Author: Mama

Pat Benatar — 80s Icon, Rock Star & Anniversary Gift

Posted on June 22, 2016June 22, 2016 by Mama

My husband gave me an awesome anniversary gift this year — tickets to see Pat Benatar. . . without him. Yes, without him. To amp up the awesomeness, he also arranged and paid for one of my best friends to drive in and go along. Maybe it’s not the most romantic of gifts, but it sure ranks up there on my thoughtfulness and selfless scales.

You see, my husband isn’t a big fan of this 80s rock star (sorry Pat), but he knew I really wanted to see her in concert. . . probably because we saw a big billboard along the road a few weeks ago and I said, “Oh, Pat Benatar is coming to Kansas City! I really want to see her in concert!” I don’t know, but I’m just guessing that’s how the idea was born.

At any rate, I’ll be spending a girls night out with rock legend, Pat Benatar, and Neil Giraldo at the intimate Midland Theatre later this week (if her voice holds out) and I’m super excited. Melissa, my friend since fifth grade, seems to be my go-to gal pal when a concert is in order, and of course she never hesitates when a fun-filled girls trip is requested. I dragged her all the way to Cleveland for a U2 concert several years back, because that was the closest place I could get tickets. . . and yes, Cleveland rocks!

Now, what I don’t understand is that my nieces, college- and high school-aged girls, have no idea — I mean NO idea — who Pat Benatar is and what she might sing. I bragged about my anniversary gift in front of them last week because they are concert-going girls, and all I got in return were blank stares and cricket song filling the room. They had not a clue, never heard of her, and barely recognized the lyrics to “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” when I burst into song. What?? How can this be? She’s not some one-hit wonder, flash-in-the-pan singer from three decades ago. She is a four-time Grammy winning icon of the 80s who has several multi-platinum, platinum and gold albums and 19 Top 40 singles. Seriously, girls, I just don’t get it!

As a prelude to the coming concert, I have decided to salute my friend, Melissa, and educate my nieces with a link to a few Pat Benatar favorites (just click on the black iTunes button below). Meanwhile, I can’t wait to see one of my favorite rock stars in person and recall all the words that have been etched in my head since the 80s.

Backyard Water Slide is “Young” Family Fun

Posted on June 11, 2016 by Mama

slipslideME

I’ve heard that children keep you young. . . and now I have proof. Yesterday was, as my son calls it, “slippy slide” day, and there was no way forty-something Mom and fifty-something Dad were going to miss out on the fun.

This particular slide was a preschool graduation gift from Mimi last month and the weather this week finally called for a bit of heat-beating fun. Of course my backyard water sliding novice of a husband tried to install our little toy according to the manufacturer’s instructions, which left the ride as flat as the spot he picked in the yard. We live on a hill, for goodness sakes! After I took over the installation, complete with an extra safety tarp, the real fun began.

slideslideRett

water slide

We each took our turns on the water slide and found it great fun; but I won’t lie, I did hit the Advil first thing this morning. . . but it was so worth it! One of the best parts was that my husband finally fessed up that as a boy he tried a slippy slide once (only once) and gave up when it didn’t work very well. I love that he finally got to enjoy this simple form of summer fun with his family.

Jumping on the Breadmaker Bandwagon: Better (30 Years) Late, Than Never

Posted on June 6, 2016 by Mama

bread machine bread

I have this friend. She makes bread. She makes a lot of bread. She is absolutely the only person I have ever met that has used one of those chunky space-hogging bread machines more than twice. In fact, she recently started making hamburger buns and English muffins with her big ol’ bread making device and has been raving about how healthy (minus the preservatives and additives of store-bought loaves) and delicious everything tastes.

So I started rethinking my view on bread machines. I never realized I could make anything other than a square-ish lump of bread with one of these contraptions. Oh no, I could make dinner rolls, sweet breads, pretzels, buns, crescents and more. Apparently if you have a dough setting on your machine it will do all the hard work for you (mix, knead, wait, repeat) and you can then separate it and shape it however you choose. Who knew?

So, it didn’t take me long to jump on the fresh-baked bread wagon (not counting the thirty plus years since the great bread-making outbreak of the 1980s). On a quest to try it before I wasted a lot of money on it, I found a very nice (and cheap) machine, complete with manual and how-to video on VHS, at a church rummage sale this weekend. After giving it a quick clean and buying a few ingredients, I am proud to say I served my family tuna salad sandwiches on freshly baked wheat bread this evening. Yumm-E!

breadmaker — Yea baby! My “new” Regal Automatic Breadmaker, Model K6776, is awesome.

This clever invention is awesome! Just pour in the ingredients, push a few buttons. . . and run back and forth watching the ingredients become bread through the small little glass window on top. I was like a kid at Christmas. So here’s a thought for all you folks who have a bread machine stuffed way back somewhere in your kitchen abyss — dust it off, plug it in and enjoy some fresh baked bread this week. Maybe you will remember why you originally bought it. . . and if you remember why you never used it, donate it to some poor soul who suddenly has decided to give this phenomenon a go.

Page 71 of 157

« 1 … 69 70 71 72 73 … 157 »