9 Fun Mugs You'll Want For Yourself

Sometimes I think I'm a mug fanatic.

I love buying them as gifts, but I rarely do. Not sure why. Just tend not to.

I love buying them for myself even more. Don't do that often enough, either.

But I thought I'd round up some of my favorites in case you or someone you know (or maybe you want to buy me one?) is in need of some cheer while you sip your coffee or tea in the coming weeks.

* Affiliate links are provided throughout this post to facilitate your shopping experience. * 

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Words Of Wisdom From The Mother Who Overslept

The face of a mom who totally overslept, thanks Melatonin, and is relying on the graciousness of a friend to get my child to school. #365feministselfie Also, sneaky #catsofinstagram behind me. ^..^

A post shared by Andrea Bates (@goodgirlgonered) on Feb 22, 2017 at 4:53am PST

So, this morning I totally overslept.

And for the first time in her five years of school my daughter got a "tardy".

Tardy. What a weird sounding word. Don't you think?

And here's my wisdom coming atcha.

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Don't Clean Your House. It's Just Not Worth It.

This morning I brought the dogs down - same as I do pretty much every.single.morning.

Dexter cries a lot, but he goes first.

Bella is on a leash so she doesn't eat our cats.

Clyde - fat cat - is downstairs already - so I hold onto Bella to be sure he's safe.

Once I get to the bottom of the stairs I let go of the leash and Bella runs into the living room/kitchen area to either head outside or eat.

Close the gate behind me and we're good to go.

Let's try that this morning, shall we?

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Guest Post: Christine, The Accidental Tourist

Let me introduce you to my friend Christine. 

Christine and I go back as far as our college days - which - if I'm being honest - is kinda far back. 

After I graduated we didn't keep in touch that well. And actually, it's a shame there was no Facebook by the time I relocated to my second office in Manhattan, because we worked a few buildings down from one another and didn't know it for the longest time. Crazy, right? 

I'm pretty sure we ran into one another once or twice - but not enough to keep a connection. 

Until ... years later? Facebook!

And just like that we're connected again. Immediate happy-face. Read on for your own smile.

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Book of the Week: Women Are Scary, Melanie Dale

When I received an email introducing me to Melanie Dale and her new book with an opportunity to read and review it I jumped at the chance.

I mean - look at the cover? It's hilarious.

Even my husband asked me, are those cake pops?

Uhm, yeah. Yeah, they are.

Mommy cake pops.

Intimidating looking mommy cake pops.

And hilarious looking ones, as well.

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A Peek at My YouTube History.

Hey, all.

I'm "off" today, so I'm going to share some of my favorite songs and videos with you for my post.

So stay with me ... please?

I promise you're going to enjoy them. It's a nice easy way to spend the next few minutes, even if you just click on one of them.

So, what's first?

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Amazing Reads Gone Visual!

So this week's Amazing Reads has a switch to it. I'm slacking in the reading department this week, but I have loads of videos I've watched and loved to pieces.

So I figured I'd share some of them here.

It gives me an easy post, too. Heh.

What? It's the holiday season. I'm busy baking eating cookies and whatnot.

A friend shared this this morning and I was crying. Thank you, Conan. Warning, loads of language. NOT child-friendly OR safe for work.



I'm absolutely loving Kellie Pickler's new CD right now. Unfortunately the video has been removed ... ah, well!

Have you seen the WestJet video yet? If you haven't, please watch it. You'll believe in Santa Claus again if you do. Or at the very least in miracles.


Lastly, I shared this on Facebook earlier today. It touched me so. It's so beautiful. You don't have to understand a single word to appreciate it and find yourself moved.



* As I started wrapping up this post it reminded me of my friend Alissa over at Clever Compass who did something similar with her Best of YouTube posts this summer. So thanks, Alissa - for the inspiration to switch up from reads when you're not really reading... much.

Catch you all next week - and be sure to share your favorite reads with me - whether they're your own or someone else's - I love good content!

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TGIF, I guess.

It's Friday. Whew.

Sort of.

This week has been Dr. Seuss week at school. Which has been fun and awesome and actually not as stressful as one would think.

But this morning waking up the kiddo was torture. For us both.

I actually woke up pretty quickly today. First alarm, no back-up needed (what, you don't have one? You totally should!). She was impossible. Zonked out like nobody's business.

