How To Pick Your Husband

I think my husband is hysterical. Remember before you were married and your single friends would say things like, "my future husband has to have a good sense of humor." And I'd be like, "what does that have to do with anything?!?" Because mind you, my husband-to-be check off list included important things like:

1. He must be good at math. (check)
2. Be at least six feet tall. (check)
3. That he's handsome...(check, check)

Nothing superficial about those qualities...ahem...

No, it isn't his birthday, I was just reminiscing about the good ol' 80s with two mommies yesterday at soccer practice (aren't I always at soccer practice?) Which then led me to think about my good ol' single days (which really weren't so good) and how being married requires an enormous amount of humor and grace.

Like when we email each other and when I'm stressed out and he says:

"Let me take you for a walk."

to which I respond:

"Is there a dog in this scenario? Am I the dog?"

(Please note: this a quote from one of our favorite movies, "When Harry Met Sally." If you have never seen this movie, watch it, if you've never heard of it, I am way too old for you and you need to find a young mommy blog.)

Anyway, the bottom line, marriage gets crazy and add your kids and your pets and it's not always a party with "Dancing Queen" playing in the background (yes another reference to my age.)

So hopefully you picked a good husband; one with a sense of humor who makes you laugh and sometimes when things get hairy, takes you for a walk.


{Photo: Image Source}

Post Party Post

I just rearranged my bedroom. I'm also rearranging my life. You know the saying "when it rains, it pours?" Well, it was pouring both figuratively and literally the past few days. I'm trying to figure out which jobs to say yes to and which ones will put me over the top sending me to some kind of mommy asylum.

And even though I'd like to do it all, because I, like many moms have "Super Mom Syndrome" (that's a real syndrome, right?) something's gotta give...

*sigh* It's hard to please everyone.

But there was one little girl who was pleased this weekend, and that was so important.

Cutting approximately 40 paper flowers; baking my own cake; decorating into the late hours and staying on a budget was well worth it.

Our little girl had a fabulous time. And that's always the most important thing.

Getting Your Craft On

It all started with weeks of searching for party ideas online. Then picking out a theme; a garden tea party. Then it became the hunt for all things flower-like. On a budget. Then I found this inspirational photo.

Our youngest turns seven this Saturday. It's easy to throw a party when you have money.

• You can buy the generic birthday party stuff at a party/dollar store.
  
• You can buy a Cricut machine or a Silhouette.
  
• You can take your sweet time at Michael's or Joann's and shop up and down the aisles.

But how do you do it when you have very little $? You get your scissors and construction paper and get your craft on sista...

{source for paper flowers}


I'm linking to:

Husband's Email To Me

This is an actual email exchange between Husband and I. The "dopey dog" is our dog Juno, the 125 lb. one-year-old English Mastiff (she is so busted!) Here's how Husband responds to my sweating the small stuff...

From: Suzanne
Sent: Tuesday, September 20, 2011 9:44 AM
To: Husband
Subject: d-o-g

Any suggestions on how to keep the dopey dog off the couch? I caught her there twice!

From: Husband
Sent: Tuesday, September 20, 2011 9:49 AM
To: Suzanne
Subject: d-o-g

Poisonous droplets wedged between the cushions…male dog photos under the piano bench…treats distributor in the kitchen…induce runaway strategies, like “your real family lives in Chicago”…pawcuff her to the toilet…???

When Bloggers Become Haters

So I was reading a blog post about niches, and still adamant that I do not have one, when this post talked about creating a niche on what you're passionate about. I'm passionate about a lot of things, that's my problem!

Now that I've clarified my "niche-lessness," let's be passionate about something that really bugged me last week. I found a hate blog. There's no other name for it. It was a blog dedicated to doling out cynicism and criticism toward a very popular blog that's out there. A blog, in fact, that I read on a daily basis.

:(

You know, I get the freedom of speech thing and the "well, if you put yourself out there..." but really? Does this person actually have that much time on their hands to start (and name and post on) a blog aimed specifically at targeting hatred towards someone else's blog? C'mon.

I mentioned this to my bloggy friend (and IRL friend) Esther last week about this while we sat and watched our kids at soccer practice.

"No!!" she said.
"Can you believe it?!?" I yelped.

That was basically the conversation. We both agreed if we came upon a blog we didn't like, for whatever reason, we just moved on. Kinda like when your surfing the television channels.Click, click.

I've only had one person give it to me in my few years of blogging, thank goodness, otherwise it has been a relatively happy blogging life.

Anyway, what are your thoughts? Do you  think "hate blogs" should be out there? Do you support them? Do you think they're really just harmless? Drop me a comment and let me in on your opinion.

Feels Like Fall In The Midwest

Two years and many blogs ago, I took some great Fall pictures. I decided to re-post them because I like them so much and I'm loving this season in the Midwest. Today's forecast calls for sunshine and a high of 68 degrees (I feel like a meteorologist.) Enjoy!

