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Is It Just Me?

When watching any sort of movie or TV show (or even just a Victoria’s Secret ad!) where a woman removes some clothing…it’s hard to not notice that the under things always match. Does this truly happen in real life?? Not MINE. I mean, sure – I have bras that match panties…but do they ever end up on my body at the same time? …never on purpose, I can tell you that!

Also – I typically wear a bra more than once before washing it…but (obviously) not panties. Do these ladies buy everything 1 for 1, or do they have 3 or 4 matching panties for every bra they own?

And … what happens if I like the darker or more patterned under things? I can’t wear those under light colored clothing, right? …well, I guess I COULD, but I don’t.

I suppose I DO match…but it’s more that I match my bra to my shirt and my undies to my pants! Lights with light, darks with dark.

Anyone out there who’s always matching?

Sneak Preview

Mike’s gift to me!! So excited!!! πŸ™‚ …review in a few weeks after I’ve used it for a bit…

Book Clubs

I was going to write a book review today, but I have waaaay too much work to do to actually think about that without giving too much away about the book. So, I’ll just chat about where all these books are coming from.

I’ve always, always loved reading. I don’t know when I started reading, but I don’t remember when I haven’t had a book in my purse (or back pack, or whatever) for all those occasions when I have a little time for a quick snippet of another world.

THAT said, I’ve always hated having a book “forced” on me. Those books for I was supposed to read for school? Ya – hated it. Even if they may have been good ones. (Especially “classics” – if it was a book I’d pick up on my own; no problem…but classics…blech πŸ˜‰ ) There are still a whole bunch of classics that I should probably read…

For that reason, I’ve always been hesitant to join a book club. What if all of the chosen books are ones I wouldn’t normally read? (I’m a historical romance, mystery lovin’ kinda gal.) What if I just didn’t have time to read the book before we met?? (I’m beginning to realize that I have this strange fear of letting people down for ridiculous things…but that’s for another post.)

What I didn’t realize is that’s precisely what book clubs are for! To GET me to read books that I wouldn’t normally read. (And I must admit, as much as I love Nora Roberts, I can’t read more than 3 in a row by her…) And the book club I joined is through my town’s Mom’s club…which means THEY’RE all busy too…which means they don’t care if I finish the book in time for the meeting πŸ™‚ (Although, I do have to say that I have finished all of them on time so far, and have been the only one to do so…and there hasn’t been much discussion of books at these meetings πŸ˜‰ )

Either way – I’m really glad that I’ve joined. I’ve enjoyed all of the books so far and it’s been a really great way to meet more people in my town!

Helicopter?

Do helicopter parents even know that they hover? I mean…what if *I’M* a helicopter mom? It’s not like my kids’ teachers would tell me…right?

I drop my kids off and pick them up from school. (There is no bus option at this age.) The school does offer a drive-up drop-off option where the teachers will come get your kids out of the car (and at pick-up they’ll bring your kids out to your car), but I prefer to take them in myself. I feel much more connected and like I actually know their teachers (and they know me – which I also think is important). There’s not a lot of individualized communication at this school – no parent/teacher conferences or anything like that. So…I go in, help the kids get settled, chat with a teacher or two – if they’re not too frazzled – and then go. When I go back in to pick the kids up, I sometimes get a quick update. For example, on Tuesday, Maggie didn’t want her picture taken with “Rudolph” at the Holiday party that day … which put her in a funk for the rest of the day. I’m not sure I would have known about that if I hadn’t gone in.

Next year, Burke and Maggie head to Kindergarten where they’ll have the option to take the bus. But I really don’t want them to do that (and luckily, Mike agrees). I think part of it stems from my own hatred of the bus when I was little – well…the 1/4 mile hike to get to the bus stop anyway. That and the fact that my Dad (and then my step-mother) drove us to school. I’m sure that part of it may be that I’m a complete control freak. Part of it is that in MA, there’s a law that kids have to be in booster seats until they’re 8 … are there boosters in buses??

The thing is, I know that I want my kids to have minds of their own (mostly πŸ˜‰ ) and be able to fight for their own grades and stuff when they get older. (There’s no way I’m going in to argue over grades for one of my kids!) And I want them to be able to make their own decisions – which includes making their own mistakes. I don’t want to “smooth out and mow down all obstacles” for them.

But I don’t want to not be there for them either.

I’m sure there’s a happy medium. I just hope I find it.

Fx4: Creche

This creche was handed down to me this year. It’s the one I grew up with … I remember playing with it for long spurts of time when I was little. I have it up on the mantle this year, but I hope to make it more accessible to the kids when they get a little older.

Candid Carrie sponsors Friday’s Foto Finish Fiesta – head over to her blog and find LOTS of links for bloggers who’ve joined in! (You can join in too!)

My New Diet Plan

I’ve come up with a new diet plan that will not only help me lose weight, but it might also keep me warm!

I figured out that I won’t eat if I’m crocheting. . . I don’t want to get my yarn all dirty, right? So perhaps if I make a rule that I *have* to crochet at night while watching TV (instead of snacking), I’ll shed some pounds! πŸ™‚ And … since my favorite things to make are afghans…I’ll be keeping myself warm for the winter as well. Win – win!

AND, since I discovered the nifty new Crochet hook (wanna win one?), my hands aren’t cramping. Woot!

