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The Cleaning People Stole From Us – Plus Inevitable Thoughts on Human Nature

by MomGrind

That morning, in addition to sweet, reliable M. and E. that usually clean our house, we had two male trainees in the house. They greeted me as I left the house to run a few errands. When I returned home, the house was clean and fragrant. I smiled to myself. It’s so good to come back to a clean house!

Later that night, we found out that my daughter’s Nintendo DSi was missing. It wasn’t in its designated basket in the living room, where I had put it that morning. It was nowhere in the house, and as we were frantically searching, I suddenly remembered the two strange men and there it was- the sudden realization that we are victims of theft.
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The One Request from School I Dread the Most

by MomGrind

Shoe Box

“Mom! I need an empty shoe box to bring to school tomorrow!”

Oops.

I’m not sure why schools expect us to have empty shoe boxes lying around. So, most people do? I can tell you that the average neat freak, super-organized person does NOT. When I buy new shoes, out of the shoe box they go and into their new home – a clear, labeled plastic box. The shoe box goes to the recycling bin.

Cupcakes for bake sale? No problem. We whip out our easy cupcakes recipe. Write a check for a teacher gift? Absolutely. They deserve it, they work so hard.

But an empty shoe box? Not in this household.

Photo from The Container Store, where any self-respecting neat freak feels like a kid in a candy store.

Loved this comment:”Vered, Vered, Vered, you were given a perfectly good excuse to go out and get yourself a new pair of shoes.” Marelisa, Abundance Blog.

It’s a Small World, Sure. But Do You Like It This Way?

by MomGrind

Years ago, when we still lived in Tel Aviv, my husband used to work for the European Marketing organization at his company. He traveled a lot, and always came back bearing all sorts of exciting food gifts. He used to bring me Pates de Fruits from France, sweet chewy marzipan from Austria and Germany, melt-in-your-mouth Teuscher Champagne pralines from Switzerland, flavorful Salami from Hungary, and pungent, salty Gorgonzola cheese from Italy.

Back then, 15 years ago, I couldn’t get any of those delicacies in Tel Aviv. The sweet anticipation of his return (hey, we were newlyweds ;) ) was intensified by my excitement over experiencing the amazing, intense textures and flavors. I savored the tastes for days after his return, allowing myself to eat just a small portion at a time. And when it was all gone, I was often left with the interesting jars and packages the food came wrapped in.

Now, in the San Francisco Bay Area of California in 2011, I have access to pretty much anything. Even if I didn’t, I could easily order it on the Internet. But it’s all here – and often you don’t even have to go to specialty stores to find international delicacies. Many of them are sold at the local grocery store.

When we found the charming little French-style cafe in Los Gatos, California, we loved everything about it. Coffee was excellent. Desserts were amazing – it was difficult to choose!

dessert selection

We ended up settling on an airy eclair, and a decadent chocolate mousse to accompany our strong, frothy cappuccino.

I was thoroughly excited to discover that the place sells pates de fruits – one of my favorite French sweets, little chewy fruit jellies with an intense flavor and a soft texture.

Pates-de-Fruits

But then I realized that having pates de fruits right here, so close to home, so easily accessible, makes them a whole lot less special.

Yes, we can now get everything, shipped anywhere. And for the most part, it’s great and I would never go back to the old days of yearning for things that you could only dream about. But once in a while I miss the days when each country, each city even, had its own special delicacy – and the fact that it was so difficult to get made it all the more special.

Personally? I Find Fall Depressing

by MomGrind

red leaves

Winter can be magnificent and powerful. Summer is fun. And spring – my favorite season – always fills me with excitement and with a sense of renewal.

Fall? Not so much. I’m sure many of you love fall – it’s a season of bounty, of giving thanks and of slowly going back inside after a long, hot summer. But fall, to me, is a little depressing. Its colors are boring! Summer is bright yellow and blue. Spring is green and pink and red and a thousand other colors. Winter is pure and frosty and white.

But fall? Fall is brown. And gray. It feels to me like an end, not so much a beginning, and I don’t particularly like the in-between weather.

