Start Spreading the News...

Amazingly, I made it to New York! I called and scheduled a cab to pick me up at 8:00am, allowing plenty of time to get to the airport for my 10:50 flight. I made it through security and got to my gate by 9:00am. Great. No problems. I figured I had time to kill so I got some coffee and a bagel and sat down with my computer. I hung out in the food court area for a while, then decided to head back to my gate to wait for the plane. I sat down and did some reading. I don't know what possessed me to get up and look at the board, but I'm glad I did. My flight had been delayed, now with an 11:40 departure time, and boarding had been moved to another gate. So, I gathered up my things and headed to the new gate where I doubled checked, with the airline people, that I was in the right place. Assured that I was where I was supposed to be, I took my laptop back out and did some writing while I waited for them to begin boarding.

Time ticked by and they never called anyone to board. The thing is, the waiting area at the gate was nearly empty though. I had heard them call people to board for the flight to Minneapolis. But why wasn't anyone else waiting for the New York flight? It was 11:30 and no one was around and they hadn't called anyone to board. "Oh no," I thought. "My flight has been moved to yet another gate!"

I asked a guy at the desk where the flight for LaGuardia was boarding.

"Right here."

"Here???"

"Yes, but the flight is full."

"Full?" I stammered. "What do you mean 'it's full'?"

This guy was totally pulling my leg. This can't be my plane. My plane can't be full. The door can't be closed to my plane because I never heard them call anyone to board. If it was my plane, I'd be on it and I wasn't on it, so this guy was obviously joking around with me.

The gentleman was looking at me like I was quite possibly the dumbest person on earth.

Uh oh. He's not joking around with me.

"Seriously? This is the plane to New York?! I never heard you call anyone to board! All I heard was boarding for Minneapolis! Here's my ticket!" I thrust my ticket in his face and started freaking out in earnest. The only thing going through my mind at this point was "Oh crap!"

He told me to run because the plane was about to back away. He unlocked the door, so I could run down the gangway as the flight attendants started closing the airplane door. The flight attendant looked at me and informed me there was no room for my suitcase and I'd have to go back to the gate and check it. Ugh. I ran back up the gangway, waited for the guy to unlock the door again, handed him my suitcase, prayed it would actually make it on the flight, then ran back down to the plane. This time the flight attendant informed me that my seat had been given away, so she assigned me another seat (the ONLY empty seat) between two other passengers. I didn't want to hold up the flight, so I didn't bother trying to stow my coat and instead held it the whole trip.

I sat down, heart racing, sweating with my winter coat on my lap, squished between two people, and thought, "It's official. I've just replaced my 'dork' status with that of 'world's biggest idiot'." the next thought was, "Oh well. At least I have something to blog about. I can't let my readers down by having a normal, uneventful trip, right?" ;)

New York is BIG. I mean, like really, really big. I mean like bigger than my butt(and that is REALLY big!) The ride from the airport to my hotel scared the snot out of me. Oh my gosh, New Yorkers drive like MANIACS! I'm not sure which was scarier - the weaving in and out of traffic with mere centimeters to spare on either side, or this long, narrow tunnel with a cement wall on one side and orange things sticking out of the ground on the other, and barely enough room for one car to fit in between!

I have to admit to Melissa and Denise, my east coast friends from Connecticut and Lawn Guy Land respectively, that New York pizza is pretty darn good. I wouldn't say it was better than Chicago pizza, but it was yummy nonetheless. :D I'm prepared to call it a tie.

I just have one question. What is with all the horn honking?!! That's all I hear from my hotel room. Do people really think the traffic will move more speedily if they honk? I don't get it. I've never heard so much honking before! It's really loud. I guess it's all in what you're used to. People who live here probably don't even notice it.

So far, so good though. This city is very cool looking and I can't wait to explore a little more!


The Empire State Building


Lord & Taylor all lit up for Christmas


This was just delivered to my room! It includes champagne and chocolate! Have I mentioned how much I'm loving this?!!!

I'm Off!

I took care of a lot of things on my list today. In fact, after I did something that wasn't on my list, I wrote it down just so I could cross it off and feel like I'd accomplished even more!

My daughter got her braces on today. They put red and green rubber bands on them so she now has Christmas teeth. Oh Christmas teeth, oh Christmas teeth...

I remember when I was a kid it was not cool to have braces. Now my daughter, all her friends, and all my Sunday school kids want braces. "You're getting braces! Cool! No fair! I want braces too!" It's very strange.

Michelle's auction to benefit Julian and his family ends tomorrow at 9:30am central. Right now, the auction is up to $265.00! Michelle has also collected $1,275.93 for Julian from the Paypal button on her blog!!! Go Michelle! This was an awesome idea and I'm so glad to see so many people who have been touched by Julian's story.

See you in New York!

No Time

Can't write. No time. Must pack. Nothing to wear. Have to do Christmas cards. Need to start baking. Have to finish shopping. Must start wrapping. Have to mail Hallmark article. Need to finish book. Must clean bathrooms. Positively have to pay bills. Need to get Christmas present in the mail to friend. Should really mail computer rebate forms. Have to take daughter to orthodontist. Son home puking today. Need to call Sue. Need to make arrangements for ride to airport. Absolutely have to finish planning school Christmas party and recruit parents to help. Should plan out Sunday school lesson. Have to make list of interviews and contacts. Have to iron daughter's angel costume. Should get birthday presents for dad and sis. Need to wrap birthday present for friend's daughter. Need to find kids' bathing suits for swim party. Have to finish laundry. Need shower. Need sleep. Must go.

