I remember when the toilet paper in public restrooms was nice.

Just like home.

And then, one day, some guy in the “we need to sell more TP” department (as if demand wasn’t already pretty darn good) decided that going to 1-ply was a good cost-savings idea. ONE PLY? After all those years of needing 2-play now suddenly 1-ply is enough.

I don’t mean to get personal here, but sometimes I just need that second ply. Don’t you?

Okay, so I adjusted to it. Not happy, but adjusted somewhat.

And then.

Then, they took out that frilly softness. Why waste money on comfort? Scratchy TP is good enough in public restrooms, right? I mean, do we really want to ENCOURAGE people to do their business here? Come on, people. Do that at home.

But it’s the most recent trend that disturbs me the most. Maybe it’s not the worst product change. Maybe it’s just the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Now, I’m seeing skinny TP. I mean the roll is actually narrower.

You’ve seen this too?

It’s like 3″ wide. So how much more do you need to roll out now? That seems even more wasteful. And they don’t make it easy, either. I’m seeing that those rolls are getting harder and harder to unroll. Push it through and loop it up.

I know you know what I’m talking about here.

I’ve had it. They win.

No more public restrooms for me.

I think that was their plan all along.

It’s such a long, long, long story. But I finally own findingblanche.com. Change your bookmarks! (The old one still works, though)

Last night, we had a real summer meal. Steaks on the grill. Corn on the cob. Strawberries for dessert.

As I ate the corn, I started thinking about an old babysitter of mine. I’ll call her Sara Silver (not her real name). First, let me tell you I haven’t seen this person since about 1970. What I remember was that she stayed with us when my parents went out of town. She was short. And she ate her corn on the cob one row at a time.

Seriously. Have you ever heard of such a thing?

It left the tidyest looking cobs I had ever seen.

I suppose I remember because it was so unusual. But I remember all sorts of things. And I remember most of our babysitters. (Maybe that’s why I am so picky about sitters for my kids!)

Some highlights:

• The tall guy who drank a gallon of milk each time he came. He made Jiffy Pop popcorn for us. He was really nice. He grew up to be an opera singer.
• The redhead who talked on the phone to her friends (and sister) all night. I think she even made us put ourselves to bed.
• The one who would trade extra time to stay up for scratching the back of her legs. I guess she couldn’t reach?
• The one who liked to do art projects with us. (I liked her best.)

But I digress. This post is about summer food, right? I am so excited for corn and tomatoes and watermelon and fresh herbs. And the farmers market started! Not only is that great for us but it also means that Gnightgirl will start posting her farmers market phots which I thoroughly enjoy! Yay!

The pool is open. Farmers market started.

It must be summer!

I geared up for the big ride today – I had a 5 mile route planned. But Reed wanted to come along and that was great….but it changed the ride.

No matter. I was ready.

We raced off up the path and across Trotter Road. Back into the path system, we were making wind. But all of a sudden, the discomfort grew into realization.

The last person who rode my bike was 6 feet tall.

And you ladies know what that means.

That was one uncomfortable seat.

But alas, we were getting far from home – almost half way on our planned excursion. So we kept going. And then we took a break at the Bagel Bin.

Even the extra-super-dooper-large Diet Pepsi didn’t make me forget my pain.

We rode home – me humming in my head to distract myself. Yikes. It got me back to thinking about when I rode a bike exclusively. Back in college, I didn’t drive a car, but a bike instead. I rode all around Richmond – miles and miles a day.

I loved my bike.

Oh, I didn’t drive a car because I didn’t have a license.

Why, you ask? Well. I didn’t have my license because I gave it back to the DMV after the accident. The second accident, that is. (Though I still say the first one wasn’t my fault. Right, Laurie?)

But the second accident was bad. Really bad. I was still 16 years old. And, I was on my parents’ insurance. Well, that my friend, was quickly becoming a non-reality.

So I gave it back. The liccense. And if you don’t believe me, I’ll bet there is a judge still laughing about since he said, “Wow, that’s worse than I could have done to you.”

And then my mind came back to the ride at hand as we prepared to cross back over Trotter. Suddenly we were home and I was off that bike so fast….

So I still want to ride. But I’m taking out my tool-kit tomorrow and I’m going to lower that seat!

I can sleep as late as I want.
I have nothing – I said nothing – on my calendar.
I want to turn off the phone, turn off the computer (and with that, turn off Twitter – the horrors!).
I’m gonna hike with the boys, walk in the streams, eat ice cream.

Tonight? We’re heading up to school for a picnic. Sounds like a good start to the weekend.

I am winding down. And I probably wouldn’t even have posted this evening except my mom was getting depressed reading the previous post over and over.

So Mom? This one’s for you.

Cheers!

Some days there is nothing to say
Some days it just doesn’t work
Some days I just feel like crying

Some days I dream of the beach
And the breeze and the sound of the ocean
And some days I wish that all the hubbub would go away
And that I’d have peace

Total peace
And
Quiet

And then I hear the boys laughing
And I remember what I have
And who we are as a family and a team
And I just breathe

This is republished from May 19, 2006. (This day in history!)

I learned a lesson from Reed today.

He had been having trouble hitting the ball. He was worried he wouldn’t hit it hard enough. Or that he’d swing and miss. Or foul out. He was stressed.

Tonight’s game was not convenient for me. I was very busy. I had deadlines and conference calls. Not to mention a friend of a friend who was depending on me for something that it’s hard to imagine how I got involved with in the first place. But I wanted to get out. Get away from the computer. Make that I needed to get away from the computer.

So we picked up a gourmet Subway dinner and went to the game.

Reed had an awesome hit in the second inning. I mean awesome. The kind where all the other dads come to congratulate the kid’s parents. You know what I mean.

So after the game, Reed told me how he did it. He played his favorite music in his head and relaxed. Then came the pitch. And wham. Just like that. You should try it, Mom.

I think I will.

Do you know the name of the Michelin Man?

Bibendum.

Seriously. Rolls off the tongue, no?

Andrew and I are both in the research business. We read all day long for our clients. And we love useless information.

So we know a lot of stuff. So we can talk about a lot of different things.

Making us entertaining (or at least not totally boring) at cocktail parties.

And fortunately for us, we’re going to one! A party!

I know, it seems really lame to be so excited, but we’ve been seriously not going out except for family things lately. Not that I don’t love cuddling up with the hub to see CSI, but it will be pretty great to socialize tonight.

thirteen things that smell amazing. (note a smelly theme this week?)
1. the lilacs outside my back door. huge and wonderful and so fragrant!
2. babies’ heads
3. my sheets (you saw that coming, didn’t you?)
4. fresh chocolate chip cookies
5. bread in the oven
6. almost everything Andrew cooks. tonight? turkey meatballs.
7. Heliotrope by Fresh. now discontinued
8. the air before a storm
9. chocolate
10. freesia
11. the swimming pool the first day of pool season
12. a perfect orange
13. steaks on the grill