A Modern Mother

WARNING: DO NOT LEAVE ALCOHOL NEAR YOUR PUMPKINS

 My sister-in-law in Sunnyvale sent me this and I couldn't resist posting it.

What are you doing for Halloween?

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The dry spell

I suffered a dry spell after our second child. A major one. One I imagine the Sahara Desert to be like. Long. Flat. Never ending.

I just didn't feel like it anymore. I was too tired. It didn't hold my attention. I would crawl into bed after a day of wiping drippy noses and picking cheerios off the floor and I would just stare at them. I finally put them away in a box. I didn't want to be reminded.

Apparently this is common to mothers of young children.

Now I can't get enough. I have all kinds at my bedside - historical, period, chic lit, classics. I read whatever I can get my hands on. Though I'm still not much of a fan of suspense.

Have you ever had a dry spell? ;-)

*This post was originally published in 2009 -- but it's still one of my favourites!

Photo credit: Hamed

The Social Network: Here comes another bubble...

This is still my all-time favourite YouTube viral video. In honour of The Social Network, you MUST watch it. There are so many insider references, I love it!

PS -- hubby has a whole wardrobe of blue shirts and khaki pants.

 

Giveaway: orange joy-stick Maxi Micro Scooter

The new orange joy-stick Maxi Micro Scooter is the inspiration of Anna Gibson and Philippa Gogarty, founding partners of Micro Scooters Ltd.  Having watched their growing children become more confident and able on their Maxi Micro T-Bar scooters they realized that, to safely keep pace with their kids emerging ‘tween’ aspirations, they needed to offer a more grown up scooting experience.

Sarah Palin does not speak for me

Sarah Palin has an amazing effect on women: either you want her to be your best friend or you think she's the reincarnation of the devil. These are not voluntary reactions, they are visceral, much like at a medical exam when the doctor lightly taps your knee and it goes flying.

Why? Why when someone mentions her name do I break into a cold sweat and start swearing uncontrollably? A woman politician should be a good thing, right? My girls need role models. I'm the same age as Sarah Palin. We were both cheerleaders in high school, and then went on to major in journalism. I should identify with her.

The issue I have with Sarah Palin is her unworldliness. When she touted her international trump card as "Putin flies over my airspace", I cringed for all of America. She doesn't know what she doesn't know. How could she? With America's delicate reputation at stake, this really would not be helpful.

No, Sarah Palin does not speak for me, please sign the petition.

The Obama effect

Ever wonder what it's like being an living American in the UK? After nearly 20 years, I've seen it all. I've been loved and I've been hated. For the time being, I'm pleasantly enjoying the "Obama Effect," which is a bit like giving a local pub another go after they have advertised they are under new management.

As a little reminder, here's a post I wrote the day after Barrack Obama was elected in 2008. It includes the original comments:

The UK you say, they’re America’s best ally. They LOVE us over there.

Er, no, sorry to burst your bubble. They actually don’t.

Little House in the Thames Valley

I was a bit of a book worm as a child. I would close my bedroom door, away from the noise of my four siblings, and get lost in a story. My favourite was the Little House on the Prairie series. I imagined myself as Laura, living in a dug out in the wild west, fighting grasshopper swarms and looking after my blind sister. I begged my mother to buy me a bonnet and make to hush puppies for dinner.

In the summer of 1976 my ten-year-old self, my parents and two of my brothers, jumped into our light brown station wagon (estate) and drove 3,000 miles across the United States. It was the Bicentennial, 200 years after the US had signed the Declaration of Independence, and my parents were teachers so we all had all summer to discover America.

Blind love

After more than eight years in the Disney vaults, Oscar-nominated Beauty and the Beast has been dusted off and is about to be released in Blu-ray this Autumn.

This tale of blind love is one of my favourite Disney classics: "Belle" falls in love with the "Beast" when she discovers the kind-hearted being inside.