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Meet Amy
I have struggled with the answer when asked, "What do you do?" and it isn't work-related. Ultimately, we settled on that I find things and untangle things. But I also read (a lot), pretend to wake surf, and watch Hallmark films.
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I really struggled with the prompts for this week. None of them really spoke to me. So, i opted for the one that I could write about at least a little bit.
What does that tell you about your father? List five products your father used (or uses). Write a longer piece about, at least, one of them.
- Grey Flannel Cologne
- Kikkomon’s Teriyaki
- Big Green Egg
- Halloway Floor Cleaner
- Snaps
My dad is not much of a consumer, but the items that he does use he sticks to.
- Grey Flannel Cologne – I remember the smell of my dad from the time I was little. On Christmas my mom would give him a new bottle. She’d also give my grandpa a bottle. It was always nicely packaged with the grey flannel bag. It would always sit on my dad’s dresser. I’m not sure if he still wears it, but as a child, it was a smell that let me know my dad was close by. (Or my grandpa).
- Kikkoman’s Teriyaki – My dad is awesome at making really yummy steaks. He will marinade them for hours. The secret ingredient actually isn’t Kikkoman’s but it is the base ingredient. He also adds some garlic, brown sugar and a little extra soy. I love how tender it makes the meat and the sweet flavor.
- Big Green Egg – Part of his secret to super great steak is being very selective of the pieces he buys, but the key is his Big Green Egg. It’s an extremely expensive grill and smoker but it is AWESOME. It isn’t something I could ever justify buying. (Scott isn’t much into grilling and I don’t have enough time to master it). But, my dad and my brother are grill masters. So my brother and his wife gifted my dad with his Big Green Egg many years ago.
- Holloway Floor Cleaner – This is now one of my favorite cleaning products. My dad introduced it to me about 6 years ago when I noticed his hardwood floor was much prettier than mine and had quite the shine. Plus his floor was older and had more wear, yet still looked better. Now I use the cleaner and when I have time I also use the polish. If you have hardwood floors, you should totally give it a try. You’ll be amazed at the job it does.
- Snaps – Last on the list is my dad’s favorite candy of all time. Snaps are best when they are fresh and soft. Dad taught me to love all of the colors even though I still think the pink tastes a little like perfume. My father-in-law found out how much I love Snaps and also knew that there was a time that they were difficult to find. So every time he found them, he would buy me a bag. Between my dad and my father-in-law, Snaps will always be my favorite.
These are the products that whenever I see them, or use them, I can’t help but think of my dad. He is wonderful at so many things and I’m grateful that he helps me be a better person.
Drop by the Writer’s Workshop hosted by Mama Kat and see some of the other prompts and responses.
By the way, what products remind you of your dad and what do they say about him?
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PS I’ve included a couple of affiliate links but not one for the Big Green Egg, cause I don’t have one. 🙂
This week, I didn’t take very many pictures. But I did have a blast scanning a couple hundred of pictures from my youth.
Doesn’t this picture of me and my mom make you want to make your own clothes? My mom and I had several coordinated outfits. My dad and brother also had matching t-shirts. There are countless photos of us matching and I love it.
When I was little, I would always play “The Price is Right” with my grandparents. Sitting in the laundry basket was my place to go when my grandpa would say “Come on down”. I vividly remember these game nights. I’m just not sure why I have my t-shirt pulled up over my hair.
When I was 4 years old, I had to have pretty major surgery. At least back then it was major. Now they just do it with lasers and the two-week stay that was typical when I had it is now either a same day procedure or a one night stay. This picture was taken the day they checked me into the hospital. They used to check you in the day before your surgery rather than the day of your surgery.
This was a fun stroll down memory lane, I hope you enjoyed it as well.
Be sure and check out some other “Wordful Wednesdays“
I think one of the hardest things about being a parent is knowing how to help your children feel better when their feelings have been hurt.
Recently my eldest was playing with a neighborhood friend. They were having a great time until her friend told her that he needed to leave to go to another one of their neighbor friend’s birthday party. As he said it, I could see my little girl’s face just fall.
Jade asked why she hadn’t been invited. I didn’t have an answer for her that could heal the wound.
Scott jumped in with “We just live on the wrong street.” As weak of an answer as that was, it was probably pretty close to the truth.
