It's Monday. I'm blogging. It's a miracle!

OK, maybe it's not really a miracle...but since my last blog post was two weeks ago, I'm amazed that I just found five minutes to sit down and write.

Granted, I should be cooking dinner or folding laundry, but I'm not. I'm writing. (Which is ironic since I just tweeted out that I was putting laundry away as I took it out of the dryer. Clearly, I'm not doing that now. This is my brain today: Laundry. Must. Fold. Laundry. OH SPARKLY THINGS! Wait. What was I doing?)

So yeah. It's summer break. And the kids and I managed to survive last week with minimal tears and yelling. Sure they were all "ZOMG! We're SO BORED! There's nothing to do! We have NO TOYS!" And I was all like "I'm seriously going to send you to daycare FOREVER if you don't find something to do right now!"

Friends, working from home while the kids are home for summer break is insanity. The sign on the office door that says "Don't enter this room when Mommy is working"...yeah it means nothing to them. Which is funny because the kids made that sign for me. To keep themselves out of my office.

But we made it through week one. And the next two weeks are going to be easy-peasy too. Both kids are in "religious education" at our church every morning until June 28. That gives me about 4 hours of silence when I can work every day. Why are we sending them to religion class for two weeks in the summer? Because then we don't have to deal with it during the school year. (Fun Catholic fact: kids who aren't in Catholic school must attend "religious education" classes from first grade through eighth grade).

And they start golf lessons this Friday too....so we have that extra activity to keep us busy until August 9 when they have their golf tournament.

Plus...we're planning a mini vacation to Connecticut and NYC later this summer. I can't wait for the kids to see the Big Apple!

So as we head into the second full week of summer break, we're managing to get stuff done and read books and not go totally crazy. Olivia also managed to watch all but ONE of the Harry Potter movies. We have The Deathly Hallows Part 2 still to watch...but I'm watching it with her. She also wants to start reading book one in the series. I'm a happy Muggle mommy!

Happy Summer!

Happy last day of school! (Alternate title: Time flies and the kids are growing up too fast)

It's here. The very last day of the school year. Yesterday I posted pics of the kids from the first day of school

Fast forward to today. These are their pics from last year and this year:

 Emma on first day of kindergarten..

Emma on last day of kindergarten.

Notice how much taller she is! 

 Olivia on the first day of third grade.

And Olivia today...on the last day of 

third grade. Again. The height! 

Here's to a safe and happy summer!!! School's out! School's out! No more homework. No more books. Well, except for the baskets of books my kids WILL be reading this summer. They have to read at least 15 minutes a day. :) 

Wordless Wednesday - Flashback to the first day of school

 Emma on the first day of kindergarten!

Olivia on the first day of third grade!

Stay tuned.

Tomorrow I'll be posting 

"last day of school" pics.

Wishful thinking for Monday

Here's to a week without wacky people.

Cheers to a great first week of June.

On that note - how in the world is

it JUNE already??

A little Pinspiration for Friday!

Happy Friday! I'm so freaking happy that this week is coming to a close. Sure it's had some really great parts, but there's been a few "bumps in the road" too. As we close down the week...here's some Pins I love.

For some reason that song "Don't Worry Be Happy" just popped into my head.

Totally random. Now it'll be there all day!

So happy to be me. 

 

Don't give 'em a second thought.

Sing it with me: Don't worry...be happy! 

 

Family and friends.

The glue that keeps this crazy life together.

And with that my friends...I'm wishing all of you a happy weekend.

I'm a lot of things. A bully is not one of them.

This post is an open letter to the person who called me a bully and a mean girl today. On Pinterest.

Yes folks, that's right. I actually had some tell me I was a bully on Pinterest because she didn't like something I had pinned.

