Domestic Psychology

We heart pizza

// June 30th, 2009 // 3 Comments » // food, people

With extremely rare exceptions, the one meal each week that doesn’t come from our kitchen is Tuesday night’s Dominos pizza. The entire family loves it and there are usually enough leftovers for the next day’s lunch. The only thing that would make the experience perfect would be if the pick-up was a little less, umm, awkward. It is the exact opposite of what I experience in the small grocery beside our nearest Dominos. When I enter the non-chain grocery, someone always smiles and says hello. Several of the cashiers know me by name and when they banter with the baggers, they genuinely seem to be be friends with their co-workers. The butcher recognizes Evan and holds the bell low enough for Evan to ring it as he runs past the meat counter with his miniature shopping cart. The managers know the regular customers and are never seen being anything but kind and supportive of the store employees. The cashiers’ feet may hurt from standing all day and the baggers may have been abused by a cranky customer, but it never shows. It is like a little oasis for happy people and I love going to that grocery. Maybe it is just too hot, stressful and dangerous working in a pizza delivery restaurant to be happy. I don’t know.

A few weeks ago, Dominos bought our family’s and several additional teenagers‘ the new American Legends pizzas, in exchange for, well, nothing. They paid for the pizzas. We ate them and that was the end of that. I CHOOSE to make a few comments about the pizzas that we tried. Because I am an eccentric southerner aka picky eater, none of our pizzas had onions or peppers. I didn’t order the Pacific Veggie Pizza, because it looked like the peppers were the fun part of it and I didn’t think anyone would eat it. Well, Doug would eat it, but he doesn’t need an entire pizza to himself. We also decided against the Fiery Hawaiian Pizza since removing the onions and peppers made it nearly identical to another pizza. Instead, I got Sarah a Three Cheese Mac-n-Cheese Breadbowl. I find the idea of mac ‘n’ cheese pizza too horrible to even taste it, but Sarah and Amy insist that it is “yummy.” I’ll just take their word for it.

The Honolulu Hawaiian Pizza and Buffalo Chicken Pizzas were good. Our family had already made the Philly Cheese Steak Pizza a part of regular weekly order, so we knew that it was extra yummy. The Cali Chicken Bacon Ranch Pizza was a little bland, but I think it could easily be adjusted with an additional ingredient or two. The biggest surprise for everyone was the Memphis BBQ Chicken Pizza. Admittedly, I do have a soft spot for Memphis in general, but the BBQ pizza is sweet and delicious. The only-eats-cheese-pizza child devoured two pieces of the BBQ pizza. The teen guests unanimously rated the BBQ as their favorite and Doug and I liked it so much that it is now part of our regular Tuesday order.

A quickie crust review: Everyone loves the cheddar crust. Everyone except the small people love the thin crust. Everyone likes the regular and parmesan crusts. The teenagers like the deep dish crust. The Brooklyn and provolone crusts are not popular.

Thank you for dinner Dominos!

Do you Vyoom?

// June 29th, 2009 // No Comments » // social media

Doug says:

// June 28th, 2009 // 4 Comments » // Doug, knoxville, me

Doug: “What would YOU do with the empty strip mall where K-Mart used to be?”
Me: “A skating rink would be fun to have nearby.”
Doug: “I’d build an entertainment complex with a restaurant/bar and fighting robots.”
Me: “Ummm, yeah. I don’t think that’s going to happen.”
Doug: “It will if you give away my great idea.”

introvert/extrovert

// June 27th, 2009 // No Comments » // Doug, me, people

As I dropped Amy at the party, another mother looked at me blankly and said she had never met me. Well, our children were in the same class for the past two years and I’ve seen and talked to her at Open House, field trips, class parties, an end-of-the-year swim party, other children’s birthdays and around the town. Other than that, we haven’t met. Having invisibility as my super power is something I have been aware of for a long time. It’s a useful skill and I will make a wonderful ninja as soon as I learn to walk across the room without tripping over my own two feet. Perhaps I am invisible so that I can trip and feel no embarrassment, since the trip was unseen. Whatever the reason I have the invisibility gift, it is something that works to my advantage, since I still follow my high school English teacher’s lessons on people watching for entertainment and information.

