It's the most wonderful time of the year!

Old-Time Religion


Memorial Day Weekend marks the start of my favorite time of year. My garden becomes my religion and I become a "Garden Evangelist". I love to proselytize to friends and neighbors by sharing the wealth of my harvest.

Starting with early Spring when I dug up dozens of Strawberry plants to make room for this year's veggies. It gave me great joy to dole out my extra plants to fellow gardeners. When my garden greens started to fill in, I invited a vegetarian friend to pick a bucketful of lettuce (3 varieties), onions & chives.

This year has been the best year ever for Strawberries and we have harvested enough to enjoy in salads, smoothies, on cereal and au natural. For the first time, we also have been able to share our berries with friends.

I look forward to more Random Acts of Sharing as the rest of our crops come in...
Can I get a Hallelujah?

I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream for....
Another reason I give thanks for this time of year are our frequent bike-rides to DQ. The round trip to our local Dairy Queen is just over 4 miles. While this doesn't fully offset the calories consumed, I hope that we are creating some great childhood memories.

I also get to re-live mine!

Strike up the Band!

The Middle School Jazz band performing before the Awards Ceremony.
Alex is on piano and Devon on trumpet in the end of the back row, far right.

The last few weeks of school are a flurry of activity. My two middle schoolers have been busy with band concerts. Alex, my 6th grader middle-son, participated in the middle school talent show with his favorite Bach piano piece (Solfeggietto). And the highlight of this past week was the Awards Night ceremony for Honor Roll students. Both boys were not only recognized for their GPAs but also their achievements in Math.

My proudest moment was when my 6th grader who is in 7th grade Honors Math ( same class as his older brother) was recognized for having the highest score on a math test given to all students in the 7th grade. He had a 6th grade cheering section who was excited to claim him as their own. While his older brother may have been overshadowed for a moment, both boys were recognized as being part of a 6 person "Math Counts" Team that represented their school in an area contest. It would appear we have a Math Geek Dynasty in our family.

After the ceremony we treated the boys to Stone Cold Creamery for a wallet-emptying treat. The next day we took them out to lunch at a fancy restaurant. We may be a bit lighter in the wallet but the memories are priceless!

We were given two shiny new bumper-stickers boasting about our Honor Students. They have been put into storage. I prefer to do my bragging here and keep our cars humbly sticker-free!

The Higher You Climb

Yesterday I took Colin and Alex to their piano lesson. I was a bit concerned about their lack of practicing.

Which proved to be justified.

While my expectations were low, it was another story with their teacher. She had heard from some of her other students that go to school with Alex about his stellar performance in the talent show. It became quickly apparent that in preparing for his moment in the limelight, Alex neglected his lessons. Colin followed suit.

This has been the only sour note in an otherwise fantastic week. I now have to suck it up and pay better attention to their practice sessions.

Looking forward to a nice long and relaxing weekend filled with sunshine, good food and music!

Garden Update

First Strawberry of the Season

This weekend I planted the rest of my seedlings now that the threat of frost should be over. The lettuce has come in nicely, strawberries are starting to ripen, onions are in full force and peas are sprouting up.

I am hoping to have a good season this year. I even added two planters for extra crop space.

Slug-Bug

I am beginning to hate that VW Commercial that promotes punching every time someone spies a Volkswagen. It has turned my boys into slap-happy idiots.

It is hard to focus on the road when my eldest who is riding shotgun pokes me and shouts out a color. "Red one!" "Blue one!"......

I started to grow suspicious after failing to see all the "Bugs" he was claiming and I discovered he was including BMWs as well!

Speaking of Slugs

Something has been munching on my cucumber seedlings, spinach, and numerous other tiny plants. I suspect either slugs, grubs or beetles. (Another reason to hate Beetles & Slug-Bug).
I HAD to buy beer at the store. Michelob so I can share with the hubs as well as the garden pests.

So far it seems to be helping a little. I have snagged a few slugs. I also find that after having a beer (or two) myself, I don't seem to be as bothered.

