There I was trying to be handy in the garage (feel free to snicker as you should), drilling a starter for a hook to hang a ladder  when the drill bit got stuck and came right out of the drill.  (Here comes the "duh!") So I grabbed right ahold of the bit intending to pull it out and carry on.  Well, seems this thing called friction heated that sucker up hot enough to blister me on contact. Luckily, both children were safe inside the house when choice words started to fly.  ...

I am pretty sure everyone out there has at least one televison ad that gets under their skin.  One that bugs me right now is from some breastfeeding group, have you seen it?  It features two 9 month pregnant women log rolling.  It says that you wouldn't take risks with your babies life before it is born, why after.  Breast feeding is what a baby needs to be healthy. Well, I think that is a disgusting ad.  Breastfeeding doesn't work out for many families.  I think...

I have seen the word "perfect" in the title of a lot of blogs today: Perfect life, perfect blogger, perfect country, etc.  I tend to believe that "perfect" can't exist except on a personal level.  You can say your spouse is "perfect for you" but they can't be perfect in general because everyone has different, tastes, needs, interests. You have to put down a lot of qualifications to meet before declaring something perfect.  What is a perfect life for instance?  Some might s...

As I sit here at my desk in my kitchen and see my calculator that reads "80085" or, according to my 8yr old son, "BOOBS",  I hear my two beautiful, healthy, happy boys playing with each other in the family room.  I feel protected by the unconditional love I have from my husband and family.  I have everything that is truly important and so much more! I will be 35 tomorrow.  Over a third of my life is over.  Sometimes that scares me or washes me with a sense of sad...

To my blogger friends who read of my illness woes, I wanted to let you know that I got over my virus + strep throat in time to have my grandma have a heart attack and require triple bypass surgery.  Luckily I was healthy and able to take my mom up to be with her.  Grandma lives about 5 hours away. So, I am currently healthy, grandma made it through open heart surgery with flying colors and I am caught up on laundry   Life is good right now.  My only complaint is the first...

We have a leased Chevy Venture and are looking for a new minivan when our lease is up in November.  I liked the Venture except it has a dog of an engine and my husband wants one with a navigation system and dynamic cruise control.  I have done some research online and so far the only minivan that has the navigation system, dynamic cruise and optional 8 passenger seating is the Toyota Sienna.  Does anyone out there own a Sienna?  If so, how do you like it?  If not, do...

First my 8yr old got sick.  He had a fever for almost a week and was one sick little guy.  The pediatrician said it was a virus that would just have to run its course but unfortunately, we would probably all get it.  We thought we were too smart to get it and once his fever was gone and we were all feeling fine, we thought we got through it....wrong! A day or so after it looked like we had our 8yr old back to normal the 4yr old started having a fever and his eye got all re...

We took a family vacation to Disney World in April and had a great time.  My favorite ride was Mission Space at Epcot.  My 4yr old hated it.  Now I know why! There was news today that a 4yr old boy died after going on that ride!!  He died!!  They went on to say that many people had gone to the hospital with breathing problems and chest pains.  The 2G forces seem to have suffocated the little boy who had met the minimum of 44 inches tall requirement to ride. I ...

I had a funny incident the other day.  The phone rang as I just exited the shower.  I was in a good mood and answered with a cheery "Hello?!"  The woman at the other end asked "Hi sweety, is your mommy there?"  I almost burst out laughing but had an urge to play along. "She's not here, may I take a message?"  The woman informed me that she was calling from our lawn service and would call back later.  "When might I catch your mommy or daddy at home?" she inq...

One of our neighbors just had a baby and we went to meet her last night.  She's beautiful in her own funny little newborn way.  I just can't resist snuggling up those little creatures whenever I am around them. Newborns aren't really what people think of when you say "baby".  They are wrinkly, funny colored, funny sounding little, helpless things.  They're learning the basics of things like eating and digesting.  Their cries sound very different from the cry they deve...

A couple of days ago I caught the Oprah show.  I was flicking through channels and saw Tom Cruise so thought I would stay a while.  Oprah was interviewing Tom and was asking him all about Katie.  Tom was acting absolutely insane! Anywho, Oprah was singing the praises of Tom and said something that seemed very out of touch- She said that she had never seen a movie as anticipated as The War of the Worlds.  Heh?!  Ever heard of a little thing called Star Wars?!  I d...

This morning my 8yr old complained that his leg hurt so badly he didn't want to walk on it.  He had been complaining about leg pain for the last couple of weeks but I thought it was just growing pains.  I looked into leg pain in kids and found out that complaint about pain in a localized position is reason for concern.  Growing pains tend to be in joints and tend to move around. So I helped him and his brother to the car after attempting to make an appt with the pediatrician.&n...

This evening I took my sons to a 6:00 movie (Kicking & Screaming).  The theatre was quite a sight.  I have to give AMC credit that they had their act together in anticipation of the midnight showings of the final Star Wars movie.  They had barracades up to form the lines for the different auditoriums, they had a grill and other refreshments availble and a large crew of overseers. So at 6:00, a full 6hrs prior to show time, there were plenty of fans lining up.  There wa...

We purchased a LP 340/350 projector from InFocus a couple of years ago and enjoyed home movies with it for those couple of years.  The lamp recently burnt out.  This was not unexpected.  We also were aware that the lamps were about $350 to replace.  We were prepared for that.  What we weren't prepared for was the hassle that ensued when trying to purchase the replacement lamp. So, the lamp burns out and I instantly go to their website to order a new one.  I look ...

My latest venture to the grocery store with my 4yr old son proved quite a challenge.  Star Wars characters were slapped on every product around which made my son "have to have it".  I looked around and could quickly see that every mom toting a young lad was having the same problem. I am good at dodging the cereals.  They have had the old character on the front, prize inside thing going long enough that the kids have given up on begging for that.  I wasn't prepared for the ...