My Magnum Opus

Something about warmer weather and springtime fruit in the store makes me want smoothies.  I have been making one every day.  I put in an assortment of whatever fruits I have along with kale or spinach.  Sometimes Greek yogurt, sometimes ground flax seeds, ice.  Every time I announce, "This is my magnum opus!  The pinnacle of my smoothie career!" because my kids don't always love the smoothies and marketing is everything.  (I just tell them they don't have to love them, they just have to drink them.)

Yesterday I was out of kale and spinach so we had pink smoothies, heavy on the strawberries.  I put in a spoonful of Nutella because I thought that sounded good.  Soon I had pink smoothie all over the counter because I didn't get the blender base tight enough.

"Oh no," I said, "That's a problem."

Mark scooted onto a stool to watch the show.  "That is a problem," he said.  "And smoothie problems are the worse kind."

I cleaned up pink smoothie while he watched.

"I guess terrorism is worse," he said.

"Or death and dismemberment," I said.

"Yes," he agreed.

We drank our smoothies with our lunch and Mark decided Nutella was a no.  He said it was good by itself and the smoothies were good by themselves but not together.  He said, "It's like mixing pie and pizza.  Doesn't work."

Mark also encouraged me in the future to just add green food coloring rather than kale or spinach.  Then he tried to come up with the worst possible smoothie recipe.  His final:  Kraft macaroni and cheese (which is so nasty it never darkens our door) and Peeps (ditto) with kale and salt and pepper. I agreed that sounded pretty terrible.

We left for swimming and on the way saw the cat walker.  You know it's a good day when you see the cat walker.

"Hey look," I said, "The cat walker got a tattoo."

The cat walker was leaning over the cat.  Mark said, "He's trying to explain the tattoo to the cat."

"Hey buddy, it's still me."

"No, I don't even know you anymore.  First the beard and now the tat?  Besides I don't like this stroller as much as the last one."

Then the debate ensued between Mark and me.  Can the cat leave?  Is it mobile?  Mark would like to think he will run away because the tattoo was a step too far.

This conversation got us all the way across the valley and after I dropped Mark off I considered how my days are always full of bizarre conversations just like that.  My weird and chatty kids, imperfect  as they are, always delight me.  They always entertain me.  They always ensure that even the most mundane tasks are not mundane.

They are really my magnum opus.