The R Family Diaries

You all know that I am totally addicted to blogging.  And, right now, I am totally okay with said addiction.  I check that little map thingy in the corner regularly, so I can see where my "friends" are coming from.  The SITS map has significantly more flags, which I am okay with, cause I pretend like it's my blog and those girls are coming to see me and Heather ....but I have a question.... Where are the bloggers from North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Nebraska and Montana? It is so weird to me that those states have NO flags.  SITS gets like 1,200 hits a day.  Not a single person from those states?  Does anyone else find this strange?  Are any of you getting hits from there?  I am pretty sure those states have internet capabilities...right? So, I am thinking a contest may be needed... to get them to come out and blog...Stay Tuned. This may need to be a group effort.

Crazy Shannon... Now where was I?  Ah, yes, Ann had emailed me regarding the financial hardship a $5 toy would impose on her wine and food habbit... So, after Shannon gets my response, I start getting more emails from her.  She is clearly creating drama in her head.  Everything I email to the group, she has to respond with some question or comment. Always using that dreaded "LOL" and always signing it, "Warmly, Shannon". I continue to get more curt in my responses, and due to her total lack of social awareness, she either doesn't it, or doesn't care.  I send an email to the group saying that if they don't like the way things are handled, they should start their own group.  And, that drama and whining will not be tolerated.  Again, totally lost on Shannon I decide that I am D.O.N.E.  I send this email to the ladies I LOVE in the book club (Shannon, Anne and Joy do not receive this): Okay Ladies, I had to write it now because I can't sleep until I do

The new SITS Recipe Site is up and running!  Go check it out!

So I totally forgot to post Fab Friday... but we are easy girls, right?  (I mean easy like, uncomplicated, low maintenance... not...well, easy ) We are going to do a condensed version.  Just one "Fab" (or in my case, not so "fab" item). This week, I made a fool out of myself in front of a celebrity by calling her daughter by the wrong name.  (I told you guys, I have 400 of these kids each day...you can mix up a name or two). No, I won't tell you the celebrity, but she is definitely A list. And, for the record, super nice. I thought I'd make conversation while she was waiting and speak to her daughter.  Who I called by the wrong name.  Miss Celebrity was super gracious and said, "Actually, this is ____.  Her sister is ___.  They look alike, it happens all the time."  I did an uncomfortable laugh and excused myself.. something about checking on something... Anyway, tell me.  Have you embarrassed yourself recently?  Or not so recently is fine too.

So, I am totally exhausted and need to post, but the Crazy Shannon post deserves all my energy.  I am going to come back soon, I promise.  PMAC (backwards) is up and running great.  So, I should have energy (and my voice back) soon. Thank you to my faithful friends who check to see if I am alive!  I am. I thought I would throw out a question.   Debbie and Jennifer both recently asked some interesting things and I have one now. I was enjoying some music in the car today.  If I could have any "super power" it would be to sing.  Like SANG.  Like, WOW, that is some set of pipes.  I am convinced that if I could in fact sing, I would be famous.  So here is my question:              If you could sing like anyone, who would it be? PS- I just read a great post by Hairline Fracture.  If you have kid's, it is a must read.

So, I am CRAZY busy and I have to recycle.  For those of you who have been with me from the beginning (uh, like 8 weeks ago), thank you.  For those of you newer to my blog... enjoy.  Speaking of Crazy, I will blog about Shannon soon.  Right now, I am expecting like 400 children tomorrow and need to sleep.  Thank you. Yep, that's right.. Big Lots. As in, formally known as, Pic N Save. I have been reading your blogs and Target is getting all the love. Don't get me wrong, I love me some bullseye...("I don't know why you say good buy, I say hello..hello, hello"). Target is dependable, bright, clean, features "designer" merchandise at great prices, etc. But I'd like to take a moment and celebrate my favorite discount chain........ Big Lots. Now I know what you're thinking... eeeeeeewwwwww, gross. That place is so cheap and dirty... doesn't it smell like feet and old creamed corn? Yes, yes it does, but that's what makes it so wonderful ..

