The wondrous Aimee Bender conjures the lush and moving story of a girl whose magical gift is really a devastating curse.
   On the eve of her ninth birthday, unassuming Rose Edelstein, a girl at the periphery of schoolyard games and her distracted parents’ attention, bites into her mother’s homemade lemon-chocolate cake and discovers she has a magical gift: she can taste her mother’s emotions in the cake. She discovers this gift to her horror, for her mother—her cheerful, good-with-crafts, can-do mother—tastes of despair and desperation. Suddenly, and for the rest of her life, food becomes a peril and a threat to Rose.
   The curse her gift has bestowed is the secret knowledge all families keep hidden—her mother’s life outside the home, her father’s detachment, her brother’s clash with the world. Yet as Rose grows up she learns to harness her gift and becomes aware that there are secrets even her taste buds cannot discern.

Slapdash Sunday is a day for your proverbial week ‘leftovers.’ Is there something you wanted to say, but just forgot? Is there something you want to write about, but isn’t worth a whole page? Do you have a random thought, funny or otherwise that needs to be written down?
That is what Slapdash Sunday is for!
Today’s Topic:  Nostalgia
   I hope you don’t mind that this week is not a book/blog topic but will explain why this came to mind and wanted to share with you!!
   The past few weeks, I have mentioned that hubby and I will soon be empty nesters.  Our youngest (24 yrs old) moved out of state (5 hr drive away) this past November.  This week, our oldest (26 yrs old) will be closing on a house he bought, which is also out of state (90min drive) and will be moving out within the next few weeks.  We are so very proud of both of them especially seeing the “men” they have become.
   Friday night, I started reading The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender.  The first chapter began with 9 year old Rose arriving home from school finding her mom starting to bake a lemon cake for Rose’s birthday.
   And it got me thinking to when my boys were that age and their birthdays.  To this day, their friends from when they were in elementary school, will tell me how they couldn’t wait for the boys to open their lunch boxes.  Their friends, knowing of this tradition would wait to start on their own lunches until the boys opened their lunch box to see if I had done it again!!!!
   On their birthdays, from kindergarten to high school…yes high school, I would pack their lunches in a certain way.  You would think, when you hear what I did, that they would be embarrassed, especially in high school but they have told me since it wouldn’t have been their bday if I hadn’t done it.  They have also told me that they will be passing on this tradition when they have children.
   I would make their sandwich, wrap it in wax paper, and then placed in a baggie.  But it didn’t end there.  I would then wrap that sandwich package in birthday paper and attach a bow.  The same with their snack, which was always a cupcake, wrapped in birthday paper with a bow and same with their drink, which was always a soda, the only day they were allowed a soda for their lunchbox drink, wrapped in birthday gift wrap and another bow.
   So today’s topic/question is this.  Did you have a special tradition with your kids?  Or maybe even a tradition that your mom started and has been a pleasant memory for you.  Would love to hear your nostalgic story!!!  So today is not a slapdash discussion but a slapdash memory and/or story !!!
 
 

The Q’s.
1. If you accidently knick a car in a parking lot..Do you leave a note or do you get the heck out of there?
     It would depend if it was a lot of damage, if it was a brand new car, but I would probably leave a
     note, especially now a days with so many video cameras, I would be more afraid of “leaving the
     scene of an accident”
2. Love your body or plastic surgery?
     LOL  At my age, there are the problems of the thighs, having a bit of excess weight (am on diet
     as I type lol)etc, but, I have had approx. 13 operations, need  3 more, due to medical problems 
     that my body already looks like an atlas due to all the scars.  So I would say I can learn to 
     like what I have.   
3. What about your favorite blog(s) continues to drive you back?
     Mainly content, personality behind the blog and honesty.  I follow many blogs, so I refresh my 
     google reader often and if I see something of interest, I head on over.
4. What percent of your blog is BS just to make your life seem more interesting than it really is?
     0%..that is a trait (lieing/bsing) that I don’t like in real life so what you see on my blog is the
     real me, however boring as it might be. 
5. If you had to give up one type of meat for the rest of your life, what would it be?
     This one is easy.  I gave it up as a child when my grandmother tried getting me to eat it and told
     me it was steak.  It wasn’t,  it was liver and have never tasted it again!!!
6. How often to you eat out?
     At least 1, sometimes 2, times a week.  Hubby and I don’t do movies, casinos, etc for
     entertainment, but he enjoys going to different restaurants(atmosphere), having a couple of
     glasses of wine…a date night.
7. Skinny jeans or boot cut jeans?
     Both
8. If you caught your spouse cheating would you forgive, divorce, or plan your kill?
     It would depend on the circumstances, remorse, if it was a one time mistake (which we all make)
     We have been married for 29 years, a lot of years to throw away so will say try to forgive.
Want to join in, let your followers/visitors get to know you?  Link provided above.  Or you can  leave your answers here so I can get to know who is behind the blogs I follow.
    

