Cozy on a Rainy Monday

   Usually rainy Mondays are the bane of my existence.

   Ok, so that’s a little dramatic.

   But still. Not a fan.

   Today, however, was completely different. For once I actually felt that “cozy” feeling  which everyone seems to associate with rainy days. It was such a rare occurrence that I thought it warranted a cute-cozy post. So here it is...even if it doesn’t have a point to it.

Reading a book while drinking green tea. Ahhh so good.

 Singing and playing guitar with my sister, and turning on the string of white lights in our room for some atmosphere ;) 

Baking chocolate crinkle cookies while listening to Norah Jones. 

And no, I didn't burn them for once.

 Watching an oldie but goodie with the family.

   So it got me inspired..maybe I’ll try to make each rainy Monday a little more cheery. A cup of tea, relaxing music, and good company are sometimes all it takes. 

   (But no promises. I still like sunny Mondays better.)

Bored No More

   So my brother came up to me a few days ago and asked, “Mol, do you have anything interesting for me to do? I’m SO bored.”  That got me thinking back to the days of boredom when I was his age, and I came up with a list of things my best friend and I used to do to pass the time. Ok, things we still do. Sometimes.

1. Sing a song to a tele-marketer.

May I suggest “You Are My Sunshine.” Or “Baby, It's Cold Outside.”

2. Think up next year’s Halloween costumes.

Even if it’s January. Some of our best costumes have included a sandwich, a vending machine, an artist and his masterpiece, and the pair we didn’t go through with at the very last minute: laundry basket and static cling. We just couldn't stand leaving the house wearing sweatpants covered in dryer sheets.

3. Make tacky commercials for random items around the 

    house.

 Like hair spray (“Slick-Quick Hair Spray! For those days when your hair looks like an electrocuted lion!”). Or vitamin supplements (“Strong-aminophin! The pill that makes going to the gym as fun as…not going to the gym!”)

 

4. Bake something.

*Cough*…burn something…

5. Record a cooking show or talk show in a fake accent.

         Ours started out German and ended up somewhere between British and Swedish. Oh, and let’s not forget the homemade chef hats.

6. Make cute, pointless crafts.

         Doll dresses made from socks, a shoebox with macaroni pieces glued on it, Perler bead creations which melted into awkward shapes that were totally useless…

7. Write a song.

Like our hit single “Cinderella” we wrote when we were 13. The refrain was:

“'Cause now I’m Cinderella, 

 dancing with Prince Charming.
  I never dreamed I’d be with you, 

 and the thought is kind of alarming.
 But that doesn’t matter now,
 because we are together now,
 and now I’m Cinderella.”

Don’t even ask.

8. Look back on old diaries.

        

        This may be more of a girl thing, but it never fails to provide hours of entertainment. Oh, the drama of our young lives…

9. Try to write our signatures using pens in our mouths.

         

         For the times when we’re REALLY hard up for activities…just our childish side coming out.

10. Play guitar duets on the roof.
              

        Our rendition of “We Are Never Getting Back Together” always entertains the neighbors.

Well there you go! Hope this helps you beat the summertime blues and inspires you to do something memorable… no matter how ridiculous it seems.

The Little Things

(from Pinterest.com)

Cliché, I know. But easy to do? Not exactly.

I get tired of the ordinary... I want extraordinary. 

Life can seem so boring and dull sometimes. Especially on days like today, when the only things on my agenda were just the same old everyday tasks. 

And then I saw this image and it made me think again. 

Sometimes the most wonderful day isn't the one with the most exciting events, but the one with the most commonplace blessings.

*****

My mom surprising me with a delicious cup of coffee from Dunkin' Donuts this morning, for no reason.

    

Finding a new hair curler at a garage sale for a dollar.

  

Listening to my little sister and her best friend giggling together and singing their own made-up song.

Watching a beautiful summer sunset and realizing that He painted it just for me.

Rereading this sweet paragraph that my younger brother wrote about me for a school assignment last year:

Those small things can mean a lot.

*****

I know for a fact that it can be challenging to find the hidden blessings in each day...but it helps to be reminded that God can speak to us through even the most ordinary means. 

Sometimes we just need a fresh perspective.

Who Needs Reality TV?

   In our family, going on vacation is like jumping into a reality TV show. It’s always the little things that happen on family vacations that make for good stories. This past week, our annual family reunion at the lake was no different. We certainly proved that some of the best family stories can be created when a casual activity turns into some sort of funny situation.

   Like playing Catch Phrase, for instance. Usually people just spew out whatever comes into their heads, but that can be risky when my head is involved. On round 16, the word was “protein” and my uncle was trying to describe it: “Ok, it’s things like meat, fish, eggs, peanut butter…” when I shouted “Animal products!”
 

  Duh, everyone knows peanut butter is an animal product. 

