Suzy Homemaker

My MIL refers to me frequently as "Suzy Homemaker". I wasn't sure if I should be offended or not. But it did get me thinking about Suzy and made me wonder who she is/was.

I found out that Suzy Homemaker was a doll in the 1960's! She had about as much stuff as Barbie! She didn't have a pink car, but she did have a top-of-the-line oven, blender, dish washer/sink, grill, ice delight maker, iron, hair dryer, juicer, mixer, popcorn popper, refrigerator, soda fountain, taffy puller, washing machine and many other things. Sounds pretty good to me.

But I also found this definition of who Suzy Homemaker is:

a housewife who manages a household, esp. with enthusiasm; also, the sterotype of any woman who chooses a traditional female role

I'm alright with that! Just call me Suzy!

Bees

Honeybees depend not only on physical contact with the colony, but also require its social companionship and support. Isolate a honeybee from her sisters and she will soon die.

---The Queen Must Die: And Other Affairs of Bees and Men

Fun is...

...spending the day with a friend

...finding really cool jackets at an awesome price

...strawberry frappacinnos

...Mr. Potato Head

...book stores!

I Made Butter

It was soooo easy to make butter! Who knew??? All you have to do is dump a quart of heavy cream into your stand mixer and let it mix. Start out slow, so it won't splash. As it thickens, turn up the speed. Just let it keep doing it's thing. Eventually, the butter will clump together and the buttermilk will separate. At this point, you want to turn the speed down. Pour the buttermilk off to use in pancakes later. Rinse the butter in cool water to get the rest of the buttermilk off. Season your butter with a little salt to taste. You can also stir in some honey and make honey butter. Or you could add some other seasonings and herbs. Very delicious! Try it!

Vacation Sights!

This is the steps that lead up to the street in NYC after we got off the train.

me in the big city

Grand Central Station

American Girl Doll Store

Amber in Central Park with a

real live Statue of Liberty

Knitting outside a yarn shop in Soho

Construction at Ground Zero

Times Square

The family in Philly

Visiting the Liberty Bell

Betsy Ross House

A little detour on the way home!

100 WORDS

abide
excellence
improvement
respect
able
expect
inspiration
rest
abundance
faith
joy
restore
accept
family
kindness
safety
affirmation
fearless
knowledge
security
amazing
finish
love
seek
assurance
free
lovely
sleep
awesome
friends
mercy
start
beautiful
fun
more
steadfast
believe
future
needs
strength
blessed
gentleness
new
success
brave
gifts
nurture
support
brilliance
gladness
optimism
thankfulness
calm
good
order
treasure
care
grace
patience
triumph
celebrate
gratefulness
peace
trust
cheer
happiness
persevere
truth
comfort
harmony
positive
united
compassion
healing
power
vibrancy
complete
health
praise
victory
confidence
help
presence
wellness
creativity
holiness
provider
wholeness
delight
honesty
refresh
wisdom
encouragement
hope
relief
wonderful
endure
hugs
renew
worship

Amazing!

This is the view from my living room window at 7:15 a.m. today.

Can't help but laugh!

At the moment, my son is sitting in the floor with a fuzzy ball cat toy, a piece of string, our dog and one of our cats. His first idea was to tie the cat toy to the cat's tail, so the cat would chase it. His next idea was to tie the toy to the dog's tail so the cat would chase the dog. How far do I let this go? When should I intervene? It's just too funny the way his mind works. And kind of scarey too!