Road Trip

Tomorrow we are heading to Blacksburg for Aunt Crissie and Uncle Paul's wedding. How exciting! Maybe one day I'll be an aunt after all :)

Summer Fun

The girls and I finished up our camping trip this afternoon and I must say it was awesome! Well, it was awesome with the possible exception of Nicole picking arguments with me every morning. I guess I can chalk this up to typical "tween" behavior and try to make the best of the situation. Anyways - we spent the day at the water park again, had some s'mores and left for home. The campground is only about 20 minutes from the house so it was super convenient. Good thing, because work needed something from me so I had to drive back to get my computer! Well, if that's the only time I get interrupted all week, then I'm cool with it. We're glad to be back home in the a/c and we're excited for Aunt Crissie and Uncle Paul's wedding on Saturday. Let the next adventure begin!

Camping

Yeah yeah - I didn't post yesterday. But I have an awesome excuse! The girls and I are camping and I forgot about posting until we were already in the tent trying to go to sleep. It was difficult sleeping as it was due to the humidity and I didn't want to cause a ruckus by going back out to the car for the phone so I could do a blog post. I think that is forgivable, don't you? By the way, camping has been awesome so far!

World Cup - AUGGHHGHGHH!!!

What an exciting (but heartbreaking) game!! It's a bummer that we lost with penalty kicks, but I can't think of a better team to beat us than Japan. I hope this is an uplifting piece of news for their country, which has definitely been through some hard times as of late.

Pool Day!

Today the girls and I (well, mostly me) cleaned the house and then we hit the pool at our gym. An awesome time was had by all!

A Week Off!

I can't remember if I already posted this and I'm too lazy to go back and check, but I have next week off!! The girls and I are planning to go camping and relax before Aunt Crissie's wedding in a week. Yay!!!

mmmmmmmm.....

.....Sleep..... :)

Knitting Is A-knoyying

Augghgghh!!! Caitlin wants to learn how to knit and I said I would teach her. My grandmother taught me when I was young but I forgot how and she's dead so she isn't too much help at this point. I tried to watch a YouTube video and read articles on the internet, but something isn't going right. I can cast on but when I try to do the second row it gets all screwed up. How hard can it be to knit??? I feel like an idiot. Help!!!!!

Going To Bed

Enough said! And it even rhymes :)

A Day Off!!

I have the day off tomorrow, yay! I'm taking Nicole and two of the other girls on her team to a soccer camp, then we are hitting a water park afterwards with her other regular day camp. Don't feel bad for Caitlin, she's going to a water park with her camp tomorrow as well. :)

We Are Family!

Today we had the pleasure of meeting three of my cousin's seven children who live out in Salt Lake City. The three boys are in town visiting their grandmother (my aunt). One of the boys had never been out our way before, and the other two hadn't traveled to DC since they were babies. All three boys were well-spoken and polite, and it was great to see them. One of the other kids is coming out here later this summer, so hopefully we'll get to see him too!

bachelorette fun!

I'm at a bachelorette party for my sister-in-law right now so I can't really blog right now. I'm having a great time! :)

Bachelorette Party WOOT

My sister in law's bachelorett party is tomorrow. I'm in charge of making the penis pasta for the festivities. Yummy yum!!! Ha ha. :)

OW!! My Shoulder!!

I hurt my shoulder somehow, I guess at the gym on Tuesday. I went back to the gym today and ran for 1/2 hour which I think irritated it again. Time for advil and bed... lol

Basketball Hoop Is Up!

Cole spent most of Saturday assembling a basketball hoop, which was one of Nicole's birthday presents. Today we poured water into the base so the whole thing wouldn't tip over, so now the basketball games may begin! I wonder if the girls will want to play basketball over the winter....

It's My Special Day!

Yay, it's my birthday! Also, there was a skunk in the basement of our building this afternoon. Oh goody, a present for me!

Lemonade Fun!

Our lemonade stand today was awesome. So many friends and neighbors came to have lemonade and donate to the USO! Some people made additional donations on top of their lemonade purchases. We made $74 for the USO in 3 hours. Woot!

Need Coffee

I need to work on posters for our lemonade stand, but I'm tired. I was out shopping all day (I know, the horror!) and then we were at our neighbors' party and we just got back. I wanted to have the girls work on the posters with me but it's a little late now. :( A late night frappucino should be just the thing to give me the necessary jump start......

Busy Weekend - Day 1

Today was full of play dates, errands (ew) and dinner with friends, some of whom we hadn't seen in quite some time! Tomorrow we have a bbq at the neighbor's house and then Monday is our patriotic lemonade stand. Bring it on!

mmmmmm.... TV

Enough said!! I need to relax :)

Halfway Done!

Today is June 30, which means the year is half over! I've only forgotten to blog one time. Yay me!! Now excuse me while I ponder where the hell this half of 2011 went.

YiaTube

Hahahahaa!!! You can make your own Yia Yia tirade videos at the Athenos website. I made this one today: http://www.youtube.com/athenos?x=486f28c4ec34021bb4e8c7dc0

Soccer Party!

Tonight Caitlin's soccer coach had the end of season party at her house. A great time was had by all. The girls played soccer, jumped on the trampoline and got in the hot tub! Pizza and ice cream were served. Afterward, the coach gave all the girls their end of season trophies and pictures of each of them playing soccer! The kids also got personalized water bottles for next season. Fun!! :)

Busy!

I have to attend a lot more meetings in my new role at AOL. So far I'm enjoying it but I'm still trying to get used to all of these meetings! It's a challenge to get your work done when you're in a conference room for half the day. :) Anyway... so far, so good!

One Lemonade, Coming Right Up!

The girls and I are having a lemonade stand to benefit the USO. 100% of the proceeds will be sent to the USO in support of our troops. The lemonade stand will be held at our pool house on 7/4 from 1-4 PM. We're getting excited!!

Ahhhhh... A Clean House!

Well, we spent a good portion of the day cleaning, cleaning and cleaning! We did not leave the house except to go to lunch at Panera to celebrate Nicole's straight A report card. Everything looks much better. Any guesses as to how long it will last? :)

House Cleaning.... Ugh

Tomorrow the whole family is going to go on a house cleaning spree! I feel like I am living in a trash dump! We will all feel so much better after this place is cleaned up...

Cox Family European Vacation

We were able to purchase tickets to the London Olympics in 2012! We were not awarded any of the tickets we requested in the first lottery, but we were able to get basketball and soccer tickets on the early pre-sale that took place today. Yay! Unfortunately, all the gymnastics tickets were gone, but I guess the IOC could release some more tickets later. We shall see!

Crickets!

I heard nothing but crickets after posting on Open Salon at 11:58 PM yesterday. Note to self: blog on OS earlier in the day!

Just In Time!!

Here it is....

OH NO!!!!

It was bound to happen sooner or later. I forgot to do my daily blog post yesterday!! I almost made 6 months straight... oh well. I was planning to write something on Open Salon and cross-post it here, but I feel asleep. :( Anyways - I am working on that piece now and I will cross-post it here when I'm done!!

Kidnapped...

...by a book! I've been taken hostage and I can't put it down. Must finish...

American Girl Fun!

Well, our adventure at the grand opening of American Girl Place in Tysons was not the nightmare that I expected. Sure, it was crowded, and everyone had to get timed-entry tickets into the building (seriously!) but it was actually very well run and not a debacle at all. Nicole brought her Lanie doll and Caitlin brought her Kanani doll. I funded ear-piercings for both dolls and allowed the girls to have $25 in spending money. Of course they went over their allotted amount, but they are reimbursing us. The worst line in the store was actually the line for the cashier! I don't know why it takes so long to ring people up in that place, but whatever. We had an awesome time and the girls have been playing with their dolls and their new accessories all day. What a great time! :)

Should We Be Camping Out?

The American Girl Store is having its grand opening in Tysons tomorrow at 9 AM! The girls and I are waking up early to drive out. I really hope there aren't too many crazy people creating a huge line by camping out overnight in front of the store. I was thinking that parents would have to be insane to set up a tent outside a mall with their young-ish daughters, but then it occurred to me that the mom or dad could stay overnight and the other parent could drop the kid(s) off in the morning. I don't know who would agree to such an arrangement, but people around here are nuts. I will report back tomorrow with full coverage!

School's Out!

The girls are done with school until August 29. Yay! I hope they are able to relax and chill out a bit over these next several weeks before starting 3rd and 6th grade. I can't believe I'm going to have a middle schooler and an SOL-taker! :)

Travel Soccer!

We just got a call from Nicole's current soccer coach who is starting up a travel team. He selected Nicole for this team and I am so excited for her! It's really hard to break into travel because most teams are already fully formed, but she did it. Yay Nicole!!!

Better Late Than Never!

I am using a footbath that I received 8.5 years ago but had never opened. I finally busted it out of the box to give Nicole a "pedicure" before her 5th grade promotion tomorrow. Now everyone is in bed and it's my turn to try it out. Pretty nice contraption, but a real pedicure is better :)

20 Years Ago Today....

I graduated high school! Just thought you'd like to know :)

Game Over For The Pumas....

The girls lost their semifinal match today. The score was tied 2-2 so it went to penalty kicks. Unfortunately, the other team scored more penalty kicks than us so they won the game. This wouldn't have been so irritating if the girls on the other team were not such poor sports about it. They laughed and jeered every time they made a goal, and when they scored on Nicole during the game one of them actually told her "YOU STINK." WTF?? Who allows girls to talk this way to each other? Someone needs to teach them about the wonders of karma. Maybe they will find out soon enough....

Great Soccer News!

Nicole's team, the Pumas, won both tournament games today and we have a good chance of actually winning the whole thing. That would be so awesome. The girls have never won a tournament before so this will be a great "first" to celebrate. Good luck Pumas!!

Oh No! I'm A Fish Killer!

Uh oh... I changed the water in the fish tank, but I think the water conditioner killed some of the fish. I think a couple of them ate it when I poured it in, and now two are dead :( Ah well, I am learning more about fish all the time! I hope the other two don't die. :(

A New Record!!