Eventually she got up - bathroom - dressed - came downstairs.

Me, as the incredible mom of the month, I realized that it was March 1st. Time to bring in her book log. I'm awful, I don't always keep on top of it and yes, I write it out. Because it's like the longest process of our lives if she does it every month. It was causing battles and I didn't want to go there. Maybe it's wrong of me, but so be it. She reads, she reads well, and we discuss the books, etc. She's started reading the books before bed TO me. That's awesome, right?

Dr. Seuss week has rocked, as she has read us Green Eggs and Ham AND The Cat in the Hat. Rock on, my 6-yo delight. Rock on!

This morning we had decided she'd have breakfast and lunch at school today. Why not? She's been good in the AMs as far as eating goes, I figured toss in a break for mommy this morning. Especially since I had that list to do ... ehem.

Cue boredom.

Boredom, you ask?

Yes. Of course. She must have been bored in the five minutes or so we had been downstairs. It was enough time for her to start playing with the gate. You know the one - right? The important one in between our living room and the rest of the house to keep beautiful boxer Bella away from the cats? The cats she does not quite hate or love, but needs to chase at all times? Yes. Yes. Now you're with me. THAT one.

Boing.

"Kiddo, stop playing with the gate. Go brush your teeth."

Boing.

"Come on, leave the gate alone and go brush your teeth."

Me, writing in the remaining books on her list. At the kitchen table. Back to the action.

BOING! Clank! Crash?

"WHAT HAPPENED?"

Her face frozen in fear.

"YOU BROKE THE GATE? HOW DID - HOW COULD YOU? What HAPPENED?"

Cue crying.

Oops.

Yes, she broke the gate. Of course she started crying. She felt bad and I was yelling.

"Come on, kiddo, brush your teeth."

It's not that bad ... (from HER, not me)

"It's not that bad, but it's BROKEN."

Cue more tears.

I didn't mean it ... (her, again)

"I know, kiddo, but you still broke it. I know it was an accident, but you know you shouldn't have been playing with it."

Tears.

"Remember, when something like this happens it's important to say you're sorry. Instead of I didn't mean it," (me, calming down some) "Okay?"

Nods. Tears. Whining.

Mom of the year award goes to?

ME.

The husband comes down with Bella. We have the child sit down for breakfast as it's the easiest way to get her to sit and do something else. She starts crying harder about no breakfast at school.

Lord help me.

This was my morning. The day has to start looking up, right?

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Things I learned this week ...

Let's start off with I am still watching the AMAs. Yes. From Sunday night. It's Tuesday.

What of it? I can learn things over time. It's a good way to remember them better.

* I'm old.

That should be enough, shouldn't it? I suppose. But I can't help but add more to it.

* I'm not just old. I'm older than Justin Bieber's mother. (Thanks, Jamie! SO very much!)

* Pink still rocks. She doesn't just rock. She totally kicks ass. She's Pink, after all.

* Ryan Seacrest continues to be every.freakin.where. I stopped watching AI after Simon left, but it doesn't mean I don't get my fill of Ryan. I wonder how he has any time to spend with Julianne. After all, she's a rising star, is she not? or she was. I don't know anymore.

Switch to other entertaining news stories.

* Rico whatever-his-name-is who plays Manny on Modern Family? Has written a book. Like a book you can buy. My life has no meaning, really. I've been writing since I could hold a pencil in my hand and this kid has a book. A published book?

Let's go back to the AMAs for a sec, shall we? The Backstreet Boys are handing out an award!

BWAHAHAHAHAH! They're old. And I'm older. So, yeah. I shouldn't laugh.

* Did you hear that Biebs and Selena broke up? How could I only just find this out? They're the perfect couple, are they not? I mean, my daughter knows the girl from Wizards is Justin Beever's girlfriend. This is gonna break her tiny little five-year-old heart. Poor thing.

* People,  I could seriously be Justin Bieber's mother. For real.

* Maybe he's dating Carly Rae now? She just won her first AMA. Good for her. That song that shall not be named is still one of my ringtones. Actually, it's my "go get your kid off the bus" alarm tone, but that counts, too, right?

I should just have titled this the Bieber post. He's on the awards now. Singing. I still say he's twelve, but whatever.

