what I love about fall

September 28, 2012 3 Comments

Happy fall my friends!! By far this is my favorite time of the year…. Going back over old posts I came upon this and discovered that not much has changed as far as what I love about fall… Although I now can add college tours for Ali to my list 🙂 What is your favorite thing about this time of year????

barefootgirl in the kitchen

a~ apples, acorn squash

b~ Bruce Springsteen’s birthday, BOOTS!

c~ Cecelia’s birthday , cider , candles

d~ DMB concerts

e~ early sunsets

f~ falling leaves; fireplaces, festivals, football!

g~gobbling turkeys

h~ harvest time!! hayrides

i~ ice hockey ( Go B’s!!)

j~jeans

k~ kale!!!

l~leaves changing colors

m~ mazes. corn mazes to be exact 🙂

n~ nuts

o~oatmeal!!

p~ pep rallies before games (I’m talking pre-Nauset.. going back to the Fermi days 😉 ). and pumpkin beer

q~ quilts!!!!

r~ rustling leaves crunching beneath my feet

s~ sista’s birthday, soups & stews  SOCKS!!! ( I have a thick comfy sock addiction)

t~tea

u~ Uggs ( my pink fluff mommas 😉 )

v~ vino! (anytime of year;) )

w~ walks in the woods

x~ I got nutin’

y~yams

z~ zzzzzz  naps 😉

I found my new favorite breakfast this morning.  I made overnight oats, then added some apple butter , chia seeds…

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are you a wiener?

September 22, 2012 10 Comments

the wieners of the soap nuts giveaway are about to be announced.

I have been researching ‘give away’ sites that can help me to determine a winner based on how many entries I receive.  I have found one that I will use on the next one ( possibly just as crazy as the soap nuts idea 🙂 ) but I would have had to set it up from

the get go.. and I already had entries and couldn’t figure out how to add them manually..  ( I’ve had a very technically challenging day today 😦 )

… so ….I still needed help with this one..  I asked Scott to pick 10 random numbers like I did  last time and  Ali came running in with her calculator eager to  show off her new statistics skills…

 

this is what she came up with

#1,8,10,12,14,15,16,19,29,32

which translates to :

Courtney

Christina

Candice

Cathy

Sue

Jodi

Glenda

Heather

Amanda

Dawn

 

so congrats ladies ( ya’ll are ladies who won…)  you will soon get the opportunity to play with your nuts *giggle*

I need for you to shoot me an email at barefootgirl27@me.com with your correct mailing address and I will give it to Laundry Tree on Monday so that they can ship you your soap nuts!

 

Thanks again for playing and for continuing to help get the word out about barefootgirl in the kitchen 🙂 I could kiss you if i could….. ( just as long as my finance , Christina doesn’t mind 😉 )  lol

 

it’s Homecoming weekend in these parts…. lets her a big thank you for Ali’s talented statistics skills  and a big shout out to the Lady Saints 🙂

and a big shout out to my daughter on loan from her parents in Hong Kong, miss Tian

Homecoming Queen!!

she looks a little bit surprised, dontcha think?

 

pizza time before the dance…. into the kitchen I go….

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friday thoughts

September 21, 2012 6 Comments

hello friends 🙂

I have a confession… I woke in quite a sour mood this morning.  You see, I have a lot going on behind the scenes here… some of it I’ve eluded to, some I’m not ready to just yet… In due time, I shall share.  For right now, I have moments of ups and downs and this morning was a ‘down’

After a completely ineffective pity party for myself. ( like that ever works..) I decided to go for a ‘run’ ( ok. ok.. jog/ walk) but still… it feels important to me 🙂

And I got to thinking that if I started to think of good things form this week gone by then I would be better off.. so here I present to you

my reasons to smile

1~ ( I know you are all sick of hearing this.. but years from now I will look back and want to be part of this weeks’ memories) I ran my first 5k….  you need to know that this was one of those things that I pictured that I would be sitting in a rocker with Scott ( ok.. he could have his own next tome.. but you get the idea 😉 ) when I was 72 saying, ” ya know hon.. I probably could have done that way back when I was 41 if only I tried.”

