I think I'll have a whole pint in celebration!

I knew my addiction to Ben & Jerry's ice cream would help me some day.

New news that ice cream can lower the risk of one type of infertility.

"The idea is not to go crazy and start to have ice cream three
times a day," said the lead author, Dr. Jorge Chavarro, a research fellow at Harvard. "But it is certainly possible to have a healthy diet with low saturated fat intake by having one serving of high-fat dairy a day."

Come on Jorge, state the obvious. lol.

The good news is now I know what to go with my optional 35 extra WW weekly points.

Random thoughts

I used to really like John Travolta, but what the heck is going on with his hair lately? And, do you think he's had some "work" done? I just can't figure it out. He's almost creepy.

For the football nuts. I am sorry to see Jeff leave the Eagles too. [Insert sad music here]

I hated Jennifer's dress too. Poor girl looked like a space cadet at the Oscars. She will be regretting THAT fashion choice for the rest of her life.

I am totally digging this as storage for David's playroom. I might just buy it!

Happy to report that I lost another 3 lbs. at the weekly WW weigh-in. For some reason everyone in town has decided to join WW. I had to wait in line outside the door, and it took 35 minutes to get to the scale. I PAY for that crap.

Oh, and I spent another lovely morning at the lab for a blood draw, but today hubby went with me because he got blood drawn too. Too bad he can't participate in next week's fun at the RE's office. I'll tell you about that later....

On the path... again...

If you have no interest in fertility, you can stop reading here. lol.

This blog is going to be leaning heavily to the babymaking business in the coming months... but I promise I will still stay as witty as ever. Lord knows I'll need all the humor I can muster with all that lies ahead. Please hang with me, won't you?

I had my RE appointment today. For once, I walked out of a doctor appointment feeling good.

The doctor spent an hour and a half with me. It was truly nice to not feel rushed and to be educated on all things fertility related. What a nice appointment. He lifted my spirits, and that is something I sorely needed.

You rock, doc!

For the next three weeks, I am at the mercy of my new favorite doctor. More blood tests (now S. gets in on the action too), some genetic testing, and finally this month I get my Day 3 FSH testing too see how old me "body" thinks I am (i.e. my eggs).

And, this cycle will be fully monitored. Which means, appointments and ultrasounds out the wazoo.

I came home with a handful of information, and finally, some optimism. Considering I've spent the last year and a half spinning my wheels, this will be a welcome schedule.

{sigh}

That's me breathing a little better today... or at least until the medical bills start rolling in.

Thinking ahead isn't far enough!

I just returned from an open house at our local church for preschool enrollment. I am really dumbfounded at how stressful this has become for me and other Moms in the same position as I am.

At issue, S. and I are discussing whether David will attend Catholic school or public for Kindergarten and beyond. I am on the fence... I want David to receive a good, well-balanced and thoughtful education. It's really all about the best environment, and S. agrees.

Getting in to the local Catholic school is very difficult. It comes down to connections and who you know (and how much you throw into the collection plate week to week). It has a very good reputation. It's not "expensive", well, let me say that I am spending $9-10k a year for 4 full-days of preschool (yup, only four). Tuition for the Catholic school runs about $4k/year. So, to someone not paying already, it's a big expenditure, but to us, it's waaaay less than what we have been paying for the last 3 years.

Our public school system is not bad, but it is horribly overcrowded. The reputation locally is better than others, but certainly not at the top of the heap. We pay an incredibly high property tax here in our state. Most goes to school taxes... in theory, public school is "free", so to speak, but the school taxes I pay are thousands of dollars a year.

So, we heard thru the grapevine of parents that in order to get "preferred" status at the Catholic school, you are best having your child already enrolled in the preschool and be a parishioner.

Well... we are parishioners, but David obviously not in the preschool program. So I go there today with 50 or so other parents only to find out (after a 40 minutes presentation) that there is only 2 slots for the fall. IN THE PRESCHOOL. for 4 year olds, because, most of the 3 yr olds are already moving up to take most of the slots.

So, I walked out. Annoyed. I will not camp out on March 7 for registration with hundreds of other parents for just TWO slots. I've heard about registration day there, and it's not pretty. However, I bet it's entertaining watching Christian parents push and shove and act in a very UN-christian like manner for a slot in preschool.

