A Rant about How Times Have Changed and a Homage to a Great Cusack Flick

So I've been watching a lot of throw back 80's movies lately. Last night hubs and I watched April Fools' Day, a horror flick that I'm sure everyone remembers seeing in the video store as a kid and wishing you could rent it but your parents would never allow it...Tell me you remember walking past thi video cover over and over again, it was right near Sleepaway Camp and The Blob in the Horror Section of Blockbuster!

and tonight I watched the ultimate romantic 80s iconic classic, Say Anything. John Cusack's finest work IMHO. Just look at those tapered pants and that weird trench coat with the rolled up sleeves? I love it and hate it all at once.
   I was noticing some really similar traits in both movies that are so different from movies today. These are subtleties that you don't notice changing over time but then you throw in an old movie and it's like so glaringly obvious its weird.

Like for instance, the girls that play the lead roles in the movies are not gorgeous. They are kind of normal looking, like totally average with flaws and small chests and hair out of place and crooked teeth. Its weird to see, to be honest with you. I even found myself fixated on it a few times, like really noticing the Diane Court's teeth are kind of funny and you would NEVER see a movie today where a lead role was cast to a girl with funny teeth. And even in today's movies the characters are always impeccably dressed, as if the character in the story has a personal stylist. It is rare these days to find movies who show raw characters who depict realistic people, and when they do they get academy awards for their honest portrayal...isn't the point of acting to portray life or people realistically? But if you think about it, most movies now are so unrealistic we've come to believe that everyone just happens to have fake boobs and sparkly white veneers in this alternate movie world when really they are the oddities...does this make sense? It feels like a ramble. But let me show you how romantic it is when two imperfect people have a really perfect love scene:  It is way sexier than any contrived sex scene between a botoxed babe or chiseled stud of 2012. But maybe that just makes me sappy and nostalgic.

The other difference is the editing! 80's movies are full of totally irrelevant scenes that would never make the cut today. I think movies have progressed to a point where they want to cram as much action as they can into two hours so that the audience is totally mind blown and so they make every single scene count and add to the plot, there is never room for meandering. In an 80's movie there might be a scene thrown in just because it is weird or funny or a girl shows her boobs or something crazy like that. It's not until the end of the movie where you might stop and think--wait, what did that have to do with anything?

And the houses are like NORMAL PEOPLE houses. They have mismatched furniture and average doily looking place mats that you would never see in a house in a movie today. Now characters in movies live in lofts that people dream of and have interior designers picking out the perfect floral print pillow to match the pin stripe in the curtain.

To be honest, I think it's all kind of gross. Movies today compared with the 1980's is just another way of making all of us feel inadequate. Like, I bought my rug at Home Depot and I can't afford liposuction so I guess I'm never going to be as happy as Cameron Diaz... That's crapola. I'm sick of it. There's no reason why a girl with a little buck teeth can't score a guy like John Cusack. I hate that we all buy into it, too, we are the force that drives these crazy celebrities to become more and more barbie-like and then we turn around and criticize it. It's a weird, sick cycle. I miss the good old days when people  might have been measured by their inner chemistry rather than the amount of primping they've done that morning and wearing a smile was more important than wearing Chanel or Marc Jacobs or whatever...i don't even know, i shop at target for god's sake.

seriously, look at his grimy bathroom which he refers to as his "office" lol:


Also can I add--I've realized my true celebrity crushes are totally from the 80s and I can't get past them and still don't have any current celebrity crushes that match up. #1 Obvi is Patrick Swayze, #2 Michael J Fox, #3 John Cusack--um pre 1408 John Cusack, thank you very much, and #4 is Jason Patrick---remember him?? Yeah you do!

Two sides of the coin

I brought both of my boys to the polls with me today to vote. It was complicated, of course, bundling them up to face the cold, unloading the double stroller, making our way through sign holders and citizens to get our ballot....but at the same time it was cool, I felt proud that no matter what the circumstances, I was going out there to cast my vote.

Next to me at the polls was this really old man who had a magnifying glass to read the ballot and he ended up needing assistance from the poll workers and it struck me, watching him, how important it is to go out there and vote and care and carry on the tradition that our ancestors fought so hard to win for us. Being from mass I hear it all the time that my vote doesn't count but I don't care, I like at least adding to the masses. If my guy wins our state by 101 votes, I want to be that one voice that pushed it from 100 to 101, if my guy loses, well, maybe I could be a part of the group that shows everyone else hey, we might have lost, but look at all of these people who wanted the other guy. 

I've joked that this election has brought out the worst in me. I don't usually get involved in political debates but I've felt fired up lately because I feel like this election has more to do with humanity than anything else and it seems to me that some people overlook that when the issue of money is in their face. The thing is, I don't exactly agree with the whole Obamacare thing and I definitely think that the welfare system needs to be totally revamped, although I'm still in favor of helping people out. In my opinion those rich people who don't want to pay more in taxes do not necessarily Work harder than the blue collar/no collar guy bringing in 35 grand a year and besides that, those rich guys make their money off of the bottom feeders anyway so in my opinion I don't think it's too big of a deal to spread the love a bit. I cant stand when people automatically think that poor people are lazy...i just don't think the two go hand in hand and i'm guessing that those people who say those things have never really known what it feels like to be poor and working your tail off every day just to pay the bills.

But when it comes to human rights I just can't imagine voting for Romney... I understand that he probably won't focus his four years on overturning birth control, abortion, or gay marriage laws, but just having him in office knowing what he would like to do is what scares me. How can a rich white man tell a poor woman from a minority what she should do with her body? He's never had to walk in her shoes, how could he claim to know what's best for her?  Don't even get me going on gay rights... I'm for them. How about I put it like that. 

But after talking with a woman that I have a lot of respect for who has totally opposite views than I do, it occurred to me that Obama might have a lot of things to work on too. I don't want to live in a socialist country and some people view his tactics as socialist.  Taking soda machines and snacks out of schools, for starters, isn't the right way to go about making America healthy. Providing cost efficient healthy choices is the American way, not demanding that kids only bring carrot sticks and yogurts to share with their class for their birthday.

Needless to say I definitely think our country needs a little shave and a haircut, but also, holy crap I'm so glad I live in America, where I even have the opportunity to call my friend sexist for not liking elizabeth warren, because in some countries I'd have my tongue cut out for talking like that.