OK, where was I?

The thing is, his music isn't THAT bad. And as much as I want to dislike him, he's a good kid. Or at least that's what Ellen tells me ... but she also loves JT, and now that he's Mr. Jessica Biel we don't see much of him anymore either. Who thinks THAT's going to last, eh? Right. Me, too. Sure.

Did you know that I am an entertainment news junkie? I totally am. I think in all the years I've been blogging I've mostly kept it out of my stuff, but today I'm stuck. Truly stuck in it.

Hey, did you vote for your fave DWTS couple yet? Time's running out. If you don't want your favorite couples to go home you need to vote. They make it crazy easy, there's even a facebook app, cause who doesn't have fb these days, right?

I find myself voting against the professionals I don't like, honestly. I'm not a Karina fan. So as much as I try to root for Apollo, I'm not sure I can. Besides, Kelly aka Sam and ValC? They're SO a couple in real life, aren't they? I mean, you can tell, right? How they look at each other? And she's SAM. So #GH represent!

Bieber is still singing, people. This is the longest performance of all time.

Today I entertained myself for a bit while reading/skimming Suri's Burn Book. I laughed so hard a few times tears slipped out. I might have even peed a little. I'm old, remember?

Who the heck is he singing with now? She looks like Nicki Minaj with dark hair, so I know that can't be her, right?

Oh, and back to useless reality show people, somebody really needs to boot Mario Lopez and that Kardashian sister off of The X Factor. Come on, Simon, you HAVE to know what a waste of airtime that is. We could be enjoying the performances. And speaking of, Demi, sweet, sweet Demi. Please stop. Whatever you are doing to your contestants is just awful. Britney is lucky her kids have so much freakin' talent, or you both would be booted off so quickly, for realz.

OK, I'm done. I'm waiting to go all Gangnam Style since I saw a clip earlier and MC Hammer is cameo-ing. Rock on, my friends. Rock on.

omg - WAIT! STOP THE PRESSES!!!

XTINA IS PERFORMING! What the what? She looks kind of beautiful. Who is this girl? I mean, yeah, there are the infamous boobs we see 2x/week on The Voice, but her hair (I'm sure it's fake, but it's the effort that counts here, friends) is blonde, without a variety of dipped colors. She was totally channeling Demi for a while there. Oh, wait, never you mind. She changed her clothes. Now we see the fake tan. Ah. Sigh. Peace out friends. Also? Her voice still kind of rocks. I just wish she would stop calling herself Xtina. Team Xtina is for Twitter. Not for real words. CeeLo, Adam (yum, Adam) or Blake should tell you that if they consider themselves true friends. *smh*

p.s. If you missed me yesterday you can totally catch up on my life anyway. I was over at my friend Tricia's place. She can be found at Southern Spark and I was chatting about blogging, buns and boogers ... so to speak. So go check it out, wouldja?

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Hot Mamalah, by Lisa Alcalay Klug ~ Book Review

When I requested a chance to review Hot Mamalah, by Lisa Alcalay Klug, I had no idea what I was getting into!

I loved the name of the book, absolutely, Mamalah is one of my favorite words. Truth be told, we use it for my daughter more than for what Lisa uses it for, but that's okay - it was still perfect. 

Now, I must admit, I expected a light-hearted flowy story about Judaism. The subtitle of this book is "The Ultimate Guide for Every Woman of the Tribe" ... there is a starburst on the cover that says, "You don't have to be Jewish. But it wouldn't hurt." ... can you feel it yet? 

It WAS. It IS a light-hearted flowy story about Judaism. 

Sort of. 

It's not a story, so much as it is really a guide to Jewish life. 

I also admit that it took me longer to read than I expected because of the kind of book it is. With bursts of information that cover recipes, memories and loads of Jewish history and information, all folded into a lot of laughs, I had a bit of attention issues, and found myself wanting to skip ahead and not read it all in order, which is totally not my reading style.

But I love that about this book. You can use it as a resource!

Planning your next party? Check it out. Loads upon loads of cocktail/mocktail ideas.

