(355,1,'2008-03-03 08:56:00','2008-03-03 08:56:00','<p>...are good for <a href=\"http://www.somethingyoushouldknow.net/transcript01_04_07.htm\">you</a>.</p>\n\n<p>(I&#39;m tired of being told what&#39;s bad for me, so I&#39;m starting a list of things that are good for you.)</p>\n','Friends','\n','publish','open','open','','friends','','','2008-03-03 08:56:00','2008-03-03 08:56:00','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=355',0,'post','',2),(356,1,'2008-02-29 12:40:16','2008-02-29 12:40:16','<p><img alt=\"Mono080225_4_250\" border=\"0\" class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39d7b970c\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39d7b970c-pi.jpg\" title=\"Mono080225_4_250\" /><img alt=\"Mono080225_1_250\" border=\"0\" class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39d87970c\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39d87970c-pi.jpg\" title=\"Mono080225_1_250\" />\n\n</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://joannagoddard.blogspot.com\">Cup of Jo blogger</a> Joanna Goddard wrote this <a href=\"http://nymag.com/fashion/08/spring/44210/\">really&#0160; fun article</a> where she interviewed people who only wear one color. It&#39;s fascinating, really, reading their explanations for why they do this. I shook my head in amusement at some of their responses, but mostly I was impressed by the level of dedication shown by these people. For example, the &quot;blue&quot; woman buys Chanel and Louboutin shoes and colors them herself. </p>\n\n<p>(I&#39;m not going to lie to you, that made me cry a little.) </p>\n\n<p>I fell in love with some of them (&quot;brown&quot; man gave two completely reasonable explanations for his color choice - It&#39;s impossible to clash when you wear brown and it doesn&#39;t show dirt) and I wanted to put the &quot;green&quot; lady in my pocket and take her everywhere I go. She&#39;s that cute.</p>\n\n<br /><p><img alt=\"Mono080225_5_250\" border=\"0\" class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39d94970c\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39d94970c-pi.jpg\" title=\"Mono080225_5_250\" /><img alt=\"Mono080225_2_250\" border=\"0\" class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39d9d970c\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39d9d970c-pi.jpg\" title=\"Mono080225_2_250\" /></p>\n\n<p>Jo wanted to know what color we would wear if we had to wear only one. </p>\n\n<p>&quot;Well,&quot; I thought, &quot;I&#39;m nothing like these wacky artsy types! I wear whatever I like, of course!&quot;</p>\n\n<p>Then I thought about the last three things I&#39;ve purchased:</p>\n\n<p><img alt=\"Shop\" border=\"0\" class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39db5970c\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39db5970c-pi.gif\" title=\"Shop\" />\n\n\n</p>\n\n<p>It&#39;s a slippery slope.</p>\n\n<p><span style=\"color: #666666;\"><em>Images: <a href=\"http://nymag.com/\">New York</a>,<a href=\"http://www.jcrew.com\">JCrew</a>, <a href=\"http://www.yogitoes.com/\">Yogitoes</a>, <a href=\"http://www.babyjogger.com/\">BabyJogger</a></em></span><br /> </p>\n','Rhymes with strange','\n','publish','open','open','','rhymes-with-strange','','','2011-02-07 14:31:45','2011-02-07 14:31:45','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=356',0,'post','',10),(357,1,'2008-02-27 11:17:22','2008-02-27 11:17:22','<p>I think this advice applies to everyone - not just writers or artists. I&#39;m saving it here so I can find it later:</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://scalzi.com/whatever/?p=362\">Unasked-for advice to new writers about money</a></p>\n\n<p>There&#39;s so much good stuff here but this is one I want to highlight:</p><blockquote><p><strong>7. When you do buy something, buy the best you can afford — and then run it into the ground.</strong></p></blockquote><p>It feels good to have my hatred of big-box chains validated by such a sensible person. Whew!</p><blockquote></blockquote><p><strong></strong><strong></strong></p>\n','Great Advice','\n','publish','open','open','','great-advice','','','2008-02-27 11:17:22','2008-02-27 11:17:22','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=357',0,'post','',3),(358,1,'2008-02-25 14:17:00','2008-02-25 14:17:00','<p>I really admire people who are loyal to a fragrance all their life. It&#39;s pretty incredible when you think about it: They&#39;ve found their one and only, and forsaking all others, choose to wear the same fragrance every day for the rest of their lives. It&#39;s like they&#39;ve found their soul mate - and that&#39;s always an admirable accomplishment.</p>\n\n<p>I don&#39;t have a signature scent myself.</p>\n\n<p><img alt=\"Benetton_colors_2\" border=\"0\" class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39f2b970c\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39f2b970c-pi.jpg\" style=\"margin: 0px 0px 5px 5px; float: right;\" title=\"Benetton_colors_2\" />\nI wonder if I should. After all, I know the power of scent: There are a few scents that remind me of people I love, and since some of those people aren&#39;t in my life anymore a trip to a department store brings back memories as reliably as rereading old letters or diary entries. <a href=\"http://www.perfumespedia.com/files/image/pics%20from%20description/benetton_colors.jpg\">Colors by Benetton</a>, for instance, reminds me of my best friend in elementary school - of sleepovers and Seventeen magazine and slambooks and making papier-mache volcanoes. <a href=\"http://www.dutyfreeperfume.co.uk/dfp/images/product/large/Must%20large.jpg\">Must de Cartier</a> reminds me of my mom getting ready for a night out. I still think it&#39;s an unbelievably sophisticated scent, and I don&#39;t dare wear it myself. Another childhood scent is <a href=\"http://images.glow.com/catalog/500547/300x300/11175.jpg\"><em>L&#39;Air du Temps</em></a> – that one is all innocence – and it was the only one I was allowed to spritz on on special occasions. I can&#39;t help but laugh when I smell <a href=\"http://www.4-fragrances.com/men/drakkar-m.jpg\">Drakkar Noir</a> on someone because it reminds me of every single boy in Jr. High. </p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/02/25/11175.jpg\"><img alt=\"11175\" border=\"0\" class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39f38970c\" height=\"200\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39f38970c-pi.jpg\" style=\"margin: 0px 5px 5px 0px; float: left;\" title=\"11175\" width=\"200\" /></a>\nMy first perfume was <a href=\"http://img.kelkoo.com/pdb/34001/large/10/35/35/10353564.jpg\">Fidji</a> – my father brought it for me as a gift from a business trip to Haiti. From there it&#39;s been a steady stream of fragrances, each of them reminding me of a discreet period in my life. Because even while I change fragrances frequently, I tend to wear the same one for months or even years at a time before moving on to something new.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Exhibit A: <a href=\"http://www.bigdiscount.com/images/products/720/7813.jpg\">Bulgary Eau de Te Extreme</a> I bought it in Paris and wore when I was an exchange student in Spain. It&#39;s subtly exotic and reminds me of adventure and spontaneity.</p>\n\n<p>I was wearing <a href=\"http://assets.macys.com/img/campaign/ff/angel-bottom.jpg\">Angel</a> the night I met my husband. Coincidentally, chocolate is one of the basenotes of this perfume. Hmm.