Anyway, closing thoughts.... People have been so nasty on Facebook the last few weeks as they struggled to support their candidate and I'm looking forward to this being over with.  I had two people  who I don't even know insult me on a thread that I commented on....and I really am a nice person deep down.... Anyway, their harshness was undeserved by me and I feel a little better after saying so on here. ;)

Manifesting a Life via Facebook

Facebook is a funny thing. Its so thoroughly incorporated into my life since I got an Android phone and have the shortcut to the Facebook app right on my homescreen. Literally, I pick up my phone, click the icon and there's my news feed. There's no effort whatsoever, no signing in, no waiting for the page to load, etc. When I'm not working, I must check it every half hour or so, sometimes more if I'm not particularly busy, and that absolutely seems excessive, doesn't it? The thing is, I'm not like, facebook or social network obsessed at all. When I'm playing with my kids I don't need my phone on me at all times or anything like that. I enjoy many activities that have nothing to do with technology and often times think we'd be better off without all those gadgets sending electronic radio waves through our organs probably growing radioactive cells in our bodies. But the fact of the matter is, I glance at my news feed like one might check the time, just to see if anything new has happened.

I also make a habit to look at my own page now and then. I once posted a status about this and thought I would develop the idea further on here. When I look at my own page a few things pop out at me. One: I'm incredibly funny. Two: my kids are adorable. Three: I post too many statuses about TV shows that I'm into and that worries my husband.  :) 

No seriously. Sometimes looking back at my posts makes me laugh and think, wow, I can't believe I told the whole facebook world that random thought I was having. I think it is really important to be self reflective and to take a look at how you are portraying yourself to your facebook community. Really, if you believe in the power of thought and the laws of attraction, facebook is just a place to type out your daily affirmations. Whatever you put out there in the Internet space is what you are manifesting in your own life.  I suggest that everyone takes a look at their facebook page and scroll through your status updates from the last few months. As you know, facebook is not a private blog to vent all of your thoughts as you might a diary, it's a semi-public venue to interact with friends. Are you representing yourself the way you wish to be seen?

The other thing I noticed is that there is something to be said for the people who "like" my statuses. There is a core group of about twenty people or so who interact with and participate in my "facebook world", whether it is liking a picture, commenting on something I've posted or liking one of my crazy status updates just to let me know that they "get it". The people that I see this kind of action from are a motley crew of folks I've met along the way. Some are family, some are acquaintances, some are close friends, some coworkers. Its funny because when I post something really outlandish, it's the people that make the move to "like" it that I appreciate because it makes me think "Ahh! Kindred spirits!" and at times those people are surprising, but as time has gone on, there is a definite pattern and I sometimes feel like having a random get together with those people to see if they would get along in the real world or if it just this weird facebook kismet.

I think I've spent enough of my precious few free minutes of children nap time talking about something so mundane, but such are the workings of my brain.

Substance Free Fun Me

"Sometimes the best way to be yourself is to get to that place where you don't have to be anything else."

Lately I wonder who I am now that I'm not pregnant anymore. I've been either pregnant, trying to get pregnant or post partom for literally two years now. Two years and two months. After all that pregnancy I'm now a mommy--a real mother--and that as well is all consuming. How do you invest all of your love, time, and energy into becoming a mother and being a mother and then have room for your original identity as well. Remember that person that resides inside you prepregnancy?

Well, I'm sitting here, wearing jeans (without an elastic waist), sneakers, and a Red Sox raglan shirt, and I'm actually writing so I guess I'm more me than I have been in many, many years. I went through a long phase after high school where the only time I would be caught dead in a pair of sneakers was if I was at the gym, and even then, they had to be cute sneakers. My sporty high school self would have hated the collegiate me who took a shower, blow dried my hair and put on make up before working out. But then I got over that stage too and I got married and I got pregnant. And now I've been in this maternity clothes phase for quite some time and yes everyone says how cute you look in empire waist shirts and flip flops that are a size bigger than normal, but really--that maternity phase isn't me either, it was just a time in my life where I put all my other life "normals" on hold. When you're pregnant, drinking is on hold, so a lot of your social life is on hold too, besides the fact that bedtime comes a lot sooner when you're sleeping for two. Even sitting comfortably was a problem in the last month of my last pregnancy so who even wants to go anywhere in a car and have to stop every fifteen minutes to find a bathroom? I missed half of my best friend's thirtieth birthday because my feet were so swollen after our chinese food dinner that I wouldn't have been able to keep up with everyone else at the club---not to mention, who wants to see a pregnant chick at a club anyway? Everyone would be like, "don't dance with me--what if your water breaks?" lol.

My point is, in the last few years of fostering the growth of two beautiful fetuses, I've lost touch a little with my old self and even my old friends.

I was noticing on facebook the other day how many people are still friends with the people they were friends with in high school.  It seems like everyone I know still hangs around with their high school best friends except for me.  My two closest friends I've been friends with since before high school, so I can't totally exclude myself completely from this category, but in general, my clique has dissolved. 

I guess it surprises me a little because back then we were like sisters. Originally there were three of us and we did absolutely everything together. We spent so much time together that we habitually shortened words and only said the necessary syllables and yet could still understand each other's conversation. We had sleepovers every weekend, we shared clothes, we knew exactly how many bagel bites the other would eat and who liked the ones with the burnt edges and who didn't. We consistently emptied ketchup bottles at Friendly's and The 99.  We knew each other's hand writing, crushes, fears and favorite names for future children. As we got older, three or four more girls joined our gaggle and we were a solidified "group of friends". Even as we entered college, we still remained close--mostly. But by the time the four years of college were over, all but two of these girls seemd like near strangers.

I always looked at other groups of friends and imagined that there was no way they were as tight as me and my friends, but I must have been mistaken. It's one of the many times that I look back and think, I didn't know it all back then, I guess.

This past weekend, Margaret, my bestie since high school that I still hang out with on the reg, and myself were invited to a birthday party at Jump On In, with our children of course. I haven't had so much fun in ages. Our boys are both toddlers and they of course, enjoyed the bouncy houses, but not as much as their post pardom mothers did. When you enter these little bouncy houses, if you are bigger than say, 75 pounds, your weight makes the walls and floors sort of sink under you. Well, that made Margaret and I laugh hysterically as our little boys would fall into the sink holes we created in the blow up houses. Now that I'm not pregnant and I'm twenty pounds freer, I was jumping and climbing and going down slides with my little man on my lap and it felt good. I didn't realize how much I missed being physical and playing! And having my high school best friend there as well made me feel young again and the sudden connection I had to the girl who I'd buried for the last twelve years began to emerge. We had so much fun--like real, good hearted, old fashioned, substance free fun. Remember slumber parties and laughing so hard that you became light headed drunk on happiness? It was like that.