   Then after my friend Jo had described the word “carrot sticks,” I got “fish sticks,” so I said, “It’s what Jo said, but they swim!” Carrot-stick fish? Sea cucumbers? Nobody knew what I was getting at. It’s always entertaining playing that game with a blonde.

   And then since it was a stormy night, I suggested watching a nice family movie: Newsies. I figured it was pretty kid-friendly, and everyone loves musicals with big song and dance numbers, right? (And of course, the 18-year-old Christian Bale). Well apparently not. It instead sparked an hour-long argument among the adults about labor unions and the historical accuracy of the movie’s depiction of the time period. Sigh. Truth be told, though, it was pretty amusing for us kids as we sat back and watched them.

   But my favorite episode of the trip was the pontoon boat ride. At first, the people at the boat rental put us on an ancient, run-down fisherman’s boat with a door missing, an entire broken side, rickety seats, and which the kid helping us said he “hated putting families on.” Awesome. I felt like I should kiss the shore farewell, since it seemed like we had a slim chance of coming back.

   We actually asked for another one since we had younger kids on board, and they upgraded us to a smaller but nicer boat. In record time we were transferred and ready to set sail. But five minutes into the relaxing ride, my uncle, who was steering, said, “Hey guys…um we’re out of gas.” We all laughed and rolled our eyes. Good one. Until he said, “No, I’m NOT kidding. The boat stalled out and I can’t even steer it.” He wasn’t joking. We were already drifting closer and closer to a floating flag marker. (Fortunately my aunt heroically batted it away with an oar.) We quickly called the rental place, explained our dilemma, and got the diagnosis: there was no gas tank in the boat.

  Well then. Guess that would explain it.

   Apparently, the people before us had messed with it, and in the quick transfer our buddy had forgotten to check to see if we had one. I mean, I guess it’s an easy thing to forget…a huge red container that sits right in plain sight and, um, makes the boat go. But during the 20-minute wait for our rescue, we kept busy by constantly trying to distribute the weight evenly so the boat wouldn’t capsize. As we ate cheese and crackers.

   Finally we saw our rescuers on the horizon…plugging along in (yep, you guessed it) the old fisherman’s boat. They brought along the missing tank and hooked it up, and we continued on. Nothing else happened really, except getting pulled over by the U.S. Coast Guard. Just a routine security check, but jeez, what a dramatic boat ride.      

    So the moral of the story is next time you go on vacation, remember to jot down the little events that happen; you can’t make that stuff up, and it usually turns into priceless memories later. Oh, and always check to make sure you have a gas tank in the boat.

Baking Blunders

    Ok, it’s time for a blonde moment. 

    

    I’ve come to the realization that I should abandon any thought of becoming a professional baker. Giving me a recipe is like handing a 3 year old a geometry problem. Every time I bake, even if I painstakingly attempt to measure everything correctly, I still manage to screw it up. 

   Well it happened again. 

   Last week, I wanted to bake a treat, but as it was 85 degrees outside, turning on the oven was out of the question. I was craving cookie dough but didn’t want to risk eating the raw eggs, so I decided on a much healthier choice: eggless cookie dough. Butter, brown sugar, vanilla, flour and more butter.

 
   Well, I managed to mix up everything properly, and a short 45 minutes later I had a bowl of the best sand you ever tasted. An extra bag of chocolate chips and 2 cups of sugar later it still tasted the same. Yum.
    
   So I thought, since it already tastes awful, it can’t hurt to try baking it in the toaster oven, right? Brilliant idea, Molly. Five minutes later, the toaster oven was belching smoke and that innocent little lump of dough was a blackened puddle. The weird thing is, the dough was so horrible that it actually tasted better burned. Sort of like caramelized sugar. Most people post pictures of their beautiful baking creations on their blogs... but then again, I'm not most people.

    
   Take two involved heating the dough in the microwave. Let's just say, it became nicely congealed... but at least the chocolate melted, so that improved the taste. Slightly.
 
   Even my brother, who will eat anything sweet, could barely choke it down.
 
   Oh well. Somehow I know that even though I always fail, I’ll eventually end up forgetting past disasters and keep trying to bake a masterpiece… If nothing else, that should at least guarantee future stories!

Summer Snapshots

    I love those days that start out overcast and dreary, and then in a matter of minutes turn into gorgeous, sunny summer days. Today turned out to be so perfect that I can almost forgive the weather for making me feel kinda cranky this morning. Here are a few snapshots I took while enjoying the sun today...clearly, I have a hard life.

                 

Spent some time journaling...way more relaxing to do it outside.

                  Also tried out a new Organic Berry Lemonade (excuse me, "Flavored Juice Beverage"). It looked really yummy, and then I tasted it. Imagine watered-down vinegar with a squeeze of lemon and cough syrup. No wonder it was on sale for 99 cents. At least the glass looked cute.

I like how the sun brings out the natural highlights in my hair.

Seeing this lovely sunflower immediately brought to mind Matthew 6:28-29: "See the flowers of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these."

Well it just goes to show you can't judge a day by how it starts.