I Met Romeo at Ghirardelli

I have always enjoyed people watching...noticing expressions, interactions, wild outfits, colorful hair, beautiful (or outrageous) clothes, you name it, I take it all in and wonder about people's stories. I think I got that curiosity and eye for people from my dad. And now that he isn't here, I feel a heightened sense of wondering about the stories behind the stories.

It's really just a matter of taking the time to notice others and absorb details.

The other day was a day like that, full of taking just a little extra time to notice people, engage in conversation with them, ask questions, smile, make eye contact, encourage...and be encouraged.


No trip to San Fransisco would be complete without a trip to Ghirardelli. The prices for sundaes have always struck me as outrageous, and as such rubbed me a bit the wrong way, but those kinds of things never really bothered my dad. (To a fault...as much as my mom is tight, my dad was loose...well, maybe generous...) At any rate, it just seemed like the day to splurge on sundaes. In fact, Nicole ordered a banana split. I found edible nirvana in an espresso chip hot dark chocolate sundae with gobs of whipped cream, the real kind swirled on top. YUM. There was a group of older gentlemen who entered just ahead of us and were seated off to our right at the next table. It did not escape my notice that they were having FUN...just pure, unadulterated fun. Laughing, eating their hot fudge, and just having a good time.

I couldn't resist. I had to ask what their story was. And, they told me they are all ROMEO. (And old enough to be my dad...it made me miss him terribly).

Retired Old Men Eating Out. And today they chose treats involving ice cream and chocolate. Smart move. But what really struck me was the camaraderie, fun, and connection they had. For them it appeared to be all about relationship. And that is as it should be.

Peace.

Ben and Jerry's and Midnight Snacks...

Pathetic. There is Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream front and center. I am not tempted by the Italian Ice or Frozen Yogurt, just the Ice Cream. This must be one of temptations that is "common to man" (or at least woman). I have a real problem with ice cream, chocolate ice cream in particular. Especially late at night. It all started when I couldn't get to sleep (again). Maybe too much coffee? If I want to develop a healthy lifestyle, I need to cut out some of that too. Too much caffeine. Ouch. More painful than nixxing the ice cream. And it continued when I had to go potty (because I have been faithful drinking lots of water). Well, the girls were sleeping downstairs and the TV was still on, so I went down to piddle and turn off the TV, and well, the freezer just acted like a magnet. The ice cream practically jumped out of the freezer and into my hands. The spoon was even there.

So I didn't just slam the freezer door, I went right ahead and my "one little taste" turned into at least a serving, and since this flavor is "Everything But the Kitchen Sink" it has over 300 calories a serving. Sitting right there next to all those healthy veggies...

I was tempted beyond what I could bear, and I suppose the way out was not to buy it in the first place. I knew I couldn't resist...but it was at the Surplus Outlet for only $1.50 pint. Less than half price! Better than when we lived in Vermont years ago and could get it cheap cheap at the store (they sold factory seconds because there was too much air whipped in...).

I was smarter the last time. I satisfied my bargain shopper by buying it and then I left it all in Chris' freezer.

Contrary to what I may want to believe, chocolate is not a food group and fat laden ice cream is not an appropriate source of calcium. I am taking the rest to Chris' today, and putting the broccoli front and center. I doubt I will bother with that at 11:30 at night.

What Makes Birthdays Special...

What makes birthdays special? When you hit middle age, or twenty nine and several years of holding, the list is simple...

• Spending it with friends and family. Son Matt and girlfriend Carolyn in photo. There were nine of us, including my mom, Tianna, Nicole and my mom.


• Not having to cook, but not spending a small fortune on a meal, either. We boated to this great place and ate dockside and watched the sun set.


• Stopped on the way home for ice cream. YUM!


• Slept in till almost ten...


• Was just simply lazy (relaxed).


• Realized that Matt and Carolyn were also with us at the lake for Howie's birthday in May.


• Still have my dad living who I share my birthday with. He turned 80 today.


• Don't feel any older. Hope I don't act any older either :)

Peace.

Post Softball Summer

Well, softball is over. Our girls got wallopped 21-2 on Friday evening, but played some respectable softball to meet the South Columbia team in the District 13 Final on Friday night. There was no question who was the finer greased softball machine, but it was great to see the girls be able to make it to the championship game. The opposing team is coached by Gary Grozier, who is a guidance counselor at Danville HS. Personally, I love the guy; I think he is a saint. He was Matt's guidance counselor through his stormy HS years and never gave up advocating for him and believing in him. He is just an incredibly positive guy who always sees the cup half full. I have a lot of respect for the guy, and even more after seeing what a job he has done coaching his girls.

