ok, so i suffered through an awards event where only 1 of 2 children tapped for awards bothered to shop up, i think this is gods way of prepping me for sunday when seniors are honored and my only senior doesn't show up. at this point, i will be grateful if he actually shows up for graduation- the penalty for no-show at graduation is lack of parental funding at school, by the way......

this mean mamma was quite proud of both her boys- the one who showed up and the one who didn't. acw received a presential scholar certificate, based on grade point average and achievement test scores . he also recieved an acadmic awards in psychology. scw received an academic letter, the social studies award (jointly with david s.) the french award, and the computor applications/keyboarding award. he and david tied for awards tonight, with meghan de'arujio.

so danville is not ready for shitake mushrooms. i used them today in my beef stroganoff, and most plates came back with the mushrooms picked out like they were some kind of evil ingredient. I love their taste, especially in rich savory dishes- next time i will use plain old button mushrooms as not to confuse the populace.

another mother's day for the mean mamma. no breakfast in bed- not even a pot of coffee awaiting my descent into the kitchen. ernst will remember that it is mother's day when the minister mentions it during the sermon,. then he will run by the store on his way home from church. my mothers day gift generally comes from the krogers.......

ok, i am going to pay tribute to a left -field candidate. tonight i gave a prom dinner for my 2 independent study students paige and caelin, and kelly the daughter of one of my servers. 14 students attended, and the only guest (other than paige and caelin) to really say thanks was sara wilson. those who have followed the crown=webers since birth know that sara wilson has been in andrew's class since age 3 (montessori through 5th grade then bate then dhs). that means that i have known her for at least 15 years. she looked like a million bucks, by the way, getting out of her dates mercedes convetable- she is going to uk like acw, and i have offered a rec letter for sorority rush. she was gracious and lovely in a princess grace kind of way- i would like to say the same of andrew/s date but he didn't bring her by the restaurant. ........

there has been much said about the racial mix at this party- caelin's mother has called about the particularl's more than once.....i have had much time to think about the race issue this week since learning that i have black kinfolk....i am especially pleased that my brother took this news well= he intends to research the black side of our family- i find it a relief- an instant point of reference that i lacked in this southern town- i feel blessed to be related to both underground railroad germans, and northern blacks- it kind of makes up for the lambsheim nazis and the northern ohio kkk kin.

anyway, my upwardly mobile brother intends to research my black heritage, and i amhappy- it could'nt be worse than my mormon heritage.....

why is deja vu such an uncomfortable emotion/aura? we had a group of 10 from bchs this morning-eating lunch as a reward for something- all but 2 actually ate something- these two were emaciated little things who tried to tell the server that they had just eaten breakfast- yeah right. now, there are healthy looking naturally thin women- whose hair is glossy and whose skin has a nice glow. these two looked sallow, drawn, and with limp hair and a flat affect. the deja vu part is hard- i looked just like that when i was a senior in high school and the sight of another such pitiful soul is hard to behold. i couldn't eat for months because i was so upset that my sweet david w. started going out with my best friend susan b. to this day i really don't like susans as a rule- my stomach still churns. of course, if it hadn't been for her i might have married my sweet david, who is now balding, fat, and working in d.c. i like being married to my sweet ernst, thank you very much susan b.- i am grateful that i got my appetite back at some point.......

ok, so it is prom time, and this mean mamma is really hacked off about the whole thing. i ordered the corsage, and have given over the check to pay for it. i took in the tux to be drycleaned and borrowed the tie and cumberbund; ernst picked up the tux, and both washed and starched both shirts so that there would be a choice. now that the event happened tomorrow, there is apparently no actual promise that either of us will see him in his tux, nor see him with his date nor see any pictures that may be taken by others who have been granted audience with this pair, who are going to her mother's prom dinner rather than to the one that i am having here at the restaurant. now i can forgive him the prom party, as i am joyfully throwing it in his absense for my 2 indepedent study students and for my server's daughter. but i cannot forgive the refusal of a showing prior to the prom. i don't care how many couples will also be in the car- their parents want to see them too. so what if they have to make 6 separate stops around town before the dance- them's the breaks. i'll keep you posted on this prom sighting thing......

