Futurama

This will be incomplete - anyone who reads this, please add a comment with more examples.  

The future is now! I was watching "That 70's Show" and Red, the curmudgeony old father and Vietnam war vet, was grumbling because he felt that he was not living the future he had been promised, where is the jet pack?  where is the hover car?  True, the 70's was the beginning of the tech era, and the few techy devices were big, awkward and glitchy. I remember my dad had a "car phone," the size of an igloo cooler, incredibly complicated, nearly useless when he was out in the woods.  The popularization of the CB radio put us in touch with random strangers. We played "pong" for hours on our cousin's TV.  Our favorite shows were "Lost in Space," and "Star Trek."  Ok - my favorite shows were "Bewitched," and "I Dream of Jeannie," but I watched the other ones with my brother.

Now?  we have com devices.  Except our cell phones do so much more than just communicate with the Enterprise.  We have all of the information of the world at our finger tips, and the GPS capabilities that saved Kirk on so many lonely planets.  Remember the video phone from "2001 a Space Odyssey?" Dr. Frank Poole calls home to his wife and adoring daughter, and interacts on the large video screen in real time.  Skype anyone?  When my brother was in Iraq, my mom saw him more than she does when they live in the same state.  Many of the sci-fi shows of the 50's-70's treated pay/payments by "credits" as a standard.  In the now, many of us use fewer and fewer tangible forms of money.  Debit cards are easier than cash.  Even small companies often offer direct deposit, and on-line banking is so safe and easy, that I'm even doing it.  I just signed my daughter up for a reloadable visa card, I can add money on-line, or have her allowance automatically deducted from my account onto her card, and track everywhere that she uses it.  If it is lost or stolen, I get to cancel it.

"With great power comes great responsibility."  How cheesy am I? Big Brother IS watching.  Many of my friends choose to be completely "off the grid," and function without the comfort and convenience of technology.  Somewhere in my heart and head I sympathize with the sentiment; many of us grew up deeply influenced by the cold war, closely guarding all personal information, not wanting to be vulnerable in case of an insidious take over by a subtle foreign (or not so foreign) power.  Our children will be much more savvy about how to keep their information private, and they will have better tools for doing so.  They will learn from our mistakes, and our criminals.  For those that are very concerned that the government is tracking our computers and cell phones, I think a time will come where lack of activity will draw more attention than any specific activity.  

I have an adolescent.  Like it or not, she will function in this futuresque world where "personal" does not have the same connotation that it had for us.
This age of technology does challenge us as parents to define our moral compass in a new context.  We used to worry about our sons getting hold of Penthouse magazine, now we worry about our daughter's sending graphic pictures to their boyfriends via text. Embarrassing moments used to be something you hoped people would forget, now we worry about them becoming viral on You Tube.  I still believe that we cannot protect our children from the world, especially one that we barely understand. We can only teach them to protect themselves, and trust that they will learn from their mistakes, and hope that they learn from ours.

Of Twenties, Teens and Tweens

I have one of each.  Sort of.  I inherited the older 2 when I married the wonderful Darling Man.  The nearly teen is mine.  The 26 year old and nearly man are now roommates.  It is kind of cute, they are so "brother and sister," but the she still takes care of him like he is 5, and he still teases his big sister like he's 12.

They have decided to get a dog.  She already has one.  Maddy - my only grandpuppy.  Sweet, loving.  Annoying, hyper little pee factory.  Recently the Nearly Man went to the Largo SPCA (great facility) and he convinced his sister they needed a dog.  So the search is on.  Humane society, rescue sites, SPCA.  Then they decide to go to the pound - because they want to rescue a dog from being euthanized, and because pound adoptions are cheap.  But they really can't agree on what dog.  He wants medium to big - a border collie or Aussie, something that will catch a frisbee and play with him.  Or a lab that will wrestle and run.  She wants a playmate for Maddy, and is absolutely opposed to long hair shedding dogs.  The compromise seems to be hounds.  Maybe because they are short she thinks they are small?  anyway - every puppy on line is adorable, and they want them all.