Sunday Sound Out

Doesn't it feel after a while as though you've had a lobotomy? I mean, I sort of have to turn your brain off in order not to freak out over these things, you know? I just sort of go through my day, carefully not reacting to situations that, in my pre-mom days, would have driven me crazy.

That's great! It's true. I just wrote a chapter for my book questioning when I lost my brain and why I don't freak out over things anymore.

I have been feeling the same way today...and found an appropriate way to describe it. I think I need to post a sign on my front door that says "Second Law of Thermodynamics enforced strictly on these premises!"
Okay, now that I've identified myself as a geek (a chemical engineer to be exact), I am a mom of three...ages 2, 2 and 7 months
(twins and a baby). And this was the best definition I could come up with for the second law:
Second law of thermodynamics: deltaS = change in entropy. deltaS must be greater than or equal to zero for all natural processes; entropy increases for all natural processes.
"Entropy" is defined as a measure of unusable energy within a closed or isolated system. As usable energy decreases and unusable energy increases, "entropy" increases. Entropy is also a gauge of randomness or chaos within a closed system. As usable energy is irretrievably lost, disorganization, randomness and chaos increase. (all-about-science.org/second-law-of-thermodynamics.htm)
I especially like the part about "usable energy is irretrievably lost" and this leads to "disorganization, randomness and increased chaos". That is totally my life.

Huh???

Oh and now I thought of a question for you! With 6 kids- do you and the kids get a flu shot? If one gets it - don't you all get it?

I refuse to answer on the grounds of Murphy's Law. And yes, if one gets it, we all do. It's the one time they listen to my lessons on sharing.

And on a completely different subject - WHERE do you hide gifts for that many kids? I'm running out of places that I'll remember come 3 weeks. I did find things from last year that I hid and forgot to find so part of my shopping is done. :)

LOL I've done that too! I can't tell you where I hide presents because my kids read this sometimes.

Dawn, What patches is your child on? My daughter is ADHD and is on the Daytrana patch...I am not sure if there is something else out there on the market or if this is the only patch. What side effects do you guys deal with. My daughter has a significant lack of appetite and she also seems irritable.

He used to take Concerta, but we just started Daytrana here too. He doesn't have a good appetite while on the medication, but we remove the patch as soon as he gets home from school and let him graze all night whenever he's hungry. It's a tough thing - ADHD. I don't like giving him medication at all, but he's literally a different person without it. He is very much Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. He's the sweetest, most giving, caring, kind, thoughtful, funny kid when he's taken his medication. Unfortunately, without the meds, he is rude, belligerent, impulsive, hyper, obnoxious, and mean. I hate giving him medicine, but I'd hate it even more if he was in trouble every day, got poor grades, had no friends, was teased, or hurt himself because of his impulsive behavior. I know people have a lot of strong feelings about this, but I don't think there's a one-size-fits-all treatment for this. Different things work for different kids and you have to do what you think is the best (or the lesser of all evils) for your child.

We did try a diet with him for about four months. It's called the Feingold diet. I honestly didn't really think it would work. My husband was certain it wouldn't work. We gave it 100% effort for four months though and we were all amazed that it did indeed work. It wasn't quite as effective as the medication, but still, the diet made an incredible, positive difference. Even my husband, ever the skeptic, couldn't believe it. This particular diet cuts out all artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives - basically anything artificial. At the beginning of the diet, they recommend you also cut out natural salicylates until you see if your child is sensitive to them. So, it's not a crazy diet. It's actually healthful. You're only eliminating artificial junk that wasn't even in the American diet a couple generations ago.

Sounds great, huh? Here are the drawbacks though... Whenever I had a question or wanted to get some information from the Feingold support message boards, I ran into "Feingold Nazis". Now, I'm sure there are friendly, helpful people who participate, but I read so much stuff from folks who were so anti-medication and talked so negatively about people who had chosen to help their child with medication, that it really turned me off. Like I said before - I don't believe there is one right answer that works for everyone.
Also, it will cost a fortune to buy packaged, premade natural foods and you will have to do a large amount of your shopping at natural food stores like Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, and the like. Or, you can choose to make most everything from scratch - bread, cookies, any kind of treats, and all lunches and meals in which case, it will be more cost effective, but very time consuming. I found that even though I made everything from scratch, my grocery bill still doubled when I did this diet. That was my biggest reason for stopping it. I simply couldn't afford it. I'm used to shopping at Aldi (the cheapest, generic, bargain food mart around.)

Another drawback is that the diet won't work if you don't follow it. I could make sure that it was followed meticulously here at home, but I couldn't be at school all day with my son to make sure he didn't have anything he wasn't supposed to. Although he knew what he could and couldn't eat, it was hard to resist temptation and stick to the diet. This is hard for an adult. Imagine how difficult it is for a nine year old. And what do you do when he's invited to a birthday party where pizza and birthday cake are served? Pack him a separate lunch? Make him feel weird? And how about the other kids? We made the whole family follow the diet because I couldn't see letting them his siblings eat contraband food in front of his face. I felt like it wasn't totally fair to the other kids, however.

In the end, I have yet to find the perfect solution for us. I may go back to the diet again in the future however. It did help my Spazboy, Clay get more control of himself too.

Wow, that post got long! Sorry about that, but hope it can help out someone who has a child who has been diagnosed with ADHD.

too funny. aren't clay and brooklyn your oldest and youngest? getting into mischief together, that's cute.

Nope, they're my two youngest. And yeah, it's cute. Real cute. <--- read with heavy sarcasm.

were there any aftereffects from the tic tac cravings? my mom always said eating too much of those will cause them to come out the other end REALLY quick. i wonder if that is true... :-)

LOL! Umm, not that I noticed.

