Snow in October....

I had never heard of snow in October-ever.

Until Yesterday.

So what do I know now that I didn't know before?  Which cliche should I go with?  To live is to see it happen? Nothing is impossible? To never say never? Did I really need Mother Nature to remind me of something I should have learned a long time ago? I guess I did or it wouldn't have happened.  That's my new philosophy.

We played in the slush for about an hour. I really had it in my head that it wasn't going to last very long, then I started reading Facebook updates about "Noreasters" and "Power out."  Crap-better do everything I possibly need to get done before we are sitting in the dark freezing in feet pajamas.

The kids and I decided to carve our Jack-o-Lantern.  That's right-let's make a huge mess in the kitchen just in case we lose power.  I didn't think that maybe the power would go out in the middle of the project and I would be stuck with three kids, pumpkin pulp, and carving knives in the dark.  Fortunately that didn't happen.

My children can't just carve a pumpkin-they have to plan it. They got out crayons and paper and sketched Jack-o-Lantern after Jack-o-Lantern until they had exactly what they wanted me to carve.

Those are kind of hard to see-but think of how many sketches Picasso did to finally reach the Guernica!


I learn so much from the north and my days in this town with my three children-slow down, expect the unexpected, and if you are going to make a mistake-do it on a piece of paper instead of the big orange gourd.

Because the last place I wanted to be yesterday was driving back to Bishop's for another pumpkin in the snow....

Pumpkin Spice in a place not always nice

One thing that floors me about New England is the dramatic change from small town to small town.  I don't sugar coat jack-the people one town over can be downright snobby.  I grew up hearing about Madison, CT, from my mother actually.  One of her best friends from college lives there, and has always lived there.  (People don't leave the shoreline).  My mom would go visit this "Madison."  It took almost an hour to get there from the airport and they ate chopped up lobster on a hotdog bun. Oh, and they were always going to day spas.  That is what my "twelve year old self" in Greensboro, North Carolina remembers of the place she can semi-call home twenty-five years later.

I moved here three Octobers ago-October is always my personal new year, and the only preschool spot available was in Madison.  Boy was that a way to throw yourself into a cultural immersion.  No, I did not go into labor on my yacht. I went into labor in an IMAX movie theater.  No, I don't shop at the health food store. I shop at the grocery store for my chicken nuggets.  Yoga?  No, I have never been to India.....

Other than preschool, I have a few other reasons for traveling to Madison.  I feel a wave of arrogance go through me when I cross the boarder of the towns, but alas, I am an addict, and Madison has allowed one little piece of commercialism into its stellar little town.

Starbucks

Last Saturday I was getting my usual and it was quite crowded with the usual people placing the most ridiculous orders I have ever heard-non fat, caffeine free, use soy, etc.... but then all of a sudden the baristas were calling the same drink over and over again: Pumpkin Spice, Pumpkin Spice, Pumpkin Spice...at least eight times I heard this called.  What is up here?

When people are doing something, you have to decide: Am I going to do what they do, or am I going to stick with my Skinny Vanilla? The good news about a blog is that you can always say you did it for the blog.

Yesterday, I had a very overwhelming day. I had one too many meetings on my computer and I had thirty minutes to get my boys to school before another meeting. Plus I had made a Halloween blog commitment. I'm in Madison, I have twenty five minutes, and I need a Halloween theme blog topic: Pumpkin Spice anyone?



The particular drink is plastered in posters and signs everywhere: Drink Me!  Drink Me! You are not a true coffee drinker/ Starbucks shopper if you don't order Pumpkin Spice. I should have tried green tea instead.

As a reminder of where I was, a woman whose kids had been in gymnastics with my kids for three years was walking out as I was walking in.  She went right by without so much as a nod. Gone are those days-I turned my head, said Hello-and asked how "Billy and Benny" were doing this year,  just so she knew I took the time to care. Those are fake names, I promise the real names are the top two on the social security website name list.  No, she had not been in a hurry, and no, she did not forget me.  Nobody forgets me.


Back to the line: I ordered the drink. 

