Mom to the Screaming Masses

What Don't You Get?

I posted this on my Facebook and it became a run away thread, and it got me to thinking.

What are the things that you just.don't.get - those things that other people rave over and just leave you cold?

Here's my list:

• Beer
• Beets
• Carrots
• The Rolling Stones
• Bacon
• Elton John
• Asparagus
• Fish
• Milk
• Sushi

What are your "I'll never see the allure" items?

You Miss Good Stuff When You Daydream

Saturday night a bunch of forces collided and I ended up at Mass with just my youngest.

I don't know the last time that I went to Mass with just one kid, but it happened for a variety of reasons and it was a very good thing, indeed. A certain person needed some extra attention to remember the appropriate ways to behave - I offered a crash course in these classes:

• No, the pew is not a ladder
• Who Knew? Kneelers are for kneeling and not for laying
• You have a spine for a reason, use it to support your body
• Quiet - no one else cares that your tummy is rumbling
• And, back by ever popular demand - the rosary is not a slingshot

All in all, a productive evening.

Nothing to See Here

I am exhausted.

Seriously. Like, ridiculously tired. I've been working out a LOT, had a butt ton of family drama, and a couple of my kids are being super uber needy.

So. A typical day.

In lieu of anything of substance here, I direct you to the following:

My post on Fitness was picked up on Yahoo! Shine today. I could use some love over there - IF you are so inclined and if you are not tired of reading that post.

I have a piece on Diets In Review - Halloween Party Eats that won't Haunt Your Waistline

And tomorrow, Gabriel has a birthday. My teeny tiny baby - the one who was 2 weeks overdue, the calm and laid back ringlet curled, blond haired, blue eyed cherub - is 12. in years past, I've written birth stories and early years, and I wonder if I've done that to death.

Help a girl out. Please. Otherwise, I'm apt to go all zzzzzzz and drooly on you.

 

Oy.

So.

I have about a zillion and one stories to tell, but absolutely no idea with which one to start. I am going to give you the bare bones and let you tell me which one is the most appealing.

Because I'm RIDICULOUSLY exhausted.

A) Don't let Daddy cut your hair

B) The loss of my Canon Rebel XTI and the best.macro.lens.ever.

C) Test driving - which involes off road driving, drag racing and the most fun ever but will need to be on the review blog cuz it was sponsored

D) An allergic reaction that no one expected that lead to an anxiety attack

E) The scare of my life with my mom

F) How Mackenzie gets to be in a commercial - also on the review blog

G) The redecoration of the kids' bathroom and how it almost led to divorce

H) PINTEREST

I) Insomnia, ftw!

J) Upcoming road trip of amazingness

There. I think that's enough to get started, don't you?

Let Me Just Say THIS About THAT

I really and truly love the end of the school year. I love being able to sleep in, having no wake up call and nowhere to be until the afternoon/evening martial arts classes. I love going to the beach, the pool, the water park (although I have yet to buy the passes thanks to a money sucking drama that I won't go into, but I have full faith I'll be able to buy them soon, especially if I can sell a kidney...) - although summer is hot and humid and by the second month I'm frequently saying

go back to school, already, why don't you

and in fact, back to school is probably my favorite time of year - but this last month of school is my absolute worst. The last month of the school year never fails to trip me up, stress me out and wear me down. Copybooks need to be replaced, sneakers have been outgrown, legs have sprouted inches and last fall's uniform shorts are too short. Field trips happen, band concerts, plays and competitions occur. Papers come from school to be signed for next year, it's lighter outside so kids want to stay up later - which sends bedtime sliding to a later hour, but that morning wake up still comes at the exact.same.time.

The last month of the school year is a wild merry go round - and I'm considering duct taping my hands to the pommel of the horse in order to avoid being flung off the ride.

Please tell me I'm not the only one who feels this way.

Why I Go To Blog Conferences

People often ask me, Why do you attend blog conferences? You spend money that you really don't have, you take time away from your family, it stresses you out when you are getting ready - why do you do it to yourself? After all, you have real life friends and you have fun with them. Why go through all of the aggravation?

Good question.

I do it for situations like the one I'm in right now, where I have two friends sitting on beds in my room - and we are all on our laptops and not talking to each other - and we are ok with it.

We get it.

It's being in a room of people all texting and facebooking on their phones, not looking at each other - but they are most definitely interacting with each other and knowing that no one is offended.

We get it.

It's not so much going to the sessions, which are often all kinds of amazing and sometimes aren't, and sometimes are as sparsely attended as my fitness panel - with only 4 people listening to me. It's not getting knowledge, for I can do that in my home. That's the beauty of the Internet. I can research and google, craft and prepare to my hearts content.I can learn at home on my own time. In my pj's.

Conferences are different. Hard to explain. I have many friends in real life, and I adore them. I laugh with them, I hang with them, cry and support them in ways that are magnificent and breathtaking, rich and deep and fulfilling.

Internet is different. Meeting with online friends refreshes my soul and completes me in a way that's untapped, unfettered. Solid and true.

