Friends for Life

31 Flavors

Toddlers come in a wide variety of flavors, textures, and consistencies. Of course, you have your old trusty favorites such as, Vanilla and Strawberry. Vanilla and Strawberry are reliable and sweet and seem to fit in the box when it comes to plotting their growth on the chart and falling asleep at bedtime. Vanilla and strawberry love stuffed toys and are happy to play with other children or simply sit in front of the television and watch a cartoon. They do experience a slight degree of elevated anxiety when going to their doctor for a check-up but can be easily distracted by the germ filled toys in the waiting room.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough and Reese's Peanut Butter Cup are a little more unpredictable. Just when you think you are able to anticipate the next bite, BAM, a chunk hits your tongue and you are left attempting to maneuver the piece to the side of your mouth which has less sensitivity to cold or has been to the dentist last. Sure a routine can help in determining the cause of a meltdown or the apparent need of an early nap, but on any given day, a small chocolate chip can enter the equation, leaving even the most seasoned of parents searching for explanation. Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough and Reese's Peanut Butter Cup are both rewarding and possess bits of the extraordinary.

The most intense flavors include Wild and Reckless, which is made up of a swirl of green apple, blue raspberry and fruit punch sherbets for a combination bursting with flavor and Raspberry Cheese Louise, which is a frozen treat with raspberry cheesecake pieces and coated graham cracker bits swirled with a raspberry ribbon. These flavors may be highly explosive and are in no way predictable. Wild and Reckless and Raspberry Cheese Louise may melt quickly or stay solid and become more than entertaining for any passerby. They are more intense than the others and purely led by emotion. These flavors are rich and posses many levels of decadence. They are the independent thinkers, who see no need for a set schedule and may blow kisses to you one day and act as though they had never seen you the next.

In a category all alone stands Rock n' Pop Swirl, my personal all time favorite. Rock n' PoP Swirl, which is loaded with purple-colored grape sherbet and green-colored green apple sherbet is loaded with popping candy. This flavor has been served at Baskin-Robbins since 2004 and appeared in my house in 2006. Do you remember Pop Rocks? Pop Rocks are the tiny candies that sizzle and explode in your mouth without warning. As a kid it was always fun to put the entire package in your mouth to prove to your friends that you were even wilder and crazier than they were. Rock n' Pop Swirl is loaded with Pop Rocks and endures the same traits as the most intense flavors. Rock n' Pop Swirl is creative, reactive, endearing and always leaves me wanting more.

Do Pugs Qualify for Unemployment?

That is them, two of my three babies. I have been having a really difficult time lately managing Quentin and Delilah. Well, maybe I shouldn't say managing, but they have become increasingly annoying during the past few weeks. Soon after I became pregnant, Quentin became very protective, or should I say neurotic. At first, it was endearing and even comical to hear him bark at the chocolate chip cookie commercial or that evil dragon who consumes less than desirable Chinese food at Pick Up Sticks. At that time, he also began to snuggle tightly against my belly, when I would take a nap or attempt to get some sleep at night between the trips to the bathroom.

Quentin continues to sleep next to my belly, and although it is not quite as large as it once was, it seems to make an even more comfortable and squashy shelf for his head. Quentin has also become less of a connoisseur now when it comes to commercials on the television. He now barks loudly at chimes, bells, music, cartoons, car horns, piano keys a through f, and the usual voices of people that are disturbing to him. It matters not how much I yell or tell him no. In fact, it is the yelling that I do that wakes the baby rather than the barking that comes out of his mouth. I believe the baby has began relying on the barking to reach the R.E.M phase of sleep. Thank you Quentin.

The barking has now become contagious. Delilah has decided that she will now participate in the activities and join in the choir of annoyance. Together they stand in front of the television singing out of key, waiting for me to actually get up off the couch to do something about it. Maybe they are longing for work. It is difficult to be an out of work actor, with no chance for waiting tables at the California Pizza Kitchen.

Where the Wild Things Are

As you all know, our family has become a bunch of avid animal watchers. Despite my morbid thoughts and outrageous comments about the imagined behind the scenes happenings, I have grown quite fond of our local zoo. Today my mom, myself, and the baby headed to Los Angeles to catch a glimpse of the gorillas, lions, and of course, the giraffes. It was amazing. Three generations of women together watching the critters, as they watched back, some with equal enthusiasm, but most with much less.

Today the 2 1/2 year-old baby gorilla sat directly in front of the glass enclosure and pounded loudly on the walls with delight, as at least seven 1-2 year old baby humans pounded back. After about 20 minutes of play each toddler, human and other, ran back to their perspective mama, grandma, or caretaker. I just dared anyone to attempt to wipe the smile off of my face.

Then to the lions. After passing the lions once previously, we heard roaring from a short distance away. We turned immediately, only to find a large male lion roaring his terrible roars and gnashing his terrible teeth. And much like one of those annoying mothers, who are usually standing in your way reciting the encyclopedia of animals to their children, there I stood reciting the encyclopedia of animals to my child. And then, a miracle. Well not really, but I am trying somehow to keep your attention. My child roared back and using her American Sign language signed lion! Let me add, it was not to a book or to a stuffed toy or to a small plastic disproportionate lion, but to an actual living breathing gorgeous lion. For that, I love the zoo.

Omens Don't Mean Anything.

Now that the holiday festivities have fizzled out like an old can of Coke, here I am back to my old blogging habits. I have really missed blogging and have no real reason as to why I have put my masterpiece on hold. I returned safely from the Ellen show with my Playstation 3 and Rockband in hand and several other pieces of high-end electronic equipment that I have no idea what exactly to do with. Made the husband more than happy, which is good, seeing as how I was a bit of a Scrooge this year.

Standing for depression for no reason, a friend of mine writes about D.F.N.R. Perhaps, I have had a touch of the bug lately, or maybe I am continually attempting to define my new self. I do miss work. I always feel incredibly guilty, when I feel depressed or teary for some undefinable reason. What do I have to be teary about? Obviously, rationalizing with myself is to no avail. If that worked, I would be able to snap out of it without trouble and skip down the yellow brick road.

I have been reading about this woman, Meredith Emerson, a 24 year-old hiker who went missing with her black lab, Ella, on New Year's Day. She informed her roommates that she was going on a hike in one of Georgia's oldest and most popular state parks, Vogel State Park, which is located at the base of Blood Mountain in the Chattahoochee National Forest. I have become a little bit obsessed. I must admit. How does this happen? I mean I understand how this happens, but this situation must be so common that one day it is at the top of the news and the next day I have to search to find any new information. I don't want to not know. I don't want to forget this woman. I don't want to not remember who she is in a month from now. Meredith Emerson is a blue belt in martial arts, who loves hiking and loves her dog. That is all I really know about her, besides that she is missing and has been enduring 13 degree weather at night with a wind chill that has reached almost zero.

This evening her dog was found at a Kroger convenience store miles from where she was last seen. Ella survived. They know it is her because of the microchip they scanned in her neck. No leash and no collar. Also found this evening was the "person of interest" the police had been looking for. Also at a convenience store, Gary Michael Hilton, was found. Detectives now have him for questioning.

I hope to wake tomorrow or the next day and read about how Meredith Emerson survived in the Georgia wilderness with only 2 aspirin and a cough drop. I hope to hear that Gary Michael Hilton is not the pervert that the law is making him out to be. I hope that Blood Mountain and the 13 degree weather have nothing to do with the outcome of this story. I hope that Meredith's friends and family have a better day tomorrow.