Our executive PTA meeting was over in under 2 hours. It's a world record! What am I going to do with the rest of my evening?? Maybe I'll go to bed early, or even WATCH TV!!! GASP!!! The possibilities are endless....

100 Degrees Is Not A Good Temperature For Soccer

Nicole had travel soccer tryouts today and the heat was ridiculous! I hope she did ok, they put her on this far away field and I couldn't see much of anything. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that she makes the team!!

Three Days Left!

Next Monday I move over to the Internal Audit group at work! I'm excited about the change and I really hope I enjoy the work. I haven't done audit type stuff since 1996 and obviously things have changed since then, so I have a lot of catching up to do. I hope the learning curve is nice to me!

Here It Is!

My post on Open Salon: click here!

Open Salon!

I'm doing a post on Open Salon as we speak, but it won't be done by midnight. I'll post the link to it for tomorrow's post. Toodles!

One Science Fair, Two Soccer Games, One Community Festival...

...and a partridge in a pear tree! Time for bed! :)

Whirlwind Weekend Is Kicking Off!

No time to write, we are too busy! The girls and I just got home at 10 PM :)

Busy Weekend Ahead!

This weekend is going to be busy but fun. Tomorrow Caitlin and a friend are having a playdate at our pool. Saturday we have two soccer games, Stemmerday (a science fair type thing at the girls' school) and Celebrate South Riding (community festival). On Sunday we have church and 5th grade promotion dress shopping! Eek!

The Pool Is Awesome

After work/school, the girls and I headed over to the pool for a couple of hours. I took a nap while the girls played together in the water. This is shaping up to be an awesome Summer and it's still Spring! I hope we can have this much fun every day. :)

How Can Tomorrow Be June?

What the heck, the year is almost half over???? What happened??? Time sure flies when you're busy. Sometimes I think I have too much to do, but I guess it's better than being bored! Maybe time won't seem to go by so quickly when the kids are grown. We'll see about that!

Open Salon Post For Memorial Day

Open Salon didn't have ANY pieces about Memorial Day on today's cover. WTH? I was annoyed so I posted this piece. It's been on the "top rated" feed for a couple of hours so other readers must agree. :)

Zzzzzzzzzzz

Was going to write about this article that I thought was completely ridiculous, but I can't get motivated. So, I am signing off. Peace out!

Working on Saturday Night... UGH

So I left work early on Friday because they said we could, and now it's coming back to haunt me. I have to train someone on my role since I'm moving over to Internal Audit, and I'm behind as it is even without that. I really need to catch up and I'd rather do it now than wait until the last minute. Hopefully I can do a real blog entry tomorrow :)

3-Day Weekend... THANK GOD

Yay, the weekend is finally here and summer has unofficially begun. Tonight the girls have friends sleeping over, but after that we have no plans. We will just relax, hit the pool and run errands at a leisurely pace. Who knows, I might actually have time to do a real blog entry.....

OS Post

Today I posted Shannon Plasters' story on my Open Salon blog. Unfortunately, it got lost in the feed and I don't think anyone really saw it. I'm hoping it gets an editors' pick so people can read it for Memorial Day!

Fiction Wednesday on Open Salon

I posted on Open Salon today for Fiction Wednesday. Check it out here!

AOL Military Support Group Article

I wrote the following article for internal publication at my employer (AOL) on behalf of the AOL Military Support Group. This woman's story is amazing. Enjoy.

----------------------------------------

Memorial Day is just a few short days away, and most of us here in America are looking forward to barbeques, hitting the neighborhood pool and, of course, a vacation day. We all know what Memorial Day is really about, but it's easy for many of us to feel somewhat removed from the reality of the brave service men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our country. Take a moment and try to imagine how it would feel if someone you loved was killed while on active military duty - and it took almost 40 years for this person to be brought home and properly laid to rest. This is the story of AOLer Shannon Plaster, whose father Chief Warrant Officer Donald L. Wann was killed in Vietnam on June 1, 1971 and was finally buried with full military honors at Fort Gibson National Cemetery, Oklahoma on August 21, 2010.

Donald Lynn Wann was born on May 31, 1937 in Kosoma, Oklahoma. He started out as a photographer for the Navy but switched over to the Army so he could fly helicopters. Frequently described as fearless, he was awarded the Silver Star as well as the Distinguished Flying Cross for various heroic acts. On June 1, 1971, CW2 Wann and LT Paul Magers were shot down over a mountain while flying a Cobra helicopter in Quang Tri Province, Vietnam. CW2 Wann had turned 34 years old the previous day. According to an official military account, “CW2 Wann started his rocket pass at about 1500 feet above the ground, and at about 40 feet, before commencing fire, the aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire. It was hit repeatedly in the underside and tail section of the aircraft...As the aircraft fell in a spiral pattern, 6 calls were made to CW2 Wann on both FM and UHF radio. None of the calls was answered. The aircraft crashed, burned, exploded (cooked off) and slid down a steep hill some 100 feet, before the ammunition on board started tearing apart what was left of the aircraft. All witnesses stated that the crash was non-survivable.” It was not possible for anyone to search for the downed aircraft at the time due to ongoing combat in the area, so Wann and Magers were officially listed as MIA.

AOLer Shannon Plaster, Wann's eldest daughter, was only 10 years old when soldiers arrived at her family's doorstep to inform her mother, Ruth, that her husband was missing. “I was sitting on the couch watching TV,” said Plaster. “Someone knocked on the door. When Mom answered the door and saw them in their dress blues, she just started bawling. They didn’t have to say anything. When military people come to your house in dress blues, you know something has happened.” As Plaster grew up, she felt that she had to find out the truth about her father and the events that had taken place on that mountain in Vietnam. As CW2 Wann would say, "I CAN'T is NOT in my vocabulary." It wasn't in Plaster's vocabulary either.

In 1990, Plaster sent a letter to the Pentagon asking whether her father was alive or dead. A Lieutenant Colonel called her from the Pentagon and indicated that CW2 Wann's case was still open and being investigated by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC). In 1993, the JPAC located the helicopter crash site, but the search for CW2 Wann and LT Magers was called off several years later after a JPAC aircraft went down in the same area, killing everyone on board. Then, in 2005, Plaster learned that the search had resumed due to an unbelievable piece of information: a Vietnamese soldier named Pham Thiet Hung who came forward, indicating that he had buried an aviator's body in the forest the day after the 1971 crash. In 2008, Vietnamese and American forces located the crash site with Hung's help. Using dental records and DNA evidence, the JPAC positively identified the two bodies recovered from the scene as CW2 Don Wann and LT Paul Magers.

In August 2010, Plaster flew to Hawaii to bring her father's remains back home for burial at Fort Gibson National Cemetery in Fort Gibson, Oklahoma. On August 21, 2010, the Oklahoma National Guard conducted a burial ceremony with full military honors, including a Black Hawk flyover and a rifle salute. Hundreds of veterans on motorcycles and flag-waving residents filled the streets, and attendees praised Plaster for her efforts in bringing her father back to America. You can view a slide show of the ceremony here (link to http://muskogeephoenix.com/archive/x865118082). Today, Plaster's outreach efforts haven't stopped just because her father has finally been recovered. She is a coordinator for the National League of POW/MIA Families, an organization that seeks to "obtain the release of all prisoners, the fullest possible accounting for the missing and repatriation of all recoverable remains of those who died serving our nation during the Vietnam War in Southeast Asia." Thank you, Shannon, for everything that you have done and continue to do on behalf of our missing veterans. You make AOL proud.

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY.

-----AOL Military Support Group

Note: Some information was pulled from the Muskogee Phoenix/byline Kirk Kramer

Open Salon Is Annoying

I wanted to post something meaningful on Open Salon tonight and cross-post it here. However, it isn't letting me log in and quite frankly, I feel like going to bed. So, off I go! Open Salon is getting on my nerves with all of its server hangups and outages. A lot of people who blog there have become irritated as well and are leaving for greener pastures, which is too bad. Open Salon could be awesome if they could get their shit together.

Brain Farts

I have got to do something about these brain farts I keep having. Whenever I have the chance to blog, I don't know what to talk about. Well, I could think of some stuff to say but it would be totally boring and stupid. Annoying! I keep looking for inspiration but can't find any. Does anyone out there have any inspiration to share? Lol.

Farmers' Tan From Hell

Today I watched the girls play soccer, which was fun, of course! What wasn't so much fun was getting the worst farmers' tan ever! I got Nicole's soccer picture back and sat with it on my lap during the entire game. Now I have an enormous white square on my thighs from where my legs were covered by the picture, nicely accentuated by burnt skin around the edges. My knees also got fried. It doesn't hurt but it sure does look interesting....

My Last Post?

Some weirdos say the world is supposed to end tomorrow. Yeah, I kind of don't believe them, as you've probably surmised by now. Well, obviously, if the world ends then I won't be posting on here anymore. So - just in case - it's been real. Peace out!

It's Official!

I'm moving to a new group at work. I'll be performing SOX (Sarbanes-Oxley) and other audits as part of the Internal Audit team. I haven't done auditing in about 16 years so we'll see how it goes! This type of work has the potential to become a bit boring, but hey, at this point in my life I kind of want to be bored sometimes. They are still working out the details of my transition so I don't know exactly when I'll switch over, but I'm excited about starting my new role!

A 3-Hour PTA Meeting, Yippeeee!!

Well, I don't think I've ever been to a General meeting that went on for 3 hours. Sure, the Exec Board meetings sometimes take forever, but a General meeting? Good lord!! Thank goodness the lights go out in the school at 10 PM or I'd still be sitting there!!!

OS Post

I posted on Open Salon today. I'll be back tomorrow!!

Stage Mom

Well, I forced Nicole to try out for all star soccer and she got cut. No reason was provided. I am not too happy right now.....

