Spring Break : Give me a break!

The Friday morning before Spring Break, we woke up to about an inch of the white, fluffy stuff.
Thankfully it melted by the day's end.

I think this was Mother Nature's way of warning me about the dangers of starting my garden too soon.

I started a couple of flats of plants with "Greenhouses" that I bought at Meijer on sale. Each tray contains 72 Jiffy Pots (peat packets) for a mere $5.99 on sale.

Note to self: Next year wait to plant squash & cucumber seeds outdoors, directly into the garden. I already have had to transplant into bigger pots and I still have about 6 weeks to go before danger of frost is over....

At least my indoor gardening has helped curb my Spring Fever!

Sing For Your Supper


The above photo is the scene that greeted me when I arrived to pick up my eldest son from track practice Friday afternoon.

I was running a bit late. Well actually I lost track of time at work when I received the "Mom? Are you coming to pick me up?" phone call. (what did Moms do before cell phones?) Thankfully I am just minutes away and was getting ready to pack it up and end my day. I told him I'd be there in 15 minutes or so.

When I pulled up at the school, I could not believe my eyes ( & ears). The kid was actually making good use of his time and practicing his trumpet. Some Moms might feel guilty... or even be a bit mortified. But not this mom!

"This.Is.Awesome!" I exclaimed as I threw the car into park and jumped out for a photo op. I was impressed at his lack of self-consciousness. And he actually sounded pretty good!

note to kid: Busking in front of a Middle School is probably not a great way of making money!

Other Musical Notes:

I also had the opportunity this week to attend a concert at our local High School for the area Middle School and the High School Jazz Bands. Alex plays piano (as well as clarinet in band) and Devon (as shown above) trumpet. The boys are in both Band and Jazz Band.

I was uber impressed at the quality of our district's music program. I was surprised that the auditorium was only half-full. We were encouraged to bring family and friends to the next concert. With all the negative stories in the media, it is so nice to see our youth doing something positive.

YouTube Concert Series

In an effort to encourage my younger two boys to practice their piano, I will occasionally film and post practice sessions. If you have kids that are musically inclined and have an account, feel free to pop by and "friend" us. I am hoping that peer-pressure and constructive comments will inspire them to work a little harder. http://www.youtube.com/user/badmommablogger?feature=mhw4

We have a Spring Recital coming up soon.

Happy Spring Break!

Random Wednesday Rants

In no particular order:

On Twitter, re this tweet:

"We all know that Haidi and Chili still need help, you can help by purchasing a gift basket of bathroom products and I will send it free.."

Rant 1: If you are tweeting about a fundraiser for "Haidi" & "Chili", learn to spell, it makes you more believable. #notbuyingit

Rant 2: I'm thinking the people in "Haidi" & "Chili" have more pressing needs than "a gift basket of bathroom products".

To the "Homeless" person on the corner with a sign about being hungry:

Rant 1: You might want to take your smoke-break in private. Makes people wonder how you have money for smokes but not food!

Rant 2: If someone offers you a sandwich, pretend to be happy about it as opposed to being angry they are not giving you money.

To the girl who works at the business at the other end of our building on being neighborly:

We've been your neighbor for 2 years, for which you have barely acknowledged our existence. Even when we cheerfully bring you your mail that was misdelivered.

If you are going to pop-out and ambush us with the catalog of home-party jewelry that you want to sell us, you might want to introduce yourself first.

Just saying.

To Station Managers & Supervisors at UPS:

Just because you are nervous for your jobs, it doesn't make it right to harass drivers with seniority about taking a minute to speak with customers or occasionally changing the order of afternoon pick-ups to help out a business that is running late.

It is not o.k. to sacrifice customer service for speed. This is how I may lose a good driver and you might lose customers! Perhaps management needs to watch the Waste Management Episode of Undercover Boss!


This concludes this installment of Random Wednesday Rants! Whew! I feel much better now! AND I didn't have to hurt anyone!

Spring Fever

One of my early plants for this year - The Primrose

It's been over a month since my last post. Between computer issues, winter blahs and lack of motivation, I have taken a much longer break than intended. It is amazing how much time I had been spending on our laptop. Even more curious was how much better my back was feeling during the time I was without it.

It is a constant struggle to balance work and home but I feel the need to maintain my blog. This month marks year THREE! The statistics are against me. 95% of blogs are abandoned. I refuse to be a quitter!

The last few weeks, as the weather has been improving, I feel the color seeping back into my life.


Books, Birthdays and Breakfast at Bob Evans

The boys perusing the sale tables in the courtyard of The Book Loft

Last weekend my "baby" celebrated his 9th birthday. Among his stash of gifts were several books that were purchased at our new favorite bookstore, The Book Loft. As much as we love Barnes & Noble, there is something special about independent book stores.

