It's been kind of a weird time lately, my primary face-to-face encounters happening mostly at home.  And while I enjoy the conversations I have with the kids, the primary topic is still What I Can Do For You, frequently starting with "Mom can you get me" and end with "I SAID RIGHT NOW."  With that in mind, I'm thankful for email and instant messaging and the outlet/inlet it gives to me.  Sometimes when it's tough to have in-person conversations and for those times when every phone conversation is held on speaker phone so that Sophie can say hi and Martin can karate kick the air around the phone - for those reasons, I'm thankful for wireless internet and my laptop.  It connects me with other people, which brings conversations like these straight into my kitchen:

Hot Pads: They're For Real
Over the past two weeks, my friend Kathy was out of town, which is fine except that we usually chat throughout the day using IM.  It's very handy for quick conversation and questions and is such a nice way to feel like we're neighbors.  Sometimes we talk about important things, but mostly its a play-by-play of life at our respective homes.  It's kind of the Seinfeld of conversations - it's all about nothing but really funny to us.

While Kathy was away, her daughter Shannon stayed at her house to take care of things.  On the first day of Kathy's vacation, I sent an IM to Shannon to chat a bit, hoping that Shannon wasn't feeling too lonely at the house.  As it turned out, Shannon is a great IM chatter too and we kept up with the comings and goings at our respective places the whole time Kathy was out.  We had some conversations about actual stuff, but many were more along these lines:

Shannon: Okay help me think of a word, what are those things we use to take hot stuff out of the oven.
Jennie: Oven mitts.  And don't feel bad - I answered the exact same question for Marty not one week ago.  Or, do you mean hot pads?
Shannon: Hot Pads? That's not right.
Jennie: I know, when I typed it all I could think about were maxi pads.
Shannon: It can't be hot pads.  Pan holder?  Seriously, I can't stop laughing.
Jennie: Oh hell yes, it is hot pad.  http://www.amazon.com/Kitchen-Grips-2-Piece-Hot-Pad-Black/dp/B0000AS3QJ/ref=pd_bbs_sr_3?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1216178451&sr=8-3
Jennie: AND a pot holder.  http://www.amazon.com/Cannon-CK24BLK-Potholder-Black/dp/B000JLI86I/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1216178497&sr=1-1
Shannon: Hot Pads.  Where are you from.
Jennie: Pot Holders appear to be hot pads but with a pocket.
Shannon: You mean you actually have hot pads?
Jennie: Of course!

I feel kind of bad for Kathy.  Sure, she got to see Ireland with her new husband, but she had to miss all of that.


Veggie Booty: The Name Does Not Make Up For The Taste
I don't want to sound like a big complainer or anything, but sometimes it's hard to find good snacks that don't contain dairy, walnuts, pecans, or almonds.  We always have a nice assortment of peanuts, pretzels, and plain chips on hand but that can get kind of boring.  We were thrilled when we found a pre-made snack mix at Menards that was non-dairy.  And if you re-read that sentence, you can see just how desperate we really are for some snack variety.  We were THRILLED TO FIND A SNACK AT THE SAME PLACE WHERE WE BUY PAINT AND PLUMBING SUPPLIES. 

So last week, when we were shopping, I came upon a bag of Veggie Booty and stopped for a second look.  I hadn't seen it at our store before and was kind of excited to see that it had made its way to our town.  I should interject here to say that the first time I heard about Veggie Booty was last year.  When it was recalled.  And maybe that should have been a sign to me that we should pass on it.  But that was last year and I was sure that the food-borne illness scare was over.  I read the ingredient list to be sure that it didn't contain any of the foods we avoid.  Not seeing any of our red flags I was encouraged and thought some of the other ingredients sounded kind of interesting - spinach, kale, cabbage, broccoli.  We like those things, I thought, and threw it in the cart.  Instead of interest, it probably should have been my second warning. 

I placed some in a bowl and gave it to Sophie.  We each put one in our mouth at the same time.  I chewed slowly, my face fighting contortion as I looked at Sophie to try to read her reaction.  "Mmmm, it's polka dot popcorn!" I enthusiastically lied, hoping that she hadn't matured enough to the point where she could read the truth in my eyes.  "It's good! It has dots!" she said as she ran off to show Martin.  I could barely swallow as I marched to my laptop to send a message to my friend Becca.  The one who introduced me to the product when she was trying to protect my family from food poisoning.  Her response - "Actually the version before that had spices and flavorings that contained salmonella was better."

I'll just take her word for it.


Sure He's Funny: But It's Not The Best Thing About Marty
Last night as Sophie and I were eating dinner, we played a game called "Here's what I like about that person".  In this game, a person is named and each player describes one thing they like about them.  It's a good game.  I get to hear who is on Sophie's mind - the real, the fictional, the pretend - and I love to hear how she describes her feelings and thoughts about the world around her.  In Sophie's world, a lot of what she likes about people are the things they do.  To make it with her, it's all about action, which isn't a bad way to look at things really.

Me: Okay, what do you like about Martin?
Sophie: He plays with me.  What do you like about Daddy?
Me: I think he's funny.  Do you think he's funny.
Sophie: No.
Me: What do you like about daddy?
Sophie: He eats with a spoon.

You know, come to think about it, I like that about him too.  I kind of hope that she puts that one on her list of things to look for in a partner.  It says a lot, and may actually weed out a few people.