ok so a couple of blogs ago i ranted a bit about sitcoms- but last night i have to admit that i sat and watched that 70's show and grounded for life with my older male adolescent children. of all the subject matter that they could have chosen, condoms was the theme for both shows. on each, the use of condoms was promoted for use by married couples who do not choose to procreate at this time- and the consequences of unprotected sex- read this as a 'we love our children but we don't really want any more' was made quite clear. of course, the premise of the last show- everyone gathered around the closed bathroom door- the 3 kids, grandpa and daddy- while mamma takes the home pregnancy test would never happen in real life. i looked to my sweet boys and inquired if they knew what condoms were for, and urged them to use them as such- prompted looks that could cleave steel beams. the good news is that condom education no longer must rely on liberal health education classes, or progressive physicians, parents etc to promote.
i am not so liberal as to have a fishbowl of them in my home- like centre college has in the health center- but i believe that there use is preferable to their disuse.......

speaking of tom petty- there is a ragged people magazine here at the restaurant- a style issue of sorts- with a photo of madonna touting her fitness through yoga and diet and downright madonnaness... in which she looks like a corss between dwight yocum and tom petty. now, those two are not my idea of an image to which one would choose to aspire- with regards to looks at least. madonna has oft dabbled in crossgender stuff, but this photo makes me unlikely to begin a yoga routine or give up carbs..........

i got my hair cut today after the lunch rush. when my hair is in my eyes, i get really testy to be around- so when i asked if everyone could cover for me while i went in search of a walk-ins welcome hair salon, there were many offers........i got to read the george harrison tribute issue of rolling stone magazine. i enjoyed reading what people like tom petty, elton john, yoko, etc said about the dear departed. george is dear to me not so much because of strong beatles memories, but because i was born on his birthday and felt a special connection to him for as long as i can remember. i actually liked his work on the traveling wilburies album as much or more than most of the beatles or his personal stuff- he seemed to be having a really good time with bob dylan, et al. tom petty recalled the making of the album- that george would hide in the bushes, and behind sofas, etc and video bob dylan any chnace he got- but especially when he was playing guitar or piano- harrison made his own bootlegs of his own personal idol. apparently dylan got a kick out of harrison and his video camera.

the hair cut is passable......

brushes with death leave one shaken but relieved- that's hopw i feel this morning after our family 'brush' with near disaster. andrew complained yesterday morning that he smelled something funny in the basement as he was leaving for school. when ernst went down to check, he opened up the older of the 2 waterheaters, and noticed that sparks were flying, amid water draining out of the motor. he got towels from the laundry room to mop up the mess, only to find flames coming out of the motor at this point. we are so lucky that andrew mentioned the smell, as the flaming water heater was in our little storage cubbyhole with lots of stored books, files, and other flammables- the place could have gone up in smoke. by the time i got home, the plumbers had installed a new element, and the hot water was again functional. whew........

it has just occured to me that ernst and i missed 24 on tuesday night while we visited with our relatives. this is a really confusing and intense show- it has only a few episodes left- i have ahard time seeing a happy ending to it all. of course, the world of television is no longer about happy endings. my prediction about the last episode of ally mcbeal is that she will be left all alone after 5 years of dating and discarding all those mr wrongs. of course, i harbor a secret wish that robert downey jr will show up on the last episode and sweeep her off her feet-the cinderella ending, but he is probably in jail for probation violations so that is unlikely. at this point in my life, i would rather follow along with a good book for 1 or so hours a day than to try to keep up with sitcoms or tv dramas. i do enjoy alias on sunday nights- enjoy sitting with my spouse and watching alias on sunday nights- but mostly don't make time for primetime. i wish i had a nielson rating box so i could destroy the curve.....

whoa,there.....mean mamma has had a brief lapse of reason. she blogs at work because her children are usually using the internet at home during all of the useful hours (read this as mamma does not blog after 11:00 pm because she is asleep). having noted this in cyberink, mean mamma feels somewhat better, and will go on enjoying her early morning blogging while the coffee brews and before she starts in cooking with a vengence.

