Category: Junk Drawer

From Ben Stein’s Lips to My Blog

~ Lenore Diane ~ Leave a comment

The movie “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” was my first introduction to Ben Stein. I remember various commentaries by Mr. Stein after the Ferris movie, but my next big memory of him comes from the game show ‘Win Ben Stein’s Money’. Suffice it to say, I was drawn to Mr. Stein, not by his wisdom and intellect, but by his involvement with mainstream and pop culture. Thankfully, over time, I learned more about Mr. Stein, his history, his philosophies, etc. He is more than The Shaq’s Comcast buddy. He is more than the bland teacher in the Ferris movie.

I heard Ben Stein’s commentary on CBS Sunday Morning (a show I love). If you didn’t see or don’t watch CBS Sunday Morning, I encourage you to click here, and read Ben’s commentary.

Mr. Stein, I have decided to live. Well, I’ve been living, actually. I’ve lived over 40yrs so far, and I hope to continue living for many years to come. But more to your point, Mr. Stein, I am writing. And, I am sharing my writings with the public, for better or for worse.

Since I was a kid, I have wanted to write and share my writings with anyone and everyone. As I have stated in previous blogs (and will state again and again in future blogs), I’d like to seek and obtain a book deal. And, I say ‘I’d like to’, because fear holds me back. The though of putting together a manuscript and sending it off to various publishing companies is a daunting task. Who knows, maybe I will be offered a book deal by some publisher who stumbled upon my WordPress blog. That probably happens all the time, right?

Do I really expect to have my big break because the right person stumbled upon my writing? No. But, that doesn’t mean it can’t happen. To what Mr. Stein said in his commentary, I did not pursue my writing dream via the job market with vim and vigor. Instead, I took jobs where writing opportunities could have been classified as ‘other duties as assigned’. And now, though  my current job has proof-reading opportunities, it has less writing opportunities than all of my previous jobs.

Still, I love my current job, and I have no intention of leaving it. Plus, the flexibility of my current job affords me time to write. Plus, I am at a point in my life where I actually take advantage of the time I have and use the time to write. I treasure my writing time, and I milk it for all it’s worth. Moreover, I am putting my thoughts out there – in the blogosphere. I no longer feel the need to hide my written creations. (Though I suppose some readers may want me to get back into the closet.)

In the video commentary by Ben Stein, he referred to feedback he received from his therapist. And, his therapist was of the opinion that happy people are people who pursue their dreams. So, Ben summarized the overall viewpoint by saying, “Choose to live a life you want to live, not one that’s safe or what someone else thinks you should do. Decide to live.”

I started this blog earlier this year, when my marriage was floundering and my depression had a stronghold on me. Through my writing (and medication, and ice cream, and . . .), I’ve reconnected with the love I have for my husband and our marriage, as well as the love I have for life. Through my writing, I have decided to live. And Mr. Stein, because I have decided to live, I believe wholeheartedly that my blogging will lead to a publication or publications. Well, just because I have decided to live does not a book deal make, but I’m working on it. Oh yes, I am working on it.

“Hey, you wouldn’t happen to be a publisher, eh?” Just thought I’d ask.

Weekend What-not

~ Lenore Diane ~ Leave a comment

I am a self-proclaimed writer, as well as a dreamer. I prefer sitting and letting my mind wander to getting up and actually doing something. So, when my kids are running around doing this and that, I find myself becoming flustered. I see them being busy, even at play, and I feel guilty that I just want to sit. I open the laptop, in hopes of writing down my thoughts, but I become distracted by the boys at play.

This morning, Rob took the boys to church, and I stayed home. Today is the last Sunday for our minister. The new minister will start next Sunday. The past several Sundays, I have felt awkward going to church and listening to our minister. I was uncomfortable with the thought that he was speaking to a congregation that did not renew his contract. And, I could go into the whole organized religion discussion regarding assigning ministers to one church vs. another, etc. But, I don’t want to go into that, at least not today.

As I enjoy a quiet house, I find I just want to sit and do nothing. Is that wrong? I thrive when I do nothing, if that is possible. And, my doing nothing consists of talking to myself in my head, romanticizing one thing or another, stressing over one thing or another, becoming anxious over one thing or another, writing novels about one thing or another, etc. I don’t really just sit and do nothing; but, because the ‘stuff’ is being done in my head, to look at me you wouldn’t see what it was that I was doing. After all, thinking and daydreaming is something, right? Have you tapped into my head? My thoughts are exhausting!

Friday afternoon, I watched the movie “The Jane Austen Book Club”, and I loved it. Absolutely loved it. Later that night, I went out with two gal friends. First we went to eat dinner, and then we went to see a movie. We watched “Letters to Juliet”. I thought it was a cute movie, and I definitely and pleasantly got lost in the romance. I had also gotten lost in the romance of ‘The Jane Austen Book Club”. Getting lost in romances is kind of a new thing for me. Rather, my romanticism is coming back to life.

I can’t say for sure when romance lessened for me. As a teenager, I can remember getting lost in daydreams when certain songs played on the radio. I remember the warm fuzzies I would feel during certain scenes in certain movies popular back in the 80s, movies like ‘Some Kind of Wonderful’, ‘Sixteen Candles’ and ‘Pretty in Pink’. I’ll never forget the warm fuzzies my friends and I had whenever we’d see ‘Rugged Man’ during lunch at O’House, while in college. Even in my mid/late 20s, romance was alive and well.

