I’m currently in Austin, Texas for work (we’re here to do a site visit for #BlogHerFood16, which happens in October and have you registered yet because Earlybird pricing ends 3/31!). It’s a whirlwind trip and sadly, I had to tell several friends and two relatives that I just couldn’t make any plans to meet up this time (argghhhhh). Liz and Brandi (my social media team partner, or PARDNER as they say in Texas…don’t they?) and I arrived at the Austin airport within minutes of each other, which was a pretty cool thing considering we were coming from New Jersey, California, and Illinois. We took a cab to the hotel, checked…
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When Better Late Than Never Is Not Okay
I had a meeting at 6:00 p.m. in the city last night. It was an parent orientation for a trip J will be taking in a few weeks, and according to the reminder email we were to arrive early because there was a security protocol through which we had to pass on the way into the building. In order for me to have enough time to (potentially) sit in rush hour traffic and then park and then arrive a few minutes early to an activity in the city that begins at 6:00, I know I need to leave my western suburban driveway no later than 4:00. I did that yesterday,…
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If These Walls Could Talk
We’ve lived in this house for nearly fourteen years. Our family room, where we collectively spend the most time (hence the name) is home to an awesome and comfortable sectional couch, a bookshelf, a mission-style recliner, a chest full of quilts, and the television with all of the accessories that go along with it. We “finished” this room back in 2005, right before D became a Bar Mitzvah. “Finished” isn’t really the best way to describe it, though. It has felt decidedly unfinished to me for a long time. It’s the walls. The wall color is great. We painted it a light taupe a while back. I see too much…
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Not The Titanic Museum Post You Thought You Were Getting.
A few weeks ago, my mother-in-law called me because she and my father-in-law were trying to figure out something fun for us to do when Jim and I visited them for the weekend of July 4. The conversation was a little bizarre to me. She asked, “Have you seen The Titanic?” I replied, “The movie? Yep!” She said, “No, the museum. In Pigeon Forge.” An aside: Pigeon Forge is a touristy town in the Great Smoky Mountains, between Sevierville and Gatlinburg. The main drag is jam-packed with all kinds of colorful, gaudy, cheesy attractions and shops. Many of the billboards advertising the businesses that are right underneath them feature lots…
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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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Super Sad And Slightly Sedated
Roxie had a surgical procedure yesterday, to remove four lumps that we discovered hovering under her skin on her sides and neck over the past eighteen months. We knew from experience that this happens to beagles: our other dog, the late great Bijoux, was lumpy, too. I waited until the last possible moment to drop Roxie off in the morning because she’s extremely vocal. I remembered that the last time I had to drop her off, for a teeth cleaning, they had to sedate her immediately because she was riling up all of the other patients that were waiting for surgeries. Yesterday was no different. She started barking and howling…
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Old.
I had an appointment at the doctor today, just for a normal exam and a follow-up on my high blood pressure. (Who knew I would be the type of person to have high blood pressure, right?) I was not very excited about this appointment due to the blood pressure thing and the getting weighed thing and the probably waiting on the doctor thing. I had no idea. I got there at 10:50 for an 11:00 appointment and checked in. It did not get past me that there were six women already seated in the waiting room, and they had ALL checked off my doctor’s name on the sign-in sheet. I…
- Confessions, Do I Really Want My Readers To Know This?, Family Fun, Fun in Chicago, I've Got Mad Skillz, Working On My Fitness
Lazy (River) Is Relative.
My family just returned from a night away at Keylime Cove, a fantastic water park resort in Gurnee, Illinois. Like all good water parks, Keylime Cove has a lazy river. For those of you who don’t know what a lazy river is, you’re totally missing out. A lazy river is basically a shallow pool (only about three feet deep) that winds through a water park much like the river it’s named for. There are underwater jets that are pointed strategically so that the water flows in one direction. The lazy part comes in when you sit in an inner tube and…well, you just get carried away on your inner tube…
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Another Example Of How Time Flies, For Your Reading Enjoyment
Today J and I officially begin the in-person part of his college search by taking our first campus tour. (That’s not the example of how time flies.) (Well, it’s ONE example, but not the one referenced in the title. Wait for it.) We are starting in hyper-local fashion, by touring a small, private college located in our own town, one that I toured twice with D. J’s new Admissions Advisor at the college happens to be an alumna there. As it happens, she worked at the front desk of the health club where I was also employed, when she was a student of this college herself. She used to wave…
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Cute.
My dog Roxie is one-of-a-kind. At least I hope she is: she is positively adorable, but annoying as they come. There hasn’t been a dull moment since she became part of our family seven years ago. She has electrocuted herself. She has intentionally eaten disgusting things. She has been skunked. She has maimed stuffed animals. She has juggled a baby rabbit. She has tried to assert herself as the woman of the house: (She’s not a cuddler, unless your name is Jim.) She has stolen jawbreakers. She has stolen Dum-Dums. She has wolfed down entire loaves of bread. She has embarrassed me on our walks. She has killed…sort of. She…