25 things

[Thanks to Turtle Parade and Happy Hopefuls for the inspiration]


1. Who was your first prom date? A guy named Eric. I think. His senior prom. I was a sophomore....I think. Must have been memorable, right?

2. Do you still talk to your first love? No.

3. What was your first alcoholic drink? Probably a wine cooler -- at my parent's house. So lame, I know.

4. What was your first job? I worked as a cashier at a pharmacy - got the job when I was 15 1/2.

5. What was your first car? A blue Pontiac Sunbird (this was "my" first car that didn't belong to my parents).

6. Who was the first person to text you today? No texts.

7. Who was the first person you thought of this morning? My kids.

8. Who was your first grade teacher? Mrs. Lezon. Wow. That's weird that I remember that. But I think I spelled her name wrong.

9. Where did you go on your first flight in a plane? Florida.

10. Who was your first best friend and do you still talk? Cindy and Allie are my two best (and oldest friends - oldest as in we've been friends FOREVER). And yes, we still talk...although not as often as we should!

11. Where was your first sleepover? I have no idea. Probably at Cindy's house.

12. Who was the first person you talked to today? My husband.

13. Whose wedding were you in for the first time? Allie's wedding.

14. What was the first thing you did this morning? Um, got out of bed (ha!). OK...after that, I brushed my teeth.

15. What was the first concert you went to? Tears for Fears. I think.

16. First tattoo? A rose on the inside of my right ankle.

17. First piercing? My ears...in elementary school

18. First foreign country you went to? Canada.

19. First movie you remember seeing? The Jungle Book.

20. What state (province) did you first live in? Ohio

21. Who was your first room mate? Tori...and we're still friends today! :)

22. When was your first detention? High school.

23. When was your first kiss? No idea.

24. What is one thing you would learn, given the chance? To ballroom dance.

25. Who will be the next person to post this? No clue. But if you post it on your blog, leave a comment here so I can check it out! :)

Perfect for a Monday

Wash your hands! Don't touch that!

The title of this post - it's the two things that I repeat every single day, about 200 times a day.

Yes it's true. I am a germaphobe. And I blame it on the swine flu (or if you want to be politically correct and not offend any other flu viruses, the H1N1 virus).

Don't get me wrong, I am obsessed with my kids washing their hands ALL THE TIME. But now that it's "flu season", I am even more obsessed.

I carry hand sanitizer in my purse, my diaper bag, the car. I have a tub of antibacterial wipes in my diaper bag and a smaller package in my purse (yes, I DO have a huge diaper bag and a huge purse, thanks for asking).

At Target, I wipe the cart handles, seats, sides, and well basically the ENTIRE cart with several wipes. Same thing at Wal-Mart (even though, in my opinion, Target has the most germ-infested carts of any stores. Gross. Wal-Mart is a very close second!). Same deal at the grocery store -- or any other store that has carts. You might as well put your kids in a hazmat suit before sitting them in any carts.

And then, on any shopping trip I repeat this phrase "Don't touch that!" over and over and over again. And I clean their hands with an antibacterial wipe as soon as we get in the car.

Yes, I'm a bit obsessed, but whatever.

And hand washing? Oh geez...my kids probably think I'm crazy. I make them sing their 'ABCs' while washing (OK, so I sing it for Emma, but she says some of the letters with me). I actually had two school teachers stop me at a public restroom and THANK ME for teaching my kids (and my niece who was with us) to wash their hands while singing that song.

I can't help it. I would like to avoid the piggy flu this season. I'd also like to avoid the 'regular' flu, stomach viruses, bronchitis and the common cold. While I'm sure it's not possible to avoid all those, I'm doing my best to avoid swine flu. And it's making me a wee bit obsessed with germs.

I blame it on the news. Our local news more than anything else. One channel in particular. (13ABC you know I'm talking about you). Every night they have their "swine flu central" update and give all these stats and stories and BREAKING NEWS! about the swine flu. It's making me a little crazy.

But I did have my kids vaccinated against the 'regular' flu (as I have done every year since they were old enough to get the vaccine). I am getting a 'regular' flu vaccine (as I have done every year for the past 6 years). And Olivia's school will be doing a 'swine flu clinic' once that vaccine is available and she WILL be getting that vaccine too. And I'm hoping Emma will be able to get it. And then I hope that Kevin and I can get it too. Heck, if my dogs and cat could get the vaccine, I'd probably get it for them too. (Kidding. Sort of.)

Now I know that no one can totally avoid germs (well, unless you live in a bubble -- and I'm not willing to do that). But I am trying to my part to avoid germs by doing those little things that all the 'talking heads' on the news are telling us to do: washing your hands being the most important.