Soooo, how much hair did you pull out yesterday?

Only the grays.

Here's a question for your Sunday post - what consequences happen to your kids when they do things like this? I never had six kids, but I did have three boys and they wouldn't have dreamed of pulling stunts like these. I think the worst mine ever tried was a bit of crayon on the wall and that earned them a whole afternoon of time-out in their room.
I never get this "boys will be boys" way of thinking. Boys can be completely charming and delightful when they know what their limits are.

Ugh. This was in response to Monday's post so I had to go back and look at it to refresh my memory. First of all, I'm not sure why you're asking. It sounds as if you just want to imply that I'm doing everything wrong since your children apparently never misbehaved. I'm also guessing that your children may be grown now? I do think that (in general) kids today aren't as well behaved as (in general) kids from generations past. I do not attribute it all to this generation's parenting, however. And even if you could blame it all on today's parent, it would seem that yesterday's parent didn't do a very good job raising us if we're messing up so badly that we're all to blame for our children's bad behavior. Does that make any sense? I believe there are many, many factors involved here. We're living in a very different world than it was even one generation ago. Parenting is not the same.

Secondly, my kids are well behaved in public (except the doctor's office for some reason. It never fails that they wacky there. Maybe it's all the waiting. Anyway...) and I never fail to get compliments from people when we're out. Also, I sometimes exaggerate (shocking, I know) to make a story a better read.

Finally, I'm not a perfect parent. Far from it. I make mistakes. I do things that in retrospect, were probably not the best ideas. Sometimes I'm just too tired to make them pick up and it's easier if I do it myself. Occasionally, I let something slide that I shouldn't. Now and then I lose my temper and yell like a maniac. But I always try to do what's right. I try to show my kids how to behave. I try to stay calm and let the natural consequences of their choices teach them. I try to apply punishments that fit the crime when need be. When Clay dumped sugar on my counter while helping me make cookies, he wasn't punished. He missed the bowl. He's three. Big deal. When he ran by the laundry basket, spilling clothes onto the floor, he had to pick them up. He ate all the chocolate from his advent calendar, now when all the other kids get a piece, he doesn't. His is gone.

How do you stay healthy when one of the kids is always getting sick? I have a sick daughter right now and one is enough...can't imagine more than one sick at the same time!! And then what would happen if mom gets it??

Moms aren't allowed to get sick, silly!

Dawn, I assume your husband reads your blog. Have you found that he is now tormenting you on purpose by smacking his lips, hitting his spoon on the bowl, and brushing while taking a tour of the house?

LOL! Noooo. I have discovered that the grossed-outedness I experience doesn't only happen when my husband eats. Apparently I don't like to hear anyone eat. I was at the library the other day, working on my book, when some girls sat down behind me and proceeded to open a bag of SunChips and chow down. Oh. My. Gosh. I had to leave.

It isn't my husband. Clearly there's something wrong with me.

OH MY WORD....Glad to hear we're not alone over here - my kids have been crazy - I felt like Monday I walked in circles thru a path of destruction. And the behavior - oh my - I'm chalking it up to the annual countdown to Christmas - as much as we try and keep it about Jesus' birthday, we can't seem to get away from getting caught up in the hype - my kids just become crazed lunatics this time of year. Hang in there girl!

December is always my kids' worst behavior month. Well, December and August actually. What makes it worse is you can't just send them outside to run off some energy. I let them play in the snow for a while, but they can't just stay out for hours playing. Everyone's tired of being cooped up inside and they're super crazy this time of year.

How fun was it to clean the blue out of that tub?!?

Crap! I was supposed to clean it???

You're the expert, please help me:
My SAH husband just called to ask if the ink from the ink pad I gave our 3 year old daughter will come out. I asked why and he said our DARLING 21 month old son got ahold of it and it's not only all over his face but the carpet and the couch too! I probably shouldn't have done this but I said, "Take pictures honey, this is great blog material." Then I said to try baby wipes because I've heard they take anything out of anything.
Any other suggestions? Our furniture had no blemishes before this.

Let me get this straight - you have a 3 year old and an almost 2 year old and your furniture has no telltale signs there are toddlers in your house? Seriously?

Do you think that when your kids are all grown up, that you will look back at all the mishaps they did and think to your self "I miss that"?

So they tell me, so they tell me...

Is it just me but has no one kind of wondered what she was doing by herself in a high chair long enough to pull this off....

Oh, you know - I went to the grocery store while she was sitting there, so she had a good hour and a half to do that. @@
I don't know about you, but I have yet to perfect the skill of watching six kids simultaneously for 24 hours straight. Plus, my husband kind of likes it when I do stuff like clean, make dinner, pay bills, and do the laundry. You must be amazing to be able to do all that and watch all your kids at the same time. I leave the little one in her chair to drink her milk while I change laundry. I'm just a slacker that way.

PS Yes, your drain is so shiny too, as noted by others. And is that a smoke detector on the side of your tub? (the white thing)

Uh yeah, well you never know when your bathtub might catch on fire. ???

I used to work for eBay customer support, and I just wanted to let you know that they are, indeed, real people. They use macros (automated responses that are programmed into their computers) to help them with the more common responses, because they usually work 3-5 at a time. It is an incredibly stress-filled job. I used to get so stressed before work that I would vomit. I hated that job, and I'm glad to be done with it.

I guess I didn't phrase that very well. Michelle did get a live person, but that person said that live help wasn't available to answer her question about eBay's TOS and charitable auctions. And yeah, that doesn't sound like a fun job.