Do you think my diet fad will catch on?

I Lost My Phone!!

I feel so nekkid. My phone is nowhere to be found. 😦

Burke had an art show for his drawing class last night and I remember putting my phone in my jacket pocket right before we left. When we got to the church (where the art show was being held), I reached into my pocket to get it so I could take a picture of Burke’s drawing…and it wasn’t there. (No worries, I had Mike take a picture…) I also figured that it’d be in the car, or that I wasn’t remembering correctly and that it was sitting on the counter at home still.

Not the case. It’s not *anywhere*! I retraced my steps (even drove back to the church) with a flashlight and Mike’s phone … probably called mine about 75 times. Not a peep. *sigh*

Luckily, I have “protection” on it, so I was able to order a replacement at a lower cost (still too much though πŸ˜› ). Unluckily, it’s on back order so I have to wait 5 – 7 business days before they’ll even ship it! That’s a long time to be without something that’s ALWAYS in my pocket. I use it as my night side table/alarm clock, my camera, to send texts and tweet, to set calendar reminders, to check and send email throughout the day (both personal and work), to surf the web, to put blog posts up….I’m so lost!! (notice I didn’t say that I use it to talk…I very rarely use it as a phone LOL!)

Wish me luck with my withdrawal symptoms…I think I’m already starting to shake…

Way Back When-esday

Cheryl over at Twinfatuation hosts this one. Go on over to see who else is playing – and join in too!

This one was taken on Thanksgiving in 2004. Mike and I were visiting his Pop and Step-mom in Arizona. I was 5 months pregnant with the twins…

Which Tummy?

Something’s Gotta Give

It’s official. I do too much and it’s starting to feel like plates are crashing down on my head.Β  Sure…some of it is (hopefully) just a one time thing – like last night’s Fishful Thinking presentation at Burke and Maggie’s school. But some of it – like teaching Sunday School – isn’t. I need to start prioritizing and I need to learn how to say “no, I just can’t do it.”

Obviously, my job isn’t negotiable. And frankly, I actually enjoy doing it – when I have the motivation πŸ˜‰

My blog is non-negotiable as well. It’s my one outlet to get thoughts down to help work through things…and the only place that I journal about the kids!

My second job is so tiny and infrequent that I think it’s okay to keep that one going. It can get stressful when my boss says “Hey, can you look this over and have it edited by noon tomorrow?” …but he doesn’t do that too often.

I *LOVE* being a part of my twins club, so I highly doubt that will be dropped at any point in the near future. The membership position looks like it might be shifting slightly due to our move from Yahoo Groups to BigTent, so that may lighten that load anyway. (Plus, I’ll be changing positions next year. More about that one later though.) I haven’t been able to go to many of the recent COPE meetings for the club – and I really miss those. It’s fun to go out and chat with other ladies who totally get what you’re going through. Or to give some advice here and there since I’ve already been through a lot of it… The General meetings/Board meetings have stopped being monthly, so there are only 4 months out of the year where I feel like I have at least one thing going on each week.

The Fishful Thinking stuff isn’t really all THAT time-consuming. Since I had the presentation last night, it was consuming things for the past week, but that’s pretty unusual. Plus, I *REALLY* like the message that Fishful Thinking brings to the table. I do most of that “sharing” online, or while waiting for Burke and/or Maggie, so it’s time that would have been “wasted” anyway. πŸ™‚

Sunday School? *sigh.* It terrifies me. πŸ˜› I’m not a teacher. I don’t know WHAT I was thinking when I said “sure! I’ll help out!” when Pastor L. asked…I think I was thinking “I’m new…might be a good way to meet more people.” And … it has been. But it still terrifies me. Those poor kids are learning about the bible from ME?? Yikes. At least they’re only 4 and most of what we’re doing is coloring pictures to go along with the stories. . .One of the teachers has already backed out (with good reason), so that leaves only 3 of us (we rotate months of being teacher/helper/off). I’ll fulfill my obligation, but I really don’t think I’ll sign up for it again next year. I AM afraid it might be one of those “hey, we’ve already gotcha” things, and it’ll be tough to get out of next year though.

I also committed to a women’s circle at church. It’s just starting up, so I thought perhaps it would be another good way to meet more ladies around town without feeling like I’m crashing an established “club”. They meet monthly – and on a weekend! – so I think that’ll be pretty good. We’ve had one meeting so far and it’s a fun bunch.

I did just say “I just can’t do it” to another women’s group at church…it’s one that meets in the middle of the week and my heart sped up just thinking about trying to attend it each month. I felt terrible saying “no” … and it was hard!! But I did it.

It’s a start…and I KNOW I have a hard time saying “no, thanks” when people ask me to do things…and apparently, knowing is half the battle πŸ˜‰

A Twin Story

My friend Debi let me know that Nov. 17th is the day assigned to raising national awareness for the preemie crisis (through the March of Dimes). Join lots of other bloggers sharing their stories here: http://www.bloggersunite.org/event/fight-for-preemies

Debi also hosts Two for Tuesdays. I’m supporting both by posting a new page!

Read the story of how Burke and Maggie arrived. It’ll also be housed up at the top for a while before I tuck it up under “The Story of Us” πŸ™‚

Enjoy!