from the mixed-up files of a middle-aged mind

One of the best things to come out of my Olympic viewing experience was my new favorite line. Peekaboo Street was ripping on Julia Mancuso big time and she topped off her tirade by emphatically stating that Mancuso needed to "Lose the Tiara!" (Of course that same day Mancuso got the last word as she traded her tiara for a sparkling gold medal, but that's beside the point.) Lose the tiara. Good line for when one comes up against those holier-than-thou or I'm-more-worthy-than-you-to-take-up-space-on-this-planet-types. Mostly I don't associate with a whole lot of those kind of people, but I probably could name a few names. And then there are those special kind who actually wear literal tiaras. Not in the sweet way Lorien did when she took her tiara-topped girls out to see The Princess Diaries , but in the weird way that tells the world "I was the queen of cheese way back in '87 ('78?) and I've still got the tiara to prove it (read, I still wear it p...

(Disclaimer: So sorry Julie, for this blatant rip-off. I don't intend to plagiarize, but there are no other words.) I live in the land of sobriety (or at least a semblance of), but I need to talk about addiction. Currently I am addicted to blogging. Usually I am too busy to while away this much time in the land of blog, but I am sick and my house is a wreck--a downright DCFS-worthy wreck--and this beats soap operas and bon bons hands down. Other addictions I deal with include quilting, fabric shopping and getting lost in a good book. I have also done e-Bay, but thankfully I'm recovered from that. Mirriam (or was it Webster?) defines addiction as "the compulsive need for and use of a habit-forming substance characterized by tolerance and by well-defined physiological symptoms upon withdrawal." Granted I'm using the term "substance" a little loosely, but I think I've got "compulsive" down pat. I'm not brave enough to even consider withdra...

Just the other day I got the cold clear message that my blogging activities are not going unnoticed by my children. While they have very specific rules for their time on the Internet (only talk to people you know, never share personal information, no chat rooms or myspace, etc.), I wonder if the effectiveness of establishing said rules is becoming undone by none other than me. Recently, at a family dinner, I overheard my 10-year-old daughter telling my sister-in-law about her mom's friend Rebecca. I started listening intently, wondering who of my friends she had mistaken for Rebecca. She then went on to explain it was Mom's friend from the Internet and she has these two really cute kids the same ages as my sister-in-law's kids and they match right up with her Jake and Sadie. My non-blogger SIL gave me a rather funny look--like the one we give my mother when she starts referring to celebrities by their first names--which I ignored because I was rather more alarmed that my da...

Like many of you, I like to take the occasional guilt trip over my shortcomings as a mother. However, recent headlines have convinced me that my kids don't have it so bad. Here's why: 1. Although my children have been discovered in many places--wandering the aisles of Wal-Mart (I was inside the store as well at the time), walking naked down the street (never past the age of four), and, thrice, at various stages on their way to the school where my husband teaches--they have never been found outside wandering by the freeway in the middle of the night. In the middle of winter. 2. Unlike the mother who threw overnight parties so she could hit on her kids' high-school-aged friends--I try to keep a safe distance and make sure my kids' friends are home at a reasonable hour. Although I am not opposed to feeding them or cheering for them at sporting events. And I don't serve alcohol at my own parties, let alone my kids' parties. I don't even serve caffeinated beverag...