Hello there, Shan. Nice to see you again.

Why Does Over Priced Flavored Coffee Remind Us of Our Youth?

My husband and I took the kids to Maine last weekend for a perfect fall getaway. We planned to go apple picking, pumpkin buying, and country fair attending.  With all the beautiful scenic driving we did it seems that we saw signs for fall flavored everything everywhere...we started talking about how in the last few years it seems that the pumpkin craze becomes more and more intense each fall.  First it was pumpkin flavored beer. Next came pumpkin donuts, iced coffee, muffins, etc. Recently I saw pumpkin wine. I thought wine was made out of grapes? How does this even happen? Fermented pumpkin? I'm just not sure...

What I've come to realize is that our generation...the Xers and the Yers...are obsessed with trying to capture the moment. Everything we do is to create the ambiance and atmosphere that we hope to look back on and remember fondly someday. We are, so to speak, attempting to live our present lives in the form of fond memories. We subconsciously think that if we have candles that smell like Mom's Famous Apple Pie and if we have drinks by the fire that taste like homemade pumpkin bread then we are creating a cozy life that we can appreciate later on. How many people posted facebook status updates about "hoodie weather and pumpkin lattes" this past weekend when the weather finally felt a little brisk?

The truth is, those memories we have as children that we are trying to hang on to didn't come from scented candles and fruity beer...they came from actually baking apple pies with your family and having a mother who took the time to roast a turkey in the oven all day so it smelled delicious and who after your bath to comb out your hair and tuck you into bed smelling all delicious like Johnson and Johnson's baby shampoo. These are some of the reasons why I couldn't wait to be a mom. I couldn't wait to do things like this with and for my kids. There are specific days that stand out in my mind of my child hood and I often think about what I would have to do as a parent to make sure my kids have those same feelings to look back on.

And yet, on our way to go apple picking, while my children wail in the backseat of the car and I stretch from the passenger seat to search for a binky that has going missing in action I yell to my husband to stop at the nearest Dunkin Donuts because I have a god-darned head ache and I want to finally try this supposed magical thing called pumpkin iced coffee. Here goes nothing.

Freakin Dunkin Donuts, man. They never get it right. After all the anticipation and conversation about pumpkin iced coffee those jerks gave me a medium iced regular. Why do I bother?

A few days later, back in the good old city, I was out running errands.  My goal was to get my grocery shopping done, but I thought, hey, I can't very well grocery shop without a delicious iced coffee...and I still haven't tried that pumpkin flavor....

So then I realized I had to go to the ATM if I was going to get a coffee and I wasn't about to pay a fee and I had no idea where my nearest bank was to the grocery story I'd been heading to. I plugged the bank name into my GPS, followed it blindly until it told me that I had reached my destination, only to find out I was literally in the middle of Rte 1 at just about the only place on the entire stretch of road with not a single business around.  I tried again, found the correct address of the bank, and after that took my in the total opposite direction, I finally found a dunkin donuts, ordered the darn thing, and headed to the grocery store.

You jerks! Pumpkin iced coffee tastes like soap!

Just Another Day in Paradise

So today, at about nine thirty, I had totally planned on writing this blog and entitling it "Super Mom" because that's what I felt like. But let's be serious. Today has been ridiculous.

So since Sunday night Bo hasn't been feeling well. He was up literally all night whining and crying which meant that between Bear's feedings I was trying to calm my bigger boy down enough for any of us to get some sleep. Eventually he ended up in our bed and while that gained us a little shut eye, everyone knows sleeping with a toddler is the sweetest and LEAST comfortable thing you can do. I still have a heel indentation in my cheek to prove it.

This morning started off with everyone waking up too early and wanting to be right in Daddy's way while he got ready for work. While I was pouring some milk into Bo's sippy cup, he was busy dumping the cat's water bowl all over himself and the kitchen floor. Once I had him changed into dry clothes I put him in the living room (with gates up) while I cleaned up the mess. In the kitchen two rooms away I could hear his angry tears. He was pissed at me for taking him away from the water bowl, for changing his clothes, for having a stuffy nose, the list goes on. Suddenly the living room became too quiet. When I rushed in to see what was or wasn't happening, I found my little angel with a huge cup of water that had been left out the night before, dumping it all over the hard wood floors and stomping around in it. Really? Needless to say we needed another new outfit which made him even more angry at me and runny-nose-tear-filled-boogers ran wild.

Later, when everyone had settled down, I wanted to try to get some things done. My goals for each day are basic. 1. try to get the boys some fresh air for at least fifteen minutes. 2. Try to do at least one household chore 3. try to do at least one thing for myself  4. try to get everyone a well balanced breakfast, lunch and dinner.

For myself, I clipped my toenails. For fresh air, I put Bear in the baby bjorn and Bo on his leash (errm I mean backpack) and we walked around near the pond and pointed at cars and said "car?" several hundred times. When we got back, Bo went in for a bap and with Bear snoozing in my kangaroo pouch, I decided to sanitize all the plastic things that go in the boy's mouths since Bo wasn't feeling well. Hard as I try, I can't be certain that Bo doesn't stick Bear's binky in his mouth when I'm not looking. Also, let's be honest, when Bo wakes up screaming at three am and I give him tylenol or gas drops or whatever and I'm all bleary eyes and half asleep---I don't always wash the medicine dropper with soap and hot water. So, I get all the stuff in the sanitizer bag and I'm feeling all super-mom-ish.

Well, half the shit melted in the sanitizer bag, including that awesome bulbous boogy sucker that I got from the hospital when LB was born. WTH?

The rest of the day was more of the same. Bobby was so cranky, his nose was so runny, he kept tripping over his own feet and falling, usually while I was nursing Bear, which made it hard to console him. He was pestering the car until he finally got scratched him the face.  When all is said and done, he is sound asleep in his crib by 6:50 and I am definitely getting "The Lucky One" on demand tonight, I don't care if it's $5.99 for HD.  However, I think I will save my super mom blog for another day.