I tried

I did

success!

2~  in regards to THIS post, which I wrote as a thank  you to all of those who have helped me along the way with my personal journey… I received a lot of sweet responses that quite frankly , blew me away. I love you guys.

the next day I received a series of text messages from Amanda, my daughter-in-law… I was on the phone at the time, so I didn’t get them until all at once.  which turned out to be even better…

seriously…. how could this NOT make me smile????  I’m so blessed that she & Jason found each other 🙂 I love you both!

3~I met a friend at Mayflower brewing company last night.  Many many many years ago we worked in the same salon together…  I think it is extra-special when you can meet up with an old friend and it’s like time hasn’t passed at all.

I’m finding more and more that re-connecting with my old friends is reminding me of this path that I have taken to get to here and that I am so lucky to have had all of you in my life…

* I actually ran into another old friend yesterday that I have seen in about 15 years… to put it in perpective, Scott and I dropped Jason off at her house the night I went into labor with Ryan*

~the irony? it was at the running store.

and some people don’t believe in this whole ‘connection ‘ thing.

4~ I used to DESPISE Norah Jones… in my opinion, She stole the Grammy away from Bruce for his album ‘The Rising’..his amazingly awesome tribute ALBUM  to 911( not just one song folks.. A WHOLE ALBUM ) I was bitter for years. ( I remember being in the salon the morning after the Grammys talking to my clients… ” who the hell is this Norah ( said with extreme distaste)”….

then something happened and I kinda fell in love with her :).. yup  girl crush here. I’m ok with that .  I listen to her on rainy days… somedays while staring out at the ocean.. I have a Pandora station of her music ( as well as her cds ) While I have heard this song and SANG this song.. I only figured out about an hour ago what it its about..

her dog !  How could THAT not make me smile??

5~ I’m making THIS for dinner.. It’s Homecoming weekend and the girls are out most of the weekend.. and Scott is actually home.. so I can have fun with these ingredients. which sent me out in search of figs and I found

…….a sale on Oregon cheese and Washington apples!!

and as silly as it sounds, it makes me feel closer to Ryan…. so I bought them… I think we will open one of the bottles of Willamette Valley Pinot Noir tonight to go with this  🙂

happy start of your weekend, friends 🙂

psst…. one more thing…. guess who signed up for another 5k this weekend??

Liam’s Run  for a good laugh, come see me, or even better.. sign up Sunday morning and run with me 🙂

ps.. you have until midnight tonight to qualify to win some nuts

smooches!

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barefootgirl in the laundry room…… a give away

September 19, 2012 25 Comments

who likes to do laundry ?

<— raised her un-manicured hand

who likes to put it away?

<—– pulled her hand down faster than a speeding bullet

Yes, today we are talking laundry…. and not just any laundry, but fun laundry! Eco friendly laundry! Creative laundry. Yes friends, I have something uber-fun for you…….  are you ready?  soap nuts

say WHAT??  yes soap nuts. You are about to learn how to do laundry using nuts  *insert 7th grade giggle here….  we’ve had a lot of giggles here about this exact thing throughout this past  summer*

so what are soap nuts? here ya go… directly from Laundry Tree’s website

LaundryTree SoapNuts are an easy way to “green” your laundry!

Soapnuts aren’t actually a nut at all, they are simply the fruit of a tree (Sapindus Mukorossi), found primarily in the Himilayas. And they are an EXCELLENT alternative to traditional laundry detergents and cleaners.

A FEW AMAZING THINGS ABOUT SOAP NUTS:
  • They are simply a dried fruit — 100% totally natural.
  • Clothes washed with soapnuts will have no scent — and that’s how you’ll know they are TRULY clean!
  • They are organically grown and are free of harsh chemicals, so they are incredibly gentle. (This makes them especially great for those with sensitive skin — including babies and those that suffer from allergies, eczema, and psoriasis).
  • They’re totally biodegradeable, so they’re better for the environment than regular detergent.
HOW DO SOAPNUTS WORK?