So, if we still want to start David off in Kindergarten there, we will need a wing and a prayer come this time next year.

I growing very grumpy with all of this, and it's totally stressing me out.

On top of everything, if he goes to public school, we will then have to deal with the half-day kindergarten thing, and there is not any decent before/aftercare in my township which throws a whole other wrench in my plans.

I love the preschool he is in now, but it's sadly in another township, so we won't be able to continue there or use their after-school care since they won't provide transportation to our public school. I am very bummed about that.

Any Moms (especially working moms) out there having similar issues or thinking about this subject? I'd love to hear what you are thinking about. I need ideas!!

Please tell me I am not the only Mom stressing out about this.

Save me Jack Bauer!

I love this show.

No, really, I LOVE this show.

How does Jack always manage to save the day?

Are you about to be shot by a terrorist? Jack will save you.
Being chased by a criminal on the streets? Don't worry, Jack's got that covered. He's just about to swing by and pick you up in his SUV in about 3 seconds.
Are you being tortured by people who have an exceedingly large bag of torture devices? No problemo! Jack will save you and bite the neck of your torturer to allow you to escape and run free.

I imagine how much I could use Jack Bauer in my life as a Mom. This guy is useful in so many ways... let me give you a couple of ideas...

Kitchen Fires:
Me: "Jack, help! My skillet caught fire on the stove!"
Jack flies into the kitchen, and puts out the fire with a fire extinguisher and his rippling arm muscles.

Unwanted solicitors at the door:
Me: "Jack help! I don't want to buy meat from this guy... please just get rid of him!"
Jack grabs meat man by the collar and sternly warns him that if he e-v-e-r frequents my doorstep again, he will seek him out and make his life a. living. hell.

Heavy Lifting:
Me: "Jack, I really need to move the China cabinet so I can vacuum the baseboard"
Jack lifts the cabinet with one arm and vacuums under it with the other. Sheer strength. And he doesn't break a sweat.

Taxi services:
Situation: Daycare calls, my son is sick and needs to be picked up and I am in the middle of a conference call.
Jack: "I'll call CTU and have a tac team pick David up with a medical doctor and he will be home in no time".

Disputes with neighbors:
My neighbor has left boxes and trash on my beautifully manicured front lawn (don't laugh, this is true)
Jack [to neighbor]: "Pick up your trash or I will see that you will never mow another lawn.... in... your.. life!"

Personal care:
Me: "I really need a pedicure and manicure, this cold winter weather has really wrecked my nails."
Jack: "I know people that can help you, I'll make a call... just... trust... me".

Putting together toys:
Me: "Jack, I need your help to put together David's Dinosaur Kingdom Set."
Jack: "Let me get Chloe on the phone. 'Chloe, can you pull up the schematics for a "Dinosaur Kingdom" and use the satellite to get the coordinates for the nearest Home Depot, I think I need an allen wrench for this one'".


See? See how much Jack can help?

Well, you can't have him. After he is retired with the TV series, he's mine. Of course, you are free to visit me to have lunch on the porch.

Jack grills a mean burger too....

Captain Hooker and his band of merry thieves

David has a thing for pirates. Pirate ships, treasure, good pirates, bad pirates, treasure maps.

When he eats his yogurt in the morning, he says, "Mommy, I'm digging for treasure!"

So we bought him the yogurt with the fruit on the bottom, because that's as close to finding treasure in a yogurt cup as you can get.

He likes Peter Pan too, because..... well there's Captain Hook (a pirate) and his other favorite thing, crocodiles. When he sees the Peter Pan video or we read the book, he cheers when Tick-Tock (the croc) tries to bite Captain Hooker (he says Hooker, we keep correcting him, but Captain Hooker it is I guess).

So why am I telling you this?

Trust me, there is a payoff bloggy friend...

David's 4th birthday is in May. We got a catalog in the mail that has party supplies for kids, so I told him to start thinking about what theme he wanted for his party this year.

Of course, he goes straight to the Pirate section.

And, he says this:

"Mommy, I am happy to have a party.
I want a pirate party.
I want a big cake with icing, and candles to blow out.
I want pirate hats for my cousins and grandpas.
I want a big gift.
I would like to have sparkly to drink (that's Sprite if you are wondering), and I want lots of hugs.
.....and I want a hooker."