Hosting the next seder (Passover dinner for anyone not in the tribe)? Chocolate Matzo Toffee, anyone? For real? Hiding beneath that is a hot and spicy cayenne pepper-chocolatey matzo treat. No doubt I'd be schvitzing up a storm if I dipped into it, but who knows, maybe your next door neighbor can use a little spice in her day-to-day? Bring her some of this to kickstart her holiday!

And did you think cabbage was just for cole slaw? Guess again! Lisa has a list of possible uses, that goes beyond the "stick in your bra to remove breast tenderness" - though that's included, too!

But the list of all lists? Is the list for Vodka. Seriously, my friends, Bloody Mary Pizza and Vanilla extract don't scratch the surface of this list.

There's a lot of Jewish history intertwined with humor, and Lisa has a way of making it all fun.

My last confession is that I was unable to read the "You know you're a Hot Mamalah" pages because the type and wording was a little too much for my eyes and head to handle. I don't think she expects us to be able to get through all of these, but hopes that we can skim and find a description or two that works for us. Let me know if you find one. I started one of these sections and found, You know you're a hot Mamalah because you just know you are. That was perfect and just enough for me.

I think I am a Hot Mamalah. I'm a mom, a woman, a mamalah ... and I'm hot. Enough. Sometimes. But Lisa's humor reminded me that it's okay to be whatever we want to be and find ourselves HAWT just the same.

To find out more about Lisa and her work, her history and more, check her out:

facebook.com/LisaAlcalayKlug

Thanks, Lisa, for letting me join you on your journey throughout Hot Mamalah-dom!! 

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Whattaya' know?

It's that time of the week again.

Sometimes I link up and sometimes I don't, but I'm always happy to have the opportunity to do so.

So here I am with a mostly light Pour Your Heart Out ...

You know you got dressed in the dark when you determine that your underwear is on inside out, and it's too late to change because you have to get the kiddo to the bus and you've been proactive and put your sneakers on early and if you decide to strip down and do it all over you're going to exhaust yourself before you even stand up.

Oh, who me? No. No. That didn't happen to me. Of course not. *Cough cough.*

You know you're PMSing when all you can think about is trying to make no-bake cookies that you've never been successful at because you just cannot seem to figure out exactly how long the water or mixture is supposed to boil, or what the heck a rolling boil actually is. And yet you want to try anyway.

That's not me, either, of course. 

You know you got up extra early when you're ready for another meal or snack before noon and have already finished two cups of Magic Stars and almond milk, an apple and a cup of coffee.

And a mini-mini-pumpkin-mini-muffin.

Guilty as charged. 

You also know you got up pretty early when it feels like this has been the longest day ever and not only is it not yet noon - but it's not even 11:30.

Oops. 

And if I start to go into the you know you're totally slacking on holiday gifts because Chanukah starts on DECEMBER NINTH and you have like 3-4 things purchased at this point and time that's probably going to give it away and ensure that you know that YES. I'm talking about ME.

AHHHHHH!

Happy Hump Day, everybody.

p.s. You know that writing this post put you in the mood for a warm beverage and a sweet treat, so you opted for some chai tea and a gluten-free cinnamon doughnut just 'cause.

Yeah, you know it!

Doughnut is missing a bite now. It's a little heavy so it might not get finished, but then I'll - I mean you'll obviously need to find something to replace it to satisfy your sweet tooth. How about those no-bakes? Off to Pinterest you go ...

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BAM! Heat In The Kitchen

Please join me in welcoming my friend Ducky from Batcrap Crazy today.

I'm more than excited that she was open to coming to my 'hood and sharing a little bit of her (hi)story with y'all while I'm keeping busy in NYC at BlogHer this week/weekend!

Once upon a time there was a girl named Ducky ... keep reading ... you'll enjoy, I'm sure of it!

"…mom we did some cool experiments in Science today.


'Glad you had a good day Ducky.'

'I have a paper describing how to do it at home. It was really easy to do at school; do you think I could try it again tonight? (which was a total lie. We DID NOT try the experiment at school. It was dangerous.)

'Sure. After dinner.'

So fast forward through dinner and cleaning up because I’m sure somehow my sisters made sure I was on dish duty that night. Every one was busy elsewhere in the house. Mom set me up with a small sauce pan and the corn starch the experiment required. I was in 6th grade afterall; totally competent to handle myself at the stove.

