I realize I am behind on responding to comments. I'll try to get to them today. I haven't forgotten you, readers! I feel like I'm just barely keeping my head above water -- the end of the school year is always a mad rush as kids get books for the summer and I'm trying to recover overdue materials from throughout the school year. I still have some books out from January. Argh!
We have a policy that kids can't get their yearbooks until they clear their library account. Normally I report a handful of kids who then scramble to pay for their missing books at the last minute. This year, the no-yearbook list has 39 middle schoolers and 14 high schoolers on it. Unprecedented, I believe.
I don't know what's going on out there but in my experience, kids' executive functioning skills really have diminished in recent years. Maybe I'm just getting crankier.
Dave is in the middle of crunch-time, too, with back-to-back concerts over several nights. They started last week and continue this week. As I mentioned yesterday, that means some nights I come home and have leftovers with the dog (not containing the dog, obviously, or from the same bowl as the dog, but with the dog as companionship).
Last night was one of those nights, except I couldn't even be bothered to heat up leftovers. I ate half a can of Pringles Texas BBQ-flavored potato chips (which are not real food on any level) and called it a night. I did it partly to get rid of them -- Dave has gone on a whole foods kick, eating fruit for dessert and that kind of thing, and this half-consumed can of Pringles was something he'd abandoned in the wake of that decision. I usually don't even eat potato chips or much other processed food. Oh well. Half a can won't kill me.
I gotta say, whatever weird powder they put on those Pringles is addictive. It's like crack. You just keep eating until they're all gone.
Remember how a squirrel gnawed the bud off our oriental poppy? Well, the plant didn't manage to generate a new one, but we do have some surprise field poppies coming up on the patio. They're growing in the cracks between the paving stones from seeds cast in previous years. Much smaller and less dramatic than the oriental variety, but still pretty.
I found this little hoverfly buzzing around one of our Princess Margaret roses. If you watch the video (which is very subtle and not very exciting) make sure you're seeing it in HD or you may miss the fly, which is a tiny little thing. I wouldn't think a rose would be very attractive to insects, with that nest of impenetrable petals blocking the center of the flower, but the fly was intrigued, at least momentarily.
(Top photo: Graffiti on Finchley Road, on my walk to work.)
Urgh... MSG saturated Pringles. Purge your alimentary tract now!! 😄
ReplyDeleteGreat fly video! Ew, BBQ Pringles. As if plain old Pringles aren’t bad enough. I hate them and, if they’re around, I can’t stop eating them.
ReplyDeleteI have just had a really left field idea - if Dave is not around to serve up your evening meal, you could pay for a food delivery! As for that hover fly, he was clearly determined to inseminate Princess Margaret.
ReplyDeletePringles are addictive. Nobody can eat just one. The same can be said for chips and salsa.
ReplyDeleteThat little fly was determined.
The magic blend of fat and salt that triggers the need to keep crunching! I think I'd have fed them to the squirrels! I wonder if the need for yearbooks is becoming history? They might be less of a lever now. Of course you may be crankier, too, yes, there's that.
ReplyDeleteI never understood the attraction of Pringles, though my grandchildren enjoyed them.
ReplyDeleteYour poppy is lovely - such short-lived flowers but so 'obvious.'
I blame the parents on many of the problems seen in children these days. Lack of parenting or lack of teaching basic life skills such as responsibility. I regularly get comments on how responsible and polite my children are and although I just say thank you, I really want to tell them that their children could be that way if they just parented them!
ReplyDeleteI admire your will power in only eating half a can of pringles. I avoid purchasing them because like you said, they are not healthy and addictive like crack cocaine. The only way I can stop at half a can is if I eat them while driving. The reason I can stop is I can only reach my hand and fingers down to the halfway point. Beyond that I need two hands which isn't safe while driving!
"Oh well. Half a can won't kill me."
ReplyDeleteUntil it does! We never have chips in the house for the very reason that they put something on them to make you eat the entire bag, or can, in one sitting!!!
I've never been a fan or Pringles so I would not have been tempted.
ReplyDeleteHope you get all of your books back!
Can a food be more processed than Pringles?
ReplyDeleteThat is interesting about how many kids are in the no yearbook list.... I think technology has really dumbed down the future...in all aspects.
ReplyDeleteI've had similar evenings eating something for dinner that really isn't good for me. But as you said, once in a while it won't hurt me.
ReplyDeleteThat is a beautiful rose and yes, that fly couldn't stay away.
I had a friend once who, when offered some Pringles said, "No thanks. I don't eat stackable food." I thought this was incredibly funny and have never forgotten it. I did note, some years later, that he was indeed eating stackable food. Pringles are pretty irresistible. And no, half a can won't hurt you.
ReplyDeleteI love poppies -- I'm glad yours are popping up. Pringles -- they don't taste like real potato chips and yet they are SO addictive. I hadn't had any in ages and when the little guys came we bought a couple of tins on sale. I think that was a mistake (though an appreciated one!) (The yearbook thing was a good idea!)
ReplyDeleteOne night of pringles won't kill you. If I was left to my own devices, I would probably have toast with peanut butter. My hubby was gone to a funeral on Saturday, so Jack and I both had sandwiches and fruit for supper. So much easier than making a whole meal.
ReplyDeleteI just stopped by at Jack's school because he lost his two raincoats, in one week. Apparently he wasn't alone. The lost and found probably had fifty coats hanging up. I found them easily but the future looks like lost items.
"half a can won't kill me" but given the preservatives, it will likely add 10 yrs to your lifespan. :)
ReplyDeleteDid your fingers swell up after such a salt fest? Pringles are the weirdest thing I've ever eaten, a long time ago.
ReplyDeleteThat beats me eating cheese dip for breakfast, though the ingredients in the dip are probably healthier. Good for Dave doing fresh foods!
ReplyDeleteSalty chips are my weakness, but I prefer "real" potato chips (crisps!) to Pringles. That fly is TINY and the rose is beautiful.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, I'm eating Cheetos & trying to avoid getting orange dust on everything. Ha!
ReplyDeleteThe school year ended this past Friday here. I went to a party on Saturday night, given by one of my former colleagues. They were all lamenting about how hectic the last week of school was. I don't miss that at all! Hang in there, summer is almost here!
ReplyDeleteYou're right. The end of the school year is chaotic.
ReplyDeleteThe hoverfly also resisted your efforts to shake him loose.
ReplyDeleteI can resist Pringles (for some reason they remind me of styrofoam) but can't allow Nacho Cheese Doritos or Crunchy Cheetos in my house. Also some flavors of Tim's Cascade Chips. We had the same rule at my school about paying fines before getting the all-important yearbook. Some students simply didn't care. :(
ReplyDeleteBooks might begin to flood back in.
ReplyDeleteThe hoverfly showed up well, once the camera had focus.
Pringles are just potatoes plus corn flour plus rice flour. And salt, of course. So there are worse things to eat. Or drink. Such as sugary pop/soda, which many people don't even realize. Good luck with the end of year rush; vacation will be a sweet reward :)
ReplyDeleteI love Pringles so much I don't dare buy them anymore!
ReplyDelete