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June 22, 2004

Going Out of Town

Hi all,

I'm off to Alaska to commune with the bears and eagles. Sure, I'll try my luck at panning for gold, but I'll probably be better off offering something in trade for an eskimo's fillings. We're taking Royal Caribbean's Serenade of the Seas from Vancouver. First time I've ever been to Alaska and it's the perfect opportunity for me to see if I'm just as rotten a photographer with my new digital camera as with m old. Oh goodie. Wish I could take you all with me, but alas, I can barely fit my own clothes in the suitcase what with the spillover makeup bags from my teenage daughters' luggage.

June 21, 2004

Saltwater Aquariums

Little did I know what I was getting into when I bought my daughter a salt water aquarium for her birthday this spring. She's wanted one for years and I finally caved in. But jeez, those fish are fickle and delicate. Damn wimps. That tank has become the black hole that swallows money from my wallet on a regular basis. And is it just me, or is the cost of a fish inversely proportional to it's life span? Instead of figuring out if a potential new resident is compatible with the other fish in the tank, I think I'll just measure its diameter to see if it's compatible with our plumbing. Flushable or not flushable, that is the question. Or maybe it's best to take the fish out into the parking lot in front of Aquarium World and shoot it right away. No sense it letting it suffer what few minutes it's destined to live. What with all the chemicals, sand, filters, live rock (who knew rocks can be categoried into inanimate and living?), fish, sea salt, and so on, I need to put a second lien on my mortgage or let one of my kids have crooked teeth. Most of my mileage I've put on my car over the last 2 months has been to the fish store and back. I can almost see my own personal tire ruts in the road. Oh well. Live and learn. And spend. And drive.

June 18, 2004

Eight Signs of Summer Insanity

Eight Signs That You’re Succumbing to Summer Insanity

1. Your wallet is empty of all but fluffs of lint and receipts dating back to July 1995.
2. Your children complain they’re bored more than 1,265 times a day.
3. You have no idea what your children are up to while you’re at work (and you really don’t want to know.)
4. Your children either vehemently protest going on the family vacation you’ve tirelessly planned for the past ten months or they roll their eyes so passionately, you’re convinced their in the throes of a seizure.
5. Your children don’t emerge from their rooms until well past three.
6. Your children have a glazed over, zombioid look that only hours of video games can produce.
7. Anywhere from five to ten of your children’s friends are raiding your refrigerator at any given moment.
8. Your house has been proclaimed a national disaster area.

June 11, 2004

Twelve Signs Your Children Are Spoiled

1) Their wardrobe is worth more than yours. Every stitch of clothing has a brand name emblazoned on it.

2) Your daughter gets regular manicures and facials and you don't.

3) Your kids walk around snapping a lion tamer's whip whenever you're near.

4) Your kids eat ice cream for dinner on a regular basis.

5) You serve different entrees for each child, plus they ask to see the dessert tray.

6) Flag Day takes on more importance than Mother's Day.

7) Your kids' annual Christmas list is scheduled to come out in paperback within a month and the total cost of the items requested will require a second lien on your mortgage.

8) Your teenager has a better car than you do.

9) Your children get cell phones before they reach ten.

10) You're exhausted, bedraggled, broke, twitching uncontrollably, and sometimes resort to lying in a quiet corner curled up in the fetal position, sucking your thumb.

11) Prozac and Valium are your only friends (and they still cost money).

12) Your children's idea of chores includes pushing the buttons on the TV remote, passing gas, shopping, and plucking twenties from your wallet.

June 09, 2004

Twenty Signs You're an Over-Protective Mother

1) You sterilize your baby's bottles

2) You sterilize your nipples (ouch)

3) You carry a bottle of Purell in every purse you own and slather your children in it at the first hint of a foul breeze or any trip in public.

4) You insist your children bundle up like Nanook from the North when the outside temperature dips below 60.

5) You apply to college for a second degree so you can be your child's dorm roomie.

6) You dust your daughters for fingerprints after every date.

7) You have full FBI, CIA, PD, NAACP, USDA (or whatever) files on every kid your daughter dates.

8) You don't allow your daughters to date (until they're thirty and run away from home).

9) Your teenager still sleeps with a baby monitor.

10) You insist your children wear a helmet while sitting in the grocery cart.