As for the pencils, I understand...kind of. I've worked in a school for six years. As a teacher, I keep a stash of pencils for me and a stash for the kids. They are different brands so they don't mix. Basically, I use my own to avoid their germs because kids are known to put their fingers in there nose and who knows where else. I bleach their pencils at lunch and after school every day to cut down on germs, but I just feel more comfortable with my own. I allow the kids to use their own as well if they don't want to use the shared ones. With MRSA and whatever else is out there, people are scared.

Ahh, well that would make sense if these had been the teacher's personal pencils, however this was a cup of new, unsharpened pencils with the school's name imprinted on them, and they were set on a low table in the waiting area of the office.

I've been reading your blog daily since someone sent me the ebay auction over the summer. I am a queer activist mama of three and I babysit 4 other kids full time. We are not so different, which is why I read your blog. We have many of the same ideas about parenting and life and I look forward to reading your book (which I will have to get from the library because I can't afford to buy books!). I felt compelled to write because the Golden Compass book (and the entire trilogy) by Phillip Pullman is one of my all time favorites and I strongly feel that you should read it before suggesting an all out ban on it. Or the movie, or whatever. It's weird to be so in sync with a total stranger for so long and then have this glaring somewhat shocking reminder that maybe we are, in fact, too different after all. If your opinions on the film are any indication you probably think I'm some crazy homo sinner anyways so maybe it's for the best. So I guess we're breaking up. Sad, but thanks for the laughs.

Ummm, whaaaaat? I suggested an all out ban on The Golden Compass? When did I do that? I guess I'm writing things that I don't even remember now. Interesting.

I do have a question, I have more then one child who enjoys computer time. How do you make the time fair for each child? From the time my boys get up to the time they go to bed they fight over the laptop. My younger one is home more since hes only in preschool and is on it more. I just want less fighting over the time they are on it and could use some ideas. Thankyou.

Simple. I just never get off the computer to let them have a turn.

Actually, only my three oldest like to use the computer. If it's for homework, that child has precedence. If it's to play, they have to take turns. I suggest that they set a timer for 20 minutes. If I hear fighting over it, no one gets to play.

Question for a Sunday or anyone to answer: What "hit counter" do you like to use for your blog? I put one on my blog, but it's very basic and counts every hit even everytime I check to see how a post looks. I've made most of the hits so far :)

I use Statcounter. It has a lot of features that are cool, I guess. I've never really looked at them myself. It has a blocking cookie though so you can block your own hits and you don't inflate the numbers. (Don't I sound all technical like I know what I'm talking about? LOL!)

We are from a SMALL town in eastern Kentucky, so the big city is a real treat for us. I took Mom to Marshall's department store (is that the right name?). She had never been shopping anywhere bigger than a mall. She was fascinated by all the levels and the windows and the decorations. It was near Christmas, so you can imagine how beautiful it was.

That was a nice story and I'm sure a great memory for you, but you definitely didn't go to Marshalls. Marshalls is a bargain clothing type store. I'm sure you went to Marshall Fields (or Fields) which is was an awesome store. The one downtown always decorated their windows with a story. Sadly, we no longer have Marshall Fields in Chicagoland as it's been replaced with Macy's. : (

Oh -- and do you have a recommendation of good Greek or was it a pleasant dinner with friends or not somewhere you'd recommend to others? Discriminating palates want to know!

Greek Islands in either Lombard or Greektown is awesome. The Parthenon in Greektown is also yummilicous! In the suburbs, Yanni's or Greek Village Taverna are both good! Opa! (I'm not really a restaurant critic, but I play one on my blog.)

my question is this... i read your blog daily and i swear i am either losing my mind or some of your posts come then go, whats up with that???

I think you are losing your mind. I'm sorry.

What does it take to be a dork like you? (Besides having a "gillion" kids that is.}

Oh it would take years of practice to get as dorky as I am.

Ok, so you didn't tell us, did the water help with the dry mouth thing or is it just the fact that you are nervous a little?

It totally helped with the dry mouth. It did not help with the weak bladder, however.

You are going to L-O-V-E NYC!! It's a great city! Make sure you do the dorky touristy stuff like Rockefeller Center, Radio City, FAO, etc and a warning....do not eat food from a vendor named Salvador in Times Square, he sells hot dogs and various condiments for said dogs.......it wouldn't be a pretty trip. Otherwise enjoy coming to "my" coast!

Thanks for the tips!
Wow that is cool!!! I got to see some of Chicago which I am pretty sure (unless I miraculously win lotto) will never happen. Its funny though that you are complaining about the snow lol I have never seen snow ....ever.... I dont live where it gets cold enough to ever snow. We are sweltering here at the moment with the humidity, its about 80%. I cant wait till you go to New York I hope you do the tourist thing and take loads of pics. Are you going to New York on your own or with your hubby?

You can have my snow! Please! Really! Last night, it didn't snow. It iced. Sleet and freezing rain all night. In other words - everything was covered by a sheet of ice this morning. Everything!

And I'm going to NY by myself! Well actually, I'm going with my agent. LOL - it still cracks me up to say that.

You're gonna be in NEW YORK?
Let's do lunch!

As long as it's not at Salvador's hotdog cart.

Here's an update on Michelle's cheesy auction to benefit Julian:

The cheese has been bid up to $265.00 as of tonight! It's gotten 49 bids! People have made Paypal donations on Michelle's blog totaling $850.00! Wow! Thank you to all who have donated and to those who have said a prayer! This outpouring of compassion is amazing! This is what Mimi had to say...