\n<br /> </p>\n\n<p>I bought my bottle <a href=\"http://www.aisledash.com/2008/02/11/the-importance-of-a-wedding-fragrance/\">EnJoy</a> during the trip where my husband asked me to marry him and every time I wear it I feel like a newlywed. I always wear it on our anniversary, of course.</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/02/25/thierry_mugler_angel_2.jpg\"><img alt=\"Thierry_mugler_angel_2\" border=\"0\" class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39f41970c\" height=\"149\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39f41970c.jpg\" style=\"margin: 0px 0px 5px 5px; float: right;\" title=\"Thierry_mugler_angel_2\" width=\"100\" /></a>\nI stopped wearing perfume once I started having kids. It was just one more thing to do in the mornings, not to mention another expense, so for the past three years I&#39;ve mostly smelled like cheerios and Play-Doh. </p>\n\n<p>A few weeks ago, I decided it was time I found a new scent.</p>\n\n<p>It wasn&#39;t an easy quest. I&#39;d steal off for a few minutes whenever I was near a Sephora or a perfume counter and sprayed my wrists with fragrances old and new. Many were plain irritating, and a few of them literally made me ill to my stomach. As determined as I was to fall in love with a scent, it is not something that you can do at will - it has to happen on its own. </p>\n\n<p>The other day I was looking for shoes (nothing glamorous, I just needed something to keep my ankles warm while running errands. I thought maybe I could pull off Uggs, but I couldn&#39;t bear to buy shoes that ugly ON PURPOSE) and on the way out of the store, pushing my double stroller and angry because I had dragged the kids around all morning and I was still empty-handed, my eye was distracted by a something shiny and sparkly on the perfume counter. There were all sorts of pretty bottles filled with promising liquids, and I don&#39;t know why, but I went straight to the cluster of identical Annick Goutal bottles and picked one out at random. I spritzed it on my wrist, gave it a minute, and with pulse racing, I took a sniff.</p>\n\n<p>Lovely.</p>\n\n<p> It was powdery and mangoish - smelling like what a tropical spring might smell like if there was such a thing as spring in the tropics.</p>\n\n<p>When the saleslady came to see if I needed help, I told her I wanted a bottle of whatever it was I had just sprayed. It was only then that I learned the name of the fragrance I had fallen in love with -&#0160; <a href=\"http://www.annickgoutal.nl/en/fragrances/folavril.html\">Folavril</a> - Annick Goutal&#39;s first creation, the beginning of her fragrance empire.</p>\n\n<p>I wonder if it heralds a new beginning for me as well.</p>\n\n<p><img alt=\"21drbgfynl_aa160_\" border=\"0\" class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39f67970c\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39f67970c-pi.jpg\" title=\"21drbgfynl_aa160_\" />\n\n\n<br /> </p>\n','Perfume','\n','publish','open','open','','perfume','','','2011-02-07 17:56:39','2011-02-07 17:56:39','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=358',0,'post','',9),(359,1,'2008-02-13 22:41:21','2008-02-13 22:41:21','<p>Neil from Citizen Of The Month (one of the funniest blogs ever - but you knew that already) came up with this great idea for a <a href=\"http://www.citizenofthemonth.com/2008/01/22/the-blogger-interviews-the-great-interview-experiment/\">Great Interview Experiment</a>. If you haven&#39;t already, sign up <a href=\"http://www.citizenofthemonth.com/2008/01/18/the-great-interview-experiment/\">here</a>. All the cool kids are doing it!</p>\n\n<p>Anyways, a couple of weeks ago I signed up to do it (so maybe it&#39;s not all cool kids) and I got to interview the lovely Jennie of <a href=\"http://www.shelikespurple.com\">She Likes Purple</a> fame. It was hard to come up with good questions because she has the <a href=\"http://www.shelikespurple.com/shelikespurple/faq.html\">longest FAQ on the internet</a>, but she&#39;s so darn clever that she managed to make my mediocre questions sound somewhat coherent. You should read the interview over at <a href=\"http://www.shelikespurple.com/shelikespurple/2008/02/internet-interv.html\">her site</a>, or click on the next page if you insist on reading it here. It&#39;s up to you!</p>\n\n<p>Of course, the point of the experiment is that someone interviews you as well, and since my comment was right below somebody named witchypoo she was assigned the task of interviewing me. She contacted me right away, and wondered if I would be comfortable with her as an interviewer. I thought that was strange until I realized that I had just written <a href=\"http://diary.blogs.com/the_diary_of_a_reluctant_/2008/01/sleeping-nappin.html\">this</a> post where I said &quot;...someone like me, who is turned off by spacey new age types...&quot;</p>\n\n<p>People, my interviewer is a psychic. OF COURSE. Her blog is named <a href=\"http://psychicgeek.com/\">Psychicgeek,</a> she sells crystals and reads people&#39;s auras and stuff.</p>\n\n<p>Oops.</p>\n\n<p>Anyways, turns out that witchypoo was gracious enough to interview despite my having inserted my entire leg in my mouth, and the interview is <a href=\"http://psychicgeek.com/witchypoo-interviews-miguelina/\">here.</a> I like her. I may have a new friend. A <em>psychic</em> friend even.</p>\n\n<p>However, I think she may have messed with karma a bit, because she wanted to know why I don&#39;t write about poop. What a strange thing to ask, right? Little did I know it wasn&#39;t a question that came out of the blue. Of course not - she&#39;s a psychic, remember?</p>\n\n<p>Instead, it was foreshadowing. Just hours after she posted the interview my kids came down with a stomach virus. And then it was viral diarrhea (apparently they&#39;re two different things), and then I dragged the sick kids out on Super Tuesday because we had to vote and then they caught colds. And then the kids were better and then I caught their cold. And now I feel slightly better, which brings me to today. </p>\n\n<p>I think the karma&#39;s all straightened out today. Finally.</p>\n\n<!--more-->\n<p><strong>THE <a href=\"http://www.shelikespurple.com\"><em>SHE LIKES PURPLE</em></a> INTERVIEW:</strong></p>\n\n<p><strong>1. Why don\'t we start with you telling us something the internet doesn\'t know about you?</strong><br />I hate potato salad. No, really, I have an actual physical aversion to it. Even being <em>near </em>it\nmakes me squirm. And, please, don\'t try to convince me your potato\nsalad is the potato salad that will change all that. I won\'t like it.\nIT WILL MAKE ME WANT TO THROW UP. I promise.&nbsp; &nbsp; <br /> </p>\n\n<p><strong>2.&nbsp; I like how you compare blogging to your sorority experience here:</strong></p><blockquote><p><em>It\'s why sororities were formed</em><span style=\"font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: \'Calibri\',\'sans-serif\';\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;\">—</span></span><em>many\nof them more than a century ago. Women wanted sisterhood and service\nand philanthropy. They wanted ritual and something to be proud of and\nto be a part of, and even though that\'s not what I wanted when I walked\nthrough the doors for the first time, it was what I took with me when I\nleft.... Aside from the freedom to write and post as many pictures of\nMolly as I want, I blog because the blogging community, to me, reminds\nme of the group of women I found in college, supportive and encouraging\nand beautiful and smart and fucking funny. </em>(Taken from <a href=\"http://www.shelikespurple.com/shelikespurple/2007/08/blogher-was-thi.html\">this post</a>.)