A little cornstarch in the bottom of the pan…..low heat….it removes the moisture in the starch. I expertly wiggled the pan now and again to prevent burning. That would come later; the burning.

Sufficient time for the moisture to cook away and then I moved to stage two. At the island was three lovely pieces of construction paper laid out awaiting their line. With the deft skill of a lifetime snorter6th grade perfectionist I lined out the cornstarch on center of each piece which was then rolled into straw like tubes.

Step three required a lighter and some blowing power. Step 3 on the worksheet says to be sure that nothing flammable is in your work area and to be sure there is adult supervision. WHATEVER.

So I am standing where the X is (see picture below). I pick up my first rolled tube of moisture free corn starch and instead of blowing I end up sucking. It could happen to anyone so shutyerpiehole. After chugging some Gatorade (the old school kind…you know, the orange powder mix) I pick up my awesome tubular mega straw number 2.

Flick the Bic....

Flame roaring at the end of my fully extended right arm, I take a deep breath before putting my lips to the tube and blow…

BAM!

Shooting flames come roaring out as the cornstarch meets flame and it is the COOLEST FREAKIN’ THING I’VE EVER SEEN JUST LIKE SPECIAL EFFECT EXPLOSIONS IN THE MOVIES! I’m screaming out of excitement and the smoke alarm is screaming out of fear. My mother rushes in to find her refrigerator torched black.

Remember that little diagram above?

I was standing opposite of the fridge.

It was white.

...

Now it's black.

Mother sorta freaked out - the wuss. Once all the screeching stopped (including the fire alarm and my sisters) I realized there was still one tube left.

My mother realized she should’ve looked at the experiment paper first.

I totally snuck outside to torch something else while she fretted over how to clean the fridge (turns out it was just soot....no damage done).

Remember - check Ducky out by clicking her blog button above or any of the links below and say hey!

Blog: Batcrap Crazy

Twitter: @batcrapcrazy

email: batcrapcrazyblog@gmail.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/batcrapcrazyblog

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Bazinga!

The Big Bang Theory is on in the living room.

My husband and my daughter (yes, she's five) are watching. At the same time she's sorting her "day kit" - which would be more along the lines of what you'd call your first aid kit.

She's taken to Band Aids lately. I don't know if it started before my hand-bite incident, or after, but the Band Aids and their non-name-brand copies are all over her stuffed animals.

Perry (the platypus) had two on his eyes yesterday morning.

Pugsly (her beanie baby pug that used to be mine) had a tiny one on his head, as well.

Pounce (we have a thing for P-names, it seems, he's a beanie baby cat that was mine many moons ago, too) hasn't had any yet, but he's her favorite these days so it's important that he stay healthy.

As I sit here typing this she's telling my husband that he "needs a check-up!" ... come to think of it, it could be Doc McStuffins' influence. Have you watched that yet? It's really super cute. I think it's a nice change from the typical kids' shows out there, especially what's been out there for girls.

We're waiting to start grilling dinner (hamburgers and turkey burgers are sitting on the newly cleared island) - well, my husband is going to. I have never actually learned to use the grill. I mean, I know the concept, but it's not something I have ever tried.

Have I mentioned my daughter enjoys The Big Bang Theory? Lately she's taken to shouting:

"BAZINGA!"

When she teases us about something, or pretends to be.

If you're unfamiliar with the word or the concept, watch this.



The ballpit scenes? All one episode. Pee-worthy.

If we're not shouting that out we're singing the theme song. A little BNL that isn't exactly kid-specific, but she loves it anyway.

And my puppy - the one out of prison? Is sitting here licking the bottoms of my arms, whimpering like a looney toon because she wants to go back to her crate, I'm sure.

Le sigh. Just another Tuesday night at our house.

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A Simple Sunday

I sit here thinking about what I want to talk about today and the noise level in my house is so loud it's almost impossible to actually think. See - my in-laws are here, which is absolutely wonderful. It's been a great weekend so far. Yes, I mean it. I love my in-laws. But OMG. My FIL is deaf. As in really. He has a hearing aid, and I puffy heart this man so much, but the TV in our living room is at a volume level of like 50+. And that, my friends? Is freaking LOUD!

For me. Someone who is loud/noise sensitive and often asks my husband to lower it when the volume is up over 18. I mean it. LOUD. Effing LOUD!

