Life is Good – 2/2/2013

It’s that time of year that I knew would inevitably come, when winter feels as if it’s been here long enough already and there’s no end in sight. This kind of winter is what I know, gray days and bone chilling cold at times. It’s not the season itself that really bothers me so much. It’s what I let it do to me. When I can’t seem to stay warm, I slow down. I stay inside, doing still and quiet things, like reading books or watching movies. My motivation  to get these muscles moving fades away. I can’t seem to get enough sleep.

These aren’t bad things, when I allow them in moderation. And lucky for me, I always seem to recognize when enough is enough. And this has been that week.

I’ve been guiltily joking about falling off the exercise bandwagon lately. Sure, there were contributing factors in the past couple of months – varying illnesses and a back strain that left a weeks-long ache in my hamstring muscle. But those things have long subsided. I said I couldn’t run outside. It was either too cold, too icy or too snowy. And as for the treadmill in the nice warm gym, it was getting boring. And the gym was packed with new bodies anyway. I felt crowded by all of those enthusiastic exercisers hell-bent on honoring their new year’s resolutions. And each day that’s gone by without any attempt by me to keep my body strong has gradually added to my pile of guilt. The guilt became too much this week, but I knew I needed something new, something to make me enthusiastic again.

I’m exploring the world of yoga! Thank you, Cable T.V. for your on-demand fitness programs that are tailored for everyone from beginner to advanced. I am once again starting the day in a healthy way. And don’t worry. I’m not giving up running – just taking a little break.

The good mojo seems to have worked its way into my work life this week too. I’ve found myself steadily busy and productive, just the way I like it. There’s been no word from the CEO about the headline contest, but he did send me another assignment yesterday. Seems he wanted a press release for a new product that’s up and coming. He gathered all of his thoughts and ideas on the subject and spewed them into an email which he then sent to me. He asked me to give it a good work over and “tighten it up” and I found myself with company approved time to just sit and write.

Things are all good with the family. Our winter laziness has at least inspired Mark and me to do a good amount of home cooking, which feeds right into my ongoing goal to eat better.

Brad received his college diploma this week and sent me a text message to let me know. “Turns out I graduated after all,” he said. The day of graduation, he was joking that he might be cutting it close and wouldn’t know for sure until days or weeks after the graduation ceremony. I never doubted it though, and I told him so.

Kacey texted me several times this week from school. Once was to let me know that two of her friends had mentioned they were craving some soup that I’ve made on several occasions. It’s nice to know that my cooking skills are adequate enough to generate requests for a repeat performance.

Kacey also texted me to let me know she and her friends have signed up to do the Polar Bear Plunge – a fundraiser to support Special Olympics Minnesota athletes. Kacey and her team will be gathering pledges and in order to collect on them, they’ll be taking a plunge into Lake Calhoun on March 2nd – which means they’ll be taking a plunge into a hole cut into the ice and dipping into the frigid water! I think they are brave, and I am proud!

And I actually saw Jake this week and spent time with him for about an hour, while he was wide awake and in good spirits. He’s been working a lot, so time with him is often hard to come by.

And this morning, after a long, dreary, cold week… it is still cold, one degree outside as I write this. It was snowing as I left work yesterday afternoon, big, fluffy, lazy drifting flakes. The snow continued into the evening and left the landscape clean and fresh. It’s the weekend and the sun is shining.

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Temperatures are predicted to rise up into the teens today. It’s better than single digits. I’ll take it. Life is good!

Only 119 days until summer break begins

I’m sure for many others, that holiday feeling faded away almost two weeks ago, once the holiday celebrations had all become a thing of the past. I too have returned to the routine of everyday life, but for me, the “ordinary” doldrums were kept at bay while my baby has been home from college.

I always say that I’m not sure what I might have done to be blessed with such good kids. Believe me, I certainly didn’t earn these blessings with my own behavior in my younger days. My three have very distinct and different personalities, for sure, but between them, there is diligence, confidence, good humor and compassion. There have definitely been highs and lows as we’ve watched them grow, but I am so proud of the people my children have become.

Now that they are grown and working toward lives of their own, the house is so much quieter than it ever was. Yes, they are each still in transition to their adult lives, but the two boys are well on their way to independence, only leaning on us here and there at times such as when facing a particular situation for the very first time. (Brad called last week for help understanding his employee benefit offerings.) Kacey’s ties to home are still a bit more secure, but as a college sophomore, I know those ties loosen a bit more with each passing day. It’s no secret that some of the highlights of my days are those times when the kids come home to stay for any length of time.