Song for the day? Just Another Day in Paradise by Phil Vassar

The kids screaming, phone ringing
Dog barking at the mailman bringing
That stack of bills - overdue
Good morning baby, how are you?
Got a half hour, quick shower
Take a drink of milk but the milk's gone sour
My funny face makes you laugh
Twist the top on and I put it back
There goes the washing machine
Baby, don't kick it.
I promise I'll fix it
Long about a million other things

Well, it's ok. It's so nice
It's just another day in paradise
Well, there's no place that
I'd rather be
Well, it's two hearts
And one dream
I wouldn't trade it for anything
And I ask the lord every night
For just another day in paradise

Friday, you're late
Guess we'll never make our dinner date
At the restaurant you start to cry
Baby, we'll just improvise
Well, plan B looks like
Dominoes' pizza in the candle light
Then we'll tippy toe to our room
( From: http://www.elyrics.net/read/p/phil-vassar-lyrics/just-another-day-in-paradise-lyrics.html )
Make a little love that's overdue
But somebody had a bad dream
Mama and daddy
Can meand my teddy
Come in to sleep in between?

Yeah it's ok. It's so nice.
It's just another day in paradise.
Well, there's no place that
I'd rather be
Well, it's two hearts
And one dream
I wouldn't trade it for anything
And I ask the lord every night
For just another day in paradise

Well, it's ok. It's so nice.
It's just another day in paradise.
Well, there's no place that
I'd rather be
Two hearts
And one dream
I wouldn't trade it for anything
And I ask the lord every night
For just another day in paradise

For just another day in paradise
Well, it's the kids screaming. The phone ringing
Just another day
Well, it's Friday. You're late
Oh yeah, it's just another day in paradise

My son's name is Bear

I'm not the kind of person who frets over too many things that I can't control.  I don't think about sharks when I go swimming in the ocean, I'm not afraid of catching the Triple E virus when I'm outside on a summer night. There are only two things in this world that I have an irrational (or totally rational) fear of.

One is tornadoes. I actually like thunder and lightning storms, I don't even mind a good hurricane warning and some random hail. But God help me when that TV flashes the sign about a G-D tornado warning, my blood runs COLD. What the hell would you do if you saw a twister coming your way? I mean seriously? You see it coming at you--and you don't even know if you should stay where you are or run because the darn thing goes in whichever direction it pleases. And what if you are in your car in traffic? Do you get out and run or hope that it passes you by?

Anyway, the second fear is bears. Even though I've only been a few times, I really do like camping and I love outdoorsy-nature-woodland stuff. However, bears are a huge fear of mine. There are two kinds of bears to fear, the black bear and the grizzly bear. One of these bears gets intimidated if you act all big and loud and scare him off. The other will leave you alone if you play dead. The only problem is, I can never remember which is which, so what if I play dead to the bear that you are supposed to scare off?? What if I yell and scream at the bear that I'm supposed to play dead to? UGH!

Anyway, my original thoughts when starting this blog were that, My son is named Bear. And some people like it and some people don't.  I can't think of a more awesome creature than a Bear. They can run faster than you, swim faster than you and climb trees. They can tear you apart with their massive paws and teeth, yet we snuggle up to them and find comfort in them as children. I get it if you don't understand the name Bear, but honestly, whenever I hear someone call him by his name I think, "Wow. What a cool name." I hope he feels that way someday too. Maybe not when he is twelve, but maybe someday he will know that we have always believed he is THAT awesome.

He's Here

Well, Baby Bear is officially here. He is eleven days old and it has taken me this long to find time to sit down at the computer. And to be honest, right now I am typing as quietly as possible because I am currently, as we speak, re-sleep-training Bo and doing the whole ignoring him while he rolls around in his crib and bangs on the railing thing. Also, Bear is in a rock-and-play thing beside me grumbling because he wants to eat AGAIN...it will be his third feeding in two hours. Not sure if we should have named him Bear, he takes his name very seriously and eats every evening like he is going into hibernation.

So, what has it been like getting used to have two babies at home? Well, put it this way, I've nursed Bear in the front seat of my car in three parking lots in the past seven days...that's how things are going. In the last few days I've started to feel more comfortable, but the first week was definitely overwhelming. I actually think the hardest part has been making sure that Little Bobby doesn't feel neglected. We have spent the entire summer attached at the hip and suddenly there is someone new in the picture. I am having a hard time emotionally dealing with the idea of him feeling left out or resentful, even though he seems fine. The only time I notice his behavior has changed is during bed time, he is extra clingy to me these past few nights, as if he knows that when I leave the room I'm going to be snuggling someone else. It kinda breaks my heart.

You know, when I was in high school, I used to make my boyfriend lunch and bring it in to school in a brown paper bag and stick it in his locker. When I moved in with Big Bo when I was 24 I offered to do his laundry. I actually wanted to fold and put away his clothes. Why? I couldn't figure it out back then, but now I get it. I think in some weird way I was trying to mother them. I think I've always wanted to be a mother---even when I didn't know it, I felt most comfortable in the "mother" role. Now that I have two beautiful babies of my own and I really am a mother, I can't think of a single other thing in the world that could be more fulfilling. Driving in the mini-van with a car full of family gives me the greatest sense of accomplishment I've ever felt. No, it isn't easy. Especially when it's bed time and both boys are screaming and both of them want their Mommy to themselves...it definitely isn't easy. But it is SO worth it.

Fake or Friendly?

A recent comment from a friend has made me think about the concept of being "fake" when you are nice to someone who you don't particularly like. On one hand there are the people who swear that they are "real" and will tell you exactly how they feel about you; if they would say it behind your back you can be sure as shampoo that they would say it to your face. Then there are the people who put on a smile and nod in agreement with everything you are saying even when the whole time they are thinking "OMG, I can't wait to tell so-and-so every stupid thing this girl is saying to me."

It occurred to me that I'm not sure which side of the fence I land on here. Hopefully you'll hear me out and understand why I'm not sure which I think is a better way to be.

While no one appreciates someone who is two faced or fake, I tend to feel as if my concern with those admonishable qualities disintegrated with high school.  When someone is young and trying to find a place in their own little world they make mistakes, they open their big mouths, maybe they like one person one day and are rubbed the wrong way by them the next. Those things happen because they are still kids and they are just trying to figure out who they are and whom they want to be surrounded by.  But as you get older and your social circles become more separated and selective, these issues tend to fade away.

