so my best friend jill (i've known her for 16 years!!) is getting married two weeks from today; i'm her maid of honor and monkeygirl is her flowergirl, and i know it's going to be a great day. i am totally freaked out, though, because i know i'm expected to give a toast in front of all 150 people during dinner. i'm sweating a little right now even thinking about it.... what if i lose it and just start sputtering in front of everyone?? what if i'm trying really hard to be funny and nobody even cracks a smile?--read more >>

I wish dh would say,"I'm taking the kids for a few hours. You go get a pedicure, then go to a cafe and get a beer or tea and do some writing for a while. I've already taken milk out of the freezer for the baby last night so I can feed him while you're gone. Go." That is all. Is it too much to ask if I just tell him that's what I want? Or should I hope for a surprise something like that? What do you want and do you think you're gonna get it?

I have a question - I'm going to my best friend's baby shower next weekend and was thinking of getting her a sling. I had one, but never really liked it. I preferred the snuglie type thing. I think she asked for a maya wrap, but that's what I had and I never found it very comfortable. But maybe that was just me. Any suggestions on what kind to get? Thanks!

Would you like a free cardboard canoe for your pretend river in your front yard? Here's what you have to do:

1. Convince your significant other that he or she should be a bass player.
2. Place an order with Musician's Friend ( http://www.musiciansfriend.com ) for a jam pack bass package. It's about $120.
3. Wait for UPS to deliver the guitar.
4. Remove the bass from the box. There should be four boxes: top and bottom of outer box, top and bottom of inner box.
5. You now have four free yard canoes!--read more >>

It was easy.--read more >>

Thre were more than a few questions about jam stuff so here goes:
1. I do sell my jam other than locally.(I usually sell for $5 a jar and offer to ship in a flat rate box for the fee of $10)
2. I had an etsy shop but did not sell much so, I have not posted there in awhile.
3. Flavor list:
Banana Preserves
Sunshine(Pineapple and Mandarin marmalade)
Strawberry Peach
Strawberry Almond Conserve(has actual slivered almond in it)
Peach Almond(my friend calls this one Peach Belini) my fav
Mandarin Peach Marmalade
Garlic Jelly
Mango Jam
Peach Blush Jam(has a hint of raspberry)--read more >>

I feel like a total dork. buzzing around the blogs, everybody's got a cool user name... and i totally put my actual name on there like some kind of naive freak.
I checked out my options in Edit and it doesn't say anything about how to change your username.
Can anybody help me with this?

I'm not actually a mother yet.
I was pregnant in december and january but it was a ¨blighted ovum¨ which sounds like a corn disease if you ask me.
Anyway one of the first things i started thinking about was cloth diapers when i found out i was pregnant. I am a crafty lady and i have sewn my own cloth menstrual pads. So i thought that i could save money and recycle fabric by sewing my own. I was worried because i thought eight short nauseated months (i had really bad morning sickness when i was pregnant) wouldn't be too much time to get the project done.--read more >>

So I am having this great time at the park. I am even in the company of this super cool mom whos really cute and easy going, talkative and down to earth and just good vibes, you know? Our kids are playing and it was nice. Theres all his cool music in the background and I am trying to pick my brain and figure out why, is there gonna be a football game? A carnival? a parade- whats up?--read more >>

why do i love thursday's so much?! i don't know, they just feel good/right!

how are you today mamacita's? are you smiling? was a stranger nice to you? did someone help you today? did you see something funny? i hope they did.

1. feeling good - i've been channeling in my chair at work! (and in the bathroom!). this stuff works, i think it's helped me shed my skin!--read more >>

My grandmother lives across the country and is rapidly deteriorating with Alztheimers, however it's spelled. We've been talking about going out for a visit, but really just can't afford it. We have to buy a new car, and that kills me to prioritize a car over visiting my dying grandmother, but this is the reality. --read more >>

Hey here is my good:
1. We are just weeks away from owning our own house
2. We are healthy
3. We have good friends
4. I have 2 more canning classes coming up
5. I have so much jam it is coming outta my ears

Here is the bad:
1. We are flat broke and don't know if we have enough for our closing
2. I have not sold a lot of jam lately
3. The stress of it all is seriously affecting my relationship
4. Instead of being supportive I have been lashing out at DH.
5. DS is acting badly as a result of all of this.

