Men and Work

There was an article in the paper recently that said that soon there will be more women working than men. Men have been losing jobs more than women in this down economy. But, it also went on to say that colleges are graduating more women than men. Presumably, this means more men will be staying home taking care of the house and kids. And I've also read that younger men are more used to sharing household duties with the woman.

Now, if you read my bio, you'd know that my Hubby already stays home. I wonder if the next generation of stay at home dads will be different than my Hubby. He's been an at-home dad for 14 years. And it's been a deliberately chosen path. Yet, even today, if someone asks him what kind of work he does, he says, "I'm a semi-retired lawyer." The little devil on my shoulder always thinks, wonder where the check is from the part that's not retired. The nicer side of me just wonders why he feels compelled to answer in this way. If the roles were reversed, I'd have no problem saying I took care of my kids and the household.

Is there really such a stigma on a stay-at-home dad that he can't admit it? Will the next generation of dads feel the freedom to admit their choice proudly?

Husband Tortures Wife with Keebler Cookies

I have gained a bit of weight over the years. It is partly due to my inability to control my sweet tooth. My doctor just told me that I need to ask myself at every meal, how can I make this a little better. That's what I'm trying to do. But it doesn't help that Hubby brought home two packages of my favorite Keebler Fudge Stripe Cookies.

Yes, folks, the same cookies that were my downfall while I was on my own for a week this summer. I asked him why he got them and he said, because they were two for one. Now if only the calories were cut in half like the price, all would be just fine.

He also bought ginger snaps. I have allowed myself to occasionally eat two little ginger snap cookies. They are 35 calories each. I savor each little gingery bite.

Still they don't measure up to Fudge Stripes.

Welcome New Readers

It's quite possible you are reading this blog for the first time. You will find it is full of pretty much nothing except my ponderings. It's a bit like talking to yourself.

However, if in the course of reading anything here that interests you, please feel free to tell me. I might think of something else to say about the subject. Like my teen or my tomatoes or my cats or my tree activism.

And don't forget to vote for my next National Park vacation spot. It's a close race.

Boomer Explores Tomato Uses

Another riveting post about my tomatoes. Despite the fact that two of my plants were pummeled to the ground by rain, they still produced a lot of tomatoes. Like others in the tomato growing profession, we now have too many tomatoes. I've handed them out to three neighbors. Bill has cooked up lots of tomato sauce and we've sliced and diced for a variety of uses.

I had one tomato that looked like a miniature pumpkin. Here it is for your tomato viewing pleasure.

Boomer Experiments with Adding Photos to Posts

I need to learn how to dress up my blog. Call me slow, but I just noticed a symbol that indicates I can add a photo or video to my post.

So I'm adding a photo of my cats. I have two. First there's Emmy, the Million Dollar Cat. Emmy was adopted soon after my 18 year old cat died. It was not kitten season and we wanted a kitten so the pickings were slim. Hubby insisted we study up on how to choose a healthy cat and learn which ones would be quiet. We ended up with Emmy, a part Siamese (otherwise known as whining cat) with ringworm and intestinal worms. I can only say that Hubby was the one that said let's take her, not me. It took a while to diagnose all the problems. The vet bills and the daily washing gave her her nickname.

Because of the whining Bill thought maybe a friend would keep her occupied. So we went in search of a 2nd kitty. We adopted her from the local Humane Society and she was just what Bill wanted in the first cat. Healthy and quiet. We called her Zori, a female Zoro, because of the mask on her face. And she's always jumping from here to there and breaking things (but quietly.) The two cats became good friends and do occupy each other a bit. But Emmy is still a whiner and, by the way, loves Hubby.

Teen Speaks About First Week of High School

My normally uncommunicative teen has been full of blab this week. She just finished her first week of high school. I'm enjoying it while I can by taking advantage of the opportunity to pick her up from school. That time in the car is precious. Just say hello and wait to see what she does with the silence. So far she's filled it.

Before school started her focus seemed be on whether a class would be challenging or not. This week, it's been all about the social aspect of high school. I'm not surprised. I still recall my first day of high school. It is etched in my memory. I had the most awful looking cold sore on my mouth. Spent the entire day with my hand on my face trying to hide it, yet at the same time be friendly enough to meet and talk with my new classmates.

This week Grace has been most excited to tell me about the new friends she's met. She strategized how she was going to talk to a boy in one of her classes that she recognized from a summer camp. She joined the swim team, our biggest surprise yet. And her favorite class has changed daily, though English looks like it's going to take the permanent lead. The teacher is a vegetarian and hence a kindred spirit to my vegan daughter.

Swim team practice runs till 6:00 p.m. so I should be able to continue picking her up from school until the season is over. Can't wait to hear about week two.

Boomer Venture Into Local Politics Eye Opening

This morning I met with the Environmental and Zoning Committee for our local neighborhood. I joined it because of the sad demise of so many elm trees in our neighborhood. I learned the committee covers a much broader spectrum of issues.

But before going into that, I have to reveal Stupid Act #1 in my local politics career. After letting the committee head know that I prefer afternoon meetings to morning meetings, I was told that I was in the minority and the meeting would be at 7:00 a.m-9:00 a.m. anyway. I explained that I was pretty much worthless till about 10:00 but I'd be there. So I show up to the meeting at 7:00 a.m. and no one is there. By 7:25 I'd given up and gone home and shot off a note saying "The only thing I hate more than a 7:00 a.m. meeting is a 7:00 a.m. meeting where I'm the only one that shows up." By 12 noon that same day, I realized that I had shown up on the wrong day. Did I feel stupid or what? Worse yet, I had to get up for the same 7:00 a.m. meeting today.

So back to the meeting. Topics: property taxes, designating the neighborhood as a preservation or conservation district, improving the looks of businesses operating in the neighborhood, allocating money for neighborhood parks vs. walking trails, and the elm trees. Funding and money often came up. I started thinking... politics is a little about sticking your nose in other people's pocketbooks. Well meaning but dangerous. So far all I have to do is write an article for the local neighborhood paper talking about my elm tree experience.

That won't cost anyone anything. Feels safe.