This is what I pinned:

And I added that I was happy we had blocked the "evil clowns" after my sister said it was too bad the clowns were all gone. [For those of you keeping score at home, the "evil clowns" are the people that Tuesday's blog post was about]. And they actually sought me out on Pinterest in order to throw verbal barbs in my direction. Guess they didn't have anything else constructive to do today.

Now anyone who knows me is well aware that I can be sarcastic and snarky. It's my nature. It's who I am. And that's exactly what I was doing today. But I'm not going to defend what I wrote because quite frankly it's MY PINTEREST ACCOUNT and I'm free to say whatever I want. Did I write the words "evil clowns" out of spite? No. I didn't. I was being SARCASTIC and honestly, everyone is scared of clowns because they're all EVIL.

Sarcasm people. It's what's for dinner. And clearly this concept was lost on certain people on the west coast.

On to the comment that this person left ... she called me a bully and a "grown up mean girl" and said that while I'm always talking about how bad bullying is she thinks that what happened to me while I worked for the green trolls was my fault because I'm a bully. So let me set the record straight.

Dear person married to my 'former' cousin -

You have NO idea what you're talking about. I am many things - a mom, a writer, a Disney fanatic, a coffee addict, a hater-of-laundry - but there's one thing I am not. I am not a bully. I don't bully people. I never have and I never will. I'm also not a mean girl. 

What I am is a defender of myself and my family. When someone (read: you and your husband) decided to verbally attack members of my family I chose to defend them with sarcastic Pins. I'm sorry you can't seem to make your very small mind understand the essence of sarcasm. But that's your problem. Not mine. 

As for what happened to me when I worked for that organization famous for cookies and camping, don't you DARE presume that you know what happened to me. You heard bits and pieces of stories when you were at my mother's house for a few hours over a holiday. You were not here to witness the debilitating stress that the job (and my former boss - who IS a bully) caused me. You don't know the hateful things that were said to me or the situations I had to deal with for months on end. You don't know how it made me physically sick or how I cried on my way to work EVERY SINGLE DAY for weeks on end until I finally had the courage to stand up for myself and walk out of a job I used to love. 

You. Have. No. Idea. 

Maybe you've never been bullied. If that's the case consider yourself lucky. Because it's the absolute worst feeling in the world to be a grown, educated woman who is made to feel as if she's absolutely worthless every single day for eight hours a day. And when that happens for MONTHS on end? It's nearly unbearable. And it will haunt you for years. You will still wake up in the middle of the night sometimes and start to think about all the things that were said to you and how horrible it made you feel. 

You. Have. No. Idea.

And as for the "other employers" you referenced in your verbal assault? Let me clear it up for you - I was let go from a job in 2003 because I was pregnant. In case that isn't clear to you: I was FIRED FOR BEING PREGNANT. And yeah, that's against the law. The next time I was pregnant, the university I worked for chose to not renew my teaching contract because I was part-time and they said I wasn't protected under the law. They were wrong. And they lost a legal battle with the state attorney general's office. So in your haste to make me sound like a "mean girl" and a "bully" you actually know not of what you speak. 

How dare you call me a bully? 
You don't know the meaning of the word. 

A bully is someone who is habitually cruel to others who are weaker. I am not cruel. I don't say things out of hate or spite. I do NOT search out people's Pinterest accounts so that I can call them names and say hateful, vicious things about them. That's what YOU did. 

Perhaps you need to take a long, hard look in the mirror. The reflection you see staring back is a bully.

Me? I look in the mirror every single day and I'm content in the knowledge that my friends and family love me for who I am - sarcasm and snark included at no extra charge.

Wordless Wednesday - Take a Stroll on the Beach

Anyone else need a walk on the beach today?

Choose Your Words Wisely

After all these years on social media (yes...all seven or eight of them!) I am still FLOORED by the things people do from the "safety" of their computers.

It never ceases to amaze me ... the things people will say when they're able to hide behind their keyboards.

Case in point: Today, someone I know took to the private message system on Facebook to attack a member of my family. This individual verbally attacked with words no one should never say to someone who was "family." It was pure vitriol. Angry. Hateful. Spiteful.

