When we first moved in, our next door neighbors were extremely welcoming.  We were thrilled.  They seemed like a fine family, and we felt lucky to have such good neighbors. (more…)

The Wiz’s post got me thinking about more bizarre things in the world where you say, ‘What is the deal with THAT?’  Here’s my list.  Feel free to add your own ‘hunh?’ (more…)

So I was watching Bravo again last night, (stupid addicting channel) and they were counting down the scariest moments in movies.  I never have been able to resist countdown shows.  I watched it knowing I wouldn’t have seen any of these movies.  I don’t watch scary shows - and I truly don’t understand the appeal of them. (more…)

There is a car that parallel parks itself!  Did you HEAR me? (or read me, I guess is more accurate).  IT PARALLEL PARKS ITSELF!!!  amazing.. I must have it…..my parallel parking skills are non-existent (there’s a spot!  nope, cant do it). (more…)

I thought I had a heart.

I thought I was a loving, compassionate person.  Well, you know. Mostly.

Above all, I consider myself an equal opportunity, um, whatever.  Like, if I was actually an employer, I would definitely be equal opportunity.  But since I’m never going to be an employer, I just have to keep that dream in my heart. (more…)

She was the only other mom in the room.  Her back was to me as I walked in.  Her three kids were already well into their french fries and chicken nuggets, with barbecue sauce already opened and sticky on the table. I opened the door, laden with what passes for food at Burger King, and let J race into the playroom before me while I sat  our tray down on a table closest to the sun.  My headache was stronger, so I picked up the usually taboo Diet Coke and started to suck it down.  I slipped into the cold, shiny, plastic swivelly seat, and let out a sigh of exhaustion.  With DH out of town, a sickness weighing me down, it had been a long weekend. (more…)

My cable company offers free channels for like 2 weeks at a time, various ones, (usually crappy things like ‘the Military Channel - ohh baby).  I guess they are hoping we will get hooked and be inspired to send more money to said cable company on a monthly basis. 

Anyway, this time we are getting Bravo, and I have to admit, that on Wednesday night, with the wonders of DVR I sat up watching hour after hour of ‘Project Runway.’ They were having a marathon. Stupid fabulous show.  I went to bed at 2 in the morning and dreamed about shoes.  Since it was so late, and nobody I knew was awake, I couldn’t call anyone to say how awful it was that the wrong designer won.  Plus, I’m not even 100% confident that the season I was watching was the current one.  I had never seen the show before, and for all I know, they were broadcasting old episodes or something.

(But for the record, Jeffrey was a distant fourth for me.  So I guess that proves I’m no fashionista.)  I loved how the judges were like “Uli, your designs are something every woman will want to wear.”   But, since we fashion people don’t actually have interest in what people would want to wear….”Congratulations, Jeffrey.”

I just have to say, that overall, this fall season, it seems like the TV people actually tried. (more…)

I love it when that happens. 

My in laws were just here this weekend, and they left thinking my kid is a total genius.

Now, of COURSE my kid is a total genius, and of COURSE they are going to think anything he does, short of wiping his own booggers on their shirt, is completely amazing.  They are, after all, his grandparents.  Heck, maybe even his booggers would be cause to reflect on the beauty that is the child’s own secretions. (more…)

Signs of the times? Paranoid mama who’s been watching too much news? Or just an over-reaction to a real threat? I don’t know, and while I’m not dwelling on it, I can’t decide where to file this away.

Tonight, DH had some late business obligations, so knowing I was going to be flying solo for the evening, I bribed the Monkeys with a trip to fast-food-playland for overpriced plastic toy-meals in exchange for a clean playroom and no whining. It worked, too.

So the Monkeys are in the human habi-trail running around, turning red and having a good ol’ time. There were half a dozen families whose kids were also playing while their mom’s and dad’s kept an eye out between bites of burger. Sitting near the door, so as to prevent any escaped Monkeys, I held Abby in my lap as she was highly entertained by the loud chaos. (more…)

Tonight, around dinner time, our doorbell rang.  Hmm, that’s weird, I thought.  Who’s calling at this hour?  Surely, if it was the HOA, telling us that we violate section 42a subsection B of our homeowner’s agreement that specifically states that all pumpkins displayed on our porch must be no bigger than 15 inches in diameter without an appeal submitted in triplicate, they would have caught us before now. (more…)

My son is nothing if not polite. (He’s not potty trained either, but I’m waiting for his kindergarten teacher to do that in a couple years, no worries.) He always asks “Can I be excused?” at mealtimes, “Can I play on the computer?” during the day, and “Can I play outside?” should it be a nice day, or rainy day, or snowy day, or basically if he’s awake.  He likes outside.