Please, let your readers know that I have read every single comment they left on your blog. I appreciate them so much more than I could ever tell them.
This seems so unfair to Julian , but he still has a smile for me ,every time i look at him...
I will just be relieved when he is cancer free and with Our Father...I hate to see him hurt and become so limited in his mobility...
So again ,thank everyone for me...

Love
Mimi

And visit Mamaslike for great gift ideas like Scripture jewelry, scrapbooking DVDs, CDs to benfit cancer research, homemade goodies from Etsymoms, Christmas books, paper made from elephant poop, and much, much more!

A Dork in Chicago

I had an interview with NPR yesterday. I had to drive downtown to the Chicago office so they could record the interview which is scheduled to air the last week of December on Morning Edition. So, in order to get there in time, I asked my husband if he could get home from work by noon or if I should get a babysitter. He told me that it was no problem and he’d be home by 12:00. 12:00 came. 12:00 left. 12:05 came and left. At 12:10 I called my husband and asked him if he was almost home. He innocently answered, “No. I figured I’d get home about 12:30.”
“What?! I need to leave NOW! You SAID you’d be home by 12:00!”

My husband thought I’d told him that I needed to leave by 1:00 (because he doesn’t LISTEN!) and he apologized repeatedly for goofing up, so I couldn't be mad. So, I ended up leaving a little after 12:00 and even though traffic was kinda stinky, I made it there with time to spare. Let me back up a minute. Yesterday morning I remembered my interview with ABC and how dry my mouth was while talking to the reporter. I concluded that I hadn’t been drinking enough water lately and should probably chug down a gallon or two or ten before my interview so my mouth didn’t totally dry up while I was talking. So, about five minutes into my trip, I realized I had to pee. As traffic inched slowly along, the need to pee got worse and worse. Let me tell you, after having six kids, this is not something you mess around with. When you have to go, you have to go!

I guess I didn’t look at my Mapquest print-out very well. I thought the building was located immediately as I turned onto Wacker. As soon as I turned, I looked for a parking garage because I'm a dork and there is no way in the world I would ever, ever try to parallel park. I was afraid if I didn't park in the first garage I found, I wouldn't be able to find another one for ten miles. I found a garage right away and parked the car and prayed there was a bathroom somewhere in the parking garage. There wasn’t. I walked (really quickly) to the first establishment I thought might have a public bathroom. It was a restaurant and as I walked in and smelled the fresh bread, I realized that I hadn’t eaten yet, so I ordered a sandwich (after peeing, of course.) I asked the guy behind the counter where 65 E. Wacker was. He said, “Oh it’s a ways over that way.” He indicated the direction.

“What do you mean ‘a ways’?” I asked, my voice laced with concern.
“Oh I don’t know. It’s about eight blocks or so thatta way.”
Eight blocks? Eight city blocks? So almost a mile? I guess I didn’t have so much extra time after all. I sat down, scarfed four or five bites and then decided I’d better get walking.

I saw several of these signs as I walked to the building. Falling ice? That doesn't sound good.

I looked up to see from where the ice would fall. Ice falling from that height could totally poke your eye out! Couldn't it? Hmmm, maybe Mythbusters would know. Get on that, will ya?

So, I played the part of the dorky tourist the entire way so that I could bring you, my awesome readers, these pictures...

The L

House of Blues

Umm, a building

A round building

The river

I arrived at the NPR building, found the office, and got settled in. (By the way, there were parking garages on pretty much every corner all the way there. In fact, there was a garage RIGHT NEXT to the building!) I got to wear these neato earphones! I pretended to be Frasier as Roz (OK, it wasn’t really Roz, but I failed to catch the gentleman’s name) gave me instructions through the earphones. Oh yeah - he also brought me more water!

Cool, huh?

The interview went pretty well. I think. I guess we'll see when it airs. It was pretty cold here yesterday, so instead of walking back to my car, I thought about maybe taking a cab. The only problem is, dork that I am, I failed to note the location of the garage in which I'd parked. I didn't think I could tell the cab driver, "Um yeah, could you go to a parking garage about a mile away from here. I think there was a fire hydrant outside. And a tree. Yes, there was definitely a tree near there. And the L. The L ran near there. Somewhere. Oh! And there were some really tall buildings too! Do you know where it is?"

So, I just enjoyed my walk in the city instead. I learned that you should really wear gloves in December when walking a mile in the city. I also learned that when walking the streets of downtown Chicago, you must look straight ahead, focusing on your destination. Do not look at other passersby. Do not make eye contact. Do not smile. If you do, people will think there's something wrong with you. I also learned, according to the man with the sandwich board, that "the end is near".

I got back to the garage and thankfully didn't have to remember what number floor I'd parked on because the floors had names in addition to numbers for those of us who are mathematically impaired. So, I got in the elevator and pressed the button for the Flugel Horn floor (also known as floor 9). The elevator stopped at the fifth floor when a guy got on, and I stepped off. I walked up and down aisles looking for my car until I saw that I was on the Guitar Floor. Oops. I'd automatically gotten off the elevator when it stopped without even looking at the number. I walked back to the elevator, feeling like a total dork for like the twelfth time that day.

All I know is that I'm definitely thankful I don't have to drive downtown for work every day!
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Then last night we got to go out to dinner with friends. And without kids. Ahhhh. We've got some of the most awesome friends ever. We always have the best time when we get together with or without the kids. We also tend to do a lot of eating whenever we get together. A lot! We went to a yummy Greek restaurant and, as usual, ate too much! I think I still have garlic oozing from my pores from the skorthalia. Yum-o!

