Sunday, December 23, 2007

baking, grandma and the poll

first the poll. were you all like omg there she goes w/ another sex poll? : ) it was actually sort of limiting because for me my answer varies depending on whether i'm out of town or the hubs is out of town. and i still wonder why masturbating for boys/men is more acceptable than it is for women. wtf is up with that? like we don't have needs?

moving on. friday i tried to make chocolate covered pretzels with the kids. uh, fyi there is a fine line between the chocolate being ready and it being cooked too much and not usable. we got to that point. and another fyi--when the chocolate is passed the liquid point and back to a solid, sticking it in the microwave for 2 minutes doesn't melt it, it burns it. and it stinks.

we did have some success with chocolate covered peanut butter balls but i don't believe my cookbook. this recipe said easy and fun for kids. uh, i don't think betty crocker had kids. they did have fun rolling the balls and we got sizes ranging from large grapes to m&ms--still ok. but the chocolate coating part, yeah, not so easy for kids (or grownups for that matter). the hubs and i ended up doing that part, and you have to work quickly before the chocolate sets up again. they came out fine and are yummy, though the boy (?) doesn't like them. he is the strangest eater. this from a kid who used to eat cheese and grape jelly sandwiches. he eats no condiments, no butter, does not like mac and cheese (i know--what kind of kid doesn't like mac and cheese) and he generally doesn't like melted cheese or spices.

the grandma. so i ended up getting picture frames and a pair of sweat pants/sweat shirt and long sleeved shirt (in the girl's sizes). i'm not confident maw-maw will be pleased as punch with these but then i don't think she's ever pleased as punch with much of anything. when i talked to my mom today she informed me that maw-maw isn't gifting anyone this year. for us, the grandkids that's fine and i'm used to it. for the great grandkids, no, i don't understand. i don't think my kids will notice or pay attention or that this will ruin their holiday, but it still sticks in my craw a bit. (or is it crawl and just what is that?) maw-maw has never been a gift giver--she's always given money. and it's not that i want/need her money but i think it's sad that she's not doing anything for the great grandkids. my paw-paw, her husband, was the gift giver. he loved the holidays. i still remember some of the presents he no doubt picked out when i was a kid--i still have my winnie-the-pooh sleeping bag they gave me when i was five. through the years they (he) gave me a train set, follow me (sears' version of simon) and a snoopy snow cone maker. paw-paw also loved picking out stuffed animals for the grandkids. one year my brother and i got garfield and odie. there were smurfs one year. for easter we all got lambs and there were teddy bears another year. this from a manly man who you'd never think thought a thing about stuffed animals for his grandkids.

paw-paw was tall, like close to 6' if not 6' (which made their paring even more odd since she was never even 5' tall at her tallest). i know he had hair, dark hair, at one point in his life but i never new him with hair. and hanging out around the house he never wore a shirt. there are all of these pictures of him laying on the floor watching tv or whatever, not wearing a shirt. (i think some how, though the boy never met him--paw-paw died when i was in high school--this is where the boy gets his habit of going shirtless). he ate peanut butter crackers a lot and drank coffee with milk (i think that's where i picked up the habit of doing that). he wore old spice and smelled like pall malls, i loved that smell even though i detested smoking (go figure). he used an electric razor and loved little debbie cakes. he was always so tan (part Cherokee) from working in the yard or being out on mud river. he was handy. he built a fireplace in their living room, built a fireplace in the backyard, a patio a deck and when we came home from germany the first time he put a swing set in their back yard for the grandkids. i don't remember getting in much trouble with him, even though we lived with them the year i was in third grade and my dad was stationed in korea. and i was bad that year. (that was the year i REALLY hated my brother and mom took me to a shrink). i do remember getting in trouble once though, though i don't recall my punishment. my seat at the table in the kitchen was near the floor air vent. we had corn for dinner. i didn't like corn. i thought i was being sly and putting it down the vent. paw-paw sat to my right, the vent was between us. i was caught. yeah, like sitting less than an arm's length away from someone and trying to be sly when you're 8 is ever going to work. : )

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