Kate Plus 8 Goes Bye Bye

Last night I had to watch the series finale of "Kate Plus 8." Husband was less than thrilled to have to switch from baseball during commercials to watch this show. But I felt somewhat lead to watch it seeing as I had started watching the series when it began six years ago (back then it was "Jon & Kate Plus 8.")

At the time I was mesmerized by the cute sextuplets (who were born the same year as our youngest) and what seemed to be two super parents.

I have to admit that I also found it compelling because it was one of the first shows to feature a Caucasian mother and an Asian father. (For the longest time our youngest would say "I'm half Filipino and half human!")

I found myself laughing along with the toddler antics and relating to the frustrations of parenthood. Yes, I know all about sleepless nights, yes, diaper changing seems endless and oh my gosh, the noise can get incredibly loud at times! Whether you agreed with their child-rearing methods or not, viewers could at least see the commonality, even if theirs was eight times the work!

In the end I thought it was sad. As Kate basically reviewed their "TV life" with flashbacks of previous episodes, I thought she was sincere shedding a few tears with her own reminiscing. But that's only my opinion and others may disagree.

Whether you watched their show or not, I for one will miss those cute little faces who showed viewers that bringing up children isn't always fun and games, but that parenting, in reality, can be hard work.

Contagion - Will You Watch It?

Husband and I watch a ton of movies (DVDs, that is) and I recently heard a lot about the new Matt Damon film called "Contagion" which hits theaters today.

I'm not a germaphobe, well just a little, but I'm amazed at the star power in this film! Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law, Kate Winslet, just to name a few...

This morning on the radio, someone who was reviewing the movie said it's definitely not for kids under 13. The main reason being that young children could believe that this pandemic could happen (and who says it couldn't) and then freak out when the kid next to them in class sneezes. Gee whiz.

I guess the reason for all the media hoopla is that this movie, according to the New Yorker, "evokes memories of the bafflement and the sense of outrage and helplessness that greeted the H.I.V. and Ebola viruses, in the nineteen-eighties, and the swine-flu scare a few years back."

So is this your form of entertainment, or will you pass it up? I'll let you know in about six months when "Contagion" is out on DVD!

Let 'Em Fly

Between the Facebook and blogging posts, it seems many of us are having a hard time of letting go this school year. I guess it's a good thing. It shows we care and even though there are those of us (meaning me) that long for routine, it can certainly tug at the mommy heart strings. I was listening to this song while doing work and it made me think of the mommies. Here's to another season of school.

We're Laboring On Labor Day

I never really posted our "after" photos of our youngest daughter's bedroom. That's because we've been crazy busy. Plus moving to a new (old) house will do that to you. Even today, Husband and our son were digging a fire pit in the backyard and then Husband primed a bathroom wall.

We're laboring my friends, how appropo for today's holiday.

So anyhoo, we painted the walls, took off valences to reveal pink curtains (ah! Free!) We bought a bed frame and box spring off Craigslist (read about that adventure!) and then I added clearance decor and hand me down items to finish off the rest of the room. (Light fixture below stayed, because Husband figured it will come back in style soon and we can call it "vintage.")

My new neighbor generously helped me sew a comforter for our daughter's room.

• sheet from Goodwill (as seen) - $3.49
• old faded comforter - $0.00
• old pink sheet  (underneath) from my mom - $0.00
• brown twin size bed skirt is from Target on clearance - $3.58

The old sheet, comforter and top sheet were tacked onto a quilting rack, we used needle point thread to "tie" the sheets/comforter together and stitched the edges.

It took awhile, but our little princess loves it. And I love that when she decides that pink is no longer her favorite color, we won't have to re-paint the walls, just changed up the accessories!

I'm linking up with Sarah!

Desperately Seeking Salad

Texas Caviar

We have a party to go to tomorrow and I volunteered to make a salad. I'm kind of tired of the ones I've made. Any ideas? I have lettuce, red onion and chopped walnuts. Could I make this into something? Help!

There's Music In The House

...Or, "How To Get Your Kids To Practice Piano, Even When They Don't Want To."

Like many other parents, I want my children to be well-rounded. Husband is the "sports" authority, whether it be teaching our kids how to shoot a basketball or how to throw a  baseball, that's his territory.

I, on the other hand, am completely useless in the sports department.

However, since I started teaching piano at a music school, I've had to take lessons and practice more seriously. This includes how I view teaching my two older kids. Our son has since moved onto guitar and my 13-year-old also plays clarinet in band, but I still teach her piano and I still expect her to practice.

I'm not going to get into anything technical here, but rather, if someone is not a self-motivator, how do you motivate them?

You show them this on You Tube:



Here's the thing, aside from the fact that practicing can get long and mundane, you can still find balance in that too. Yes, she has to master her major and minor triads and work on "Andante" by John Christian Bach, but after that, she could be playing something cool too.

(So I watched this video, bought a similar rendition on iTunes and I'm learning it by ear, so I can teach her. Sidenote: technology can be our friend!)

This isn't a gimmick or a trick, but rather honing in on what interests your child/student. Funny, she was on the people twice yesterday...the second time without my prompting.

My students at the music school are going to love it when I play this at our Christmas recital. Rock on.