ROFL, I was so sad that husband was not in the room to hear the last sentence. I laughed so hard I almost peed my pants.

David walked over to me, and said... "no hooker? how do I get a hooker?"

I told him to ask his Dad about it. I'm sure that was a good conversation after S. stopped laughing long enough to answer him.

And, the upside is that I laughed so hard I think I burned enough calories to account for the piece of chocolate I had after dinner.

Priceless!

The evil empire of chicken

I recently made my monthly (weekly, lol) pilgrimage to Target. You know, the one I LOVE with the Starbucks in it... and I almost drove off the road when I pulled into the shopping center.

There, positioned in front of the parking lot of perhaps the greatest department store conglomerate in the world with the heavenly scent of Lattes drifting out... was...

a Chick-Fil-A

OMG, now let me say this. I am not into fast food. I can appreciate McDonald's french fries, but I don't frequent fast food because the grease just tears up my stomach. So, as a rule I try to avoid them, except when the little guy wants his Happy Meal.

But holy, moly, a Chick-Fil-A!!!!!!

I had visions of chicken nuggets, waffle fries and yummy cole slaw.

I told my son we will never frequent McD's again.... a Happy Meal is good (to him) but a kids meal at Chick-Fil-A??? Heaven.

Since that day, hubby, David and I have driven by to see the progress of the store as it was being built.

OMG! The bricks are up!

OMG! They are starting on the inside of the restaurant!

OMG! It looks like they are almooooost open!

I know,

it's sad. but we all have our things, right?

So if you are looking for me, you better believe I will be in the shopping center on Cross Keys Road on a pretty regular basis.

Oh yeah........

I'll be the woman with the Target bags, Starbucks non-fat soy latte, and a chicken sandwich.

Don't worry, I won't wear my sweats. I might scare you.

Just a temporary thing

I know, I know, I changed my blog template. This isn't the new version, I just got tired looking at the shaded brown background.

I have a new look hopefully coming soon from Susie over at Bluebird Blogs. Until then, this is just a rest stop. ;-)

And, if you are a keen observer, you'll notice I have my own domain now! www.bagmomma.net

Don't worry though, if you link to my old blogger url, you'll be forwarded to the new site automatically.

Random thoughts

It's Monday.... President's Day. Do you have off for this fine holiday? I don't. It's just another working day for me. But if you do have a vacation day today, enjoy it!

David was sick over the weekend. He had a low-grade fever, and spent most of the weekend puking. Poor little guy. Yesterday, he spent the better part of the day curled up with me on the recliner. Feeling much better today though.

Poor Britney, has that girl lost her flippin' mind? I guess if you are rich and famous, having a rough patch in life is a paparazzi dream. Girl needs a mentor. Someone to smack her back into reality.

I am geek enough to say that I am anticipating the next installment of Dancing With the Stars. It's a guilty pleasure. Rumor has leaked out that "90210" star Ian Ziering and *NSYNC member Joey Fatone are two of the celebs joining this season.

On a personal note, I lost 3 lbs. at Weight Watchers this week! Cheers to me.

Because a new bag always makes BagMomma smile...

Did I just talk about myself in the third person? lol.

I am adding this bag to my wish list.

This is one handbag in a line of Hayden-Harnett limited editions inspired by Paule Marrot's signature prints (as featured on FabSugar).

Think of it as art meets totally fabulous fashion accessory.

The rest of the collection is here.

Sign me up!!!

If it ain't broke, how do you fix it?

So, I got back my last test results of my fertility work up, and

tada!

all normal.

While I love to know that I am the poster-child for fertile normalcy, I am growing more concerned that finding nothing to fix is much more difficult than being defective.

So, at this point, my OB agreed to transfer my bloodwork and history to an RE (Reproductive Endocrinologist).

For...

you guessed it... more bloodwork.

If anything, the hope is that I can at least get pregnant faster, so if I am doomed to miscarrying again and again I don't lose more valued time as I creep further towards (gasp) 40 years of age.

So call me gloomy today. It's hard not to grow more ambivalent about all of this, but I won't give up... not yet anyway.

