Vacation Packing Check List

Family Packing Suitcases in Trunk of Car Parked on Driveway, Preparing For Vacation

As I've mentioned before, I love a good checklist. If I don't have one I'm liable to get distracted and forget something. It's bad when you pack for vacation and forget something important like underwear or PJs. Not that I've ever done something like that (ahem).

It's almost vacation time for me (yay!!) so I'm making my packing list.   I thought I would share in case some of you are as organizationally challenged as I am.

• Swimsuit
• beach towel
• camera and memory card
• cell phone and charger
• sunscreen
• Sunglasses
• Facial cleanser
• toothbrush, toothpaste and floss
• makeup
• SPF Lip balm
• Razor
• Shampoo and Conditioner
• PJs
• Deodorant
• Body Wash
• Unmentionables ;)
• Brush
• Blowdryer
• Kindle (I never leave home without it.  It's all charged and ready to go)
• Hair products
• Pillow
• First Aid Kit
• Money
• Assorted family members

Am I forgetting something?

Weekend

Two words about the weekend: the heat! My word, the heat! I don't like cold weather, but I have to admit I'm not a fan of living on the surface of the sun either.

I've given up on trying to fix my hair.  I'm not going to use any appliance that puts out heat when I break out in a sweat as soon as I step out of the shower.  I just want it out of my eyes and off my neck.  Summer has defeated me and it's not even July.

So other than the pool and church, we went absolutely nowhere and felt extremely grateful for the miracles called central A/C and ceiling fans.

I actually turned on the oven to make muffins. I think they were worth it.  A little cinnamon and sugar makes everything better.

Most of my time Saturday was spent at the pool and in the water, but I did manage to drink a smoothie and read some of The Enchanted April on my Kindle.  When we got out of the pool we had to walk across the concrete to our chairs as fast as possible (while saying ow! ow! ow!) to avoid burning the bottoms of our feet. Of course it also helps to keep the lounge chairs that aren't in the shade covered with your beach towel so you aren't branded with stripes as soon as you sit down.

By the time we got home from church Sunday it was way too hot to do anything outside so the girls and I worked on making a hobo bag for Marcia. We found a kit with all the fabric and instructions on sale for half price at Hobby Lobby. It turned out really cute! The polka dot fabric is the lining. We're going to make one for Cindy next with a zebra print lining.

How was your weekend?

Pitch Uncertain by Maisie Houghton

Let me start off by telling you that I received a copy of this book for free so that I could review it for you (always want to be up front about that for all the IRS types out there). However, when I share my opinion, you can be sure that it is honest. Y'all are important to me and I want you to be able to trust that my recommendation cannot be bought.

So, now that we have all that out of the way...  I really enjoyed this book!  I love to read all types of books, but I find that memoirs are particularly appealing, especially when they are written by someone who is not a politician or actor (although those can be interesting too).

I found myself absolutely absorbed by this book and finished it in two days. Part of the charm for me was the time period in which Mrs. Houghton grew up. As you all know, I'm just a little fascinated with the 40s, 50s and 60s. My mom is the same age as Mrs. Houghton's little sister "Tizzy" and I thought about her often as I read. Even though their upbringings where quite different (my mom grew up a farmer's daughter in rural Texas and Mrs. Houghton grew up as a child of wealthy parents on the east coast), the two still had much in common. They both had fathers away fighting in WWII during their early years and they were both raised in families that valued looks and manners for little girls.  I love the author's use of language and the details and descriptions of this time period that might normally be found only in a novel.

The author's parents had a strained and unhappy marriage, but she never blames her parents or portrays them unsympathetically.  It's not a "tell all" or sensational type of book.  Just a thoughtful and wise examination of a flawed family and how their middle daughter finally found her voice.  I think you'll enjoy it.  Be sure and read the excerpt below. For more information visit Tide Pool Press.

 

Author Bio
Maisie Houghton, author of Pitch Uncertain: A Mid-Century Middle Daughter Finds Her Voice, was born in New York City, grew up in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in the fifties and graduated from Radcliffe College in 1962. With her husband, she has lived in Corning, New York, for over forty years. Pitch Uncertain is her first book.

