When adult children come home for a holiday or vacation there is a decidedly different energy in the house and some things are just timelessly the same.

I thought I would share a list of the 10 major ideas that made me take note:

1. Every glass in the cupboard was used every day and I needed to wander the house to gather them all and get them in the dishwasher for the next day’s use.
2. The washer and the dryer were in nearly constant usage (well they did go cross country skiing) and they do not have to pay at our house!
3. Every juice or milk carton was replaced in the refrigerator with only about 1 oz. of liquid remaining and often the next round was still frozen in the freezer or warm in the pantry.
4. Roommates often accompany adult children to your home, are welcomed and squeezed into the activities, even without prior notification.
5. The concept of 20 minute showers – max or Japanese showers is completely lost on adult children who are not paying a separate power/utilities bill yet! Frustrating indeed and you know you taught them to turn off the lights when they leave a room – but they have just experienced a new freedom and they forget.
6. When their friends come over to visit you are included in the conversation which is much more interesting and invigorating. There is not a big hurry to escape your presence! ?
7. All the parents comparing notes have discovered new APPS on their cell phones, especially ones for movie theaters in the area. I got a new grocery list app on my phone and it works very well and is simply wonderful. Dad got a new bike riding trail organizing APP and is finding this fun.
8. Surprise! The gas tank on the car is empty and my car needed to get all the de-icer and grime off it after so many mountain runs.
9. The clock on the TV/DVD player is set to the correct time, as it has been not set since the last power outage!
10. My computer is now running quickly and has a new working OS on it but all of the widgets and desktop icons are missing and I have no idea where they are… (and I had to jump for joy over this gift until I accidentally erased about 400 emails that had mounted up while I took 2 weeks off of my computer!)

Hope this was a fun venture into the world of adult children’s homecoming – I surely did have a marvelous time and I also saved my whole month’s grocery allowance for just this holiday adventure. There is a whole lot of eating going on, help with the dishes and even some compliments for your efforts.

Can you add to this list? What are some of the changes you have noticed when adult children come home? When do children become fully adult in your definitions?

A special thank you to all the parents who shared and Tait, Beth, Jeff, Quinn, Whitney, Lael and Brad who assisted me in the preparation of the this list – and performed those magic tasks!

Looking forward to your fabulous responses and comments…

Related Reading:

Breakfast with Buddha
Lightening Up the Mother Load
Someone’s in the Kitchen with Patricia

Post from: www.patriciaswisdom.com

When Adult Children Come Home – Be Aware

I have seen evidence of the success of these list posts why just this week, Dani at Positively Present has been making lists about how to find your light when all is dark.

JD at Sources of Insight has been sharing a list of his favorite quotes about good luck.

Janice at Sharing the Journey has 101 tips for writers

And Jannie has another list of typo errors that are most amusing and enjoyable to discover.

Tess at The Bold Life can never be out done!
Even Barbara at Blogging without a Blog has a short list of blogging etiquette rules

So here I am wanting to do a list post and draw people into my words, at this point all I could conjure up is my Grocery List. So without further ado, I will share my October 1, 2009 Grocery List.

1. More apples – because frankly the deer are getting all the good ones.
2. Tomatoes – because they are so yummy this time of year and the deer got there first.
3. A new microwave oven – although I am eating raw my guy is not and our 15 year old gem has given up, and apparently this is not a false positive – it is a goner.
4. Dark Chocolate – dairy free. Life would just not be worth living without a melt down on my tongue two times a week.
5. Someone else to do the shopping, because it is so hard to enter the store and bypass all those food industry items. They were made to reward your brain and that they do it with such perfection.
6. A trip to the Farmer’s Market to see all the beautiful autumn produce; to see the crafts, jellies, and soaps – oh and the flower arrangements – Hey they have new crop apples right now and pears!
7. Go to the bank, go directly to the bank and make sure all the funds have been deposited and are ready to pay the bills.
8. Grab my bushel basket and fill it with hugs, smiles, and well wishes to share along the way.
9. At least 2 and maybe more like 6 giant guffaws – laughing right out loud (LOL)
10. A never ending supply of gratitude and thanks for the wonderful folks who read and comment on my blog and all the delightful, inspirational, and exceptionally talented folks in this blogging community. We are a fine harvest to behold – Thank you all

What’s on your list today?