So along with the book "Eat, Pray, Love" I thought it would be fun to actually eat. pray. and love. Eat: I asked the girls to each bring a bit of their favorite recipe to share. Pray: One of the girls in the group practices mediation daily and I asked if she would lead us in a short and simply mediation. Love: Bring an unwrapped toy to donate to a children's charity. Most of the girls respond with wonderful enthusiasm.  That a book club like this was exactly what they were looking for.  Which worked out well, because, it was my book club and this is how I roll. Shannon, yeah, not so much.  She decides that after the last email "confrontation" that a better route might be to have someone else do her dirty work.  In walks Anne. Now Ann is young.  A graduate student with a boyfriend.  Which is of course why Shannon chose her...I said Shannon was crazy, not stupid.   Anne emails me this: I really love this book club and everything that you're doing for it!  I wa

I know you want more of Crazy Shannon and I promise, it's coming.  But for today, it's time for Friday's Fab Five (right I am humming "Do a little dance, Make a Little Love, Get Down Tonight), as this is always so much fun for me!  I love finding out about you.                        Top Five TV Show (All Time and in no particular order) 1.  Seinfeld 2.  Sex and the City 3.  Friends 4.  Beverly Hills 90210 5.  Facts of Life

I found this website called meetup.com.  You can post a new gathering in your zip code and interested people join.  So, I wrote up a little description of a club called Books, Wine and Fun and waited to see who was interested. I receive about 15 members in a day or two.  One, by the name of Shannon.  Shannon is a woman in her thirties, single and worked as a nanny for a young child.  Seems nice enough, right? Shannon misses the first meeting.  She sends an email  (like a novel) explaining her absence and asks for the title of the book and promises to make the next meeting.  I reluctantly agree, as I am sensing "crazy" written all over her email.  Plus, she signs everything "Warmly, Shannon" and that makes my skin crawl.   So, meeting number 2 rolls around and goes well.  Shannon is a bit chatty and my intuition is telling me that drama may ensue, but I just drink some more Merlot and laugh it off. For the second book, I choose "Eat, Pray, Love" by Elizabet

Dear Candy Man, I just wanted to take this opportunity to say Thank You. Thank you for sitting by my side while I vomited my guts up for the one millionth time  during my pregnancy and telling me you would do it for me if you could.   Thank you for saving up all of your vacation, sick and bonding time to stay home for six weeks after The Boy was born and learn how to be a daddy.   Thank you for loving every minute of it. Thank you for changing diapers, feeding bottles, snuggling at 2 AM. Thank you for giving up your success so I could follow mine. Thank you for washing dishes, doing laundry, vacuuming and waking up early. Thank you for the fishing, the baseball, the basketball, and taking him to Tae Kwon Do (you know I think that place smells like sweaty pubescent boy and I can't speak to Master Bates with a straight face). Thank you for letting me be crazy, unpredictable and somewhat nutty.  You are and always will be my stabling force. Thank you for being incredibly charming.  An

Today... Five Things You Never Want To Live Without ... and don't tell me your husband and kids.  I mean like secret things....interesting things...shocking things.....  Okay, so these aren't any of the "things" just described, but, they are mine. 1. Viva Paper Towels.   2. HGTV (House Hunters in particular) 3. Barry Manilow 4.  "Tighten Up"  (aka: Liquid Virgin...) 5.  Comments  

So The Boy asked me to tye his shoes.  He likes my triple knots.  (what can I say?  I am one "knotty girl"....man, I.crack.my.self.up.) I told him he was going to have to perfect his own triple knot.   He thought about it and said, "Maybe when I am 8."   You know I am a sucker.  And, apparently so does he.  I agree to 6 more months of triple knots.  Trying to take advantage of my generous nature (shocking), he replied, "How 'bout you do it until I am ten."   I quickly retorted, "Ten! Don't even talk about being ten.  I need you to stay my baby as long as possible. " He says, "Mom, I will always be your baby." I gleefully exclaim, "Really?!"  (Oh, this boy.  He is SO sweet.) He states, "Mom, you are like 26 years older than me.  I will always be a baby compared to you." Geez, kid, thanks.  Thanks a lot.

It's official.   My husband was right.   I do have the sense of humor of a 12 year old .   And, apparently, my writing style is also that of a pre-pubescent male.   Great. Kandace   was rated a genius.  Last time I checked she had a dog with a sex addtion and a pole in her living room... how can this be?