Pitch Uncertain

By Maisie Houghton,

Author of Pitch Uncertain: A Mid-Century Middle Daughter Finds Her Voice

I was born in 1940, a bad time for the world, but I never did anything bad until the day I cut off my hair and left it on the floor for my mother to find, a bright, hot pool of yellow curls.

I was four. It was wartime and we were living in a rented house in Winter Park, Florida. My father, an officer in the navy, had recently been stationed there. My mother and I, along with Sybil, my older sister by two years, and Elizabeth, "Tizzy," a new baby of two months, had moved from New York City to be near him.

Florida, despite all its palm trees and relentless sunlight, seemed dark to me -- the people and the houses. Unaccustomed to southern heat, my mother kept the old, verandaed house heavily shaded. The blinds were always down, the curtains drawn. Someone was always taking a nap, my mother, my father (but not together), the amorphous baby. Sybil and I tiptoed around the closed doors, but when we went outside the glittering light hurt our eyes.

In the kitchen was Lily Mae, the black maid. Marion Skillon, a trained nurse from Naples, Maine, was also there. Uncertain in a new land, my mother had persuaded Marion to make the long journey south. Marion, all starched whiteness and squeaking rubber-soled shoes, stuck to the new baby upstairs. Lily Mae ironed endless rivers of laundry and passed dead-looking platters of food in the shadowy dining room.

My father was almost never there. When he did appear, it was often with a swirl of laughing young pilots in uniform. They brought us shells from the beach that we never visited. They set us on their knees, putting down their drinks to balance us on their laps.

The afternoon I rebelled, my mother was a long while on the telephone. She wasn't the type to chatter on. She served as a sounding board to solve other people's problems. My mother had been called to the telephone during a rare treat: We had been having lunch alone together. Her low voice burred on as she twisted the cord in her hand. What was she saying? To whom was she speaking?

I slipped away from the dining room table, wandering sulkily through the muted rooms. On my mother's desk a pair of scissors gleamed. Long and sleek, they were grown ups' scissors, not the stubby, disappointingly blunt ones we used for paper dolls. I ran my hand over my head. My hair was the one thing about me that was different. In everything else I matched my sister -- our seersucker dresses, our red sandals, our black eyes. But Sybil had two brown pigtails while I still had a baby's fuzz of buttery curls. I thought about Marion Skillon in the mornings, twisting my hair into ringlets, wrestling the ribbon to the top of my head. "There now, aren't you sweet? Now go and be good."

Suddenly it was easy to pick up the slender weapon and start to cut. One tentative snip and then I was possessed with the necessity to act and be done with my boldness. My curls fell away like skin being shed by a snake. It went so fast I hardly knew what I was doing. I crept back to the kitchen to face Lily Mae. She stared silently. "Your mama be upset," she said, shaking her head as she moved through the swinging door with a stack of freshly ironed shirts. A little panic seized me, but, almost gleefully, I hurried to stand defiantly before my mother. She was still sitting, unspeaking, by the telephone. She seemed unmoved. "Heavens, what did you do that for? It will take forever to grow out." Marion peered at me over the banister railing. "You've lost your looks," she sniffed.

My mother guided me toward the dining room. "We must finish lunch," she murmured, rousing herself. The table looked half-ravaged, like my hair, with crumpled napkins and tired lettuce on the plates. I started to weep at the enormity of what I had done. Fat tears fell on my grilled cheese sandwich. "Don't fuss, darling," consoled my mother distractedly. She wasn't even looking at me.

There was an unspoken lesson in that afternoon. My mother should have been angry but instead she held her tongue. Was it at that point that I learned to guard the peace, to mind my manners, to keep my mouth shut?

On my report card, the music teacher wrote "pitch uncertain."

In school someone would grab me from behind on the playground: "whose side are you on? Lucy's?" -- the charismatic troublemaker, or "Kitten's?" -- the charismatic good-girl. It seemed easier -- and smarter -- to keep my mouth shut.