Mmmm, Roditis!

Aren't you happy I didn't put the first two pictures on here, Jen? :)

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Oh yeah! How could I have forgotten?! I'm going to NY next week to meet with my publishers! Yay! I've never been to NY and I'm really excited to see both the city and the publishers!

Check out Mamaslike!

They're PENCILS!

I overslept today (shocking, I know) and got my kids to school late. I tried to find a parking spot so I could go into the office and sign the kids in. No dice. The school only has a handful of parking spaces for visitors and they're always taken by faculty and staff despite the fact that there's a half empty "staff only" lot. So I trudge into school, through the snow, across the street, dragging four kids with me.

Once in the office, Clay heads over to the cup of pencils that sits on an end table in the waiting area. This is his routine. Whenever we set foot in the office, he grabs the pencils and plays with them. When it's time to leave, he puts the pencils back and we go. So, today, he headed over to the pencils and picked them up at which point the secretary told him, in a very snotty way, "Put those down! You can't touch them. They're not for children!"

Seriously? A cup of PENCILS sitting on a low table in a SCHOOL isn't for children?! Who are they for? Do they pass them out to adults? Are they only for visiting dignitaries? Are they reserved for teachers? Are they just a priceless decoration to be admired and never touched? They're PENCILS, for crying out loud and my son was just holding them. Not stealing them. Not throwing them. Not sticking them up his nose.

I was already flustered because we'd all overslept and I was trying to get four kids ready in five minutes and my ADHD son was out of control and belligerent this morning, so when she went off on Clay for no reason, it really ticked me off. I mean, that kid gets himself into enough trouble on his own and didn't deserve to be reprimanded for touching some pencils!

Upon leaving, I looked at the principal and stated, in an out-of-control sort of way,"You know what would be really nice? If VISITOR spots were left open for VISITORS instead of being taken by staff every day!" This has bothered me for a long time, but since I know the secretary parks in a visitor spot every day and she'd just ticked me off, I retaliated in a burst of anger.

I'm mad at myself for losing it like that. I should have stopped and thought that maybe the secretary had had a bad morning herself. Maybe she'd just had to deal with a kid who wasn't behaving in class. Maybe she'd gotten a phone call with bad news before she left for school. Who knows. Anyway, I should have been the bigger person and instead, I was just as nasty as she'd been.

See? When someone is nasty to you, it's easy to turn around and act the same way to someone else. I didn't need to chew out the principal. It's much harder to turn around and be nice to someone despite the way we were treated. On the flip side, (like those Coke commercials I like) when you do something nice/good for someone else, it's pretty easy for that person to pass the kindness on to someone else.

You guys have passed a lot of kindness on to Julian and his family. I want to thank everyone for checking out Michelle's auction to benefit Julian. After I posted it on my blog, the hits on the auction jumped up by leaps and bounds. You guys are great!

I have really bad news though. I just got an email from Mimi. The results of Julian's tests today were awful. The cancer has spread through his brain and his spine. He only has weeks to live. They'll be meeting with hospice tomorrow. :*(

Oops!

Thank you to the person who brought it to my attention that the eBay listing might be in violation of eBay's TOS. Michelle went through eBay's Live Help only to discover that their help isn't so much live. Or helpful, in fact. She's awaiting a response from eBay to find out if the listing is ok as is or if it needs to be modified somehow to make it legal. I guess if she can't auction her burnt cheese (never thought I say that sentence!) as a charitable auction, she can just auction it for fun. What she does with her winnings isn't anyone's business, right? She can just happen to give the money to umm, say a little boy with brain cancer, right? I'm sure it doesn't say anywhere in eBay's policies that the seller must retain all earnings.
Anyway, if it's relisted, I'll be sure and put a new link on here.
Thanks to everyone for checking it out! :)

Cheese for Charity

A reader of mine, Michelle at My Semblance of Sanity, posted a story on her blog this past Monday about how she was having a hectic morning getting the kids off to school. Right as she was about to lose it, she glanced into the pan where she'd just made her kids cheesy eggs. What she saw stopped her in her tracks and made her think about the topic she'd been teaching her Sunday school class just the day before - Peace.

Well people started writing her, telling her to sell this piece of burnt cheese on eBay. Although Michelle said she couldn't live with herself if she made a bunch of money off this cheese because some loony person bought it, she decided that she could indeed live with herself if she earned a bunch of money to donate to Julian and his family.

Michelle emailed me asking me if I thought it would be a good idea.

"Absolutely!" was my response. "Stranger things have happened. You know - people bidding over $100 on a $4 pack of Pokemon cards for example."

Sorry to divulge this information, Michelle, but Tuesday, after the light bulb went on about auctioning the cheese to obtain some funds for Julian, Michelle ran to her kitchen to find the pan, still unwashed in the sink (Hey, we all have days like this!). She pulled it out and found that the cross shaped cheese glob was still intact!

The wheels started spinning as Michelle excitedly set out to make enough money to give Julian an awesome Christmas to remember and/or help out the family with overwhelming medical bills. Please check out her listing on eBay and pass it on to your friends and family.

Although she just listed it this morning, the bidding is already up to $100! If this is more than you can bid, but would like to donate something, visit Michelle's blog where she has a Paypal button set up to accept donations on Julian's behalf.

Thank you!

PS - Someone left a comment on my last post about the movie the Golden Compass. I'm sure you've all heard about this by now, but I thought this article was especially well written and wanted to share it if you're interested in reading.

Almost Wordless Wednesday

This is what my little artist did today.

She's pretty proud of herself.












