Blueberry Time

My family's absolute favorite summertime activity is picking blueberries. "blueberry time" as Captain Crazy calls it arrived later than usual becuase of the cooler than usual weather we experienced in May and June. Finally it was time to load the boys up and head off to our favorite U-pick berry farm. It was a perfect day for picking blueberries - it was early morning, the sun was shining and a soft, cool breeze kept us cool.


The boys had an absolute blast and I was very happy to see that Captain Crazy's picking abilities had greatly improved from last year. In fact this time he was downright discerning, only picking the biggest, fattest berries he could find. The Destroyer on the otherhand, was eating anything he could get into his mouth -unripened blueberries, rotten blueberries, sticks, grass, and probably a bug or two as well.


We left with buckets of blueberries and dreams of blueberry pancakes for breakfast. Most of our stash is now safely tucked away in our freezer and will make appearances in cobblers, smoothies, pancakes, muffins and jams all throughout the upcoming winter months.

The Screaming Lady

Ever been with your kids when one of those so called "teachable moments" falls into your lap.....and you blow it all to hell? Well I had one the other morning and let's just say that I was less than stellar in my handling of the situation. In my defense though I was having one of those 'I've already broken up countless fights, changed three poopy diapers, and cleaned the kitchen twice and oh my freakin' GOD! it's only 10:30 a.m." type of days. And I was PMS-ing. And I was running on four hours of sleep. So there. I wasn't in the best mood to begin with.

Anyway, it all went down like this. We were walking back from our neighborhood park. I was pushing The Destroyer in the stroller and Captain Crazy was riding his bike along side us on the sidewalk. We were on the opposite side of the street from our house, and we were getting ready to cross the street when I looked to my left and saw the car approaching. To say this car was driving "fast" would have been putting it mildly. To say that it had "sprouted wings and was flying very low to the ground" would have been a much more accurate description.

When it registered just how fucking fast this moron was driving, on a neighborhood street, something inside of me just snapped. As the car approached, I screamed as loudly as I could "slow down!". The car windows were down and they definitely heard me because they slowed almost instantly and then the passenger, a girl maybe in her late teens, looked at me and yelled back "What's your problem, lady?!" Whoa! What's my fucking PROBLEM?! Was she serious?! Fucking moron! I screamed back at her "YOU'RE SPEEDING ASSHOLE! That's my problem!" The car flew around the corner and I turned back to my boys. That's when I saw a lady standing on the corner - mouth hanging open, her dog's leash dangling loosely from her hand as she stood waiting for it to finish whizzing on the neighbor's grass. I shot her the hairy eyeball and then hustled us across the street.

Looking back on the situation, I'm definitely not proud that I lost my temper and said "asshole" in front of my kids - especially Captain Crazy since he's like a parrot these days. And I'm very well aware that kids learn from us and our actions and blah, blah, blah. And I realize that everyone speeds sometimes - it's just a fact. But racing through neighborhoods at 45 -50 mph when little kids are playing in their front yards and riding their bikes on the sidewalks is completely unacceptable So, I'll continue to scream at speeding cars whenever I get the chance -I'll just choose better words - when my kids are with me.