The outer shell of the soapnut contains saponin, a natural substance known for its ability to cleanse and wash. (That’s what makes them so GREAT for cleaning your laundry!) And here’s a cool fact: soapnuts aren’t a new concept; they have been used to clean all kinds of fabric for centuries, and are only now gaining popularity in the Americas and Europe as a powerful, yet natural alternative to modern detergents. Having used any number of other detergents, we’re here to say so far man has yet to best Mother Nature in coming up with a genius cleaning agent for clothes.

HOW ARE SOAPNUTS PREPARED FOR USE IN YOUR WASH?

They are simply harvested, de-seeded, and then dried in the sun.  And they WORK — they really, really work!

YUP! they work!

I bought these at the beginning of the summer on Open Sky. For those who do not know what Open sky is, it’s somebody’s (usually famous or famous-ish) personal store where they feature products that they like.. my Open sky store would have

  1. vintage Springsteen stuff
  2. cheese.. and lots of it
  3. wine stuff
  4. jeep stuff
  5. fun ball jars
  6. yoga stuff
  7. lotsa socks
  8. comfy clothes
  9. pictures of Fenway
  10. all of my kids’ artwork on display
  11. chap stick galore
  12. lotsa quilts

So I bought these crazy little things and they arrived. I was very excited… to do laundry??  yes.  they can be used one of two ways….  ( copied from Laundry tree’s website)

  • Put 3-5 soapnuts in the cotton drawstring bag that comes with your order
  • Pull the bag closed. If you desire scent, add a few drops of essential oil.
  • Pop it in the washing machine and wash the clothes on warm or hot.
THAT’S IT!

Take the bag out before you put the laundry in the dryer. You can re-use the same soapnuts for your next load, since they’re good for four rounds. If you don’t have any more laundry to do, just set them aside to dry and you can use them again later. ——> barefoot girl addition to this info —>( this works best in warm/ hot water)

barefoot girl talking form now on… no longer copying form website—-> they can be used for around four times. Simply let dry then use again… Not sure if your nuts still have power in them? *sniggle*

wait.. it gets better….. while they are still wet, simply squeeze them and if some white liquid comes out there is still life left in them

I couldn’t make this up ! nor would I want to… I’m just so happy that I found them 🙂 *I wasn’t kidding about my un manicured hand*

when there is no more life to them, simply compost them :).. BUT>>>> I don’t do that just yet.. set them aside .. I’ll come back to that.

The other way to use soap nuts is to make a laundry soak..  Don’t be a=scared… it’s easy 🙂

again.. copied from Laundry tree’s website.. photos courtesy of moi……

  • Bring 4 cups of water to a boil in a heavy saucepan with a lid.
  • Turn off the heat and toss 6-8 soapnuts in the saucepan with the hot water. (If you’re using Soapnut Bits, use about 1/2 cup).
  • Cover the saucepan, and let it sit overnight.
  • In the morning, fish out and discard the remaining soapnut shells.
  • Pour the cooled liquid into a container with a lid. (Just about any container will do. We use a pretty antique bottle that makes us smile every time we reach for it. But an old spaghetti sauce jar will work just as well).
  • (Optional) If you’d like your Soapnut Soak to have a scent, add your favorite essential oils. We suggest lemon or tea tree oil for bathroom cleanser, lavenderfor cold water laundry loads, and sweet orange for dishwasher cleaning liquid.

This batch of Soapnut Soak will wash at least 16 loads of laundry. Use 1/4 to 1/2 cup for each load. (You can adjust this amount as needed, depending on the size of the load and how dirty the contents are).

barefootgirl talking again —-> when I am boiling my nuts.. ( I can’t control myself here..) I add all of my old used nuts just to get the last little bit out of them…  after letting sit covered overnight… I put my hand in and try to break down what is left, then drain through a fine mesh strainer.

then I add an essential oil to the mixture… for me, clean cotton rocks my boat..

then simply put in a container and use 1/4 cup -1/2 cup depending on the size of the load 🙂

but wait… there’s more.  I still see more *umph* in the nut remains, so I add more water, re-boil and make more… a less- stronger version….  and come up with a killer all-purpose cleaner…. I added lavender to this one and have the prettiest smelling cleaner going. Add it to a spray bottle and you are good to go!