But now that softball is over, there are a few things this means:

• My ice cream eating days at Hunter's are over, since I could only rationalize doing so as post game celebration or sorrow.
• Tianna no longer is banned from swimming on game days, since there are no more game days.
• We can go on vacation as a family.
• My dinner menu will consist of more than chicken fingers, soda and french fries, not to mention candy.
• My hearing may return to normal since there won't be any more softball cheer screaming.
• I can put away my baseball/softball earrings till next spring.
• I won't put quite as many miles on my car...BUT

• I will miss the joy and pleasure of hanging out with the team and team parents who are proud of their girls for playing hard and being part of a team experience.

Good Luck, South Columbia, you are a great team, and I hope you win states!

Softball WIns and Ice Cream

I'm not sure who likes ice cream more, the moms or the kids! I have to admit, I have a terrible weakness for ice cream, especially if chocolate and/or coffee flavors are involved. My friend and faithful reader Maria headed up the celebration by treating everyone, me included, to ice cream after our (wining ) game. Here, I can be seen stuffing my face with chocolate moose tracks (by the way, my C key is back working...) capped off with cappuccino crunch. Yummy. I think Maria had some kind of almond concoction.

Anyway, I have an ice cream digression. Years ago we lived in Vermont not far from a Ben and Jerry's factory store. Now that was dangerous! A pint could be had for 98 cents because there was just a little too much air whipped in. My favorite was a fudge brownie sundae with white Russian ice cream. Unfortunately they don't make that flavor anymore. And have I mentioned that I have a problem with a half cup as a serving size? I always thought the pint container was one serving. Too bad we didn't have money to buy Ben and Jerry's stock when it first went public and we lived there...Of course that didn't impress our twenty something sons (Matt in particular) who can't believe that we lived so close to Stowe and weren't on the mountain all the time, and that the band Phish made their debut right around the year of his birth in Burlington coffee shops. I patiently explained that during those years his dad was in medical school and we were living on less than a shoestring (seems to me there was a problem with the price of oil then, too, which prompted us to keep our thermostat set at 60 degrees) and besides, I was either pregnant or nursing a baby much of that time, and a prego swooshing down the slopes wasn't an option.

Back to softball.

I was having some more deja vu tonight. Most of it involves Nicole, but tonight it was softball.

Years ago we played at the same field with Matt. Tonight we played the same team the girls had played last week and lost to, Berwick. It was quite a game...

The winning pitcher, Blair, (her mom Joyce was pictured with Tianna a couple of days ago) is pictured above with Tianna.

But back to the deja vu thing...I used to get really worked up watching these games as if they were more than games. Sure it is great to win, but it doesn't always work out that way. I remember one game Matt played in his Senior Year in HS. It was the semi final game of the PIAA Championships. They were ahead, and they ended up losing. Parents were bawling left,right and center. So was I, but I was crying for a different reason. I was crying because he had had the chance to play and I had been granted the opportunity to watch. You see, he hadn't been home the beginning of his senior year; he was at therapeutic wilderness aftercare program. Marijuana had seduced him and he had been away, and even though his team mates he had won a state championship with as a nine year old were going to play ball together their senior year, I didn't think I was ever going to get to see him play ball again. And when I did, it didn't matter if they won or lost.

But I have to admit, I did want these girls to win. So it is great to see another Pride child wear an all star jersey.

I think Berwick really expected to win. But our girls had confidence from their win on Wednesday...and they played with their heads up. I have to say, I was disappointed in a couple of the tactics employed by the Berwick coaches. Come on, these people are adults and supposed to be leaders and role models. It seems to me that they modeled intimidation and confidence shaking. First there was a discussion about the fact that the pitcher had to have both feet on the rubber (no, that is ASA, not Little League, but there was enough uncertainty about it that it was a bit rattling to our pitcher). Then, when our starting pitcher was trying to overcome that, and threw a string of walks, the third base coach clearly and loudly announced the count to the batter. "That was eight...that was nine..." Come on. It got a couple of our parents wanting to count back at him when she threw strikes, but I gently pointed out that was stooping to their level. Apparently after their victory the other night, they also smeared some of our car windows that had been decorated with our girl's names. Is this eye for eye behavior? I like the grace version better...

So after two innings we were down 4-3. Got through the next two innings leaving them with the bases loaded and no further scoring, and then in the fifth our girls exploded and scored seven runs. Berwick simply fell apart. Thank God we didn't have a third base coach issuing running commentary...and the most beautiful thing I heard was the coach reminding the girls to be humble in victory. Don't take it for granted...they played a good game...but it could have gone the other way.

The girls will play again Friday against a powerhouse team. They are definitely the underdogs, but they have a healthy determination...and desire to go eat more ice cream!

And Maria, thanks again for the ice cream; it was delicious!