Holy Crap, the summer is almost over...

I don't know why I'm surprised that the summer has, once again gotten away from me. It hasn't been all that eventful, but the season flew by faster than Miley Cyrus saying yes to dancing like a skank on the Video Music Awards. (That was my 40+ year old voice speaking). Anyway, when last we spoke I had been explaining my love/hate relationship with landscaping. For the most part everything has survived the summer after my careful love and attention. The thorn in my side hasn't been my lack of a green thumb, but more the battle with what became my arch nemesis....the rabbits. Those little bleepity...bleep..bleep...bleepity, gosh darn bleepity....bleep....bleep God's creatures found themselves a smorgasboard of deliciousness from almost every last thing I put in the ground. After several sprays and granules, many episodes of me flinging open the back door, running, flailling my arms and screaming like a mad man to send them scurrying from the yard, only to turn, once safely on the other side of the fence to stare and look at me like I was, indeed a lunatic. I found myself standing at the kitchen window singing (in my best Elmer Fudd voice) "kill the wabbit, kill the wabbit". We have lapsed now into a somewhat blissful coexistence and now I await the ripening of the (what looks like at least 100) tomatoes. So I think my landscaping/gardening this year would at least get a passing grade.
In other summer news....
I drove to Denver the end of June to make a wedding cake for my friends, Mike & Elena. Shawn and I took some day trips to Oakbrook for some shopping at Oakbrook Center and IKEA. We also spent a couple days in St. Louis where we visited the Art Museum, History Museum, Botanic Gardens, Cathedral Bascillica along with a little more shopping. We also had some great meals...one of which was at a place called Franco.
It was so delicious. You can see pictures from the trip on my facebook page. Yesterday we took a trip to Peru (IL) to the antique mall and I found some really cool 1950's enamelware photo developing trays.  
I think they will make really great trays, but I'm also thinking about other things to use them for. ..stay tuned.
So, I guess the the upside to the dwindling summer season is that my favorite season of the year is next on deck. So if I have to say good bye to summer at least we have Fall to look forward to.
night night
greg

Stop It, Stop It and Please, Please Stop IT!!!

Dear Men who wear pajamas in public,

I feel like we have had this conversation before, and I just don't see your side of the story.   I have often heard that you should begin any kind of confrontation with a positive.....so here goes.  I get that it takes someone totally confident in their fashion sense to walk out of the house, down a street or through the aisles of any store wearing beer logos, cartoon characters or sets of lips scattered up and down your legs...so I'll give you props for the confidence.  Now, the truth....I don't really think it's confidence...I think you've given up.  Wander back with me, if you will, to your childhood.  If your mother had presented you with a pair of pants that had any kind of embellishment you would have locked your self in your room and refused to leave the house for fear that your friends would forever torment you, banishing you to the corner of the cafeteria, dodge ball would become target practice and you would forever be the target.  Ahhh, yes, it's all coming back to you now isn't it?  Somewhere along the line you forgot, stopped caring or maybe you have a much higher vision of how you appear to others....

 

This is not you!  You are not Hugh Hefner.

Maybe, you are going for an odd quirky persona to share with the world...

 

You are not the King of Pop!

So, I ask you "What is wrong with a pair of blue jeans?"  Or a plain old pair of sweat pants.  At least it looks like you just came from or are headed to work out.  That you had some sort of will to live when you left the house.  That maybe you at least planned to shower...

 

Isn't that so much better? It is just as easy to put these on as those pajama pants.  ( But don't wear those kind of shoes with your sweatpants...it screams predator or convict or something....just go for some good old tennis shoes).

I will give a pass to anyone who is perhaps on their way home from the hospital after some sort of surgery and is desperately in need of milk or medication..that's pretty much the only time pajamas should show themselves outside your front door.  So please men, I beg you....you are a grown man, start dressing like one. 
Love Always,
Greg

I got... I mean "had" the Moves Like Jagger

Something happened.  I don't know how recently it happened.  I can't really pin point it, because up until a few days ago I didn't know it happened.  Let me explain.

