Yesterday we hit a big milestone -- Isaac's first independent consumer transaction! :) He went into a store and purchased an item all by himself, while I waited outside in the car ( Read more... )

I didn't get a chance to jot down the precise conversation when it happened a few days ago, but this is a pretty close approximation ( Read more... )

Ruthie's birthday party was this past weekend. I had it at Michael's, which is an arts-and-crafts chain store. For $50 you get the use of their party room and one staffperson for two hours. They have a variety of different crafts you can choose for the party activity -- we chose decorating t-shirts -- and you pay for the materials for that, which ( Read more... )

The Cooks Source debacle has been very interesting to watch and got me thinking in all kinds of interesting directions.

In case you missed this nuclear explosion on the internet yesterday, here's basically what happened: A woman named Monica Gaudio (illadore) discovered that an article she wrote a while ago had been reprinted without her permission in a ( Read more... )

Ruthie is extremely excited to be participating in a program called Jumpstart this year. This is a program whereby college students are paired up with preschool students to do one-on-one tutoring and such, with various activities designed to help the kids learn and prepare them for kindergarten. Last year, space in the program was limited so they ( Read more... )

The other day I had a pelvic ultrasound, for screening purposes; my risk of ovarian cancer is higher since my mom's diagnosis with it last year. I saw my doctor for a checkup a few weeks ago, and it was the first time I had seen her since mom's diagnosis, so I told her about that and she recommended the ultrasound.

I wasn't really worried, because ( Read more... )

Mom is always telling me that I should on at least a semi-regular basis get a babysitter and go out and do something by/for myself. See a movie, get a massage, meet a friend for dinner, etc. And I know she is right. My stress levels go up and some time to myself away from kids would be a great idea. Generally, on weekends, mom will watch them for a ( Read more... )

The week before last we had a tough week. Monday, Isaac woke up in the wee hours barfing, so I stayed home with him. He slept most of the day so I actually got a lot of work done (and was glad I had brought my work laptop home over the weekend). Isaac never gets that sick, so it was unusual ( Read more... )

Here I sit at Logan Airport, discovering the joys of free wifi while I wait for my plane to start boarding ( Read more... )

I posted the other day that I had decided to contact Isaac's teacher and guidance counselor for help dealing with Isaac's feelings about grandma having cancer. I don't know whether I adequately expressed in my previous post how much I have been worrying about Isaac. He is not a kid who talks much, or willingly, about how he feels; any effort to ( Read more... )