When I was in my twenties and hanging out with friends, the conversation often turned to things like "what if we won the lottery?" or "don't you wish you were born into insane wealth?"    We spent a lot of time sitting around planning how we wouldn't have to work and we could do whatever we want etc. etc. etc.  The common theme being - wouldn't it be great if we could go into work tomorrow and just quit.

Now that I'm in my thirties and am a stay-at-home Mom, these same people often ask things like, "so you are still just home with the kids?" or "when will you put the kids in daycare so you can go back to work" or "don't you miss working?". 

Why is not working so that you can stay home with your kids viewed as being worse than not working so that you can stay home because you won the lottery?

A man!

Yes, yes, only women can experience the miracle of giving birth to a child and having that one of a kind bond (hahahaha at first I typed "bong"!).  And yes, I'm really enjoying that this time around.  I wouldn't change it for anything.

But next time, I want to come back as a man.  That miraculous feeling wears off after a while when you realize that it is pretty much your sole responsibility FOR LIFE to clean the house, nurse the babies, cook the meals, take care of the kids, weed the garden, send the birthday gifts to extended family, put your career on hold while you stay home with your kids, etc.

I don't want to sound like I'm whining about housework.  I'm not - the point I'm trying to make is that if you walk into the home of a married couple and it is a total mess, people's first thought is "Wow, this woman is a lousy housekeeper."  No one ever puts the responsibility on the man.

When your father-in-law doesn't get a birthday gift - it's never a reflection on his own son.  It's on the daughter-in-law. 

Once you have a family, society views it as ok for the father to put himself first.  A mother can't.  And if she does - she's viewed as selfish or uncaring.  And it's starting to annoy me.
   

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I have no time for anything else.

Xanga has a super cool new feature where you can record a video to your blog from your webcam.  The coolest thing about it was that it entertained my kids for about an hour!  We kept recording videos and watching them over and over.  I've never heard Delaney laugh so hard, it was fun.

Does it bug anyone else that this lady never changes her shirt?

My new favorite activity is pretending to be really stupid when telemarketers call and seeing how long it takes them to get frustrated and hang up.  (I only just started doing it, and so far the longest anyone has ever held out is 5:34)

For instance, as they speed through their spiel (usually about credit/identity protection) I just keep saying, "huh?" and "what?" or "ummm, I don't understand what you just said" really slowly. 

It is so amusing.  And for some reason, brings me great joy.

It's a sad day for me.  My almost 20 year love affair with Bono looks like it is over.  And what an affair it was!  The intense early years when I wore out my Rattle and Hum video tape because I rewound the part when he winked at me too many times.   I think I even made a "mix" tape that had "All I Want is You" on repeat.  Sure, we had our rough patches....like the Zoo TV tour and Bono's Mr. McPhisto phase, but I forgave him for that. 

But today I heard a rumor that he's going to be on American Idol!???!  Could that really be true?  If so, I think I have to end it.

I read an article in Real Simple magazine the other day that said one good way to de-stress your life is to throw 50 things away.  The example they gave was a plant that your toxic boss gave you.  You hold on to it because it is a healthy, beautiful plant.  But what you don't realize is that it stresses you out each time you look at it because it makes you think of your toxic boss.  So, get rid of it.

SO - I'm trying it out. I'm taking it one step further though and trying to Freecycle 50 things.  So far, I'm up to 12 things and I have to admit that I am feeling a bit better. 

I've set up a Freecycle Yardsale on my front porch.  It's great!  For instance, this lady came to pick up a bunch of books the other day and I said, "Take a look around...are you interested in some wicker baskets?"  She was all excited and took so much of my crap!

Maybe when I get to 50 things I'll post my list.  Real Simple suggests keeping track so you can look at the list and feel a sense of accomplishment in addition to having a simpler, cleaner home. 

Delaney had a little painting project the other day and got some paint on her hands.  So, not thinking anything of it, I left her in the bathroom alone to wash her hands. 

When I went back to check on her this is what I found:

Since I didn't splurge for the "washable paint", she had a faint orange glow for a few days.  It looked like she had applied a cheap self tanner!

My local grocery store has two bins placed near the exit labeled:

1. "Thank you for your donation to the Food Pantry"
2. "Thank you for your donation to the Animal Shelter"

The Animal Shelter bin is always fuller than the food pantry bin.  What does this say about the people in my town?