The Slowest Death

Folks, allow me to direct your attention to Exhibit A. Now don't be alarmed! They are indeed ugly I know. Hideous, just hideous. They are however only a pair of shorts. Men's shorts. Men's shorts, circa 1991, that at one time were impossibly big on the owner. Notice the heinously inappropriate and blatantly out of style double pleats. The dull and unflattering color of gray. Wake up people! These shorts were worn by the victim in high school! That was 13 years ago! Oh yes, she's a victim alright. A victim in a crime of fashion. Don't avert your eyes. There is probably something very close to this lurking in your closet. You could be a victim too. You probably made the same excuses that she did. Eventually they will fit right. Oh they did. They fit, but they were already hopelessly outdated … [Read more...]

Bilingual Baby

An email from my mother last week-Dear Vicky,I have just found a very nice miniature picnic table in an Adirondack style in the L.L Bean catalogue. I have spoken with your father and we would like to purchase one for our house for T.D. to use when she visits and one for your house as well. Take a look at it and let me know what you think. It comes in some lovely colors.Love,MomHmmmm.... a tiny picnic table for our tiny townhouse. Eeehh.... I emailed H to discuss the matter. "Be firm but tell them no in a nice way.", he instructed. Well yeah! Aren't I always nice? Especially to my mother? Really. I just kept thinking of the fact that it was one more giant toy/thing in our house but now outside and how it would rarely get used at this point except as a climbing device. Email from me to my … [Read more...]

The Good Ol’ Days

Back in the days when I was "with child", "preggo", had a "bun in the oven" or was just plain pregnant I had a lot of people say some pretty bizarre or just plain rude things to me. They feel it's perfectly ok to not even say 'hello!' or even smile at you, but just okey dokey to touch your belly or poke your button. It gets pretty damn annoying. Here are a few of my faves- AND- things I wish I would have said and sometimes did.-"Are you allowed to eat that?" as I chomped on a Brownie. "Uh.. yeah..Why not? Are they special Brownies? If they are special Brownies I'm eating the whole pan."-"Will you be breast-feeding?" Blurted out in the middle of a meeting. Asked by a man who I barely knew. Talk about creepy. I had no reply for that one and still don't. Just YICK!!! -Me in my office: … [Read more...]

PBN-‘Get a Hobby!’

“Discover your hobby personality!” This is what ‘Get a Hobby!’ by Tina Barseghian proposes. My husband and I could not wait to tear into this book and figure out our most ideal hobbies. We’re always looking for something else to cram into our already overblown schedules. We carefully read the Foreword by Miguel Figuerra, M.D.; learning that hobbies can create a more relaxed you. Excellent! Let’s get crackin’ shall we?We sat down and diligently took the quiz that would help match us up with our hobbies. Right away, I found myself getting frustrated. The questions were so absolute. I love history yet somehow it didn’t factor in because I didn’t know the answer to the question. Maybe that was me reading it wrong, but a ripple of annoyance spread through me. After taking the quiz, I was all … [Read more...]

Picture Contest!

If you can correctly guess what this picture is you will win a truly unusual prize package. Contents of prize package listed below. Contest goes until Monday, June 4, 2007. Please put your guesses in the comment section and leave a way for me to contact you in case you have the winning guess.Prize Package Contents One Large 'This is What a Feminist Looks Like' t-shirtOne tube of Arbonne Intelligence Hand CreamOne tube of Arbonne Herbal Foot CreamOne Arbonne lip pencil in Innocent One travel size set of H20's MILK shampoo and conditionerCopy of 'Bitter is the New Black' by Jen LancasterAnd more!Hey! I do a lot of product reviews and some of this stuff is over flow I get to pass on to friends. Well, not the shirt or the book. I just think that is a cool shirt. I have one with pink writing! … [Read more...]

PBN-Even June Cleaver Would Forget the Juice Box

I have to admit I eagerly awaited the arrival of this book with almost too much excitement. ‘Even June Cleaver Would Forget the Juice Box’, by Ann Dunnewold, Ph.D. offers “workable solutions to the Mommy Madness”. I could not wait to crack it open and prove that I am right in my parenting ways. The idea of extreme parenting has always been a hot issue with me. Before I had T.D., it got me riled up and now that my daughter is here, it’s even worse. I have to bite my tongue so hard sometimes from flipping out on some of the judgy Mom’s out there. I get so sick of defending my belief about having "me" time or date nights. After I defend myself though, I sometimes wonder and guilt myself into a cyclical series of worries about T.D.’s future. If I let her keep the pacifier now will she talk … [Read more...]

My Inner Dork Revealed and Other Weekend Musings

Friday was H's birthday, the big 30, and to celebrate we went to one of those Japanese steak houses. It was all fine and good. T.D. was entertained by the flashing knives and onion smoke stacks which was nice. Afterwards we were headed back to the car when H decided he wanted to check out the local used book store. Normally I am not a fan of the used book store. It's musty, disorganized to the point that you wonder if sugar high crazed toddlers put the books on the shelves and there is always that CD section. It entices me first thing only to find myself staring at multiple copies of Green Day, Johnny Mathis, and Andy Williams Cd's. Suffice to say I am not a fan of the used book store realm. We wandered in and began to peruse the stacks. As T.D. squeaked about in her Pippytoes, H and I … [Read more...]

Product of the Week!

This week's product is a book. A book I can safely say kept us sane in the last few weeks. I don't normally do this type of thing either. I don't like reading childcare books. I find that I'm usually already doing what they say and I have a few "Duh!" moments and throw the book to the wayside or I just don't agree with their methods. The book, 'Good Night, Sleep Tight: The Sleep Lady's Guide to Helping Your Child Go to Sleep, Stay Asleep and Wake Up Happy' (Sheesh!) actually did do all those things. I bought the book out of desperation and had a friend suggested it. Her child wasn't sleeping through the night. She read the book. The kid sleeps like magic. We were on month three of that after an almost entirely blissful year of angel baby sleep through the night nights. We removed … [Read more...]

Unhooked

I finally finished reading, Unhooked by Laura Sessions Stepp. Ms. S.S. is not always the most popular girl out there, especially in these parts, but I wanted to take a look at what she had to say for myself. Unhooked is about "how younge women pursue sex, delay love, and lose at both". Stepp took a year or so to interview in-depth and observe high school and college girls from relatively the same backgrounds (middle to upper middle class). What she found was that these women are highly motivated, ambitious and hardworking individuals. They've been trained their whole lives to excel in whatever they do. They also don't have a ton of time on their hands. That leads to hook ups. They are quick and don't require much effort. Stepp writes that today's young woman wants to be seen as … [Read more...]