This is one of my new favorite coffee mugs!

Time to sign off, have a beer & help save the world!

Wordless Wednesday - Garden Report

Happy May Day ..... Better Make that Mayday!

Rainy Day View from kitchen window

Mayday, Mayday... I've fallen behind again in my blogging.
Today is a nice rainy day. Great for the garden and great for catching up on indoor activities like laundry, cleaning AND Blogging. Of course I am starting here with my blog.

Housework be damned, the blog must go on!

Another Milestone...

I turned 51 a week ago and the persistent buggers at AARP still won't leave me alone. I am now getting monthly "Membership" offers but I refuse to take the bait. My pride is more important than a shiny card that enables special age-based discounts.

We celebrated my birthday with a dinner at a fancy restaurant that my hubby and I reserve for special occasions. This is the first time we took the whole family. Fortunately there was a children's menu for my younger two.

The oldest boy, age 13, gave us a preview of his growing teenage appetite when he ordered Salmon AND gourmet Pizza. There was a miscommunication with the server who brought Full-Size Portions when he thought he had ordered the Bar-Size Portions. The scary part was that Devon ate like a champ. He finished the Salmon entree and made a dent in the Pizza. We better start up a special Food Fund so we can afford to keep the kid fed.

Next birthday I'm thinking Wendy's!

Spring Recital

Alex and Colin had their Spring Piano Recital this week. I had hoped to have a new video camera for this occasion. I wasn't sure if I wanted a new camera with a high-def video function or simply a single-function video camera. I had decided on going with a simple video camera too late for my birthday but not for Mothers Day (hint, hint).

Colin performed first. He played The Russian Dance from The Nutcracker and a Medley of Disney Songs as a duet with his piano teacher. Unfortunately I put the camera on the wrong setting and I didn't get this on disk. I did however get Alex's performance. It is posted on YouTube.

Hopefully I will have a chance to get a do-over on the duet! With my new (yet to be bought) video camera!


Garden Report
My poor plants that I have started indoors are more than ready to be put into the garden. My Yellow Squash and Cucumber plants have already started to flower. This week we had two frosty mornings. Yesterday the daytime high was in the 80's with a nighttime low in the 60's. I am hoping that I can start getting these babies into the ground.

I am planting a few "overgrown seedlings" each day in hopes of minimizing any catastrophe. I am already getting salads with fresh onions and chives.

Love this time of year.

Porch plants ready for a garden burial

French Mesclan Garden Mix

Perennial Favorites - Chives

Well, I think I'm about caught up here and I have a few loads of laundry with my name on it.
Hope everyone is having a happy and productive weekend and great week ahead!

Sum It Up Sunday - The Week In Random Observations

Track Meet
Conversation with youngest son at his eldest brother's track meet after observing him hang out for a bit with two boys:

Me:" Who were those boys you were talking with? Are they friends from school?"

Youngest: "Not exactly... more like PEERS."

Note to self: I've met quite a few peers and only one friend to date this year. Not sure if I should be concerned.

Talking Dirty
Middle son as I was watering my plants asked me if I knew the difference between Dirt & Soil.
When I shrugged my shoulders, he went on to explain:

"Dirt is soil where it's not supposed to be..."

Note to self: My house isn't dirty, I'm just gardening indoors!

How to Bond With A Teenager

Yesterday I had to take the eldest to a Ensemble Contest for his 7th Grade Band. Afterwards I took him for ice cream. We also went shopping for shorts and dress shoes for him.

We usually find out about wardrobe deficiencies when the weather changes. Or when dressing up for special occasions! I observed the boy limping in his 2-sizes too-small dress shoes. The other clue was sneaking along a pair of sneakers to change into after the contest.

We bonded over ice cream and shopping. I usually have an enjoyable time when I get one on one time.

Note to self: The key to success for quality time with a teenager is to make it all about them!

Wordless Wednesday - Springtime Blooms

Lilacs are starting to bloom!

Wordless Wednesday - To Grandmother's House We Go - signs along the way

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!