This book-seller was housed in an old building that reminded us of a "Harry Potter" shop. With 32 (tiny) rooms, I kept losing my boys as they roamed about searching for treasures as well as their way back to the entrance.

We also celebrated with a birthday breakfast at Bob Evans.

A week later, we finished the birthday festivities today by going to see the movie "Diary of a Wimpy Kid". My boys have read the series and Colin picked this as his "birthday movie".

Getting a Jump on the Garden

It may be a bit too early, but I decided to jump-start my vegetable garden by starting seeds indoors. I've already had to transplant the squash and cucumber plants into larger containers.
I also started the daunting task of cleaning up my flower beds, which appears to be a never ending project.

Free Ice

Taking a break at Rita's for their First Day of Spring Celebration.

This week I also have been attempting to get back into shape. I have started "Wogging" (a combination of walking and jogging). I enlisted the help of my boys to come along on bikes or scooters. This way I have someone to call for help if I collapse.

As a treat yesterday, we biked over to our local Rita's Italian Ice stand for their "First Day of Spring Free Ice Day".

It felt good to get the bike out for my first ride of the season. It also was a nice to get a free Lemon Ice. Something about "free" makes things taste even better. I even made it up the hill on our way home without having to stop and walk.

Well all good things must come to an end. It is now close to my bedtime and I have laundry to put away before I hit the sheets.

Happy Spring!

Snowy Day

Yesterday afternoon we were hit with a mini-blizzard that dumped around 8 " of heavy, wet snow and creating a Level 1 Snow Emergency (hazardous conditions).

In a few short hours we went from being able to see frozen green grass to a white winter wonderland. The damp heavy snow, while making for treacherous driving, is perfect for packing for snowmen, forts and most likely snowballs.

I decided to get the (snow) ball rolling by digging out some old snowpants. I found my husband's old pair of 29" waist ski pants from his much skinnier college days. While I was able to get them pulled on (barely!), I was unable to zip them up leaving a gap that fortunately my coat was able to hide.

In my defense, I was wearing long underwear and a pair of baggy jeans. Clearly these pants would have fit perfectly if I did without the jeans. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!


Don't be too impressed with my snowman (pictured above). The bucket hat is really a empty tub leftover from a can of cake frosting. It was a ploy to get the kids outside so I could sneak back in to enjoy a latte in peace.

It bought me about an hour!

Now that my "snow men" are back indoors defrosting, I need to get into "Mom Mode" and fix some hot cocoa. We also need to start cleaning the house so the boys can invite a few friends over for a game & movie night.

Hope my fellow shut-ins are making the best of this wintry weather!

Bad Momma Social Media Manifesto - Part 1 - Twitter

In my brief experience with Social Media, many users forget that mediums such as Blogs, Twitter and Facebook are not meant to be one-sided. Hence the term: Social Media. It is time to put the Social back into Social Media.

Let's start with Twitter. This is also considered a form of Micro-Blogging with short text-based posts limited to 140 characters or less. While Twitter can be a great way to get a message out, there is also plenty of abuse that takes place. I have discovered a few guidelines that I follow that help make my Twitter experience a good one.

1. Setting up your account. When setting up your account, it is helpful to have a profile photo or fun avatar, short bio, and general location.
If you have a blog or website, there is a place in your profile to link to it. When deciding on whether to follow someone, I first view the profile. I am more likely to follow a person that I have something in common with.

2. Quality Not Quantity - This is a great rule of thumb when "Tweeting" and in "Followers". When choosing who to follow, look at the nature of their tweets.
A. Are they responding to others? (look for the @ sign) If all I am seeing is one-way tweets, I tend not to follow. These are practices of Spammers & SEO "experts" that only want to sell something.
B. Do you enjoy seeing their tweets? Once you follow, this is what will fill up your screen. And possibly your email box, as you have now given the green light to Direct Messages.
C. Do they have single-digit followers but are following a hundred times that many? - This should be a Spammer red-flag.

This is a 2-way street. Make sure that you are reading & responding to your "Tweeps"(followers). A great way to make friends is to Retweet from your friends as well. On Fridays, remember to spread the love with #FollowFriday or #FF and give a shout-out to a few of your friends so that others will follow them.

3. Follow Backs - Despite what the "Experts" may have told you, you don't have don't have to follow back everyone who follows you . Make sure you are looking at quality of Tweets and their user profile.

Beware of False Friends - A trick that some Twit-wits will use is to follow you to get you to follow back to boost their "Followers" list. Once they have achieved this, they will eventually drop you to make it appear that they have more people following them than they follow. They also now have a one-way street to communicate with you!

