Perhaps my favorite yearly assignment in writing for Alpha Mom is the chance to do a summer reading round-up---nothing makes a bookworm happier than talking books, after all, except maybe talking books that are shaping the next generation of bookworms. [Aside: I am so glad my kids love to read. I'm also glad they've developed such excellent taste in books that I find myself reading their picks more often than not. It's like having a couple of librarians in-house, albeit somewhat cranky and messy librarians.] Without further ado, I'm pleased to offer up this year's summer reading round-up for...
I went to Mom 2.0 this past weekend, and it was a verrrry interesting trip for me. In 10 years (!!) of blogging and freelancing and working for various clients, this is the first time I've gone to a conference as a representative of my employer rather than as just a freelancer looking for work, and that was very different. I'm still adjusting to this new phase of my career and still kind of looking around and going, "Is this my life? Are you SURE?" It's all awesome, but I don't know if you've maybe noticed that I'm not always so good with change...? Shocking, I know. It's a secret. Don't...
Or, Things I did wrong recently. Or, Life is hard because I am dumb. Or, Allow me to make you feel better about your life choices. I keep telling myself that I should just come over here and post some dog pictures and call it a day---after all, who needs content when you have furballs, right?---but it hasn't happened and now all of that procrastination has paid off, because it turns out that while no one day has been blog-worthy, lately, taken in sum total I have a veritable epic of life-and-how-to-do-it-wrong to share. Every day is a new opportunity to do something else stupid, as I always...
When we last spoke (I know, I know; we don't really speak so much as I type and sometimes you comment, but "when we last spoke" feels more mellifluous than "the last time I bothered to post something"), nearly a week ago, I was a few days in to the latest Germfest, which continued to permeate every corner of our family and house at an alarming rate. Yesterday I still felt like my death might be imminent, but I dragged myself around the house Cleaning Everything (again!) and washing sheets and opening doors (it was a beautiful day, not that it matters when you're busy trying not to die) and...
Black Friday is my day to get up wayyyyy too early and dish out the deals all day long over at Want Not. Just picture me in a long, flowing cape (I mean, I'm wearing my polka-dotted robe, and that's practically the same thing...), bravely saving humanity from having to go out into the world to join the shopping madness, today. It's a public service, really. Our Thanksgiving was lovely. We had good friends, good food, and I was curious to see how Duncan would do with a houseful of people. As it was, we ate in the dining room while both dogs paced around the table, ever vigilant and hopeful....
Yep, I know what today is. Nope, not gonna talk about it. There are plenty of places you can go to get that, today. What I'm offering, instead, is two different distractions if you need 'em. Because YAY, shiny and less-depressing things! First: My latest post at Alpha Mom is all about teaching teens to think about money, even though mostly what my teens think about money is, "Mom should give us more of it." Second: I've been given the privilege of doing some collaboration with the National Center for Learning Disabilities, which does all sorts of awesome things (and I would say that even if...
It's always fun to have to fulfill a work assignment dealing with parenting tips during a time period when I've become completely convinced that the only parenting tip I'm qualified to offer anyone is, "Don't have children." That's my FAVORITE! (As my kids would say: hey, it's Opposite Day!) So when I was thinking about my topic for Alpha Mom this week, I ended up feeling confident about... well, the fact that my kids are clean. Yes. I'm 15.5 years into this parenting thing and that's the kindest parenting-related congrats I can offer myself right now. There's plenty of other awesome things...
While everyone else in the world is returning from BlogHer and waxing poetic about the people and the city and the knowledge and the experience, I am just wishing I had some---any, really---artistic ability. The two things I wish to share with you really require visual aids, but lord knows I can't even draw a straight line. So instead I will have to try that whole PAINT THE PICTURE WITH WORDS thing even though I suspect it will be insufficient. The first thing I need to tell you about is how excited I get when I go somewhere that requires pretty shoes. We all know I like pretty shoes, yes?...
I don't really wear makeup. This is because: 1) I work from home, and prefer hiding in my office to interacting with people, and 2) I am exceedingly lazy. On a day when I'm working from home (most weekdays) or just puttering around the house (most weekends), I wear jeans and t-shirts and my hair is unruly and wet all day and I wear my glasses and the only thing that goes on my face is maybe a little moisturizer. Fancy! On a day when I have to do Official Work Things Among People, I wear pretty clothes and expensive shoes and I straighten my hair and make it SUPER SHINY and put in my contacts...