It took them since last August to figure this out??

So, I'm half-listening to Good Morning America this morning, and I hear there's a recall on Peter Pan peanut butter.

hmmm, I think.... I just opened a new jar of Peter Pan.

Salmonella! I hear

People hospitalized!

still typing my e-mail, half listening...

I hear the lot number in question...

I happen to walk into the kitchen, and look at the jar just for kicks (because I am never, ever affected by a recall) and,

holy smokes! I have a jar of salmonella peanut butter!

Then it dawns on me that I sent David to school with an infected sandwich.

Crud.

So, I call the school, tell them to throw out the sandwich. No problem, they say. They are doing pizza today anyway since they are having a belated valentine's day party today (school was closed yesterday from the ice storm we had here).

Disaster averted.

I know David is probably so mad right now, because next to chicken nuggets and broccoli his favorite food is PB&J.

Read about the recall here, and check those jars!
Peanut Butter recall

That would be a cheesesteak wit' pleeze

Wow, I always thought I had a moderate accent that couldn't be defined to the region I live in, but lookee here.... I guess I am from Joisey. who'd a thunk? lol.

If you click on the box, you can take the quiz too.

What American accent do you have? Your Result: Philadelphia   Your accent is as Philadelphian as a cheesesteak! If you're not from Philadelphia, then you're from someplace near there like south Jersey, Baltimore, or Wilmington. if you've ever journeyed to some far off place where people don't know that Philly has an accent, someone may have thought you talked a little weird even though they didn't have a clue what accent it was they heard.
The Northeast
The Midland
The Inland North
The South
Boston
The West
North Central
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

Sweetheart Day

[click image to enlarge]

Hope you all are doing something nice this day, and not so stressful. :)

Mommy blogging: the good, the bad, the tragically hip

James Poniewozik just penned an article for Time magazine, titled
Too Cool for Preschool

In it, he talks about what he calls "the new species of chatty dad and mom: the hipster parent-memoirist."

Are mommy and daddy bloggers like me doing a disservice to our little ones by putting their life moments on display?? on, (gasp) the internet??

I don't think so. My writing is about me and my life, my struggles as a working mom/wife, my thoughts (on *many* things as you already know), and my son is a big part of who I am.

I will continue to blog, and I hope that my memories (funny/serious) give David a viewpoint of who I am (and who I was). I would hope he wouldn't be embarrassed of me, but you know what... kids being embarrassed by their parents is nothing new.
A tale as old as time....

The fact is, I was born into the generation of technology. My son, even more so. It's the way of the world, and I don't think blogging is a passing fad, it's here today and probably will only be replaced by newer and bigger ways for people to share and collaborate.

And on the subject of living our lives through our kids, when is that new? I would imagine if you are an artist your child may have a better appreciation of the art world than another. It is what it is. Whether you are hip/not hip, the natural tendency for parents to live a little of what they loved/missed as a child is nothing new either.

My husband buys our son Harley Davidson shirts all the time, because it's my husband's hobby, and David loves to wear those shirts, because they represent Daddy, and something Daddy loves.

David knows most of the words to the songs of my U2 collection, he knows mommy loves to carry "so many" purses (that's his lingo), and he can spot a Saturn car on the road because his Daddy works for Saturn.

As far as "hipness" as a parent, if I am does that make my kid hip too? Perhaps, but consider this...

If you spend a lot of time listening to the Sex Pistols, why wouldn't your kid? "Hipness" really doesn't matter... children get joy from things their parents enjoy. No one is purposefully raising a child to be "hip". We raise our kids in the only way we know how, and children have a knack for emulating their parents because that's just nature.

Labelling should be avoided at all costs, because we all know where that road leads don't we?

Lots to think about.

The best laid plans....

So now that I got that out of system (I feel so much better!) I wanted to mention I had a great anniversary dinner with S.

The in-laws took David for the whole night, and we were excited. What trouble could we get into just the two of us? We thought about driving to our favorite late-night spot and having some fun. Doing something unplanned and spontaneous! We got dressed up, full of energy...

We went to our favorite restaurant for lobster. It was out of this world. The kind of meal that you fondly remember for days...

Then we decided to stop at home, to "rest" for a bit.