When her little friend’s dad came to get him for the party, Jade said, “I wish she would have invited me.” He said, “You weren’t invited? Interesting.”
That’s exactly how I felt too.
Jade continued to feel sad about it for awhile. She wanted to confront her friend and find out why she hadn’t been invited. I know how she was feeling, although I’ve never had the nerve to ask someone why I’d been left out. And maybe, had I let her, she wouldn’t have asked either. Although she is more like Scott and does ask the hard questions.
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I am keenly aware of the feelings she was having. I’m extremely sensitive to feeling left out. Even though, I know it is most often times not intentional. Since I do struggle with that feeling, I go out of my way to try and include everyone. Sure, I understand that there are times that you can’t invite the whole world, ward, street or your family to do every activity. We just try and make sure we are extending the invitations whenever we can.
But, I do understand that there are times that you are limited to a certain number: The restaurant you are going to can only seat 8 at one table. The party package you bought only allows for 4 kids. The cost of each additional kid is more than you want to spend. There are only 4 tickets available to the play you want to see.
I know you can’t ALWAYS invite everyone you would like. Unfortunately, that doesn’t help keep the sadness away from the ones that are left out. Nor can you protect your kids from being the one to feel that empty feeling.
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I guess one way of handling the situation would be to just say “Oh well” and help your child simply not care about being left out. Unfortunately, I’m not the one that can teach that lesson because I’ve never been able to learn it myself.
Or I could have said that the invitation possibly got lost in the mail. But if it didn’t, that would create a false sense of hope.
So how did I handle it?
I sat down with her and encouraged her to remember how she was feeling right then. Then I told her to keep that feeling and remember to never be the one that is making other people feel that feeling.
She promised she would do her best.
Remember when you were little and you would go to all of your neighbors and ask them to support you on the Walk America? It was our way of supporting the March of Dimes while in our youth.
Did you know you can still do the Walk America?
But did you also know that you can support the March of Dimes by donating baby products with the Service Soapbox’s Baby Shower? If you aren’t in Utah, you can join in their Virtual Baby Shower.
We’ve all had our chances to serve and we’ve all had that wonderful feeling that follows.
As a fourth grader, I loved the “Dukes of Hazard” TV show. In fact, I had quite the crush on John Schneider. He was sexy, blonde, buff and one of the Duke boys.
As the publicity was spread throughout my elementary school for the Walk America that May, every girl in the school was ecstatic. Why? Because John Schneider was going to make a special guest appearance following the walk.
My friends and I gathered our pledges and looked forward to that May Saturday morning.
Finally the day arrived. We woke up early to start the walk. My mom did it with us. The whole walk, we kept looking toward the sky because John was going to arrive via helicopter. There was no helicopter.
Finally we got to the end of the walk for the celebration. John Schneider had something come up. We didn’t get to meet him. Talk about a crushed fourth grader.
But, in the end, we collected the money from our pledges and loved the opportunity to help the March of Dimes. We did it the next year – even though there wasn’t a great celebrity meeting us at the end.
Service is important, but it isn’t always easy or fun. By giving young girls the chance to meet John Schneider served as wonderful motivation for girls to do service. A chance to win great prizes by attending a baby shower and giving gifts is a fantastic motivation for adults to serve.
Be sure and join the party on April 24th or join the virtual party.
By the way – The Walk America takes place in May and that would be another great time to serve.
Over at I heart Faces they are switching it up a bit. This week it is I heart Desserts.
This is by no means a fantastic picture but it is the WORLD’S BEST DESSERT.
This is the raspberry almond tort (flourless) from Gastronomy Restaurants. I love buying a whole tort for special occasions and when we make it to Salt Lake to go to the New Yorker, this dessert is a MUST.
Scott used to be a waiter at the New Yorker, and still knows the chef. I’ve taken a couple of cooking classes from the chef and felt comfortable enough to ask him for the recipe.
He gladly gave it to me.
I tried it.
It turned out like soup.
He realized the custard recipe he gave me wasn’t quite right and sent me to “The Joy of Cooking” and said to use their custard because the custard he uses is a HUGE batch and he’s sure he gave me the wrong recipe.
I tried it again.
It worked.
I still buy it rather than make it. The cost is far less than the time and cost of ingredients for me to make it.
Jump on over to I heart Faces Desserts to see what others think are the BEST desserts.
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