A great tool to out these fools is www.friendorfollow . Just enter your Twitter i.d. and you will be shown 3 groups.
1. Following (those who don't follow you back) 2. Fans ( followers who you don't follow) and 3. Friends (2-way street)

There have been a few times, I will reluctantly follow someone back and a few weeks later, find that I was duped. I use www.friendorfollow to out and drop these jerks. I also try to see if I missed anyone following me that I might wish to follow back.

4. Direct Messages - Use them sparingly and wisely. It is a no-no to use your direct access to Spam your followers. I like to use them for information specific to a friend(s) that I don't want others to see.

My biggest pet peeve is the auto-message.
Messages like:

"Thanks for following me! Tell me something about yourself. I look forward to getting to know you"

This is especially annoying when they are not following me back! And are therefore unable to get my messages. I then have to out them with a tweet like

"@(twerpsname) I can not DM you all about me if you don't follow me back!!!!!! #DMFail "

5. Other great practices & tools:

Check your @(yourtwittername) link on your sidebar for shout-outs or tweets about you that you may have missed in real-time.

TwitPic - While Twitter just allows for140 characters, TwitPic (www.twitpic.com) uses your same Twitter log-in and will post a url directly to Twitter so that you can share pictures. (or not if you check the appropriate box).

Tiny Urls - If you want to promote a blog or web post to Twitter and shorten it to fit into your tweet, there are a few sites that will do this. www.tinyurl.com is a tool I like to use.

What are your thoughts about Twitter? Any great tools that we should know about? Pet peeves? Tips?
Love to hear them!

I'm still alive & well

I have cut back on my blog posting & reading for a bit due to a project at work which is keeping me on the computer a bit. It is also hard to find inspiration this time of year. Blah Humbug!

Kids are doing well. Report cards came Friday with no real surprises. I am happy to report that my children are getting much better grades than I did at their age. (just don't tell them; it can be our little secret!) The only big disappointment is that each of my Middle Schoolers each received 2 B's and all of these were 89s! With a smidge more work, they both could have gotten "Gold Cards" instead of "Silver". Regardless, I am proud.

We still struggle daily with getting the boys to practice their instruments . (piano, trumpet & clarinet). I find that dangling a carrot such as being allowed to get together with friends or extra t.v. or computer time seems to help. We were able to get some house-cleaning done yesterday so that a friend could come over. It also gave me an excuse to indulge my sweet tooth and bake brownies. Makes me look like a good mother but you all know better.

Winter Swim season is almost over. Between all 3 boys, we are driving 6 days a week to a pool. I think we are all ready to take the Spring off and resume swimming in the Summer.

As I hear the rain pinging on our roof, I am reminded that we are half-way to Spring! By then my life should be perked up a bit!

Hope all is well in your neck of the woods.

Beating the Mid Winter Blahs

Bringing the Garden Indoors

I've learned over the years, resolutions are made to be broken. This is why I no longer make any for the New Year. I did have one goal / science experiment. In the fall I clipped some Basil from my garden before a frost. I rooted the clippings in water, and added marbles and time-released fertilizer.

My goal was simple: to try to keep my clippings alive into January. The above photo was taken January 5th. I lost a few of the other plants to cooking & to the elements (mostly lack of strong sunlight.).

Today my experiment came to it's conclusion. The last few weeks, there has been very little direct sun in my kitchen window and my brave plant finally gave up. After a proper burial, I washed the jar and marbles.

I may try to force some bulbs using a glass dish and the marbles. This is a project I had done years ago to help with my mid-winter blahs.

For more info on Forcing Bulbs: http://www.oldhousegardens.com/ForcingBulbs.asp

RIP: Basil 1/16/10

Curl Up With a Good Book

Another great indoor activity at our house is curling up with a good book.

Thanks to some thoughtful Aunts & Uncles, my boys have accumulated a collection of Target & Barnes & Noble gift cards. It usually takes a few trips until the card are depleted.

Today my 6th grader was excited to find the sequel to "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins. He highly recommends this series to ages middle-school & up.

He started reading his new purchase as soon as he was buckled in his seat for the ride home from the book store.




Beat the Boredom with a Board Game

Family Game night is a frequent weekend activity this time of year at our house. Cranium is one of our favorite new games to play as a family! Lots of creative challenges from drawing, charades, molding clay, humming tunes and much more. Hilarity is guaranteed to ensue!



Speaking of hilarity, it's time for late-night TV. I can hear Wanda Sykes in the other room....

That's all for now....

Happy New Year

I'm baack!! I survived another Holiday Season! This year I was busy right up until Christmas Eve at work. While I am grateful for the business, working 12-14 hour days can take their toll. I have been a complete sloth since Christmas, mostly eating, sleeping & spending quality time with my couch.