11) You equip your children with hockey protective gear when they play outside.

12) You get up at night to make sure your teenagers are still breathing.

13) You spend countless hours shopping for organic, additive-free, dye-free, sugar-free, chemical-free, preservative-free, taste-free food for your children.

14) Your teenagers still use safety scissors.

15) You cut up your teenagers' meat because they're not old enough to handle sharp objects.

16) You hurry to the emergency room in the middle of the night when your children cough, wheeze, or blow snot bubbles from their nostrils.

17) You re-enroll yourself in kindergarten for a "refresher course" and insist you be placed in the same class as your child.

18) You call your teenagers every ten minutes to see how their dates are going.

19) You think bubble wrap apparel has all the makings of a new trend in fashion.

20) You are your children's official "food tester" in public eateries. You never know when some evil child hater is out to poison everyone under the age of 20.

June 06, 2004

Ten signs you're not a spring chicken anymore

1) You've searched on the Internet for an airbrush system that works on your real face, not on the one in the foto.

2) The doctor seems to heaviliy pepper his statements with "at your age."

3) You look at cute guys and think "His Mommy must be sooo proud" instead of all those lascivious thoughts of yesteryear."

4) That part of your budget that had, at one time, been reserved for sexy lingerie, margaritas at happy hour, and false eyelashes, is now allocated for wrinkle creams and Grecian formula.

5) Liquor store clerks not only stop carding you, they look upon you with pity when you ask them if they'd like to.

6) Boy scouts keep trying to help you across the street.

7) Your family suggests a nice little trip to Alaska, then has you try on an ice floe for size and suggests you pack a big lunch for your rafting voyage.

8) You and your joints out-preform any meteorologist when it comes to predicting an oncoming low pressure system.

9) You go to bed at 8:00 PM (because you're snoring in front of All in the Family reruns, not because you want to have sex or watch the Playboy channel with your husband)

10) You get up at 5:00 AM (because you need to take your medicines and slurp down a glass of prune juice, not because you have to get the kids off to school.)

June 03, 2004

Fifteen Signs that You're a Mom

1) You hear a small voice cry out "mom" in the grocery store and you reply, "Yes?" Never mind that your youngest is now in college.

2) Your stomach has so many stretch marks, it looks like an air traffic controller's screen at La Guardia.

3) You carry "Wet Ones" in your purse, glove compartment, and, just in case, in every pocket.

4) Your hand has long been converted into a trash receptacle for old gum, candy wrappers, snotty kleenexes, and vomit.

5) Your childless friends repeatedly ask you how you are with a look of pity that leaves you wondering if your the last one to know you've been diagnosed with cancer.

6) Your childless friends don't call anymore.

7) You have no friends (at least none over 48 inches.)

8) You do third grade homework.

9) You've traded your Miata in for a Suburban.

10) You suffer from chronic carbon monoxide poisoning from the many hours spent in the carpool line.

11) You know the names of all the Teletubbies.

12) You hum the theme to Sesame Street.

13) You "spit clean" not only your children's faces, but your husband's too.

14) You absentmindedly start cutting up your husband's steak for him.

15) You're completely and utterly exhausted nearly all the time.

16) (Bonus) You feel complete and utter love and happiness when you snuggle with your child

June 01, 2004

Kids on TV

Oh boy, Fox TV just called. They're coming over to my house tomorrow morning to tape a segment on me and my book. Thing is, they want my kids to be in it too. That means I have to pray to the sibling rivalry gods that they won't be at each other's throats 20 seconds into the first segment. Might have to clear away some of the debris in the house so the camera crew can bull their way through. And since we're not talking radio interviews which I usually conduct in my cutoffs and a t-shirt,I have to actually look presentable. Let's see. Today's t-shirt had stains from fishing with squid this weekend, but a quick sniff test told mne it had been washed. Still, that won't do. And I'm missing an earring. note to self--wear two, preferably matching, tomorrow. Note to self #2, pry kids out of bed by nine so they don't saunter downstairs in the middle of the interview with bedhead, morning breath, groggy minds and cranky attitudes. Note to self #3: rub worry beads 100 times every hour. Note to self #4: tell self that whatever happens, it won't matter a hundred years from now. Wish me luck, people!

drmedhus