What the Hell are You Waiting for?

See sign above? Yup. Really nothing more needs to be said but sometimes I find myself in conversations with people who talk as if they have no control over their lives. It baffles me. I'm not saying I'm some life coach or guru of sorts. Far be it from me to dispense any real advice but uh... I'm about to. Why? Because when I hear people talk like this I get mad. Damn mad. So mad I think of this scene from Network. Your life is your own. Yours. You have to live it as if each day were your last (that doesn't mean quit your job or rob a bank either). I know real pearls of wisdom right there. But seriously, if you are waiting for some big moment in your life to happen to make it all amazingly better (to bring romance into your life, adventure, fix your spouse, or even you) it is not going to … [Read more...]

It isn’t January without the crud

Every Christmas I get sick. If it isn't Christmas, it is right after New Years. One year I even managed to contract Legionnaire's disease. Don't ask. This year I felt I had knocked it. No office time to me meant no germs. Ha! Ha! Suckas! I quit you, you blasted sickness! I dare to dream that I had defied the odds.Then I got sick. Then I got better. Then I am sick again. That is my current state.Can I say this really blows? I've been looking forward to the DC Metro Moms Launch party for a month. It is tonight and there is french food involved and I'm feeling half alive at 9 a.m. That's after two cups of full strength espresso and a shot of dayquil. But you know what really bites my balls (if I actually had them)? I just can't get into the New Year when I feel this way. I start out feeling … [Read more...]

Breaking Curfew and Seeing R-rated Films

There are claymation penguins eating cake with seals in party hats. The main topic of conversation/argument in the house is the ever changing temperature reading off the side of my parents house. My Father: Ooh! It's 38! Look at the sky!My Mother: 38?! (utter disbelief that it could be 38 degrees rings in her voice) Why that is ten degrees colder than yesterday!My parents are fascinated by weather. My father's dream is to have some sort of Wizard of Oz like capability or machine on the premises that would tell him the weather every five minutes or so down to the last centigrade, jet stream and barometric pressure. If my father had to live in a climate like sunny So Cal where seasons are hard to differentiate he wouldn't know what to do with himself. He is the Oz of weather. He and my … [Read more...]

I Feel Like I’m Beating a Dead Horse

It's over. Or is it? We still have New Year's and a trip up to grandparent country to get through. I'm sure it will be a blast but it also means the holidays just keep coming! So let's just keep eatin' and drinkin' and feeling like our pores are oozing icing and crisco. Oh and in case you are wondering this is what went down in Mummy's house this past week.One Wii has entered our home. Oh the irony. Now I get to hear H say things like-Eat. My. Butt. and other witty asides such as, I'm Killing Myself, while he plays tanks and rides cows or something. Anyone else obessesd with mowing down scarecrows?A lovely silver necklace adorns my neck.I have eaten annisette cookies, frothy hot cha cha (a T.D. delight), more ham than anyone should be allowed to eat in a year, a sodium intake that … [Read more...]

Grateful

I've been nursing some weird eye allergy all week along with a wonderfully red and puffy left eye sty. Fun times indeed. I've been shuffling around the house swollen eyed as T.D. says repeatedly, "Mummy Boo Boo...Oooh" over and over and over again. Then I eat fudge. With Marshmallows.I steal my kids eczema ointment to rub on my eyes and pop another allergy pill. My skin is so dry from the 24/7 allergy pills that my skin feels like it's cracking. So I furtively use some more eczema lotion and wait for relief. Then I eat a chocolate reindeer, antlers first.I finished working on Wednesday. I've been slowly gearing up for the holidays which also means skipping the gym and general procrastination in cleaning the house and running last minute errands. If you haven't gotten dressed up for New … [Read more...]

Green Your Routine

I am very pleased to announce the incredible news that Dana Hackley is the winner of Ziddio's Green Your Routine video contest. Who is Dana Hackley and why should you care? Dana was one of my college roommates, we shared a bunk in an insanely tiny room together in our sorority house and we didn't kill each other in the night. That is an amazing feat if you were to see the size of the room. I think prisoners have bigger cells. We've been in each others weddings and lives for over ten years now (ugh I feel old) and had our first babes within a year of each other. Dana is a busy woman. She writes, she teaches and she creates Academy Award winning videos. That's right. My old roomie has one the Global Green Academy Award. I'm so (sniff) proud.Here it is- Not So Disposable, by Dana Hackley … [Read more...]

Sleep…Mm… Divine

It's amazing what a fantastic date night and a good night's sleep can do. Yesterday I was fully on my way to a ride on the JC (think Mommie Dearest) train but after a fun girls lunch with my MIL and a bit of work in the afternoon I was on my way to feeling less edgy. Add in a great date night of yummy Thai food where the restaurant was full of candlelight and twinkly lights and my mood was fixed. I didn't even imbibe anything harsher than water and some soda. Good thing I have a sparkling water machine at home. Amazing. Sparkling water vs soda water – Which is best for you? By the time H and I hit the movie theatre I was in full pre-baby date giddiness. I knew we needed time together but I didn't know it was that bad. Thank God for family! I didn't even care that the film, No Country … [Read more...]

A Barbie Dream House for Me?!

There it sat. Huge and under the tree. The tag insisted that I was correct, this big box from Santa/my grandparents was intended for only me. My five year-old brain was buzzing with ideas. I could barely contain my excitement. My mother kept warning me to stay away from the tree, "It's not time to open presents yet. Stop touching things and back away from the tree!" I think I might have done a little dance of protest before I backed away. I sat on my grandmother's paisley and floral couch and wondered, what could it be? A pony? It was certainly a large enough box. Then my mind settled on it. The only thing it could be. The only thing I really wanted. A Barbie Dream House. A Barbie Dream House! That had to be it! Satisfied with this idea I got off the couch and joined the rest of my family … [Read more...]

Overheards

SCENE: Hotel hallway early Friday morning.Me: (BIG YAWN) Oh! I'm so tired.... Mother: (In hotel hallway with H) Well you have every right to be?Me: Huh? Why? (I didn't cook dinner, I've stayed in a hotel all week without the kid)Mother: Well.... Me: (Badgering) What?! Why do I have a right to be tired? (H creeps down the hall a bit towards the elevator)Mother: Because it's that time of the month and...Me: MOM!!! Geez! That is not why I'm tired! GOD!! Augh! (Loud huffy sigh by me as I feel I'm 14 again)Mother: I'm just saying. Why else would you be tired?Me: (Resisting the urge to say, "because I've been out all hours of the night gettin' my drink, swerve and drug on..." just to get a rise out of her proving in fact that I am 14.) Because I've stayed up late each night this week and gotten … [Read more...]

Because Really? It’s Not About the Turkey

The parade is over. The turkey is done. All the leftovers have already been used to make late night snacks and the wine bottles are empty and in the recycling bins. Done. Thanksgiving is officially over. Thanksgiving, my favorite holiday with all its food and trimmings goes so quickly. The prep work, the arrival of guests, family photos and side conversations are all just moments that lead up to the big meal. This year dinner seemed to go by so fast. Before I knew it my plate was empty and my stomach was sufficiently stuffed. As I looked around the table I smiled and thought it really is all about family. That is why I love this holiday so much. I love the smiles, laughs and even the ultra competetive game of Spoons.The time I spent alone with H's grandmother making cream puffs was more … [Read more...]