End Note: I had a wonderful evening hanging out with Davis. We had great, uninterrupted conversation and he has so many interesting things to say. So good food or not, it was a perfect night.

Aaron’s puppy.

I hired a 8 year year old consultant today to help me with a kids social media project that I’m working on. Obviously, an adult wouldn’t know that Ben 10 has a social networking component. Right? Anyway, to thank the kid, we made him a virtual puppy. You can pet him, throw him a ball and feed him dog treats. Thanks Aaron!

(I wish all consultants charged so fairly!)

Boyz2Men

When we went to pick up our little boys (awww) from camp, I half expected them to be all grown up. They weren’t. But they were extremely, unbelievably dirty. Seriously, I have never seen feet like that. I won’t go on. You don’t deserve the mental picture. Trust me.

So we brought our little boys home and, after long, hot showers, I started to watch and listen. I wanted to figure out what had changed. If anything.

After all, isn’t camp about growing, learning, becoming more independent?

I am starting to see some things. Their beds are neater. They pass the food nicer at the table. They are doing some things themselves that they had asked me to do just a few weeks ago — things like pouring the milk into the Golden Grahams or toasting the waffles.

I also can see that they missed the hugs and kisses. They can’t get enough. (“Just not in front of my friends, Mom!“)

So are they all grown up?

Not even close.

But even seeing the little steps is a little sad. And exciting.

As long as they don’t give up the hugging any time soon.

artscape.

The last time I went to Artscape, I was in my 20′s. It was much smaller, or so it seemed to me. Truth is, my perspective was so different then, I don’t really know.

But we decided to go on Saturday. Just Andrew, Davis and me. It was our last day before picking up Reed and Max from camp.

We ate a ton – ice cream, blooming onion, shrimp on a stick, pit beef sandwich, water, water, water, mojitos (better than the water)…

And we saw some terrific art. Lots of jewelry, paintings, fiber arts, glass, you name it. One of my favorites was William CJ – there was a painting I saw that I can’t get out of my head. Don’t you hate that? I might have to buy it. His website isn’t up, unfortunately, or I’d show you his work…

Then, there were these gnomes. For $1, you could buy something. But the signs were in their native language (gnomish?), so I have no idea what they were selling. I was very amused.

This guy on stilts was getting ready to perform. His mask was incredibly creepy. So we kept walking.

Do you see that this guy has plastic forks hanging all over him? His friends are the spoons and knives. I suppose it’s nice to be prepared. Of course, these were performance artists. I didn’t see the show, but couldn’t help to be curious.

And then there were these funky cars….

Wouldn’t you like a tree car? Sounds eco-friendly to me….

What an interesting day.

More details coming soon.

Where do you want to go for dinner?

Really neat new site. Or so I thought.

Miniature Cube. You choose where you are and how far you will travel. You choose sit down, carryout, etc. Then select price range and cuisine. Or leave some blank if you don’t care.

And it recommends where you should eat.

I admit, I was pretty darn excited. Particularly because we have this discussion regularly. And I bet you do, too.

I tried it for my area with moderate price, sit down meal. And it recommended a Chinese restaurant I’ve never been to. Maybe I’ll check it out. Still, pretty excited about this new site.

Then, I decided to try Gnightgirl’s area. I don’t know why. Planning ahead for when I head out that way some day?

And do you know what they recommended?

Come on, you’ll never guess.

Ready?

Hooters on State Street.