And clearly it was exactly what they had been thinking but never had the courage to say out loud.

No. They didn't have the courage to say any of it...until they were able to hide behind a computer monitor. Because when you hide behind your monitor you tend to feel invincible. As if you can say anything and there won't be any repercussions.

The words that were typed today were words of a coward and a bully. This person took to Facebook and bullied people in my family. And that is not OK with me.

There will be repercussions, beginning with the simple act of unfriending and blocking the bully on Facebook. It might sound over simplified and somewhat ridiculous but I refuse to witness anything else this person has to say.

And yes, I see the irony of this situation - I'm blogging about words and social media. But this is my platform and I'd say these words to the bully's face if I ever happened to see him again. As that is extremely unlikely to EVER happen (like ever)....I'm saying it here.

So here goes: 

McDonald's Egg White Delight McMuffin and McWrap - A Review and Giveaway!

Egg White Delight McMuffin

I have a confession to make - my favorite, go-to "fast food" breakfast is the Egg McMuffin (no Canadian bacon!) from McDonald's. Sometimes I "get crazy" and go for the Sausage McMuffin with Egg...but 99 percent of the time, it's the Egg McMuffin.

Now, I might have a new favorite - the Egg White Delight McMuffin (still without Canadian bacon). I had a chance to try on a few weeks ago and it was really, really delicious.

I'm not going to lie. I don't like "just" egg whites, so I wasn't sure about this sandwich...but it had a lot of flavor and the egg white was not bland at all. It also wasn't that nifty "round" shape that the Egg McMuffin eggs are either. Nope. This egg white had been cooked on the grill. And the white cheddar cheese was amazing. Even better? The sandwich is only 250 calories (and I'm assuming that's "with" the Canadian bacon, so I bet mine had less calories!).

Oh, and you can get the egg white on the following McDonald's breakfast sandwiches - Egg McMuffin; Sausage McMuffin with Egg; Bacon, Egg & Cheese Biscuit; Sausage Biscuit with Egg; Bacon, Egg & Cheese McGriddles; Sausage, Egg & Cheese McGriddles; and Bacon, Egg & Cheese Bagel.

Now, if you're a resident of northwest Ohio and/or southeast Michigan you can run out tomorrow morning and buy one. Or you can enter my contest (see below) to win coupons for a free Egg White Delight McMuffin. Either way...you need to try this sandwich! And if you're not a resident of NW Ohio/SE Michigan...keep reading because I have stuff for you too!

The other new item I had a chance to try was the new McWrap sandwich. There are three choices - Chicken & Ranch, Sweet Chili Chicken, or Chicken & Bacon, and you can get grilled or crispy chicken. I ordered the Chicken &; Ranch version, and while it was very messy to eat (I ended up using a knife and fork!), it was really good. The cucumbers, tomatoes and lettuce were fresh and crispy and the chicken was really tasty. I wasn't prepared for just how BIG this sandwich was....I was not able to finish the whole thing.

If you'd like to try one of the new premium chicken McWrap sandwiches be sure to enter my contest (see below). Added bonus - you don't need to live in northwest Ohio or southeast Michigan to win one of these coupons! They're good all over the U.S.

Now...because I love my readers and really want to make this contest special for you, I am adding one GRAND PRIZE to the prize list - a McWrap Prize Pack. This prize pack contains: a cooler tote, earbud headphones, a fleece blanket, USB car plug, mini speakers,  MP3 armband, a $10 Arch Card, and a $5 iTunes Gift Card.

That's a whole lot of goodies for one prize pack!