Every summer we move back to the town I grew up in.  Back to the one place in the world that feels most like home. I did all my growing up in the same house.  On the same street.  Nestled safely among the same hills. Backyard of dirt.  Then grass.  Playhouse of plywood and left over shingles.  Fire pit for the Girl Scout overnights.  Pool for lunch time swimming. Roller skating under streetlights.  Sweet sound of Springfield.  Riding bikes, making tents, drinking kool-aid.  Ice cream truck treats. Jumping off the diving board 100 times a day.  Snack stand french fries. Packing up the car three times.  Fire over the hill.  The smell of smoke in Autumn. Birthday parties, Christmases,  First Communions.  Folding chairs and card tables. Holly Hobby bedspreads and pink canopies.  Nancy Drew garage sale finds.  Bunk beds and Cabbage Patch Kids.  Dress up clothes and Dream Houses. Sneaking out and then back in.  Parties to clean up.  2 AM phone calls quieted by covers. Bikinis, adventures, re

TB: "Mom, can I have some coins to throw in the fountain." Me: "Sure.  Let me find some pennies." TB: "Okay.  But, I am pretty sure it takes dimes too."  

So The Boy and I had a little date night.  Just the two us.  We went to Sushi. On the way home, pretty much out of nowhere, the following gem is laid at my feet. "Hey Mom.  I was thinking that I am gonna do those jobs you are always asking me to do.  Except pick up my dog's poop and take out the trash.  That stuff smells and makes me want to throw up. How about if I don't do it the first time you ask, like, because I am busy, or in the middle of something, I will just pay you a quarter." That is some serious philosophical waxing.  I think if you look close enough, he might have just given me the answer to world peace or something.

Hi Ladies,   I have decided to go a bit more "anonymous" and take my last name off the blog.  So, please note that I am now Mrs. R and the new address is http://therfamilydiaries.blogspot.com This is going to kill my Technorati ratings, but it will make my DH happy.  And, really, that's all that matters, right? So, if I am on your blog roll, please make the change and if I am not, go ahead and add me....(just kidding!  Kind of.)

Since last weeks, Fab Five was such a hit and I got to know so much about you just by your "hot leading man" selections, let's continue, shall we? I love me some music.  This time I want to know your top 5 songs...of all time. Here are mine, in no particular order: 1.  "Sweet Home Alabama" (Lynard Skynard) - I swear I am supposed to be from the South.  The food, the accent, and, this freakin' song.  I LOVE it.  Makes me dance every time. 2.  "Hey Jealousy" (Gin Blossoms) - Always reminds me of high school, and has the best line ever, "If you don't expect too much from me, you might now be let down." 3.  "When I Get Where I'm Goin' " (Brad Paisley & Dolly Pardon) -  "I'm gonna walk with my grandaddy, and he'll match me step for step. And, I'll tell him how I've missed him every minute since he left.  Then I'll hug his neck." (gets me all choked up...) 4.  "Shook Me All Night Long

Remember how I said I have a tendency to pick fights in an earlier meme ?  Well here is an example of me getting all up in arms over an injustice.  Yes, tampon injustice.   Recently, my friends and I made an unanswered  plea to Tampax .  But today, I contacted them for a different reason. So I had this great idea to give away a year's supply of tampons when we feature Lula on SITS. You all know how she wrote that HYSTERICAL post about her cheerleading tampons, right? I email Tampax with my pitch about their "awesome tampons that offers postive affirmations on every wrapper".  And, tell them about the early (so far, so good) success of SITS , yadayadayada.  I receive an email back essentially saying "Thanks. But no thanks." I'm pissed. How dare they turn down a group of women supporting other women. And, what's a years worth of tampons to them, like $5.00? Anyway, I decide I need to call someone and vent. Here is how that goes: Me: "Hi Heath

This video cracks me up.  Over and over again.  

Now I certainly don't consider myself an expert Mother, but I have survived the past 8 years of motherhood with my marriage and sanity (mostly) intact. Over the past few months, I have spoken to some new mothers and have been left feeling somewhat...well...concerned. It seems that there is this incredible pressure to be the perfect mother. All knowing, all giving. Of course, I believe we should do all we can to make sure our children are thriving, but I don't think we need to sacrifice all of ourselves in the process. You also know that a fan I am of all moms . This is not about whether or not you should or should not work, breastfeed, spank or immunize. I don't care about any of that. You're a grown up, those choices are yours to make. What I am speaking to is the lack of caring for yourself, while caring for your baby. If I may, I'd like to offer the following suggestions. Take them for what it's worth, which is probably nothing... *Get yourself a p

The Secret is in the Sauce  is ready and waiting to make your acquaintance.  There is a big, fat contest, so get on over there now!  (Be sure to leave a comment once you are there, as that is your entry into the contest!)