• Confessions,  Do I Really Want My Readers To Know This?,  Family Fun,  Food,  My Kid Has Mad Skillz,  Too Funny To Ignore

    It Runs In The Family

    February 5, 2013

    The big birthday celebration on Sunday was pretty awesome: J had a really great day overall, which makes me happy. The one thing that didn’t go as planned was that Jim didn’t join us for lunch due to the fact that he was really sick. It was not only a bummer because it was J’s eighteenth, but also because we had reservations at our favorite, only-eat-there-on-special-occasions Brazilian steakhouse. For those of you who aren’t familiar, what makes this kind of restaurant unique is that there is no menu; rather everyone gets to enjoy the “salad bar” first, which is huge and actually has very little salad on it. It’s got…

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  • Confessions,  Do I Really Want My Readers To Know This?,  I've Got Mad Skillz

    I Knew It Was Here Somewhere.

    January 19, 2013

    You know how you spend an entire Saturday complaining about how you didn’t get the house cleaned up like you wanted to, and then your neighbor calls and talks to your seventeen-year-old, telling him that they have a minor family emergency and could he grab the spare key that you keep at your house and go to her place to shut off the Crock Pot, and then after he says “Sure, no problem” and hangs up, NOBODY CAN FIND THAT KEY ANYWHERE because it never got hung up on the key rack after you let their dogs out the last time they needed you, and after ripping apart nearly everything…

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  • Childhood Memories,  Confessions,  Do I Really Want My Readers To Know This?,  Music

    Made For TV On The Radio

    January 10, 2013

    When I was in high school, I spent countless hours talking about music (and music videos on MTV, because the channel still played them at that time) with friends. We were obsessed with music. I’ve written a lot of posts about my favorites (Berlin, Duran Duran, and of course, Adam Ant), but a song popped into my head the other day that made me laugh, because the memory of it is something I can’t believe I hadn’t yet used for blog fodder. I’m pretty sure it was because of my friend Cyndi having had a brother in college back in 1984, but my little group of friends suddenly started listening…

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  • Confessions,  I've Got Mad Skillz,  Music,  Proud Moments

    Proud Moments In Parenting

    January 8, 2013

    I was always adamant when the boys were little that I wasn’t going to be one of those moms who always put the kids’ music on in the car. I mean, we had a couple of cassettes (YES, I SAID CASSETTES: my boys were little in the 90’s.) that were in the genre of Children’s Music–and by “a couple”, I literally mean “two”–but for the most part the soundtrack for our time in the car was made up of Top 40 radio and tunes from the 1980’s and early 1990’s. I figured that the boys would grow to like whatever music we listened to, and I was right. Of course,…

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  • Confessions,  Fun in Chicago,  Something That Could Change Your Life,  Working On My Fitness

    If You Need Me, I’ll Be Learning How To Live With More Balance at Coca Cola’s Balanced Living Workshop…

    December 6, 2012

    I was compensated for my participation in Coca-Cola’s Balanced Living Workshop, but my thoughts and views are my own. I am constantly trying to search for balance in my life; if you’re a regular here, you already know that. I’m constantly juggling a bunch of different projects, my workouts and my family stuff, all while trying to weave a bunch of fun in there somewhere. (Making room for fun, I admit, is something at which I excel. Go figure.) Sometimes though, it’s important to get serious. Being a mom in my forties, I am busier than ever but also finally coming to the realization that taking care of myself really…

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  • Confessions,  Do I Really Want My Readers To Know This?

    Disordered Eating

    November 12, 2012

    I’ve got some food issues. They’re not the kind of food issues you might think of, though. It all started out with being a *little* bit on the picky side as a child. (massive understatement, by the way.) As an adult, I am much less picky (thank goodness) but I do have a thing about my foods mingling together on my plate, especially when it comes to liquidy things like gravy. I do realize that it all ends up in my stomach together, but I prefer my foods to have some personal space on the plate. In fact, ever since I was a kid I have put a knife under…

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  • Childhood Memories,  Confessions,  I've Got Mad Skillz,  Jew Stuff,  Too Funny To Ignore

    How Overnight Camp Is Two Degrees From Bacon

    October 24, 2012

    Back in the spring of 1979, I was a fifth grader seeking redemption. The temple to which my family belonged was holding its annual contest through which three lucky Sunday School students would win a two-week scholarship to Olin Sang Ruby Union Institute (OSRUI), the Oconomowoc, Wisconsin overnight camp for Reform Jewish youngsters. The contest consisted of an essay written during religious school from a pre-selected prompt and then, if advanced to the final round, an interview with members of the temple Board of Directors to determine the winners. The prior year I was a much less mature fourth grader who wrote in freeflow. That’s why, when given the prompt…

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  • Amazing People,  Confessions,  Proud Moments,  Reflections on Parenting,  Review

    Leafing Another Era Behind…Gladly.

    October 18, 2012

    I hope you enjoy this month’s contribution to Hallmark’s “Life Is A Special Occasion” campaign! (Perhaps you should grab a cup of hot cider, and possibly a sedative. This post is about puberty.) I have found that I mentally divvy up the lives of both of my boys into neat little “eras”. It’s easier for me to keep the details of their respective childhood experiences straight if I can associate what I’m trying to remember with the circumstances of a specific period of time. Lucky for my tired brain, they have always been vastly different people and each of them have a unique set of eras, with only two exceptions.…

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  • Confessions,  Do I Really Want My Readers To Know This?,  Too Funny To Ignore

    Accidental Hoarder

    October 6, 2012

    You may recall that in July, Jim and I started our master bathroom renovation (in thirty easy steps!). Since we replaced the tub, not a lot has happened in there. And now it’s October. Time to get back to work! Jim took the day off yesterday so we could take out my half of our double vanity, among other tasks. Before Jim was able to use his jig-saw to cut the thing out, I had to clean out the cabinets and drawers. The cabinet on the right side was no problem: it was full of things like bubble bath, Roxie’s shampoo, and other containers of stuff. The cabinet on the…

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