Now.. remember last week when I told you that I was bound to make mistakes (remember, if a word is a different color then click on it and it may make my story make more sense…. then again , maybe not… but it is still worth a shot)

so I was sooooo excited to try to get the finger prints off of my inherited ipad that I poured the soap nut diluted soak right into this cute little spray bottle… and melted it…. *le sigh *

note to self… and my invisible blog friends… LET the mixture cool!!  this isn’t rocket science ( although I have to admit, it kinda felt like it with all the bottles and boiling  and stuff 😉

the top couldn’t even screw on anymore…….. ( I did cut it down so it works and I washed my windows and computer/ipad/phone screens and it works AWESOME!)

so…. there ya go.. a lesson in balls..and guess what? Laundry Tree has generously given my *10* soap nuts sample kits!!  FOR YOU!!!!!!!Yes.. you can do this too!!   ( and trust me, you want to 😉

sooo… if you haven’t already..

  1. like barefootgirl in the kitchen on facebook
  2. share a barefootgirl post on your facebook page… pick your favorite!
  3. have a friend do either of the above… then post on BFG page your name .. you each will get an entry
  4. sign up for barefootgirl email or through wordpress using the links on the blog itself.
  5.  comment about whatever enteres you mind on the blog itself.. simply hit leave a comment… and leave a comment!!!
  6. Share this ( or any barefootgirl post on pinterst).. just shoot me a message on the FB wall or email me at barefootgirl27@me.com so that I know that you did 🙂

you can earn multiple entries!!  Each friend that joins or likes give you at least an extra entry!  So lets see.. today is Wednesday… so I will close this contest Friday at midnight….

so good luck 🙂 and thank you again for reading…

oxoxox friends 🙂

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September 19, 2012 Leave a Comment

in honor ( or disgust perhaps?) of the amount of fruit flies that have showed up recently, I’ve decided to share this post from last year…. crazy give away later on today 🙂

barefootgirl in the kitchen

Just kidding!

I was going to title this ‘shoe fly, don’t bother me’ but since today is not only a Tuesday, but the Tuesday after a 3 -day weekend AND the official end of summer.. added to the fact that it is cold & rainy here in the northeast & some many peeps had rainy first day of school pictures of kiddos getting on school buses…..

well, I thought that don’t bug me might fit some friends’ moods today.

me? not so much.. I love rain & ADORE fall.. so I’m not so grumpy, but I know I have friends who are. Sorry 😦

Ok.. this post doesn’t have a recipe.. so if you are looking for a dinner suggestion, tonight I can’t help you. Unless you want to make THIS…

I CAN however show you how to get rid of the nasty little fruit fly.

Yup. You…

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don’t bug me.

September 19, 2012 Leave a Comment

in honor ( or disgust perhaps?) of the amount of fruit flies that have showed up recently, I’ve decided to share this post from last year…. crazy give away later on today 🙂

barefootgirl in the kitchen

Just kidding!

I was going to title this ‘shoe fly, don’t bother me’ but since today is not only a Tuesday, but the Tuesday after a 3 -day weekend AND the official end of summer.. added to the fact that it is cold & rainy here in the northeast & some many peeps had rainy first day of school pictures of kiddos getting on school buses…..

well, I thought that don’t bug me might fit some friends’ moods today.

me? not so much.. I love rain & ADORE fall.. so I’m not so grumpy, but I know I have friends who are. Sorry 😦

Ok.. this post doesn’t have a recipe.. so if you are looking for a dinner suggestion, tonight I can’t help you. Unless you want to make THIS…

I CAN however show you how to get rid of the nasty little fruit fly.

Yup. You…

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keep doin’ that thing you do……

September 17, 2012 11 Comments

you never know just who you are going to inspire. Sometimes without even knowing it.

Years ago I was stopped at a stoplight when a young lady in her mid-20’s ran passed me.. perfect pace. perfect gait…. oblivious to the rest of the world, simply lost in her running.. so at one with herself.  At Peace.

and she had a rocking body da boot…..  which I’m sure was as a result of perseverance.

