I'm not one for giving parenting advice - not being able to follow simple instructions and accused of being less than cooperative, myself ownself - but, sometimes I find myself in the position of having to either agree, disagree or strongly suggest that a person teach their child to use phones, properly! [phone rings] "Is Thing One there?" Silence. "Hello?" [clearing throat] "Yes?" [cough] "Um...is Thing One, there?" Silence. "Hello, can you hear me?" [sigh] "Yes...but, who am I speaking to?" [hestating even more] "Um...oh...this is So-and-So." Silence. "Hello?" [hesitating] "Yes?" [heavy sigh] "Oh, I get it...okay...um...hello Thing One's Mom...this... Read more →

My father is going back into the hospital - since, my mom is feeling better and it's his turn, anyway...dammit! - and though this round of surgery is not life threatening, I do believe that this time, his going under the knife (for the 10th time in three years) will undoubtedly prove to be my family's undoing! "Hi, Sweetie..." [&#@%] "...just wanted to let you know..." [%@#&] "...your father and I are home." [cough] "Good...um...is everything okay?" [&#@%] "Hmmm?" [%@#&] "Oh, that...yes, your father's just trying to take his [blankety-blank] jacket off..." [muffled voice] "WOULD YOU JUST CALM DOWN...FOR THE... Read more →

My husband and I grew up with dogs, but decided to wait to get one until our youngest rugrat was out of diapers. We did the research, asked our family and friends, and finally attempted to adopt a beautiful basset hound through animal rescue, which turned out to be a disappointing experience that left our kids heart-broken. Not that we're bitter (MUCH!) but, we decided to try our hand at finding our family's first pet through our local animal shelter. Though believing that investing in "a breed" would be best and having family and friends owning a lhasa-schnoodle-doodle-poo-something-or-another, our economic... Read more →

[Photo essay: by Thing One, age 13 Song credit: Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol] ...I don't quite know How to say How I feel ...Those three words Are said too much they're not enough ...If I lay here If I just lay here Would you lie with me and just forget the world? ...Forget what we're told Before we get too old Show me a garden that's bursting into life . ...All that I am All that I ever was Is here in your perfect eyes, they're all I can see . . ...I don't know where Confused about how... Read more →

One of the few things I look forward to about Mondays - okay, about the ONLY thing - is settling in with a chilled glass of my favorite white wine and lusting over his majesty and master chef, Jacques Pepin.The man has the most gorgeous set - filled with very lovely kitchen appliances, knives, pots and pans - I have EVER seen! Seriously. The man can cook the heck out of anything, especially on a weekday evening. He's fast, entertaining and cooks in a way - with that French accent of his - that can even make the simplest pizza... Read more →

Mini-me pretty much dresses herself, these days, and - being raised a hybrid in a house filled with women with distinctively different tastes - like her sisters, she spends a painfully long time getting ready in the morning. Not today. Because the one thing they all agree upon (including my son) is that there is no other fashion tip more important than knowing how to wear your winter...um...innerwear? All the cool kids are wearing their pajamas inside out and backwards. Especially the ones living in my house and in the event of a winter storm warning! Perhaps you haven’t heard... Read more →

My mother-in-law called, the other night (I think it was Thursday) to catch up on how the children and I have been feeling, lately - since our latest battle with bubblegum fatigue and phlegm - and, balancing the phone receiver with my left shoulder, I continued to time my son (while he completed 100 math facts in less than five minutes) reached for the safety scissors and began clipping the dead leaves off the geraniums on the window sill, and chatted away: "Uh-huh...yes...they're all better...nuh-uh...no...I'm not busy." I wasn't being, you know, sarcastic (really!) and besides, I owed her a... Read more →