I love my car - a Kia Sedona in a lovely shade of suburban sprawl - and spend a whole lot of my time, sitting in it. Seriously. Especially, this week, driving back-and-forth, while visiting my aunt in the hospital - thank you for your prayers and good wishes, they worked! - while she recuperates from diabetic shock, kidney failure, something some other hospital screwed up in her stomach, last time, oh...and...A HEART ATTACK!?!? Man, the woman can fight! Needless to say, the family has a long road ahead of them - the doctors have given Theresa about a year... Read more →

Garth (not his real name) and I met on a blind date - his oldest sister and I were friends and he only agreed to take me out (ONCE) on a dare - 2 months later, he proposed, I accepted and my father jumped Garth (not his real name) and nearly consummated the union, himself, right their in the middle of the living room! "Cheese and rice, I thought I was NEVER going to get rid of her!" Nice. Clearly, my parents were extremely happy - hell, my last boyfriend was a hockey player...10 years older and about 5 inches... Read more →

Ours is perhaps the only house where playing with one's food is terribly encouraged and taken to a MUCH higher level, I think - especially, when flaunted in the face of absolute suckage - can you guess whose plate this is? Is it Thing One? The Boy? Thing Two, perhaps? Or, was it this little devil? Either way, rest assured that no one was harmed and that none of the animals (of the four-legged kind) were fed directly from the table and that burping, sneezing and random acts of flatulence - not to mention, various other forms of expelling one's... Read more →

Last week, I spoke of how much I used to hate Mondays and that - after years of taking quiet little moments for granted - it's taken me some time to learn how to stop, drop and breath. Today is NOT one of those times. My Aunt Theresa - my mother's only sister - has been suffering with diabetes ever since she gave birth to her second child at 20. Theresa is also my Godmother, but has always treated me like a younger sister - she was 12 when I was born - and has been my mentor and one... Read more →

Well, another Thanksgiving has come and gone and it's funny, you know - not like ha-ha funny, but a weird sort of aha - it just hit me that, even though I'm glad that the week is finally over, it's been really, really quiet. Shhh, just listen for a minute. This is The Boy - after finding the courage to "volunteer" to dance in front of a whole bunch of, you know, people - this is what a sigh of relief, looks like. This is Mini-me - after admitting that I was indeed her mom, REALLY - this is what... Read more →

I told you - didn't I - you can't possibly plan for everything. Like, the water main breaking right, smack, dab in the front of your house on THE DAY BEFORE THANKSGIVING! No matter, help is here and for that I am extremely thankful. [sniff] As should my kids' 1st and 3rd grade classmates - we've got NO water, I swear - friendship feasts aside, I'm going to be one stinky mommy, for real. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! [WW hosted by: 5 Minutes for Mom] Read more →

Jenna has been a long-time blogging friend and, whenever I visit Family Living; Hatfield Style, her strength and perseverance never ceases to amaze me. Jenna's about to give birth, too - seriously, like probably right about now - and, with Jenna's help, her adorable son, Nick (he's two and she's tired) is going to make a terrific big brother! The love she feels for her family shines through her writing and for this - and much, much more - I'm sending her a love byte. Thanks for being such a good blogging friend! Jenna, u-rock my socks! -------------------------------------------------------- Looking for... Read more →