On the other hand, Doug walks into a room and immediately creates a stage. There are no strangers. There are only people who have heard of Doug and simply haven’t talked to him yet. We took the youngest boys to miniature golf and one of the few people, playing on the nearly empty stretches of plastic grass, was one of Doug’s juggling friends. The two adult children seriously considered tossing golf clubs back and forth, but decided against it only because of the suffocating heat that made everyone feel like they were breathing molasses. The next day, we went to the mall to get information on local activities. In the amount of time that it took me to revert to event coordinator mode and survey the scene, Doug was in the very center of the circular tables, tossing a diablo. As I was still in survey view, I watched the people in almost every single booth space holding their cell phones up to capture the spontaneous entertainer. Somewhere in the ether are a series of pictures of Doug from every angle that could be pieced together into a 360 degree panorama. I am in the background watching, but you can’t see me in the photographs. I was using invisibility mode. Doug was only aware of the exhibitor he was was discussing diablo techniques with, while I was entertained by the performer AND the audience. In the end, the experience was different for everyone, but the end result was the same. We both had fun.

bad day for the 70′s

// June 25th, 2009 // No Comments » // kid quotes, people, teenagers

Sarah is in Michigan this week and getting ready for a day at Cedar Point. This is the first time she has phoned me since she left.
Sarah: “Guess what Mom?”
Me: “What Sarah?”
Sarah: “Michael Jackson just died.”
Me: “Yes he did. Farrah Fawcett died this morning.”
Sarah: “Who?”

Ministry of Silly need not apply

// June 25th, 2009 // 4 Comments » // movies, people

I get a newsletter from Blue Moon drive-ins every week. This morning, the e-mail looks something like this:
The Midtown Drive-In
This Drive-In is for Sale
Serious Persons Inquire’s Only

It’s a good thing I didn’t call to ask any questions about the sale. I am entirely lacking in seriousness. It does seem that having a healthy respect for silliness would be a good skill in a drive-in owner. Perhaps we have found the reason for the property sale. They lost their sense of humor after one too many customers filled a parking space with an inflatable couch for a half a dozen children wearing jammies.

how NOT to do it

// June 24th, 2009 // No Comments » // Doug, me

Doug: “Good news! I got paid for my work last week, so you can take Sarah shopping to find the swimsuit she needs for her trip.”
Me: “She would prefer shopping with Aunt Jeni, Aunt Carmen or Aunt Lucy, but thanks.”
Doug: while returning to his basement “You lost your job contract, so you won’t be working on Wednesday.”
Me: blink-blink

because you = your city

// June 23rd, 2009 // 9 Comments » // me, media, people, relatives

I know it’s annoying that every time your city is mentioned in a news alert, I text, IM and call until you tell me that you are okay. I can’t help myself. Whenever I hear the name of the place that you live, I think of you. It’s YOUR city. No, you ARE that city. I don’t think about any of the historical, beautiful or interesting things in your city. I think about you. Yes, I know there are a zillion other people in your city and the odds of you being involved in some of the things that make it to places like @BreakingNews are ridiculously non-existent. I’m still going to need to hear that you are okay, because it’s not about being rational. It’s about you. Maybe it’s also about me being crazy, but mostly it’s about you. Don’t feel too special though. I’m not talking only to you. All the recipients of my city-person dyslexia are equally frustrated by my pestering them to reassure me.

“Cathy’s asking me if I’m okay. Somebody check the news to see what happened.”

When Jon is serious

// June 22nd, 2009 // No Comments » // politics, television

They tried to be funny with this one, but it came across as sad instead.

10:53 again?

// June 21st, 2009 // No Comments » // life, me

I went in the bathroom for a quick bath and glanced at the clock. 10:53? How did I lose 3 hours already? Wait. The clock isn’t moving. The battery must have died last night at 10:53. Phew.

I carried a sticky 4-year-old to the bathroom sink to remove several layers of PB&J. As he played in the soap bubbles, my eyes were drawn to the clock. 10:53? Why did I feed Evan lunch so early? He’ll want dinner at 3 in the afternoon. Oh. I forgot to change the clock battery. Crisis averted.

Covered in the bug spray necessary to clean in the garage, I went in the bathroom to scrub the stinky chemicals off of my arms and legs. 10:53? I haven’t even eaten dinner. Sigh. Battery.

Add half a dozen additional incidents of stupidity until Doug ceases to be amused by my mild histrionics and the clock battery is changed. “Should I set the correct time or leave it at 10:53?”