March Madness 2012

Happy Birthday Baby

 Five Years Old!

March is the birthday month for not only my "baby" but this blog. I started "Bad Momma" on March 17, 2007.  I can't believe how quickly the time has gone by. I also can't believe how long it's been since my last post. Part of my "blogger's block" has been due to laziness and the rest to being overwhelmed with the explosion of Social Media sites I belong to.

Between my personal and professional life, I have 3 Twitter Accounts, 3 Blogs, 3 FaceBook Accounts/pages, 2 Newsletters and 2 websites to manage. With Google+  and Pinterest on the horizon, I've been having a hard time keeping up. FaceBook has been a big time-sucker lately as I have been posting more of my personal life (reminds me a bit of what happened at the height of CreateBuzz!)  I need to do a better job of allocating my time.

What I've missed most about my absence here was the ability to write longer, detailed stories that I can't post on FaceBook. I am less self-conscious when posting anonymously which helps keep my creative juices flowing. I have noticed a difference in my writing ( or lack thereof ) when I take big breaks here.

I must rectify this situation!


Early Bird

March 20 marked the first day of Spring, which felt more like Summer! In reviewing last year's photos, we are more than a month ahead of schedule with temperatures in the 70's & 80's. I've already started on my gardening. In my vegetable patch, I've planted Peas, Carrots, Lettuce and Spinach. Due to a mild winter, my Swiss Chard had never completely died back and is in full bloom.

Hopefully I won't be rewarded with a plant-killing freeze in the next few weeks. We are expecting frost on Tuesday of this coming week. There are times it is not good to be an "Early Bird". Hopefully this is not one of them!

Official Sign of Spring - Free Rita's

This week it was my job to take the boys to their piano lessons. When we arrived earlier than expected and had a half-hour to kill, I decided to take the boys to Rita's a few blocks away. It was a summer-like day with temps in the 80's. The place was packed but thankfully the lines moved quickly.When I went to pay, the cashier told me our order was free!

I had totally forgotten that it was the first day of  Spring! And about "Free Rita's Day!"  It really made my day. 


Starting the Day With a Bang!

My Poor Tire

$350 Piece of Metal

This week, while taking my middle-son to school, I started the day with a "Bang!". Literally!
While en route, we heard a big bang that sounded like it came from inside of the car. As I kept driving, I had Alex look in the back of the car to see if something fell.

Suddenly my tire-pressure warning light flashed. As I kept driving so we wouldn't be late,  I noticed the pressure rapidly dropping.  I was able to make it within two blocks of the school until I was at 3 lbs pressure and down to the rim. I pulled onto a side-street, let Alex out to hoof it to class and called my hubby.

It took him 30 - 40 minutes to reach me as he had been in the process of taking our eldest to school. After jacking up the car and struggling to remove my tire, he went back home to get better tools and take our youngest to his school. Another hour was spent unsuccessfully to unhook a full-sized spare from his car. We finally gave up. The punctured tire, along with my belongings were deposited in my husband's car. He dropped me at work and went to the tire store.  Three-hundred and fifty dollars and two hours later, I had two brand new tires!

My old tire could not be patched due to a deep puncture. There was no evidence left in the wheel. The theory was that whatever stabbed my tire, was heavy enough to be promptly ejected as the wheel turned.
The bang that we heard must have been the metal shank hitting the wheel well as it exited the puncture wound.

My eagle-eyed husband went back to the crime scene patch of  road where I heard the clang of metal on metal and found a 3-inch shank in the street (pictured above). We are now keeping this memento as evidence.

 To be recycled someday.

Really could have used a Rita's that day!