Personally, I try my best to only concern myself with people who I find uplifting, comforting, and positive.  This, unfortunately, is not always the way things go. You can't refuse to socialize with certain people just because they aren't your BFF.  When you're an adult and you have family, friends, coworkers, and acquaintances that all operate in some fashion in your life, you aren't going to like all of them. You're downright going to be annoyed by some of them, disagree with them, and even go home to your husband or best friend or sister and ask them if they have a minute while you talk their ear off about whatever annoyance Debbie-Downer caused you to suffer through that day.  Now, just because you chose to suffer through it and not confront Debbie D about how badly you wanted to tell her that her conversation is making your ears itch...does that make you fake? Or does it make you mature and amicable?

Maybe there is a fine line.  I would never outwardly agree with someone in conversation who I actually disagree with.  I think that type of people-pleasing borders on lying and I think I used to do that when I was younger and possibly insecure with my own opinions.  However, I still don't think its necessarily my place to tell someone whether they are right or wrong or how to be.  I like to let people be who they are, even when I think I know better--and sometimes I really think I know better--hey, I'm an Aries. But no one is put on this earth to judge someone else, and so even if in my head I'm thinking "OMG, this person is crazy," is it right for me to tell them that? What good would it do? Wouldn't it just cause hurt feelings and a future awkward relationship?

At the same time, I am thinking of a woman that I work with who is extremely candid and honest and often jokes about how she doesn't know how to shut her big mouth.  I really like this woman.  She is the kind of person who makes you feel like you know exactly where she stands which is refreshing because there is no confusion or wondering whether or not you said or did the right thing, etc. She is wise and offers really raw advice when you need it, even if it's not something you want to hear.  So, what's the difference? Where is the distinction between my co worker's candid personality and someone who will "tell you exactly how they feel about you" or "tells it like it is"?

I try to have both of these qualities, in some way I suppose.  When someone seems to want my advice or my opinion, I think I can offer it to them in a way that is gentle but honest. I don't beat around the bush or sugar coat and I definitely don't just say what they want to hear.   And yet at the same time I'm able to socialize and amicably get along with people that I don't necessarily like all the time. And yes--I do go home and complain about these people to my husband.  Poor Bobby. Does that make me fake or just friendly? Are they mutually exclusive? I guess I'm not totally sold on either end of the subject yet and still have questions, but my life is pretty drama free to this point and I have so many wonderful people to surround myself and my family with...so for now I must have done something right.

How Kristen Stewart Ruins Everything Good

I was mildly interested in the 50 Shades of Grey craze this past spring when everyone I knew was reading it, but I just never had the time to get it (er, download it onto my Nook because I wouldn't be caught with the real thing). Finally, when I realized that my August was going to be a lot of sitting around super pregnant and uncomfortable, I decided to just get it. I really wanted to know what all the fuss was about and I'd given up on my other difficult reading ventures because I was just too uncomfortable to focus on anything too deep.

For the first half of the book, I only kept reading because I was certain it had to get better. I was distracted by the poor writing, much the way I feel about Elin Hilderbrand and Nora Roberts books. I hate reading things that seem too phony just for the sake of cheap romance, it takes me right out of the moment. However, somewhere along the way, I got super addicted to this stupid book.  Aside from SO many things that annoyed me, I kept coming back to find out what was happening with these stupid characters--much the way I felt about Twilight and the other three books in that series that I ran out to the store to purchase BEFORE I was even finished with the previous book.

I read Twilight before the movie came out. In fact, I think I was on Breaking Dawn by the time Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson made their big Hollywood achievement. There are certain character flaws about Bella that slightly irritated me upon reading it the first time, and I truly HATE the way Stewart represented her. I was glad I had read the book before seeing the movie because when I had to reread Twilight for a class I was taking on YA Lit, all I could picture was Stewart's stupid face the whole time I read it. The fact that Bella is so clumsy and awkward and all anti-girly and doesn't-know-how-to-put-on-make-up and falls when she tries to kick a soccer ball and slips on the ice, etc, just didn't appeal to me. I understand that this character is supposed to be appealing to girls who never felt like they fit in--I GET IT, but plenty of people feel that way in high school without those totally cliche attributes. Stewart made that whole thing worse for me when she was all bumbling-idiot-biting-her-lip-can't-make-eye-contact-but-can-still-manage-to-snag-the-hottest-guy-in-the-school type of awkward.

Unfortunately, Christian and Ana in 50 Shades remind me so much of a slightly older Edward and Bella that I keep having to struggle to picture people in these roles OTHER than Pattinson and Stewart. Think about it--the way that Christian is so over protective of Ana, the way he wants her to eat, to sleep, to be safe, the way that he just happens to be an expert pianist and knows all these RANDOM operas and classical pieces that no one has ever heard of, how even though Ana has never had a boyfriend it seems like every guy she meets is trying to get with her.... the way that Ana bites her lip and can't make eye contact but is actually super well-read and has that obsession with Tess of the d'Ubervilles the same way that Bella has the obsession with Pride and Prejudice...there are so many parallels it was straight up ANNOYING and yet I read on.

I kept thinking that maybe E.L. James was super into Bella and Edward and decided to raise their ages (well, Bella's age...Edward was 107 I think....) a bit so she could let them get a little freaky.

I almost NEED to see a movie version of 50 Shades just so I can read the next one in the trilogy and be able to picture someone else---ANYONE ELSE--other than Kristen Stupid Stewart in the Red Room of Pain.

No true point here...I will admit I read the whole book in like three days.  What can I say? It's a page turner.

generation gaps...just google it!

My big question for the week...With all we know today and all we have access to knowing--why do we have any problems at all? Or is all of our information only serving to cause more problems?

Hubby and I were talking about which generation we are a part of the other day and I was asking him if he knew where the cut off was and what the names of the generations before Gen X and Gen Y were. All we could come up with was the "Baby Boomers" but we figured there had to be more than that. Also, I really thought I was part of Generation X because I remembered being in high school and everyone talking about how that was our new label--Generation X--and  the whole new millennium hoopla thing happening (I graduated in 2000). 

As it turns out, I was wrong by some websites. Some websites say Generation Y starts with those born in the mid 80s, some say it starts with 1980 claiming that Generation X ends with people born in 1979. Supposedly Generation Y-ers are characterized by their tech-savvy abilities and also the desire to have a better balance between work and personal life compared with generations before us. 

 This new generation, the AO'ers (AO=Always On) doesn't know life without technology and while they are so super tech savvy they have little ability for deep thoughts and long attention spans. So, basically, everyone ages 30 and under has had an advantage that not a lot of others can claim--we have access to the Internet which holds unlimited information.  We literally can find answers to nearly anything we want to know.

