• Amazing People,  Best Thing Ever,  Blessings,  Fun in Chicago,  I've Got Mad Skillz,  My Friends Have Mad Skillz,  Proud Moments,  Shameless Promotion,  Something That Could Change Your Life

    Listen To Your Mother Chicago: Countdown To Showtime!

    May 6, 2012

    For the last nine days, Tracey and I have posted countdown pictures on Facebook. I think these pictures both excited and terrified our cast. Today is the big day. More than six months in the making, the very first LISTEN TO YOUR MOTHER CHICAGO is finally making its debut, at 7:00 p.m. tonight to be specific. Where am I, mentally? So calm I can’t even express it. If you know me well, you know that “calm” is not a word I EVER use when I’m this heavily involved in a project. (Okay, or, uh, EVER. At all.) I know that I will be nervous as showtime approaches because I am…

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  • I've Got Mad Skillz,  My Kid Has Mad Skillz,  Reflections on Parenting

    The Apple Doesn’t Fall Far From The Tree

    May 1, 2012

    It seems like only yesterday that I was waxing poetic about sending D off to college, and yet in two weeks he will finish his sophomore year. He is very, very happy at his school–which is a great relief to us, knowing that he made the right selection–and it’s been an exciting time for him. At the beginning of this semester, he decided to do something he claimed at the beginning of freshman year he had absolutely zero interest in doing: pledge a fraternity. We were relieved that he chose a fraternity that has a strict no secrets, no hazing policy, and it’s one whose members include the majority of…

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  • I've Got Mad Skillz,  Reflections on Parenting

    Mother Knows Best

    March 29, 2012

    Let me preface my story by saying that of course I don’t enjoy when my children–or any of my loved ones, for that matter–get hurt. I just want that to be clear because I don’t want my readers to get the impression that my smug satisfaction with the events I am about to retell have anything to do with my child’s pain and suffering. Now, on with the story. I came home last night after teaching my spin class and went into the kitchen after passing through the family room and saying hello to J, who was sitting in the chair watching television. Jim was in the kitchen, and in…

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  • Food,  Friends,  Fun in Chicago,  I've Got Mad Skillz,  My Friends Have Mad Skillz,  My Sister Has Mad Skillz

    Chicago Food Swap: Almost Like Hanukkah!

    March 18, 2012

    Yesterday my sister and I drove to Forest Park so we could participate in the Chicago Food Swap. It was the second swap that co-organizers Vanessa and Emily have put on so far, but my first time going. Sadly, I missed the first one due to having other plans. I’ve been looking forward to this one for two months. Great news: it was fabulous! We had a great time. The way a food swap works (apparently this is huge in Los Angeles, by the way) is that everyone brings home-grown or homemade items, packaged so that people can pick them up and look at them. When you sign in, you…

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  • Blessings,  Childhood Memories,  Family Fun,  Favorite Things,  Food,  I've Got Mad Skillz,  My Kid Has Mad Skillz,  My Mom Has Mad Skillz,  Review

    Birthday Traditions: Make A Cake And Eat It, Too.

    February 24, 2012

    A couple of weeks ago we celebrated J’s 17th birthday. SEVENTEEN. As in, “My younger–and last born–son is seventeen.” It would be really hard for me to believe if there weren’t a trail of rainbow-colored crumbs all over our family photo albums*. You see, around here birthdays mean one thing: beautifully decorated rainbow cakes (the insides are tinted in various colors). It’s a tradition my mom started, and what I love about it is the thought that goes into it, resulting in the birthday honoree feeling extra special. I remember how creative my mom was with birthday cakes when we were kids. Over the years, she made me a Holly…

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  • Blessings,  I've Got Mad Skillz,  UGH.

    No News Is, Well, No News.

    February 21, 2012

    Thanks to all of you out there who reached out to me in various wonderful ways after I wrote my last post. I very much appreciate the comments, the shares of my post, the texts, the phone calls, the Facebook messages, and everything else. I have spent the last two days alternating between anger and exhaustion over the whole thing, yet I am still able to tell myself that this is a First World Problem, and that it will eventually work itself out. I don’t have any news yet. In this case, no news isn’t good news; it’s just no news. I have sent additional information to Feedburner and am…

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  • I've Got Mad Skillz,  Jim Has Mad Skillz,  My Kids Have Mad Skillz,  Reflections on Parenting

    Pamela Druckerman’s “Bringing Up Bebe” Stirs The Pot On Parenting

    February 8, 2012

    There’s been another dust-up in the news this week, and this time the big story is how great the French are at parenting. I mentioned it briefly in yesterday’s vlog, and I really need to expand on it because parenting and its various styles is a topic for which I have endless passion. (If you have no idea what I’m talking about, click here to read the Wall Street Journal essay/excerpt by Pamela Druckerman, author of “Bringing Up Bebe: One American Mother Discovers the Wisdom of French Parenting”.) First, let me give you the disclaimer: I am not ragging on the author OR the book, which I have not read.…

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  • Chicken in the Car,  I've Got Mad Skillz,  Proud Moments,  Shameless Promotion

    The Little Author That Could

    January 24, 2012

    “How’s the book going?” It’s a question I get all the time from friends and family. While I appreciate their interest very, very much, I nearly always give the short answer: “Great! Thanks for asking!” The long answer is–frankly–really, really long, and I can’t just say half of it and expect the person I’m answering to fill in the blanks, so the short answer has to suffice under normal circumstances. Here is the long answer, though, in case you’re wondering: My book, considering it was published just last spring and I’m doing the bulk of the marketing for it myself, is doing pretty well for where I’m at on my…

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  • Family Fun,  I've Got Mad Skillz,  Jim Has Mad Skillz

    Mission Accomplished.

    January 19, 2012

    When it comes to the stereotypical teenager-parent relationship, it would seem that there is non-stop eye-rolling, sarcasm, and lying on the teens’ part. On the other side of the coin, parents are “supposed to” enjoy embarrassing their teens on a daily basis, intentionally. Jim and I never fed into that. From the time the boys were very little, we have insisted upon mutual respect. MUTUAL respect. When the boys became tweens (11-12 years old) and were influenced a little more by their friends, they both became a little suspicious of us. It seems as though tweens start to talk with their friends about parents’ motives when it comes to everything,…

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  • I've Got Mad Skillz,  Too Funny To Ignore

    Kickin’ It Old School

    December 15, 2011

    This morning I got dressed and headed down to the kitchen where I found J making his lunch for school. He looked at me and said, “Um, I have a minor problem. You know how I have finals next week? Well, I can get out early on Wednesday because my second final is my lunch period. The only thing is, I need a permission note from you, it’s due today, and Julesie is still sleeping downstairs.” “So?” I said. “Well, she’s still sleeping, and so you can’t go down to the computer to type out a note and print it out for me.” This time, I was the one who…

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