Kristin said… 6   I am a GFC follower.

Anonymous said… 11   If I won the lottery, I would immediately buy a new computer and sign up for a high speed connection! No more waiting forever for something to post. Might sell this house and buy another one in a cooler place-maybe. Give a sizable gift to the nearest children’s library. Oh-lots of things. Would probably have to make a list, priotrize it but after I buy a new computer and get a high speed connection!

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Pass this on to five great blog neighbors
I define a great blog neighbor as someone that consistently comments on your posts and responds to questions or comments that you have.
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Kristin said… 6   I am a GFC follower.

Anonymous said… 11   If I won the lottery, I would immediately buy a new computer and sign up for a high speed connection! No more waiting forever for something to post. Might sell this house and buy another one in a cooler place-maybe. Give a sizable gift to the nearest children’s library. Oh-lots of things. Would probably have to make a list, priotrize it but after I buy a new computer and get a high speed connection!

An email has been to the winners and they have 48 hours to respond with their mailing information or another winner(s) will be chosen.

With Friends Like These by Sally Koslow (ARC)
Published by Ballantine Books
ISBN 978-0-345-50622-1
At the request of Pump Up Your Book, a PB ARC was sent, at no cost to me, for my honest opinion.
  Synopsis (from book): A novel following four New York City women’s complicated friendships across a span of twenty years.
  When Quincy, Jules, Talia and Chloe become fast friends despite their drastically different personalities. Now, nearly twenty years later, their lives have diverged as much as they possibly can within one city: Quincy is mourning a miscarriage and lusting for the perfect Manhattan apartment; Jules, a woman with an outsize personality, is facing forty alone; Talia, married and the mother of a four-year-old, is her family’s reluctant breadwinner; and Chloe faces pressure from her hedge fund manager husband to be more ambitious. As these women grapple with the challenges of marriage, motherhood, careers, and real estate, they can’t help but assess their positions in life in comparison to each other-leading them to envy and disillusionment.
  My Thoughts and Opinion: I thoroughly enjoyed this contemporary chick lit novel, maybe even more so, because of recent personal issues, namely empty nesting. Lately I have been thinking about the past 20+ years, reassessing, recalling memories, taking inventory of life’s ups and downs and what I have learned from them in my own personal life. The same premise as this book. I could relate to many experiences that these 4 very diverse women with different personality traits encountered in their lives. I could also compare them to my friendships that I have been lucky to have, for many years, and how each of us has changed but still maintained that special friendship bond. Ms. Koslow has written a very emotional, touching and thought provoking novel that has an outcome that will have the reader, at least it did for me, taking stock of our own lives and friendships. What makes friendships endure for years? Even when there are times where intentions aren’t truly genuine and/or have even a little bit of envy. The plot is profound and meaningful, whereas the author, creates 4 characters that experience so many real life emotions, trials and tribulations and through her written words, allows the reader to palpate each and every sentiment. A poignant must read !!!

Pass this on to five great blog neighbors
I define a great blog neighbor as someone that consistently comments on your posts and responds to questions or comments that you have.
I am now passing this award on (in no particular order):

I hope you enjoy this award as much as I have !!