I thought to myself.

“self, you should try to run.. let’s go get a book”

and that we did….

I went to Borders…. ( can I just say how absolutely devastated I am at the demise of Borders???? )

we should all pause for a moment of intention for a generation that may never know the beauty of sitting in and oversized chair in a remote corner of a store flipping through books with  big dreams in their heads.

ok…  I’m back.  Soooo I bought this book.  And read the first 10 pages. It has sat on my shelf for years. and years. I’m a -scared to read the copyright date……

Then there was that Folgers’ commercial….  you know the one… it’s early morning, her alarm goes off.. her Folgers’ coffee is brewing while she is getting all race-if-ied… then she drinks her coffee.. it’s magical and next she is crossing the finish line  with her family high fiving her at the end..

( which imoho is much better than the Maxwell house commercial where they son comes home for Christmas to surprise his family & the little sister says that she is his gift…. it really is a sweet commercial… unless your son  is deployed across the world for Christmas… then the commercial takes on a whole new meaning )

we avoided the tv that year… it was just better.. I still was not really in control of my emotions…. I’m soo much better now 🙂

I also have a lot of friends who run. Some of them I barely know, some I know well.. Each of them had inspired me which is why I bit the bullet and signed up 🙂

sooooo our race day had finally arrived…..  After spending this night at casa hagg, we stopped at Dunkin donuts for some fuel…

and eye candy

lol 🙂 .. then we headed to Providence!!!   ( did anyone get my Last Resort Lyrics in my music post yesterday ?? ) the pics are pretty much self explanitory,,, so I’ll just post… Ya’ll are probably sick of my ‘race talk’ by now….. I promise and awesome salad and mexican sauce tomorrow 😉

once you walk 40 miles in 2 days for breast cancer, you learn to love the porta potty.  true story.

LET”S DO THIS!!!!!!!

now this wasn’t all heart and flowers… for me , it was fre-a-ken hard.  I trained ans still struggled… Jodie didn’t .. and she rocked it.  Truth be told, I held her back.  She has been an athlete all of her life and I have been more of the more laid back type… ❤ yoga<3.. that whole journey is a story in itself…  My lungs hurt like HELL!!!  then I started to feel sick.

At one point I am pretty sure that I flipped  Jodie off.  I’m not proud of that, but it;s the truth.  As we hit mile 3 there was a hill. A freaken hill for the last 10th of a mile of the race.  She told me to pound it out and finish strong… I was gasping for air and told her I was about to throw up.  She yelled at me and told me that I would not throw upa and to move my ass over that finish line.

I did. and as soon as I crossed, the gagging started and I thought for sure I was about to lose my cookies allover the crowd cheering everyone on.

if I had to go even 5 more feet… that would have been it. But thankfully…I did not have to go 5  feet… there was an angel from heaven standing there with a power bar recovery bar.

I kid you not when I tell you that my arm grew 5 feet and I reached through the crowd to take said bar.

I don’t think I’ve eaten something so good in my life.

Once my breathing came back to normal, we took this pic

WE DID IT!!!

I don’t regret signing up for a second. It was just as I thought it would be and will be doing this more as my time that is mine keeps unfolding.

this has been my screen saver fo the last 4 months…… and yes. I did do it !

so why keep doin’ that thing you do? Because you never know who you are inspiring.  I can almost bet you that the people that inspired me had NO idea.  I mean ZERO idea.  But I went out of my way to let a few of them know the night before the race. And they were shocked. If I hadn’t had let them know, they never would have known just how inspiring they are..

so here’s your turn… think about someone who has inspired you.. even just a little. Reach out and thank them. Chances are they have no idea and they should know! because they have helped you become who you are 🙂

namaste friends 🙂

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numerology at it’s best

September 16, 2012 11 Comments

today is the 16th day 9th month of the 2012th year

I am 41 years old and my sister is 38  years old.

today we ran our first 5k,

Jodies’ bib number was 902

Mine was 2029

(it’s alphabetical.. for those who do not know)

in case you do not know, a 5k is 3.1 miles.

my personal goal was to finish in 45 mintes.

we crossed over the finish line ant the clock said 39 :40

I was thrilled with this number.