The last few days we have been getting a bit of snow as well as some frigid temps dropping into the teens. Great weather for hibernating!

For New Year's Eve, we got Chinese takeout. The highlight of the weekend has been a couple of short shopping trips where we exchanged a few gifts and bought some new snow boots.

I also had a chance to use one of my new presents, a new telescoping ice scraper.

Now that I have rested up, I realized I have neglected a few things. My blog & blog friends being one of the many areas I need to catch up with.

Hope everyone is healthy and had a good holiday.

Looking forward to finding out.

Here's to a wonderful year ahead! Happy 2010!

Holiday Wrap Up - 2 week Catch-up

Just a few more weeks until things quiet down at work. I took my youngest son to look at a local holiday display made by high school students to get in the mood. More photos here on my photo blog.

We had a nice, quiet, drama-free Thanksgiving dinner at our house. My sister and her family came over. Usually they host at their house. I used our good china, ironed my good tablecloth and napkins and for the first time used my grandmother's good silver. My hubby observed how much preparation is involved for a meal that is over in minutes!

My sister-in-law sent the lovely centerpiece in the photo above to us. They decided to stay at home this year. We are long over due for a trip to Chicago. Hopefully before too long... Maybe we'll even get to visit the Suburban Wow gals. .... Good to have goals!


It is finally feeling a bit like winter around here. I did manage to keep some flowers alive until December. Sadly today I had to cut them back as they were frozen and wilted. This picture was taken right after Thanksgiving. We had our first dusting of snow which melted by mid-morning!

Hard to believe it will be Christmas in just a few weeks. I feel horribly guilty about ignoring my blog & blog friends. I hope to be back in the swing of things by year end.

Hope everyone is doing well.

Recipe For Disaster - Holiday Re-Run

With the Thanksgiving Holiday this week, I thought I'd share one of my favorite holiday posts made 2 years ago to help a fellow blogger with MIL drama. With out further ado, I give you........

Recipe for Disaster
1 bunch of relatives
1 pinch of unresolved issues
a cooler of "adult" beverages
sharp utensils such as carving knives
1 small dining room
seating chart ( optional )

As your guests arrive, take their coats and casually toss them on a couch or bed in your designated "coat room". Hand each adult guest a beer, glass of wine or alcoholic beverage of their choice.Carefully seat your guests near the person most likely to irritate them. Throw in more "adult beverages".Wait until guests are sufficiently marinated and bring up an unresolved issue or touchy subject. Make sure the table is full of sharp objects such as carving knives and hot dishes.

Have a phone nearby and be ready to dial 911!

Thanksgiving is one of the busiest times for Emergency Rooms across the U.S.

Something about putting a bunch of people that are related, together in close quarters with a bunch of cutlery and bottles (or cans ) of "truth serum". Unresolved issues seem to surface and before you know it - hand to hand combat breaks out. It's always fun until someone gets hurt!

I have a few helpful tips to avert disaster. Remember, just like fire needs oxygen to keep burning, drama needs fuel to keep it going! Observe from a distance, avoid getting drawn in. Be prepared with some distractions. Distraction is the best weapon when tempers start to flare-up at family get-togethers. A little preperation can save much aggrevation!

Antidote for Holiday Hell

1 bunch of Celebrity Gossip Magazines
A television tuned to the latest football game
Several plates of appetizers
Everybody's favorite desserts
1 handful of shiny objects
A back-up dinner, in case of a cooking mishap

Family gossip usually starts the drama machine. As soon as the haughty whispering starts, direct the attention to the latest issue of People, US Weekly or the Star that is conveniently nearby. It is better to gossip about someone you don't know than those in the same house.

"Did you hear the latest about__________? ( fill in the blank with your favorite celeb )"

When the men-folk start to misbehave, turn your t.v. to a football game.

"Oh look! The game's on!"

The hypnotic lure of the idiot tube usually keeps 'em in line. Just make sure there are plenty of "cold ones" and snacks for commercial time.

Food is a great silencer. When mouths are full, it is hard to argue. Strategically placed plates of pre-dinner snack foods are a necessity at family gatherings.

Shiny objects are also a useful distraction for both men and children.

Make sure you have a back-up dinner in case of a kitchen mishap. Food disasters are a great source of tension.

Dessert is the crown jewel of a good meal. The threat of not serving it due to ill-mannered guests helps keep everyone in line.

A good sense of humor is also really helpful. Look on the bright side, if there is drama, it gives you something to talk about. Perhaps start a contest with your friends to see who can have the most disastrous holiday. This is one contest where everyone wins!

Life & Times of Bad Momma & Co. - 3 week Catch-Up

This time of year is my busy season at work and I find it difficult to post as frequently as the rest of the year. Partly due to lack of time and mostly due to lack of motivation and interesting material to write about.