If you have an ailment you can find out what it might be without having to call your doctor--and then you can research all the different ways to cure that ailment whether it be medicinal or homeopathic. You can find out if child molesters live in your neighborhood. Are you feeling depressed? Overweight? Anxious? There are millions of others just like you who have success stories logged into the world wide web so that you can try their methods of personal improvement to see if it could work for you, too.  So, my question still stands...why do people still suffer from so many personal obstacles? Isn't everything you could ever want right within your reach?  If you have money issues, aren't there websites that can help teach you how to budget? Aren't there apps that help you compare prices and get the best deals?

Now, obviously the Internet doesn't cure everything, so if you've lost a loved one or just found out you have cancer, my deepest sympathies, of course. This blog is not by any means trying to say that every pain in life is unworthy of attention.  I'm talking about those little personality quirks that are keeping you back from being as happy or successful in life as you want to be.  I'm starting to lean towards this attitude that if you are always feeling let down or dissatisfied or you aren't getting what you want out of life there is no one else to blame anymore. It really is simple...just google it!

Whats the Deal With Primary Colors and Weeks of Pre Labor?

I guess I just didn't realize it was possible to be so dilated and so effaced and still not be in active labor.  My actual due date is still a few weeks away, so I am not complaining (per se) but I definitely thought baby Bear would be here by now.  When you expect your water to break every time you stand up and still nothing happens, it becomes exhausting. Every minute that goes by that I DON'T go into labor is a surprise and it is tiring being surprised all day long. :) 

I think I just need to change my frame of mind. My doctor kinda had me thinking it could be any minute now, or at least any day, but that was two weeks ago... I have to start thinking, this baby isn't coming until September. Then, if he does come early I will be surprised, like I was with Bo, instead of expecting it.

Today I picked out fabric for curtains for the new bedroom.  Deciding on anything for this new bedroom has been an absolute challenge.  This is the bedroom in which my boys are going to grow up, have pillow fights, tell ghost stories to each other, argue over action figures, etc.  Because I fancy myself un poquito artsy, I never like to pick anything too ordinary or predictable when decorating. I can't get enough of fabrics and cool wall art and all the possibilities of designing a brand new room from scratch....but honestly, there really isn't a ton of accessible cool stuff out there for boy's bedrooms. I'm so tired of the color schemes that babies r us has available, and so much of the stuff you find online is like super "Theme-y" but if you go too far out of the box then it's hard to find consistency. I also want my kids to have a true childhood bedroom, nothing too mature or muted, but so much of the stuff seems super baby-ish or is in God-awful primary colors.

We did, however, find a fabric that has a cream color as the base but has turquoise and orange cars and trucks all over it (Bo is obsessed with cars right now) and then there are word splashes all over it, like ZOOM and BEEP... it's not totally what I was imagining but at the same time, it has an old comic-booky feeling to it and we were thinking of having some custom wall art done by a friend of Bobby's who is into typography and illustrations of these cool little monsters which we could totally make fit into this color scheme.... maybe I will try to link up to his page here to give him props.  I should post pics of the room progress in my next blog! Still trying to figure out the INS and OUTS of blogger. :)

Adieu, Adieu, To you and you and you....

This ain't no YOLO blog

I have a series of related ideas that are coming together disjointedly like raindrops on a window pane. I am almost tempted to stop, make a paragraph organizer similar to something I give to my students, and then try to continue with this blog.  I think instead I will try the stream of consciousness approach that usually leaves me feeling a few burdens lighter, if nothing else.

When I was a kid and I wanted to be a writer (some dreams never die) my mother used to tell me to write about what I knew. It was the thing she always came back to when I complained that I couldn't finish something: "Write what you know."  The problem was, I didn't know anything.  I knew about my neighborhood and my family and my third grade buddies, but that wasn't the stuff that I wanted to create novels about. So I wrote hundreds of fanastical Chapter Ones before realizing I had no idea where to go with a plot line and characters I couldn't empathize with.

Many years later, when I was in my twenties, my mother said to me, exasperated I'm sure: "You always have to learn things the hard way."  I can remember at first feeling defensive at this statement but I soon realized she was right. I had been headstrong and independent my whole life and when I reflected on the many tumults life had handed me, I had definitely brought a lot of them on myself, choosing always to venture into situations that I could have been protected from had I heeded the advice of others. Like a typical young adult, I never thought anyone really knew what I was going through or what was best for me. Now that I'm a parent, I can't imagine what I put my poor mom and dad through.  Disclaimer: sorry Mom and Dad. :)

I guess there were times when I regretted decisions I made and experiences I've had. The thought has crossed my mind that if I had just listened to my father I wouldn't have had to suffer through that last hardship, etc. But most of the time, when I look at where I am now, I'm not mad about my mistakes. I think my mother was right when she said that I always have to learn things the hard way--but I don't think that I am wrong for being that way either. I came to the realization that maybe there were lessons I needed to learn on my own so that I can better empathize with the rest of humanity. What kind of a writer would I be if I hadn't struck out on my own and had a little bit of pain, fear, or heart break thrust upon me?

Where is my point? I'm not trying to wax poetic about the cliche "You can't be old and wise if you were never young and crazy." motto that so many people cling to before they've even realized what kinds of trouble they could be getting their "young and crazy" asses into... and I'm definitely not selling some line of YOLO (translation: You Only Live Once) crap.  What I'm saying is, I constantly have to remind myself that it's okay to live my life the way that is true to who I am. Sometimes people seem to have opinions about how I should do things and how I should live, which is so weird because I could mostly care less about what other people choose to do with their life, as long as it is what makes them happy and of course that they are not hurting themselves or others. I think maybe I just view life differently than people assume I do...I don't accept norms and rules on life that so many people attach themselves to---more so than even just the whole gay marriage issue---I truly don't think there is a right or a wrong way to live your life as long as you are living in peace. I am not bothered by tattoos or homosexuals or transgender people or hipsters or fat people or anyone else. I encourage people to be daring and different and shed the shackles of sameness and blah, I think it makes them more beautiful.  I don't welcome restrictions on happiness in general. I wonder why then, do people feel the need to restrict me? And why do I sometimes let them?

"The challenge is to be yourself in a world that is trying to make you just like everyone else."