For the past four weeks that Kacey has been home from school, it’s often her voice or face that greets me when I come home from work. She’s so full of enthusiasm and energy for life, she’s just a joy to be around. She has such a knack for finding the silver lining in every situation and has an easy ability to laugh at herself and help me not to take myself so seriously. (Really, sometimes I wonder who’s the adult and who’s the child here!)

The dogs are always happy when their favorite cuddler is home too.

I remember my own years at Kacey’s age. My mom and I did whatever possible to steer clear of one another. She (wisely) knew there was no winning with me and I was too cool and too perpetually annoyed with my life to reach below the surface with her. I’m happy to say that, eventually I did some growing up and Mom and I have made up for lost time, but now I’m sorry I couldn’t give her what Kacey has given me.

Spending time with my daughter is one of my favorite things. Just yesterday, as we were greeting the day in that weekend way, slow and lazy, she said, “You should make us some omelets with peppers in ‘em.” It was long ago decided that I am the best omelet maker in the house and breakfast being one of my favorite meals, I easily agreed to Kacey’s suggestion. As it turns out, there were no peppers in the refrigerator, but we did find some ham and cheese and some breakfast potatoes.

“I think I’ll put some chopped onion in mine,” I mentioned.

“If you saute’ them first, I’ll have some too,” she said.

Simple, little things I learn from her sometimes. I’d never in the past sautéed my onions before putting them in my omelets. Turns out I really liked them!

Together, we made a mess of the kitchen, the end result being steaming, cheesy, overstuffed omelets that were almost too big for either of us to finish. We should have split one! But sitting together at the table, enjoying our over-sized breakfasts, talking, laughing at how the dogs never give up begging for a bite of “people“ food they’re not going to get… it’s the kind of precious moment I look forward to more as opportunities grow fewer.

I’ve loved having Kacey home the past four weeks, and not only because she’s the one family member who might notice the dishwasher needs emptying and just take it upon herself to just do it without being asked. She’s my ray of sunshine, always anxious to share her stories with me, making me laugh, or wanting me to watch a chick flick with her. I feel honored that at her age, she carves time out of her busy life for me. My world can feel a bit empty at times. She reminds me that I’m wrong. My life is overflowing.

My holidays come to an end today. Second semester is starting tomorrow and it’s time for Kacey to go back to school. But I get to ease back into the old and sometimes boring routine. Her college isn’t all that far away. She can come home often, and I’m happy that she does. Next weekend is the home opener for the Minnesota Wild and Kacey and Connor are big fans. Now that the NHL season is finally starting this year, they plan to be at that first game. They’ll be back home in just a few short days! Think I’ll stock up on some fresh red and yellow peppers before next weekend rolls around.

Jackets

Since yesterday afternoon, it’s been alternately raining, misty, foggy and raining again. So obviously, it’s been warm enough for rain. Feels really strange to have rain in Minnesota in January. But this strange-weather roller coaster seems to be the new wave, so we accept it. Besides, we got enough snow back in December to last for a while. There’s still a good layer of it on the ground and it’s weathering its second steady rain with no sign of retreating.

Still it is January in Minnesota, which means the cold isn’t ever far away and it is scheduled to return this weekend, in full force. And Kacey has been letting me know that she’s in need of a new winter jacket. And since she’s heading back to school this weekend, to the city that is the self-proclaimed epicenter of the flu epidemic in Minnesota, I feel inclined to do all I can to keep her warm and healthy.

I suppose it is time. The last jacket we bought for her was her high school letter jacket. Letter jackets tend to have a shelf life that ends on high school graduation day. So Kacey has reverted to her previous winter jacket which we bought when she was a high school freshman. Since she’s now a college sophomore, it’s probably time for a new one.

We went shopping last night and were quickly frustrated. The department stores don’t have much left in the line of winter outerwear. The local sports and apparel stores still have a decent selection, but the prices haven’t dropped. And I guess I was a bit shocked by the cost of jackets.

I guess the last time I bought a winter jacket for one of the kids, they were probably still growing. Which means there were pricing limits in place. I’ve only ever been willing to spend just so much money on something that might only be worn for one season. I guess I haven’t shaken that mindset just yet. And it must have rubbed off because even Kacey was put off by the prices, not even bothering to ask if I’d consider some of her choices. She came home jacketless.