Hmmmm.. where will we go, what will we do??? And, then, this exchange:

Me: so what do you want to do?
Hubby: what do you want to do?
Me: I don't know, I'm thinking...
[5 minutes passes while we watch TV]
Hubby: so whatta you want to do?
Me: I don't know, maybe...... what do you want to do?
[silence for 30 seconds]
Hubby [scrolling thru the OnDemand cable menu]: oh, I wanted to see this movie.
Me: awesome, I'll go get changed!

And so ended our night out. lol.

Of course, it actually turned out really, really nice. And, we slept in.. without our 5am wakeup call from the little guy.

A great night indeed.

Wow, didn't you know you are famous?

I am getting a little annoyed at the evening "entertainment" shows.

Ok... really annoyed.

I am okay if they want to do story after story on the supposed "anorexic" celebrities. I don't care about the anorexic celebrities. Really, I don't. Whatever floats your boat. I guess when you have money, it's appropriate to starve yourself, and the logic in that just doesn't add up for me... but to each is own.

I say, go eat a donut.

Hell, I'll have it for you, Mary Kate, Nicole, Kate... in fact, I'll have one for each of you.

However, the thing that has outraged me lately is the stories these "entertainment" shows give airtime to... Real people with issues. People who are NOT entertainers. No-names like me. People that need medical intervention... not a camera in their face.

Case in point, the recent story "The Insider" kicked to death on the two Australian twins who were anorexics. Will they live? Will they die? Let's watch then eat a meal, let's send a (formerly) anorexic celebrity to show them the light to a good burger!!! Let's see if they die while we are broadcasting their story! Great ratings!

I cringed at this, what the hell? THAT is entertainment??? Must have been a slow month with no recently "weight-outed" celebs.

Recently, they did it again.... covering a "news" story about a 5 yr old little girl who weighs 400 pounds. They show her struggling to move, breath, sit. The cameras zoom in on her face, trying to make a case that they are "sad" for her. Between the TV lines, you can just hear the message being delivered. Poor fat girl, look at her family, what do you expect? Circus side-show and all... tragic.

Even Dr. Phil would have offered the family some help.

I was so pissed at this segment I stopped watching the show, so I don't know the end of the story.

But let me say this to CBS, who supports these type of stories on celeb-driven news shows. You suck. There are better ways to make a dime.

I won't spend another moment viewing your "entertainment". Instead of exposing people to your version of low-brow stories and calling it entertainment, why don't you take a step back and do something really innovative...

Deliver celebrity news. You're just so good at that.

TGIF

It's been a looooong week. I'm off to attempt to find a gift for hubby (it's our 12th anniversary this weekend).

Have a great weekend!

The best of: David TV

What is a three year old toddler watching these days on TV?

My son is the conoisseur of the PBS Kids Sprout channel. He's a cartoon snob, can't get him to watch Nick Jr or Disney anymore, it's all about PBS.

Here is a list of his favorites he likes to watch as he sits back with this "2007 Reserve" cup of Apple Juice:

Kipper: He's a dog with friends, and an annoyingly cute theme song.

Fireman Sam: What's life without firetrucks? David has been watching this show the longest. Interesting viewing for parents who always wondered what's going on in Wales. Apparently, the world revolves around Sam and an Italian restaurant (go figure). Let's not forget Norman's Mom who looks AND sounds suspiciously like Dana Carvey's Church Lady (from SNL)... or a cross-dressing George Bush.

Caillou: ah yes, the ever-present Caillou. I think I know all 50 episodes by heart. Poor sister Rosie is always pushed off to the side while Caillou whines to his parents on each episode. What is with this family? At least the cat, Gilbert, Rexy the Dinosaur, and Teddy (the bear) offer mild entertainment between sketches.

Mommy wars

If you've been lurking around the blogosphere of mommy blogs, then you already know about the scandal that came of the original Today Show segment in January on "Cocktail Playdates" and the drama that ensued.

