On this day in 1967, the Green Bay Packers beat the Kansas City Chiefs to win the first AFL — NFL World Championship Game which came to be known as Super Bowl I.

How are your football teams doing this season?

I don’t have any one team, because I do fantasy football and put everything into that. I came in 4th place this season, which is not great but considering I began 1 and 6, not too awful! I did do a pro pick’em league (pick the winners in each match up each week) and I won that out of, I think, 18 people.

Is there a bakery with freshly made bagels near you? 7 — Eleven, FamilyMart or Lawson’s? Plain or with poppy / sesame seeds? Or do you fly in the face of convention with pumpernickel or onion rye? Cream cheese, lox and capers? Or fruit preserves?

So we have Bruegger’s here, which are pretty good bagels. There’s a local bagel market up the road but I thought it was too expensive. Now I will say, when I was in middle school in south Florida, a friend and I used to go to 7-11 all the time for these pre-cream cheesed plain bagels and for some reason, we called them “baggles”. My personal fave kind is an egg bagel but I am sure one asshole complained and that’s why Bruegger’s got rid of them. I’ll usually get plain or wheat or everything if I am feeling saucy. Usually just cream cheese but every now and then, a plain bagel with pb&j.

It’s also hat day so here’s a pic of me and Ash on the green sand beach on the Big Island. I hate it but this was the first one I thought of. Also, that’s one of my son’s free baseball hats they get when they play city league.

Strawberry Ice Cream Day. The first mention of strawberry ice cream is from USA president James Madison’s second inauguration on 1813 March 4 when it was served as a dessert. Very likely made with wild Virginia strawberry preserves.

Have you put up fruits or vegetables? Ever made umeboshi? Violet or rose jelly?

Strawberry, vanilla and choco are the three layers of Neapolitan ice cream. What would be the flavors of your special Neapolitan ice cream?

I’ve not really gotten into canning or jellies or any of that. The most I do is make kombucha, if that counts.

My neopolitan would be dark chocolate, cherry, and pistachio.

Hawaiian pizza (tomato sauce, cheese, ham, green peppers and pineapple) was invented by Greek restauranteur Sotirios “Sam” Panopoulos at the Satellite in Chatham, Ontario in 1962.

Nothing to do with Hawaii.

Do we order Hawaiian or a kitchen sink pizza for the slumber party? Anchovies?

I am a cheese pizza kind of person! Every now and then I’ll splurge on ham and pineapple or maybe a meat lovers. No fish!

RE: Tea, I do drink it and enjoy it in winter months only usually.

Pretty soon Coke will be rolling out new seasonal beverages. Followed by Pepsi and Starbucks. What are your predictions?

The secret to Starbucks’ new chocolate chunk cookie? It ain’t made by Starbucks. Can you think of another product that isn’t what it seems to be?

I guess they’ll probably go nuts on like nutmeg or other Christmasy type flavors.

I cannot think of a product like that, no.

Margaret was one of “the town criers” on the MGM studio lot. She could really turn on the waterworks. Do you often resort to subterfuge?

I try NOT to cry if I can help it but I know that’s bad because when I get really emotionally drained I will REALLY cry.

So. Before we get any more lovey dovey, where do you plan to / did you honeymoon?

Funny you should ask because we went to Hawaii! We did Oahu for that one and stayed in a nice Hilton. We snorkeled and ate and pretty much just hung out. We went back to the Big Island for our 10th and did other interesting things. Less beachy.

6. Please share something interesting about your week.

I was feeling SO much better about everything. Motivated, I was cleaning and getting work work done. And then last night, I was just back in the dumps. All because of my oldest. It happened so fast too. We asked him to come down and turn off his Xbox and the first thing he did was accuse his brother of not doing it for him. As if that gall wasn’t bad enough, he then told my husband that it is technically his Xbox so he should turn it off. Whoa whoa, son. I mean, he wasn’t even in a bad mood but he turned on a dime. Ash was having none of it so he simply unplugged everything and took the thing away. And my son was a jerk thereafter, continuing into this morning when he wouldn’t speak to me. Ah, teenagers! (He’ll be 13 this year.) 

 I remember this age for myself and thinking my parents were “so mean” and everything was unfair. But I am trying to convey to him the reasons for everything so maybe we can avoid some unnecessary strife. Sadly, it isn’t working yet. I think it really hurt me because of what happened earlier. So he’s been asking for this one pair of Vans and I kept putting it off. Well, I finally got them and then I made him a deal: if he mows both lawns, he can wear them. He was so happy and thankful and he even gave me a hug! I’m not trying to buy his love but I do like buying things for them and making them happy. Especially if he’s going to work for it. But then he comes back with this trash behaviour and I am just so disappointed.

It doesn’t help that it is grey and misty today. Yesterday was lovely, after a couple days of rain. It was dry and sunny and I even sat out on the deck for a bit of time, watching the ways the dusky purples and oranges changed in a matter of seconds behind the trees lining my yard. It was peaceful and I was happy. I know that life isn’t like that: wonderful all the time. But I want to at least try to capture more happy moments, if I can. I also realize that 90% of conflict is born out of how you react to something. And my husband is right: we need to be firm with our oldest and sometimes, not react at all. He’s always been the kind of kid who wants to say things just to make people dance. So I mean, we just don’t play that game.

As always, it seems worse now because I am a.) home alone and b.) planning for class. Once I get out and finish teaching, I’ll feel a whole lot more balanced. It’s always stressful until it is done!