As I was touching base with Mark today on the phone, I was explaining my frustrations over the jacket situation and quoting the prices we’d seen on some of the jackets that had appealed to Kacey.

“So just get one,” he said! “I don’t want her walking around campus without a decent jacket. Just spend what you need to spend.”

I think that’s all I needed to hear to realize, he was right. She’s done growing. She needs a decent jacket and she’ll be able to wear it for more than a season or two.

And besides, since she’s been on break from school, she’s been so helpful to me, with holiday preparations, and things around the house, and then putting all the Christmas decorations away while I was sick. So I guess she deserves something nice, like a new jacket. We went out tonight and picked out a good one. I earned a good chunk of points on my store rewards card!

And when we got home and Kacey was happy as a clam, she told me that she and her room-mate had been talking about jackets recently. “Andrea and I totally agreed that if it were acceptable to wear your high school letter jacket in college… we totally would.”

Well. Good to know she appreciates her stuff anyway.

You’re never too old to carve a jack-o-lantern

Kacey and Connor came home from school for the weekend. Both were craving some home cooking! Connor’s grandma made him a special meal of barbecued ribs. Kacey had asked for Mexican Chicken Corn Chowder. She got her wish too.

While at the grocery store on Friday night to pick up some of the necessary ingredients, Kacey mentioned that she wanted to carve pumpkins. Her friend, Amanda was home from her school for the weekend and they wanted to make a little party of it. So we bought chowder ingredients and pumpkins.

Saturday afternoon, the kids gathered at the kitchen table and went to work.

Scoopin’ the “guts” out

Kacey generated a pattern on the computer for her pumpkin.

Connor worked on a shape of the state of Minnesota.

Amanda created a pretty elaborate spider web pattern.

I made a caramel corn snack mix while the kids worked.

Proof that you’re never too old to have this kind of fun.

The finished jack-o-lanterns

The kids talked while they worked. Amanda is having boyfriend problems and she didn’t seem to mind my presence as Kacey and Connor offered her sympathy and advice. I marveled over the fact that they are grown-up enough to be in love, grown-up enough to offer mature perspectives to one another, grown-up enough to manage college and vote and balance a checking account, and yet, they could still make an afternoon out of pumpkin carving. Once again, I was reminded how lucky I am to have such good “kids” in my life.

When you know you got at least a few things right with that parenting gig …

BZZZZZ!

TEXT MESSAGE!

… from my darling daughter upon her return to school after a weekend at home …

Forgot to tell you this, but on the way back to school Conn was saying how happy he was that we got to go out to eat with you guys, and how much he loves you guys and how sad he was to leave Sunday, and how he looks at Dad as one of his few ‘father figures’ so thank you for everything. Love you guys! Have a good week

That just felt like the kind of message I wanted to write down and keep forever. ‘Cause as much as I know we’ve screwed up in our roles as parents, it’s amazing to read words like these and know that once in a while, we manage to make a positive impact.

And these kids? We think they’re pretty great too.

Wooden Shelves Made with Love

Last year when Kacey was a freshman at a different college, her dorm room had a desk with a shelf on it. The dorm itself was old. And as tends to be with dorms, her room was cramped and the closet was tiny. And if you know anything about girls, it’s that they have a lot of stuff! So that shelf on Kacey’s desk offered necessary and valuable storage space.

When she switched to a new college this year, one of the perks was a room in a newer building. It’s much bigger than last year’s room, with a better layout and a good amount of closet space. But there was one drawback. There was no shelf on the desk. Last year, Kacey kept her alarm clock on the top shelf of her desk. She would hear the alarm go off in the morning and lean down from her bunk, reaching toward that shelf to turn off the clock. As Kacey and her roommate, Andrea unpacked their things on move-in day this year, they contemplated what they could do about the lack of space on their desks. Maybe they could buy something, they thought.

When Mark heard that, he jumped to the rescue. There was no sense in trying to find a shelf to fit the desks. He would make them, he said. He loves this kind of thing. He lives for this kind of project. All he needed were some good measurements and he would be all set to build the perfect shelves. No one had a tape measure though. I tried to get a good measurement by flipping a six-inch protractor over and over from one end of Kacey’s desk to the next, but Mark didn’t trust my measurements. (Good thing, too.)

