• Amazing People,  Best Thing Ever,  Blessings,  Favorite Things,  Friends,  My Friends Have Mad Skillz,  Something That Could Change Your Life,  Spreading the Bloggie Love,  Too Funny To Ignore

    #BlogHer11: Third Time’s A Charm!

    August 11, 2011

    BlogHer ’11 was my third, and there was something magical about it for me (shut up). Okay, the first two times I attended BlogHer were pretty darn good too, but I had the most fun this year, perhaps partly because I didn’t overdo like I did last year. I don’t even know where to start with my recap so I just decided to spew randomness sprinkled with pictures. That’s organized enough, isn’t it? Favorite moments: (so many, and in no particular order!) 1. Lots of quality time with my favorite “really, really, really wish we were neighbors” Jersey girl, Liz. I luv huh. 2. Giggling with my roommates, especially each…

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  • Blessings,  Childhood Memories,  My Kid Has Mad Skillz,  Reflections on Parenting

    Discussing The Duck Chick.

    July 21, 2011

    Jim and I pride ourselves on having excellent relationships with our teenaged sons. We all talk together, a lot. Unfortunately, every now and then our younger son J can’t get his entire thought out because he gets interrupted by our older son D (okay, and sometimes Jim and I). It’s very, very frustrating for him (understandably), which is why I make sure to make the most out of any time I can get alone with him. I ask him lots of questions that require essay-like answers and really LISTEN to him. Like yesterday, for example. I had to take him to the doctor because his right eyelid was swollen up…

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  • Blessings

    A Power Outage Is A Great Time To Count Your Lucky Stars

    July 13, 2011

    Due to a vicious 90-minute storm early on Monday morning, one that blew out as quickly as it blew in, more than 600,000 Chicagoland folks were left with no electricity, my family included. July power outages are no fun: we typically have temps in the high 80s/low 90s. No air conditioning? Ouch. When the power first went out, I figured that, due to the length of the storm, it would surely come back quickly. I was wrong. The power would be out for nearly 36 hours in total, for my family (there are still folks who are being told not to expect the return of their electricity for several more…

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  • Best Thing Ever,  Blessings,  My Kids Have Mad Skillz,  Travels

    What Teenagers Will Do When Left Alone For The Weekend…

    July 5, 2011

    I’m back. You didn’t even really know I was gone, did you? That “rare opportunity to disconnect” that I wrote about on Sunday evening? That was me being away from home for five days, alone with my husband (that means no kids). Jim and I flew to New Mexico and stayed just south of Santa Fe for a much-needed break, and in fact when I wrote that post, I was still “sitting in my southwestern office” at our Bed and Breakfast: It is going to take me a couple of days to assemble a proper post (or two) with pictures (I took about 550, but don’t worry: I won’t share…

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  • Amazing People,  Blessings,  I'm Apparently Old.,  My Kid Has Mad Skillz,  Proud Moments

    Hey, Nineteen

    June 21, 2011

    THIS BABY? The one who HATED how grass felt on his feet that first spring? The one who used to chew on my dirty shoe laces whenever he could? IS NINETEEN TODAY. Despite a babyhood that left Jim and me wondering if we’d survive parenting him (the aversion to grass, the shoe lace-chewing, oh, and the fact that he cried for most of his first year if he wasn’t in the same personal space with me), THIS KID has grown into such a wonderful human being, way beyond our expectations (which, admittedly, were still pretty high even after that first year) and still pleasantly surprises us on a regular basis.…

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