It's sitting in a room of people who just GET YOU. Who ask for your name and your blog and your twitter handle all in the same breath, before they ask who you work for or who your children are or where they go to school. It's meeting up with people that you know online for YEARS - hello, Liz of Hallmark, I'm talking to you! - and not having to do all of the tired and trite intros. It's getting right into the meat of a conversation, adding a new twitter follower and knowing that you are just understood in a way that transcends both explanation and acknowledgement.

It's laughter. Laughter until you pee your pants and can't breathe.

Taken by the amazing and uber talented Heather of Heather Durdil Photography. I was laughing at a funny story she told. And then she showed me tricks on Lightroom that I haven't ever been able to figure out.

I will have many many many more pictures later next week, as they show up on Flickr and I grab them. I don't know if I've even touched the tip of how I feel when I go to conferences - but this is close.

An Example of Exactly How My Mind Works

Or doesn't work....

But before you read the very scary story below, could you use an extra $150? Be sure to share your secrets with me! Also, I'm selfishly asking for you to vote for me for one of Babble's Top 50 Mom Bloggers.

If I have just one hour to spend, I might very well be found doing the following:

• Walk in the door with the idea to make another cup of coffee and eat a bagel before going to church for Holy Day of Obligation Mass
• Open the refrigerator to get out the milk
• Decide to clean out the fridge
• Grab a washcloth to wipe down the shelves
• pull out the stuff from the top shelf

I Can't Seem To Get It Together

Don't worry about this post. Or about me. I just need to vomit some stuff out there. Comments are closed on this post, because, like I said, I just need to get it out there. And that, coupled with the amazing friends I have made through this blog, is the very best part of actually having said blog.

I can not seem to get it together. At any point in my day, there are 75839 things in my head competing for attention.

• Did I sign all of the papers for school - times 5? Why do I have to do this for each kid - why can't they have it all online?
• Does everyone have a water bottle?
• Does everyone have a lunch?
• There are three doctors appts this week. How many will I forget?
• Each kid takes 3-7 meds or vitamins or supplements. What am I out of?
• Who drinks which juice? And how can we be out of V-8 AGAIN?
• Are the school uniforms clean? Why can I only find one PE shirt for Emma AND Riley to share?
• Where did those other 4 PE shirts go?
• I never changed out the Ad tags on this site. I think I've missed payment for a week. Or two. Shoot.
• The toilets need cleaning. So do the showers.
• And the floors.
• All of them.
• I need to iron shirts. Fold wash. Do dishes. Cook.
• I wish I didn't know so much about nutrition and didn't worry about the meals I feed the family.
• WHEN will the bonus check come?
• 92 cents is a positive balance in the checking account. That's gotta count for something, yes?
• And why am I so excited to go to the grocery store for a stock up run? I must be mental.
• Will the pie crust - only the second one I've ever made - come out correctly?
• I think I'm due to post a review. Or three.
• I have a meeting tonight. Wanna lay odds on either me falling asleep or being late? Or both.
• Since when do I need a day to recover from running and training martial arts in the same day?
• I forgot to get a doctor's note for my daughter to carry her inhaler.
• And I forgot to get the new inhaler.
• Fundraisers? Room Parent? Me? Yup.
• A stone hit my windshield today. I'm now the proud parent of a spider crack. AND a chip.
• Homework last night was completely and utterly brutal. I don't know if I can do 39 more weeks of this. All six kids talking to me at once, everyone needed a piece of me and there just wasn't enough of me to go around. I have no idea how women with bigger families manage, although I wonder if their spouses are home more than mine. And is that a good thing or a bad thing?
• I.am.so.TIRED.

Friday Fill-Ins

First seen on Blogher, I think I'm going to try to do Friday Fill-Ins. My answers below - leave your answers in the comments section, or play along on your blog and leave me the link. This isn't a current one, but an older one - I'll pull the current one next week.

1. Music _____.

2. _____ is what I like first thing in the morning.

3. The first thing I said this morning was: _____.

4. _____; it's what's for dinner tonight.

5. It's all been _____

6. _____ is what I feel like doing right now.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to _____, tomorrow my plans include _____ and Sunday, I want to _____!

Find THE Dress For Me

Ok, help. Help, help, help.

I need to buy a dress for Blogher. I'm searching around, but I have so many parameters and not much time that I'm hoping you all can share your knowledge.

It needs to be:

a) knee length or a bit below

b) tank top or short sleeves - no spaghetti straps because

c) I have to wear a bra, so it can't be too low cut

Can be Empire or fitted in the waist. Would prefer that it not be skimpy in the top, since I have the whole bra issue going on.

I like the looks of both of these, but not the prices:

So, lay it on me. I have both boobs and a butt - my daughter says that I have quite a "donk"- so short, tight stuff isn't going to work, and I'm not a huge fan of the Maxi dress, especially as every one that I've seen has spaghetti straps and there's that stupid bra issue to contend with.

I love vintage stuff, for what it's worth.

But I need something to wear to Blogher, since I'm a finalist and all, so do you have a link that you can share with a girl? Please?