</p></blockquote><p><strong>Now that you have a few more months of blogging under your belt, do you still feel the same way about it? Why or why not?</strong><br />First,\nI was so proud of that post when I wrote it and now, in retrospect,\nit\'s kind of poorly written, isn\'t it? I remember the sentiment,\nthough. The blogging community, to me, <em>is </em>like a sorority:\nlots of different women with different backgrounds and goals, all\nbonded by something bigger than themselves. I realize <em>your </em>sorority experience may have been vastly different and <em>your</em>\nsorority sisters may have left you—drunk off trash-can punch—in front\nof the Kappa Sig house but my experience wasn\'t like that. I left my\nsorority with really incredible friends, and as I mentioned in the\nabove post, three of those women stood beside me on my wedding day. </p>\n\n<p>I was also fortunate enough to have been on my sorority\'s council,\nwhere I was awarded the opportunity to visit our National Headquarters\nin Memphis. During that trip I realized our organization is much bigger\nand more important than date parties and T-shirts; it is ultimately\nabout making a difference and forming invaluable friendships. Likewise,\nblogging is so much more than stats and blogrolls; it\'s about community\nand connection.</p>\n\n<p>I realize it may seem like a silly comparison, but in my eyes it all\nboils down to community. I found a strong community in my sorority and\nI find a strong community through the blogs I read and the readers I\nhave.<br /> </p>\n\n<p><strong>3. You\'re a newlywed (congratulations!)<span style=\"font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: \'Calibri\',\'sans-serif\';\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;\">—</span></span></strong><strong>tell me three things you wish someone had told you before getting married and three things you\'re glad they didn\'t.</strong><br />(Thanks for the congrats!) </p>\n\n<p><em>What I wish someone would have told me</em>:<br />1) If he didn\'t\ndo the dishes before the wedding, he\'s not going to do the dishes after\nthe wedding. That wedding ring requires him to do nothing that he\nwasn\'t doing before except <em>maybe</em> lend you some of his debt\n(so thoughtful). If you really, really wish he\'d do the dishes, ask\nhim. Marrying him won\'t be enough.</p>\n\n<p>2) Changing your name is kind of a pain in the ass. Take a day off\nwork (once your official marriage license arrives) and get everything\ntaken care of—credit cards, drivers license, social security card,\nchecks, etc. Don\'t put it off or you\'ll wake up one day and realize\nhalf the world considers you one person while the other half considers\nyou another, harder-to-pronounce person. Also, at the end of that day,\nbuy yourself a bottle of something strong. Spending that much time in\ngovernment buildings is going to drive you painfully crazy. (Also, I\'m\nnot necessarily a proponent of changing your name. I simply had my\nmaiden name for 25 years and I thought it would be fun to have a\ndifferent name for the next 25. My new last name is IMPOSSIBLE to\nspell, and listening to someone attempt to pronounce/spell it makes me\nwant to bash my head against the nearest wall, so I obviously didn\'t\nmake a pros/cons list before the wedding.)<br /> </p>\n\n<p>3) Be nice to one another. I truly believe this is the key to a\nhappy relationship. AND I CAN FEEL YOU ROLLING YOUR EYES. QUIT THAT.\nSome of you will think, <em>It\'s not that simple</em>, so let me\nrespond with this: Of course it\'s not that simple. When you spend eight\nhours at work, two hours commuting and another hour at the grocery\nstore, it\'s not simple to bite your tongue when you realize he forgot\n(AGAIN!) to take the trash out. It\'s not simple to resist the urge to\ncorrect him when he pronounces words incorrectly. It\'s not simple to\ncontinuously pause All my Children so he can tell you all about\nsomething he read in Popular Science. It\'s not simple to stop by the\nstore and pick up his favorite candy bar just because. (Twix these\ndays, which is odd. It\'s never been Twix before.) It\'s not easy to let\nhim go out with his friends on a Friday night—no complaints—leaving you\nhome alone with an empty TiVo and an empty fridge. It\'s NOT AT ALL EASY\nto smile when he tells you the new hard drive was &quot;a deal I couldn\'t\npass up&quot; instead of kicking him square in the head for spending all\nthat money on something you CANNOT WEAR ON YOUR FOOT. We\'re programmed\nto be polite to strangers, to bosses, to blog crushes, even, but not to\nour spouses. So I certainly don\'t think it\'s easy but I do think it\'s\nvital and the best relationship decision you\'ll ever make. </p>\n<p><em>What I am glad no one told me:</em><br />1-3) Credit scores don\'t forget.</p>\n\n<p><strong>4. Other than your husband and your dog, what makes you happiest?</strong><br />The\nlittle things: getting a card from an out-of-town friend, receiving a\nnice e-mail from a stranger, having drinks with co-workers, a great\nepisode of one of my favorite TV shows, a good book, a snuggly nap,\nwarm weather, champagne, new shoes, chips and queso, an impromptu\nweekend away. I believe happiness is having something to look forward\nto. I think I stay consistently (not constantly) happy by looking\nforward to something, regardless of how little it may be. </p>\n\n<p><strong>5. I saw that your friends read your blog</strong><strong><span style=\"font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: \'Calibri\',\'sans-serif\';\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;;\">—</span></span></strong><strong>how do they feel about it? How do you explain blogging to people that don\'t get it?</strong><br />Most\nof my friends know about my blog. (Hi Lauren! Hi Cherie! Hi Crystal! Hi\nNatalie!) They know because I\'m fairly open about it. I don\'t think all\nof my friends would choose to post the ins and outs of their life on\nthe Internet, and, sure, I\'ve gotten a few raised eyebrows, but for the\nmost part the people in my life support me. My mother, who is a\nfrequent reader/commenter, said to me just this weekend, &quot;The people\nwho love you won\'t be upset if you\'re honest.&quot; And, seriously, with a\nmom like that would you be worried if someone else didn\'t &quot;approve&quot;?\nNow, I will say I am protective of Mike\'s family. We are all very close\nand they are each wonderful, but they didn\'t choose me—Mike did. They\nhave a right to be protected and I take that right seriously.\nUltimately, I won\'t keep this outlet a secret from anyone and I won\'t\napologize for it, but I also won\'t use this as a platform to say\nwhatever is on my mind, regardless of who it may offend or sting. I\nthink it\'s possible to have both, the freedom to be expressive and the\nability to keep some things where they belong—off the Internet.</p>\n\n<p><strong>6. What are you most proud of?