Oh yeah. Looking good.









I went to throw her in the tub and this is what I found. What else would be in the bathtub but a dozen plastic spiders?









This is the color of the water after her bath.

Apparently her high chair is too close to the drawer where I keep some art supplies. Er, I mean, where I USED to keep some art supplies.

Know what went through my mind when she did this?
"Ooo! I have something to blog about today!" Ugh.

I Can't Keep up With Them

I made chocolate chip cookies today.
Clay dumped sugar all over the counter.

Brooklyn got into Lexi's "dress-up" lipstick.
She proceeded to wash her hands off in the toilet.
The person who had used the toilet last, neglected to flush.

I did eight loads of laundry.
Clay dumped two of them on the floor by the back door.
My daughter proceeded to come in the house and step on the clean laundry.

Clay climbed up and grabbed his advent calendar off the top of the fridge and proceeded to eat chocolate. A lot of chocolate.
According to his calendar, it's now December 21st.

Clay got into Jackson's medication patches. He cut open the packet, peeled the backing off the patch and stuck it to a chair.
At least the chair won't be hyper today.

I got a call from the school nurse. She has my number on speed dial. She said that Lexi had a stomachache. I had my doubts about the validity of said stomachache, but decided to pick her up from school just in case she was really sick.
Before I got there, she threw up all over the nurse's office. At least I know she wasn't faking it.
Like clockwork, the call came in 10 minutes after I'd put Brooklyn down for her nap.

This morning, Clayton and Brooklyn ate an entire pack of Tic Tacs that they'd swiped from my purse.
Their breath is still minty fresh.

Clay and Brooklyn grabbed some graham crackers and ate them while sitting atop Lexi's bed.
I had just changed the sheets on her bed.
Her sheets are now crunchy.

This, my friends, is why no comments were approved until tonight when my husband got home from work. I was too afraid to turn my back on them!

This all happened while I was doing my regular Monday cleaning. I can't imagine what they would've gotten into had I been on the computer.

Here's a picture of cutie-pie Julian and a brief update from his mom, Mimi...

"Quick update... Julian hasn't been well . His left leg is acting up ,he wont walk on it , or just on his tip toe . He tires easy and needs to rest a lot . He still cracks a smile and shows how big his muscles are!!"

Remember to stop by Mamaslike for all our latest finds.

Sunday Sound Out

Do you believe in magic?
A song written by John Sebastian and released in 1965 by The Lovin' Spoonful.

Okay, Dawn, I am gasping. 1000 square feet? Are you sure? I thought I was the queen of making everything fit, but you put me to shame. What do you do - triple bunks in the bedrooms?
Eh, we just make half the kids sleep outside. Which half depends on how they're behaving that day.

I have a question, as well. I read an American parents forum (we are British) and this year there has been mention of Black Friday quite a bit. We've never heard it before, even on this forum that we've been on for over two years. What does it mean?
It's the day after Thanksgiving when all the crazy people get up at like 3:00 am to go shopping in huge crowds of people to get a Wii or a Tickle Me Elmo or whatever toy is hot this year.

Quick question for you - have you seen this video?!!
"Because I Am The Mom Song"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anSpBUxsgAU
Yes, but only 495 times. Anita Renfroe is very funny!

I can't get to the website for Julian... I have tried before... it goes to the Carepages main page... what is the direct link to Julian's site?
A lot of you have written me, saying you're having trouble accessing his site. There isn't a link that takes you directly there. Go to Carepages.com. Look at the top right where it says "sign in", "create", "visit",or "register here". Click "register here" if you don't have an account. You have to set up an account on CarePages before you can access a page. I believe the only information they ask for is a username and a password. If you already have an account, click on "sign in" or "visit". After signing in, you'll see a box that says something like "enter carepage name". Enter "juliansworld" with no spaces. That should do the trick. It looks like he and his family had a great time in FL and Julian's doing well with his anti-seizure medication now.

QUESTION: What does 'ROFL' mean anyway? I must be totally lame.
It's one of these, I think.
Roaming Over Floridian Lakes
Raising Ostriches From Lithuania
Ripping Off Funny Leprechauns
Running Over Furry Lemurs
Rolling On Floor Laughing
Rhinos Overindulge Fresh Lettuce
Ruminate On Flavored Ladyfingers
Repeating Our French Lesson

Does this mean you didn't get any pumpkin bread? Or did you start over?
Are you kidding? I just threw a little more flour in the mixer and commenced baking.

You gave a mixer to a "one, two, three, five, six, eleven" year old? And then threw a bowl full of flour into this mix. At anyone one of those ages I might think that your decision warranted : psychological evaluation. In other words... You're crazy!!!
Here's a question for Sunday's post: What were you thinking?
Much like Homer, I was thinking, "Mmmmmm pumpkin bread."

Care to post your sugar cookie recipe?
I don't actually have a favorite sugar cookie recipe. Thanks to one of my readers, I found this though. Click here to see The Twelve Days of Cookies from The Food Network. Also, Hallmark magazine had a pull out section of cookie recipes in their fall issue. In their current issue, there are a bunch of cake mix recipes that are really yummy sounding! Have you guys seen this magazine? I had never even heard of Hallmark magazine until I received an email from the editor. I've got to say I'm not a big magazine fan, but I'm loving Hallmark magazine! There are no articles on "How to lose 50 pounds overnight" or "How to keep your lover happy" or "What BritneyAshleyLindseyParis Has Done Lately". It's a nice magazine with heartwarming and inspirational stories, good recipes, ways to spruce up your home, entertaining tips, ways to connect and much, much more. Because it's such a good magazine, I was honored and happy to say yes when they asked me to write an article for an upcoming issue.

