Listen to Adam, guys!!

For years and years, when my male friends would talk about some girl/woman who they admired for her physical beauty, usually on full display, I would say something along the lines of "She is someone's daughter.  Someone's most treasured child.  They probably pray for her all the time."
And my male friends would reply "Why do you ALWAYS think that???"
And I would ask "Why don't you EVER think that????"
And they would blush, look at the ground, scuff their toes on the floor, and such filth would cease to flow from their mouths.
To be fair, these "treasures" were often making very good money from all the "admiration", as is their right, within certain boundaries, in certain zoning parameters in certain cities.
With that said, I could kind of excuse it before we all had children.  After that, I brought out the wooden spoon.  If no wooden spoon was available, I used my hand, flat against their chests.  They (usually) took it like the men they were. 
I thought maybe "it" (maturing, viewing children as children instead of sex objects) only happened to women.
It is my great pleasure to tell you that  I was wrong, and now I have proof!!
Please take the time to read the following article, which is very short. 

http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2011/05/17/adam-carolla-sounds-girly-guys-celebrities-psas-fantasy-football-killing/?test=faces

Adam Carolla has written a book.  May I just say how refreshing it is to see this man again now that he has had children?  I remember him from a pretty horrible MTV show that he did with Dr. Drew, called Loveline.  From what I can remember, I was appalled at the show at the time, and that was when I was still young.  From what I can remember, Dr. Drew shone as the thoughtful and practical "good guy".........but I would not have guessed, at that time, (or perhaps that "age") that Dr. Drew was such a wuss as to call someone to change a tire.  In his own driveway!  That is just embarrassing, and would be even to me, a mere woman.
For shame, Dr. Drew.  Even I can change a tire, sir. (slapping you on each cheek, with leather gloves)

Just to prove it, I can tell you that it is possible to put a tire on backwards, making your car seem to just "lock up" at the very moment you think everthing is all right, even if it is 3am.   That is something you wouldn't know if you had never even TRIED to change a tire.  Just to be fair I will 'fess up to the fact that probably, if you have changed a tire and put the new one on backwards, by that time a cop has stopped, and rather than know how to change a tire, he knew how to call a wrecker, and how very nice the wrecker guys are, at least in Platte City Mo.   I mean, you can hardly even blame them for laughing.  It is pretty funny.  It is quite possible that two girls would have figured it out on their own, without all the "help" from a certain city cop.  But that's neither here nor there.  We didn't get raped or anything either.  I guess it all evens out.

Not to get on Dr. Drew's case, here.  I have a lot of respect for him still, and have learned a LOT of horrible facts of life from his Celebrity Rehab.  But I must say, now, at this time, (or perhaps at this "age"), he does not strike me as a man who can change a tire.  He is the first one on the list to call for a herione addict or a crackwhore, but not to change a tire.  How sad.

What is this world coming to????

And who would have ever thought Adam Carolla would turn out to be one of the adults, let alone a good man?  You can tell he has had children.  I am hoping he had at least one daughter.  At any rate, I am certain that his mother, at least, must be VERY PROUD!

I can only hope he will get the attention of men everywhere, inspiring them to put down the hair color, forget about tanning and be men instead.  Otherwise, I don't even know where this is all going to end up.  It's about to scare me to death as it is.

Now, that is what I call hope!

Time to hit it again......or not

It is that time of year when, if you live in the Midwest, you start to think the weather is going to get warmer.  I say you think the weather is going to start to get warmer because the sun is out longer and the breezes are no longer Arctic winds.  Most of the time.  The fact of the matter is that Mother Nature is teasing us.  She knows we are tired of the cold and the dark.  She also knows we are desperate enough to believe it will change pretty quick despite years of evidence to the contrary.

If I had a dime for every time I've torn the plastic off the insides of the windows at the first sign of the weather warming up, only to be fighting an Arctic blast a few weeks later, I would be sitting pretty.  Have you ever tried to figure out how to get a quilt to stay over windows to keep out a draft?  If you live in a city and think a "quilt" is something you order out of a catalog and weighs less than 25 pounds, you should know that your education in this area had been sorely neglected.  I know they are pretty!  I know they are expensive!!  But that does not make them a real quilt, my dear.  The only way you can get a real quilt to stay over windows would be to nail it, and that would be sacrilege with a real quilt.

It's that time of year when I know I should start spring cleaning, but I would much rather sit in my warm bed and pop bubble wrap instead. 

What?

You don't pop bubble wrap in bed instead of facing bleak realities?

You should try it.  You will like it.  You will want the smaller bubble wrap, trust me on this.  It is much, much cheaper than therapy, assuming you even live in an area where that is geographically possible, which I do not.

This time of year I am lost in the purgatory of not being able to see the end of the tunnel or a justifiable reason to look very hard for it.  I am reluctant to change my winter routine of staying warm and going to bed early. 

Especially if I have bubble wrap on hand. 

Methodically popping bubble wrap while mulling over situations in your life results in more logical thinking and calmer heart rhythm.

No, I don't have any science (!) to back that up but if you try it you will see for yourself.

  It also leaves plenty of time to notice how many cobwebs have accumulated over the past several months and make a plan of attack, once you decide to hit it again.

Or not.

It will come. 

I will know by the bright sunshine that will illuminate the cobwebs in the corners and the marks on the walls.  It's been a long winter, and somewhere along the way the Grand Finale decided to put some nails in the walls. They also had some wild swings which resulted in two (2) perfectly hammer shaped holes in two (2) different rooms.  That I did not ask about the details says a lot about the state of my mental health this winter.  Actually, it says a lot about how mothering tends to wear one down, but I'll save that for another post.

It's not all bad.  I used to get really upset and cry about stupid stuff like that.

Which actually makes me laugh real laughter now.

Live and learn!

For now, let's concentrate on the fact that it is spring, almost.  Despite the temperature, look what I found poking their little heads up today:

These are surprise lilies, naked ladies, whatever you want to call them.  I used to get excited every year when this part came up.  Because I forgot that this is just the green part and means nothing except at some point there will be very fast growing flowers with NO LEAVES, and whenever that point happens, it will be a surprise.  That they will probably by buried under 2 inches of snow by Saturday will affect their progress not at all.

Also,

These will be jonquils and will not let us down.  They will have pretty yellow flowers soooon, very soon.

And here is a shot that I took of the full moon last week that made SHADOWS as long as it was out.  How clear and beautiful were the nights that this moon lit!  I certainly hope you took the time to notice and appreciate it.  I know I did.

Hold on.  Just a little bit longer.