However, there’s nothing depressing about this beautiful tree, right next to our house.

tree in fall

I am such a city person that I have absolutely no idea what kind of a tree it is (if you do know, please tell me!), but it never ceases to amaze me and always catches me by surprise. One moment it’s just a boring tree, the next – in the spring – it is adorned with these beautiful, large pink flowers.

spring flowers

The same thing happens in the fall. Just a few days ago, we were standing right next to it, me busy getting stuff out of the car, my kids doing what kids do – jumping around – when my daughter suddenly told me, “Look how beautiful the tree is, mom. It’s all RED!”

And I stopped my busyness for a moment, looked at the tree, and smiled.

And then I wondered. What if I didn’t have a child? Would I have even noticed this beauty? I sure hope so. It scares me to think I wouldn’t have seen these colors. It’s so GROWNUP, isn’t it, to be so busy doing all this STUFF that we grownups do, that you don’t even take the time to look around and see the really important things. The beauty. It’s the part of being a grownup that I really dislike.

What’s your favorite season?

And The “Most Unnecessary Product Award” Goes To…

by MomGrind

Banana Hanger

I know, I know, bananas last longer when you hang them. This still seems like the kind of product that would hardly qualify as a “pantry essential,” but maybe that’s just me.

Shiny Happy People (Stock Photography Rant)

by MomGrind

Waiting in line at the UPS store, I couldn’t help but notice the promotional posters on the walls, all featuring smiling, happy people in some type of an office setting. You know – the same setting that in real life sucks the life out of you and makes you want to die, but in the world of stock photography, people are always relaxed, happy and smiling. Which I find incredibly plasticky and annoying.

They smile during one of the most annoying occasions known to mankind – a business meeting (note the token woman of color):

Business meeting

They smile in other phony work-related settings:

business gift

They sweetly smile at they shop at the supermarket:

shopping supermarket

My own UPS guy is nice enough, but I’ve never seen him smile as broadly as this guy (which quite frankly freaks me out with his robotic smile):

UPS guy

Of course, you could say that this little rant of mine is pointless and stupid – stock photography is essentially marketing material, and marketing needs to create a warm fuzzy feeling around a situation or a product. Perhaps, and I will be the first to admit that I’ve been using stock photography in this blog and in clients’ blogs.

But somehow, standing in line at the UPS store, frowning, I couldn’t help but become annoyed at the impossible, terribly artificial world that stock photography creates and presents to us, especially becuase those images are everywhere – at the UPS, at the post office, at the supermarket, in shopping malls, and of course in magazines and in online publications.

So in the interest of balancing things out, here’s a lovely photo from Flickr that shows how most of us truly feel during a business meeting:

meeting

PS. This is my personal blog so I generally don’t talk business here, but companies that fill their site pages with stock photography of Corporate America are hurting their brand, in my opinion. A website like this tells me that there’s nothing unique or exciting about the company – it simply tells me that “We are generic Corporate America.” What’s exciting about that and why would I choose them over the competition?

I Saw The Rose. And I Smiled.

by MomGrind

As I stood there in the kitchen, next to the sink, washing dishes, I glanced outside to the backyard. I was frowning, becuase a stray cat has been using our backyard as its litter box lately, and I find the need to clean after it extremely annoying.

And then I saw it: a rose in full bloom, white and pristine and beautiful. And I smiled, becuase after a dreary winter, how can you not smile when you see something finally blooming in what is otherwise a rather grayish yard, still not fully recovered from the winter.

white rose

Of course, as I grabbed my camera and ran outside to share this miracle with you, I found another rose, a pink rose, also in full bloom and so very pretty:

pink rose

The yellow roses, my favorites, are still sleepy… they are taking their time. I think I will get to enjoy them in May.

yellow rose

Then, a disturbing thought: could this be my THIRD “my roses are blooming” blog post on this blog? Why yes it is. Maybe I should stop harassing you with these posts, but how could I? Year after year, as my roses start to bloom, it feels like a miracle, all over again.

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