Big doings here in Jersey. We've got our first major snow event (a.k.a. ROYAL PAIN IN THE ASS, if you're from Jersey) creeping up our coast. The kids had an early dismissal (they've already canceled school for tomorrow), my husband's work closed early and, well, now we wait. The snow started blowing sideways at lunchtime, but the blizzard doesn't really get here until sometime in the middle of the night, because who needs sleep, right?!? [raises hand] I have anxiety issues with snow -- especially major P.I.T.A. snow events and most especially driving in it, here in Jersey, home of... Read more →

My son is turning 16, next Friday. SIXTEEN!!! The difference between his turning 16, as opposed to my two oldest daughters having crossed that bridge...with very little pomp and circumstance, other than a group sleepover...YAY!!!...while my 13 year-old daughter is already clipping through fashion magazines for prom dress ideas...WOW!!!...is that the boy insists his turning 16 is really not ALL that big of a deal. Guess what he wants for his birthday?!? G'head, I'll wait!!! Glen: I have to tell you about something my friends and I did in school. Aaaaaaaand, here's where being a mom of a teenager (for... Read more →

Today started out not so great, however, I was mentally prepared for it (living with 3 teens, a 20-something-year-old and not sleeping very well, having agonized over ALL the things, last night), because there's always a fair amount of crazy going on at our house and I am a fully-functional worry wart. Heather: Holly has an interview, so you're taking me to work, right? There's a long and very convoluted story of why Heather doesn't have her driver's license, yet. It's not my story to tell. Suffice it to say, spring cannot come quick enough. Me: Yup! [looks out window]... Read more →

I loved whenever my kids would bring their school projects home and, considering we've had a kid in preschool, grade school, middle school or high school since 1996, we have certainly collected a fair amount of "pretties" over the years. Every now and again, I'll find a construction paper greeting card tucked deep in between some books or reach for a pen and grab one with a plastic daisy (my favorite flower) taped to the end of it and I'll remember...ohhhhh, yeah...this was the Mother's Day card Glen made me and that is the pen that Hope gave me one... Read more →

So, yesterday I shared my secret stash of REAL paprika (seriously, I totally felt as if it should have been illegal) today I'm super-excited to be able to post one of my favorite go to Hungarian family recipes -- Pörkölt, made in a pressure cooker! I needed to wait for it to finish cooking and then make sure to make it look all Pinterest-worthy and stuff, but mostly because I'm a little afraid of the pressure cooker and it sort of needed my full attention. Good news is, the Pörkölt came out fantastic and I didn't blow anything up! I... Read more →

My parents worked two (sometimes three) jobs -- we lived in a 4-room apartment, upstairs in my Grandmother's house, at the time -- so my brother and I grew up eating a lot of t.v. dinners -- remember those?!? The salisbury steak with the chocolate pudding-ish cake was my favorite. Or was it the dinner that came with the hot apple lava? I forget. Either way, I almost NEVER ate the veggies -- they were just too squishy for, my taste. Aaaaanyway, dinner planning during week nights and Saturdays (a.k.a. scrub the apartment, from top to bottom, or until everything... Read more →

I have NEVER been (or will ever be) associated with anything even remotely petite. I was one of the lucky ones to have blossomed earlier than the rest of my entire second grade class, which earned me the nickname "Amazon", because SECOND GRADE and...flash-forward eleventy-three years...SARCASM!!! Then, sometime around the fall of 6th grade, the Wonder Woman television show hit the airways: Aaaaand, I was all...BOOM!!!...POW!!!...NOW all the world is ready for me, and all the wonders I could do! Even though I wasn't as...uhhhhhh...tricked out...as Lynda Carter was (still is) ...physically...or any other 'cally...especially, in the 6th grade...or ever.... Read more →