Well, if you missed it, Part II in the debate aired on the Today show yesterday this time with fellow mommy blogger Stefanie Wilder-Taylor facing Meredith Viera and Dr. Janet Taylor. See the video here>>> http://video.msn.com/v/us/msnbc.htm?g=0a81cac1-52ad-4d34-84d3-5a4dfcea6d43&f=05&fg=copy

I have to say, I am surprised how much talk this stimulated, and of the negative kind.... it does seem like this topic propelled an interesting conversation into Mom-on-Mom bashing. Which is sad, because we are all in this together, after all.

Stefanie was right, who needs another thing to feel guilty about as a Mom. I don't see anything wrong with having a glass of wine in front of my son. I am showing him moderation. It's not like we are swilling a bottle and hanging from the chandeliers....

Some of these people who are condemning women who have an occasional drink in the company of a child need to lighten up. There is a stop point, and no responsible Mom will deliberately get rip-roaring drunk. I said responsible, which in my heart of hearts I believe applies to most of us level-headed women.

I am okay with the idea of a designated parent.... many times hubby and I go to dinner with my son, and one of us will stop after ONE drink, because it's the right thing to do.

And I do think there is a double-standard when it comes to Moms vs. Dads. How many Dads do you think flung back a few beers on Superbowl Sunday in the company of their kids? Where's the hub-bub on that??

As a Mom, I try very hard to not make judgements about other Moms... because I certainly don't want them judging me. Not that that hasn't happened in the past... look at the subject of breastfeeding (there are plenty of Moms that pointed me in the direction of hell for bottle feeding my son). But I forgive them, and my son is just fine.

Let's stop bitch-slapping each other and say what we all feel... parenting is hard. Harder still is appearing perfect all day/every day. Our kids want to look up to us, and having one drink is not making us lesser role-models to them. It makes us human.

Cheers

The medicine cabinet tells all

I did something last night that I have not done in a few years.

I cleaned out my medicine cabinet.

Not that I didn't have the time to before (well, that is true in most cases) but I think the breaking point was our medicines and therapeutic items were scattered too far beyond the bathroom ...

I couldn't find an aspirin, or my cough medicine for my sore throat Monday night at 1:30am.

I was finding Flintstone vitamins in a junk drawer, Pepto Bismol in my makeup bag, Advil in my spice rack, and Neosporin in my sock drawer. I can't blame everything leaving its appropriate place on my toddler son, most of the time stuff walks away because I am too lazy to put it back.

Sue me.

K, let me first say that I was N-E-V-E-R one of those people who ever snooped in someone else's medicine cabinet. What a dumb idea, I mean, who does that??? I have no desire to see that my parent's have hemorrhoid cream, or worse. I found enough weird crap when I was living at home as a kid, some things that would scare the bejeeezus out of a teenager!

Yeah, so not kidding.

So, before I started hauling items in the trash bag, I looked at my medicine cabinet as a whole. What does its contents say about me? If someone was snooping in my stuff, would they laugh, cry, throw-up, deem me mentally ill??

Here is what I found:
One latex rubble glove
An empty box of Superman Band-Aids
An (almost empty) box of Dora The Explorer Band-Aids
Expired mini tube of toothpaste
Pericolace, expired 7/2004 (yeah, that was from when I was pregnant with David
Advil, expired 11/2005
Oxycontin (NO, I am not addicted to Class II drugs, I was legally prescribed this after my C-section) 11 pills left in the bottle which expired 5/2004
A magnifying glass (don't ask
paint swatches for the bathroom color
random cough drops, some of which may have been there for a looooong time
Hydrogen peroxide
First aid tape
a barette
Kid's Tylenol
4 rubber bands
about 8 kinds of decongestants (only one not expired
a toothpick

What does this say about me? I give you my interpretation:
1. Hubby and I have too many allergies
2. I am not a drug dealer, otherwise I could have sold the Oxycontin
3. My son uses a lot of band-aids
4. Perhaps I like to dabble in CSI Investigation (hence the magnifying glass and rubber glove).
5. I need to clean out expired items more often.

Pretty much 80% of the contents went into the trash or flushed down the toilet. After I gathered the other items from around the house that rightfully belong in the medicine cabinet, I checked the expiration dates (I swear I did), put everything back and breathed a sigh of relief.

So, if you want to snoop in my medicine cabinet, come on by.

I'm ready.