Amen to cookies being the best food group!! I have friends that make fun of me for eating cookies for breakfast. My philosophy is if I'm going to eat a cookie I may as well start my day with it. :)
I know this isn't a question, but I had to address it. There's nothing wrong with eating cookies for breakfast in my opinion. They're no worse than say, Pop-Tarts, donuts, or coffee cake, right? If Paula Deen says that cheese is a food group, then cookies can be a food group too!

ROFL. I just wrote a 50,000 word novel in a month for NaNoWriMo. I couldn't have done it without my laptop (to probably hide from the masses) my headphones (to drown out their screams and cries for attention) and Pandora.com (for great tunage). Oh, and chocolate. How could I forget the chocolate? Good luck. I still have at least 50,000 words to go. But now that I discovered the secret ingredients to success (see above)then it should be easy right? Right??
Ummm sure? I keep seeing NaNoWriMo. I have no idea what this is, but it sounds like either the lyrics to a Wiggles song or a Native American name. NaNoWriMo, a lesser known Indian, was with Sacagawea on Lewis and Clark's expedition.

Believe it or not my wife is sitting right behind me right now playing Spider Solitaire. She's so good she plays it with two suits. How many suits do you play the game with? (A deliberate attempt at getting a Sunday night question answered.)
No suits. I generally, just wear jeans and a Tshirt.

Spider Solitaire ?? Do you play that on Pogo.com? I love pogo.com play often would love to play a game with you sometime if that's where you play.
I just play the game that came on my computer. I haven't had time to play on Pogo in months, but I used to play Canasta on Pogo with a few friends.

Did you know they have Ear Wax and Vomit flavored Jelly Bellies?
Yes! I also know, thanks to Max, a family friend, that eating a vomit flavored Jelly Belly will make you turn green and throw up in your mouth.

Men do not care what is on TV. They care WHAT ELSE is on TV!!!
Again, not a question, but oh so true!!!

So tell me, what time do all your kids go to bed?
About two hours after I tell them to go to bed.

How do you find the time to write??!?!?!?!?!?
I stay up until 1:00 or 2:00 in the morning.

I recently started a blog, which I find such a challenge to keep up with, even though I enjoy it...sometimes it creeps into my other responsibilities, like say, feeding my kids. Which leads to my next question: Do we have to feed them every day??
Yes, but popcorn, cereal, cookies, cheese sticks, and fries all count as meals.

As for the commercial dodging, do you have or have you considered TiVo?
Nope and nope. If he didn't get to flip through channels, he'd find some other irritating habit. Or, maybe I should say, I'd find something else to complain about.

Hey Dawn - Good for YOU for getting out. Might as well before the storm of 07 hits, right? This storm better produce they way they are playing it up - it is like SWEEPS week for the weather guys!
I had no idea there was a snow storm coming. I had to call my mom and complain because life didn't make sense to me anymore. My mom ALWAYS calls me when there's inclement weather on the horizon. Always! I guess she got tired of me scoffing everytime she warned me the weather would be bad.

(Did you know your carpal tunnel goes from your wrist through your elbow and all the way to your shoulder? I do NOW.)
Seriously? I thought the Carpal Tunnel connected Long Island to Connecticut!

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Looking for Peace and Quiet

So, I decided to try out the wonderful portability of my laptop. I sneaked out of the house tonight and went to Panera (where they have free WiFi) to do some writing in relative peace and quiet. I walked in, ordered up a nice big chai tea latte, and sat down to write. Now really, why do I even need internet access if I'm writing? All I need is a Word document, right? But no, the way I write is - write one page, then IM someone. Write a few more sentences then play a game (or twelve) of solitaire. Write another paragraph and then see if my friends want to play Canasta for an hour or two. Yep, I get a lot of writing done that way.

So anyway, I'm sitting here at Panera and behind me is a table of like 400 teenagers. At least that's how it sounds. Who'dve thunk that Panera was a teen hang-out? They're all talking really loudly to make sure that everyone can hear how cool they are. After all, they're teenagers and they know everything, of course. I mean, I knew everything when I was a teenager. I knew everything and my parents were decidedly stupid. I'm not sure when that changed, but my parents have actually become pretty smart now. Wise, even. I, on the other hand, have lost intelligence daily since my kids were born. Just yesterday, my son informed me that I was wrong and that 25 degrees is not cold. It's warm, he corrected me when I told him to put on a coat so he wouldn't be cold. I used to know this stuff.

Or like this morning when Clay was on all fours kind of walking around on top of the toy box. He said, "Mom, what am I?"
I replied, "You're silly."
"Noooo! Mooom! I'm not silly! I'm a dancing pig!"
Well, of course you are. I guess I'm the silly one.

So anyway, my reason for getting out was to
1. try out my laptop and be all cool-like sitting here typing away in this restaurant, and
2. get away from the noise and interuptions and distractions in my house.

However, as I pulled into the parking lot, my cell phone rang.
"Mom, I was playing on Webkinz and now I can't click on anything. What do I do?"

So much for getting away.

I sat down and started typing and before I'd even finished my first paragraph, an IM popped up.
"Hi Mom. "Whatcha doing?"

Would it be bad to log off and ignore them?

Five minutes later, another IM...
"Mom, how do you turn the computer off? This game isn't working right."

Meanwhile, 800 more teenagers have showed up here. I think it's time to pack up and go back home. Either there or to the airport. ;)

P.S. I just realized that tomorrow is December! Eeeeeee!