Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Prepare to be Amazed!

Birk always has "one more thing" to tell me. She always has to "show me" something. Her most interesting and famous catch phrase is "prepare to be amazed!"

This statement is always full of theatrical drama. You also know that you are probably in for something good.

Sometimes it's a magic trick. Sometimes it's a website. Sometimes it's a piece of art.

It could even be a knock knock joke.

Sometimes I am too busy or lazy to "prepare to be amazed." These are the times I kick myself in the butt, get off the computer, stop stirring spaghetti sauce, or get off the phone and follow Birk.

She "amazes" me every time!

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Ahhhh, This is the Life

You know, when I get into the crunch period, I have a hard time seeing the forest for the trees. Maybe sometimes, it's as easy as seeing each tree.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

May is for Mayhem

Once we hit May, it's all downhill until the end of the school year. I have to color code and continuously update our calendar. My evenings are filled with extra carpool shifts and dinners on the run. Who said a bagel isn't a complete meal?

My normally messy house turns into a disaster zone, and I'm swamped by paper, re-enrollments, and camp forms.

Hold onto your hats, we are on one wild ride! It ends for us this year with 8th grade graduation, which is becoming a bigger event day by day.

Cross your fingers for me, I'm hitting the high tide of parenting. Hopefully no waves will wash me under, or undertow pull me down. This is when I'm absolutely sure a theme song would help.

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Juicer Angst


I've been hearing the hype for weeks. A friend of mine just bought the most awesome juicer. She juices for breakfast things I only eat at a Sunday dinner. She is feeling great and she just goes on and on and on about the marvelous benefits of her wondrous juicer.

Well, I'm a gadget girl. I'm not a natural cook, but if you can make a blender that turns frozen peas into soup, I'm on it. I like recipes, I like fresh fruit and veggies, so I was listening to the juicer tales with rapt attention.

I asked my husband about it. He said to go for it, as long as I thought I would really use it. I make fresh orange juice almost every morning with my little, rickety citrus juicer, so why wouldn't I be a juicing queen with a commercial motorized contraption?

The price was not an easy thing to swallow. There were many options, and my friend had done the heavy lifting research. She explained why I should pay the extra $50 or even $100 to get the longest possible warranty with the sturdiest motor.

I went to my go to website, Amazon, and gazed and read reviews and had added and deleted said juicer from my cart at least 7 times. The questions were in my head: Would I really use it? Would it be worth the hefty price? Would my family even like carrot juice with parsley?

I finally just did it. I clicked submit and before I knew it, the big box arrived on my doorstep. I knew there was already a problem when I didn't rip the box open immediately. I watched the box. I walked by it. I moved it from place to place. I had fear of the brown box.

My daughter was so excited that she got the scissors and opened that baby right up. She is 8. She was ready to hit the juicing scene. I tried to downplay the excitement and told her we would make juice after dinner.

(Please remember, this is the girl who tivo'd the Big City Slider informercial and watched it over and over and made me watch it over and over until I finally ordered it!)

I knew as soon as I saw that beautiful, shiny, sexy chrome juicing machine that I had made a huge, expensive mistake. There were pieces and parts and bubble-wrapped attachments that made my head spin. I was in juicer shock. I put off juicing until the next morning at breakfast.

In the light of the day, with eager Birk by my side we finally did it. We turned two apples into two small, small glasses of apple juice. Firstly, I was mystified that I had to cut the apples up into tiny pieces to even fit them into the tube. I was not instantly the "Juicing Queen" lobbing full-size apples into a cider press.

No, I'm not even the "Juicing Jester." I'm still staring at this machine wondering "What have I done?" I hope my fear of juicer subsides and that I get more adventurous, but right now I'm wondering how to hide it and I'm grateful that my husband never reads my blog.

P.S. It was easy to clean, though.

Top 10 Scary Movies

I am a Halloween girl. I've always enjoyed it, but over the years, it's become the one holiday that I actually really can celebrate in a silly way with no stress--it's about candy, chocolate and costumes, hello???

I am going through clutter at my house and found two Top 10 Halloween Movie lists from Canadian Living Magazine...

Top 10 Great Family Halloween Flicks
  1. Hocus Pocus (1993)
  2. The Addams Family (1991)
  3. Casper (1996)
  4. Halloweentown (1998)
  5. It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (1966)
  6. Double, Double, Toil and Trouble (1993)
  7. Ghostbusters (1984)
  8. Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
  9. Beetlejuice (1988)
  10. Young Frankenstein (1974)
Top 10 Scary Movies
  1. The Silence of the Lambs
  2. The Nightmare Before Christmas (twice, I know!)
  3. Zodiac
  4. House of Wax
  5. Willard
  6. Close Encounters of the Third Kind
  7. Rosemary's Baby
  8. The Shining
  9. Gremlins
  10. Rear Window
Where is:
  1. The Exorcist
  2. Nightmare on Elm Street
  3. Halloween



Monday, May 3, 2010

Sunny Mornings



I just wanted to quickly share with you the breakfast Birk prepared for me on the weekend. I love this age so much!

Friday, April 30, 2010

My Problem With REI

The problem that I have with REI is a lot like the problem I have with The Container Store: everything is just too darn cool and opens a world of possibilities.

Couldn't I bike farther, faster and better in that helmet? Couldn't I sleep just a little more comfortably in that down, cozy sleeping bag iF I EVER went camping? Wouldn't I work out more if I had those pants?

The answer in NO NO NO. But for some reason, a part of my brain that I rarely use engages in that store and I transform into a hike going, safari taking, marathon running figment of my imagination. The better person that is hidden deep at the bottom of me that will never come out.

Transfer the situation to one of my children and we have a BIG problem. An over $800 problem. Here is the story...

John is going on a week-long trip with his 8th grade class. They are flying on an airplane with their teacher to regions unknown to me. Yes, it is still in the continental United States, and No, I am not worried, But, for some reason REI sets off all of my parental instincts.

John NEEDS a new ultra warm fleece, what if he gets cold at night? He NEEDS a high tech flashlight, what if he's somewhere in the dark? He NEEDS gore tex rain pants, what if it rains? I am his mommy and I won't be there and I want him to have everything he NEEDS, right?

I was almost embarrassed at check out. My cart was overflowing with advanced designed adventure gear, my heart was pounding, and my visa card was smoking. I could tell from the gal behind the counter, that this was everyday business for her. Nothing out of the ordinary here...she apparently sees neurotic mothers every day.

This is the same problem I have in The Container Store...won't my life be just a little easier and a little more perfect with that shoe storage system? Won't I sleep just a little lighter knowing John has a satellite tracking GPS, you know, he might get lost...