This may be one of the longest periods that I have ignored my blog. Please forgive me. Not so much for dropping out of sight, but for the burst of randomness to follow:


Sign of the Times

A few days ago, while running errands for work, I passed a few sign-holders such as this gentleman for stores going out of business: Smith & Hawken; IDG Jewelers, and a furniture store. I keep hoping the economy has finally bottomed out but keep struggling for clear signs we are in recovery. Unfortunately, signs like these do not help.


Saving the Landfills

We try to reuse and recycle as much as possible. When we had some chips and pretzels that were well past their sell-by date, I was a bit concerned about throwing dozens of bags in the trash.

A co-worker suggested feeding them to the ducks. I gathered up my boys and some of their friends. We went to a nearby creek and served up high-sodium snacks to our fine-feathered friends. A fun time was had by all!

I only hope we are not responsible for creating health issues like hypertension. It's bad enough trying to pay for health care for my family.


Indian Summer

This past week the weather has been unseasonably warm for November. I took a bunch of photos of the last of my flowers. I also took a few photos of my decaying vegetable garden, a lady bug and a milkweed bug. You can see these on my photo blog: Driveby Shooting: November Garden Pictorial If you click on the photos, you can see them full-sized.

I am amazed at the detail my digital camera is able to get. I have an Olympus Camedia C-7000 zoom, 7.1 megapixels. At 4 or 5 years old, this is now outdated technology!


I also was able to get my car washed on Saturday. Might be the last time this year for this! I was able to get Alex to help a bit before he ran off to play!


Today we had a swim meet and we spent a good chunk of the day at the pool. I'll save that for another post. Maybe tomorrow? I have some ground to make up!

Twenty Minutes

Today I went to my youngest son's elementary school for "Muffins with Mom". There are several of these breakfast events to choose from. There is also "Donuts with Dad" and "Bagels with a Buddy". Each family can choose one each year to go to. My son chose the first event.

I wore my "Mom" jeans. The pair that emphasize my "Muffin Top". It only seemed fitting.

While I am extremely appreciative of this annual breakfast event, I couldn't help but wonder. The time alloted was from 7:30 to 7:50. Just 20 minutes. Just enough time to run in the building, grab a cup of coffee or juice and a muffin, find a seat and eat. Quickly.

I was able to meet a few moms at our table. Briefly. At 7:50 we briskly walked to the classroom. No time to talk to the teacher. Not even a wave. It was time for students to get ready and get down to business.

This reminds me of Parent-Teacher conferences.

Twenty minutes.

Feels like speed dating (not that I've ever done that).

This begs the question: What is so magical about "Twenty Minutes"?

It takes me Twenty Minutes just to warm up!

Random Wednesday - Random Tidbits

Case of the Blahs

"Boring is good" has been one of my mantras. With "Boring" comes lack of material to write about. It's been over two weeks since my last post. We're o.k. but I've been uninspired lately. I need to play catch up with everyone. Perhaps I can live vicariously through my blog friends.

Not that I'm Complaining

Since this weekend, I've noticed a surprising drop in emails, mostly spam. I have gotten used to cleaning my spam-clogged in-box every morning. The sudden lack of spam makes what is probably my normal amount of "real" emails seem alarmingly low. I sent myself test emails. Everything seems fine. I'm just a little spooked because I don't have an explanation.

Perhaps my email has a case of the blahs!

Showing School Spirit Today

Last Friday, a beloved teacher at my boys' middle school passed away. The whole school has been deeply saddened. Even though my boys never had a class with this educator, they are a bit in shock. Today the students are wearing their school colors and will line the sidewalk in unison this afternoon to honor this man on the day of his funeral as the procession drives by. What a neat tribute.



Lunch Line Blues / Fear of the Lunch Lady

Yesterday my youngest child left his lunch box at school. While it wasn't the first time this has happened, my husband decided that Colin should just buy his lunch at school. For some reason, Colin was a bit upset at this prospect. More like "freaked out".

As I was driving my child to school, we had a conversation about his lunch-time apprehension. Turns out he is afraid of the Lunch Lady. (Kind of ironic that one of my icons is the Lunch Lady Action Figure). Turns out the last time he bought lunch was 2 years ago and he is afraid because he does not think he speaks clearly in the lunch line.

While it may not be considered good manners, I gave him permission to point as he talks.

Update - Lunch went well. The Lunch ladies were nice. Colin discovered Cheese Bread and even bought a Trix Bar treat to help spend the money that has been sitting in his lunch account for 2 years!