Sleepover Hangover

Ugh, I didn't get much sleep last night and had to get up early this AM to run in a race! Our overnight guests were well-behaved but stayed up late. Also, one of the younger ones got spooked and had to leave early. My girls both took long naps today but unfortunately I was not so lucky. However, I did get to see Nicole kick butt at All-Star soccer tryouts. I hope she makes the team! She played really well, so I'm thinking she has a good chance. We should find out within the next couple of days. Now, off to finish some chores and go to bed!!

Sleepover!

I've got 10 girls spending the night tonight... including my own kids so only 8 extra. It's Nicole's 11th birthday party sleepover! Everyone seems to be having fun so far except a couple of girls ate too much candy and now they have stomachaches. Go figure! I hope they don't go to bed too late...

Exciting Stuff!

I had some interesting stuff happen today. I'll discuss later because it's not over yet. Stay tuned!

Blogger Was Down! No, Really!

I didn't do a blog post yesterday, but I have an excuse! And I have proof! Blogger (the blogspot engine) was down for hours and hours. I guess they tried to do some maintenance the other day and it messed something up, so they had to take it offline completely. When I tried to do my entry around 10 PM last night, the site was in read-only mode and it was still that way this morning! Yeah yeah, I could have done a post on Open Salon instead, but I wasn't planning on writing anything very earth-shattering, and OS is meant for "real" writing and not my daily blogspot brain farts aka glorified Facebook posts. So - I will do another post tonight to get caught up.

PS. Here is the "proof" of the Blogger outage I mentioned earlier. http://buzz.blogger.com/2011/05/blogger-is-back.html

Nicole Is 11!!

I can't believe my firstborn daughter turned 11 today! She asked for a basketball hoop but we need to shop around for it because it will probably turn out to be pretty expensive. We got her a basketball, a DS game, 2 Hollister t-shirts and a new book. We went to Cici's pizza (one of those buffet joints) for dinner. Nicole says she doesn't feel 11. I don't feel like she's 11 either! Just for the record. :)

Well That Was a Long Day!

Work, 2 mile run, PTA Exec meeting and travel soccer parent info meeting. I just got home and I haven't even had dinner yet. Must go eat!!!

Bunnies!!!!

I went for a walk on the path behind our house last night and came across three bunny rabbits on three separate occasions! They were too darned cute, but of course they ran away. Now all we need are some deer in the woods and the neighborhood will be complete!

Mother's Day Post

I posted on Open Salon today. Swing on over and check it out here!

My Day Of Worship (LOL) Is Less Than 120 Minutes Away!

As my brother-in-law stated in his Mothers' Day card to me, my "day of worship" should be "every day." I second that. Lol! Tomorrow I am looking forward to a day filled with shopping (the fun kind) and alone time. SCORE!! Happy Mothers' Day to all you moms out there!!!

I Am Lame

My plan is go go to bed at 8 PM. Yeah. Lame.

Girly Sleepover!

Cole is out of town tonight and I always let the girls sleep in my bed when he's gone. It's a fun way to reconnect with them and it's awesome being surrounded by warm bodies during cold weather too. Of course, it's not cold now, but we won't let that ruin our sleepover fun. Time for me to head upstairs and jump under the covers!! :)

In Need Of Inspiration

My blog posts have been sucking the big one recently. I feel like I don't have anything interesting or witty to say, yet my New Years' Resolution to do a blog entry each day is forcing me to type what amounts to glorified facebook status updates. I need some more inspiration, stat!! Now where can I find some?

Annoyed

Frankly, I'm getting irritated with how busy things have gotten on the career front. I feel like I don't have time to do anything fun and I am *this* close to being totally burnt out! Still not as stressful as raising small children, but at least raising small children is more fulfilling.

Birthday Party.....

I just sent out the evite for Nicole's 11th birthday party! I can't believe she is going to be 11 in just 9 days. Time keeps flying by!

I Wonder What Would Happen....

.... if I told everyone at work to KISS MY ASS!!!!! Because sometimes I really feel like it. I'll let you know how it goes. lol

I Love Working At 11 PM on Sat Nite!!

NOT. >:o

Tired....

..... Going to bed! It's been a busy week. Goodnight!

OS Post

Click here to read!

Oops!

Posted on Open Salon and forgot about blogspot. Oh well, I haven't gone to bed yet so this still counts for Wed. It's my resolution so I make the rules. Score!

Nothing To Talk About

Today was super busy but for some reason I have nothing interesting to discuss. Makes you wonder why we run around like chickens with our heads cut off. What is the point if nothing interesting comes out of it?

Random Fever of Doom

Caitlin has had a fever since Thursday night! I think it's finally gone now and she's most likely headed back to school in the morning. She was bored out of her mind today... she needs mental stimulation!!

OS Post

Check it out here!

This Blog Post Is Being Pre-Empted By A Sick Child

:( ......

Open Salon - Again!

I posted on Open Salon again today! Here are links to the posts I've done over the last few days:

Fiction Friday

Arguments on Open Salon

Apple, Desk, Rainbow

Posted on Open Salon Again

It's awesome how having the day off of work means you have time to blog.... :)

It's an Open Salon Kind of Day

I posted on Open Salon today and got an Editors' Pick! :)

TV!!!!!

The girls are away at a last-minute sleepover, I have the day off tomorrow, and the TV is calling my name. Later peeps!!!

Redbox Anxiety

Today my mom told me that she was afraid to use the Redbox machine in the grocery store because it was too confusing and she might make a mistake. Really. I think an intervention is needed.

The Game Of Life - WTF??

After returning from our honeymoon almost 12 years ago, my new husband and I ventured out to Toys R Us to purchase some board games. We got Life, a chess/checkers combo set and some other game, maybe Monopoly. I guess we thought we were going to sit around playing board games together, potentially even participating in other cute, lovey-dovey newlywed-type adventures such as going on daytrips, decorating our new abode and cooking healthy meals as a pair!! However, we had apparently been spending too much time on another type of newlywed activity because there were most likely actually three of us in the Toys R Us that evening, if you catch my drift. Unaware of the situation at hand, we returned to our townhouse, cracked open the game of Life and played it. Little did we know that the real game of Life had something else up its sleeve. Maybe a couple of weeks later, I found myself venturing to Target in search of a different type of product, one that could detect trace levels of human chorionic gonadotropin in a woman's urine. Fast forward to our first anniversary - we had a three-month-old daughter and of course the board games were rapidly collecting dust in the closet in favor of more important pursuits, such as sleeping and maintaining an acceptable level of sanity.

Today, our first daughter is about to turn 11, and her younger sister is 8. Unfortunately, we haven't been very good about playing board games with our girls, and as such the game of Life has been in a near-constant state of hibernation since 1999. This afternoon, the 8 year old said she wanted to play it, so we hauled it out of the closet. I couldn't remember the rules at all, so I had to bust open the directions and refresh my memory. We distributed the money, put the little pegs in our little plastic cars, and off we went around the game board. I was delighted when C opted to attend "college" and announced that she wanted to be the banker for the game. I must be doing something right after all!

By this time, the almost-11-year-old, N, had returned from her friend's house and was watching us play. C went around the board quickly and ended up at the end of the path where the players "retire," but not before getting married, having a set of twins and purchasing a house complete with a homeowners' insurance policy. I realized I wasn't sure how to actually win the game, so I consulted the rules again. The last sentence of the rule pamphlet stated:

"The player with the highest dollar amount wins!"

REALLY?

For some reason, that totally pissed me off. Maybe I'm PMS-ing. I'm sure as hell not pregnant again, because I'm an Essure Woman. So in this game you can become independent, raise a family, and have a rewarding career, but you can only be the winner if you have the most money? What a crock! Apparently I had neglected to be annoyed by the objective of this game the last time I played it in 1999, maybe because my husband and I were too busy putting same-sex pegs into the front seats of the plastic cars and giggling like Beavis and Butthead. I felt like telling the kids that this game is jacked up, but I kept my mouth shut. I wanted to tell them that happiness is priceless and can't be obtained via money and "stuff." I wanted to tell them that the pompous douchebags retiring to "Millionaire Estates" could actually be soul-lacking shells of humanity rotting away in a pristine, gated community. I wanted to tell them that money is important, but that in the end, it probably doesn't help you "win" much of anything.

Fortunately for everyone involved, I never actually went off on this tirade. N and I played the game together after C and I finished our round, and we all had fun together, which is the most important thing. Now if you'll excuse me, N and C are upstairs trying to kill each other. The real game of LIFE is calling.

Family Fun

Today the four of us went to Jennifer and Jeremy's house for a casual gathering with their kids, my mom, my sister and some other family members. I love how all the kids get along with each other and keep each other entertained! I also love not having to cook or clean. A win-win situation! :) A great time was had by all. The only thing that could have been better was the weather. J & J have such a beautiful yard but it was disgusting, soggy and rainy ALL DAY. Oh well, maybe next time.....

Lost My Post - Dang It!!

I was typing a post on my crackberry (highly annoying as it is) and I lost it. I'm not typing it again!! How irritating...

Staff Basketball Was A Success!

The Staff Basketball game was awesome, as always. Everyone really seemed to enjoy themselves, even though the crowd wasn't as large as it has been in the past. I think a lot of kids had sports practices and had to miss the game. :( Anyway - it was fun but I'm glad it's over! Having to manage all the money at such a large event is a pretty big chore, but it's great to know that my efforts with the PTA are helping the school. That's what matters!

Treasurerly Duties

Getting ready for Staff B-Ball game tomorrow and have to count a ton of checks that came in from various initiatives going on at the school. Don't have time to write much!! :)

Hurry, Spring Break!

Next week is Spring Break and I can't wait. I'm only off work 2 of the 5 days, but it will still feel like a vacation because I won't have to get the kids up for school, I won't have to deal with checking their homework, there won't be any traffic, etc. For one of my "real" vacation days, I plan to take the girls bike riding in Alexandria and maybe see Mount Vernon too. Hopefully the weather will cooperate :)

zzzzzzzzz

OK, I'm starting to feel really old. I think like half of my posts over the last month have talked about how sleep is awesome. Maybe it's because I always do my blog entries right before bed. I need to write when I'm feeling awake and refreshed, not when I'm thinking about how I can't wait to finish my blog entry so I can hit the pillow face-first. I'll try to work on that!