</strong><br />This answer\nchanges day-to-day. Most Mondays I\'m seriously proudest of getting out\nof bed and in the shower before 8am. If I take a big, giant step back,\nthough, I\'d say I\'m proudest of my diploma. Not because I think\neveryone should graduate college or because I think it gives me any\nkind of edge. (I graduated with HISTORY and ENGLISH degrees—the valets\nin my building make more than I do.) But, it\'s something I did on my\nown, start to finish. And no matter what I do in life—motherhood,\nmarriage, career, etc.—graduating college is one of the few things I\'ll\never be able to take full and complete credit for.<br /> </p>\n\n<p><strong>7. I read that there\'s a huge Veronica Mars-sized gaping\nhole in your heart. Have you found a show (or shows) that have the\npotential to fill it? Do you watch Gossip Girl? What do you think about\nit?</strong><br />I\'ve watched Gossip Girl but it does very little for\nme, so I don\'t watch it regularly. Of course there are other shows I\njust love, such as: The Office, Weeds, The Amazing Race, Pushing\nDaisies, Entourage. But—and you\'re going to groan, so consider yourself\nwarned—there have only been three shows IN MY LIFE I\'ve become obsessed\nwith on a completely different level and those are: Dawson\'s Creek,\nVeronica Mars and One Tree Hill. Something about an angsty soundtrack,\na great love triangle and a strong, quippy lead actress (that would be\nBrooke on OTH, not whorey Peyton). That winning combination sucks me in\nand forces me to surf YouTube for fan videos. I KID YOU NOT. Some\nrunners up, in case you care: Party of Five, Felicity, Gilmore Girls\nand General Hospital, during the Brenda years. (You\'ve lost a ton of\nrespect for me, haven\'t you?)</p>\n\n<p><strong>8. Who or what inspires you?</strong><br />Authenticity. In\nhowever many forms I discover it. I don\'t think you have to be\nblatantly different to be authentic, I simply think you have to make\nchoices with yourself in mind. I\'m also inspired by people who are both\nbrilliant and kind. It\'s a combination I don\'t encounter as much as I\'d\nlike to. I\'m inspired when I do.<br /> </p>\n\n<p><strong>9. What would you do to make a living if you weren\'t in publishing?</strong><br />I\'d\nlove to be a travel writer. Care to hire me? In all honesty, I spent\nmost of my life wanting to teach, so something tells me if I weren\'t\nworking in the field I\'m in, I\'d be teaching. <br /> </p>\n\n<p><strong>10. So you like purple. How do you feel about orange?</strong><br />Well, orange reminds of the University of Texas. Now, maroon?<em> That\'s</em> a beautiful color.</p>\n','The Great Interview Experiment','\n','publish','open','open','','the-great-interview-experiment','','','2008-02-13 22:41:21','2008-02-13 22:41:21','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=359',0,'post','',1),(360,1,'2008-02-05 09:16:46','2008-02-05 09:16:46','<p><span style=\"font-size: 1.4em;\">(Su voto es su voz.)</span></p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/02/05/vote_2.jpg\"><img alt=\"Vote_2\" border=\"0\" class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef0120a93cdfd3970b\" height=\"397\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef0120a93cdfd3970b-pi.jpg\" title=\"Vote_2\" width=\"400\" /></a></p>\n','It\'s time...','\n','publish','open','open','','its-time','','','2008-02-05 09:16:46','2008-02-05 09:16:46','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=360',0,'post','',3),(361,1,'2008-01-29 08:32:00','2008-01-29 08:32:00','<object width=\"480\" height=\"360\" classid=\"clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000\" codebase=\"http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0\"><param name=\"allowFullScreen\" value=\"true\" /><param name=\"allowscriptaccess\" value=\"always\" /><param name=\"src\" value=\"http://www.youtube.com/v/5apEctKwiD8?version=3&amp;hl=en_US&amp;rel=0\" /><param name=\"allowfullscreen\" value=\"true\" /><embed width=\"480\" height=\"360\" type=\"application/x-shockwave-flash\" src=\"http://www.youtube.com/v/5apEctKwiD8?version=3&amp;hl=en_US&amp;rel=0\" allowFullScreen=\"true\" allowscriptaccess=\"always\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" /></object>\r\n\r\nI’ll never forget the moment I became a New Englander. It was October 28, 2004.  I know it was around lunchtime because I was buying a salad when I heard The Standells for the first time:\r\n\r\n<span style=\"color: #990000;\"><span style=\"font-style: italic;\">I\'m gonna tell you a story</span></span>\r\n<span style=\"color: #990000;\"><span style=\"font-style: italic;\">I\'m gonna tell you about my town</span></span>\r\n<span style=\"color: #990000;\"><span style=\"font-style: italic;\">I\'m gonna tell you a big bad story, baby</span></span>\r\n<span style=\"color: #990000;\"><span style=\"font-style: italic;\">Aww, it\'s all about my town</span></span>\r\n\r\nIt was, of course, the day after the Sox had won the World Series. I’m not a baseball fan (actually, I’m not a fan of any sport) but my husband and I couldn’t help but watch the game on the tiny TV in our guest room and cheer on the local team.  I may have shed a tear when the game ended and the neighbors on our sleepy Newton street went outside to celebrate, but at the time I thought it was the pregnancy hormones taking over.\r\n\r\nWe went outside too, and I took a blurry picture of the blood-red lunar eclipse.<a onblur=\"try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}\" href=\"http://bp3.blogger.com/_MnhQ6V0IJN8/RspRIiAZbzI/AAAAAAAAAAM/FDucbOGwnQU/s1600-h/DSCN0797.JPG\"><img id=\"BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5100978734959783730\" class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39bd1970c \" style=\"margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39bd1970c-pi.jpg\" alt=\"\" border=\"0\" /></a>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"color: #990000;\"><span style=\"font-style: italic;\">Yeah, down by the river</span></span>\r\n<span style=\"color: #990000;\"><span style=\"font-style: italic;\">Down by the banks of the river Charles </span></span>\r\n<span style=\"color: #990000;\"><span style=\"font-style: italic;\">(Aw, that\'s what\'s happenin\' baby)</span></span>\r\n<span style=\"color: #990000;\"><span style=\"font-style: italic;\">That\'s where you\'ll find me</span></span>\r\n<span style=\"color: #990000;\"><span style=\"font-style: italic;\">Along with lovers, fuggers, and thieves </span></span>\r\n<span style=\"color: #990000;\"><span style=\"font-style: italic;\">(Aw, but they\'re cool people)</span></span>\r\n\r\nMy newfound affection had very little to do with curses being broken.  By then we had been living here a little over two years, but we had spent a lot of that time discussing where in the world we would end up living - <span style=\"font-style: italic;\">for real</span>.  Vienna?  Miami?  London?  Rio?  What city would allow us to live the life we wanted?\r\n\r\nTurns out we were already there.\r\n\r\n<span style=\"color: #990000;\"><span style=\"font-style: italic;\">Well I love that dirty water</span></span>\r\n<span style=\"color: #990000;\"><span style=\"font-style: italic;\">Oh, Boston, you\'re my home </span></span>\r\n<span style=\"color: #990000;\"><span style=\"font-style: italic;\">(Oh, you\'re the Number One place)</span></span>\r\n<span style=\"color: #990000;\"><span style=\"font-style: italic;\">Frustrated women </span></span>\r\n<span style=\"color: #990000;\"><span style=\"font-style: italic;\">(I mean they\'re frustrated)</span></span>\r\n\r\nAt first, I thought this town was boring and was frustrated because it wasn’t welcoming.  