Random other lists you might enjoy:
10 Things I have Learned About Celiac Disease
12 Reasons I want People to Read This Book
Kindle 2 and 5 Things I Love About It
5 Must Haves for your Next Doctor’s Appointment

Post from: www.patriciaswisdom.com

Have I Got a List For You?

Tah! Dah!

Border Songs the Book goes to Jannie Funster for her laugh out loud comments on my blog while I was away and because she reads books! I think this book will make her laugh out loud too.

The copy of Jannie’s CD goes to Cath Lawson because she did say that she did not have the CD and she asked!

Thank you for all the appreciated comments and good recommendations.

#2 A Movie Recommendation:
I just have returned from seeing Julie & Julia which is a delightfully good movie and not just a chick flick! The blogger succeeds and Meryl Streep is amazing and so are the love stories.
You can also read the blog or the book; equally good.

#3 A Puzzlement in Contemplation Mode:
I have been watching my city plant hundreds of street trees over the past years. HUNDREDS. They are all Deciduous. WHY? We grow Evergreen Trees here, which drink up 500 gallons of water a day, are shallow rooted and hold the soils in place. Why if our downtown is going to be underwater in a few years, do we not plant Evergreen Trees and keep our environment appropriate?

Why do we cut them down in the first place and do not replant fir trees? Why do folks uphill cut down their fir trees and then discover they need a permit?

Well, I am not alone in this Puzzlement. One of the news discussion shows in Scotland discussed this very subject. In Scotland they are busy planting Evergreen Trees and reforesting the landscape. Their natural forests are Deciduous Trees. Citizens and Officials are now asking, why they are planting so many Evergreen Trees? And because they are asking and raising such points – nicely – the government is going to switch to planting appropriate trees for the areas they are reforesting.

Is it because no one in my city is asking that question of the right people? So I put in a call about this puzzlement, the fellow in charge just left on vacation – I will need to wait – nicely.

Congratulations to the winners.

I am wondering if you have any puzzlements you would like to share and add to the contemplation pool?

Looking forward to you much appreciated comments:

Other related posts that might interest you:
Freebies and Party Favors
Kindle 2 and 5 Things I love About It
The Awesome Mom Club

Post from: www.patriciaswisdom.com

Just Three Things for a Friday Post

I wrote about my first thoughts about Kindle I here.

My first Kindle has moved on to another daughter who is in graduate school and the text books are so much less – I think kiddos who are going to college should all have one.

Happy Easter! The Easter Bunny brought me a Kindle II – Lucky ME!

Here are my 5 tops reasons for liking the Kindle II

I like change and I like how Kindle is changing the way books are published and read. This change is one that makes my life easier and better. I like how this format saves on paper. I still read lots of blogs every day, do research on the computer and I enjoy the magazine format of StumbleUpon.

What other tools have you discovered that you like and make your life easier?
Do you think you would like or not like a Kindle – why?
Did you know that lots of folks read blogs on their phones now? Way fun? Or Too Much?

Like this post feel free to Stumble it or put it on Twitter or Facebook

Post from: www.patriciaswisdom.com

Kindle 2 and 5 Things I Love About It!

Top Five Santa List for Patricia:

#1.  I would like working solar panels, possibly from Nanosolar in San Jose (as referred to in Time Magazine November 10, 2008 edition – under best Inventions.)  I would like to use all the sunny days that come my way to give back energy to the power grid and regroup some of the Enron Legal fees, and help all the fish, flora, and fauna in my neighborhood.