Ah. Hubby and FIL are speaking right now so they have lowered it. And I will admit, I actually enjoy Chris Wallace's voice. I love my husband's Sunday AM schedule. Even though I miss Tim Russert. A lot. Still. But that's a whole 'nother story.

And right now, just so you know exactly what else I am dealing with. And to wrap up this post in ways that I wasn't planning ... my daughter is in the bathroom. Hubby just asked her if she's pooping. She says yes. He asks if she wants Papa to wipe her. She says no.

Papa says, "I've wiped many a child with broken arms and ..." I chuckle. It's funny. My husband answers...

"You never wiped me."

Is that perhaps TMI this holiday season? Especially when you haven't ever seen my husband's picture fully? I'll skip it for now (as I've gone over the 5 minutes for this brain dump and didn't even get to tell you about the child's FULL ON MELTDOWN in Target on Friday. Because that deserves it's own damned post. I mean, it's own post. For real. Abso-freakin-lutely).

Sigh. Happy Sunday, peeps. I hope I gave you a chuckle this crisp Sunday morning amidst the pre-holiday tensions and so forth. I bid you farewell as I have to go wipe my daughter's bottom.

And if you have something to say, go link up over at All Things Fadra for Stream of Consciousness Sunday. Just click the button here:

Small addition:

My father-in-law just turned to husband and said, "Speaking of wiping - do they have good nursing homes in this area? You have to know my FIL, but I was the one who got the joke. Somehow men and potty humor just never seems to end, does it?

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Post It Note Tuesday: Marina!

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Friends You Love Scavenger Hunt!

Come one come all and be our friend,
Friends You Love's Scavenger Hunt will soon begin.

Our tweets will point you in the right direction,
Follow each clue to the correct location.
Our posts will help you find your way,
Read each one carefully throughout the day.
Fabulous prizes are what we have instore.
For the lady who shows she can endure.
So tell your friends to come and play,

It's time for Friends You Love's Scavenger Hunt Giveaway!

This final full week in September brings you the final full event we have planned. This week, we are sending you on a scavenger hunt!

Please follow along with @FriendsYouLove and the other Friends You Love hosts via Twitter. Beginning Monday, September 20, we will be leaving clues via Twitter, leading you around the interwebs for the answers. There will be 20 clues. On Friday, September 24, come back to Friends You Love to submit your answers. The first FIVE players to submit the correct answers will win prizes from our generous sponsors!

Our sponsors for this exciting event include:

Lisa Leonard, PeaceLoveMom, The Turkish Towel Company, Sheer Beauty, Scentsy Consultant Bradi Redmon, Paper Planet Etsy Shop, PurseHangers, Hapari, and EdenFantasys!


(Hint: All clues will have the hashtag #FriendsYouLove)

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OMG. Hilarious. Must Watch.

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It's the little things ...

That make me laugh, that make my entire day ...

For example, today my daughter was fascinated by the shredder. As in what you use to destroy age old credit card statements. As she was working her way into sleep mode this late fine night she started talking about me liking my name on the paper. On the envelopes. I taught her to say shredder.

Ssh. Red. Er. = Shredder <-- Just listening to her stop, almost hearing her think, and then saying it correctly was, well, pretty awesome.

The better of the two stories for today follows now, though. This morning while eating breakfast my husband and I were discussing *the itchies* ... see, the child CANNOT fall asleep at night. So last night she told me she had itchies. There's more on that later, but what was the best laugh I've had in ages was when he tried talking to me in code, and then said that it was probably because we moved the Queen sized bed (yes, I did say Queen) into her room and maybe the sheet wasn't clean enough. I'll give him that. But then he said something like, 'She probably isn't used to the detergent.' What? 'You know, she's used to her stuff.'

BWAHAHAHAHAHA! You really think I still wash her clothes separately? [Remember, readers, she's going to be FOUR in February.] 'Well, you USED to.' Aha. And that was for about 6 months of her life.

Seriously. What I wanted to say was, when was the last time you picked up a bottle of DREFT for this house, anyway? OMG! Tears. Happy, laughing tears!

