Thursday, August 25, 2011

I'm just not that cute anymore



These days, bloggers have so many options to help their sites look cute


I keep finding very cute-looking blogs designed with curlicues and spiffy buttons and whoknowswhatall. My blog, as you can see, is just not that cute. It’s . . . well, utilitarian. I mean, it gets the job done, but it lacks the fun, and foo-foo young’uns these days seem to pull it off with ease. I got to hand it to them, though. Their blogs are delightful and they’re designed to last.

That permanence is more than I can say for some of the very cute food items people keep trying to teach me to make. Not long ago, I was in a class where we learned to make not one but three types of adorable little cupcakes—all with a summer theme: fireworks, a campfire, and a bear chillin’ in water on a swimming ring. I actually loved putting them together and using the decorations and frosting someone else had bought and prepared, then bringing them home to show them off to my family. I knew darn well those were cute cupcakes, but the edible kind of cute just isn’t very appreciated around here. I suppose that’s one of the reasons I’m just not that cute anymore.

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Time is worth more than money


Spending time with a child is a lasting gift

I’m sure mine was a familiar scene: I sat in the doctor’s office waiting and waiting and waiting. In the meantime, I had to fill out the new patient paperwork, which made me agree to pay $50 for any missed appointment or for neglecting to cancel an appointment 24 hours in advance. The irony is hard to miss. Apparently, the doctor’s time is worth much more than mine. If I had known I was going to have to wait an hour and 15 minutes before being seen, I would have added my own little clause to that document: I will agree to pay you according to your terms if you will agree to pay me for my time waiting more than 15 minutes for you.

He’s a really nice guy, this doctor, but business is business, and for him time is money. Has he ever wondered what time is for the rest of us? Time is one of the few things we each have, but it’s both limited and uncertain. In other words, at least in this life, we’re all going to run out of time sooner or later, and for some “sooner” comes unexpectedly.