Sum it Up Sunday - Week in Review

Time is Running Out!
This lovely Calculator-Alarm Clock came in the mail Wednesday thanks to my husband doing a price-comparison on Auto insurance. Even though I have yet to join AARP and I've gone through a 3rd extension of the deadline to join, I was sent this lovely gift. No note. Just showed up in the mail. Couldn't help but think there was a subliminal message involved. Kind of like the horse head from The Godfather!


Brace Yourself

Eldest Son got his braces off & on Thursday, received his retainer. He is supposed to wear this gadget 24/7 with a few exceptions. So far he's not being very cooperative. He's either eating, about to eat, just eaten or "playing sports". Said sports include: throwing a Nerf football with his baby brother, riding his bike around the neighborhood, and playing with neighborhood kids.

I've made a new rule: No retainer, No TV!

Miracles do Happen

This week I also had my 1st Parent-Teacher conference for my 6th-grader. He is doing well in school and is well-liked by all. Only negative is his organizational skills (or lack thereof). He needs to slow-down, proof-read his work and organize his notebook & backpack. My 7th grader likes to be organized and has been making fun of what a disaster his brother's locker is.

I also struggled with being Organizationally-impaired growing up. It is a life-long battle.

We decided that it might be a good idea for Alex to come in early one day a week to straighten & properly file papers at school. I also approached the idea of my oldest son helping his brother with his locker. My middle-son reluctantly agreed to let his brother help, as long as he wouldn't be "judged".

I came home Friday afternoon to find that both boys stayed after school to straighten up the messy locker. Without being told and without any bickering!

It's not even Christmas yet. Miracles really do happen!

The Plague Hits Home
Yesterday we discovered my middle-child was running a high fever and has caught some sort of Flu-Bug. We are keeping him sequestered mostly in his room, letting his roommate/younger brother camp-out in the loft on a sofa. At this point, I would guess that we are all exposed and at risk. But just in case, we are taking a few precautions.

My husband spoke to our pediatrician. The epidemic has hit our schools, with as much as 50% of the student population that may be infected in the next week or two. Not much we can do but keep our patient comfortable, hydrated and isolated. Could last for several days.

I now am worried every time I have a "Hot-Flash". Menopause or the Flu? Perhaps I need to start wearing a surgical mask!

New Bike
Christmas also came early in the way of a shiny new bicycle for my eldest. Devon has been wanting a new bike with gears and other accoutrement befitting a teenage boy. He will be turning 13 in a few months but couldn't wait. After a few weeks of shopping around, he found "the one" today at Target!

Much to my husband's surprise, the kid even brought a wad of cash from his allowance and odd-job payouts. I guess "Santa" will have to find another gift to bring!

Wordless Wednesday: Braces came off today!

The Accountability Project

I remember this time last year, sitting in the middle-school auditorium and listening to the PTO President give words of advice to parents as part of orientation: Make sure you get to know your kids' friends AND the parents of your kids' friends. Mixed in with other advice (more like warnings) I was a bit terrified of what I might expect in our freshman year at Middle school.

"We were also told in many different ways that this will be a challenging year ( I believe the term "wild ride" was used once or twice!). The PTO lady also stressed the importance of making sure you were involved in your child's life. Also to get to know all their friends. And the parents of their friends. This was the most important mission of the PTO.

WHAT HAVE I GOTTEN MYSELF INTO! What kind of "Wild Ride" lies ahead????"

Fortunately, last year was a pretty smooth ride. This year looks to be a bit bumpier. Not so much at school but more so in our neighborhood. Between a few new faces in the 'hood and the boundaries of nearby playmates expanding, there are lots more boys, pick-up games of ball and noise filling our street. With all this additional testosterone also more skirmishes and incidents of bullying.

The Turning Point

This summer, after a fight broke out in the middle of a "friendly" game of Kick-Ball, the mom of the house took action. She escorted the fight-starter home and told his mother what had happened that day. As well as some other incidents she had heard about but not witnessed.

The mother of the "fight-starter" took disciplinary action. Once the flow of information started, an amazing improvement in behavior was made.

Making Policy

That day, a new policy was started. From now on, if there was an "incident of bad behavior", the rest of the children were responsible for telling a parent and the offending child (children) would be escorted home. There would also be a ban of a week until the child(children) would be allowed back. Any child that does not report, or takes matters into their own hands, will also be punished. Game over.

Meeting of the Moms

As new boys have entered the circle, the process continues. We are continuing to meet new mothers, step-mothers, grandmothers & aunts and exchanging phone numbers. The process works both ways: we also get reports on our children. While it won't completely put a stop to fights and bullying, I have noticed a remarkable improvement.

At first I was a bit apprehensive about meeting parents of the "problem children" but have been pleasantly surprised. We all share similar goals and none of our children are perfect. I love the fact that if there is a problem, I know who to talk to and conversely as well. It really does take a village to raise a child.