I'll tell more about the fun I had as super mommy - taking the itchies away last night, but for now, it's nearly midnight and I truly need to get to sleep. We did a TON of work on the upstairs yesterday and today, and although hubby has suggested I hit the showers before bed to soothe my muscles, I'm figuring he's passed out already and won't smell my stinky self and I'll pop a few Advil instead, with hopes that it gets me through the night and I can take a shower in the morning.

So, sweet dreams, dear Bloggy friends. Or good morning to ya, depending on when you read this. And I'm off to la-la-land!

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That Darned Puppy!

If any of you have had this toy for your kids, you may know what I'm talking about. That dang Fisher Price Laugh and Learn Puppy.

When we got this thing, I hated it. It went off by itself. One of our cats walked by when it was in a bag, in the original packaging and it still started talking.

One morning I was home alone with my daughter and I heard it downstairs. It scared the crap out of me. My daughter was only about 3 months old, so it wasn't entertaining her that much, anyway. So eventually I hid it.

What makes my dismay even funnier is that my sister-in-law had one for my niece (6 weeks older than my own) and gave it away. And then, get ready, someone ELSE gave them one! That crazy puppy kept coming back!

I thought it was hilarious that she wound up with a second one. I guess I am paying for laughing at her expense, because our puppy seems to have come back to life! Over three years later, my daughter pulled him out of her crib (which we took apart the other night to remove from her room - but that's a whole other story for another day) and I snatched him up, and moved him to the guest bedroom.

Then this morning she asked for 'the other snowman,' she has two, from two years ago, that she loved. How she even remembered there was a second one, I have no idea, since they both haven't been played with in ages. I went to the back bedroom, grabbed snowman and tried to move quickly. I, at age 37 (or am I 38 yet? I don't think so ...) am not quick enough to beat out a 3 year old. 'I want all my friends,' she whined.

Fine. Fine. I grabbed all of said friends and brought them into her room. Puppy among them. Grumble grumble. But a respite! I'm saved! Puppy isn't working! I tell her his batteries must need to be changed. [Do you tell your kids that batteries are dead? It's so morbid sounding, isn't it?] I turn my back to her while she plays.

I'm putting away some of her new PJs and other random items I got from the crazy sale online at The Children's Place. (I <3>

Sonofab!tch. He's alive. She found the on-off button. You have GOT to be kidding me. It's so hidden I honestly had NO idea that he even HAD one of these for the first months we had the thing. A former friend mentioned it to me, and I immediately called my SIL that afternoon to tell her. No worries, as she had already gotten rid of the second one. Don't worry. She's not cruel. She didn't throw them away. She just passed them along to unknowing friends in need of new baby toys. OK, well, maybe she is cruel. I don't think so, though. She was just paying it forward, in my opinion.

But remember, if anyone gives you one of these, hide it! FAST!
Anyway, the puppy lives on. Damned thing. Now hopefully one night soon I can find him, hide him, and then have a quick rendezvous with a screwdriver. But shhh ... you didn't hear that from me.

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Fun stuff my kid says ...

Fun or Funny, I guess it depends on how you look at it.

"Mommy, you're a good cooker."
-- Thanks, kiddo. I try. I try.
This is said after I present her with a pbj sandwich, a plate of pizza rolls, or pasta and parmesan cheese. It doesn't matter what it is, I'm still a good cooker.

"Are we going to the real bookstore, or the pretend bookstore? The one with the horsies ..."
-- Oh my. We've created a bookstore snob.
This after going to Books-A-Million the day before, where they have "horses on sticks" you know, the ones you rode as a kid. Pretend. Great. Barnes and Noble, anyone?

"My name is ... and YOUR name is ..."
-- Mommy has my own middle name, sweetie.
Everyone in our family supposedly has the same middle and last name as the child does. Say her name was Susie Lou America. My name would be Andrea Lou America. And hubby's name would be Daddy Lou America. And so on and so forth. She'll get it. Eventually.


"You okay, Nana?"
-- Laughter ensues.
Child was on the phone with my mother, attempted to put the phone down on the picnic table, and proceeded to drop the phone. Child picked it up and asked my mom if she was alright. Absolutely hilarious. My mom could not stop laughing. We both were near tears, it was about the cutest moment possible.
These are clear cut moments I hope to remember forever. The child is amazing, adorable, and hilarious, even when she can be a total pain in the behind.

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