On the way home, by brilliant sister and I started talking about how the clock read that, but those were the first runners…. the fast runners.. and that in fact it took us a good 4-5 minutes for us to start our race

*keep in mind, we are newbies here*

so alllllllll day we have waited for the final results to be posted… 5 minutes ago.. they were

34 minutes and 26 seconds!  yeah baby!!!  we ran a n 11:05 mile!!  WWWAAAAY beyond what I could  that I could ever do!!

I will post more on this whole experience tomorrow, but I have a hubby who is in actually in town and some legs that need some rest 🙂

Onto the giveaway..  42 of you  qualified.. thank you for every share that you made. The only way for me to help my blog grow is for those who like it to share it with others. If you don;t like it.. that is ok.. I don;t want to bully anyone ( except my sister… it’ s a God-given right ~ thanks, mom and dad :)..I owe you both for this!!!!)

*evil grin*

when I went to random .org.. it turns out that I had to pay for it… I just bought my domain this week

I’m broke.

So I yelled to Scott ( who was in the kitchen )  scottinthekitchen stories up soon? possibly 🙂

me : hey hon pic a number between 1 and 42 ( I had the paper way away from me with every name having a number attached)

him : 42

me: really

him : what’s wrong with 42?

me.. nothing.. it;s the winner….  let’s see who won….

Kathy with a K…….. !!!! congratulations!  I will need your address…email at barefootgirl27@comcast.net

Thanks to all who shared and entered. Details on the next giveaway tomorrow 🙂 This one will be quite bigger !

thanks again for all the race love

and thanks, Jo…  for running with me despite the fact that I bullied you into it! I could not have done as well I I did without you by my side  smoooooooocheroni!!!!!!

Happy Sunday evening, friends!

oxoxox

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how much is too much?

September 12, 2012 19 Comments

that my friends is what I ask of you. The majority of you that are reading what I write know me pretty well… so I’m asking you , my core followers & friends a favor…

Over my years of blog reading, I have read some blogs that when I’m done reading a post , I kinda feel down about myself. Some blog posts that I’ve read seem to really just focus on the positive in lives and makes life  look just a little too perfect… When I would sit back and compare, I was feeling a little bit like I have not achieved enough

..Please don’t get me wrong, I’m not knocking anyone’s style of writing, to each their own…that’s what makes the internet the internet. But part of what has made me able to be able to be so accepting of the path that has taken me to where I am today is by living that path.. and trust me, it has been anything but easy.

 

I want to write and to share, because I find things out along the way that I like to pass on… much they way that I would share with a good friend.. because you are a good friend 🙂

Along the way mistakes, will be made and trust me…. you’ll read about them …. I assure you.

What I’m looking for from you is that if my writing seems to be going in an unfavorable direction, please drop me a message and let  me know.  I’ve gone back and forth on pursuing this blog.. my new project… new ‘baby’ if you will.. and after the response of my first few days re posting & the messages that some of you have sent, I feel like I can do this. I want to do this 🙂

I may succeed, I may fail… but either way I will be giving it my all.  And I would love your suggestions along the way. This is way more than just a food blog. This is me putting myself out there..

 

Sure I may joke about how ‘awesome’ I am… but TRUST me.. it is all in a joking matter and in fact how I really talk in real life.  In no way shape or from do I think that I am better or worse than the person next to me, just different… And while I do like my ‘different’ understand that comments that I make like that will ALWAYS be meant in a joking term.

So please…. keep after me to go in the right direction

barefootgir27@comast.net

Real quick, before I go… I spent an amazing day on Cape with my mom. She took me out for a nice lunch where she bravely tried a veggie burger and instantly fell in love 🙂

We did a little bit of light shopping and bought a few trinkety things…. more on this tomorrow… and guess what???

I bought a little present for one you YOU!!!  All of the detail tomorrow.  It’s not much, but *I* love it and it is first in a series of give -aways in the weeks to come 🙂

oh.. one last note..