I am also finding that our children make better choices when they know they are being watched. And held accountable!

Dateline: Monday.... found a great article related to this topic:
http://www.slate.com/id/2223976/pagenum/all/#p2

Saturday Snap Shots

Happy Sofa Safety Week - Safety doesn't stop at our doorstep! We also practice Sofa-Safety in our house. Wearing a helmet prevents head injuries from falling off the sofa.


Helmet-Wearing has become 2nd nature in our family due to strict enforcement by Dad. Youngest boy had been watching television for almost an hour when I took this picture. I wish he could apply this kind of dedication to other areas of his life. (like piano practice & homework!)


I had to take a photo of my end of the season salad from my garden. It's a rare occasion where I can get all of these vegetables together at the same time. ( lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber & chives.)


While most of my flowers have bit the dust, Zinnias are in full bloom and are a favorite of Bumblebees. I took another series of photos posted on my photo blog. Loved how it coincides with Rosh Hashanah ( the Jewish New Year)

I'm O.K., Just a bout of CPS

Just a quick post as I recover from C.P.S. ( Couch Potato Syndrome).

I've had another relapse of sorts where I have been neglecting my blog writing, reading, commenting and Twitter duties. My brief, sad story is this:

A combination of being overwhelmed at work, busy at home with Back to School, and trying to adjust to the new routines that Fall brings, has turned me into a "Couch Potato" at night. Lack of exercise, stress, poor diet and hunching over a laptop just don't mix.

Back, neck and leg pain and the beginnings of a "Dowager Hump" is forcing me to limit my nightly affair with my comfy couch and laptop. I've actually thought about reconsidering the offers of membership to A.A.R.P.!

Bear with me as I figure out a way to work in some exercise while I ease back into the blog world. I feel so out of the loop and need to catch up with my blog-friends.

We have our annual block party tonight. Should be worth a post!

I'll be back! Soon!

Clothes Buying Olympics - Another Personal Best Time

As I had mentioned in my last post, my eldest son has been is dire need of long pants. He thinks he can wear shorts until it snows and does not see this as a problem. I beg to differ. I am starting to get busy at work and want to not worry about emergency shopping trips. Last year I had to make a run to Target and buy a new dress shirt, dress pants, tie & belt 1 hour before a band concert due to a growth spurt and poor wardrobe planning!

This year it took a few different attempts until I found the perfect technique.

Attempt 1: Mix school supply shopping with clothes shopping. Managed to buy 2 pair with a bit of cajoling ( 1 pair at Meijer, 1 at Target). This was done begrudgingly and pants were not tried on.

Attempt 2: Leave child at home and pick out a pair while helping middle son find proper gym shorts. Found 2 pair of shorts for middle, more cooperative son and another pair of pants at Target for eldest. Funny thing is that my oldest son pitched a fit that he hated the pants and then we discovered they were identical to a pair he picked out 2 days earlier. (he claims he picked said pants out under duress)

Attempt 3: "Kidnap" your child and don't tell them where you are going until they are locked in the car and on their way to store. I did this the other day.

I picked up the boys at a friends house and told them I needed to go to the library. After returning a book, I called my husband so he knew I had my children and were on the way to the department store. My hubby and I decided that we needed 3 more pair of pants and he told us not to come home until we purchased them.

I thought I had a coupon for Kohl's so we went there. In under 20 minutes, Devon found a pair he deemed acceptable. After trying them on in 2 different sizes, we decided the larger size would work with an 1" hem. As luck would have it, the said pants came in 2 other colors. We snatched them up and made our way to the counter.

Bad News : Coupon expired the week before.

Good News: Pants were on sale at almost half-off! ($19.99 down from $36.99).

Bad News: I now have to hem 6 pair of pants. ( not one of my talents).

Later that night, I was so over-joyed at my success, I hemmed 3 pair.

I am half-way done and will use Labor Day weekend to finish this task. I guess this will be a "work" holiday. How's that for irony? (or ironing which I will also be forced to do!).

Back to School Angst

Today is the first day of school complete with a sleepless night, butterflies in the stomach and a few tears. And that's just ME! The boys seem to be faring much better. Or so they would have me believe....

It's Elementary, My Dear Reader
My "baby" is entering the 4th grade and the last child in elementary school. It will be several years (five to be exact) till I have all three boys together again. I am most nervous about my youngest child. The transition to Public School from Montessori School has been the most challenging for him. The last two years he was tottering between two grade levels due to his proficiency in Math. After careful consideration in conjunction with school administrators, we decided to have him pushed ahead a year in all subjects to provide more consistency.

While we know he is up for the task academically, I worry about maturity. Will he fit in with his peers? Will he be the smallest child in his class? Will he make friends? Are we doing the right thing?

