Author: Lenore Diane

I am married. We have two boys, two dogs, and two cats. I am on the Oxford Comma team. I look forward to my first large cup of coffee, black, every single morning, and I look forward to that second large cup of coffee, still black, every single afternoon.

Happy-happies

~ Lenore Diane ~ 2 Comments
Vanilla ice cream with Happy-happies

One of my friends in high school worked at TCBY, a frozen yogurt place. TCBY was located right on the ‘cruising’ strip, where many teenagers drove around in their cars on weekend nights. When one actually got out of the car, they typically headed for frozen yogurt, ice cream or the movies. I like the frozen yogurt. I also liked the toppings for the frozen yogurt. More often than not, I would order a large chocolate yogurt with crushed Butterfinger on top. Mmmm, I can taste it now. For those who didn’t like Butterfinger candy bars, there were plenty of other toppings from which to choose: Oreos, Health Bar, M&Ms, different colored sprinkles and chocolate sprinkles. My friend used to call the different colored sprinkles ‘Happy-happies’. She was and is a very bright and happy person, much like the Happy-happies. And, though it has been over 20yrs since the TCBY days, I still look back and smile when I think of her and the sprinkles.

Thanks to Facebook, I recently reconnected with my friend. And, though 20yrs had passed, I quickly let her know about my recollection of Happy-happies. Though I don’t spend my life living in the past, I will bring up past memories when I run across friends from my past. I realize we are older now. I realize what was funny years ago may not be funny now. At least, I realize that is the case for some people; perhaps it is the case for most people. As for me, I look to humor and good thoughts whenever possible. If it means I make a total idiot of myself by drudging up some old memory, so be it. I know I’ll smile as  result. I hope my recently reconnected friend smiled, when I reminded her of the sprinkles. And, I hope she has smiled the countless times I have brought it up since. [I think this is No. 5678, but who’s counting?]

I saw an interview with Ellen Degeneres where she was discussing how she enjoys practical jokes and having fun. Ellen said, “I think it’s very important to stay childlike, and I think it’s very important to still play. Everybody stops playing when they get older, so that’s why I do it.” I agree wholeheartedly with that statement. And, I find that when I look back at the things that made me laugh as a kid, I will laugh again as an adult. Happy-happies make me smile. In fact, I went to the grocery store today and bought some vanilla ice cream and different colored sprinkles. Tonight, after supper, we are going to have ice cream with Happy-happies. While this may sound quite uneventful to you, it will be a big event for our house. Our boys don’t eat much junk food, and when my husband and I [Ok, when ‘I’] give them a junk food pass, they love it.  [Please note: I bought organic vanilla ice cream. And, I spent way too much money on the organic ice cream. It’s tough being a psycho about food.]

After our special dessert tonight, instead of reading a book before bed, we may decide to watch a movie. If I am lucky, the boys may just pick out the School House Rock DVD. Again, a happy memory from my past is watching School House Rock. And, I suspect it is no coincidence that the boys love ‘Conjunction Junction’, ‘Interjection’ and ‘Interplanet Janet’, as those were some of my favorite songs. [I should really put the ‘Just a Bill’ in replay mode for the boys, and educate them on the political process of making bills into Laws. Seems quite timely, due to the pending Healthcare bill currently on Capitol Hill, but I’ll spare a political rant . . . for now.]

Again, thanks to Facebook, I reconnected with another friend from school. This time, I was quick to remind the friend about ‘Interplanet Janet’, because it was always playing in my head when I saw her. I’ve already shared that story with the boys. As you might imagine, the boys were thrilled. And well – something tells me I should feel really silly for sharing this kind of thing, but those that know me, know me and expect nothing less of me. We also wrote a book together, ‘Wonder Pup Saves the Day’. I’ve reminded her about that book approximately 15,235 times. You’ll notice that number is higher then the number of times I reminded my other friend about Happy-happies. The Happy-happies friend is still fairly new to Facebook, so I haven’t had as much time to remind her. I’m working on it though, as is evident with this post.

I have many more happy memories. I could tell you about Moon Eyes and Joe’s Pizza, alas I can sense one of my best friends cringing and covering her eyes as she reads the previous sentence. She wouldn’t be surprised if I did write about it, but if she were beside me, I think she’d advise against it. I’ll skip Moon Eyes and Joe’s Pizza for now. Besides, now I have to introduce my boys to Happy-happies. I will tell them how Happy-happies originated, and I will show them how ordinary vanilla ice cream can come alive with bright, happy colors. I may leave out the part about me ‘cruising the festival’; then again, I rarely leave out anything.

Curious George

~ Lenore Diane ~ Leave a comment

Every weekday morning, the boys and I sit down to watch Curious George, before we head to daycare or work. Though I wasn’t exposed to Curious George as a kid, my husband grew up with his parents reading Curious George books. I used to fumble through the books, when we were visiting his parents. I didn’t understand the draw to Curious George, perhaps because I am a girl or perhaps because I am just different. To me, the books were simply different tales of the man in the yellow hat leaving his monkey behind to cause trouble. George rarely listened, and his curiosity always got the best of him.

Ah ha! Causing trouble? Curiosity getting the better of someone? Sounds like a perfect formula for kids! More specifically, Curious George is the stuff of little boys, and the Dads who raise the little boys.

Truth be told, I’ve grown to love Curious George. And, I am quite fond of the classroom experiments that take place between each 15 minute episode. Our boys love Curious George, too. And, silly though it may sound, I believe our boys learn a bit about science and math, while watching the show. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t look to Curious George to teach our boys, but the fact that the show is somewhat educational is a nice bonus.