First, let me take you back to a time when life was simple.  Well, simple in a general, no internet, kind of way.  I was in junior high.  I can't quite remember why, but in junior high chorus, we would get to dance.  Not like a glee club performance of dance, but like turn the lights off in the classroom, no singing and play popular music and dance.  For whatever reason, Mrs. Lindstrom would pick people who she thought were doing the best job of dancing....sort of like a primitive version of "So You Think You Can Dance".  I remember how excited I was when one Friday, I was one of the dancers chosen...I along with a handful of others had been plucked from the crowd for my wicked, cool dance moves.  I wore that crown for years.  Anytime I found myself on a dance floor, I was more confident than Danny Zuko dancing the Hand Jive with Cha Cha in "Grease."  Although my opportunities to dance (in public) have become less and less, I was still quite confident in my abilities...I mean come on, I wasn't one of those old guys who dances like he did in high school and all the youngsters stare at....or at least I didn't think so.  As chance would have it, I (like all the hip kids are getting these days) got a Wii for Christmas.  ( I know, I know, welcome to the 2000's).  I couldn't wait to get the latest "Just Dance 4" and bust a move.  I mean, those commercials were like my dream come true...all those people dancing in unison to the latest dance tunes.  ( I have often spoke of my desire to participate in an impromptu dance number ala Jennifer Garner's amazing "Thriller" number in "13 Going on 30" or any random episode of "Glee").  So, I was going to learn how with the help of my fancy new Wii.  Paula Abdul move over.  What happened next still cannot be explained in real words.  The music started "Hey I just met you...and this is crazy"...wait, I have to move my hands and feet like THAT?  At the same time?  Stop, slow down...what the?   And the song ends.  Maybe it was just the song choice....let's try another.   Slow down!!! The result of my first "Just Dance"...me sort of marching in place and twirling my arms around to keep up.  Shameful.  My dance crown, lay shattered on the floor.  Paula Abdul has won this battle.  But I shall not giveth upeth.  I shall practice like the "Black Swan" and I will finish one song if it kills me.  Look out "Solid Gold Dancers"....I'm coming for you.

One Million Mean Girls

Okay, can we talk for a minute about these One Million Moms?  You know, the ones who are boycotting/protesting JCPenney because they hired Ellen to be a spokesperson.  In general, people's ignorance has never been anything that surprises me, but for some reason these  broads just set me off.  Maybe it comes with age, but the acceptance of ignorance is harder and harder for me to hear, or maybe it's because I know that One Million Moms ( I've heard that they are really only 40,000, so come on ladies....isn't one million a bit of an exaggeration?)is made up primarily of those high school mean girls, who pick on the weaker people to make themselves feel better about themselves. (You know the one's who are popular in high school, only to find that life beyond high school can be very cruel...it's called karma ladies)  Did I spell karma correctly? 

Always one to consider both sides, I went to their little website and couldn't believe the front page was a rundown of all the things they want people to boycott.  Macy's (because their wedding registry clearly showed...gasp 2 Men), JCPenney (for the Ellen thing) and Modern Family because there was a swear word or something.....ladies you exhaust me, but okay.  Let's just say you are right and JCPenney was to go ahead with their plans to put Ellen and Portia in lingerie in a loving embrace during a commercial that I'm sure will most definitely air during Saturday morning cartoons.  Let's consider a new spokesperson...Okay, here we go....Oh, I know how about M.I.A., a nice young rapper that young kids today can admire.  What?  oh, yes, that whole Superbowl, flip the bird thing....okay, okay, lets think.  I've got it.  How about they hire wholesome Hanna Montana herself, Miley Cyrus.....oh, that's right, I forgot about those pictures of her with the bong, oh and the latest one of her licking the penis cake....there is someone for your children to aspire to be!  Okay, Okay, I give up ladies.  Who should the spokesperson be? 

Let's move on.  Ladies, it's 2012.  The nice married, gay couple that moves in on your street will soon blend in with the couple whose husband beats his wife, or the nice couple with the teenage son who is selling drugs to your beloved children after school, or maybe even a serial killer who is chopping people up and putting them in his freezer ( I bet Jeffrey Dahmer's neighbors wouldn't have liked Ellen for JCPenney's either).  What I'm really saying ladies is "get over yourselves".  There is way more to boycott in life than who someone that has nothing to do with you chooses to love.  You should instead be taking the responsibility to teach your children respect, acceptance and kindness to others...because, 40,000 moms, in the future when your son or daughter comes to you and tells you that they are gay, your one hope should be that the world they live in will show them kindness and acceptance.