Eventually, Kacey got a tape measure, and with the help of her Eagle Scout pal, Alex, reported the exact measurements to Mark. Mark bought some wood and I came home from work one afternoon to find him in the garage with three shelves for three desks, one for Kacey, one for Andrea, and one for their friend Haley too.

Each one is a little different the others. Mark says he did that on purpose.

“How are you going to decide who gets which one,” I asked?

“Kacey gets to pick the one she wants,” he said, “and then the other two can choose from the remaining two.”

After I’m done at work on Tuesday, we’re going to hop in the truck and make the hour and a half drive to Kacey’s school. I’ll get to see my girl for a little while and she and the girls will get to have their new desk shelves.

Mark’s not so much like me. He doesn’t always show his love with words and outward displays of affection. He has his own way, like putting his time, energy and love into some custom-made desk shelves. I’m impressed with his ability to just whip something like this together. He’s pretty talented this way. I am very proud. And Kacey and the girls are going to love these!

Almost Like Old Times

I had a trying day. I mean, just one of those really frustrating, nothing-goes-your-way kind of days. It felt like dominoes. Just one problem after another and nothing going right. At the end of the day, I felt a little better thanks to the fact that I have some amazing coworkers. But I was still stewing a little bit.

Mark and I went out for a casual dinner and he listened while I blathered on about things that have no context for him. But he listened and it felt good to get things off my chest. Afterwards, we went to watch Kacey play softball.

Kacey’s serious softball days ended last summer when her fast-pitch team reached the end of the line and girls went off to college. She was sad to say goodbye to her ball-playing days. And as much as I’ve enjoyed tournament-free weekends and time to do my own thing, I often miss watching those fun and exciting games.

When Kacey came home from college this past spring, she was invited to play slow-pitch softball on Thursday evenings with a group of friends. She couldn’t resist the call of the game, even if it wasn’t going to be as intense as her last few years as a softball player. Mark and I didn’t so much feel the need to be at the games anymore. That one year away at college had changed things. Last summer, Kacey was still a kid, and it was a given that we would be there to support her at her games. But when she came home from school for the summer, she had grown up a little bit and her softball games became “her” thing. Not to mention, she discouraged us from coming to watch because, as she told it, “We suck!”

The summer games were played and each week, Kacey would come home laughing, with stories about how bad her team was. The season began to wrap up last week with play-offs. Suddenly, Kacey had a change of heart. I knew it when she joked to me, “You don’t love me. You haven’t come to even one of my games!”

“You asked me not to,” I defended myself.

“Well it might be nice if you came to one,” she said. “You never know. I might never play softball again!”

And so last week, we went to her play-off games. And they actually won one! Word has it that was maybe the second win all season. And it was enough to keep them playing another week. With such momentum, we couldn’t resist going to watch her team play again tonight. They won another won and it allowed the team to advance to the consolation game! And it was exciting! They ended up in a tie with the other team, going into international rules and losing by one in an exciting finish!

It was a chilly evening for August and we wore jackets for the first time in months. It was nothing like the more serious softball of the past few years, but as I sat in the bleachers watching the girls joke and play with one another, watching them simply have fun playing the game, and cheering them on in the hopes of a win, I remembered how much I love watching one of my kids doing something they love. And it was good. After a day like I had, I really needed to forget about my work problems and just enjoy having my kid home and see her enjoying life.

 

 

Can’t we just stay here a while longer?

I love summer. I love coming home from work while the sun is still bright and warm and knowing it’s going to stay that way for several more hours. I love that on these days when my husband and son have already gone off to work by the time my work day has come to an end, I know that the house won’t be quiet for long. Kacey’s work day is ending and she’ll soon be coming through the front door.

I want to do all my cooking on the grill on these warm summer evenings. Everything is so easy and tastes so good when it’s been cooked on the grill. Tonight I scrubbed up a few potatoes, left the skin on and sliced them thin. I chopped a small onion and then a home-grown green pepper. Don’t green peppers smell good?  And the home-grown kind smell so much better than the store-bought kind. I made a foil packet for all of these veggies and tossed in some butter, then put it on the grill. By the time Kacey came home, the pork chops were just going on.

I sat out on the deck tonight in the only patch of shade available under the canopy. The air was warm, but not uncomfortable and the smell of dinner drifted over from the grill. Mark just refilled the bird feeders and the birds were feasting. I watered the flowers in their pots. I sipped a light beer and  listened to the sounds of traffic. There are plenty of motorcycles to see out on the road this time of year. Sometimes I think I’d like to be riding on the back of one of them.