yesterday was a day from hell- the rain, the rain, the rain.......came down so fast that water starting coming in under the cinderblock foundations in the stockroom, and on into the back dining room where a downtown preservation meeting was taking place- somewhat ironic- as i wouldn't dream of preserving this wretched building. we had to make desparate calls for shop vacs to suck up the water- the wretched landlord took one look at the onslaught and left. on a brighter note- the front dining room windows did not leak now that jerry's dad fixed the roof, a job for which the wretched landlord has not paid him. wretched is my word of the day- thanks to ann silver's sister in boulder, co- hello ann's sister!! i am not nearly as mean as i seem in writing.......

my mother's first cousin, dr. bruce broughton and his wife mary are visiting from arizona. we have not seen them since we took the children to grand canyon the first time on a spring break at least 11 years ago. he was a surgeon on the navaho reservation at the time- now he and his wife are retired. he is the adopted son of my grandfather george broughton's eldest brother harold- the one with polio who became a minister. the family myth was that he was found on harold's parsonage doorstep and that harold moved to a church out of state after the papers were signed so the birth parents couldn't ask for him back. bruce said that this wasn't true- that he had been 2 years old when he was adopted and that he found the birth parents name and address in his parents belongings- he always understood that a friend of his father's had arranged it all. he was quite kind about it all to cayle, telling her that they had this special thing in common.

in the course of the dinner last night, with mother and her sister and her husband and all of us- i am not sure who trys to monopolize the conversation more- mother, or her sister- it was an evening to sit back and marvel. one interesting bit of trivia- one of grandpa broughton's uncles married a black woman- and was basically ostracized from that point on- mother remembers her grandmother broughton telling them that they really didn't want to know what had happened to this uncle. therefore, there are black broughtons walking around this earth related to me through my greatgrandfather. i hope they are better looking than some of the ones i have met.......

ok, so i saw 5- count 'em 5 snakes in my yard yesterday, and i am elated. i am not a snake fancier, nor one of those scary snake handler-bible belt types. i do see good environmental signs in having a healthy crop of snakes. for starts- my yard is nearly pesticide-free(read this as too mean to remember to put pesticide on my plants)- so there are no chemicals to kill off reptiles. secondly, the kinds of snakes we have appear to be the kind that keep down the rodent population- we are not seeing mice in the house these days. the rodent thing is according to ernst- i haven't gotten close enough to these snakes to know what kind they are- ecw says king snakes and i will take his word for it. they are big and long and 3 seem to live together in a commune on the other side of the deck. the others are garter snakes, smaller- who live amongst the rose bushes. as i said, the appearance of healthy snakes must mean that our environment is relatively healthy for us humans. i will feel even better about it if i start seeing frogs- nonmutated frogs, that is.......

we have a mourning dove nesting in our trellis rose bush- poor girl has found a little place among the thorns to nest- you gotta love any mother who would risk so much for her young.

ok, i know that there is already a saint stephan- and many churches named after him. but there lives in danville a saintlier stephan- the one who kindly came into work last night when we got busy after an even busier day without our dishwasher who was at the hospital with his pregnant wife who was in premature labor. our saint stephan is an incredibly persistent worker- who asks what can i do next rather than when can i go home. i am thankful to know him let alone be mean mamma.......

today's agenda involves a derby party for 36, with fried chicken. it seems that i lack the fried chicken gene- i have never fried chicken, i have never witnessed an older female role model fry chicken, and i have never felt an urge to do so in my own home. one time our regular babysitter couldn't sit, so we found a pinchhitter through a friend- he lasted one day there- when she was frying chicken, andrew got too close to the skillet and the flying hot grease burnt his cheek. the sitter laughed it off like he should have known better- andrew wasn't from a frying family so he would have had no clue. i have out all of the central kentucky cookbooks- open to the secret fried chicken recipes. frankly, this whole fried chicken thing makes me a nervous wreck.....

