All-weather exercise

My oldest has developed an interest in a hobby that is almost ideal, at least for this mom. I can sit in air-conditioned (and later this year, heated) bliss, while Mason gets 2+ hours of non-stop fun and exercise. Oh! And there's free wi-fi, too! Where, you may ask, is this haven of parental joy? It's Progressive Skatepark in Canton, Georgia, less than a half hour from my home.

Depending on what day of the week and time of day you go, the fee ranges from $5.00 - $15.00 to use the indoor/outdoor facility for a specific time range or all day. Yes, it's not free, but it is still relatively inexpensive compared to other options available to kids. In the owner Mike DeLuca's words:

"I thought it was so unfair that these corporate skateparks were charging the fees they were. As a skater dad with three kids that skated, it really ticked me off that it would cost me sixty bucks to skate for two hours. I thought why not build a skatepark, charge a small fee to cover the overhead (utilities, insurance, labor and day to day expenses) and give a skater the chance to skate in a clean, well lit and safe environment. While I was at it, give mom and dad a great place to watch there kids excel at what they wanted to do. Today our session prices are still the lowest of any major skatepark in Georgia."

In the raise-responsible-children-area, Mason is so motivated by skateboarding that Progressive is an incentive on which I can base his taking responsibility for his weekly guitar and keyboard practice. No more nagging from this mom! (Well, less nagging, anyway.) If he practices a specific amount of time each week without being reminded, I take him skateboarding. If I have to remind him, then he has to practice anyway and there's no skateboarding that week. (Which is kind of a bummer for me, too, as I actually enjoy hanging out there. Ah, the sacrifices a parent must make!)

A hooping necklace

Love, Earth: Tree of Life necklace

When you're learning to hoop, you don't want to add to the lumps and bumps that the human body already has. I love jewelry, I really do, but wearing bulky shiny objects adds a level of complexity to my hooping that I'm just not ready for. (I don't even wear earrings anymore because I once had a hoop hit my ear and knock a 1 carat stud earring into the grass.) A few months ago, though, I found a piece of jewelry that I can wear while hooping. And I do. In fact, I rarely take it off because I like it for so many different reasons:

• It's flat and doesn't interfere with my chest or neck hooping.
• It's relatively inexpensive so I won't be completely horrified if I lose it during a particularly energetic hooping session.
• It's made of both gold and silver which helps it match pretty much everything.
• The necklace materials are responsibly mined. (Each necklace includes a tracking number so that you can trace the path of your necklace from "Mine to Market.")
• The Tree of Life etched on it holds great meaning for me (it is a constant reminder of the connection that we humans, and all life on this planet, have to each other).

The only negative aspect to this necklace is that it's sold by WalMart. Yes, I said Wal-Mart. I don't have a high opinion of that organization, mostly because of its contribution to excessive consumerism and waste, but I suppose we can assume this necklace is an example of them trying to improve their record, yes? One can only hope.

You can find more information about the necklace and the Love, Earth jewelry collection here.

Sitting on the porch...

...on an early mountain morning. Chatting with my 9-year-old son. Out of the blue he says:

"You do know that when you retire I'm going to give you half my paycheck?"

Me: "And do you know what I'll do with it?"

Mason: "No?"

Me: "Put it in a savings account for you."

Concentrated family time

We're headed to a mountain vacation soon. And (insert smooth segue here!) I've recently been listening to Asleep at the Wheel's album "Ride with Bob." It has certainly put me in the mood for the great outdoors, even if the images it's conjuring (cowboys on horses, ambling across the evening desert against a backdrop of far off mountain ranges in various shades of gray) don't quite match our heavily forested destination.

I am SO looking forward to concentrated family time. I truly live for those moments.

Our house smelled heavenly

Image from OurBestBites.com

Last Sunday a mystery neighbor gifted us with a dozen homegrown tomatoes. That very day, I followed this recipe and popped them in the oven for a couple of hours. They were absolutely divine.

Basically, you just quarter some tomatoes and chop some garlic. Then coat everything in olive oil, salt and pepper, arrange it all on a cookie sheet, and roast for a couple of hours. It is unbelievably yummy and easy. A perfect combination for this busy mom.

After figuring out who our benefactor was, I thanked him profusely. I was so obviously pleased with the tomatoes that he promised me more later this summer. I plan on adding minced, fresh basil to that batch!

New web site...in progress!

My collection of play-with-me hoops. The raggedy, mummy-like white one on the end is my very first hoop. Only two of the others are still in my house; the rest have been gifted to someone!

I enjoy hooping so much that I want to share the joy it brings with all my friends and family. As a result, I’ve made and given away many, many hula hoops to those who have expressed even the slightest interest in the activity. Not suprisingly, this practice is starting to become a wee bit expensive as there are costs associated with making hula-hoops.

To offset the financial impact of “spreading the hooping love” I’ve decided to sell the hoops at a relatively low price. This will allow me to kinda-sorta “give them away” without breaking the family bank. Of course, one thing leads to another (are you now hearing that song by The Fixx in your head?!) so I had to think of a company name and create a logo for the contact cards I intend to keep on hand, get a domain name, create a web site, etc...

We considered a variety of company names and enjoyed a LOT of giggles as we did so. Our ideas included: Hoop! There It Is! (this one STILL cracks me up!), HoopDeVille, Hoop-to-Hoop, Hoops-a-daisy, HooptyDo, HoopAndFlow, Hoopentine, The InsideHoop, TomHoopery, Hooparama, and HoopyDays. There were many, many other suggestions made because we also considered names which included “hula”...like HulaMonster. Get it? Hula Monster? As in, “gila monster”!!!

My number one choice was actually HoopsADaisy, but that .com domain belongs to a bridal store in the UK. So, after further consideration, I chose Alphabet Hoops...it’s a play on the words “Alphabet Soup,” in case you didn’t figure that out immediately. (Most people don’t/haven’t.) As this Web site is in a blog format and being a writer in my day job, the combination of “alphabet” with “hoops” seems entirely appropriate. And as a mom who pays careful attention to what her family consumes, the slight reference to food also seems very appropriate. (Well, sort of. I haven’t actually ever served Campbell’s Alphabet Soup to my kids, but in the interest of my new domain name, I’ll overlook that fact.)

Dita Von Teese and Over-sized Buttons

I LOVE the buttons on Dita's dress. (What? You didn't know we were on a first name basis?)

 Dita Von Teese: Spare Change Anyone? - Photo Gallery | Just Jared