This Blog Entry Has Been Pre-Empted By Real Life

I wanted to write a meaningful entry today! And I was going to! Really! But I think a good night's sleep is more important. I'm ditching work in favor of sleep so staying up late to do a big blog entry doesn't really make sense now, does it? Poopy!

Awesome Saturday

Two soccer wins and a three hour nap adds up to a perfect rainy weekend day! Caitlin's team, the Cheetahs, won 3-1 and Nicole's team, the Pumas, won 1-0. Both girls played really well which was great to see. The cold, rainy, dreary day put Nicole and I right to sleep afterwards. Ahhhhhh! Bliss!!

Mmmmmmm....Sleep......

Said in a Homer Simpson-type for sure! I am really getting spoiled with being able to sleep in on the weekends. And I like being spoiled. Sleep, here I come!!

Up Late Working Again

Enough said.... ick

Top 10 Reasons To Comply With Furlough

From my furlough tshirt I got during the last furlough ca. 1995:

10: Getting paid anyway
9: Spend more quality time at Happy Hour
8: Good excuse for credit companies
7: Don't have to fight rush-hour traffic
6: Nice weather
5: Don't have a "Get out of jail free" card
4: Beat the Christmas rush to the stores
3: Sick of ARA food service
2: Wanted to spend more time at home
1: Can't afford fine for going back to work

Job Security Is Overrated

It's great to be employed, but sometimes I wish they would just lay me off! I'm so sick of work right now!

Cherry Blossoms - A Photo Essay

Day Trip Tomorrow!

I'm taking the girls to see the cherry blossoms tomorrow - they have a day off of school for the teachers to get the report cards done. I can't believe the third quarter is over already!! Only nine more weeks left in the school year - amazing! I'll report back on our adventure in tomorrow's blog post. :)

ALL Parents Are Working Parents!

The other day I was reading this article about half-day vs. full-day kindergarten in my 'hood. Of course, the complete essence of an internet news piece cannot be fully derived without reading the accompanying feedback posted by individuals that are seemingly devoid of reading comprehension skills. So, I scrolled down to the comments section to take a peek. And there it was:

"While I am sure full-day kindergarten is a good idea in some respects, I don't think the children are short-changed in any way with half day. I wonder if this is more about convenience for working parents?"

Oh no she didn't!

Someone else decided to weigh in on the matter:

"I have to agree with you that full day kindergarten is probably more of a convenience for working parents. I am not a parent and don't speak for working parents, but I am dating one, so I see how his experiences are. It's better to put them in an all day school than worry about school AND finding a daycare that transports. That's my piece on the topic."

Really?

The article is supposed to be about the education of children, not about what the childrens' parents do for a living. Of course, people are all too ready to jump to meaningless conclusions about the "real" reasons behind various issues, although in this case I have to give these commenters credit for not using the term "Working Mothers," which really tans my hide. ALL mothers work and ALL fathers work, some just don't get paid for what they do. I have worked outside the home (for pay!) since my children were born, but of course I have done my fair share of "volunteer labor" also. I dare say all of the following constitute WORK:

* changing diapers and clothes

* cleaning up a child's mess, only to have the child make another mess 10 minutes later

* cooking healthy meals that your child will actually eat

* taking care of a sick child (diarrhea and vomit earn extra points)

* keeping a child entertained without electronic devices

* trying to figure out why the hell your kid won't stop crying

* reading the same story and/or listening to the same song 700 times in one day

* etc. etc. etc........

For the record, both of my kids went to private full-day kindergarten. Logistical issues (read: childcare-related) did play a role in the decision, but I would be in favor of full-day kindergarten regardless of my "work" situation. To me, half-day kindergarten is a kind of ancient relic dating back to the days when kindergarten might have been a child's first experience away from home for a sustained period of time. These days, many kids under the age of 5 are in preschool, daycare, play groups and other organized forms of social and educational activity, usually on a regular basis. Due to this trend, most children already know their ABCs, 123s, colors, shapes and even how to read basic words or do simple math problems long before darkening the door of a kindergarten classroom. Children are now expected to know how to read before leaving kindergarten. Teaching someone to read is not a quick task, so a longer school day is probably more useful to the teacher and the child.

I guess since I am a "working parent," I have a subconscious reason to favor dumping my kids in full-time school while I shirk my parenting responsibilities at my place of employment. Sorry, but that's crap. People need to stop trying to find hidden agendas behind an issue and stay on topic. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some volunteer work to complete in the kitchen!

Tired!!

OK, that does it! I've been up working until midnight for the last 4 nights straight, so I'm ready to sleep in tomorrow. Too bad I have to work this weekend too! At least I have Monday off - sort of. I know work will be calling me! I hate quarter end close!!

April Fools' Day Eve

It's April Fools' Day tomorrow and I can't think of any good jokes. I've already used "I'm pregnant," "someone hit the car in the parking garage" and "I'm getting a boob job." I'm feeling really unoriginal and uncreative right now. Must keep thinking...

100 Posts

My blog now has 100 posts! OK, actually this is now the 101st post - when I logged on just now I saw that I was at 100. Whatever! I have posted every day in 2011 as part of my New Year's Resolution, and there are a handful of entries sitting out there from 2010 which brings it to 100. Tomorrow will be the three month mark of my daily blog musings. There are many more "fluff" entries than I hoped for ("I'm tired," "I'm too busy," "I don't have anything to talk about," etc.), but life does seem to get in the way sometimes. Overall, I think it's been a worthwhile endeavor so far.

Work = Torture

I have to work tonight! I worked last night too. I don't have time to wipe my ass, let alone blog. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Today's Post

I posted over at Open Salon again today. Peace out!!

#2 IS Good Enough... For Me!

I found out I got #2 in my age group at today's triathlon! I can't believe it!! I'm not all that fast at all, so apparently nobody my age who IS fast showed up for the race. Not that I blame them... it was actually SNOWING at the beginning of the race and I was not too thrilled about it! I guess it was worth it to show up. :)

Tri Tomorrow!!

Cole and I are doing a mini triathlon tomorrow and it's supposed to snow... Awesome...they will still have it but there is a potential that the bike portion will be cancelled for safety reasons. So, we shall see. I'm hoping the entire event goes on as planned!

International Woman of Mystery

Tonight the girls and I attended the 3rd Annual International Festival at their elementary school. As always, the food was amazing, the exhibits were very well-done (except for Greece-I wonder whose that was... Haha!) and the performances were outstanding. It's wonderful that the kids' school has so many volunteers who sacrifice hours of their personal time to create such an awesome experience for the children. Plus, I didn't have to make dinner. It's a win-win for the whole family!!

Boring

Nothing to talk about. Again! I think this is a sign that I need to get a life.

Second Grade Play - Too Cute!

This evening we saw the second grade at Liberty ES perform their musical called "Nuts!" I must admit, I thought it would be stupid. A play about nuts? Really? It was actually really cute, and I'm sure my opinion has NOTHING to do with the fact that my child was in it. The play was about plants and animals and the music was pretty good. The choreography was really nice, and the set looked awesome. I give it two thumbs up!!

Duhhhhh

I don't really have anything to talk about today. Sorry to disappoint - if you're actually disappointed, that is. I'm guessing you aren't. :)

Posted on Open Salon Today

I did my daily blog entry over at my other regular hangout (Open Salon). One of the other bloggers there had published a book that was recommended in Entertainment Weekly, so I decided to write an entry about that. :)

Spring Has Sprung!

Today is the first day of Spring! Yay! Following the hallowed weather traditions of the Washington, DC area, we will still have chilly weather for a few more weeks, and then we will suddenly find ourselves living in Dante's Inferno. For now, I will be happy that the ice cold temperatures should finally be gone until next Winter. Thank goodness!! I love Spring!

Personal Best!

I ran a 5k race today and beat my previous personal best time of 26.52 with a new record of 25.05! I didn't think it was possible for me to run that fast. I wonder if there was something wrong with the timing system or the race course itself, but I'll just go ahead and say that my published finish time is legitimate. Maybe I should stop running now, as I'll never be able to beat 25.05! :)

Sleepover!

There is a sleepover going on at our house. I want to go to bed but I feel like I can't go to sleep until the kids are all asleep. I'm screwed. lol!

Carbing Up

One of the best reasons to run races is the "carbing up" that needs to take place beforehand. Mmmmmm... Carbs. And it really works!! I'm running my first 5k of the season on Saturday and tomorrow I am going to stuff myself with bread, pasta rice, and everything else. It's just a 5k... But I need to do everything I can to properly prepare ;)

Brain Farts While Writing

I was going to post something on my Open Salon blog and cross-post it here, but quite frankly, I don't think my writing is very good this time. Plus, the picture upload thingy is taking forever and I'm too impatient to sit there and wait for it to feel like attaching my pictures. I'm going to bed. Good night!

Q1 almost over??

You know you are an accountant when you think of your life in terms of "quarters." Soon it will be April - and Q111 will be over, never to be seen again. Where has the time gone? Only old people are supposed to say things like "where has the time gone," but that's how I feel.

5th grade homework... WTF

I would like to know why my 10 year old is learning stuff I didn't learn until I was in high school! Not that this is a bad thing, but I find it a little odd. Right now they are learning about the periodic table of the elements. I didn't learn the periodic table until I was 16. What will they be learning when THEY are 16, quantum physics??

I DIDN'T KNOW I WAS PREGNANT!!!

... for about 20 days. See, that's about how long it took after conception for me to notice that "Aunt Gertrude" was not showing up for her usual monthly visit, so I decided to pee on a stick to confirm my suspicions. I had not been planning to get pregnant, but I was somehow able to put two and two together.