#2.   I would be overjoyed if my youngest child could learn how to use money, understand money, and become accountable and responsible with money.  I am wishing too with graduation in March from college a wonderful job with health insurance will open up for her and she will be able to pay her way. I do not wish for my other children to have to take over this task, I cannot afford a guardian or guardian services, and truly this appears to be an area where I am not succeeding.

#3.   I have my fingers crossed and eyes heavenward, that I will have enough money for a plane ticket to the UK for my 60th birthday celebration and enough spending money to purchase food, water, and a few mementos of the journey.  I guess that means that we will not need a new roof or have a flooded bedroom area, or medical expenses.  I would truly just love a guarantee that everything will be a “green light” for a wonderful adventure and celebration.

#4.  I would like someone to invent a home watermill to generate energy.  We have hundreds of gallons of water running out our gutters every time it rains, which is a great deal of the time.  Since seeing the Leonardo Di Vinci exhibit at the Tech museum in San Jose, CA, I have been pondering the idea that mankind’s dominate source of energy over time has been water.  Rain and gutter water would be ideal sources of energy that already exist; we just need a way to capture it and make it useable at our homes. We have French drains, 2 sump pumps, sewer lines, street drains, and tons of water running off our roof which seems like it should be able to run at least my computer every day?  Come on somebody…let’s give it a try and get something good going here.

#5.  and dear Santa, I would like health – profoundly, irrationally, abundantly, unlimited health.  No more threats to lose my insurance, no more pre-diabetes, no more high blood pressure, no more cancer, no more pneumonia, and enough energy to enjoy my abundance.  Within this wish, I would like my writing, particularly on my blogs, to serve me well enough to pay all my medical debts and fund some retirement to remove that stressor from my whole being.

Some list?  Huh?

I just bet you have a Santa list or a goal list too?

Marelisa at Abundance Blog has a wonderful positive way to look at goals and setting them for the new year and I recommend it for good reading and list making.

Oh yes, and could we include WORLD PEACE?

I sure would like it if you wrote down a few of your Santa wishes here – get them out   loudly.

Thank you for sharing your comments and ideas.

Post from: www.patriciaswisdom.com

Hey Santa Could You Send a Few Things My Way?

After using it for 3 months now and having it on a business/vacation trip loaded up with 31 books, newspapers, and blogs – being able to take notes – and asking research questions of the Kindle team and getting answers in about 15 minutes – well I can’t say enough. Authors are getting paid, less paper is being used, and my eyes never burn or feel tired. It is light weight. It has now paid for itself. The small memory card makes it so you can have up to 4000 books! And the backup Kindle team means you will always own those books even if you drop your reader into the sea! If you order yours off my blog site – well, I will get a few dollars to buy more books. WOW, why did I wait so long?

#2 Vermont Apple peeler, corer, and slicer – my hands say thank you for this gem.

Last year, I peeled, cored, and sliced by hand, 90 apples a dehydrator load and each day my hands got more swollen and callused. I could hardly move my hands in the morning. Dried organic apples from our trees are my favorite holiday gift to give. I filled the dryer 16 times. This year I filled the dryer 12 times and in about ½ the time having been gifted this nifty little machine by two people. My hands did not hurt and were not swollen at all. I filled an apple pie in about 10 minutes – It works and it is keeping me able to accomplish a task I love to do. Also does Potatoes. Thank you Vermont Apple Machine.

#3 Nikon Cool Pix Digital Camera

Even I can take good pictures and send them to my blog master with this handy little camera. I like how the memory disk just pops out and I can directly load the shots into my laptop on the road. The battery life is days longer than my previous camera and I don’t have to drag around my charger on a 10 day trip. Even though I did read the whole user booklet before I used my camera the first time…..in German, Spanish and English – wasn’t up to Japanese! (Just kidding) I had no trouble figuring out how to use it and access the different programs. I take this everywhere I take my writer’s journal – including the bathroom. What a gem and work master.

