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There are certain “indicators” that life is disorganized.  One of them is the parmesan cheese test, developed by a well known organizing psychologist, Dr. Ima Hedgehog. So, it is very easy to administer this test and quantify the results.  You don’t need to fill out little circles or stick your tongue out randomly to demanding professionals.  This test can be done in the convenience of your own home, at your leisure. So, all you need to do is take everything out of your refri

It’s never the big events that get put on the blog, you know.  Sure, I went to Egypt and almost got “bought” by a 14 year old for about 50,000 camels, but that never gets on the blog.  Sure, I went to Vesuvius and the bus driver sings opera “Falicula” all the way down the mountain.  Sure, I met some terrorists in the airport, and do they make it? no.  I think not. (Well, I was profiling on the last comment, but still…) What do I write about here anyway? trash.  It’s all about

For those of you who went to public schools, you may remember the infamous “lunch room”.  The lunch room was actually the gymnasium turned into a massive cafeteria where the entire school gathered for lunch, except for the teachers.  The teachers were released from their duties for about 20-40 minutes. Enter lunch ladies.  Lunch ladies were like the mini-gestapo of the elementary school.  They directed traffic, served lunch, monitored messes, broke up fights, and chided the k

If you haven’t met my Mother, I’m so sorry for you. She’s really neat. The only problem is that she owns her own language. She has many special things she says. Some of which I can interpret for you and others.. well.. I’ll just use my best guess. I am going to give you a Grandma Dictionary, complete with sample sentences. There will be a vocabulary test at the end of the post. Without further ado, the “mother tongue” 1)bonkos pronounced like “broncos” adjective/ definit

So, today was our big homeschooling co-op day. Tuesdays will go down in infamy in my children’s minds the way gym locker rooms in the public schools go down in mine. In a word: overwhelming, yet a necessary evil. I love ’em and hate ’em all together. It’s kind of like fried chicken. Fried chicken from Popeye’s– can it possibly get any more caloric, salty, greasy, savory and expensive? And all in half the time it takes to eat in a decent restaurant? I think not. And th

You guys know that I teach a pilates class, right? Well, teaching pilates is not the same as actually taking pilates, and I have become increasingly out of shape! So, I went to this workout class on Saturday morning, thinking I would encourage my friend, “the killer bee” (since she doesn’t want me to use her real name).. Encourage. I almost died. It was the hardest workout that I’ve ever had. No wonder she’s the size of a 10 year old. yikes. So, I’m huffing and puffing n

O.K. O.K… that’s not the most enticing title for a post. I’m in a mood, and I’m gonna go for it.. You know I like to organize, even though I do not mention it here very often these days. It’s all about being REAL, and well.. sometimes… life is disorganized for a while. So, this weekend, I had a chance to take control of a few things. I was organizing... Really. So, I was reading one of the many fabulous organizing blogs, organizing junkie, and she has a monthly contest AN

An IRL friend and I were talking (something new and different, I know… since I only have 147 million of them…) and she was struggling a little bit with something. I could tell something was amiss. Finally she came out and confessed, “My husband is a nerd..” Me: “And that’s a problem? I think it’s great. I have a nerd too, you know. In fact, I love nerds. I personally, celebrate nerds. “ Her: “yeah..” Me: “you don’t sound convinced. Now C’mon! You know they are so great

I must have been without enough socialization over the summer because everything was all abuzz today at homeschool co-op. I hardly get in the door and I’m greeted with so many friendly, familiar faces! I want to know everything they’ve done all summer and what’s new. Are your older kids in college yet? Are your kids getting married? have grandkids yet? And for the younger moms: Did you have that baby this summer? Where is she? he? Is that tall young man your son? He’s go

When my Mom was visiting, we had this discussion about our middle school memories. (middle school is 7th and 8th grade) I told my Mom the only class I really liked in the seventh grade was advanced math with Mr. Richards. Now, don’t get me wrong, I don’t remember squat about what we actually learned in class. But I do remember who I sat by: my best friend, Jenny. In reality, we were both nerds. But if ever there was a reason to be squirrly, it was that class. We sat there

I’ll admit it. I’m naive. blessedly naive. I thrive on it. I use it as my excuse for whatever ails me at the time. Like the time I was making a hurried trip through the grocery store, primarily to pick up a 25 pound bag of organic carrots for my latest and greatest health kick–juicing. So like.. out of nowhere I hear this male voice, “You must be going to juice those carrots.” Why? Just because it says in big letters on the bag organic carrots for juicing..? Me: “yeah, ac

You know, sometimes the inner sistah has to come out of me? I’m all Scandinavian looking on the outside, so why does this tribal side show itself so often when I’m feeling waaaaaay too comfortable for my own good ?? Like this past week. Mom, the kids and I went to the EAA Airfest in Oshkosh, WI. One of my bestest buddies, Kathy only lives a short hour away from Oshkosh, so we bunked at her place for the night. So, her husband is such a dear and never gets overwhelmed with t

After reading this, I’ll have nothing over anyone. You’ll know everything that I know. Even so much so that you can stop reading my blog (O.K. maybe not EVERYTHING, so maybe you should keep reading, just in case) But really.. I am pretty lazy and enjoy a cush life at the same time. So without further ado…. 1) Sleep in. That’s right. Sleep in, atleast occasionally. The kids will learn everything that they CAN do without your help. They will learn to do all sorts of thi

I woke up this morning thinking how crazy the inside of my brain is that I can only come up with about 3 or 4 different dreams that all repeat themselves in one way or another. I know you are just dying to know what I dream about, unless you are my mother who has already lived through this scene many times.. LOL O.K. Dream #1) In the dream I am in college, around sophomore or junior year, and I’ve signed up for a pile of classes. In fact, I’ve signed up for so many classe

For our 18th anniversary, my sweetheart wrote me a nice note with a clipping from the YMCA brochure that said “Ballroom Dancing Classes”. Wow! Is he really going to do this with me? Really?!! I wasted no time signing us up for classes. Our first class was last night. We showed up with four other couples in the exercise studio of the Y. I was pleasantly surprised by the high quality of instruction! There were very specific instructions, and I think the gentlemen REALLY a