 

How about a HUGE shout out to my mom…. who after many many years has QUIT SMOKING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

GO MOM!!!!  I am SOOO Proud of you! I know what a huge hurdle that was for you!!!

 

LOVE  you oxoxox

 

g’night friends 🙂

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where we were

September 11, 2012 9 Comments

9/11/2001.

A day that will we will never forget.

Victims that we will never forget

Heros that we will never forget

Terrorists that we would like to forget

Family who will forever be in our hearts…

It was a day that we held the ones around us just a little bit tighter.. because we could.

this was a day that everyone remembers where they were.. what they were doing and who they were with.

here’s my story…

It was a beautiful Monday morning. The kids had recently gone back to school. I was a cosmetologist with some wonderful clients and I would often go out of my way to accomodate their schedules.

Back in the the the Beauty industry really didn’t work on Monday. They just didn’t.

One of my favorite clients ( they all were, really ) was Mrs. M. That’s what everyone called her.. never by her last name. She was from new Jersey and had a summer home in Chatham, on cape cod.  She was a fabulous cook and we got along perfectly despite that fact that she could have been my grandmother.

(on another note.. she was a hot spook…. she helped set my kitchen up with everything form an ice cream maker to food processor because she was mad at her husband.. I’ll share that story another time )

So I had met her at the salon for a 9 am appt. It was just the two of us.  I didn’t bother to turn on the radio because she didn’t like music… and we would be doing what we always do.. I would be doing her nails & we would be talking food.

Which we did.  For over an hour.

We left the salon together around 10:20 am.

I went to the grocery store, and remember thinking how happy I was.. It was fall, my favorite time of year, I had a great job, happy kids who were busy in a cute school house being educated and I had a beautiful kitchen to cook in and the afternoon to do just that. I left the salon and went to the grocery store.

And stood at the deli and ordered turkey breast.

A man was standing next to me & I turned to him and said ‘” isn’t this nice to not have to wait in line now that the tourists are gone? I’ve missed turkey.”

( if you live on the cape or visit the cape you know that the in the summer the stores are CRAZY to navigate  and the deli line is simply ridiculous.. Everyone wants to buy deli meat to make sandwiches for the beach.. it’s common to wait in line for up to 45 minutes… or just go a summer without deli meat, like I had )

He looked at me blankly and said ‘ ” how can you say that after what just happened… all those poor people”

Now I was really confused because I still had not known.

He said, ” the world trade center was attacked.. planes flew into.. many people died”

The blood went from my face and I left the store, leaving my cart behind.

You see, Scott worked in Boston. a few blocks from the world Trade Center and his company actually had meetings there often.

I quickly drove home ( I lived close) and saw the answering machine blinking.

First message was from my mom ‘ “is Scott ok?”

Second message was from my mother -in -law ” have you heard from Scott?”

Third message… the kids’ school ‘” due the the tragedies of today we are releasing the kids to be dismissed”

I tired calling Scott’s office and did not get an answer.

57 times.

This was before cell phones so I only had the one number.

Sick to my stomach and worried how I was going to raise my kids on my own I sat on the couch and finally turned on the Tv.

It was only then that I realized that it was the World Trade Center in  NYC, not in Boston.

I felt relief, then sadness.. I could not believe what I was seeing.

All of those people, all of those families..

I never did hear from Scott. And I kept worrying about that because at that point, America didn’t know what was next .. it was surreal.

He arrived home almost 3 hours later. HIs company sent everyone home as a safety precaution.. and he never thought to call me to let me know.

he was home safe, but I still kept thinking about all of those people who weren’t so lucky… all of those familes.. lives changed in an instant.

I hugged my kids so tight that day.

A new new generation of Military was born that day… Kids in middle school who quickly learned that they loved their  country and that they would fight to defend it… Years later, I’m proud to say that both my son & nephew were two of those kids.

We all know that sadness and empathy that  came in the days to come. I know this anniversary affects some more than others, so if my thoughts and prayers go out to you if you or your family were directly involved.

I’m off to play with some watermelon, but I felt like I needed to acknowledge this day and share my story…..

what’s your story?

I’ll be back later on

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