Okay mamas give me your good and bad.

i'm just kind of thinking out loud here, so feel free to ignore. i just read back what i wrote earlier and i'm feeling bummed by how negative the whole thing has become. i wish the whole process didn't have to be so energy-sucking, and i wish i could have more faith in the end goal, which is that BD will get the help he needs so that he can be the healthy, positive influence in *DD's (*whom i shall from now on refer to as monkeygirl due to her impressive climbing ability and her abundance of affection for the banana*) life that he claims to want to be.--read more >>

After busting butt for a year to get the core curriculum for my Master's degree out of the way, I then got pregnant and took the next two years to complete comps, an 85 page thesis, and build a family. I guess you could say my plan didn't work out, but better things happened. And I'm finally officially getting that stupid degree on Saturday with my good foreverandever friend Lisa, who now lives in Amarillo. I'm glad we'll be there together, silly Master's hoods and all.--read more >>

Chantal is one of the only people to have received permission to perform at the pyramids so far and the set design and choreography was done by Guy St-Amour and Geneviève Dorion-Coupal who have previously worked with Cirque du Soleil.--read more >>

along with all the crappy that’s going on that I usually write about.

Ok, total DH brag here, so if you are mad at your guy, or just men in general, you may want to skip --read more >>

If not, pretend it is and listen to this cuteness:

YAY! I'm so pumped! I am officially enrolled as a student U of Phoenix! Classes start every 2 weeks, but I don't think I'm gonna start until August, once Emmry starts school. I applied for a Fed. assistance, so we'll see if I can get anything (hopefully). I'm sure I can get something.

That I took less than two hours to write what was supposed to be a three hour exam?

I'm done exams! Now I'm working on revising my paper and then by the end of today I will be done with my second year and the never-ending semester from hell that this has been.

Good ridance!

Thanks to everyone for all the vibes and support. I look forward to returning to the world outside the library and hope to be a more active and reciprocal member here! MWAH!!!

tuesday is the final hearing in the 'parenting case' between my BD and i. he needs anger management and drug/alcohol help before my daughter will be safe spending time alone with him. DD is 18 months old and this process has been going on for over a year now. he just keeps fighting me on the whole thing, and apparently as a mother i don't have the right to keep my daughter from people i feel could be harmful to her. has anyone been through this lameness before?--read more >>

I always feel like I have to defend the safety of my neighborhood. "Safe and quiet" I say. Not this morning!

I was sittin' on the couch arguing with my son to put his socks on (why does it take an hour to put on socks?) when I hear a woman screaming outside. A lot of times I'll ignore something like (goofy teenagers!), but this one sounded sincere. I look outside and there is a woman standing by a car talking about how this man had hit her. She was saying words like "get out of my car" and "this is my car" (he was in the driver's seat). She kept saying "you didn't have to hit me".--read more >>

a good friend is in barcelona. he is a bmx-er and is always pushing the limits with his tricks. he must have pushed too far. yesterday the word came in that he has a spinal cord injury and is in a drug induced coma. his mother flew there immediately to be by his side. the rest of us sit here and wait for good news. please keep Al in your heart.

Every day this song gets stuck in my head and I didn't know why. Finally the lightbulb went off during a diaper change when I realize 3/4s of the baby's cloth diaper covers are hand-me-downs from Rhythm's Mama and they all say "Rhythm" on the tags...

Thanks RM!

Why the heck not?

1. Danger Boy's kindergarten classmates' list of top five things about him:
*He is friendly.
*He is talented.
*He is clever.
* He has great hair.
*He is smart.

2. GREAT quote from my friend last week...kids were playing in yard and I brought out the bottle and asked, "Can we have wine at 4:00?" She said, "Oh, I can have wine at 11!" (Not sure if that's funny typed out but it was very funny in person!)--read more >>

E:
There was a court hearing about him in March, they had bio-mom's contact info now for the first time and sent her notification. The SW told me she didn't show, and that if she didn't show at the next one in April, they'd finally grant TPR (termination parental rights=what I need to adopt him).

Next hearing: "nothing of note" happened. I don't know what the hell they talk about at these hearings. New one scheduled for 5/9, dh going (and this time we know the right room, remember my whole catastrophe when I finally tried to go to one? argh) and maybe we'll get somewhere.--read more >>