And I know that I'm not the only one obsessing about this. When the words "swine flu" were mentioned at the PTA meeting this week, every parent in the room suddenly 'woke up' from the meeting-induced stupor and everyone was "What? Swine flu? Is it here...in THIS school?!?!?" The principal assured us that NO it was not in our school and if it did show up we would know ASAP. And he told us that every classroom has several bottles of hand sanitizer for the students to use.

Whew.

Germs know this: I will take you down. I'm armed with Lysol and I'm not afraid to use it.

Go Bobcats!

Ohio University's Marching 110 is headed to the Rose Bowl!

So cool!!!!

Love my Bobcats!

My first PTA meeting

Last night was the first PTA meeting of the school year. As a 'new member' I figured it was a good idea to attend.

All in all...it was rather, um, lame.

Nothing really happened. Nothing that important was discussed.

For the most part, the only people talking were the members of the PTA board. And the principal. Oh, and "that" mom - you know, the one who just HAS to say something about every little thing?

Yeah, she was there too. [And no, it wasn't me]. This mom volunteered for the first committee mentioned, she complained about papers sent home from school and how her kids just shove them into their bags (yeah, not sure how that is a PTA issue, but whatever), and she threw out little comments every time someone said something.

So basically we're building a new gym, having a fundraiser on Friday, collecting box tops and soup labels and well, that's about it.

A haircut for a good cause

For all my Toledo-area readers:

This Sunday my sister's salon (Studio 51) is sponsoring a cut-a-thon.

You can receive a haircut, wax or chair massage with a minimum $10 donation. Everyone who donates will be entered into a drawing for prizes.

Here's the info:

On January 9, 2009, Angelique Royer - a stylist at Studio 51 - lost her battle with cancer.

She left behind three young sons.

Please join us at our cut-a-thon as we work to raise money for her boys' college education fund.

All participants will be entered in a raffle.

The cut-a-thon takes place at Studio 51, 5333 Monroe Street (next to Hobby Lobby), from noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday.

If you want more information, let me know. I'll be there at some point Sunday afternoon getting Emma's hair cut. :)

(If you are a friend on Facebook, you can find a link to the information on my profile page too!).

Go Rockets!

Saturday is the 'big' game - UT plays The Ohio State University (....in Cleveland...go figure).

While I'm almost certain (almost) that UT will not win, I am going to cheer for them anyway.

Why?

1. They are the underdog in this game.

2. UT is my alma mater (OK...one of them - I went to law school at UT so I feel some sort of connection to them).

3. It's the hometown team.

4. My husband is cheering for OSU so they'll be 'covered' at our house.

5. I rarely (if ever) cheer for OSU (sorry, but I'm a UM fan - always have been, always will be).

So....

Go Rockets! Beat OSU!

A new fairy tale?

Unacceptable

Dear MTV,

Please ban Kanye West from all MTV award shows.

He is a moron.

And he's rude.

And obnoxious.

Clearly he needs some lessons in what not to do at an award show.


Thanks.

- TLC

Eight years

It's been eight years.

Eight years since the unthinkable happened.

Eight years since the sky fell.

Eight years since life as we knew it was forever, inexplicably, undeniably changed.

In those eight years I cannot for the life of me remember what I was doing on Monday, September 10, 2001. But I want to remember. I want to remember so that I can say "Oh, that's what life was like pre-9/11." But I can't remember. I know I worked that day. I think I probably went to Kevin's house that night for a while. However there is nothing spectacular that sticks out in my collective memory from that day. It was just another unremarkable day, September 10, 2001.

I do remember what I was doing on Tuesday, September 11 around 9:00 in the morning. I was sitting at my desk when the secretary rushed into my office and said "A plane just hit the Twin Towers in New York City." My first thought was to call Kevin at work. I think I wanted to check and see if he was OK, which is bizarre because his office was just across the river on Front Street....he was nowhere near NYC. But in my mind, I had to hear his voice.

And then my co-workers and I watched hell being unleashed on the East Coast of the United States. We watched the second tower get hit, we saw both towers crumble back to Earth, we sat in silent horror as the unthinkable unfolded.

I remember the silence that day. No one spoke at the office. The phones were eerily quiet. That night, there was no sound from the air - no planes, no helicopters. Nothing but silence.

And now, eight years later the images from that day still manage to seep into our thoughts. Perhaps not on a daily basis, but they are there -- just below the surface. We will never go back to life as it was on September 10, 2001.

Every day we are just a few steps away from the uncertainty and fear of September 12, 2001.

I remember the paralyzing fear we all felt that day, the fear that another attack was right around the corner. I wonder now if that fear has been replaced by a false sense of security? A sense of "it can't happen again." They used to show the threat level at the bottom of the screen on CNN. I don't think they show that anymore. [I believe we're still under "threat level yellow" but I'm not sure. Do you know?]