In my heart, I know we have made the best choice but there is always a niggle of doubt.

Middle School - Middle Son Challenge

My middle son is now a middle schooler entering the 6th grade. He is giddy with excitement. A little too excited if you ask me. The kind of excitement that may ignite a beat-down from a bully. Or an older brother, which is more likely.

Not only has this child gotten all the "good" teachers. (according to student opinion) He is in his brother's 7th grade Honor Math class. Much to my eldest's dismay. While I am a bit worried about the competition that is brewing, I can't help but be a bit amused.

Clothes Competition

On the competition front, clothes are also a major issue. All the 10-12 size pants have made their way to my middle son's closet. My elder son is a P.I.A. to shop for AND has no long pants. Next size up is 12-14. A 4-6 inch length difference and he is right in-between sizes.

Crap! Now I have to hem... Not one of my better skills. In college I perfected the "Staple Hem" but not sure this will work here. I wonder if my son learned enough in last year's Home Ec to do his own tailoring. Probably not. Good thought though...

Back to Work

I have been preoccupied with anticipation of the days events and trying to put my thoughts down. It is now mid=morning. Time to get to work! I'll be on pins and needles all day until I get an update....

Hope all your "First Days" have gone well! *fingers crossed*!


Update: Dinnertime
The day went pretty well near as I can tell. Youngest seemed to have a pretty good, albeight non-descript day. But I guess no news is good news.

Just the normal "brotherly love" between the older two. Eldest tried to ditch Middle Son on the way to school but was unsuccessful. In math class my 7th grader was teased by a few friends about his younger brother being in the class. (he was one of six 6th graders that were advanced.)

My middle son enjoyed his brother's efforts to diss him. At one point in class when no one was watching, my eldest leaned in and whispered in his brother's ear, "If evil had a face, it would be yours!"

We are still missing a few required supplies so I will be heading out shortly to perform my motherly duties!

Time for dinner!

Sum it up Sunday

It seems like the Summer has gone by in a flash. We are finally getting some hot weather. My vegetable garden is starting to look a bit ravaged as our tomatoes are coming on faster than we can eat them. Snap pea season is over and my vines are all brown. My yellow squash vines are also drying up after producing a bumper crop this year. What once was full of promise and anticipation is turning to melancholy and dread.

Less than two weeks till Back to School. I am not ready for Fall!!!

Took the boys for a quick dip at our neighborhood pool tonight. We then came home and I made some Bruschetta / French Bread Pizza with some over-ripe (rotting) tomatoes, basil & mozzarella. Yum!

I was hoping to take some garden photos today but I was uninspired. I think I will post a few of my favorites that I have on my photo blog ( Drive by Shooting).

Wordless Wednesday at the Swim Banquet

All three boys let me wear their Swim Metals. Not sure if I felt like Michael Phelps' Mom or more like Ed McMahon & MC Hammer in Cash4Gold.

Company is Coming & I'm Not Cleaning - a Bad Momma Haiku

I take a long nap
out of child-like defiance.
I was told, not asked

Where's My Malibu Beach House?

Last night my husband and I took our youngest son to the pool for an hour and then out for frozen custard. My older two boys had "ditched" their little brother when playing with a group of children earlier in the day. We believe in making the punishment fit the crime, so my husband, "baby" and I ditched them!

After our brief stint at the pool, while we were enjoying our frozen treats on the patio of the frozen custard restaurant, a little girl came to a stop a few feet in front of us. She looked up at us and then turned to her family who was sitting nearby.

"Mom! Is that Barbie?" she called out to her mother.

My dear husband, without missing a beat, gleefully answered back. "No, but they both turned 50 this year!"

I don't know if it was the fact I was wearing a bathing suit with a sheer cover-up, the large neon-pink bag or the over-sized sunglasses (the ones that celebrities & old-ladies seem to favor). This was the first time I've ever been mistaken for a celebrity of such proportions. I was secretly overjoyed. There are far worse icons to be identified with.

I guess I must be channeling my inner Barbie. I suddenly feel the need for a beach house!

Twitter is Down

Help! Twitter is down..... I'm going through withdrawl! What would this be called? Twitdrawl? Cold Twiturkery?

Are we under attack? I wonder who is behind this heinous denial of service act... Microsoft? Google? 3rd party Terrorists?

I hear that FaceBook is breaking too. (I'm oddly o.k. with that one). How am I going to waste the time that I don't have to waste? Is this the end to life as we know it?

Suddenly I don't feel so good.. *sigh*

The room is spinning & starting to go dark. I need to lie down.....


Blogger please don't break too!

#addictedtotwitter

Wordless Wednesday in the Garden of Bad Momma - Today's Special