#4 Nintendo DS with Brainage 2

This is just such a fun way to exercise my brain and rev my engines to my best writing and thinking endeavors. It is in my pocket wherever I go and I take a break with this instead of food! I have completed Brainage 1 so I am recommending 2 this time around and when I am just charged up after teaching or discussing something, this game has a way to calm the brain down so one can sleep – you need to play a certain number of the other games to open up this relaxer, but it was very helpful when I got to worrying during an illness this fall. I show it to all my friends and introduced folks to it on my last plane trip. It is a bit addicting, but I seem to be able to put it down and move on to other things when needed. Wow this is just plain fun.

#5 Wii Fit – Hip Hip Hurrah!

At 3 nearly every afternoon you will find me in front of the TV doing a 30 minute workout, stretch or balance routine. My posture is so improved and I just feel better. Usually I have been writing for 2 hours and building my business for 5 by this time. I work out at the gym or walk the lake in the wee hours of the morning. Having this back up for the severe weather days was all I was hoping for, now it gives my mind a rest and my body some action that helps. The Fit program works off the Wii system and my kids like to do it too – gets them up and moving. I have even gotten my honey to do skiing and bowling as a date night! Way fun! And I just feel better and stronger. It’s better than chocolate!

All five of my gadgets are available on Amazon.com and if you order from my website I will get a few cents in return.

What are your favorite gadgets that make your life better – they work!???

Looking forward to adding more to my list.

Post from: www.patriciaswisdom.com

Factoid Friday: Hats Off to My Favorite Gadgets That WORK!

The first two pictures are from 20 years ago after the first pruning of hedges, wild blackberry vines and the removal of 8 giant rotting fruit trees.  (It was thunderous to hear the branches break and fall in the wind and rain.)

The next two pictures are of the house front and back again. I took them, with all the leaves coming down, just the other night so you could see all the changes that have taken place on the exterior.

I have added pictures of the two walnut bowls that a neighbor lathed out of the wood from the giant walnut tree that also had to come down.  They are made from where the branches extended out from the truck of the tree.

Post from: www.patriciaswisdom.com

Factoid Friday: House Gratitude in Focus

• Whole organic carrots with the peel on are one of the healthiest foods one can consume and a good source of fiber.
• Dr. Christiane Northrup says in her Menopause book, The Wisdom of Menopause, that eating 5 whole organic carrots per week can reduce your risks of cancer by about 50%.
• Cocktail carrots are created by taking the damaged, crooked, broken carrots at harvest, and lathing them down into the happy, little shape we see in the bag or at weddings.
• Ever notice that your cocktail carrots are getting a white powdery substance on the outside? This is the chlorine that they were dipped in coming up to the surface.
• We know that chlorine is a carcinogen.
• Although we know that dogs cannot digest carrots, they make a sweet treat when training and help to get the tartar off their teeth and get rid of “doggie breath”.

Post from: www.patriciaswisdom.com

Factoid Friday: Carrots

• Why did the Rooster cross the road? To get chicks!
• Chickens are called Moa in Hawaiian and they have Moa, Moa, Moa and Moa all the time! (The hurricanes set the chickens free and most have not returned to their coups).
• When going by the tree roots that were the “stars” in Jurassic Park movie- you must watch out for the appearance of the Whinesaurus an amazing creature of much fortitude that will attack your tour and enable the arrival of the Negasaurus!
• Birds brought about 1000 species of plants to Kauai and the first settlers brought 30 more. The plants that came to the island have speciated into their own Island plants.
• If the gardens were not watered every day, in one month’s time the hundreds of acres would return to desert.
• Most of the plants are imports to assist with some problem or other and 60% of the imports are toxic and are overtaking other plants.
• Lots of orchids on Kauai.
• Those Gigantic Cruise ships are arriving all Fall to Hawaii.
• Hawaiians always tell the tourists to watch the hands in the Hula, they never watch the hands!

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Factoid Fridays: Tour Guide Isms

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Factoid Friday: Architects