Author Archives: beth

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About beth

Ann Arbor-ite writes about enjoying life with all of its ironies and surprises.

just peachy.

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a look back, it’s that time of year again, and some things never change –

how to clean your entire kitchen while trying to prepare a 1-minute healthy and guilt-free breakfast

1. since peaches are not quite in season yet, take a bag of frozen peaches out of freezer to defrost in fridge, go to sleep dreaming of healthy breakfast smoothie

2.  take peaches out of fridge on the next day to chop up and create delicious and guilt-free smoothie

3. notice the fridge shelf below bag is a bit sticky

4. notice the bag has leaked (even though it’s unopened), while defrosting

5. take everything off of sticky shelf

6. notice peach juice has leaked to the back of the shelf and hardened into a solid gel

7. take out giant sticky shelf and place in sink

8. turn on hot water to melt off hardened peach juice gel

9. notice peach juice has dripped down into fridge drawers below where the shelf was

10. take out drawers

11. say a few things back to fridge that is now incessantly beeping due to door being ajar too long

12. feel my feet getting wet and turn back to sink

13. notice hot water running on shelf placed in sink is somehow flowing over it and onto counter and beyond

14. notice water has also flowed into junk drawer and cupboards below counter while on its way to the floor

15. slide on floor as i turn off water, pull out junk drawer, empty it, throw away things that are waterlogged

16. empty cupboards below, dry out everything, grab beach towels to clean up floor

17. turn back to fridge, still beeping, notice bottom of fridge has peach juice on it also, now that drawers have been removed

18. get more towels, empty entire fridge, wash and dry everything, replace shelves and drawers and contents, wash and dry floor

16. cut open peach bag, notice the peaches are now dried out due to lack of juice. put them in a bowl. add whipped cream. back to healthy eating plan tomorrow.

17. notice one ant milling around, sensing a dot of sticky peach nectar somewhere.

warning?

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warning when visiting the farm. 

 

“how is it possible to expect that mankind will take advice when they will not so much as take a warning?’

jonathan swift-

babies holding babies.

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quotthe kinder hold the baby chicks with gentle hands

‘teach children

by word, and by example,

to be kind to animals

not just for the animals sake,

but for the sake of all who are weaker than they are.’

-adapted by val silver

 

and then,

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give me time.

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my favorite kinder shirt of the week

 

“give me time and I’ll give you a revolution.”

-alexander mcqueen

you don’t have to win, just tri.

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we had our first ever

kinder triathlon

what a blast

running,

tricycling,

‘swimming’ in a pool of plastic bubbles with goggles on

everyone did all three events

*no kinder injuries or tears

*(full disclosure: i did fly off of my tricycle at one point

but my boss was kind enough to push

me all the way around the track on it to the finish line)

everyone had so much fun

and that is a win.

“pump your arms and your legs will follow”

– *karen parnell

(this method did not work for me.)

*Karen Parnell is a Personal Trainer, Triathlon Coach and has a degree in Cancer Prevention & Longevity from the Health Sciences Academy. She has been coaching and motivating people to meet their health and fitness goals for for years. Karen is also a Tutor for the British Triathlon Federation and runs a health and fitness centre in  Spain. Prior to pursuing a career in health and fitness Karen held a number of senior roles in global high technology companies and has a honours degree in electronic engineering and an MBA from Aston Business School.

 

go and dig.

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it began

with a look around the science room

taking a closer glance

at amazing natural treasures

honeycombs, footprints, nests

when suddenly

someone discovered

a hidden hole in the rug

everyone rushed to see  this

very rare and incredible curiosity!

‘the biggest quest to learn anything is curiosity. if you are curious about something, you will go and dig.’

-rakesh jhunjhunwala

tchau.

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it’s official

before the summer is over

i’ll be traveling

on my first trip as a retired person

 to visit portugal, the oldest nation-state in europe.

tchau.

‘if there is one portion of europe which was made by the sea more than another,

portugal is that slice, that portion, that belt. portugal was made by the atlantic.”

hilaire belloc, french/english historian and writer.

 

 

*And the award for oldest nation-state in Europe goes to… Portugal. In 1139, Portugal appointed King Afonso Henriques as its king. Lisbon is said to be four centuries older than Rome. Due to its excellent trading location, the Phoenicians settled in Lisbon around 1200 BC.

 

 

photo credit: planetware, the perched village of azenhas do mar at sunset, sintra, portugal

lest we forget.

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    “heroism doesn’t always happen in a burst of glory.

    sometimes small triumphs and large hearts change the course of history.”

    –mary roach

    there are very few families in this country who have not been touched in some way by the military conflicts, both current and past. thank you for your sacrifice. “LEST WE FORGET” is so very important for a reason. it implores us to be wary as a nation, because a nation that forgets runs the risk of losing freedom or repeating mistakes of the past.

    just his luck.

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    while ringing up my groceries at a self-checkout machine

    another register finally opened up

     a friendly store employee waved over

    the gentleman who had been waiting behind me in line

    directing him to the machine

    but at the last second

    he balked

    saying that he wanted to wait for register #2

    to become open

    as that was his lucky register.

    he turned with his cart

    went back in line

    and waited.

    once again

    i have questions.

    why does he feel that one is lucky?

    is he thinking that he is in a casino?

    what kind of luck can one have at a check out register?

    did he get cash back, a deal, freebies, extra coupons, better bags, spend less?

    why don’t i have a lucky register?

     

    “luck is believing you’re lucky.”

    -tennessee williams

     

     

     

    photo credit: google images