There\'s no street grid, so it takes years to learn your way around.  Driving a Honda Civic in 10 inches of snow is not fun.  I was a frustrated woman, indeed.\r\n\r\nUntil I got AWD and navigation, that is.\r\n\r\n<span style=\"color: #990000;\"><span style=\"font-style: italic;\">Have to be in by twelve o\'clock </span></span>\r\n<span style=\"color: #990000;\"><span style=\"font-style: italic;\">(Oh, that\'s a shame)</span></span>\r\n<span style=\"color: #990000;\"><span style=\"font-style: italic;\">But I\'m wishin\' and a-hopin, oh</span></span>\r\n<span style=\"color: #990000;\"><span style=\"font-style: italic;\">That just once those doors weren\'t locked</span></span>\r\n<span style=\"color: #990000;\"><span style=\"font-style: italic;\">(I like to save time for my baby to walk around)</span></span>\r\n<span style=\"color: #990000;\"><span style=\"font-style: italic;\">Well I love that dirty water</span></span>\r\n<span style=\"color: #990000;\"><span style=\"font-style: italic;\">Oh, Boston, you\'re my home (oh, yeah)</span></span>\r\n\r\nWe had many hungry nights when we first moved here.  I was used to eating dinner after 9 pm, and I never, ever went to a restaurant before 10 pm.  Have you been in Boston after 10:30?  Ghost town!\r\n\r\nEventually, we adjusted our dining schedule.  Now I eat at 6 pm (sometimes 7!) like a real New Englander.\r\n\r\n<span style=\"color: #990000;\"><span style=\"font-style: italic;\">Because I love that dirty water</span></span>\r\n<span style=\"color: #990000;\"><span style=\"font-style: italic;\">Oh, oh, Boston</span></span>\r\n<span style=\"color: #990000;\"><span style=\"font-style: italic;\">You\'re my home (oh, yeah)</span></span>\r\n\r\nBut you know, this town has a way of growing on you.  We love going for walks on the Charles River Esplanade (always keeping an eye out for thieves).  I love cannolli, and therefore the North End.  I’ve been on a duck tour, and it was corny and all sorts of awesome.\r\n\r\n<span style=\"color: #990000;\"><span style=\"font-style: italic;\">Well, I love that dirty water</span></span>\r\n<span style=\"color: #990000;\"><span style=\"font-style: italic;\">(I love it, baby)</span></span>\r\n\r\nCanoeing to the playground in Auburndale park.  The Barking Crab.  Fenway Park.  Nantucket.  Tanglewood.  MassMoCa.\r\n\r\n<span style=\"color: #990000;\"><span style=\"font-style: italic;\">I love that dirty water</span></span>\r\n<span style=\"color: #990000;\"><span style=\"font-style: italic;\">(I love Baw-stun)</span></span>\r\n\r\nI don’t have a Boston accent, but my son says “cah” and “beah” instead of “car” and “bear.”\r\n\r\nAdorable.\r\n\r\n<span style=\"color: #990000;\"><span style=\"font-style: italic;\">I love that dirty water</span></span>\r\n<span style=\"color: #990000;\"><span style=\"font-style: italic;\">(Have you heard about the Strangler)</span></span>\r\n\r\nI love the history and the scenery that has inspired countless artists: Walden Pond, Emily Dickinson, The House of the Seven Gables, Norman Rockwell.\r\n\r\n<span style=\"color: #990000;\"><span style=\"font-style: italic;\">I love that dirty water</span></span>\r\n<span style=\"color: #990000;\"><span style=\"font-style: italic;\">(I\'m the man, I\'m the man)</span></span>\r\n\r\nI will never love the snow, but it makes me appreciate our gorgeous summers even more.\r\n\r\n<span style=\"color: #990000;\"><span style=\"font-style: italic;\">I love that dirty water</span></span>\r\n<span style=\"color: #990000;\"><span style=\"font-style: italic;\">(Owww)</span></span>\r\n<span style=\"color: #990000;\"><span style=\"font-style: italic;\">I love that dirty water</span></span>\r\n<span style=\"color: #990000;\"><span style=\"font-style: italic;\">(Come on, come on)</span></span>\r\n\r\nI even love our simple black and beige colonial with its red door.  It\'s just a rectangular box with a gable roof, the kind of house a child would draw.  It screams New England.  It\'s home.','Dirty Water','','publish','open','open','','dirty-water','','','2011-10-12 13:02:09','2011-10-12 17:02:09','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=361',0,'post','',10),(873,1,'2011-03-01 11:18:39','2011-03-01 16:18:39','One of the best things about working through my life list is that I\'ve learned that there are things that seem so easy from a distance but are actually quite hard (ahem, sewing, ahem) and there are things that seem so boring but that I\'ve become quite enamored with.\n\nLike knitting.\n\nFriends, I\'m a na','Life List Update: Natural-Born Knitter','','inherit','open','open','','872-revision','','','2011-03-01 11:18:39','2011-03-01 16:18:39','',872,'http://www.everydaytreats.com/2011/03/872-revision.html',0,'revision','',0),(362,1,'2008-01-27 13:36:00','2008-01-27 13:36:00','<p>I just finished reading <em>Eat, Pray, Love. </em>I know I&#39;m a couple of years late to this party, but it&#39;s a good read - even for someone like me, who is turned off by spacey new age types (probably because if I&#39;m afraid that if I&#39;m not careful I could end up one). In any case, I think that the reason the book has inspired so many is that she doesn&#39;t tell you that there is a specific path you need to follow to find happiness in life - there&#39;s no need to go meditate in India or live a smelly bohemian life if you don&#39;t want to - but you do have to work at being happy. It&#39;s not going to just happen if you&#39;re not aware of your desire and live with the intent to be happy.</p>\n\n<p>Agreed.</p>\n\n<p>In the book she found a path to happiness through focusing on mantras - I&#39;m not the mediative type so you&#39;ll have to go elsewhere or read the book for an explanation on what mantras are&#0160; or what to do with them - but I would be lying if her writing didn&#39;t inspire me to try it out. </p>\n\n<p>Now, I have two small children on different nap schedules, so I get absolutely no quiet time. The only quiet time I get is in yoga class, conveniently enough. So lately instead of being annoyed when we have &quot;meditation&quot; time in yoga I work really hard at clearing my mind to push away all thoughts and see what happens.</p>\n\n<p>Guess what? I found a mantra too!</p>\n\n\n\n<p>My mantra is &quot;z&quot;. As in &quot;zzzzz.&quot;</p>\n\n<p>I need more sleep. My goal for the next few days is to get more sleep. </p>\n\n<p>Stop laughing. It&#39;s harder than it sounds and you know it.<br /> </p>\n','To dream...','\n','publish','open','open','','to-dream','','','2008-01-27 13:36:00','2008-01-27 13:36:00','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=362',0,'post','',6),(363,1,'2008-01-27 09:43:00','2008-01-27 09:43:00','<p>The whole Heath Ledger thing is so indescribably sad and I can&#39;t really put into words exactly why;&#0160; but <a href=\"http://frogandtoadarestillfriends.blogspot.com/2008/01/famous-dead-people.html\">she</a> did:</p><blockquote><p><em>Heath Ledger, it has been reported, had pneumonia and was on a\npossibly-fatal combination of antibiotics, sleeping pills and\nantidepressants. ANTIDEPRESSANTS. That&#39;s horrifying, that a young man\nwith a thriving career, critical acclaim, millions of dollars and all\nof perks that fame brings - endless attractive sexual partners! fancy\nclothes! interesting drugs! - was that unhappy. (<em><strong>this was meant ironically, people!)