Have you ever seen that show called "I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant"? The women featured on this series (not a documentary but an actual SERIES with numerous episodes) don't realize they have a child in their womb until the kid is COMING OUT. One mother gave birth in the restroom at an amusement park. Another was screaming bloody murder with "terrible abdominal pain" on the bow of her husband's boat while her husband peacefully slumbered inside the boat. She will have fun trying to get him to help out with the night feedings! More than one episode featured a "constipated" woman who finally managed to "pass a large bowel movement" on the toilet, only to find that she was stuck to the toilet seat by the umbilical cord of said "bowel movement." Some of the women on the show have never had children before, and others are veteran mothers. Having gone through two pregnancies myself, I can't get over the fact that someone can grow another human being in their uterus for nine months without noticing any symptoms at all. Below is a helpful list I have constructed for any of you readers who might need a refresher in this area, because I certainly don't want to see any of you featured on that program!

1) Pregnancy causes menstruation to cease. As you probably learned back in elementary school, your period is the result of your uterine lining being discharged if there is not a fertilized egg setting up shop in your womb. Apparently, some women still continue to bleed or spot during pregnancy. Also, some older women may believe that they are entering menopause. This makes sense in and of itself, but what about #2 below...

...2) Pregnancy makes you look like a bus. Apparently, some women "gain a few pounds" but do not really look very large. I, on the other hand, looked like Kate Gosselin despite the fact that I was only carrying one (1) fetus at a time. It's a good thing my ovaries don't release multiple eggs and the embryos didn't decide to divide, or my stomach might have actually exploded. Not that most women would look like me when pregnant (luckily for them), but I think the majority of women would not be able to ignore their large bellies for the duration of a pregnancy. And for those women who don't get huge - I hate you.

3) Pregnancy causes you to toss your cookies. Of course, that isn't true for everyone, but I think it's safe to say that most women at least get nauseated every once in a while. If you are barfing or feel like barfing on a daily basis, you best be heading to Target or Walgreen's for a pregnancy test.

4) The baby moves inside you! Most of the women on the show report not feeling any fetal movement. Luckily for them, they have apparently not experienced their unborn child playing Bladder Soccer. Maybe if the woman is not large in the stomach, the baby doesn't move much because there isn't any space. At any rate, if it feels like someone is kicking you in the bladder from inside your body, you may be pregnant!

5) Pregnancy causes many other fun symptoms. These include bizarre food cravings and aversions (I once threw up because a cheese commercial came on TV), fatigue, oversensitivity to tastes and/or smells (it seriously tasted like someone took a dump in my mouth for 9 months with both of my kids), back pain, etc. Some of these could potentially be caused by other circumstances, causing a woman not to realize that she is pregnant. But wouldn't she start looking like a bus at some point?

So there you have it. If you are currently experiencing any of the above situations and you haven't had a pregnancy test, for God's sake, get the heck off of my blog and run to Target or Walgreen's this instant! I don't want you giving birth in front of your computer.

Suburban Tightwad - Why I Refuse to Get a Cleaning Lady

Who needs the gym when you can get buff in your own house by manually scrubbing each carpeted stair with Resolve until you feel your biceps burning? Hey, I could pay someone to do that, but I don't. My family and I live in what is supposedly the wealthiest county in America, and there seems to be plenty of disposable income being disposed of around here despite the current recession. Whenever I attend our neighborhood's monthly Bunco games (another suburban tale in and of itself), the discussion inevitably turns to What Everyone Thinks Of Their Housekeeper. Everyone except me, that is, because I'm pretty much the only chick in the hood who does not employ a cleaning lady. Here's why:

1) It is my duty to accept and respect the DNA passed on by my Cheap Ancestors. From my grandmother who saved empty Stoneyfield Farm yogurt containers and Cut-Rite wax paper bags ca. 1960 to my father who wanted to know why I couldn't just record songs off the radio instead of me asking him to buy expensive cassette tapes, my lineage is rife with tightwad genes. Hiring someone to clean my house would be a bastardization of this important legacy, although my yogurt-container-saving grandmother actually did hire someone to help her with household tasks when she was taking care of her disabled husband. Unless somebody in the house is rendered an invalid, I can't see paying someone to help me with menial tasks I can do handle on my own.

2) If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself. Yeah, I'm a cheap and stubborn beyotch. I bet I can clean my house just as well, or better, than those housekeeping ladies. It's just that I don't have time and I don't really care, so my house looks like shit. Oh well.

3) I don't want my kids thinking you can hire someone to do everything for you. Why would I want them to think you should pay someone when they already have two indentured servants (myself and my husband) to cater to their every need? Ha ha. But seriously - my kids need to learn to clean their own bathroom, use a vacuum, pick up after themselves, do laundry, etc. My 10 year old and 8 year old know how to clean toilets and sinks. My 10 year old vacuums and my 8 year old dusts. The 10 year old does the wash. Beat that!

4) Life is messy. Embrace the disaster. Sometimes I have to remind myself that this is a house and people live here. Therefore, messes will be made. That's just the way it is. Once I spent a weekend cleaning the house before one of my kids had a friend over, because the place was such a complete wreck that I thought the friend's mother would summon the Health Department to condemn the entire property. OK, I'm being sarcastic, but it was pretty bad. Hey, my husband was gone in Afghanistan, I was working full time and taking care of a 6 year old and a 3 year old. Of course the house was going to be a dump. I had no time or desire to clean and the kids were too little to really help out. At least I had a good excuse, and the Health Department never did show up. All's well that ends well!

5) Dirt is good for your immune system. That's my story and I'm sticking to it! My family rarely gets sick (I'm knocking on wood right now, ha ha). I would like to think the dusty environment has something to do with that fact.

6) I would like to have enough money to send our kids to college without going into debt and I want to retire at a decent age. Let's say a cleaning lady is $100 every two weeks. That's being conservative because our house is a pretty nice size. That's $2,400/year! Plus, aren't you supposed to tip them and give them Christmas presents and stuff? Sorry, but I'd rather save my money or go on vacation.

And that, dear friends, is why I have never had a cleaning lady. The floors in our house might not sparkle, but I don't mind. I think we're doing just fine. :)

I'm Sorry...But How Can There Be A Show Called "I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant?"

I have seen this show numerous times and I still can't believe that A) the show even exists and B) there are enough women who didn't know they were pregnant to make an actual regular series out of it. When I was pregnant, I looked like Kate Gosselin despite only having one fetus in my womb. I also had the pukes and it tasted like someone took a dump in my mouth for nine months. Oh yeah, and I stopped getting my period. How can someone not know they are pregnant?? Maybe I'm just jealous. :)

Phew... I STINK!!!

That's what my mom used to say when she came in from mowing the lawn. Except she would raise her arm all the way up in the air, take a loud whiff and THEN say "phew... I STINK!!!!" Well, today I ran 6 miles on the treadmill and afterwards I had a huge urge to announce to the entire gym that I STINK, a la my mom. I sure did feel smelly, even the back of my head sweated onto my ponytail! Gross!! Warm weather is coming so I guess I had better just get used to it....

Watching TV

I don't really get to watch much TV. I've never seen American Idol, The Office, Sex and the City, Lost, Dancing With the Stars or any of that other popular stuff. However, right now I'm watching SVU. I do need my Law and Order fix. :)

Editor's Pick - OMG!!!!

The piece I wrote yesterday on my other blog at Open Salon was chosen as an Editor's Pick and has been on the front page of Open Salon ALL DAY. More than 500 people have read the piece so far. I can't believe it!! I am beyond thrilled. Maybe someday I really will write that book I keep talking about :)

Cross-Post

Today I posted a lengthy diatribe on one of my other blogs. I'm not going to link to it here because frankly, anyone who reads it will probably think I'm a complete freak. That's all for today :)

Swimming Makes Me Pee and Puts Me To Sleep Too

As usual, I was going to write something of substance on here today but got side-tracked again. Today the whole fam hit the gym - Cole and I worked out while the kids went to the child care center. Afterward, we all went to the indoor pool. We had been meaning to go to the pool for a couple of weeks now but it just never happened. Swimming in the winter is a great way to reconnect with the family, especially your kids! It's also a good way to stay physically active since you don't get outside as much. For some reason, swimming makes me pee a lot, and it also makes me tired. At least in the summer you can blame your sleepiness on the sun. What is the deal with being tired from swimming in the winter? Maybe I'm allergic to chlorine....

Caves Are Phallic... and Other Field Trip Musings

On Wednesday I chaperoned Nicole's 5th grade class field trip to Skyline Caverns in Front Royal, Virginia. Nicole and I had both been inside caverns before, but not Skyline specifically. I was assigned to a group of six 5th graders (including Nicole). A school bus was the method of transportation used to shuttle everyone to and from the caverns, which are about an hour away from the school. One thing I noticed was that the minute the kids were all seated on the bus, the electronic devices immediately came flying out (MP4 players, Nintendo DS, etc). Therefore, I didn't feel guilty about whipping out my phone and surfing the web. Sweet! Despite the technological savvy possessed by these kids, they genuinely seemed awestruck by the natural beauty of the caverns, especially the anthocites on the ceiling near the end of our tour. Anthocites are a type of rock or crystal formation that are only known to exist in three caverns in the entire world. Another thing I've noticed about caverns in general is that the stalagmites tend to have a very phallic look to them, and Skyline Caverns were no exception. :). These caverns even had some vaginal-looking holes in the ceiling, and I certainly hope the kids didn't notice me snickering and taking pictures of the various Beavis-and-Butthead inspired rock formations. After the tour, we had lunch and went through a fun mirror maze before heading back to the school. I'm really glad I took this time off of work to chaperone the field trip. Kids this age are really fun to be with. :)

I Like To Move It, Move It!!

OK, at least I like it after I'm done! Today I ran 6 miles at the gym. My pace wasn't that fast (10 MPH) and I stunk to high heaven afterwards, but it was an awesome feeling to have actually finished. I haven't run that far in forever. I've just been too busy and not motivated enough to make myself run that far on top of everything else going on. But with race season just around the corner, I figure I'd better whip my butt into shape so I don't have embarrassing times posted on the internet for the world to see. I guess I could always sign up for races under a pseudonym, but that's just silly. :) For now, I'm content that I actually did the 6 miles, and I'm actually feeling pretty confident about race season now. Bring it on!!

