Traveling with younger kids is hard, trust me, I know. Our minivan has plenty of battle scars -- not to mention, unidentifiable stains, which will stay that way, because, seriously, I don't even WANT to know! I am STILL finding petrified food, circa 2006. My husband, Garth (not his real name) refers to the minivan as the S.S. Movable Feast, ever since the ant infestation...that ONE time...and who knew ants have a very keen sense for fishy crackers, right?!? [sound of crickets, chirping] I have clocked in a lot of miles, driving kids to and from...well...everywhere and spent countless number... Read more →

My son turned 14, this week. The same kid who was 4 and just entering pre-school for the first time when I started blogging. So, forgive me but, I'm going to sit here and let that sink in for a few seconds. WAHHHHHHHH!!!! There, much better. Wait, seems I'm not quite finished, not yet. NOOOOOOOOO!!!! Seriously, kids grow, they get older (as do we, dammit) and so we carry on, as most parents do. We live our lives and try really hard not to injure, maim or otherwise harm each other (too badly), business as usual, right?!? So, you think... Read more →

We attended a family get-together a few years ago, to commemorate the passing of Garth's (not his real name) Uncle, and -- although we very rarely get the chance to visit with Buzz and Lucy -- we saw it as an opportunity to introduce our kids to another branch of their family. All in all, considering the circumstances and even though I managed to back our minivan into a decorative boulder (I swear, the size of my youngest, dammit!) it turned out to be a really lovely late-summer day and we were all a little sad to go. Until, my... Read more →

photo credit: TVParty.com I have suffered from insomnia for most of my life (yes, that is a very long time, I know, shuddup!) however, rather than fight it, I see it as a gift and make all of those extra sleepless hours as productive as possible. PSYCHE!!!!!!! Bwahahahahahahaha...I crack myself up...you seriously did NOT think I was serious, seriously, right?!? The ONLY thing productive at dark o'clock is the gerbil, running its eleventy-hundreth little iron gerbil marathon, inside my head. It's not like I'm not tired, either. In fact, my body clock quits work sometime around 4 in the afternoon... Read more →

I have a pretty good sense of humor about stuff, to the point of annoying other folks (or possibly even scaring a couple of children) into silence while thinking, "What IS that woman grinning about?!?" Then again, I live in Jersey, it's probably more like, "Wha'chew lookin' at?!?" [one beat, two beats] Willis. [sound of crickets, chirping] Aaaaanyway, I can't help it, it's like there is a sitcom playing in an infinite loop, in my head. Frankly, with 3 teens, 1 pretty much teen, and sometimes even other people's kids hanging around, there is almost ALWAYS stuff going on and,... Read more →

A view of Miss Grace, outside my kitchen window. Our next door neighbor passed away, last week. She was 104 years-old. Although everyone who knew Miss Grace would agree that she had indeed lived a full life and perhaps not be at all surprised by her passing, I can't help but feel sad, knowing that her house sits empty and looks even more abandoned than usual. I still remember meeting Miss Grace for the first time. It was a few days after we moved in, I was pregnant with our oldest, I waddled down the small hill that separated our... Read more →

Because, some blog posts require a visual and I would like for Melisa to be wrong...at least once...dammit!!! WARNING: Although there is no nudity (seriously, my kids read this crap) you still may want to make sure any small children are NOT around, or risk their screaming, "Make the scary lady stop," you're welcome!!! P.S.: Aaaaaand, I see now that the captions are ALL wrong (they're showing up, too early) so, I guess you'll have to watch it again, but fast-forward it in your head, to keep up with the captions...or not...because, I am a dork. © 2003 - 2013... Read more →