Posted: June 27, 2010 | Author: Wendy | Filed under: memories, the boys |
Yes, it’s true.
I have 13,306 photos in my iPhotos program.
And today, I decided to spend a little time tagging them.
As you can imagine, it’s an overwhelming task. So I decided I’d tackle 75 or so at a sitting.
Every day.
At that rate, I’ll have tagged all the photos by Sunday, December 19, 2010. (Of course, I have to tag new photos as I load them. That’s the deal. Othewise, I’ll never make the end of the year!)
In 11 months and 7 days, Reed and Max will be bar mitzvah’d. If all the photos are tagged, I’ll be in a great position to create heart-wrenching, oh-so-cute slide shows in plenty of time. No digging through all the pix. I’d even have time to scan in some more. (Because, folks, I have boxes and boxes of photos that aren’t included in that 13,306. Go figure.)
I worry about getting distracted as I go through the tagging process.
Case in point…
and
and
and
You see my problem.
I’m typically a very focused person. But looking through pictures is so distracting!
Posted: June 24, 2010 | Author: Wendy | Filed under: Spouse 2.0, travel, work |
I’ve been doing a lot of business travel lately.
Part of me hates leaving town. I love being home. I miss kissing the kids goodnight. (Yes, they still let me kiss them goodnight!) And I love the quiet time with Andrew when the house is still after everyone is asleep.
The other part of me cherishes climbing into fresh hotel linens at the end of a long, productive day with the air conditioning set at exactly the temperature that I like. And as long as they’re not too perfumy, I love having new soaps to try. I know, silly, right?
It’s an adventure to be alone in a different city, to move to the pace of it.
But I hate eating dinner alone in restaurants.
Tonight, I get to have dinner with Shelly, who incidentally, has a very cool twitter necklace. (I might have to get me one)
But I digress.
Traveling has its downsides. Like the woman on the plane who coughed the entire flight. And its upsides like the fact that I read half a book on the way here and plan to finish it on the flight home tomorrow.
I had a great meeting today and am excited for the one scheduled tomorrow. So that’s all good.
But being away reminds me (not that I forgot) – there is no place like home.
Posted: June 20, 2010 | Author: Wendy | Filed under: memories |
I love creamsicles.
And not because I think they are so scrumptious. No.
I love them because of the memories they evoke.
When I was little – from age 5 to 7 – I went to day camp at Camp Milldale.
Aside from the big hills and the extreme heat, my strongest memory is of Friday afternoon snack.
And my friend Risa. Risa is second from left. Kim is farthest left. Her mother taught swimming. To the right I’m not sure, but think it’s Donna? Farthest right, I can’t conjure up a name. It’s been a while 
I think that was Summer ’67.
But back to the afternoon snacks. A major highlight at Camp Milldale. On Fridays, we had the choice of a Fudgesicle or a Creamsicle. On a hot day, doesn’t that sound great? And they’re not sticky like the twin pops we had on other days. Remember those? You’d put it on the edge of the table and break it into two popsicles. By the time you’d get to the second half, it was a drippy, sticky mess! I hated that!
But I loved Creamsicle/Fudgesicle day. Love. Love. Love.
My mom never bought Creamsicles and the first time I ever had one was right there at camp. It was so cool and orange and creamy and… seriously special.
Sure, I’d had Fudgesicles before. But I admit I chose one on some Fridays. And I still choose them sometimes. I especially like these.
This year, Davis is going to be a C.I.T. (counselor in training) at Milldale. Driving onto camp grounds was so odd. Last time I was here, I didn’t drive anything but a 2-wheeler with training wheels.
It looked very much the same. Perfectly cared for, but still rustic. It seemed a little smaller, but the hill still seemed huge to me.
I tracked down the director (who is quite a bit younger than me, I must add) and asked her if they still serve Creamsicles and Fudgesicles on Fridays.
No.
And she had no knowledge that they ever had.
Imagine that something so important to me is all but forgotten. Well, totally forgotten, I’d say, except I bet someone remembers. If you remember, please comment!
Oh, and one more thing. National Creamsicle Day is celebrated on August 14. I can hardly wait.
Posted: June 13, 2010 | Author: Wendy | Filed under: Uncategorized |
This is an adaptation of several recipes I found online. It was fantastic!
Spice Cake Recipe
Ingredients:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/3 cups sugar
- 1 tablespoon plus 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/3 cup shortening
- 1 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 large eggs
Preparation:
Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg, ginger and cloves. Add shortening, milk, and vanilla; beat on slow speed of electric mixer for 2 minutes. Scrape sides and bottom of mixing bowl several times. Beat in eggs and continue to beat for 2 minutes more. Spoon batter into 2 generously greased and floured 8″inch round cake pans. Bake at 350° for 28-30 minutes. Cool and frost with caramel icing (below).
Caramel Icing
3 cups brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup milk
4 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
In a saucepan, combine brown sugar, milk, and butter. Stirring constantly; bring to a boil and boil for 3 minutes or longer until it ‘sticks’ to the spoon. Remove from heat and add vanilla. Let cool to lukewarm. Beat until creamy and thick enough to spread.
Posted: June 10, 2010 | Author: Wendy | Filed under: kids, parenting, Spouse 2.0, work |
I used to wish I had more time with my husband and kids. Now, I’m just making more time.
I used to wish I could just finish this one thing before shutting down for the day. Now, I (sometimes) just shut down and make notes for the morning. (Very early morning, to be honest, but still, worth it.)
I used to wish I had time to make my kid a cake instead of buying one. Today, I did.
I used to wish.
Now, I do.
Note: Clearly this is more poetic than 100% true. I’m trying, I swear! It’s a process. If you ask my kids if I’m more ‘present’ lately, they’ll say yes. Well, at least I hope they will.