Oh No! I've Been Sucked In By A Book!!!

The other day my kids' elementary school had a book fair. I decided to purchase a "grown-up" book for myself, which I usually never do because I don't really have time to read. Plus, once I start a book, I can't put it down and end up reading until 4 AM. This book, "Winter Garden" by Kristin Hannah, is awesome so far and as usual, I was only going to read "a little bit" but I am now being held hostage. I almost forgot to do my blog entry!! Must.... keep.... reading.... lol.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

I was going to write about today's field trip adventure, but the allure of sleep is more than I can resist. Good night!!

Field Trip!

Tomorrow I am chaperoning Nicole's 5th grade class on a field trip to some cavern. I forgot the name of it. I'm such an awesome parent! As long as the bus knows how the hell to get there and they don't have any rabid bats, I don't care. It should be a fun trip and I'm excited about it! This might be Nicole's last school field trip because I don't know if they do that kind of thing in middle school. I'll do a blog post tomorrow about our adventures. :)

Mmmmmm.... Slim Jims

I swear Slim Jims are laced with crack. What an addiction!! That's the last time I buy a box of Slim Jims from COSTCO of all places. Nom nom nom.....

Cross-Posting

Today I posted an entry on my other blog at Open Salon. This will count for my daily blog entry on here. It's my New Year's Resolution, so I make the rules!! :)

Time Keeps Escaping Me

Cole is out of town and I wanted to spend this evening writing a nice long blog entry about a meaningful topic. As you can probably guess, I'm not going to get to it. I think a warm shower followed by TV watching is on tap instead. Maybe someday I'll get to complete the type of writing I've been envisioning... :)

Awesome Entertainment

You may recall this blog post where I discussed the participation of my kids' elementary school in the Giant A+ Principal Challenge contest. Well, today was the school-wide assembly where all the children got to see the Principal, the Assistant Principal and the Administrative Intern sing Justin Bieber's "Baby" live on stage! I left work and went to the school just to watch the performance. It was sooo funny. The Principal was a riot as Justin Bieber and the Assistant Principal did an awesome job filling in as Ludacris. The Administrative Intern was the Emcee for the performance. I would upload a video but I don't know if the stars of the show would approve. If I hear otherwise, I will definitely be posting footage!

aughghghghhhh!!!!

Work just will not let up. Every time I think things are settling down, something hits the fan again. Today we had a system problem that wasted half the day so everyone is even more behind. I am about to bust out the most annoying word in the English language - HECTIC!!!!

Middle School Surprise

Tonight I learned that there is a cemetery on the grounds of the new middle school. My kids will be attending this school when it opens up in the Fall. I can't wait for them to wake up tomorrow morning so I can tell them!!! Yes, I have strange children. :)

My Parenting Epiphany

All you parents know what I mean when I say that caring for a baby, toddler or preschooler is a full-time job in and of itself. All parents work, whether they stay at home or go to an office during the day. Some parents just don't make any money for their efforts, which is another topic for another time. Today I'm going to talk about when I realized my two girls were really maturing and becoming Big Kids. It wasn't a gradual process, as much of child-rearing tends to be. You change a million diapers, then slowly transition to Pull-Ups, then big girl underwear during the day, then at night. The baby is a big girl who uses the toilet, but only after beating the potty-training horse half to death over a long period of time. It wasn't reminiscent of the endless newborn days when you wish the baby would smile, sit up, roll over, play with a toy or anything besides the non-stop sleeping, pooping, peeing, eating and crying that has suddenly become your way of life.

I'll tell you how I knew I had finally attained the role of a Big Kid Mom.

One day when my girls were about 8 and 5, I was suddenly overwhelmed by a strange sensation. I had felt this way before, but not in many years. And it felt awesome.

I was BORED.

Not that I hadn't been bored during the previous 8 years. Playing the same game with your kids forever, reading the same story a billion times and other "small-child-friendly" activities are certainly boring at times. However, it's a different kind of boring. You're always busy with something, even if it's mundane. There's always some chore to be done, some task to take care of, and you feel like you can't ever really catch up. The house is a mess, there are meals that need preparing, you have to go grocery shopping and a fight is breaking out in the next room about "why does SHEEEEEEEEEEEE get the pink one???" You know the drill. And right when you feel like you are finally gaining ground, someone gets sick. Darn it!!!!

This was a different kind of bored feeling. The kind you used to get before you had kids. The kind where you HAVE NOTHING TO DO. I couldn't believe it. I was bored out of my mind, and it was the BEST feeling. My kids were actually entertaining themselves for more than 15 minutes at a time, and this pattern had been going on long enough for me to finally notice that I was getting some space to myself. It was a wonderful epiphany. I've been a Big Kid Mom for a couple of years now. Sometimes I get bored. And I tell myself to enjoy every second of it.

Doing Nothing is Fun!

This weekend we pretty much did Nothing. It's weird how doing Nothing can make you feel tired and then you end up taking a nap. I'm sure you know what I mean. On Saturday we sat around in our pajamas. I did make it to Costco and I cleaned the kitchen but that's it as far as productive tasks go. On Sunday we went to church and took a walk with Caitlin while Nicole played with her friend. Then the girls went to my parents' house to spend the night (school was closed Monday for the Presidents' Day holiday) and we went on a double date to an awesome steakhouse with our friends. Today I sat around in my pajamas and did Nothing again. I did work on something for the kids' school but it wasn't a major undertaking. However, I did end up getting tired after all of this Nothing I was doing and proceeded to take a 2 hour nap. Life is rough!!!

Ruths Chris.... BURRRRRP

Tonight we went to dinner with another couple. We ate at Ruths Chris, an excellent steakhouse. I feel fat now...

How to be a Passive-Aggressive Bridezilla

I'm starting to think that brides probably never forget the "Jerry Springer" moments they encounter during the wedding planning process. I just read this hilarious blog post (although I do take a big exception to the author's inappropriate use of the "r-word" - seriously?) and wondered how this particular bride-to-be might have responded to my now 12-year-old wedding planning quandaries that I have still not forgotten about....

------------------

Situation #1: Future husband's boss does not understand and/or care about how invitations are addressed, because he proceeds to invite his 10-year-old daughter (invitation was addressed to "Mr. and Mrs. Boss Man"). This might not have been such a big deal if Mr. Boss Man did not request that his child be served a vegetarian meal, which was not one of the stipulated menu choices.

My response: Complain about said boss (behind his back of course) and call the caterer to see if a vegetarian child's meal could be provided. The caterer was quite confused and had never actually prepared a vegetarian meal for someone who wasn't an adult, but she agreed to make veggie pasta at the regular kids' meal price.

Blogger's likely response: "Request that your future husband (FH) confront his boss about this obvious lack of what could be considered a properly functioning prefrontal cortex, preferably during an all-hands staff meeting. Make sure FH informs Mr. Boss Man that the vegetarian kids' meal consists of kidney beans with garlic sauce. FH should also remind him that his car windows will most likely be rolled up on the way home from the wedding reception because, well, it's hot in August and he'll need to have the A/C on in his methane mobile."

------------------

Situation #2: Future in-law commandeering a car filled with 3 of the 6 bridesmaids traveling to the wedding rehearsal completely misses said rehearsal because he got lost. His vehicle containing 1/4 of the wedding party finally arrived at the rehearsal at least an hour and a half late. There was no phone call to the church to ask for directions or explain the tardiness, causing me to surmise that they must have gotten into an awful accident. (Note: this was before most people had cell phones and I'm pretty sure this individual did not have one or we would have called him ourselves.) By the time they finally arrived, everyone else had already gone through the rehearsal, sans the missing attendants. I was not provided with an apology.

My response: Get extremely annoyed but do not actually talk to the future in-law about it, because that would cause a confrontation. Wonder why other family members think the whole thing is amusing.

Blogger's likely response: "Tell your future in-law that you hope there will be food left over for him at the rehearsal dinner since it will probably take him another 90 minutes to figure out how to get there and you certainly won't be saving him any. Also, be sure to indicate that you will behave in a courteous manner by informing the other dinner attendants that he will be quite tardy, and to just go ahead and eat because he will be picking up some grub at Taco Bell instead."

------------------

Situation #3: A relative told my father I was a "brat" because she didn't like my veil and because I didn't want to have a crying newborn baby in the church, who wasn't even invited in the first place. At least the baby didn't ask for a vegetarian meal.

My response: Get stressed out over relative's response but don't actually say anything to her about it. Tell people that the relative upset you so much that your womanly hormones were thrown out of whack, causing you to get pregnant 2 weeks after the wedding. Hey, at least it's an interesting story.

Blogger's likely response: "The bride's family members, especially those who are 'long in the tooth,' often feel the need to control the logistics of the wedding. This is a natural response, which can usually be deftly handled by noting that you hope you can return the favor by commandeering his or her funeral arrangements when the time comes. Suggest a nice spa party, or perhaps a rager with keg-stands if you think that will do the trick."

------------------

Of course, I never would have said any of these things to anybody. I'm too passive-aggressive to actually incite a confrontation. But thinking about it is certainly fun. And I'm sure all you brides know what I mean. :)

This Blog Post is Being Pre-Empted by the Discovery Health Channel

I keep wanting to write something meaningful on here, but all I'm getting is a bunch of brain farts. So... I'm going to spend the rest of the night watching TV. :)

Kids Say the Darnedest Things

I was tucking in my 8 year old and she asked me to massage her head. Then she said "Grandyia (her grandmother) might seem weird, but she does give a good head scratch." I laughed out loud. Funny!!! :)

Adventures in Orthodontia

My youngest daughter got braces today. She's 8 years old! This is the "new way" of doing orthodontics. She only has two brackets for now, one on each of her top two center teeth. She will get two more brackets on the top at her next appointment and then that's it. She just needs more space in the back of her mouth and the front teeth are taking up too much room. She was very good about it. She has been really excited about getting braces ever since she found out that she would be needing them! My older daughter probably doesn't need braces at all. My wallet likes the sound of that! After all, we do have two weddings to pay for as it is. :)

Nothing to Talk About

Good Night!!!

