Sunday Sound Out

From Chicago, the city with the BEST pizza in the world (Oh yes, it is, New York!), it's your host, the woman who finally sent out her very first newsletter, Dawn Meehan!

I was so excited to get your first newsletter! Awesome!
Why, thank you. And it only took me what, two years to get it out? But now I'll be sending them out on a regular basis. If you missed the first one, never fear, I'll be putting a copy of it on my website this week. And you can sign up at any time to receive future newsletters and be entered for the drawings. Just fill out the form on the left side of my blog that says "Get book news and updates from Dawn". Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

Also...ask for your old part (they should give it to you by law) and then go sell it and recoup some of your money. Sorry this happened to you....but at least you won't have to worry about THAT particular problem again for a while. Keep your chins up sweetie!
When I first read this, I was really bummed that I hadn't even thought to ask for my old catalytic converter so I could sell it. The thought never crossed my mind. I mean, what do I need with an old car part, right??? But when I got to the last sentence, I forgot all about the part where I was stupid and clueless about car repairs. "Keep your chins up..." Your CHINS? Plural? Now, I know I'm old and fat and my skin may be somewhat flaccid, but really, did you have to write "chins"? Excuse me, but I have to run to the store in search of skin-firming cream.

Go on ebay and get the CC for pennies on the dollar or Take it off, Beat it, Pour out what rattles, put it back on, reset the light and you pass. The CC doesn't make the air any cleaner, just different!!
I'm curious. After writing a post about how I had to get my car fixed and how I spent nearly $1000 doing so, why would you taunt me by giving me this advice? I can't turn back time and do this instad of taking it to the mechanic. And even if I could, how on earth would I go about taking the CC out of my car when I can't even tell the difference between a catalytic converter, a spark plug, a gas tank, or any other thingy that makes a car run? Remember my aversion to Home Depot? Well, car parts stores would fall a step below Home Depot on my list of hated stores. Heck, I don't even like to get gas for my car! Car maintenance is NOT my department!

Sorry for your troubles. Remember: if money can fix it, it's not really a problem.
But if you don't have money, it's a big problem.

Isn't it funny to hear yourself through your child????
Oh yeah, it's hilarious. <---read with heavy sarcasm Did it seem weird to shop with just 1?!?!
If by "weird", you mean "awesome", then yes, shopping with one child is weird.

I have a 4 year old son (going on 17- really, what's with the 4 year old teenager attitude?)
You can always tell which little kids have older siblings. They're the ones who sing along to the songs on the Top 40 station instead of singing along to the Wiggles. They quote iCarly and Wizards of Waverly Place instead of Dora and Sesame Street. And they're the ones who put their hand on their hip, roll their eyes, and give you that teenage attitude when you do something as horrible as tell them to put their shoes away.

Dawn - Have the 4 younger kids ever realized there is superiority in numbers and tied up the 2 eldest so they could eat ice cream for lunch, tear around the house yelling like banshees and do anything they want or do Austin and Savannah keep them in line by showing them what they did to the 7th kid that never listened?
No, no, no, no, no, you have it all wrong. The way it works is that Austin and Savannah let them eat ice cream for lunch to shut them up and keep them out of their hair. When the little ones run around, screaming like banshees, Austin and Savannah simply jam their ear buds in and lock themselves in their rooms with the music blasting. If the little ones ask Austin for a cup of milk, he tells them to go ask Savannah. If they ask Savannah to make them sandwiches, she tells them to ask Austin. Finally, they'll give up and destroy the kitchen. I'll come home to milk left out on the counter, peanut butter smeared on the walls, and potato chips crushed into the carpet while Austin and Savannah "watch them" from behind their closed doors.

So, ahm, Dawn... I NEED to know what the picture is that was posted on your blog. Please?
Ah yes, the picture...



Clay walked up to me and said, "My nose hurts."

He's been a little snotty the past couple days, so I brushed it off and told him, "Yeah, it's probably sore because it's been a little runny."

He walked away, but soon returned, saying, "Um, it feels like something's up there."

Again, I didn't think twice about it as I told him, "Well, go blow your nose then."

Once again, he walked away only to come back a minute later. This time, he said, "There's some orange stuff coming out of my nose." He sounded genuinely puzzled as to what it could possibly be.

"Let me see," I said, starting to wonder what he'd done.

I saw the orange snot on the tissue and immediately asked, "Clayton Reid, did you put a Tic Tac up your nose?!"

He looked at me guiltily without admitting to anything.

"Clayton..." I repeated slowly while giving him the You'd Better Fess Up Now, Mister look.

He finally admitted to shoving a Tic Tac up his nose. Sigh. I plugged his open nostril and had him blow through the orange flavored nostril. It took about five minutes of blowing, but the Tic Tac finally shot out.

I know better than to ask. I really do. But I asked anyway. "Why, Clay? Why did you put a Tic Tac up your nose? You're SIX YEARS OLD, for crying out loud!"

Of course, I got the universally accepted answer. "I dunno."



It was homecoming this weekend for our town's football/cheer program. That meant a huge tailgate party on Friday night, followed by the traditional TPing. The football players went out with a list of the cheerleader's addresses and TPed their houses. I loaded up my van with seven cheerleaders and high school coaches and went out in a caravan to TP the football player's houses. I'm the proud mom of both a football (he sacked the quarterback TWELVE times in Saturday's game) player AND a cheerleader. My house got TPed twice on Friday. It rained on Saturday. My house and yard are now covered in papier-mâché.









The cheerleaders painted their faces for the tailgate party Friday. Brooklyn joined in the fun today. Attractive, no? Oh well, at least it's not Sharpie this time.

Stop by my review blog for a chance to win a $100 Visa gift card from Kellogg's and BlogHer HERE.

Check out my review blog HERE to win a cooler full of V8 V-Fusion + Green Tea!

And read about the new PASS card from American Express. It's not a credit or a debit card. It's a prepaid, reloadable card to help your teens manage their money. I'll be writing a series of posts about how I'm helping my teens to develop spending plans. The first one is HERE.