Perhaps my romanticism waned during the early years of motherhood. Many of the ‘warm’ fuzzies of motherhood consisted of freshly expressed spit-up or a leaky diaper, not exactly the most romantic. Regardless of the why or when, romanticism had taken a back seat in my life these past several years. I’d try to get lost in a novel or movie, only to find sleep overtaking me instead of warm fuzzies.

Recently, I tried to catch the Twilight wave, stepping into the world of Bella and Edward. I enjoyed the three books I read, and I had several tingling moments while reading the books. But the movies? Meh. I am hoping Eclipse will prove more, um, stimulating. Nonetheless, based on the feelings and fuzzies I had during the movies this past Friday, my romanticism seems to be awakening again.

I have spent much of the weekend, searching for my next romantic novel to read and romantic movie to watch. In fact, I look forward to watching a movie with Rob tonight. And, there are benefits to my newly wakened sense of romance and feelings of warm fuzzies. Who knows, Rob may get lucky tonight.

Friday’s Pot Luck

~ Lenore Diane ~ Leave a comment

First things first, last weekend, while in Coppell, TX, I ate so much food. And, I ate so much food I don’t normally eat. The result? A week later, and I am full of – well, let’s just say I’m constipated. No worries, that’s all I have to say about that.

.::.

<== See that picture? My youngest took that picture. Notice the dress I am wearing. My sister refers to it as a ‘Holly Hobbie‘ dress. I’ve made ‘Holly Hobbie‘ a link, in case you are not familiar with her. And, Holly has been ‘updated’ since she was first created. I’m not so sure Holly would wear the dress nowadays. Nonetheless, I am wearing that very dress today.

When I dropped the boys off at Suzann’s house, one of the girls said to me, “Ms. Lenore, do you have your nightgown on?” *sigh* She’ll learn about comfortable clothes when she gets older. I’m certain of it. In the meantime, I love living in the ‘no waistband zone’.

.::.

While in Texas, I caught up with a friend of mine. She has a son, age 6, and she was telling me how he wanted to go shopping with her on one particular day. While chatting, I told her that I rarely take my boys with me when I am shopping.

If I need to go to the grocery store or Target for just a few items, I may consider taking one of the boys. But, for a trip involving more than 15 minutes and 5 items? Never. I just don’t want to deal with the disciplining while in the store, the request to buy things we don’t need, etc. Yes, I am lazy. Seriously, though, do you think the boys feel neglected because I don’t drag them with me? I think not.

Well, last night I needed some items at the grocery store. While eating dinner, I asked Charlie, “Charlie, would you like to go with me to Kroger?”

“Sure.” He replies.

“I want to go.” Joe says.

ACK. Both boys? At the same time? In the same store? I start sweating. Can I handle it? Immediately, I flash back to their younger years, when I would make quick runs to the grocery store, while pushing them around in the double stroller. ‘Would they still fit in the stroller?’ I ask myself silently. ‘How would I fit all the milk and produce I need in the stroller?’ I wonder.

“Gosh, Joe,” I begin. “I thought you were going to stay home and bake cookies with Daddy.”

“Oh. Daddy knows how to bake cookies. I want to go with you.” He says confidently.

“Well. I’m not sure that will work.” I say. Then I wonder how I would fit both boys in one cart, while also having room for the items we needed.

“Would it be too hard for you, you mean?” Joe asks. [It is safe to say my kids know me well.]

I laugh and immediately realize my idiocy. “Well Joe,” I respond. “I bet I could manage it just fine.”

After cleaning up the dinner dishes, the boys and I head to Kroger. Though the boys were unaware of what we were buying, our list was simple: milk, soy milk, bananas, apples, carrots and yogurt. We did not have to go up and down the various aisles for what we needed. I say that, because I am not sure I the story would be the same if we had traveled up and down each aisle.

As we entered the produce section, both Joe and Charlie were super excited to see the bananas and yelled, “Mommy! Bananas! Can we get bananas?” Next to the bananas were blueberries. “Oh Mommy,” says Joe. “Can we get some blueberries?”

Then I moved on to the carrots. “Oooh, I love carrots.” Charlie says. “Can we get some carrots?” Then Joe chimes in, “Suzann makes carrot juice. Can we buy some carrots for Suzann, so we can have carrot juice tomorrow?”

Now, while I was in the milk section, the cart was stopped right by a beer display. “Look Mommy.” Joe says. “Beer. You like beer. Are you going to get beer?” *sigh*

Again, if we had gone down all the aisles, I can’t say my boys wouldn’t have asked for junk food, too. However, I must admit, I was so proud of them at the store. And, part of me was proud of myself, my husband and Suzann. We surround the boys with good and fresh food. I think it is clear they are paying attention, and they seem to enjoy what they eat. To hear the inflection of excitement in their voice when asking for bananas, carrots and blueberries … well, I was a happy Mom for certain.

Oh, and Joe asked for pears, too. But, I didn’t see any pears, so I wasn’t able to provide him with that specific treat. And, to tell you the whole story, I pushed the cart down the ice cream aisle. Though the boys never once said, “Mommy! Can we have some ice cream?!” I still grabbed a couple of the small ‘individual cup’ size Ben & Jerry’s Cookie Dough ice cream for the boys, while also grabbing two pints of Ben & Jerry’s Phish Food ice cream for me. You know the drill, “One for you; two for me.”

.:–:.