</strong></em> <span style=\"font-size: 1.2em;\">What does our society possibly have to offer anyone if the winners aren&#39;t happy with their prize?</span></em></p></blockquote>\n','What bothers me about it','\n','publish','open','open','','what-bothers-me-about-it','','','2008-01-27 09:43:00','2008-01-27 09:43:00','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=363',0,'post','',4),(364,1,'2008-01-25 13:39:37','2008-01-25 13:39:37','<p>And I made a button to celebrate:</p>\n\n<p><a alt=\"Hillary Clinton\" href=\"http://www.Hillaryclinton.com/issues/\" target=\"_blank\"><img class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa3a0ea970c\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa3a0ea970c-pi.gif\" /></a>\n</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://diary.blogs.com/the_diary_of_a_reluctant_/like-this-banner.html\">Here&#39;s the code if you want one.</a></p>\n','I\'ve FINALLY decided!','\n','publish','open','open','','ive-finally-decided','','','2011-02-07 17:50:52','2011-02-07 17:50:52','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=364',0,'post','',1),(365,1,'2008-01-23 10:02:30','2008-01-23 15:02:30','I once decided that I <em>needed</em> to learn how to tie a a Tiffany bow. This might seem like a frivolous quest but I figured, why not learn to do it the right way? So I walked into Tiffany\'s and asked for help.\r\n\r\nNow I\'ll save you the trip and teach you how to do it. It\'s really easy once you know how.\r\n\r\n<strong>Step 1</strong>\r\n\r\nGather your materials. You\'ll need:\r\n\r\n1) a box\r\n\r\n2) nice silky ribbon (I usually cut enough to go around the box about two-and-half times)\r\n\r\n3) scissors\r\n\r\n<a title=\"Tiffany Set by R. S. M., on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/diary/2121484764/\"><img class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39ecb970c\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39ecb970c-pi.jpg\" alt=\"Tiffany Set\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" /></a>\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n<strong>Step 2</strong>\r\n\r\nLeaving at least a box\'s length of ribbon at the bottom of the box, place the ribbon at the center of the top of the box and hold with your thumb. Like this:\r\n\r\n<a title=\"Tiffany Set by R. S. M., on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/diary/2121484806/\"><img class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39f07970c\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39f07970c-pi.jpg\" alt=\"Tiffany Set\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" /></a>\r\n\r\n<strong>Step 3</strong>\r\n\r\nWrap the ribbon once around the box. Place the second piece of ribbon under your thumb as well:\r\n\r\n<a title=\"Tiffany Set by R. S. M., on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/diary/2120706355/\"><img class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39f26970c\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39f26970c-pi.jpg\" alt=\"Tiffany Set\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" /></a>\r\n\r\n<strong>Step 4</strong>\r\n\r\nFold the ribbon over your thumb to go around the box at a 45 degree angle:\r\n\r\n<a title=\"Tiffany set by R. S. M., on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/diary/2121462290/\"><img class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39f3b970c\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39f3b970c-pi.jpg\" alt=\"Tiffany set\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" /></a>\r\n\r\n<strong>Step 5</strong>\r\n\r\nKeep going...\r\n\r\n<a title=\"Tiffany set by R. S. M., on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/diary/2121462398/\"><img class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39f47970c\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39f47970c-pi.jpg\" alt=\"Tiffany set\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" /></a>\r\n\r\n<strong>Step 6</strong>\r\n\r\n...until you go around once:\r\n\r\n<a title=\"Tiffany Set by R. S. M., on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/diary/2121484934/\"><img class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39f6f970c\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39f6f970c-pi.jpg\" alt=\"Tiffany Set\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" /></a>\r\n\r\nNow, the step coming up is actually the most important one of the\r\nprocess - if you screw up this step the bow won\'t work - but don\'t\r\nworry, it\'s an easy step. Ready?\r\n\r\n<!--more-->\r\n\r\n<strong>Step 7</strong>\r\n\r\nTuck the ribbon under and back across the ribbon you were holding\r\nwith your thumb. You\'re basically making a U-shaped hook. If the ribbon\r\nlooks like this you\'re almost done:\r\n\r\n<a title=\"Tiffany Set by R. S. M., on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/diary/2121484832/\"><img src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/2121484832_dc255634e2.jpg\" alt=\"Tiffany Set\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" /></a>\r\n\r\n<strong>Step 8</strong>\r\n\r\nNow center and tighten the ribbon:\r\n\r\n<a title=\"Tiffany set by R. S. M., on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/diary/2120684345/\"><img src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/2120684345_74ac64bb5f.jpg\" alt=\"Tiffany set\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" /></a>\r\n\r\n<strong>Step 9</strong>\r\n\r\nNow, just like you learned in elementary school, you make a loop\r\nwith the uppermost piece of ribbon to your right, and then wrap the\r\nother piece around and push through to make a bow:\r\n\r\n<a title=\"Tiffany set by R. S. M., on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/diary/2120684377/\"><img src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/2120684377_269285a3ea.jpg\" alt=\"Tiffany set\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" /></a>\r\n\r\n<strong>Step 10</strong>\r\n\r\nAt this point, your bow will probably look pretty crappy. Thats fine - just loosen and recenter it:\r\n\r\n<a title=\"Tiffany set by R. S. M., on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/diary/2121462258/\"><img src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/2121462258_321f55c8c8.jpg\" alt=\"Tiffany set\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" /></a>\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n<strong>Step 11</strong>\r\n\r\n...tighten again:\r\n\r\n<a title=\"Tiffany set by R. S. M., on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/diary/2121462508/\"><img src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/2121462508_fa31af0bbb.jpg\" alt=\"Tiffany set\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" /></a>\r\n\r\n<strong>Step 12</strong>\r\n\r\nTrim the edges of the ribbon and...\r\n\r\n<a title=\"Tiffany set by R. S. M., on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/diary/2121462222/\"><img src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/2121462222_5a59886774.jpg\" alt=\"Tiffany set\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" /></a>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">...</span>Voila! You have a perfectly executed Tiffany bow:\r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/2121462146.jpeg\"><img class=\"size-full wp-image-2846 alignnone\" title=\"2121462146\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/2121462146.