Illnesses R Us

We've all been under the weather here, but I seem to have gotten the worst of it. I have had a never-ending sore throat that is on Day 4. David is still sniffling and coughing, even after the meds he started on Friday of last week. S. is now waiting for a relapse of what he had last week.

I hate the winter for this rash of illnesses that always seem to stick around. I know experts will say that the cold has no effect over how frequent or severe colds and viruses are, but what then is the reasoning for the spike of illnesses in the winter, every winter?

It snowed an inch or two last night, and you'd think it was a foot of snow. Hello, people!? We live in the Northeast, where there's S-N-O-W.

I rescheduled a bunch of my AM conference calls so I could take a tour of a local preschool at our church this morning. I arrive promptly at 9am, and the tour is cancelled... but no one called to notify me.

Now I am annoyed so I decide, what the heck, I am out, might as well do something productive.. I went to Weight Watchers to weigh in, and oops, snow delay... no one was there yet. I got a cup of coffee and waited in the car for the place to open.

I think it's just going to be one of those days.

Perhaps I should cancel my day, take some Nyquil and go back to bed. There's an idea.

The possessed pony

We gave David this pony the Christmas before last. It was the hit of the holiday.

When you press it's ear it plays "Home on the Range".
When you press the other ear, it makes a galloping sound.

David named his pony, Horsie, and lately it's been collecting dust in out newly finished basement.

Horsie obviously is not happy with his living situation, as he has now taken to singing when no one is in the room, not even on the same floor.

I've been on the phone upstairs, on a business call (no one home but me) and Horsie sings the entire first verse. At Random.

Is pony possessed? I am not entirely sure what the story is, but I have a hard time understanding how it could just start singing without someone pressing his ear. Sometimes I think he is crying out for attention. Poor pony. Maybe he needs a pony friend.

Very odd indeed.

Be glad if yours isn't "highway to hell"

Do you have a life "theme" song?

I was watching TV last week, the new show Brothers and Sisters (which I can't decide if I like it or not... you know, the one with Callista Flockhart) which reminded me of Ally McBeal. Loved that show, btw.

Anyway, if you remember, in the show Ally had a "theme song", a song that she went to whenever life was down, disconnected, sad, etc.... I think I remember it being "My Everything" by Barry White. When life handed her a raw deal, she would think of the song and it would immediately perk her up. At the time, I remember thinking how stupid that was... sorta like the dancing baby and the odd occurrences in the unisex bathroom. Just a plot ploy to beg for laughs.

Anyhoo, this got me wondering, do I have a theme song for my life? The harder I thought about it, the more songs came to mind... and my little reflection ended up keeping me awake in bed one night thinking about it.

I had songs in my head, not so much an overall song, but ones that defined my life at the time.

Example, the high school years... probably would have to be "Purple Rain" or anything off of that album (yes, I said album). It was the epitome of teenage angst and an anthem for being different. Much like Nirvana was to teens of the 90's, I guess. I can remember blasting Purple Rain and feeling so much emotion. When I got banished to my room by my parents for issue du jour, it was my saving grace. Prince saved my teenage years from going too bad, I think. lol.

Flash forward to the late eighties, my college years. the song that came to mind first was not a song I especially liked, but rather one that I couldn't escape... "Welcome to the Jungle" (Guns + Roses). Memories of frat parties in the basement of the Phi Kap house, and the lovely combination of beer and ammonia sloshing between your toes (which is why most girls would stand on the benches that lined the basement to get our flip flops out of the ickyiness). Music of choice, anything that you could dance to and went well with beer. For that reason, I also must note that my all-time HATED song of college was "Paradise by the Dashboard Light", which was always played at the end of the night when you were too drunk to care. College of course was the years of the unknown, no one really knew what life held for them, but it was college life in the big city that ruled. I was young, we were young, and life was all that lay ahead. And it was exciting.

Then, the 90's, which were the years of my first job out of college, and marrying my honey. I was so afraid to cry walking down the aisle on my wedding day, so I sang a peppy Vince Gill song in my head ("One More Last Chance") to keep my mind off of the wedding march song. It worked. And if you don't know country music, that won't make much sense.

Of course, along the way, there are many songs that could have easily been applied before I had David, when S. and I worked to earn our first house. I was in my oldies phase for a while and loved listening to 70's music, a la Diana Ross "she works hard for the money".