Friday the took a trek to the pound, and took the little sister and one of her friends with them.  Just before they left, they mentioned that they can't get a dog for at least a month, because they are baby-sitting their Mom's dogs until she moves.  WHAT?  you are going to the saddest place on earth, knowing that you can't help any of them right now?  Did anyone think this through?

I got the call about 1/2 an hour later.  I did not even bother to say "hello."  I answered with "NO, you are not bringing a dog home."  long pause.  "How did you know what I was going to say?"  well - because I am OMNI-mom - the all knowing and far-seeing.   It was the superior powers of my crystal ball that allowed me to fortell her thoughts, even at that great distance.  She doesn't want a dog, she just wants to babysit until the siblings can take it home.  Except that we will be gone for two weeks, leaving the darling man to care for our 2 dogs, 1 cat, 1 1/2 rabbits, lizard, bird, house, yard, and full time job with out us.  I told her to call him.  He laughed.  She hung up.  Apparently there were real tears involved.  

Another parenting lesson learned.  Treks to the pound when you are not actually getting a dog may not be a great idea with emotional young people.  Still - they all want to do it again.  They are even more determined to rescue a puppy.


Completely off the subject.  I am very proud of my daughter and her friends. Navigating adolescence is hard, and they are helping each other through, and keeping each other on track.

Soup Nazi

I have been on a health kick.  At least as far as diet. There is this amazing oriental grocery store that I go by during my daily travels, and it has been an inspiring place to browse.  Full of fresh, exotic veggies and seafood.  Labels I can't read, and things that just look like I gotta try it.  On a side note, I completely organized my kitchen, and this includes a full set of "Producer Keepers" in the refrigerator.  They ROCK!  Even strawberries, blackberries, and raspberries are still fresh and yummy a week later.  I fed the picky girl salad with week-old lettuce and she didn't even bat an eye.  Yay, me!  Yay, pretty kitchen! Unfortunately no one in the family wants to take the necessary training to be able to put groceries away in my beautiful, yet complicated organizational structure, so the groceries sit on the table waiting for me to put them away.  That's OK - everything has a place, and any deviation would be a sin.

I've been on a soup kick, inspired by all of the lovely fresh herbs and veggies at the oriental place.  I am trying to learn to cook with a thai or vietnamese inspired flare.  I say inspired, because if I were ta actually try to learn, I would have to crack a recipe book.  I'm just winging it.  The Darling Man is not a big fan of soup,but he is a good sport.  I am determined to eat healthier and the light rice noodle, broth and veggie concoctions seem to be just the thing.  I love the salty/sweet/sour/spicy combination in this style of cooking. The girl loves soup, so its a pretty easy sell.  I have learned a few things - like if you are going to add seaweed in a recipe that does not ask for it, you really need to reduce the fish sauce.  My family only likes fishy taste if they don't recognize it.  Seaweed ups the fish flavor more than you would expect, but I love the nutritional component, and for some reason, the girl-child really likes seaweed.

I also learned that the fam does not like fish balls.  I really thought it would be a nice, light protein boost, and would be delicious.  Fish Ball Soup just sounds so amazing.  And the soup was really good.  Except for the fish balls.  The husband ate them, proof that he will eat anything.  I forced the girl to eat two.  I ate all of mine, but it will not show up on the menu again.   The dogs were ecstatic.  what to do with a pound of fish balls?

The egg drop soup was really easy, and turned out looking and tasting just like egg drop soup.  Ewwww.  The girl child loves egg drop soup.  I find it slimy, and nauseating.  The Darling Man ate it, even complimented the texture.  I don't think that they noticed that I ate chicken and rice noodle soup left-overs.  Next week I'm feeling italian.  I think I'll make sausage (turkey) and tortellini soup.  I know it is summer, and not soup season.  Don't judge me.  Maybe I'll do salad and cold plates all winter.  Florida is hot all year round, the seasons are blended, and on the two or three days that feel like it might be soup weather, we usually do chili.  I have promised the darling man that it will work its way out of my system. For now - I must make soup!

Since this is a total foodie post, I just gotta mention the deserts.  Yummy angel food cake, and key-lime pie (gotta do something with all of those yolks)  topped off with fresh berries and home made whipped cream.  Last night we made key-lime pie ice cream.  It doesn't get more summery than that!