40 Years!

Today is my parents' 40th wedding anniversary. Yes, they got married on Valentines Day. I guess I could say they did this because it was SO romantic, but the truth is they wanted to get married quickly and the church happened to be available that day. The wedding was very small by Greek standards (fewer than 50 people) and invitations were issued over the telephone. My mom wore a dress from Garfinckels, a store that hasn't existed in decades. Many of the people who attended the wedding have passed away, which is kind of depressing. It wasn't THAT long ago. Anyway - happy anniversary Mom and Dad!! :)

Summer Camp Shuffle

Wheeeee, it's that time of year again! We have to start thinking about summer plans when it's freezing cold outside with snow still on the ground so we can get the kids into the good camps before they're all full. Now that we're at it, why don't I just go Christmas shopping too? lol.

OMG!! I Went Clothes Shopping and Liked It!!

Ever since I can remember, I have detested shopping for clothes. I was a small child and nothing ever fit properly. Plus, I wasn't even interested in clothes. As I got older, things started fitting better but I still hated trying things on. I still think it's so boring. I know, I must not actually be a woman if I don't like to shop. However, I think I made some progress today. I went to the Ann Taylor outlet and didn't even begin to become fed up or irritated because things weren't fitting, didn't come in my size, etc. I was able to find a ton of reasonably priced items with minimal effort. I even got some cool sunglasses. Who knows, maybe I'm just a late bloomer. :)

Gathering My Materials

I'm in the process of getting my research materials together for the post I'm working on. There are some documents that I want to scan and upload with the post. I already have the docs, it's just a matter of finding them because I haven't looked at them in a long time and I'm not 100% sure where some of them are. I hope I can locate all the items!!

Working on a Post

I'm working on a post regarding a matter that I find to be quite intruiging. It will take some time for me to create the type of storytelling that I feel is needed in this case. I don't want to write a couple of quick paragraphs and be done with it - I want to be sure that I pay this issue the attention it deserves. So...stay tuned!!

Ho Hum

Today was boring and I can't think of anything to talk about. Plus, I'm tired. Good night!!

Have You Ever Noticed that Eyeballs Don't Age?

Call me a freak, but for some reason I've been noticing that people's eyeballs don't seem to age like the rest of the body does. Sure, maybe you can't see that well when you're old, but that's not what I'm talking about. What I mean is, the eyeball doesn't get wrinkly, flabby, discolored, etc. Have you ever seen a very old wrinkly person with piercing blue eyes? Sometimes it seems like their eyes don't match the rest of their face. Anyway.... that was weird. I'm going to bed.

Owwwwww

I went to the personal trainer today and confirmed my suspicions that my lower abs are completely useless. Also, my quads hurt. Going down the stairs ought to be fun for the next few days!!

Football is Dumb

It's Super Bowl Sunday and I'm looking forward to seeing friends at a party, but I couldn't care less about the actual game. I think something is wrong with my brain. Everyone else seems to like football, but I just don't understand what the big deal is. In fact, I couldn't care less about watching sports in general, with the one exception of watching my kids' games, because then it becomes something personal. Otherwise, I don't see how a bunch of guys throwing a ball around and jumping on each other should be a relevant part of my life. Have I mentioned that I hate beer, wine, champagne, and butter? Something is definitely wrong with me :)

I Must Be Nuts!

I just ran 5 miles on the treadmill and I feel so great that I would like to go back in and do another 5! This must be what runners' high feels like.

Gettin My Treasurer Thang On

I just returned from another successful PTA-sponsored event at my girls' elementary school. I never thought I would be a PTA Officer (I'm the Treasurer) but I must say it's been a very rewarding and fun experience so far. I wasn't sure if being a PTA Officer would be compatible with my other main jobs (mom/accountant), but it hasn't been as difficult to manage everything as I thought it might be. Also, I think it's good for my kids to see me helping out in the school, and we've been going to more events due to my involvement on the PTA Board. A win-win situation! :)

Today's Rant is Brought to You by the Letter P(ee)

Here's another one for the "people need to stop finding Subliminal Messages in news articles posted on the internet and cease their ranting and raving about said Messages in the comments section" files.

Here is an article about a 3 year old girl who was suspended from a county-run Montessori school for having too many "accidents."

In my opinion, legitimate comments might contain something to the effect of "this girl was obviously not ready for preschool in the Montessori environment because she was not completely potty trained as the rules required" or "it is ridiculous for the school to suspend a child who probably just needs a few additional reminders to get to the toilet."

Some people did say these things (most stuck with opinion #1), but others somehow decided that it's all the idiot Mother's fault because she is "too selfish" to stay home with her daughter instead of working, she shouldn't have had kids in the first place because she's obviously too self-absorbed to raise her daughter, she should have had her child toilet trained at 18 months as was the practice a generation ago, etc.

Excuse me?!?!? I thought the article was supposed to be about a child who was suspended from school, not an evaluation of the child's mother. Also, I didn't hear anyone complaining about how the father should stay home, encourage the child to use the toilet, spend more time with the child, etc. A few of the 396 (so far!!!) comments contained questions regarding the whereabouts of the dad, but that's about as much as he was ever brought up. In all fairness, the dad was not mentioned in the article, so it does make sense that the comments did not focus on him either.

I don't even know why I bother reading article comments, because they usually just drive me batty. Some people seem to want to twist the topic and turn it into their own personal agenda instead of staying on point by sharing relevant opinions. Annoying....

Race Season is Coming Up!!!

I want to do some 5K and maybe even 10K races this year, but who knows if I'll have time to train. I need to spend more time with my family, but that doesn't mean I want to become an out-of-shape sloth. I'll have to fit my training in somehow. Hopefully work will start calming down soon so I can get some more free time....

25 Years Ago, I Was Middle School Royalty!!!! NOT

If you're like me and you tend to have epiphanies in the shower, you'll know what it feels like to be shaving the ol' pits and suddenly go "HOLY CRAP!!" That's what happened to me today. Don't even ask why I started thinking about this, least of all in the shower, because it hasn't crossed my mind in years. It occurred to me that 25 years ago this month, I was part of the Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Junior High School Valentine Court. You know, The Valentine Court?? As in where the kids nominate the most attractive and popular students to represent the school at the Valentine Dance, and the two Most Popular Seventh Graders will be crowned the Valentine Prince and Princess!

I was nominated as a joke. And I'm not joking.

Yes, I was quite the piece of work in elementary school and middle school. Hideous clothes, Steve Urkel glasses and a personality in need of some serious fine-tuning. I had no idea how to communicate with others, and the kids were somehow able to sniff out my inner dorkiness from a mile away. I had held the unofficial title of Classroom Nerd for the last two years, but even greater honors awaited in the wasteland that was middle school.

One morning, my homeroom (PE = Nerd Hell) teacher asked us to nominate students for the Valentine Court. A girl yelled, "I pick Rebekah!" Giggles and whispering ensued. Then everyone started egging me on. "Yeah. Rebekah, you should do it! Come on!" It seemed like they actually WANTED me to do it, so I said sure. I didn't, or couldn't, see it for what it was. I was time for me to get my 15 minutes.

Over the next few weeks, I got all kinds of attention from The Popular Girls. A few of them stopped me in the lunch room to ask what kind of dress I was going to wear to the Valentine Dance. The garment of choice was a blue Yves St. Laurent (!!!) dress that looked like a satin balloon valance exploded and landed on me. I thought it was beautiful. The Popular Girls smiled and nodded as I described my wonderful gown. Everyone was overly nice to me in the days leading up to the Big Event. A few people tried to tell me I was being played, but I didn't want to believe them even though I must have known they were being honest. A guidance counselor pulled me out of class and asked if I really wanted to be on the Court, and I said that I did. I'm not sure why the administration didn't just put a stop to it.

After school on the day of the Valentine Dance, I remember applying makeup in the girls' bathroom next to one of the legitimate members of the Court, the daughter of a NFL Football Player. "Don't put on too much of that," she said in a syrupy voice. I remember going out on stage as the Court members were called. The applause was really loud, kind of like in the movie Carrie, except unfortunately for me I don't have any telekinetic powers. Thankfully, nobody dumped a bucket of pig blood on me either, so I guess I shouldn't complain. There was also a boy who had been nominated to the Court as a joke, and he was up there on the stage too. Apparently he did not have any telekinetic powers either. Of course, that boy and I won last place, probably with zero votes. A pretty blonde 8th grader won Valentine Queen and a Korean 7th grader was crowned the Valentine Princess. That's all I remember of the Valentine Dance.

Of course, the next day, the bullying escalated to new and previously unseen levels. Kids went out of their way to torment me for my stupidity. I was yelled at out of the school bus window, kids pointed at me and laughed in the hallways, and my only friend told me that she wasn't going to speak to me in the school building anymore because it was too embarrassing and she didn't want to be seen with me. I was twelve years old, and this event basically dominated my life for the next ten years. I didn't have any good friends until I graduated from high school. I desperately wanted my parents to move so I could attend a different school, but moving wasn't going to happen and besides, I was so socially inept that I probably wouldn't have done any better at a different middle school or high school. Even through college, I always assumed everyone hated me and didn't care to be my friend. I generally didn't feel like I belonged anywhere, partly because I just didn't relate to the other kids, and partly because of the incessant bullying I had dealt with. There is much more to this story, but I don't want to go there right now.

Anyway - once I got married and had kids, I found other things to think about besides my general worthlessness. In fact, having my own family helped me to establish a sense of self-regard that had been buried up until that point. These days, I have friends. I make people laugh. I'm good at my job and I hope I'm a good mom too. My kids don't appear to be headed down the same path I traveled, and for that, I'm thankful. My older daughter is headed to middle school next fall, and I'm watching like a hawk. Because the only thing I can imagine being worse than complete ostracism is watching it happen to your child.

I Made It A Whole Month!!!

