Newbies On The Roll

For those of you who are regulars, you may have noticed something a bit new here. We've updated the blog roll!! We are big fans of all of the blogs we have on our list. We hope you have been enjoying them too. Take a moment or two and check out the new blogs. We are pretty sure you won't be sorry. And we're pretty sure its better than doing your work. Here is our list of

3 New Blogs Added To The LL Blog Roll
1) Diary Of A Mad Blacktress- check this one. It really is an adventure. She really isn't mad. Funny but not mad. A kick ass babysitter but not mad. Single but not mad. Well, some times she is mad about that I think.

2) Sassafrass Junction- you wonder why your high school teachers were crazy? You made them that way! It is kind of nice to know that if I had stayed in the south or ever move back there, there are people like me there- smart, smart-assed heathens.

3) Scorned Woman E Cards- just funny. Its that simple.

All By Myself

A rare thing just happened in my home.The boys have gone and I am by myself. Usually the only way I have time to myself is by leaving and going into Manhattan. I really like being alone sometimes. I think everyone needs time to themselves. Everyone needs time to do some things they want to do. Now that I know for sure that I have a few hours to kill without having to worry about anyone else, I am making my list. Here is my list of

5 Things I Do When Home Alone

1) Listen To Music- I have music on a lot in our house but it isn't always what I want to hear. Now, I can blast what I want as loud as I want. Right now I am listening to "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz over and over. Not sure why though, it really isn't my style but it is catchy. I can't help but fall for catchy.

2) Do My Hair- blow drying my hair is about a 20 minute task. I don't always have 20 minutes. I love having my hair straight so any chance I get some time to do it, I do!

3) Read- even if it is just a new magazine. Reading with no one to bother you is such a luxury in my life. Reading in peace and quiet is not the same as reading on the train. It just isn't.

4) Shower- another activity I don't always manage to find time for. It is the reality of being a parent to a young child. I am hoping that taking Thud to pre-K next fall will permit me to get my showering schedule back on track like it used to be. Although, I do have to add I don't think it is healthy to shower every day.

5) Clean- I don't want to do this during my precious time but it is so much easier to accomplish. I can be a bit more detailed. Things look like I cleaned instead of looking like I have just tidied up. Luckily there are no dishes to do. Jay-bee did them all last night!!

Idiot Box 2.0

Thud watches TV. It is not his activity of choice. He would rather be at the park running and playing. I am grateful for that! However, there is some routine to our TV watching. We usually watch the same stuff every day during the week. Weekends are all over the place so those days are much less predictable. I feel like I have been discussing children's TV with a lot of adults lately. These conversations are so odd. It is strange to break down the merits of Wow Wow Wubbzy! in an intellectual way. I just thought this might be something people are interested in. Here is my list of

6 TV Shows/ Movies Thud Loves

1) Sesame Street- If I had to choose one thing he could watch it would be Sesame Street. It really is the only children's show on television with true educational value. Plus, it has cool guests like REM and Tina Fey!

2) Max & Ruby- I am pretty sure I have seen every episode of this show ever made. It has absolutely NO educational content. The one redeeming thing about it is that it isn't a very commercial show. That means I don't have to buy all the crap that the toy companies make. There isn't a Max & Ruby section at Toy R Us like there is with Dora.

3) Cars- This has become our rainy day movie. We don't watch the whole thing but it sure is fun. I actually really like Cars.

4) Mary Poppins- I grew up watching this. I am glad that Thud likes it too! The music is awesome and anything with Julie Andrews in it is awesome. Except maybe The Princess Diaries. God, what the fuck was she thinking with that movie and its sequel?

5) Yo! Gabba Gabba!- This is the cool hip show on Nickelodeon. We don't see it very often but it is fun when we do catch it. I feel like I might not be cool enough to watch this show.

6) Curious George- We watch the movie of this, not the show. We haven't watched it in a bit but Thud always thinks George is very funny. He is always screaming at me, "Look Mom, what is George doing?" So cute!

A Little Behind

Who isn't a little behind on things these days? It seems like everyone is so I think today is the perfect day for a list that everyone can identify with. The object of this list is to get me focused and doing things so that I can eliminate it from my life all together. Here is my list of

5 Things I Am Behind On

1) Correspondence- I am behind on some email AND snail mail. This always is in the front of my mind when I know I have things to do.

2) Sewing- I went fabric shopping 2 weeks ago and still haven't made my bag. There really is no excuse. Everything is cut out. All I have to do is sew some seams. Not hard.

3) Blogging- I have sat down several times at the computer since my last entry. Nothing happened. Sometimes I get a bit of a lull in my blogging. I am hoping this will help get things going again. I am also taking list suggestions from loyal readers!

4) Vacuuming- Always behind on this one. The problem is that I really should be vacuuming every day. Now my floors are in a constant state of "gross". One day I will have the Martha Stewart cleaned home.

5) Metrocard Locating- so last week Jay-bee gave me his Metrocard , as I was going out. Some how I managed to lose the monthly card. Yup. Just flushed $70 down the toilet. I looked several times over the past week with no luck. I know I should look a bit more but it is such a frustrating task!

Mrs. Krabappel

Over the course of this week, several incidents have occurred that have left me feeling very old. I am not old. I am 31. The average life span of an American woman today is 79. I am not even half way there. This week I felt like I was at 70 and holding! I am chalking it up to a weird week. I am going to a spinning class tomorrow for the first time. I am hoping the combination of some serious exercise and doing something new will get me out of this rut. But for now here is the list of

5 Signs I Am Getting Old

1) Chasing Teens- not in the Deborah Lafave way (I went to the same high school as her BTW), but in the "Get off my lawn" kind of way. Except I live in NYC and don't have a lawn. I have a fire escape. So when I heard people on my fire escape the other day I got scared. I thought someone was trying to break in to my apartment. Once I realized it was teens trying to take pictures, I shooed them away like an old granny.

2) Best Plastic Bags- when digging out a bag for a friend, I thought "No I'll get her a Target bag. Those are the best." Yes, I think Target has the best plastic bags. The question is who the fuck cares? Old people, that's who.

3) Catch Phrases- I am stuck in the middle. I am either saying things at my son that my mother and grandmother said to me. That makes me feel old every day. Or I find myself using the phrases that the kids use. You know, the internet speak. Then I feel like an old asshole.

4) Tired- I am tired like in my bones and my soul. I think motherhood brings you a tired you never really recover from.

5) Illness- I get aches and pains and then I have a tendency to be a "worse case scenario" thinker. That means the usual health stuff sends me freaking out to WebMD.com to look up what kind of grave illness I may have.

Social Sins

This week the Vatican has come up with a new list. Their list is of sins that are venial (not mortal) . In the catholic church that means you can still be forgiven for these. They aren't like murdering someone. So I thought I would repost this list just in case you didn't get to take a look at it. I actually think this is a fairly progressive thing the Catholic Church is doing. Keep these in mind! Are you doing anything on the Vatican's list of

7 Social Sins

1) Creating Poverty
2) Excessive Wealth
3) Pollution/ Environmental Damage
4) Drug Abuse
5) Bioethical violations (ie birth control)
6) Contributing to widening the gap between rich and poor
7) Genetic Manipulations/ Experiments

Date Night

I am very lucky to be blessed with a great group of friends, most of which do not have children. This makes them ripe for recruiting them for babysitting! We have had some great volunteers over the last 2 1/2 years. We now have a new babysitter coming over this week. She was also here last week. I think that is awesome in itself! Anyhow, Funnygal is coming for the second week in a row and I don't want to spend another night out at the movies. I am trying to offer up alternatives to our usual "dinner and a movie" date. Here is my list of

4 Options For Date Night Besides "Movie & Dinner"

1) Bowling & Beer- I am a terrible bowler but I think bowling is lots of fun. The place I where I want to go has a great beer selection which is a big draw for Jay-bee.

2) A Cheap Motel- this isn't a realistic option for us cause it is hard to find an inexpensive motel in NYC but I think this would be fun to do just once!

3) Retail Therapy- mmmm, The Apple Store and a Barnes and Noble run without Thud! It sounds so peaceful. Maybe we could go to Crate and Barrel too. I can't take Thud in there either!

4) Live Music- we used to do this a lot when we were dating and first married. I never get out to music shows anymore. I wonder if anyone good is playing anywhere nearby.

5) Theater- this is for me mostly! I miss plays. Good plays!