Dreaming

I had a dream last night that I had the baby and that no one let me hold it for like four days. I say "it" because in my dream the baby was a girl, but I am having a boy. I was upset because by the time I got to hold her it was too late to try nursing and I hadn't even named her yet.  Early in my pregnancy I had a dream in which I gave birth (again to a girl) and carried the baby round in my pocketbook as if she were a new lipgloss. I was horrified when I woke up.

Pregnancy dreams are so weird and telling. Not that I'm going to carry him around in my purse, but there has been this constant worry that I won't be able to give my new baby all the attention I was able to give my first son.

On a side note, my son has learned how to turn on the stereo in the living room. Ironically he only knows how to turn the volume up, not down. :)  that will be a handy trick once his brother finally makes his long awaited appearance. We have learned to leave the record player cued up to something we feel like listening to. Right now I have James Taylor blasting while he watches Martha Speaks... Eventually I will get up and turn one of them off.

Time to go play.

To Each His Own

Well, I've been saying all along that this baby is huge and I'm going to have him early. So why should I have been so surprised when at my 35 week appointment my Dr told me that I'm two centimeters dilated and that my cervix is 80 percent effaced? For anyone who finds this jargon foreign language, it basically means I'm already in the stages of pre-labor and this baby could come at any time.

Literally...any minute.

Or it could be a few days.

Or weeks.

See that's the thing about pregnancy and birth and babies. They do what they want and every woman's body is different and each pregnancy is different, which is why mothers love to sit around and tell their labor stories over and over again even if you have heard from your friend a million times about how her 30 hours of labor which lead to a C-section was worse than anyone else's, you will absolutely hear it again as soon as anyone you know has a baby or even hints about becoming pregnant. Trust me, I'm not hating on birth stories. I love telling my own. It's probably the most exciting, terrifying and life changing thing that any woman will endure, so why not brag a little? I did just bring a human life into the world if I want to reminisce for a few minutes I will.

The thing with having my second baby is that for the past eight months I kind of assumed that the labor process would be similar to my first experience.  I woke up one morning--my water literally exploded--and then contractions ensued. Everything was extremely by the book and I was lucky to have a fairly quick--but not totally painless--wonderful birthing experience.  This time, I'm walking around for days with dull contractions that sometimes come consistently every two minutes and then taper off to twenty to thirty minutes between them. I know it is just the process of preparing my body for what is to come and that's cool. But I guess I'm a little anxious to know...if the beginning of labor is so different with my little #2...what is the rest of it going to be like?

More to come. Of course I will have to share my birth story on my blog...and then re-post it several times...in case anyone forgets what I've been through is so much worse than you. ;)

Why Worry?

There is so much to be done before Baby #2 gets here that most of the time I have to ignore the fact so that I don't get too overwhelmed.  We are turning our attic space into a new bedroom for Lil Bo and then using his current bedroom as the nursery for Lil #2, which means that we have a long road behind us of cleaning out the attic space and still have a long road ahead of us which will consist of insulating and building real walls in there, not to mention painting and furnishing the room for Bo so that I can THEN get the nursery ready for Twosie.

Besides the huge daunting task of the bedrooms, there is normal new baby "stuff" that has to be handled and set up. From laundering the new clothes and setting up a baby swing to making sure I have the right sheets for the bassinet, it feels like I haven't done anything to prepare for my new little guy....where are my infant bottles with the slow flow nipples anyway? Did I pack them away into storage when we were cleaning out the attic? ugh.

On top of those concerns, I have been stressed out about the fact that I might have waited too long in general to wean Bo off of some "baby" habits as he has grown into a toddler.  At 14 months he was still drinking milk from his bottle in my lap three times a day.  I didn't even realize that around his first birthday is when a lot of moms chose to lose this ritual.  I still rocked him to sleep for every nap and bedtime, and he still uses a binky.  By one he was still in his infant carrier car seat.  Because he is my first born I was slow and reluctant to change these "baby" habits, but along with my ever growing belly also grew my concern that I was soon going to be mother to not one but TWO babies and something would have to give.  Bo's infantile habits also took up much of my time, since I was the one fostering the bottle feedings and long bedtime routines. 

In July, with about two months left in my pregnancy, I decided to get serious. My "baby" was already 14 months old and he needed a serious lesson in maturation.  We changed the bottle feedings into independent sippy cup sessions where he could play AND drink his milk like a big boy. I started a sleep training program that took almost a month but has been astronomically worth it since he can now put himself back to sleep when he wakes up in the night instead of crying for me to come in and rock him back to sleep at 1, 3, and 5 o'clock in the morning. He is fully walking and amazes me every day with how much he talks and understands. I can hold his hand instead of carrying him everywhere and he rides in the front seat of the shopping carriage instead of needing to be lugged in and then mounted on top of the wagon in his infant carrier. Success!

The only problem I could see was his bedtime and nap routine.  The sleep training program recommends that you have a nice, soothing bedtime routine so that your child knows what to expect and can comfortably ease him or herself into sleep.  For me and Bo, this routine is nearly an hour long. Many times while I read to him or sing him lullaby after lullaby and note that he is still not at the drowsy state recommended by my sleep-lady, I am in a constant panic.  Imagine if #2 were here already and he needs to be nursed while Bo is supposed to be having his soothing bedtime routine? What if next month when Baby Boy is here he wakes up from a nap and needs me while I am locked in Bo's room trying to get through "Goodnight Moon" in record speed?  Sometimes when Bo fights his naps I find myself in tears worried that I am spread too thin and that I'm never going to be able to handle a new baby! What was I thinking?

Then it hit me.  I don't want to hurry up reading my nightly "Goodnight Moon" to Lil Bo, and I shouldn't have to.  Both boys are my babies and always will be.  I will always, for the rest of my life, be trying to figure out how to spread myself equally between these two angels.  Just because a new baby is entering our lives, I don't have to hurry the other one up. Part of having a sibling is learning to take turns, not to lose out on something completely.  I will still have a nice special bedtime routine with Bobby and when his brother cries that doesn't mean my first born gets pushed aside, it means I have to figure out a way to nurture both of them fairly.  I don't know how I'm going to do that yet, because #2 hasn't made his earthly debut, but when the times comes, we will figure it out.   With Big Daddy Conlon's help and some serious patience we are all going to get through it. It's just that maybe Lil Bo won't be getting rid of the binky as soon as we'd originally hoped. And that's going to have to be okay.