One day I came home from school tense, weepy from trying to please everyone. My mother uncharacteristically drew herself up and exhorted me to "Stick by your guns, have the courage of your convictions." Most important of all, "Be yourself!"

"But how do I know who I am?" I wondered.

Growing up, I swam like a fish in the clouded waters of family life.

My family was large, consisting mostly of women. Since I was born in 1940, the men in the family were soon absent, sent as soldiers to Europe or as naval officers aboard ships to the distant Pacific.

I remember not only my mother's mother, "Gran," as we called her, but also her mother, my great-grandmother, erect, dignified and austere in her long dress. The family I remember also harbored a great-great maiden aunt, several great-aunts and endless pretty cousins. During the war we stayed intermittently with my mother's mother, Gran Jay. Though a young widow at fifty-two, she still kept a rambling house in what was then the quiet countryside of Long Island for her five daughters and one neighboring daughter-in-law.

Gran ran her house as an ark, the center of an otherwise fragmented family life. Her daughters dipped in and out of this comfortable, familiar world, using it as a kind of sacred place, sometimes for absolution and redemption, sometimes just for temporary sustenance, always for nourishment.

The above is an excerpt from the book Pitch Uncertain: A Mid-Century Middle Daughter Finds Her Voice by Maisie Houghton. The above excerpt is a digitally scanned reproduction of text from print. Although this excerpt has been proofread, occasional errors may appear due to the scanning process. Please refer to the finished book for accuracy.


Copyright © 2011 Maisie Houghton, author of Pitch Uncertain: A Mid-Century Middle Daughter Finds Her Voice

Friendship Bracelets

The girls and I worked on another 100 Days of Summer project today. We've had a great time making friendship bracelets.

This version is made with yarn instead of DMC floss so they're actually a little easier to make, plus if you're like me you have lots of yarn scraps lying around. I feel like I'm at summer camp. :) Now we're off to the pool.

Happy First Day of Summer!

Of course, around here it's felt like summer for awhile now.

Hope you're enjoying a dip in the pool, some ice cold lemonade, and a nice long novel.

Daily Cleaning Checklist

Young Woman Cleaning Bathroom Sink

I LOVE a good checklist! There are some areas in my life where it's more fun to go with the flow, but there's nothing like a checklist to help me stay motivated in cleaning my house and being more organized.

I like to have cleaning lists printed out so that I can check things off (so satisfying) and so that the kids can help. For some reason it works much better to give them a list than it does to tell them what I want them to do.

Here's what I try to get done every morning:

• Make beds (the kids make their own)
• Empty dishwasher and put away dishes (I usually run the dishwasher at bedtime)
• Clear clutter from living room, entryway and kitchen (for some reason things tend to pile up in the entryway and on the bar in the kitchen)
• Take out trash (this is usually one of the kids' job and sometimes happens at night)
• Wipe kitchen countertops and stove (just a quick wipe, not a full clean)
• Sweep kitchen
• Clean any spots on the kitchen floor
• Put out fresh kitchen dish towels
• Clean glass storm door (it drives me crazy when there are fingerprints and doggy nose prints all over it)
• Clean splatters off of bathroom mirrors
• Wipe bathroom sink, counters and toilet (if I have them on hand, I use Clorox wipes for this - they are so handy)
• Make sure clothes, jewelry, brushes, makeup, etc. are put away

This looks like a lot, but I usually get it done in less than 30 minutes.

Do you use checklists?

Perfect for Summertime: Iced Coffee

Is it wrong to drink iced coffee out of a Coca-Cola glass?

I made PW's Perfect Iced Coffee and it is delicious!  I love iced coffee year round, but it's especially good when it's so hot the farmers are feeding the chickens crushed ice to keep them from laying hard boiled eggs. (sorry about that - I have a lame sense of humor, or so my kids tell me)  It really is hot though, even in the morning.  I like to open my windows every morning to let in a little fresh air, but by 7:30 it's already hotter outside than it is in the house.

I'm not a fan of drinking something hot when I'm already having to keep the ceiling fans on high, so iced coffee it is.  I've made it before with hot coffee that I later chilled, but this is better.  Plus the convenience of having it already cold in the fridge can't be beat.  While I'm sure it's best with half &half and sugar, I used 1% milk and Splenda in mine.  Still pretty darn good if I do say so myself.