And then there was 2003 when our little bundle of joy arrived and set our lives into a tailspin, being parents for the first time. S. and I would get teary eyed listening to Alan Jackson's "Remember When", which marked so many milestones we already achieved.

Remember when old ones died and new were born
And life was changed, disassembled, rearranged
We came together, fell apart
And broke each other's hearts
Remember when

Remember when the sound of little feet
was the music
We danced to week to week
Brought back the love, we found trust
Vowed we'd never give it up
Remember when

Remember when thirty seemed so old
Now lookn' back it's just a steppin' stone
To where we are,
Where we've been
Said we'd do it all again
Remember when


I know I am getting old when I cry at a favorite 80's song, something that is completely not a depressing song, but one that holds so many life memories. Such as the Pretenders, "Don't Get Me Wrong":

Dont get me wrong
If I come and go like fashion
I might be great tomorrow
But hopeless yesterday

Dont get me wrong
If I fall in the mode of passion
It might be unbelievable
But lets not say so long
It might just be fantastic
Dont get me wrong

Lately, I've grown philosophical about aging. The crazy thing about getting older is the years tick by but the longer and faster they move along, you still feel like a kid. I may be pushing 40, but I still feel the little girl alive and well.

When we are young, we are in such a hurry to move forward, and after a certain point, you want to freeze in time, just for a little while. Reflection becomes an asset, and seeing the past in 20/20 is inescapable...

15 there's still time for you
Time to buy, Time to lose yourself
Within a morning star
15 I'm all right with you
15, there's never a wish better than this
When you only got 100 years to live
Half time goes by
Suddenly you’re wise
Another blink of an eye
67 is gone
The sun is getting high
We're moving on...


So, unlike Ally, I don't think I can come up with a life theme song. There are just too many to choose from and I am not prepared to lock in on one. Plus, I am finicky, and if I choose one, I'll undoubtedly want to change it later. So, what's the point?

I'll take them all.

Happy Birthday to me

This is the last birthday I will celebrate. From now on, I will be counting backwards with the goal of reaching my 29th birthday in 10 years. :-)

This isn't the best birthday I've had considering the drama of the week, however, I am in good spirits knowing I have a lot of cyber friends who wish me luck and good cheer.

So, thanks to all of you... friends new and old.

System Failure

Well, on the eve of my birthday, I am rewarded with not just the knowledge that my reproductive system is not working well, now I find out my immune system has also checked out on me.

Or disappointed me I should say.

I have a lousy, yucky cold (or the beginnings of the flu methinks). Chills, headache, sore throat... etc.

Oh yeah, and PINK eye too (complements of my son's preschool class). David has it too, and now hubby likely as well... so we are all sharing the same Gentamicin eyedrops.

David cried bloody murder this morning when I was trying to dispense said eyedrops. Does he think I do this for fun??

He was allowed back to school today, and when the teacher greeted him, David said....
"My Mommy really hurted me".

You should have heard me explaining the morning to his teacher. I'm sure if I didn't say anything CPS would be at my door.

And it's not even the end of the week yet.

Coffee/tea addicts rejoice!

My Mom gave me the best appliance gift I have EVER received last week (lord knows I needed it), and I am dying to tell you about it.

The Keurig Platinum B70 Brewer

Quite possibly the best invention and coffee/tea maker I've ever had. Freaking amazing!! And for those of you who know me, I take my coffee brewing very seriously.

It makes one cup on demand (of coffee, tea, hot chocolate, etc). A hot cup! And, you use these little mini k-cups (sorta like the pod thingies). They are so convenient, and easy to setup. I love the fact that you get the high intensity burst of steam at the end of the brew cycle, so if you add your milk/cream prior to brewing in the cup, it froths the top.

Mimimum cleanup!
Maximum Freshness!

And, I bought my own k-cup whatchmajiggle, so I can use my own favorite beans (currently Trader Joe's French Roast) to make a steaming hot cup of coffee. Which is so much better than some of the other one-cup machines which don't allow you to use anything besides k-cups or pods.

This is a must buy, especially for the work at home mommies and daddies who don't have time to haul ass to the local coffeeshop for a decent cup of coffee.

Buy one, you won't regret it....