There is nothing that wastes the body like worry, and one who has any faith in God should be ashamed to worry about anything whatsoever.
Mahatma Gandhi
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/worry.html#CtGHqAsJu72vZqhj.99

Up hill....BOTH WAYS!

As a high school teacher I found myself thinking the whole "when I was a kid things were different..." phrase many years earlier than I am probably supposed to.  I've only just turned thirty and I have friends that are still trendy and still listen to top 40 music so I shouldn't be so quick to put myself in such a distant category from my twelve-years-younger students.  But really, if there ever was a decade that dramatically separates generations it has to be this last one. Maybe every old geezer thinks the same way and maybe this is a totally unoriginal feeling (which is fine because that means you can relate!) but I strongly feel that since we partied like it was 1999 and it became the 2000's (Husband Bobby calls this past decade the "ots") kids in high school have become exposed to a drastically different life style than we had in the 90s, 80s, 70s, and so on. 

The introduction of cell phones to children has made this entire world a crazy place. I'm not being unnecessarily dramatic here.  I got my first cell phone when I was eighteen years old and a freshman in college. It was the year 2000 and suddenly cell phones were more than just the chunky car phone that chilled in the center console of Dad's car that beeped now and then to remind us of it's existence. Friends were moving away to school, we all had jobs (mostly) and we were technically adults, so the acquisition of  the cell phone made sense. 

But this blog is not about justifying why kids today are different... it's about how the world...country...everything.... is going completely  bonkers and I am sometimes struck by the seriousness of the situation that I wonder if I should move to Pennsylvania and become Amish.


Three nights ago Bo Hubs was suddenly interested in watching the news. I should mention that we never--NEVER--watch the news in this house unless it is sports or weather related and even then it's minimal. There was a few stories about local seriousness, a supposed shark attack, a severe thunderstorm watch, etc.  Then there was the story that inspired this rant.  "The Distracted Walker" story.  First we see a black and white video clip from a security camera that has recorded a man walking in a Boston underground T-station while looking intently at his phone (maybe playing Song Pop, I don't know) as he drifts towards the empty railroad and >kaboom< falls off the edge and onto the tracks five or so feet below. The anchor then goes on to report how dangerous "distracted walking" is becoming to Boston's citizens.  A guy on the street in the city then gets interviewed where he sheepishly admits that he, in fact, has walked distractedly before(!) and underneath his name is the subtitle: "distracted walker". Oh. The. Shame.

This is when I look at Bobby and ask if this is for real.

The very next news segment is a VERY important feature that discusses how to keep your technology safe at the beach.  We all know that the hot sun and the cruel sand can make it extremely difficult to keep your children and cell phones safe, so I was so relieved to see that they gave a bulleted list of tips on how to keep my phone out of harms way.  Bullet number one said that I should put my cell phone in a Ziploc baggie. No, no, let me back up a bit.  I should actually recreate the bulleted list for you so you can experience the same relief I did.

1. Put your technology in a sealed Ziploc bag
2. Make sure to put the technology in the bag at home
3. Do not take your technology out the entire time you are at the beach (in case that pesky sand should sneak its way inside)
4. Change your Ziploc baggy frequently, so you don't get sand inside your technology

You think I'm kidding.  Well THANK GOD somebody thought to tell me this. Are you saying that for the last twelve years I've been bringing my cell phone to the beach baggy free? And here I was thinking that plastic baggies were dangerous to sea life and so I usually leave them at home. The only problem is I don't think you can operate a touch screen through a plastic baggy and so we might all have to revert back to push buttons....just saying.

I was just thinking...there is a pretty big election coming up in about three months...right? I mean, there are some pretty serious issues going on in the world...right? Like, oh I don't know, unemployment, famine, corrupt governments, lack of women's rights in like half the world... but we in Massachusetts need to focus on the important things---like cell phone condoms. 

If for some reason I suddenly go missing check the Bible Belt. I'll be riding in the back of a horse drawn carriage, sewing patches on my own dress and shunning the creation of cell phones.


PROOF:
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505263_162-57483199/distracted-walking-injuries-quadruple-in-last-seven-years/

Perfect Timing

I started this blog about a year and a half ago in hopes of documenting my new journey into motherhood.  However, (and if this isn't the perfect cliche I don't know what is) I got so busy as a new mother that I did not blog even once. In fact, my last blog was posted exactly ten days before I gave birth to my son, Bo. 

Well, just as I finally seem to have gotten used to parenting and learned the trick of bringing my son up to bed by 6:30 instead of letting him fall asleep on me every night while we watch TV, I have also finally found a few spare minutes to check my email, play a few rounds of Song Pop, and write this blog.  Finally, I seem to be getting the hang of things. Six weeks before my next baby is due. Riiight.

Hopefully that doesn't mean that you won't be hearing from me for another year. See, in the past month I have been sleep training Bo, who is about 15 months old and should have learned how to self soothe ages ago but Mommy wanted all the cuddle time possible and therefore created a bedtime-monster. In the hours upon hours of sleep training, I've been required to sit quietly by his crib while he figures out how to get comfy, then after a few days I move my chair further away so that he is aware that I'm still nearby but he is gaining the independence and security he needs to fall asleep on his own.  All of this leads to my point that I have been reading several blogs that I have bookmarked on my phone (which I will give props to momentarily) because it's too dark to read a real book and I can't just simply sit there or I will lose my mind. Anyway, when I read these blogs I'm totally inspired and think of all the things I want to blog about, and not just about my experiences as a new mom which is why the blog is about "life and other stuff" because I'm one of those people who has so much to kvetch about (is kvetch the word?) in the most positive and humorous way that I can--but honestly, my husband falls asleep within seconds of climbing into bed and I still have like seven or eight things I never got to say.  PS--My kindergarten teacher is NOT SURPRISED at that last sentence, I wont even tell you that she used to call me "Motor-Mouth Martin" for fear that the moniker will resurface.  For your information, I still don't think that was very nice, Mrs. Nealon!

The blogs I'm currently latched on to:
For literal laugh out loud reading for women, moms, and anyone with a sense of humor: www.brittanyherself.com
For inspiration, this is a girl I went to highschool with that reminds me there are truly good people in the world: http://beccatatsea.blogspot.com/
For constant life improvement: www.marcandangel.com
For humor and insight from my coworker: http://runningmaestamami.blogspot.com

I will be back as soon as I can to vent about two stories I saw on the news last night that blew my mind... made me wonder what the world is coming to...ever see the movie Idiocracy?

Does Blogger do spellcheck???