I am having a very odd problem right now when it comes to blogging. It’s not writer’s block: I’ve been lucky enough to have rarely wrestled with that beast. The problem I’m having doesn’t–to my knowledge–have a name. I feel like I’m having all the wrong ideas. I’m annoying myself. Every time I sit down to blog, I get the urge to type out a post full of warm and fuzzy advice about living your best life (hat tip to Oprah), having a great attitude, surrounding yourself with people who lift you instead of drag you down, making things happen, reaching for the stars, being kind to yourself and others.…
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On Re-entry.
Over the weekend, I was doing this: Jim and I made a quick getaway to Key West so we could forget all about January in Chicago for a couple of days, and we had a blast. Today, I posted this status on Facebook: “Proof that you can’t get magically whisked back to Key West by using coconut shower gel and then eating a chocolate coconut Luna Bar for breakfast. I’m still in Chicago, all bundled up. #nofilter #nomakeupeither #cold” And this picture: So while I catch up with some work and then assemble a blog post about our trip, let’s all focus on that top photograph rather than the bottom…
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Technical Difficulties…Maybe. (Darn You, Feedburner!)
Well, this has been a confusing morning so far, thanks to Feedburner. I’ve been hearing a bunch of chatter in the last week or so that Feedburner will be shutting down/changing/discontinuing service/majorly messed up/imploding as of October 20th. Those of you who are bloggers and/or subscribe to Suburban Scrawl via Feedburner know what that means; those of you who don’t blog and/or just pop in here from time to time may not know, and it won’t affect you as much (or at all). I’m not sure if the rumors are true, but what I do know is that, this morning, everyone’s Feedburner subscriber count went to zero, and none of…
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College Scholarships: Time Is Money, So Spend Wisely.
Big news around here yesterday for J: we found out he was accepted at his first choice college! Much like our experience when college-hunting for D, we knew within minutes of setting foot on campus that the school was “the one”. The school is a private college, which means anyone who is uninitiated in the ways of college shopping would have a heart attack upon seeing the total cost involved of an education there. For us, although the sticker shock never really goes away, we know how to best prepare. He will be receiving a nice merit scholarship that will take the cost down by about a third and will…
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It’s Not Us, It’s You.
There are so many choices these days regarding college textbooks: you can buy used or new anywhere (even Amazon!) (not sponsored) and you can also rent from several different websites as well as—thank goodness they got with the program—the actual college bookstores. What we have done up to this point is rent from one of two textbook rental websites and then buy any books that we couldn’t rent, used if possible, from his college bookstore. Now that D’s college bookstore is offering rentals (yay!), because he was away all summer (I didn’t know what his classes would be so I couldn’t order books while he was gone), and because he’s…
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Join The Club!
Life has been tough lately for two of my very best friends in the world, Liz and Momo. Both of them have been unfortunate recipients of terrible house-related luck and it just keeps piling on. Exhibit A–Liz Home: New Jersey Go-to Motto: “You can’t make this stuff up!” (also, the generally heavy use of the acronym “FUBAR“) On the weekend, she posted this on her Facebook page: Scorecard: 6/26: washer & dishwasher busted. 6/28: Water main breaks, no water. 6/29 Bridge collapse, damages county water supply pipes, water contaminated. 6/30: Rec’v word cannot repair dishwasher/washer until 7/2. 7/1: Road erupts, sink hole in front of house, no water. 7/2: See…
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Do Us All A Favor?
As you can probably tell by the fact that I am posting less frequently than usual right now (and when I do post there’s a 50/50 chance it has something to do with LISTEN TO YOUR MOTHER CHICAGO), I am swamped. SWAMPED, I tell ya. It’s nothing that hasn’t happened before. You might be thinking, “She’s always swamped.” True, sort of. I’m always busy, but the feeling of being overwhelmed comes and goes with no warning. At this very moment, I am so far underwater I can’t even see. I know that it will pass. Everything I’m working on in all areas will get done. Here’s some food for thought,…
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Green Thumb
I take joy from many things. Here are just a few of them: ~Family time ~Travel ~Writing ~Baking ~Eating ~Zumba Gardening, you’ll notice, is not on that partial list. It’s not even on the full list. That’s because I despise it. My total disdain for the activity was likely brought on by a combination of my couch potato tendencies as a kid (when all of my little friends were outside, I was inside practicing my Ubbi Dubbi skills) and the fact that my sister and I spent many weekends pulling weeds out of the landscaping around our house and especially under that godforsaken magnolia tree, whose lower branches were left…
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Memory
The last couple of days has been really, really difficult for my family, my sister and me in particular. First, click here to read what’s been going on. My sister already wrote about it and I figure there’s no need for me to rehash it here. Seriously. Go read that before continuing. On our way home Monday, we were discussing how odd it is that M, our elderly loved one, has a hard time with her short-term memory (she asks the same questions over and over), but she can remember the strangest little things, like how her daughter-in-law always loved fruit compote, or this: When I graduated from high school…
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Spring break
D is home from college this week because it’s his spring break week. (J’s high school spring break is next week. It’s a good thing we weren’t making big vacation plans!) The funny thing about a* college kid coming home for spring break is that he thinks everybody is on spring break. At 11:00, as Jim and I head up to bed for a 5:30 a.m. wake-up: “Why are you going to bed? It’s spring break!” In the morning, noticing his brother isn’t at home: “Where’s J?” I answer, “He’s at school.” D: “But it’s spring break!” When I ask him how it’s possible he could sleep until 1:00 p.m.…