Well, it's January 31 and I'm 1/12 of the way through my 2011 resolution of posting to this blog every day of the year. One of these days I am going to forget to post something and ruin the whole year!!!! I wanted to write something more interesting today. I have some ideas brewing in my head, but of couse I didn't have time to execute them. Oh well, I've still got 334 days left! :)

You Know You Got Married in 1999 When....

1) Your gift registry contained a George Foreman Grill and/or a bread machine.
2) Your wedding bands are made of yellow gold.
3) Your wedding video is on a VHS tape.
4) The department store at which you registered has either gone out of business or has been purchased by a Larger Department Store.
5) That stupid Prince song was played at your reception.
6) Your "save the date" communications consisted of getting the old people to call around and inform the other guests.
7) The upper part of your wedding dress looked like a wife beater shirt.
8) "Destination Weddings" were only performed in Vegas. Your venue choices were Church A, Church B, and Church C, all within a 25-mile radius.
9) You only accessed weddingchannel.com or theknot.com at work because your dial-up connection at home was too slow.
10) Your bouquet and those of the bridesmaids were fastened with a plastic nosegay!

What Will Your Obituary Say? Besides The Fact That You Kicked The Bucket

OK, so I'm morbid. Sometimes when I read the obituary of a highly accomplished person, I wonder what mine will end up saying. Right now, it would probably say something like "mother, wife, accountant." Ick... really? People actually cut these things out and save them in scrapbooks. Do I really want someone saving that boring drivel and passing it down from generation to generation? I was hoping to have more of an impact - not that I want to have a famous person's sort of obituary (although being famous might not be so bad), but I would like to have something a little more exciting for people to read about. Philanthropist, volunteer, author or even Grandma would be more interesting. Guess I'd better start planning some exciting stuff and making sure I don't croak before I'm 80 so I can accomplish it all! :)

Two Homes Destroyed by Fire in South Riding

Yesterday, a house fire claimed two homes in our neighborhood. Fortunately, nobody was injured, but the houses are a complete loss. Each of the impacted families has a child in the elementary school that my children attend. The school and the community at large are coming together to provide support to these families who have lost everything they own. No amount of insurance money can replace the memories that were destroyed in the fire, but certainly we can do what we can to help in the recovery process. You can read more about the fire here.

Thundersnow!!

Have you ever heard thunder during a snowstorm? Neither had I, until yesterday. Last year's Snowpocalypse is old news. Welcome THUNDERSNOW, the latest catchphrase of 2011. Yesterday's weather event began with falling ice particles that resembled the contents of a jack-knifed tractor trailer containing billions of Swarovski crystals en route to a Michael's craft store. Not that I've ever seen this type of traffic accident, but I suppose that is what it might look like. Dense, heavy snow followed, which tumbled out of the sky almost like rain. And then lightning followed by a deafening clap of thunder! WTH?? I am not sure we will ever see anything as bizarre as Thundersnow again.

I'm Tired

Enough said!! I'm going to bed early! Zzzzzzzzzz

Why Do I Even Click On These Things???

Click here for today's PSA from the Nipple Nazis!! Formula is apparently such a terrible-sounding choice that a Facebook group has been established to share breast milk with other moms. Hey, if you want to share your breast milk with other moms who would like to use it, great! It's not the concept I have a problem with, it's the attitude that makes moms feel as though they need to go to these extremes. As any new mom knows, you have enough to worry about and figure out than to have to deal with this type of unfounded guilt.

Here is an excerpt from the article:

"...the Internet has been abuzz with parents (aptly nicknamed "lactivists") just dying for a chance to share their opinion on the subject.

"If you make a choice to formula feed out of convenience, then you do not deserve to have kids!" said one poster.

"Every baby deserves human milk," said another.

Needless to say, new moms are feeling squeezed.

"If we formula feed, we feel we are giving our amazing children 'second best' or handicapping them for life," said one mother who admitted to sobbing in the shower from shame and guilt when she gave up breast-feeding."

---------------

Enough said. Nipple Nazis, be gone!!

Whew!!!

So I fell asleep on the sofa at 8:30 PM and didn't wake up until 11 PM. My 10 year old was massaging my back (I should make it a required chore from now on) and I was tired anyway, so I passed out. I woke up and thought, OH NO!! My daily blog entry!! Plus I have some other stuff i need to do tonight so I'll just have some coffee (yes, you heard me) and burn the midnight oil. My mom and I are probably the only people on the planet who can drink caffeinated coffee at night without experiencing sleeping issues. Besides, I have the day off tomorrow. The kids have a teacher workday at school so we're going swimming at the indoor pool in our gym. Yay!! Sorry this post wasn't too exciting, but I'm on a time crunch now :)

10 Ways to Tell Your Coworkers Aren't Parents (Working Mom Edition)

1) You return from maternity leave and someone at work asks you how your "vacation" was.
2) Complaints are heard regarding the fact that working parents get too many perks, such as "getting to leave on time every day."
3) Coworker wonders why someone would need to utilize the services of a nanny or babysitter while working from home with an infant or toddler in the house.
4) He/she thinks that staying home from work to take care of a sick child is the same thing as a day off.
5) While hugely pregnant, you are asked, "Well, you were going to work during your maternity leave, weren't you?"
6) Derisive comments are made regarding minivans.
7) Colleague says your upcoming maternity leave sounds "so relaxing."
8) He/she hates "Take Your Child To Work Day."
9) Coworker asks you to do something half an hour before the daycare/after-school care is going to close and does not seem too pleased when you say you need to leave.
10) He/she wants to know why you will not send your sick child to daycare or school.

Some People Who Post Comments on the Internet Need to Calm Down. Really.

Wow, wow and double wow!!! First, I read this article about a mother who can't get her daughter to eat anything but a few items, which are not very healthy. I really felt sorry for this mom because I have some of the same problems with my kids, although the issues are not nearly as severe as those mentioned in the piece. My older daughter will not touch any cheese except for parmesan (NO idea where she gets that from), hates butter (as do I) and is very picky in general. My younger daughter will eat cheese but whines and complains when asked to eat any vegetable except salad. When they were younger and my husband was deployed in Afghanistan, I let them eat pasta with sprinkle (parmesan) cheese and fruit every night for dinner, because I knew they would eat it and they both liked it. Sometimes you have to choose your battles, as every parent knows. But what happens when the battle is as extreme as it is for this family? I have no doubt that this child has some kind of sensory processing problem and/or issues with extreme anxiety in general. However, many of the trolls (oops, did I say that?) who posted comments on the article did not feel much sympathy and generally directed their venom straight at the mother. Where baby daddy at??? Just kidding. Notable comments included "are you serious? get a job and quit screwing up your child....she is using it as a means of manipulation....I am so sick of mothers without parenting skills," "That little brat needs to eat what her mother cooks! What a little bratty nuisance!! She needs to have her butt spanked! Snotty-nosed, self-indulged, smart-mouthed BRAT!!! Let ME babysit that BRAT!!!!" and "Don't people know how to raise children any more? Sit at the dinner table, put down the food, the kid will eat it or not, don't give her anything else to eat and after a little while she will eat it. They must be liberals." These people need to get a life and stop judging!! Sorry to cut this short, but I'm late for date night. :)

PPD Does Not Discriminate

My jaw practically fell to the floor today when I read that Florence Henderson (aka Mrs. Brady) had suffered from postpartum depression. Oh NO! Not FLO! Not CAROL BRADY!! Duh, so Carol Brady doesn't really exist, but still. To me, this is a prime example that moms who get PPD aren't always the ones you might "expect" to hear about. Unfortunately, "nature's cruelest joke" doesn't discriminate. Florence Henderson is publishing a memoir later this year that will include a discussion of her PPD, and I am definitely looking forward to what she has to say.

Basic Human Decency Seems to Elude Some of Us.

I'm not going to clarify what I mean on this blog, but something totally disgusted me at work today. I am starting to wonder what is wrong with people. That is all.

Karma

Tonight I received karma in the form of my kids being embarrassing (acting like three year olds) in public. I know I did the same thing to my mother, so I supposed I had it coming. Why can't kids just follow directions???? Aughghgghhghh so frustrating!!!

Why I Am Going To Make My Kids Watch "Intervention"

OK, first of all - right now my kids are 10 and 8 and there is NO FREAKING WAY I will have them watch this show anytime soon.

That said...

Intervention has got to be one of the most delicious train wrecks on TV. Intervention marathons are the best, because every episode somehow manages to be even more appalling than the one before it. If you haven't seen it, here's the Cliffs Notes version. Intervention is a reality show that profiles one or two people with addictive behavior (generally alcoholics and drug addicts). About half-way through the episode, a professional interventionist comes in and tells the person to hit rehab or suffer the consequences. When I say the show profiles people with addictive behavior, I mean it profiles them in a no-holds-barred manner. Addicts are shown shooting up/snorting on screen, heading out to prostitute themselves to get more money to fund their addictions, dealing drugs out of their parents' homes, conducting Jerry Springer-esque arguments with family members while under the influence of whatever, and so on and so forth. Often viewers will witness one of the show's "stars" (for lack of a better term) falling asleep in mid-sentence, falling over, sitting there with his/her tongue hanging out and eyes rolled back, and other unpleasant, embarrassing behavior. More often than not, the addict does not recognize that he or she has a problem.

Why in the world would I make my kids watch this show? Someday when I think they are old enough, I will sit down with them and have them watch a few episodes with me to show them that this is what alcohol and drugs can do to a person. THIS is why adults tell you to not even come near these substances. We aren't just talking out of our ass and making shit up. We don't want to see our kids end up like these people, because we love our kids. None of the parents featured on this program wanted their offspring to be one of the main characters on an episode of Intervention, guaranteed. I was a goody two-shoes who didn't drink, smoke or try drugs - why would my kids want to listen to my out-of-touch, nerdy ramblings? Cue the TV. My hope is that these addicts can actually teach people a thing or two, starting with my kids. Do they want to end up like the people on this show? I'm guessing they probably don't. And all they have to do is say NO.