I’ve had lots of girl time with Kacey lately. I’m soaking it up and trying not to think about her leaving for school again in a few weeks. She sits on the deck with me and tells me stories about her summer job. She’s a good employee and they like her at work. She works in a file vault with many people of other nationalities. Her boss, Dawitt has a soft spot for her, I can tell. He alternately teases her and tells her what good work she does. He says, “Kacey, you go college. Come back. I kick out old lady and give you her job.”

“Which lady,” Kacey asks?

“One out front at desk. I kick her out. She crabby.”

Kacey joins in on Dawitt’s joke. “Send her to the nursing home,” she says!

“I not say it! I not say it,” Dawitt laughs as he walks away.

I love talking to Kacey. She knows who she is and she likes who she is. I love that about her. She embraces all of the experiences that come her way. I always say I could never work in a file vault. There’s a reason they hire college kids as summer temps for that job. No one wants to stay there forever. But Kacey admits that although she might not want to deal with files for the rest of her life, she enjoys the office environment. She embraces the challenge of the work. She likes to do a good job. I feel like she’ll make her way. She’ll make the best of what comes her way and she’ll climb her way to the things she finds really fulfilling.

Lucy is happy to have Kacey home too. She gets twice the attention when Kacey is around. After dinner, they play on the living room floor with the tire toy and we laugh at how silly our dog is.

Connor is pretty likely to come around on these summer nights. If he doesn’t come for dinner, he’ll be here shortly after. Sometimes he and Kacey hang around the house and I enjoy their silliness and laughter. Sometimes they go off to find something or someplace more entertaining than home. But I like that they come and go through the door often during these summer days.

I was just thinking how summer will start coming to an end soon and how much I’ll miss it. But I just realized that as much as I love the long days and warm temperatures, the birds and the blue sky and the grill, it’s not summer that I’ll really miss so much. It’s them that I’ll miss.

Life is Good – February 12, 2012, New Roomies and a Happy Dog

It’s Monday Eve already. Where do the weekends go?

Not much in the line of excitement happened this weekend. I bought a smaller wallet to fit in my smaller purse. The purse is relieved. It can be zipped now without straining. Also, Kacey came home from school again, this time to celebrate the birthdays of a couple of friends. She hitched a ride home with her new roommate.

YES, I said “new roommate!” I’ve mentioned before that Kacey was having some roommate troubles with the original roomie. I know I’m a little biased, but honestly, I think Kacey is totally easy to get along with. She’s easy-going and outgoing and most people seem to like her. And I don’t really think the original roomie didn’t like her. I think she just wasn’t used to sharing living space with another person. And she didn’t seem to catch on once she started college either, and this just made her seem rude and difficult to live with.

Meanwhile, while learning to navigate other aspects of college life, Kacey made friends. She became close with one girl in particular, Caitlin. I realized this when Kacey’s stories became filled with references to Caitlin. And it just so happens that Caitlin’s roommate just moved out. She wanted to get into the on-campus apartments. When a spot opened up, she left Caitlin alone in the room and Caitlin invited Kacey to move in with her. Voilà! Everybody’s happy!

See? They’re already doing goofy photos together:

Swapping smiles

So Kacey was home but she wasn’t really home, if you know what I mean. She’s a busy girl with a busy social life. And while she was busy celebrating friends’ birthdays, Mark and I went out for our usual every-other Saturday outing. We had dinner with our bowling pals at Acapulco. I had shrimp tacos. YUM! And then we bowled. I’m still trying to perfect my new skills. And they’re coming along. I’m a bit inconsistent but starting to figure things out. I got on a little roll in my first game and bowled a 188, so I was happy! And our team won all three games. We are way higher up in the ranks than we were at any given time last year. It’s progress!

This morning I woke up to sun and a temperature of nine degrees. Lucy wanted to go for a walk so I said, “What the heck!”

I bundled up with Under-Armour under my clothing and put Lucy’s suede coat on her. As usual, she was annoyed with the coat, but once we got outside and started walking, she forgot about it and just went about the business of exploring all of the new sights and smells. It was quiet out there. Not too many others were inclined to venture out this morning. We enjoyed having the neighborhood to ourselves for a change.

