I'm very excited to be partnering with the good folks over at Puritan's Pride in accepting their One Small Change challenge: to make one very personal (yet simple) change toward healthier living and then committing myself to remain accountable by posting my progress in a three-part blog series, throughout the month. In my first post (Step #1 - The Brain Dump), I started by cleaning out the most cluttered area in the house, my head. In my second post (Step #2 - Permission To Take a Break), I recorded a couple of break-reminders and set them as notifications, throughout the... Read more →

I made a lot of dumb choices, early in life (okay, fine, very recently too) and now that I'm older (never you mind just how old) do I understand that stupid choices, more often than not, lead to making better decisions, later on. But, don't tell my kids...not just yet...okay?!? Oh, but I feel it safe to say that anyone who knows me (most especially, IRL) would probably agree: my husband is an example of a pretty gosh-darned good pick. But, this post is NOT about him (you're welcome, sweetie!) or necessarily even about me. It is about my husband... Read more →

My dad and me, as seen on Facebook. My 3 oldest kids are on Facebook; once my youngest turns 13, I will probably allow her to create a Facebook account, too. Aaaaand, just like her older siblings, I will also insist that she "friend" me on Facebook, because I believe in being a fair and equally annoying parent to ALL of my children. Then, my parents got online and it wasn't long before I introduced my dad to Facebook. It's been fun watching my Dad reconnect with family members (who mostly live in Hungary and Austria) and he really enjoys... Read more →

Dealing with mean girl and mean boy mentality isn't easy, but discouraging meanness in others, outside the classroom, can be real hard -- especially, from a teenager's point of view. Unless, we're talking about sexual harrassment and my 17 year-old daughter happens to be within earshot. We don't often read about young women standing up for each other (or adults, for that matter) so, I asked Heather if she would mind my sharing her story. She agreed. So, I then asked her if she would mind writing it herself, which is sort of like my handing over the virtual car... Read more →

One of the many reasons why I love living on the East coast (and YES, there is more than one reason to love Jersey, shuddup!) is our ability to experience all four seasons...sometimes all in the same week, even...so today, it's autumn. Oh, hello there Autumn! It's been a very stressful week/month/year/seriously, it's probably better if we just quit keeping score, because...DAYUM!!!!...it's hard out here with teenagers...the stress, she is NOT leaving...so, I kicked myself out of the house and took my two oldest girls with me, because they really should learn to plan on NOT being home...a little better...next... Read more →

With sincerest congratulations to Robin (comment #42) we are super-thrilled to be able to share a $200 gift card with you -- check your email for further instructions, thanks!!! Back in the days before kids (B.K.), I used to work for American Standard in their corporate offices here in New Jersey. I worked in their transportation and logistics department and my job was to make sure that product got to where it needed to be, as quickly as possible. Which later would prove to be quite helpful, A.K. (after kids) raising 4 children attending 4 different schools. Today, I am... Read more →

My twin bro, our Nagy Mama and me in 1986: the year of home perms and fullets (female mullet) with massive amounts of eye makeup thrown in for extra GAH!!!! I haven't written about my Nagy Mama (Hungarian for Grandmother) since when I cut her ex-husband out of the picture. It was a post that I had written and deleted many, many times, but man oh man, it felt REAL GOOD to air out some old dirty laundry. And then throw that sucker out with the trash, where it belongs. Today marks 10 years since Nagy Mama left us and,... Read more →