Last week, in sacrament meeting, he turned to us and said “Can I cry?”   DH and I looked at each other.  I thought,”Well, given the option…” and we shrugged and said “No.”  He went back to his regularly scheduled disruption of all people sitting around us. (more…)

I’m warping my child.  I’m sure of it.

For so long, we did breakfast well.  From the very beginning, he would get oatmeal, or yogurt, or both.  He really likes oatmeal, actually, both the instant variety as well as the better, healthier stuff, provided, of course, that it is covered with a mound of sugar as well as drenched in milk.  Full cream works, too. (more…)

What do you do when Dad and Mom are out of step with each other? I’m not talking about marriage trouble or anything that rings of vow-breaking, but just coming at things, kid things, family things, from different points of view…

We all know how bumpy life can get, and sometimes the “Love at Home” feels a little more like a war of the roses- In my house, they could never put us on the front of a FHE manual- between tired parents, three-year olds doing headstands during prayer, kindergartners picking their noses when they should be singing, and babies barfing their dinner down mom’s back, well somtimes the stress just gets to us… but I digress-

Familial stress seems to manifest differently in men and women- (imagine that!) and the stress of being a 24-hour a day parent can be overwhelming. So how do you find your middle ground with your spouse when his ideas of how to parent and yours are horizons apart? (more…)

Of course, that could mean so many things, it’s not immediately obvious what this post is about.

It’s about my dog.  Of course.

We got a dog.  Again.

We did it all wrong.  Again. (more…)

Everybody’s talking about this video, where a model trips and falls not once, but twice. But give me a break, people, whose idea was it anway to put her in spikey heels (which are as ugly as sin, if you ask me) and then make her carry a really lame looking watering can, which is clearly FULL and obviously heavy?  I’ll tell you who.  A man, that’s who.  And what is up with that hair? I don’t say this very often, but my heart goes out to that poor model. 

 Then again, there’s always the possibility she was just smashed out of her mind.

All right Mamas- to you I humbly come, bonnet in hand, and ask you advice…

What does one tell a five-year old about sex?

Now, we are a pretty frank and open family; we are totally comfortable with our bodies, we use all the correct names for our body parts, we occasionally pop a kid in the shower with us when pinched for time, and the boys know that their private parts are not for showing your friends to get a laugh. We have had serious talks about inappropriate touching, “secrets” and what to do if anyone ever tries to cross that line. But… (more…)

Alaskagrandma left a comment on Heather’s “are you too old?” thread, and I thought it was an excellent comment.  I thought it might have gotten a little buried, so I am making a post out of it.  She says the following:

“I remember when I was a teenager I knew a woman who had been childless for the first 10 years of her marriage and then had 6 children in the next ten. Her biggest regret was that she had spent those 10 years obsessing about what she did not have. Her advice to us was, “enjoy your life, whatever it brings, don’t waste it wishing it were different.” I must say whenever I started thinking someone else had a better life I would remember that advice.”

Ever wonder why you hate the sound of fingernails on the blackboard?  Have you ever tried holding your breath, jumping up and down with sugar in your mouth, or even drinking upside down to get rid of hiccups, all to no avail?  Ever wonder how to really get rid of those pesky teenagers who loiter around the convenience store?This article , talking about the infamous “Ig Nobel” awards at Harvard,  has all your answers.  Enjoy!

Just so you know - our spam filter (spam, spam, spam, spam) requires me to moderate some comments before posting them.  Basically, it’s just the comments with links, I guess it’s trying to make sure you’re not linking to some phisher site (sp?) or something.  So if your comment takes a little while to show up, that’s why.  Just so you know.

I’m not discouraging you from posting up links, but just know it might take a little bit to show up, depending on how much computer time I have that day.

As requested . . . . We live in a city which, like most cities, have laws that require door to door solicitors to be registered, licensed, permited, etc.  There are also companies which, each summer, drive from town to town and dump their van load of high school drop-outs and other delinquents into the city at 8:00 a.m. and pull out of town by sundown.  These kids spend the day going door to door selling magazine subscriptions, perfume, book clubs, etc. Each summer when one of these stellar citizens arrives on my door step I ask the question everyone should ask . . . “May I see your permit please?” just to make sure they’re legal. (more…)