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" /></a>\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\nAfter a few rounds of practice you\'ll be able to do this with your\r\neyes closed. You can use this  technique to wrap anything, but a\r\nTiffany gift wouldn\'t hurt!\r\n\r\n(OK, your wallet might cry a bit, but the rest of you will be quite happy.)','How to tie a Tiffany Bow','','publish','open','open','','pretty-useful-how-to-tie-a-tiffany-bow','','','2012-01-29 14:41:44','2012-01-29 19:41:44','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=365',0,'post','',18),(2850,1,'2012-01-29 16:04:26','2012-01-29 21:04:26','OK, so this recipe from my <a href=\"http://frogandsnail.com/2011/10/living-with-food-allergies-guittard-milk-chocolate-maxi-chips-nut-free/\">favorite chocolate chips in the world</a> isn\'t the real thing (and <a href=\"http://www.latartinegourmande.com/2008/07/07/chocolate-vanilla-pot-creme-french-dessert/\">real <em>pots de creme</em> are easy </a>enough to make as it is) but since one of <a href=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/2011/10/stopping-then-starting-again.html\">my kids has an egg allergy</a>, I like the fact that this recipe doesn\'t include eggs.\r\n\r\nIt\'s as easy to make as instant pudding, but instead of weird ingredients like tetrasodium pyrophosphate and \"blue 1\" it has three ingredients: chocolate, milk and butter.\r\n\r\nTry this instead of that instant pudding in your pantry and I guarantee you won\'t go back. Who says real food is hard?\r\n\r\n(I got the recipe from the bag of Guittard chocolate chips. They are THE BEST.)\r\n<div>\r\n<blockquote>\r\n<h1><strong>FAKE BUT DELICIOUS POTS DE CREME</strong></h1>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n<strong>Ingredients</strong>\r\n\r\n2 cups milk chocolate chips\r\n\r\n3/4 cup whole milk\r\n\r\n1/4 cup butter</blockquote>\r\n</div>\r\n<blockquote>\r\n<div>\r\n\r\n<strong>Directions</strong>\r\n\r\n</div>\r\n<div>Place chips in blender.</div>\r\n<div></div>\r\n<div>Heat milk and butter in a small saucepan over low heat while stirring, just until mixture begins to boil.</div>\r\n<div></div>\r\n<div>Immediately pour hot liquid into blender container. Cover and blend at high speed until smooth, about 1 minute.</div>\r\n<div></div>\r\n<div>Pour into dessert dishes and chill until set.</div>\r\n<div></div></blockquote>\r\n<div><em>{Thank you for reading! This year, I’ll be posting a daily tip to help you (and me) to live well every day. Be sure to subscribe to the <a href=\"http://everydaytreats.us4.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=288d9a6118aa6bc0dba90b5fb&amp;id=ca73d5a095\">Monday email</a> if you’d like to keep up — you’ll receive one email on Monday mornings with a summary of the previous week’s tips and posts. Of course you can also stay in touch via <a href=\"https://twitter.com/miguelina\">Twitter</a>, <a href=\"http://www.facebook.com/EverydayTreats\">Facebook</a> or <a href=\"http://feeds.feedburner.com/EverydayTreats\">RSS</a>. XOXO}</em></div>','Make fake Pots de Creme instead of instant pudding: Everyday Tip #29','','publish','open','open','','make-fake-pots-de-creme-instead-of-instant-pudding-everyday-tip-29','','http://www.everydaytreats.com/2011/10/stopping-then-starting-again.html\nhttp://frogandsnail.com/2011/10/living-with-food-allergies-guittard-milk-chocolate-maxi-chips-nut-free/\nhttp://www.latartinegourmande.com/2008/07/07/chocolate-vanilla-pot-creme-french-dessert/','2012-01-29 16:19:08','2012-01-29 21:19:08','',0,'http://www.everydaytreats.com/?p=2850',0,'post','',0),(2848,1,'2012-01-29 14:41:05','2012-01-29 19:41:05','I once decided that I <em>needed</em> to learn how to tie a a Tiffany bow. This might seem like a frivolous quest but I figured, why not learn to do it the right way? So I walked into Tiffany\'s and asked for help.\r\n\r\nBelieve it or not, the nice saleslady actually taught me. Now I\'ll save you the trip and teach you how to do it. It\'s really easy once you know how.\r\n\r\n<strong>Step 1</strong>\r\n\r\nGather your materials. You\'ll need:\r\n\r\n1) a box\r\n\r\n2) nice silky ribbon (I usually cut enough to go around the box about two-and-half times)\r\n\r\n3) scissors\r\n\r\n<a title=\"Tiffany Set by R. S. M., on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/diary/2121484764/\"><img class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39ecb970c\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39ecb970c-pi.jpg\" alt=\"Tiffany Set\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" /></a>\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n<strong>Step 2</strong>\r\n\r\nLeaving at least a box\'s length of ribbon at the bottom of the box, place the ribbon at the center of the top of the box and hold with your thumb. Like this:\r\n\r\n<a title=\"Tiffany Set by R. S. M., on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/diary/2121484806/\"><img class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39f07970c\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39f07970c-pi.jpg\" alt=\"Tiffany Set\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" /></a>\r\n\r\n<strong>Step 3</strong>\r\n\r\nWrap the ribbon once around the box. Place the second piece of ribbon under your thumb as well:\r\n\r\n<a title=\"Tiffany Set by R. S. M., on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/diary/2120706355/\"><img class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39f26970c\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39f26970c-pi.jpg\" alt=\"Tiffany Set\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" /></a>\r\n\r\n<strong>Step 4</strong>\r\n\r\nFold the ribbon over your thumb to go around the box at a 45 degree angle:\r\n\r\n<a title=\"Tiffany set by R. S. M., on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/diary/2121462290/\"><img class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39f3b970c\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39f3b970c-pi.jpg\" alt=\"Tiffany set\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" /></a>\r\n\r\n<strong>Step 5</strong>\r\n\r\nKeep going...\r\n\r\n<a title=\"Tiffany set by R. S. M., on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/diary/2121462398/\"><img class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39f47970c\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39f47970c-pi.jpg\" alt=\"Tiffany set\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" /></a>\r\n\r\n<strong>Step 6</strong>\r\n\r\n...until you go around once:\r\n\r\n<a title=\"Tiffany Set by R. S. M., on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/diary/2121484934/\"><img class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39f6f970c\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39f6f970c-pi.jpg\" alt=\"Tiffany Set\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" /></a>\r\n\r\nNow, the step coming up is actually the most important one of the\r\nprocess - if you screw up this step the bow won\'t work - but don\'t\r\nworry, it\'s an easy step. Ready?\r\n\r\n<!