http://kaleidoscope.today.com Writings from My Mind Wed, 02 Dec 2009 03:49:30 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en I sat back and waited for her to begin.  Her dyed hot pink hair resembled an abandoned bird nest, and she was dressed in mismatched clothes in severe want of being tossed in into the trash.  In her lap, she held tight to a gold sequined purse. I finally ... http://kaleidoscope.today.com/2009/12/01/confessions/ ‘Another long line,’ Julie thought as she approached the checkout line at Walmart.  Five – six – seven people stood ahead of her.  The recession had forced most businesses to cut jobs, if not completely shut down.   Julie breathed a heavy sigh and shifted the parcels in her arms.  ... http://kaleidoscope.today.com/2009/11/11/another-long-line/ Bugs!  From the tiniest of the crawling critters, the sugar ant, to the creepiest of them, the cicada, bugs seemingly annoy my home.  Thank goodness that I only have to deal with the northern Midwestern size bugs and not those found in the southern states, and the poisonous ... http://kaleidoscope.today.com/2009/10/21/the-bugs-from-below/ In 2001, my oldest son graduated from high school and choose a college in Missouri that was a 4 - 5 hour drive away from home.  Even though he had lived with his father for nearly two years, I had been the one who helped him with his scholarship audition ... http://kaleidoscope.today.com/2009/10/03/growing-up-moving-out/ As I looked around my basement this week, I realized I had packratitis.  I inherited this condition from my parents and grandparents, and I have passed it on to my children.  This condition is characterized by the unnecessary urge to save things.  My basement is the saving archive. My 80 year ... http://kaleidoscope.today.com/2009/09/05/packratitis-an-initial-look/ For years, my mother has been attending open houses for friends and relatives who achieve milestone birthdays.  When my mother turned 78, she was adamant about what she wanted and didn't want in regard to her 80th birthday. No one was to put her on display at an open house for ... http://kaleidoscope.today.com/2009/08/19/happy-birthday-to-you/ My garden is producing zucchini at an unbelievable rate.  At one point, I thought I had green counters rather than yellow.  It's time for zucchini bread, zucchini brownies, and zucchini whatever. In my haste to get the first loaf of zucchini bread made, I inadvertently mismeasured some of the ingredients.  Thankfully, ... http://kaleidoscope.today.com/2009/08/07/zucchini-zucchini-zucchini/ For parents, kids, and teachers alike, the countdown to the first day of school is on. For parents, it focuses on checking to see if those clothes from last spring still fit, or does the school uniform still fit or even be found, or is a grand shopping spree around the ... http://kaleidoscope.today.com/2009/08/02/the-countdown-is-on/ Ok.  Yesterday, I harvested at least nine "green bags" of romain lettuce.  It was getting to the point where I either had to harvest it or it would go to seed and be no good.  So we decided to create our own version of a "special Italian" salad he has ... http://kaleidoscope.today.com/2009/07/31/italian-special-salad/ Unlike the last few years, the weeds are not overtaking my garden this year, and the vegetable plants are growing "like weeds."  Pardon the pun.  This year, when the gardening season drew close, my hubby and I decided that this garden would grow vegetables and not weeds. The land on which ... http://kaleidoscope.today.com/2009/07/27/how-my-garden-grows/