So, here's the IMPORTANT INFORMATION (aka THE RULES). I will be awarding TWO readers in northwest Ohio and/or southeast Michigan with coupons to try the new Egg White Delight McMuffin. I will be awarding TWO readers anywhere in the United States with coupons to try the new McWrap sandwiches. And, ONE lucky reader will win the GRAND PRIZE McWrap Prize Pack. All winners will be chosen at random. You must follow the rules in the Rafflecopter widget in order to enter. And, you MUST let me know if you live in NW Ohio/SE Michigan. Good luck!

Disclosure: I was given coupons to try the new Egg White Delight McMuffin and the McWrap. No other compensation was provided. All opinions are mine.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Lockdown

So, today the school where my kids attend third grade and kindergarten was on lockdown. Or as the administration called it "soft lockdown."

Apparently there was an incident in the neighborhood where the school is located and the police told the school they had to go to lockdown.

At about 2:30 p.m. all parents received this email:

Dear Parents,

Earlier this afternoon at approximately 1:15 pm, [the school] was placed into a Lockdown by the  City Police due an incident on [the residential street where the school is located].  An injury was reported to the Police in an area close to the school. After conferring with the police, the school went to a “soft” lockdown with all outside and classroom doors locked and instruction still taking place.  This lasted until approximately 1:55 pm while the police investigated the incident. School will dismiss as usual at 3:00 pm.

OK. So, the lockdown happened at 1:15 and was over at 1:55. And we found at at 2:30. So...I'm guessing it took the administration 35 minutes to write a five line email? 

That is some serious prose. 

Look. I get it. The school can't inform the parents of the lockdown AS IT HAPPENS because mass chaos would occur and whatnot. I get it. But how about letting us know at 2:05? Or 2:15? Maybe I'm just being overly analytical here. Maybe I'm wondering why it took so long to write a simple email. I mean, was it full of typos? Were they trying to find the "right words" to tell us that our kids "might" have been in danger but all's well that ends well? 

Maybe I'm overreacting.

Or maybe, just maybe, I'm a little bothered by the fact that the words "lockdown" and "school" have to be used in the same sentence on a regular basis in this day and age. You want to know how many times my school went into lockdown when I was a kid? NONE. Zip. Zero. Not once. Was the world a safer place back then? Were there fewer crazies brandishing guns and knives? Was it safer to go to school back in the "old days?" Maybe. Tornado drills and fire drills...that's how "dangerous" it was for us...that was our reality. 

Today, the sad reality is lockdowns.

And that creates a pit in the depths of my stomach.

As the girls walked off the bus today I said "what happened at school?" And my ever wise 9-year-old said "We had a lockdown. They had to lock us in our classrooms but the principal said we could still do our work." Emma said "that was real?" with the innocence that only a kindergartner could muster. And my niece told my sister that her second grade class hid in a corner of their classroom.

Three different perspectives from the very same lockdown.

And this apparently is the reality of school today. Our kids are going to attend school with the knowledge that their school could be placed on lockdown because someone bad is OUT THERE and could be trying to GET IN. That is a sad, sick commentary on the state of our world.

Back to today's events.

Do I wish the school would have notified us sooner than 30 minutes before school let out and 35 minutes after it happened? Yeah I do. (Apparently "it" was an attempted dog theft and subsequent non-fatal stabbing across the street from the school). Am I asking anyone to agree with me? Nope. Not at all. I'm simply stating that there has to be a better system than using email to notify parents. Some people only check their email once a day (I know, crazy right?)

I know the school has the capability to call parents (as a whole group). Perhaps that would have been better - a phone call saying "here's what happened, but everything is OK now and please pick up your kids at 3 p.m. as scheduled."

That's my point. If we as parents need to accept the reality that school lockdowns are going to happen then schools need to devise an intelligent way to keep us informed. That's all.

[And on a related school venting note: There are a mere 15 days left in the school year. That being said, one would think the "substitute" bus drivers would not still be getting lost on their routes. But no. Today, I watched as yet another substitute driver turned the wrong way, drove past my house and continued on aimlessly through the neighborhood, eventually dropping the kids off ... 10 minutes later than normal.]