--more-->\r\n\r\n<strong>Step 7</strong>\r\n\r\nTuck the ribbon under and back across the ribbon you were holding\r\nwith your thumb. You\'re basically making a U-shaped hook. If the ribbon\r\nlooks like this you\'re almost done:\r\n\r\n<a title=\"Tiffany Set by R. S. M., on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/diary/2121484832/\"><img src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/2121484832_dc255634e2.jpg\" alt=\"Tiffany Set\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" /></a>\r\n\r\n<strong>Step 8</strong>\r\n\r\nNow center and tighten the ribbon:\r\n\r\n<a title=\"Tiffany set by R. S. M., on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/diary/2120684345/\"><img src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/2120684345_74ac64bb5f.jpg\" alt=\"Tiffany set\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" /></a>\r\n\r\n<strong>Step 9</strong>\r\n\r\nNow, just like you learned in elementary school, you make a loop\r\nwith the uppermost piece of ribbon to your right, and then wrap the\r\nother piece around and push through to make a bow:\r\n\r\n<a title=\"Tiffany set by R. S. M., on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/diary/2120684377/\"><img src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/2120684377_269285a3ea.jpg\" alt=\"Tiffany set\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" /></a>\r\n\r\n<strong>Step 10</strong>\r\n\r\nAt this point, your bow will probably look pretty crappy. Thats fine - just loosen and recenter it:\r\n\r\n<a title=\"Tiffany set by R. S. M., on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/diary/2121462258/\"><img src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/2121462258_321f55c8c8.jpg\" alt=\"Tiffany set\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" /></a>\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n<strong>Step 11</strong>\r\n\r\n...tighten again:\r\n\r\n<a title=\"Tiffany set by R. S. M., on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/diary/2121462508/\"><img src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/2121462508_fa31af0bbb.jpg\" alt=\"Tiffany set\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" /></a>\r\n\r\n<strong>Step 12</strong>\r\n\r\nTrim the edges of the ribbon and...\r\n\r\n<a title=\"Tiffany set by R. S. M., on Flickr\" href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/diary/2121462222/\"><img src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/2121462222_5a59886774.jpg\" alt=\"Tiffany set\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" /></a>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">...</span>Voila! You have a perfectly executed Tiffany bow:\r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/2121462146.jpeg\"><img class=\"size-full wp-image-2846 alignnone\" title=\"2121462146\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/2121462146.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" /></a>\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\nAfter a few rounds of practice you\'ll be able to do this with your\r\neyes closed. You can use this  technique to wrap anything, but a\r\nTiffany gift wouldn\'t hurt!\r\n\r\n(OK, your wallet might cry a bit, but the rest of you will be quite happy.)','How to tie a Tiffany Bow','','inherit','open','open','','365-revision-4','','','2012-01-29 14:41:05','2012-01-29 19:41:05','',365,'http://www.everydaytreats.com/2012/01/365-revision-4.html',0,'revision','',0),(366,1,'2008-01-15 16:16:00','2008-01-15 16:16:00','<p>But what is surprising is how beautiful it looks when it covers everything like frosting. Winter can be magical when it matches your mood.</p>\n\n<p>Just look at our backyard:</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/diary/2196178340/\" title=\"BRR by R. S. M., on Flickr\"><img alt=\"BRR\" class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa3a034970c\" height=\"375\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa3a034970c-pi.jpg\" width=\"500\" /></a></p>\n\n<p>White, white, white everywhere. It&#39;s as peaceful as it looks.\n\n</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/diary/2195390825/\" title=\"Our Backyard by R. S. M., on Flickr\"><img alt=\"Our Backyard\" class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa3a081970c\" height=\"500\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa3a081970c-pi.jpg\" width=\"375\" /></a></p>\n','I know...Snow in New England - Shocking!','\n','publish','open','open','','i-knowsnow-in-new-england-shocking','','','2008-01-15 16:16:00','2008-01-15 16:16:00','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=366',0,'post','',8),(367,1,'2008-01-08 14:21:15','2008-01-08 14:21:15','<p>Janet over at <a href=\"http://sliceofpink.typepad.com/blog/\">Slice of Pink</a> is one of my favorite bloggers - she&#39;s clever (&quot;the audacity of pink&quot;? Genius!), has impeccable taste and seems like a really lovely person to boot. She also has great ideas all the time - like her <a href=\"http://sliceofpink.typepad.com/blog/2008/01/squeaky-clean.html\">New Year&#39;s Resolution</a>, which is to clean for just 10 minutes but to do it without any distractions (and every day).</p>\n\n<p>Simple solutions like that make me happy.</p>\n\n<p>Yes, I know it&#39;s basically the Flylady system, and thankfully my house is pretty clean most days, so I&#39;m not about to start cleaning for 10 minutes a day on top of my regular housekeeping system (um, maintain a minimum amount of chaos before the cleaners come - shh!) but her post reminded me that you can get anything done in 10 minutes - of you set a timer and focus.</p>\n\n<p>Maybe it&#39;s time to start putting those pictures into albums?</p>\n','All you need is 10 minutes','\n','publish','open','open','','all-you-need-is-10-minutes','','','2008-01-08 14:21:15','2008-01-08 14:21:15','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=367',0,'post','',3),(368,1,'2008-01-06 20:59:59','2008-01-06 20:59:59','<p>The NYT had a recent article on <a href=\"http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/01/health/01well.html?em&amp;ex=1199336400&amp;en=cf660b13b236f0a5&amp;ei=5087%0A\">decluttering</a> which, of course, isn&#39;t surprising at this time of the year. The comments left on the <a href=\"http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/12/31/tackling-clutter-to-improve-your-health/\">author&#39;s blog</a>, however, break my heart. I&#39;ve thankfully never had a hoarding problem but it has only been a couple of years since I&#39;ve learned to free myself from the tyranny of stuff. And it feels very, very good.</p>\n\n<p>I may not be a neat freak that finds nirvana in vacuuming, but I&#39;m excellent at getting rid of things I don&#39;t need anymore. I also happened to marry a man who hates throwing anything out, who enjoys very much finding new uses for old things, and what this means is that I have to think VERY carefully about buying new things because if I&#39;m not careful I&#39;ll have to stare at that impulse purchase for the next twenty years. That has cured me of any desire to buy things &quot;just because.&quot; I also hate dust, and the more things you have, the more things you have to dust. Every time I&#39;m wiping something I ask myself &quot;is this <em>thing</em> worth it?&quot; A lot of the time it just isn&#39;t.</p>\n\n<p>This morning I filled a large kitchen bag with pure junk - junk that was hiding in closets, boxes and drawers as well as right on my kitchen counter. Getting rid of it made the house feel lighter, the air felt cleaner.</p>\n\n<p>Is it beautiful? Does it make you happy? Does it make your life easier? