Friday I'm in Love: Inspired

I know this is going to sound totally arrogant, not to mention completely insane to my nearest and dearest, but this week the first thing I want to say I love is some stuff I've done this week. I've gone to the gym every day this week and killed myself on the stairclimber (I don't know why it's 50x harder for me than the elliptical, but it is). I've written a post I really liked. And oh yeah - I also stopped yelling.

Cold turkey.

Not even up the stairs.

It's been something I've been toying with every since I first broke my "pregnant with my first kid and I'm going to make up idealistic parenting rules"  no yelling ideal, probably the first time I took two year old Ironflower and newly walking ten month old Lovebug to a playground. It might have been before that, actually. I am loud. Hot Guy is loud. The kids are loud. It became so easy to just go with, "s/he who is loudest" wins. But when your 4 year old thinks it's okay to yell all the time, you realize your plan isn't exactly working the way you wanted it to.

Hot Guy hasn't yelled either, by the way. He really initiated this whole thing. His desire to be the best version of himself inspires me to be better. So I especially love him this week too. :)

The no yelling thing has also been inspired by The Orange Rhino Challenge blog. One post I recently read talked about taking time to organize - "It is necessary to do what I need to do to stay calm."
That quote, and one by Abraham Lincoln that I recently read on Pinterest: "When I do good, I feel good. When I do bad, I feel bad, that's my religion," have been really helpful for the past few days. I also love Pinterest, by the way. But not for all those complicated recipes and crafts.

More inspiration this week came from Tia, who blogs about life with an invisible illness so poignantly and honestly.

And finally, a woman who has been a real life inspiration since we were teenagers, but who has eschewed social media until now, has joined Twitter. She's a genius and one of the best mothers I know.

Friday I'm in Love: Late Edition

For all the moms out there:



Now for something completely different - best article explaining the situation in Syria.

Best Graph I saw on the interwebs this week: http://mymommysplace.com/blog/2013/08/30/dont-lose-that-lovin-feelin/

Best video by my cousin's group, Skewer System:

Best explanation of why New Yorkers are rude. Or are they?

Best post about pie charts.

Friday I'm in Love: App-Tastic

Please have low expectations for this post; I'm pretty sure this cold I seem to have is actually the beginnings of the zombie virus that will kill me. Also, I'm not a tech blogger.

People keep posting on my timelines about what apps to get for their new smart phones and Kindles and what have yous. I never know the answer to these questions off the top of my head because while I'm addicted to the internet I'm not a connoisseur. So while I have apps I like, I don't have them memorized. This post was written with all the devices propped around me.

Also, there are no links here. But I've used the real name, so you can just search in your device's app store.

For the iPhone:

MyFitnessPal: Keeps track of food and exercise and you don't have to hook it up to your Facebook or whatever. Because that would just be wrong.

Picasa Web Albums: Anything to help me keep photos organized is good.

Camera Genius: More options than the regular iPhone camera.

Fast Camera: If you want to take action shots with your phone, this is the app for you.

Don't Let the Pigeon Run This App: If your kid likes Mo Willems books, this app will provide hours of entertainment, with considerably less guilt than Angry Birds.

For kids, I also like Angry Birds Star Wars, Glow Draw, Lego Duplo Jams, Wipeout and Dolphin Play for entertainment purposes. For learning, I like Meteor Math.

On the Kindle Fire:

Okay, my favorite thing about the Kindle Fire (and the Kindle app and my Kindle Paperwhite) is the whole getting books immediately into my hot little hands aspect. Though being able to download movies and shows for each kid on our road trip was also quite awesome.

But as for apps, I like:

Picasso: Drawing and painting without the mess.

Little Piano: Probably be more useful after they take some piano lessons.

50 States: Geography. Duh.

Minecraft: They say it teaches programming skills. I just like that they're building instead of shooting.

CardDroid Math: Flashcards are more fun when they're on a screen.

Friday I'm in Love: The First Week of July

Hi, internet! I've missed you. I've been doing all this real life stuff - this is my birthday and anniversary week, plus the 4th of July. And the big kids had their first swim meet, too. So, this week I'm loving real life. . .

We went to Rocca, my favorite restaurant, for my and my dad's birthday.

We went to the park.

The team won their swim meet, but I don't know how the kids did. They had fun, though.

We went to my hometown 4th of July parade.

We went on a hike.

Ironflower did not want to come - she had the strength of will to pout the entire time.

I learned it's hard to capture fireworks with an iPhone.

This is the best one that does not have Hot Guy's head in it. 

Friday I'm in Love: Stuff That's the Best

Best James Gandolfini tribute (if you're a parent who loved The Sopranos)

Best. Pinterest. Board. 

Best advice I've read lately. Er, not that I'm really good at taking it. (special thanks to HomeBody Fitness Personal Training for sharing it on her page - which I never would have discovered had I not gone to college with her, but which has lots of good advice).

Best article about the Paula Deen debacle.

Best blog post about the PaulaDeen thing.

Best cooking related blog post about the Paula Deen issue.

Best post about political evolution.

Best scary article about what we feed our kids.

Best birthday cake made by a non-professional baker.

Best photo of Hugmonkey from his preschool beach party.

Best coverage of Wendy Davis' awesome filibuster, if you like things short and easy to read.

Friday I'm in Love: Cool is Arbitrary

Cool stuff I read this week: Republicans lie 3 times more than Democrats, A Poisoned Season (Lady Emily mystery), an interview with George R.R. Martin and how to make a rape joke.

Cool stuff I discovered this week: Buycott - An app that helps you shop according to your social conscience. You can scan items and see if they have GMOs or are from a Koch Brothers subsidiary. There are actually lots of issues you can choose from the site - even some conservative ones. And Kids Bowl Free, so that we can bowl on the cheap all summer.

Cool stuff I watched this week: After Game of Thrones, you really can't call too many shows "cool". Plus, it's June. Not too many new shows in June. Although I did discover something on National Geographic - Polygamy, U.S.A. I am totally fascinated by anything involving polygamists and these people are the real deal. It's much more like an ongoing documentary  than a reality show.

Cool blogs I read this week: I discovered Sara again, I used to read her old blog a billion years ago in the dawn of mommyblogging and I'm happy to have found her sarcasm again. Also, I freely admit that I started reading Stay At Home Pundit for her name alone, but now I read her for fun.

Cool stuff I listened to this week: I do not have satellite radio. I am over 40. I'm pretty sure my cool music days are over. However, at least my kids like this song by Of Monsters and Men more than they like anything by One Direction.

Coolest photo I took this week:

Two teeth in a week - not even counthing the one the dentist took out yesterday. 

Friday I'm In Love: Oh, Hell

I know, I know, this is supposed to be my happy post. The one day a week I try to focus on the happy. The one day that I share things I've loved this week, like a lowbrow version of New York Magazine's culture diaries.

But this week I was too preoccupied to fall in love. I was too busy being obsessed with this site/forum/snark fountain I accidentally discovered. It's not love; it's stalking.

It's very, very, bad.

My usual tactic on the interwebz (Facebook wall arguments aside) is to avoid you if I don't like you. I don't really have time to read the blogs I like, so there's definitely no time for hate reading. If I think you're spoiled/uptight/stupid/annoying/smug/fake or otherwise asshole-ish, I will not read your blog or follow you on Twitter or look at your pins or like your Facebook page.*

This is what I like about being on the interwebz; I can make all the people I don't like disappear.

Some other bloggers and social media gadflies don't like to use this superpower, apparently.  There's a lot of hate reading in the blog community. In fact, there got to be so much hate reading that a forum was designed with the specific intent of making fun of certain bloggers. And speculating about their lives. And discussing rumors and gossip.

I suppose this is the part where I say I'm relieved that I'm not a popular blogger, but I have to admit that I haven't heard of more than half of the bloggers who have threads about them. In fact, I think all you have to do to get a thread on there is piss one reader off. So um, this is the part where I say I'm relieved that I haven't pissed any of you off enough that you needed to go start a hate thread about me. Thanks. Have I mentioned that you look fabulous today?

What I should have done was closed the tab after ascertaining that the forum actually exists. I should not have started reading the threads, dreading the mentions of people I "know" and being oddly comforted that that one blogger I used to read annoys others even more than she annoyed me. But it wasn't the gossip that hooked me.

It was the blogging advice. You know that expression, "Just because you're paranoid it doesn't mean they're not out to get you?" Well, I discovered that just because people are jaded and cynical and have too much free time, it doesn't mean that they don't have any valid points. About blogging in general, not whether that one vintage obsessed mommy blogger is so twee that she actually homeschools her kids using 1960s work books because they're so much cuter than current work books.**

It's quite possible that if I had ever had to read that blog, I too might set up a snark forum. But I have never read a blog like that. So I just want to say thank you to all the wonderful people on my sidebar and on my blogroll and in my social media world. Thank you for not being assholes. It's you I truly love.

I just need to work this obsession thing out.



*So congratulations to the approximately 2000 people with whom I share my social media world: you're officially not assholes!

**I swear this is true. There were links. I followed them. It's unclear whether she is teaching her kids from the so cute, completely out of date work books. 

Friday I'm in Love: Tech Edition

I never consider myself a tech type person, until I'm chatting with someone and they ask me what Twitter is. Then I feel all kinds of computer nerdish. Of course, then I try to make over my blog and and it takes me forever to tweak just a few things and I still can't make the damn page tabs center.

Nothing like failing at stuff programmers could do in a coma to make you realize that you will never, ever be a computer nerd.

But I do know what Twitter is and I am definitely addicted to my iPhone. I guess you could say I'm tech literate. Which explains why I'm fully qualified to discuss tech/social media/computer stuff I loved this week:

Flipboard: It's an app that turns all the sites you like into a flip-able magazine. Okay, maybe not ALL, the sites, I know how many of you like cat videos, but most of the sites.

Otterbox: I know their cases are expensive, but oh my gosh, are they worth it. My kids have dropped their Kindles and my iPhone countless times and you'd never know it.

Best response to the Wall Street Journal's article that dismissed blogging conferences and the like as "girls' trips": This one by Elisa Camohort Page.

Ribbet: As we've discussed, I don't know what I'm doing when it comes to html and web design and such. But I used Ribbet to make my photo header and it was super easy.

Feedly: You know how Google Reader will be no more as of July 1st? And you're wondering how you will possibly know how many blog posts you've missed without Google Reader to remind you? Well, just sign up with Feedly. It imports everything for you and it's stupid easy to use.

(This post is not sponsored. I have not gotten anything for sharing these, I promise. I just wanted to try a theme.  That is my Amazon Associates link to the Otterbox Kindle case, so if you'd like me to be compensated for this post, you're going to have to click the link and buy a case.)


This has nothing to do with computer literacy really, but I can't write a "Friday I'm in love" post without mentioning my favorite blog post of the week:

This one will make you tear up. In a good way.

Friday I'm in Love: A Few Things

I am so tired of winter and being cold. And someone in this house always being sick. But I did find a few things to love this week. . .

1. Congratulations to Leslie from My Mommy's Place - now a mom of four absolutely gorgeous children! Click over if you need a smile on your face. For real.

2. This "movie trailer", which I am surprised is not for a real movie. . .

CollegeHumor's Favorite Funny Videos

3. This genius list on how to stop rape.

4. All of the people standing up for marriage equality.

5. Next week we're going to Georgia, where we get to see family we haven't seen in ages and get to congratulate my aunt and uncle on being married for fifty years.*

6. Then we get to go to Florida, where we get to see Hot Guy's family, whom we don't see often enough. And we also get to see another of my aunts!**

*There is going to be ninja housesitter staying here. He'll have nunchuks. And we have an alarm.

**She's our second family member to move to Florida in the last year. I'm hoping that all of our family members move there eventually. And that they don't mind us living with them every winter.

Friday I'm in Love (again)

I easily found things to love this week. Maybe I should keep taking the cough medicine.

1. Band Back Together was nominated for a Bloggie. If you would like to vote for it, or for your other favorite blogs, go to the Bloggies page.

2. This is one of the most powerful posts I've ever read. Thank you for writing it, Cindy.

3. This is my new favorite thing on YouTube. I like to listen to it when I'm writing. Sidenote: I may be officially old now.



4. This kid writes better posts than I do.

5. Congress finally reauthorized the Violence Against Women Act.

6. Hot Guy is being super-dad so I can get more crappy articles done and finance our trip to Florida next month.

7. These little people are so full of the awesome. The 4 year old is now obsessed with making art like Jackson Pollock's, the 6 year old is making a comic book with his friends and the 8 year old reads a new book every 2 days. 

It Friday, Bitch!

Things have actually deteriorated around here since I started the whole "Friday I'm in Love" thing. Crappy stuff happening to the family, fewer readers on the blog. . .I think I'm not meant to be filled with happiness and light.

Welcome to "It's Friday, Bitch!", wherein I list this things that have happened in the past week   past two weeks have filled me with love, happiness, mirth or schadenfreude. Yeah, I forgot to finish this post last week. And now I have some sort of nasty cold/sinus infection/death cough going on, which is my excuse for slacking this week, but at least I'm trying, right?

1. As our family slowly recovered from the world's most evil stomach virus (how come there's no shot for that?), Lovebug asked me, "Can you die from the stomach virus?" He asks such good questions. Good thing he asked after I'd started to feel better.

2. Apparently some dudes want to make "masculinism" a thing, because men are so oppressed in so many cultures and 1 in 3 of them will be raped or beaten in their lifetimes. . . oh, wait, no, that's women. Apparently some dudes are total whiners.

3. So I like to shop for my kids, which works out well because one of them is always outgrowing their entire wardrobe. Unfortunately, this blog is not the lucrative gold mine it appears to be. However, I've recently discovered ThredUp, which lets me mail in stuff they've hardly worn and get money for it. Money that I can spend on the reasonably priced stuff ThredUp is selling. And if you click one of those links, you'll get $10 off of your first order.

4. Wipeout. When everyone is too sick to do anything but crawl to the bathroom, you watch a lot of TV. But at least this show doesn't make me want to choke the writers (Max and Ruby staff, I'm talking to you) or feel guilty about letting my kids see it (every other show I enjoy watching except for Project Runway).

5. Ironflower and Lovebug were apparently awesome at the world dance presentation at the library this week. The sainted Hot Guy took them so that I would not terrify people with my death cough, but the photos make me so proud.

I don't have one of Ironflower because hers are all with other kids and I'm not up to editing today. 

6. Hugmonkey has been trying to take care of me this week, which is just the cutest thing ever. He also had his first real play date this week, with the younger sister of Ironflower's best friend. 

7. Community is back on television, where it belongs. 

8. Deborah Crombie has a new book out, which is great if you have an English police detective fetish like I do. 

Friday I'm In Love 4

Another tough week to love things. Was very tempted to instead post about things I hate and people who totally suck, but I am (so far) restraining myself. Now, on a happier note. . .things I loved this week.


1. This post about what true bravery is. Tracie? Is truly brave.

2. Hugmonkey. I think he must have overheard us worrying about money - he gave us the red envelope he got for preschool Chinese New Year. Too bad the money in it was fake.

3. Lovebug and Ironflower. They created their own board game last weekend. Without any prompting from me. AND it includes Harry Potter characters.

4. The guy who posted that gay marriage would lead to people marrying their beloved horses. I really needed to go off on someone and there you were, comparing horses to people. Why does only gay marriage open the door for this? Why doesn't any marriage open the door for marrying one's horse? Or dog? Sorry. I guess I wasn't quite done venting.

5. The Westboro Baptist Church is losing members. Two of Fred Phelps' granddaughters just left and another former member posed for the NOH8 campaign.

6. Smash is back on TV. In my dream world there would be a Smash/Nashville crossover episode and Juliette Barnes would get a role in Bombshell and have sex with Derek while Rayna taught Julia how to dress.

Friday I'm in Love 3

So this is not going to be my usual list. There's just one thing I want to love on this week. But first you need some back story. 

In 7th grade gym, we did aerobics one quarter. It was 1983 or 84, so this must have seemed like a good idea. One of our assignments was to pair up and do some aerobics together - in front of the group. I can't imagine what the educational purpose of this was, except being able to survive humiliation. 

I did not have a lot of friends in seventh grade. 

That was my favorite shirt. You can't tell, but the writing is neon, as are my braces. 

Luckily, one of the friends I did have was in my gym class. We decided to work on our aerobics together. Unlike other people, who had the self-confidence to make something up that day, we practiced our routine after school. More than once. 

I think it might have been to "Girls Just Want to Have Fun", because it was 1984 and we weren't dumb enough to choose "Like a Virgin". 

Anyway, my aerobics partner and I remained friends throughout high school. We sort of lost touch afterwards, but, like everyone else in the world, reconnected on Facebook. Other than our undoubtedly fabulous aerobics dance (what? There's no video to prove that it wasn't fabulous), I don't remember her being much of a performer in school. She wasn't in a band, or the band, much as she loved music. 

But she has started a band. At the age of 42 (not that it matters, but she's six months older than I am - I am still a spry 41). I think this is the coolest thing ever. She has kids and a job and all that and she just started a band. 

Another woman I've known since 7th grade just moved from an urban environment on one coast to a small town environment on the other. Total lifestyle change. 

I guess my point is. . .I love the idea that things can change. That I can still change. I've been in a rut for such a long time. I'm not yet sure how I'm going to get out of the rut, but I've grown more confident that I can. 

Maybe I should go choreograph a dance or something. 

Friday I'm In Love 2

This post was way too hard to write this week. I know optimists and happy people live longer, but being cold and broke is not conducive to optimism. Still, I give you things that are fabulous this Friday. . .

1. Fleece, central heating (even though mine doesn't work that well) and Lands End Squall coats. It is FUCKING COLD here, yo.

2. The Private Practice ending. I gave up on the show for a while, but I went back to it one summer because there was nothing new on Hulu. Anyway, this last season has been highly awesome and the finale was great. And happy, for those of you who avoided the show when it got too depressing.

3. The Fringe ending. Okay, I'm still ticked that more people didn't watch it, but I really liked how they wrapped it up.

4. The Captain Underpants books. Lovebug hasn't been so enthusiastic about reading books at his level in, well, ever.

5. Ironflower is constantly torn between her newfound love of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books and her love of the Harry Potter books. Which is probably why I found her reading in bed at 10pm last night.

6. Hugmonkey is napping in the afternoons again. Or at least staying in his bed for a while. Of course, that might be because he's so damn cold.

7. Hot Guy is a really good cook of many things, but the bacon/turkey sandwiches he's been making? So awesome.

Friday I'm In Love

Possibly my favorite Cure song.



Other things I'm in love with this Friday:

1. Jericho - A cancelled drama that you can watch on Netflix. Hot Guy's been trying to get me into it for years and now I see why. It's sort of like if you crossed Friday Night Lights with Revolution. Next Friday I will not love it because I will be out of episodes by then.

2. Fortunately, Ian Rankin, Peter Robinson and Jen Lancaster all have new books coming out so I won't be bored.

3. Theater Week, which is when an enterprising actress comes to town and teaches the elementary school kids about ACTING by having them act out a show that she narrates. Both Ironflower and Lovebug are participating this year and they are VERY excited. This year's show is called The Golden Goose and it's probably the lamest fairy tale you've never heard of. But it will be awesome because my kids are in it. I mean, it will be awesome to me. Probably wouldn't be that awesome to you, really, seeing as the actress' narration isn't exactly Tony Award material. But this isn't about things you should love, it's about things I love.

4. The Band. Do I always mention the Band? There's a reason for that. Read this lovely post. Or check out the combined awesome of the Brains.

5. Hugmonkey has "written" me some notes this week. Though it kind of freaks me out that my baby will be writing me real notes before I know it.

Fabulous Friday - The Series

Fabulous things from a shockingly un-fabulous week:

1. Cindy wrote this amazing post at Band Back Together. It made me so happy to read it. You should go read it now. 

2. I started getting more creative when adding stuff to my online calendar. "Pay the motherfucking man" and "Dodge old people with shopping carts" sounds so much better than "bills" and "grocery shopping".

3. My mom. She is so awesome. You should go read her blog.

4. I donated the most hideous lamp. Like, it was so awful that I feel almost bad donating it. But it did still work so I couldn't throw it out. I hope some creative type finds it and uses it in a slasher film.

5. Hot Guy. I know I complained about him yesterday, but he's actually been going through a lot of stuff and handling it all pretty well. Plus he's an awesome cook.

6. Technically it's not until Sunday that my imaginary friends Tina Fey and Amy Poehler are hosting the Golden Globes, but they're so fabulous that I'm including them now.

7. Lovebug and his buddy are pretending to excavate dinosaur fossils from a pile of snow on the playground at their school.

8. Whenever Ironflower has a friend over, they do everything in costumes.

9. Hugmonkey is surprisingly into listening to Harry Potter. 

Fabulous Friday, Part Deux (maybe)

It could be part trois. Or even part quatre. I'm too lazy to go back and look at that shit. Probably because my brain is clogged with movies where Charlie Sheen pretends to be Tom Cruise, but funny. They were some of my favorites back in the '80's, which I suppose means my teenage crush feelings were actually curses of some sort. Now they're jokes, River Phoenix is dead and I'm starting to feel powerful and guilty at the same time.  What was I talking about?

I haven't been sleeping well this week, so I apologize for not making sense. But here's a list of things that sleep-deprived me found fabulous this week:

1. Hot Guy and I saw Les Miserables on our wild movie New Year's Eve date. The movie was fabulous, Hot Guy was fabulous for going out on the date despite his cracked ribs (someone might be too old for sledding with the children, ahem) and my parents were fabulous for watching the kids. 

2. House Republicans wouldn't vote for Hurricane Sandy relief funds or the Violence Against Women Act. Obviously, not technically fabulous but a great illustration of just how extremely biased and reactionary they are. 

3. This end of year post by LucidLotus. Freaking fabulous. 

4. Technically this was last week, but I love that my cousin has moved to New York and comes out to celebrate the holidays in the burbs. 

5. During my family history project, I discovered that two of Hot Guy's Puritan forebears were whipped for having a "filthy dalliance" and allowed to marry underage because they had "spoiled themselves for all others". I think that is my new favorite family story. 

6. There's a new Thursday Next book out. I love these books by Jasper Fforde so much that I don't know how to explain them well enough to do them justice. If you liked Jane Eyre, you should try reading the first in the series: 

7. There's a new season of Dance Moms. Trashy TV does not get more fabulous than Dance Moms.

Fabulous Friday

I've been saying "fuck off" all week, so instead I thought I'd focus on the good stuff. Or the fabulous stuff, because it's Friday and I like alliteration.

Things That Are Fabulous This Friday:

The Band Back Together calendar project. It pictures many fabulous people kicking stigmas in the taco and you should totally buy one.

Rolling Jubilee. Some of the people who were trying to Occupy Wall Street had a brilliant idea: what if they raised money to buy people's debts, then erased the debts? $25 gets $500 of debt erased.

One of my favorite posts by Aunt Becky. It is hilarious.

Election night reflection by Joules.

A lesson in Recovery from Cindy

This photo.

Parks and Recreation. I didn't like it when it first started, even though I wanted to. I don't know whether I've changed or the show has, but now I love it. Adam Scott helps. I might be slightly obsessed with him. According to imdb, he is good friends with Paul Rudd.

Excuse me, I have to go fan myself.