Later in the morning, Mark, Kacey, Connor and I ventured out to Ikea. Don’t you just love Ikea? Where else can you get so much for so little? We picked up a futon for Kacey and Caitlin’s room and a new comforter and duvet for Jake’s bed. I could have wandered around for hours looking at things and buying stuff, but the men-folk were too impatient, so we just got our necessities and got out of Dodge.

Before long, it was afternoon. Caitlin’s parents dropped her off at our house and we took the girls back to school. It was so much easier leaving my girl at school knowing she was going back with a new roommate and friend who she really likes. I think these last few months of school are going to be more like what she hoped her college experience would be.

"Welcome home. And say hi to Baby too!"

Lucy, as usual, was beside herself with joy to have us back home again. I indulged her with much petting and hugging and cooing over her cuteness. In return, she brought me her slobbery “Baby.” It’s good to be loved.

Muffinous

It wouldn’t have been possible without Joe. He was peeling his banana at lunch last week and made the comment that he would soon see whether or not it was too ripe to eat.  Lori nodded in understanding, but I was perplexed. The banana looked like it had reached the perfect peak of ripeness for eating and I said as much.

My four coworkers all disputed my observation. It seems they all prefer a touch of green on their bananas.

“Eew,” I said. “No green. When they’re nice and yellow, just before they start to brown? That’s the perfect banana.” I went on to tell them about the bananas I had bought nearly a week ago that were still sitting in the fruit basket at home. Still solidly green and showing no signs of ripening whatsoever.

Lori’s face lit up. “I should bring you my bananas. I bought some at Sam’s Club, and you know those come in a huge bunch. They’re getting ripe past the point that anyone at my house will eat them.”

“Bring them in,” I said. “I’ll eat them!”

Friday morning as I was bringing my lunch to the break room to put in the refrigerator, I knew Lori was already in the office. I knew because there was good-sized bunch of bananas on the table, and I had smelled them before I had seen them. I laughed out loud! Clearly Lori had not listened carefully when I described the condition of a banana that was perfect for eating. What she had brought me was banana bread bananas.

Later in the day, Belinda and I split the bunch and each took some home.

I noticed the bananas on my kitchen counter Saturday morning and decided to bake a nice treat for breakfast. The beauty of having college-age kids is that they sleep very late. There was no hurry. So I browsed through a couple of cookbooks until I found a recipe for Jumbo Banana-Nut Muffins. I knew I didn’t have any nuts on hand, but I didn’t care. I don’t like to taint my baked goods with nuts. The kids would prefer chocolate chips in their muffins instead.

The recipe said it would make six jumbo muffins. It just so happens that I have a brand-spanking-new muffin pan, and I was itching to give it a try. So there I was, happily mixing dry ingredients and mashing bananas and making just enough noise to wake my beautiful daughter who came home for the weekend. When she’s home, her time is more likely dedicated to Connor and friends. I knew that breakfast was my chance for some one-on-one time with her.

Kacey came trudging from her room in her signature pajamas … a pair of shorts and a softball t-shirt. (Or was it volleyball? I can’t remember.) Her hair was tousled and she didn’t look quite awake yet, even though it was near 11:00 a.m.

“What are you making,” she asked?

“JUMBO Banana Nut muffins,” I said with obnoxious emphasis.

“Yum,” came her reply! “With chocolate chips?”

“If you can find some for me. There should be some in that cupboard,” I said pointing to the one I meant. “I’ll make half with chocolate chips and half without.”

The recipe said it would make six muffins, but the batter filled eight cups. No one was complaining about the extras. I popped them in the oven and set the timer. While we waited for them to bake, Kacey told me how she was trying to kick her pop addiction and she read excerpts from an article she’d found online that were enough to convince me it’s time to kick my own Diet Coke habit. Before long, I was peeking in on the muffins and seeing they were rising nicely. Kacey and I sat down to eat them while they were still warm…

Mountain Muffin Tops (anyone else hear Led Zeppelin playing in the background...?)

The smell of fresh-baked muffins was enough to draw Jake out of his slumber and he soon joined us.

The chocolate chip variety

These began to disappear quickly!

I like mine chocolate-chipless and with lots of butter!

The bananas I bought are still neon-green, a week after buying them. If it hadn’t been for Joe’s banana commentary, these muffins never would have come to be. It would have been just another boring, cold cereal kind of morning!