our deep-pockets customer last night (read this drug rep with a mandate to spend his budgeted bucks rather than lose them) was truly annoying. he arrived after many of his clients with the promised wine and beer- in the rain- and handed me several bottles of red and barked at me to chill them as quickly as i could. gentle reader, surely even you know that red wine is best at room temp- or thereabouts- not chilled, which i pointed out as politely as possible- he studied me for a second, probably trying to decide if i would really know such as thing about wine- i knew enough to know that his australian red was probably better than his argentinian red. the whites he bought were already chilled, and he requested that the argentinian white be opened first- rather than the australian one. in my book, a good host leads with his best wine, not his worst..... then he thrusts a bag at me holding new corkscrews- like we wouldn't have one ourselves. he also brought beer, a lot of beer- 2 cases of miller and 2 of bud light, and 3 6-packs of heineken. he seemed interested in putting out the cans of miller and bud rather than the good stuff- we did put it out because this was a crowd that would like that kind of beer. the dinner did go ok, as these dinners go we had to quick make an extra salad and dinner for someone who had been in the bathroom all this time....the rep ordered 30 dinners, and only 19 showed up. the main plate was served about 7:45- at 9:30 as we are about to go home, the rep decides that he wants all of the leftovers wrapped up so he can take them home. they had been long wrapped up in the refrigerator- and he stood there watching while i tried to reassemble boxed dinners from them. yes, he did pay for them, but he was such a jerk in insisting on his rightful property. he actually was crass enough to ask if he had everything that he had paid for.....i thought he was going to go through the refrigerators himself. he then preceded to chase down the doctor who did the presentation at her car and gave her several of the boxed dinners,like he did it all himself, just for her. funny, when we were turning out the lights, i happened upon a 6-pack of heineken that he had somehow overlooked in his zeal to get all of the pork and chicken boxed dinners- i could have run out the door after him to make sure that he had the last of the beer, paid for with his company card.... no gentle readers, i took them home myself......ernst really likes good beer....

i went to a site today called no more tears to cry- maybe that was it- the computer locked up and i didn't get to actually read it- it sounded like just another middle-aged-mother-with-teenaged-children blog. maybe i should find some blogs written by my-children-are-perfect-faced lifted mothers so i can snarl at them. of course, those mothers probably pay for someone to blog for them. because all this typing would damage the pretend nails and expensive chanel enamel. ........

i am giving a prom party for the 2 dhs students who did the indepedent study here last semester, as well as for the daughter of one of my servers. there will be about 18 in the group, including friends and dates. yesterday the mother of one got in my face and asked me if i knew that her daughter's date was black. i knew because she told me, and had to admit such. this mother was embarassed that she was so upset about the race thing- and upset seemingly because i did not pick up the phone to tell her. i didn't tell her because it was of no concern to me- the race thing- she should be more worried that this boy is 22 or so - but i din't go into that because she was so upset. i am not sure what she wanted me to say or do about it. these are nice girls- and i told them they could invite their friends- end of story. i cannot wait until all of this end-of-year stuff is over.......

yesterday was may day- and i had meant to blog about my roses- i had two bushes blooming yesterday. this is quite early for roses, but then it has been quite warm. the first to bloom was stanwell perpetual, which i saw blooming in great splendor years ago at hidcote gardens in the cotswolds. it started to bloom on 4/23/02- probably the earliest that any c-w rose has bloomed. the blooms are tiny, cream-colored, and delicately scented, and i have only a few (reads this as too lazy and mean to fertilize regularly) blooms. therese bugnet bloomed on 4/29/02- and this bush also has only a few blooms- a rosey pink that has a bit of white streaked through. i say blommed, fo course- after the megastrom last night there may be nothing left. andrew, stephan and i watched the multi-warnings on tv, and were overjoyed that the path of the potential tornado veered south of danville. the rain and possibly hail was intense for a time, however. neither will bother my new dawn rose, however, it is already dead, after 20 years i tried to move it and killed it. finding another may take some time....

i went to 'dirty laundry''s blog today- she wrote about how her closet smells of vanilla- even her shoes, which should smell quite poopy.....she cannot figure out where the vanilla smell is coming from. my closet does need some attention. the crate of summer clothes is in the way, but not yet emptied and filled with the winter clothes. i need to sort throught it all, as i wore relatively little of the winter things- read this as cannot get into.....it might be emotionally freeing to just pitch it all to the goodwill and start over with a minimum of well-selected pieces.that would leave room for a few sachets of maybe lavender or rose to scent the remaining clothes. tht sounds too martha- i take it back.......