This is too funny not to post:

Me: "Grande Pumpkin Spice Latte, please"  Maybe the please threw her off.

Barista: "You want whole milk?"

Me: "Sure, why not, I ran this morning."

Barista: (big round eyes) "Do you want whipped cream?" Oh I am going to mess with her..

Me: "Absolutely!  Why don't you go dust off the can!"

Barista to the other Barista:  Grande Pumpkin Spice Latte all the way!

Other Barista: "All the way?? " (Did I order rat poison? Ladies, I need to take you south!)

I didn't take any pictures but boy did I want to-I was paranoid.  I got in my car to get home to yet another webinar, and took a sip.

YUMMMMMM!  Like a liquid pumpkin pie.

It was worth extra time in Madison for that treat. I'll have to go again, only I'll get a tall, with skim milk, and no whip from now on.

I live on the Shoreline after all....

The Grocery Store Diaries: Halloween Special!

I own the grocery store parking lot now.  All three of them know they don't open a single door until I give them the go ahead.  All three of them know they can't ask for junk.  All three of them know we stick together and don't scatter in 101 directions. I said they know it. I didn't say they do it.

The pumpkins outside the store would be fight number one- but we get to avoid this because we have already gone to the "pumpkin patch" in town and we don't need anymore.  Last year I went to the patch for the pictures and then bought the pumpkins at the grocery store. Oh well, every now and then I do something the way other women would do it.

Even though we had a few days left, I decided to go ahead and get the candy during this trip.  I know that buying candy early is going to force me to run six miles a day instead of three. I can also look at all the flyers and handouts on my desk and know that we have a very busy weekend ahead and finding time to brave a store might not be on the to do list.

Why oh why didn't I just grab whatever was on sale and bury it under the bread and frozen vegetables? Did I really have to take the time to engage the three of them in conversation? Think about the opportunities for speech the candy aisle provides a mother and her children.

This is a "good mommy" banter:

Look kids, what shapes do you see?

What are the different colors? 

What flavors are in those?

How many lollipops do you see?

Ok my loves, can we pick out the best candy for all our special friends in the neighborhood?  And we know we aren't opening the bag until Monday, right?  Then we eat one piece a day until Christmas.

Then you watch this woman and her kids skip happily through the check out aisle.

 OK, that was fun.

Now, here are MY THREE in the candy aisle:

F: "OK, I want this one for today, and we can eat this bag tomorrow....So we better get at least five bags...

L: "Candy Corn!  Candy Corn! I want candy corn!"

K: "Oh come on, Lowell, if we pass out candy corn no one will ever speak to us again, you know how mom gets when no one will talk to her..."

F: Lollipops would work (whispering to Kenneth)  we can hide these in my room and she won't know...

K: You hide the lollipops and I'll hide M&Ms-you are so right, she will never find them....

Why do they think I can't hear them?

OK ENOUGH!  Each of you pick one bag and then we are shopping for real food....



The decoration aisle is not my thing.  My mother sent them pumpkin place mats and we will paint and carve pumpkins this weekend.  That is as far as I have time to take it. Everyone knows not to ask me for scarecrows and spiders that end up in the storage closet later.

We are shopping fine-like any other Shoreline mommy with nothing else to do on a weekday afternoon...

Until...

The witch!

There is this scary looking life sized witch that laughs an evil cackle when you walk by her.  My three year old has perfected jumping out of the cart and climbing up my side and clutching to my hair for dear life when we get near that thing. I want to tell him that there are plenty of witches in the grocery store all year long, but lately I am keeping such opinions to myself.

Do his brother and sister comfort him and tell him it isn't real? Do they try to ease his pain?  What do you think?

"Look Lowell, she is going to get you!" He climbs higher up my head.

"Hey Mom-we could by one for our living room." Then the baby really starts screaming...I wonder if my sister has these third child torture stories...


The check out is fine-five bags of candy (one of which they have already eaten), all the staples my children love, and no witch. Unless you count me....

Rock it out this Halloween....In preparation for my Advent tradition, four more "Halloween Quacks" are coming!