Do you like iced coffee?

Dresser Makeover

Here's the "before" picture. I've had this dresser in my entryway for years. It's a handy place for my linens, "fancy" flatware and serving pieces that only come out during holidays.  Plus it's a nice display when someone walks in the front door. It's not bad, I was just getting tired of it. I really wanted to refresh it and change it up.

I painted it my current favorite color, aqua. Oh, and by the way, isn't the wreath on the wall cute?  The mom of one of my preschool students made it for me out of a book using these directions as a Christmas present.  She's so crafty!

Here's the view from the front door.  I think it's a nice pop of color.

I put a couple of pieces of my milk glass collection on it along with some silver framed pictures from other parts of the house and the lamp that was on my night stand. 

I also set out this gorgeous shell.  A few years ago we had an exchange student from New Zealand who brought it to us.

The paint was a free quart of Glidden "Deepest Aqua" (thanks Frugal Girls) so total cost of this project: $0!  I still have some paint leftover so I'm sure I'll be undertaking another project soon.

100 Days of Summer

I've you've been needing ideas for entertaining your family this summer I found a great resource! 100 Days of Summer

One of the ideas is to create a colorful pair of canvas tennis shoes for less than $10. I HAD to try it! I dyed mine yellow and my girls want purple and orange. This is a great project for teenagers to do themselves.

I sewed elastic inside so that they don't need laces.

I think they turned out so cute! I'm going to wear them all summer.

Click for Shoe makeover directions

Shopping in Small Town Texas

My mom and girls and I took a little road trip today to visit my grandmother. Of course, we worked in some shopping too. We found so many cute things! I didn't buy any of them, but it sure was fun to browse and get ideas. Of course, I had to take a few pictures with my phone to show you all the cuteness. Excuse the white shading around the bottom edge of the pictures. I have a white cover on my phone and sometimes it shifts a little and gets in the way of the camera.

I love the candelabra and the painted chandelier! I'm thinking something similar would be really cute in my girls' room. Maybe I can find a chandelier to paint at the thrift store or a garage sale this summer.

This sign is really cute too, as are the flip-flops. Of course, I would never pay that much for a pair of flip-flops (even my boots didn't cost that much). I'm thinking if people actually pay that much for them maybe I need to learn how to decorate them and start my own Etsy shop!

I love shopping in small towns and out of the way shops. You never know what you'll find!

You Never Know Until You Ask

I've been wanting a bread machine for ages. I love homemade bread as much as I love chocolate (and that's a lot), but I often don't have time to make it anymore. Plus in the summer I hate to turn on the oven.When it's approaching the triple digits outside, who wants an additional heat source in the house?

So I decided that I had a few bucks to spend on a used one. Instead of actually getting in the car and going to a garage sale or thrift shop like a normal person, I just posted on Facebook that I was interested in buying a bread machine. I kid you not, within 5 minutes I had two friends offering to give me one! For FREE!  That's my kind of deal. I picked up the first one offered later that day and I've already used up an entire bag of bread flour.

Yesterday I decided to venture into new bread machine territory and make homemade bagels. They have to be shaped, boiled and baked by hand, but the bread machine makes them so easy! They take a lot of time for the rising, etc., but not a lot of effort. Now that my family knows I can make bagels at home, I'm sure the bread machine will be working overtime.

If you're interested you can find the recipe here.

Summer Projects

One thing I love about summer is that I actually have a little time to work on projects that I dream about all winter.

I'll tell you more about this one when I finish it.

My Favorite Way to Spend a Summer Day!

I know we'll get tired of it before the summer is over, but hanging out at the pool with my family and a library book is just so relaxing and enjoyable!

Now If I could just learn to apply my sunscreen correctly so that I don't have random sunburned spots...

Oh and by the way, I'm reading Major Pettigrew's Last Stand: A Novel.  I'm about halfway through and really enjoying it so far.  I'm a sucker for novels set in England. :)

Hope you're all having a wonderful, sunburn free weekend!