We all still wish for a safe world, but I think we are faced with the grim reality that we, as American citizens, are still targets. There are still bomb-toting crazies out there whose only mission in life is to kill Americans. Do we know why we are the targets? If there is an explanation, will it make any sense? Or do they just want to kill Americans because they hate what we stand for, what our country stands for?

I wish I had the answers to those questions. It would make my role as a parent that much easier. My daughters are still too young to comprehend the events of 9/11, but some day I am going to have to explain it to them. Some day our children will read about it in their history books - just as we read about Pearl Harbor and the Vietnam War. And that's what it will become - just another history lesson in school. But it is so much more than that.

How do you explain to your children that we will forever live under a color-coded terror threat level? How do you explain to your children why a group of terrorists decided to hijack some planes and fly them into buildings, killing thousands of people? Better yet, how do you do that without creating an unimaginable sense of fear?

How do I explain something that now, eight years later, I still can't understand?

(I wrote most of these words last year on the seventh 'anniversary' of the attacks, but as they still hold true today, I decided to post the same thoughts. )

Darn funny

When you wish upon a star....

I'm not sure how many of you realize this, but I am a fanatic when it comes to all things Disney. I love the parks, Disney films, Winnie the Pooh, Mickey Mouse, and if I could afford it, I would vacation several times a year at Walt Disney World. I will admit, I am a wee bit obsessed with the Mouse and his House.

Today, I took the first step toward fulfilling a dream I've had for three years. I applied for the Disney Mom's Panel. The Mom's Panel is a group of moms - and one dad - who answer questions in an online forum about planning a vacation to the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando (and the Disney Cruise Line). Today was the first day to apply for the 2010 panel -- and so at 9 a.m. this morning I started answering three questions in (100 words or less per answer) about me, my family, and any expertise I might possess that would be useful if picked for the panel.

And for the rest of the day I have been second guessing my answers (or at least the portion of those answers that I can remember!). I just wanted my answers to be 'right' and I know that I should stop stressing, but this is something that is really important to me. I have wanted to be part of this panel since it started. I applied in 2007 and 2008. And, if I don't make it this year, I will apply again next year.

I love planning trips to Disney. I love reading the guide books and 'unofficial' Web sites, researching the best resorts and restaurants. I have a notebook that is quickly filling with ideas, lists, and 'must do' items for our next family trip to WDW (which isn't until 2011...but you can never be too prepared!). I spend time every day 'tweeting' with other Disney fans, dreaming about being at the parks. And to be part of this panel would mean I would have the chance to share my thoughts, ideas and tips with parents around the country (and the world) - helping them plan a great trip at the happiest place on Earth.

It's hard to express how much I want this or how much it would mean to me to be picked. It would be amazing - sort of how I feel every time I walk through the turnstiles at the Magic Kingdom and step onto Main Street. I would be overjoyed.

They accept 20,000 applications, and this year they are only picking 10 moms and/or dads to be on the panel. Yes, I said 10. Out of 20,000. So yes, I understand that I probably have a better chance of being hit by lightning than I do getting picked....but I am hoping and wishing upon s star that I've been sprinkled with some extra pixie dust today!

If I make the cut this year and become a real Mickey Mom, it will be a dream come true.

Mommy, she said "butt"

Today has just been one of 'those' days, I tell ya. The PMS fairy has sprinkled me with her moody and irritable pixie dust, so I'm easily annoyed.

I took the girls to Target this afternoon after Liv came home from kindergarten (and yes, the bus actually was ON time for drop off..shocking!). We were sitting in the little Target 'cafe' eating lunch (yep...I'm mother of the year ... hot dogs at Target for lunch today!). And, of course, Emma kept getting out of her seat and running around, so I said "Emma sit on your butt."

Sit. On. Your. Butt.

It's the same thing I always tell my kids. And yes, I always use the word 'butt'. That's what it is, it's your BUTT.

There was a woman with two kids sitting a mere two tables over and her little girl said "Mommy, she said 'sit on your butt'!" And her mother said (rather loudly, so as to make sure I didn't miss any of it), "Yes, I know. Mommy says 'tushie' or 'bottom', doesn't she?"

OK fine. So you say tushie. Or bottom. Whatever. To each her own.

It's not as if I said "Hey Emma, sit on your ASS!"

And then for the next 10 minutes Captain of the Language Police at the other table proceeds to repeat over and over and over again these two phrases "Sally, sit on your TUSHIE!" or "Sally, sit on your BOTTOM!"....always emphasizing tushie or bottom.

Ugh. That just irked me. A lot.

You say po-tay-toe, I say...BUTT.

See, I told you...I'm easily annoyed today.

But there was a high point to my Target excursion (and Quiet Oasis, you will appreciate this, bargain hunter that you are!).

I've been wanting to buy one of those Glade 'Sense & Spray' automatic air freshener things for our basement because the dogs are always down there and well, it tends to smell like dogs.