So, this morning I sat down with a cup of coffee and watched Curious George. I was waiting for the boys to join me. The boys didn’t wake up in time to watch Curious George, yet I sat and watched the entire show. I’m not sure what it says about me because I sat and watched Curious George without the supervision of a child. I think I’ll be OK, as long as I don’t feel the need to record episodes.

As I watched, all I could think was ‘the man in the yellow hat is a complete dork.’ He is suppose to be some sort of scientist, which makes me think he is smart. Then again, some of his actions lead me to believe the only bright thing about him is his yellow clothing. And, he seems to be oblivious to the fact that whenever he says, “Be a good little monkey,” it cues George to do the exact opposite.

I believe George is smarter than the man in the yellow hat – much smarter. I am not at all surprise that the man in the yellow hat is still single. I think women would have better luck with George than the man. But, I realize this is a kid’s show, and it isn’t about the man in the yellow hat finding a female (or male) companion. I mean, I’m not expecting the man in the yellow hat to try out for a spot on The Bachelor or even a bachelor on The Bachelorette. And yes, I realize I am talking about a cartoon and a reality show, but come on – both are pretty comical.

While watching Curious George, I came to realize what I liked most about this kid show, and other shows like it. Romance and sexual tension is not something you will find in shows like Curious George. Scripts for shows like Curious George are not written to create a love/hate relationship between the characters. I know, you are saying to yourself ‘duh’, right? Still, with all the dramas on daytime soaps and night-time television, I find Curious George to be quite refreshing. The man with the yellow hat is not interested (or too clueless) to worry about an adult relationship, and his friends seem to feel the same way. And, George? George is content running to the next corner and seeing what is around the bend.

Thank goodness for my kids. With kids in the house, I don’t feel nearly as odd watching kid shows as I would if it were just my husband and me. The boys and I can watch shows that are entertaining and educational. We’ll skip the kid shows that merely annoy. You know, shows like Caillou and Barney. Instead, we’ll enjoy watching the fun shows like Clifford, Dinosaur Train and – of course – Curious George. I look forward to watching Curious George tomorrow, even if the boys don’t wake up in time to watch it with me. Who knows, George might even be a good little monkey. (I hope not.)

The Dreaded Fitted Sheet

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The left sheet was folded by me, and the right sheet was folded by my husband.

I present to you Exhibit A. And, no, there is no exhibit B. On the left, you see the fitted sheet I folded, and on the right, you see the fitted sheet my husband folded. For over 40 years now, I have yet to hone my skill of folding fitted sheets. Clearly, my husband’s skill-set is above mine, as his end result is quite neat. Though I will no doubt come across as sexist, I challenge all the men reading this post to take a moment and try their skill at folding fitted sheets. Married men, please consult with your wife on which sheet is the fitted sheet; and single men, please call your Mom and ask her. I am sure all the Moms in the world would love to receive a call from her son(s), anyway. Oh, and please, if you call your Mom, let her know I suggested you call. I try hard to get on the good side of Moms.

Folding fitted sheets neatly is not something I do well – do good? Argh, is it do well or do good? My use of grammar is not always done – um, I’m not always correct in my usage of grammar. Perhaps my mother will read this post and call me with the proper usage of ‘well’ and ‘good’. But, you will not find me waiting by the phone for my Mum to call, because my Mum, like me, doesn’t like the phone. This is not a post about phones, so I apologize for the digression. For the record, I referenced my Webster’s dictionary and found that I do not fold fitted sheets well, but I do have good hands.

I have already showed you pictures of our closets, so you are well aware of my lack of organizational skills. Though I lean more towards the insecure side, it does not prevent me from exposing my faults. In fact, one might say, okay – many would say, over-sharing is something I do well. Talking is another thing I do well, provided ‘do well’ means ‘often talks’. I listen well, too; even though I may ignore what I’ve been told or overheard. I am not a good silent reader, in part because I am easily distracted by sounds and miscellaneous and impromptu thoughts in my head. I do well when reading aloud to my boys, provided I am not reading Dr. Seuss. Dr. Seuss proves to be quite a challenging read-aloud. Actually, I find reading aloud A. A. Milne challenging, too.

I have a wonderful ability to annoy people. Just one loud outburst of my laughter will scare babies and generate looks of annoyance. In fact, on our way to a birthday party yesterday, my oldest did something I found quite funny, so I generated a loud outburst of laughter. My oldest quickly covered his ears and whined. I said, “Oh, I am sorry; I know that was loud.” My husband quickly returned, “Yes, it was loud, especially in the car.” Still, while my laughter may generate some annoyance, I have the ability to make people laugh, too. I mean, the fact that people laugh at me, counts as having the ability to make people laugh, right? And yes, self-deprecation is another thing I do well. I believe belittling is an important skill to keep one’s ego in check. Not sure why, but as I type, I hear Tigger saying, “And, belittling is what Tiggers do best!”

I am good at Jumbles. Frankly, I’m good at many word games. I love word games, too. I’m not good at number games. Sudoku is not my friend. I believe word problems are evil. I do not enjoy reading about Farmer John, who is driving his tractor 7 miles an hour, while wearing his size 36″ waist purple pants on the 2nd Tuesday of the month. When Farmer John gets to his brother’s house, which is 3 miles from where he went to school 20yrs ago, and the total number of times his 13″ diameter tractor wheels rotated completely during his journey, is of no use to me. I suppose getting a triple word score and a double letter score with a great word in a game of Scrabble is of no true  importance to me, either. Still, I’ll always pick a word game over Farmer John and Sudoku.

Aside from sharing the fact that I don’t fold fitted sheets well and my husband does fold fitted sheets well, I’m not sure I know what the purpose is of this post. Staying on target, following one train of thought and generally making sense is not on my list of things I do well; however, the ability to cause people to scratch their head and look confused is something I do quite well.