Fortune Favors the Bold

It's about to be the beginning of yet another year.  They seem to pass so quickly.  This past year has been an absolute whirlwind.  I can remember New Year's Day 2011, just like it was yesterday, and I can't imagine that an entire spring, summer and fall have past.  So as always, it's time to reflect, a time to ask ourselves if this past year was everything we wanted it to be?  Were we happy?  Did we accomplish the things we hoped?  I always look at the beginning of a new year as the chance to work on the things that didn't work so well in the past year, and work on doing what I need to do to change them.  For the most part, 2011 was a great year.  I graduated from Pastry school, where I added some new friends to my life, I spent a great week of vacation in Costa Rica, I even lost a few pounds this year.  But for all the good, there are some things I wish would have been different.  Some opportunities I may have missed, some chances I didn't take.  In a sense, that is life.  Good and bad.  Missed opportunities and things that we overlook, mixed in with good and happy times.  But I ask myself how much I (we, if you will) miss out on by letting opportunities go by, by not saying yes more often, by not being more bold in our lives.  I read the quote "Fortune Favors the Bold".   For whatever reason, it stayed stuck in my head for several weeks and I knew in a way, that it was something I needed to apply to my own life.  Don't get me wrong, I have my moments of boldness, sometimes maybe even foolish boldness, but if you look around at successful people, people who make an imprint on the world, they didn't sit quietly by and let their lives happen to them.  They made some moves, struck out boldly to make a difference or to be successful or to stand for something.  I think on any level, we can all stand to be a bit more bold in our lives.  Whether it's just living day to day or some greater goal,  be bold in your beliefs, in your rights, in obtaining your heart's desire, in getting exactly what you want out of life.  Happy New Year everyone!

It's Thanksgiving people....

After what seemed to be the fastest summer I have ever lived through, we find ourselves here, in November, just a couple weeks before Thanksgiving.  The problem...someone forgot about Thanksgiving and skipped from Halloween to Christmas...let me explain (as I always do). 

I think it was August (even before Halloween or Labor Day for that matter!) that I first caught a glimpse of Christmas trees, I think it was Hobby Lobby.  I've known over the past 20 years or so, that retailers tend to push Christmas on us earlier and earlier, but is it just me or does this year seem far worse?  I remember back in the day when school started in the Fall and it seemed like forever until Halloween.  After Halloween, Thanksgiving was a far off thought on the horizon, and well Christmas ...we had months to go, it seemed.  Thanksgiving did finally role around and THEN, and only then did any talk of Christmas begin.  I remember spending the afternoon of Thanksgiving, after the table had been cleared, with the Wish Books spread out on the table, where I would diligently turn page by page, making my list of wanted items.  I would always include the item number, page number and of course color (if that were an option), I would leave no doubt as to what it was I would be expecting to see under that tree come Christmas morning.  The tree didn't go up until well into December and then came the annual viewing of claymation Christmas specials.  I don't think there were any of those sappy Hallmark Channel Holiday movies!  Here is my opinion....The Holidays were much more special then, because they were something that you looked forward to and you enjoyed during that time.  Nowadays we (I) grow weary of it being 24/7 beginning November 1 (yes, we have already endured an entire weekend of Hallmark Holiday movies), and by the time the day actually rolls around...you're over it.  December 26, we're ripping down the trees and moving on.  So, here is my challenge to everyone.  Anticipate Thanksgiving, savor the turkey and all the fixings, then on November 25, go full throttle into Christmas...that gives you 30 days of Christmas and that my friends is plenty of Christmas.  I do understand that if you're knitting Christmas sweaters for your entire family, you may need to think about Christmas before November 25, so get busy.

It's Growing Season...

Spring is quickly becoming summer and with it the earth comes alive.  I planted a garden this year, for the first time in many.  This is the first summer I've been in a house with a yard for over 4 years and I'm so excited about eating some of the tomatoes from my very own garden.  I've been thinking a lot about growing.  Not so much about plants in the garden, but growing as a person.  I think I used to think that as we become adults, we "arrive" at some place and there we live happily ever after, knowing all we need to know to live out a happy life.  At some point, that changed for me.  I don't remember exactly when, but at that point in my life I realized that this life is a classroom.  That in every aspect of life, there is a lesson to be learned, every experience, every encounter, every day offers some thing to take away, something that feeds us and helps us to grow.  One of the things that we tend to forget, is the idea that perhaps only the good things that happen to us help us to grow.  It's not always good, but it is an opportunity to learn and grow nonetheless.  What struck me the this week was not so much the idea of growing, but the notion of what to do when you stop growing?  Think about it like this.  Are you in a situation, be it a career, a friendship, a relationship where you have grown all you can?  Is there anything else for you to learn that will make you a better person, the person you are meant to be?  This week it hit me while I was on the treadmill...when you stop growing, it's time to move on....it's the sign, it's the realization you need to make yourself better.  I challenge myself to be someone who continually grows, in hopes of becoming all that I am possible of being.  I challenge all of you to do the same.