Category Archives: Your Thoughts?

Jobs Everyone Should Have at Some Point

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My oldest son combs back his hair and adjusts the collar on his new McDonald’s uniform. It’s his third day of work. His first job. He’s 17.

I’m really proud of him for going out and finding this job. We gave him my old car this year and agreed to pay for his insurance (which doubled ours, incidentally – ayee!). But we didn’t agree to pay for gas. Or much gas, anyway – we give him about one full tank per month to get to and from school, but beyond that, he’s on his own.

And he’s got a girlfriend.

(Girlfriends can be expensive.)

And he’s got a big group of friends who like to go out and do stuff.

So off to find a job he went. …

Of course, watching him look for a job made us all talk about “first jobs” around the dinner table a lot in recent weeks.

My first job was in a sandwich shop when I was 16. Continue reading →

Can’t-Skip-‘Em Summer Activities

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Wow, can you believe it’s Aug. 23 already? Where has the summer gone?

I was moaning about this to Superman the other day — But summer’s almost over! We haven’t even had dinner at the pool yet! We haven’t gone to the art festivals! We haven’t made s’mores! We haven’t been to an outdoor concert! — but he calmed me down.

In a strange case of role reversal, HE actually thought positively before I did, but we both started to talk about all the great things we did do this summer: spending a great weekend in Palm Springs, taking an awesome road trip, having our nephew Justin over, having a few great hamburger-grill-outs on the patio, entertaining our parents with summer fare on the weekends, spending one afternoon at the beach club, spending fourth of July at our lake, taking an evening stroll around the lake. Fun stuff. And the kids — man, they’ve had fun. They got to spend time with grandparents, eat sunflower seeds all summer while watching baseball, play in the courtyard with friends until it was dark, sleep over at friends’ houses, visit with their cousin Justin, etc., etc. …

So much fun, really.

So I focused on all of the things we did do and tried to let go of the things we didn’t.

It’s a much happier way to be. 🙂

(And, really, I have a few weeks left, right? We can still get in the outdoor concert, possibly, and still get in the dinner at the pool. … And still swing another bbq with my parents. … And a few more evening walks at the lake. … and … hmmm. …)

What about you? What are the things you feel you MUST do each summer to make it really feel like summer? Roast a marshmallow over a fire? Jump into a pool? Dip your toes in the ocean? Go to the fair?

Don Draper and Other Men That Don’t Do It for Me

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SO HAPPY that Mad Men is back on.

I know a lot of other women who are happy about it, too, but for another reason. …

The other night, Superman was telling me about a female friend of his at work who announced, after seeing the third episode of Mad Men: “That’s it! I’m leaving my husband for Don Draper!”

I laughed and told him I’d heard this sentiment once or twice myself. I’ve heard it on many of the blogs, often on Twitter, and several times with my own divas over at popculturedivas.

Don Draper — clearly — is a heartthrob. Continue reading →

Classes, Camps and Learning Something New

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On the Monday after vacation, we slid our suitcases back into the rafters and slipped right back into life: Rene started lacrosse camp in the mornings and volleyball camp in the evenings; I started a new fiction-writing class in the evenings and scrambled to get my “homework” done at night; Ricky tried to coordinate driving Rene back and forth to her camps; and Chris and I traded volleyball-pickup with dinner prep.

(It’s as if vacation never happened. …)

But overall, it was a fun week, despite the stress and schedule-planning — mostly because it’s always kind of exhilerating (scary, stressful, but exciting) to learn something new.

I always love taking new classes, especially in writing, because I love learning new writing techniques. There are so many cool techniques I’ve never heard of before, and I’m always stunned to learn new craft. I also get a kick out of meeting new people in the classes — I used to be the shy, quiet kid who sat in the back, but in these online classes I’m actually kind of talkative and outgoing.

And Rene — I have to really give her a hand because she’s never played lacrosse OR volleyball in her life. In fact, she’s never been particularly athletic. (This is the child for whom soccer season meant being able to match her nail polish and hair-bow to the color of the uniform.) Continue reading →

Discussion Still Going On About Jamie!

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One of my most popular posts to this day is the one I did about who should play Jamie Fraser in a movie version of Outlander. …

Yup, indeedy, it seems we’re all obsessed about this possibly-most-romantic-hero-ever.

In fact, the discussion is still going on over there, more than a year later — I just got a comment last weekend, in fact, from a young woman who claims she’s found THE guy to play Jamie. And she’s uploaded a [gulp. …] verra cool video to prove it. …

C’mon over to Who Would You Cast as Jamie in Outlander and see her video (along with a few others that were uploaded in comments) and see if you want to change your answer? Or add a new one?

Obviously, the Jamie discussion is just going to go on and on until someone makes that movie! 🙂

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