It’s possible, likely even, that I am not the best mother in the world. 

Simply because I have no idea what to get my children for Christmas, which may be why I haven’t started shopping yet.  (more…)

Mine was divine, thank you for asking.  I was very worried about it, it being my first since being diagnosed as a diabetic, and if there’s anything Thanksgiving is not, it’s low carb.  But it worked out fabulously, we had great friends here, and we are currently in the middle of battling Christmas lights on the tree.  (and by “we” I mean “my husband.”)

How was your day?

So this afternoon, I wasn’t feeling so hot, and I popped on the TV, and landed on Eighteen Kids and Counting, the TLC show about Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar, and their, well, eighteen kids. We’ve discussed them before, and there were some hackles raised in the comments. That was back when they only had 17 kids. Now, number 19 is on the way, and they have recently welcomed their first grandchild, as well. So… (more…)

In the spirit of the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday — I’m curious about your holiday traditions!

What’s your favorite side dish?

Afternoon meal? Or evening meal?

Do you cook?  Or a family member?

Do you travel? Or stay home?

Dark meat? Or White meat?

Sweet Potatoes? Or Mashed Potatoes?

Real whipped cream? Or Cool Whip?

Pie:  Pumpkin? Apple? Cherry?

Special Thanksgiving activity? Afternoon Football? Christmas Lights? Sleeping?

Have a safe, happy, and food-filled Thanksgiving!

In the shower this morning, I picked up my shampoo and read on the front, “Let me soak it to you.”

Who writes this stuff?

And why isn’t it me? (more…)

What a strange show.  The editing was really weird, since they didn’t really know if it was ever going to air at the time, and knowing that made the canned cheering a little creepy. (more…)

So, I’ve never heard of this bocuse thing.  Obviously that means I’m not a chef.  The fact that my split pea soup last night burnt in the crock pot and made the whole kitchen smell like a dirty diaper would also attest to that fact. (more…)

Four letter words are offensive and overused. 

But I was never more shocked and stunned by the 4 letter word I heard come out of the principal’s office when I picked up my daughter from school this morning:  “Mrs. Mc., A. has LICE.”

I nearly dropped to the floor.

I think I would have preferred to hear the F bomb. (more…)

Come chat about gold medals with me over at Segullah.

4:30 pm

J runs in the house after he and Little Sister and Maggie the dog were playing with the neighbors, and says, “Phew! I’m thirsty! It’s hot!” He pulls out a bottle of Powerade, and unscrews the cap. For reasons unfathomable, he then takes that exact opportunity to take off his shoes and socks.

Little Sister sees the bright bottle of “juice”, and starts keening for it, in a voice that only dogs and irritated mothers can hear. (more…)

New task force recommends mammograms starting at age 50 instead of age 40 to reduce the amount of “false positives.”  Discuss.

(P.S. My personal opinion is that it’s mainly to reduce costs, even though they swear that’s not it.  I’m still getting a mammogram at age 40. Call me old fashioned.)

Also, they are not teaching formal self examination anymore, rather, general “breast awareness”, meaning, basically, feel for lumps, know your breasts, but there’s no “one right way” to do it.  Discuss.

P.S. Be nice.

My FIL leaves in 15hours and 35 minutes.

He has been here since Thursday evening.

In that time he has dumped newspapers all over the floor, and expected me to pick them up.

He expected a vehicle for transportation while both my DH and I were at work.  However, when it was time for him to pick me up, my 6 year old told me, “Papa didn’t buckle Baby Brother (3yrs old) in his car seat.”  This is my precious boy who barely survived open heart surgery – I would really appreciate it if he didn’t DIE in a car accident because his grandfather didn’t find it necessary to use his car seat!

He criticized the aforementioned vehicle because it is has 140K miles.  “It’s paid for, “I replied, “we are driving it until the wheels fall off.”

He complains that my DH is overweight and he really should do something about his health. 

I am overflowing with bile and resentment and I really want him to go home!

How do you deal with your in-laws?

13.1 miles.  If you don’t hear from me for a while, assume I’m sleeping for a week. 

Tim in an apron was pretty sweet, though.

I tell you, leaving for a couple of weeks really got me out of the P.R. groove. I missed Top Chef, and watched all the ones I taped as soon as I could, but getting back into Project Runway just didn’t seem all that interesting.  Where’s Christian when you need him? (more…)

First of all, I wanted to eat every single one of those breakfast in bed dishes (I’m a huge egg/breakfast fan), with the possible exception of Robin’s.  Jen’s, too, mosly because she described it as s**t on a shingle, which does not bode well for the anticipation of the dish. (more…)

 I just finished this book, and I want to talk about it.   So, I’m reviewing it.  I thought about reviewing it at Segullah, or even The Red Brick store, as these are the mormon literary blogs I write for, and this is, after all, Mormon literature.  I mean, it should be classified as that, right, because she’s Mormon and she wrote a book, right?  Well, it’s Mormon literature in the sense that it was written by a Mormon, but after reading it, I wasn’t sure it it qualified as Mormon literature, and then trying to figure out what exactly DOES qualify as Mormon literature just made my brain hurt.  So, here we are. (more…)

Sue over at Navel Gazing At Its Finest (am I supposed to capitalize all of those words? I never know–there’s a reason I’m not a copyeditor) is helping out some cold kids this winter. And if you are a part of the solution and have a bit of luck, you have a shot at winning $25 at Amazon. Go check out the virtual coat giveaway. Thanks, and stay warm!

I’m wearing red today. I’m wearing red to show my support for the men and women who serve our country in the armed forces.  I’m wearing red to to say “thank you” to the countless veterans who have sacrificed their time, talents and lives, for me and my family.  It’s the least I can do.

Early on in the the Iraq War, I read somewhere that we should all wear red on Fridays to show support for the troops.  I have been doing just that ever since.  But today is a day honoring veterans and even though it’s Wednesday, I’m wearing red.  Join me.

I’m not sure I do anything right as a mother:  I yell too much, I criticize too much, I don’t cook well enough, I don’t craft at all – OK let’s stop there because I’m depressing myself.

But I’ve done one thing right in the past month that I’m really proud of – I’ve started a mother/daughter book club for my daughter and her third grade friends and their mothers.

We met for the second time tonight and can I tell you what I saw in her face?  Joy!  Unadulterated Joy!  (I would describe what she looked like the first time we met, but she was home, on the couch, with 104 fever and presumably, H1N1, so she didn’t go).

We started reading the Betsy-Tacy series by Maud Hart Lovelace.  Admittedly, I thought this would be a little old fashioned for my Disney Channel-raised daughter, but she loved it.  And the group loved it!  They talked energetically about the book, they asked questions, they discussed characters, they talked about likes and dislikes, they even argued about what character they wanted to be!  And the mothers loved it too.

So tonight, I’m glowing in my daughter’s bliss, and realizing that occasionally, I can do something right.

“There’s no place like home.”

Man, that was a long 2+ weeks.  I am so glad to be home, it’s unbelievable.  Like, you wouldn’t believe it.  Just unbelievable. (Sorry, inside joke. One pool salesman just kept saying that to us over and over.  He really needed a thesauraus, or at least ONE synonym for “unbelievable”.) (more…)