So, I had a coupon for $4 off the price of any starter kit...and lo and behold, Target had them on sale for $5.69 (normally they are $8.99) --- so (wait for it) ... I got my Sense & Spray for a mere $1.69! Oh yeah.

High point of my day.

At the bus stop

Every morning, Olivia and I head out to the bus stop (which is actually the end of our driveway) at around 7:55 to wait for her bus. And every morning, like clockwork, the bus show up on time. "On time" is normally 8:10 or a little earlier. [Yes, we stand out there for 10 or 15 minutes...Olivia likes to stand at the bus stop, and who am I to say 'no'?]

Yesterday we stood out there in a thunderstorm and the pouring rain. The bus was 5 minutes late. I blamed it on the rain (and now have Milli Vanilli running through my head...scary!)

Today, we waited. And waited. And waited some more. And then at 8:20 a.m. I thought "holy crap, school starts in 10 minutes, I better take Olivia to school since the bus isn't here!". So, I grabbed Emma out of bed -- wet diaper and all -- and tossed both kids in the car and sped off to school.

I should also mention here that my hair was not done, I had on no makeup and I was in sweatpants and a T-shirt. A true glamazon. Thank goodness no one saw me.

We made it to school by 8:24 (thankfully we live 2 minutes from the school) and Olivia was delivered safe and sound to the front doors of the school. Disaster averted.

I called the transportation office and was told that yes, they knew there was an issue with that particular bus -- something about 'road issues' and a substitute driver and as of 8:35 he hadn't even made it to our neighborhood yet - she was well aware of the whole situation. At 8:35. Five minutes AFTER school starts! The woman at the transportation office wasn't even apologetic..she actually sounded annoyed.

Now, I had figured out by 8:20 that the bus wasn't coming...and was able to get Olivia to school on time. But don't you think there should be some sort of alert system for parents? Shouldn't it be the responsibility of the transportation office to let parents know if there is an issue with their bus so that alternate transportation can be arranged? How hard would it be to call the affected families? The transportation office clearly knew that our bus wasn't going to make it on time....and yet, these kids were left standing at their bus stops. To me, that is unacceptable.

Yep, it's a lot like that

Four years and counting....(or happy birthday to my blog!)

Four years ago I started this little blog. I was sitting at home one day, watching the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina on CNN and had the urge to write.

So I sat down at my computer and just started writing.

I wasn't sure what the direction was for this blog ... I just knew I wanted to write.

And now, four years and 685 posts later....I'm still here.

Still writing.

(So, happy birthday to my blog!)

When I started this blog, I figured maybe my family would read it. Maybe. And it might get a few visits from the few friends who knew I was blogging. But, I knew that I wasn't going to make a living as a blogger. And that was really OK with me.

Readers or no readers, I was going to write about what was going on in my life. Four years ago we were selling our old house and moving into our current house, I was starting to study for the bar exam and Olivia was almost two years old. And, every now and then a friend or family member would comment...but that's not why I blogged.

I blogged then -- and today -- because writing is my passion.

See, I used to keep journals when I was younger. I would fill these books with random thoughts, rants, dreams, etc. I kept a journal all the way through law school. Then, for whatever reason, I stopped. But this blog...this is my journal.

If everyone stopped reading it today, I'd still write. Because that's what I do. I write.

And for the most part, blogging is wonderful. I've connected with some amazing women (see the list to the left) who write amazing blogs. But, sometimes there's a down side to blogging too. I've had people leave completely rude comments on posts (which is why I now forbid Anonymous comments) and I've had people stop reading my blog because I was too negative.

But you know what? I don't care. Because I'm not always a "happy-go-lucky, ain't life grand, and everything's coming up roses" kind of person. Sometimes life sucks. Sometimes reality kicks you in the gut and then kicks you again when you're down. And I'm going to write about those times, just as quickly as I'm going to write about the joy and triumphs. So, if you want to leave a rude comment, you'll have to leave your name and if you want to stop reading my blog...go right ahead.

I blog because I love to write.

I blog for me.

Now that might sound a little selfish, but it's not. I do blog for my own good. It's my own little bit of therapy.

I blog about things that make me happy.

And things that make me sad.

And things that make me wonder what the hell is wrong with people.

I think the description for my blog says it all "musing on everyday life....as seen from my little fishbowl." And so, after four years, 685 posts and 27,425 visits...I think I'm going to keep doing what I've been doing.

Writing about life as I see it from my fishbowl.

Thanks to all of you for reading - I do appreciate all of my readers and enjoy reading your comments.

- TLC

(And for the record, the Fishbowl wasn't my first blog. Nope...I started writing "Toddler Timeouts" in August 2004. That blog has changed names and is now "The Olivia & Emma Show". I also have another blog that is focused on travel and tips for families -- most of those posts are Disney-related...so I guess that's my Disney blog).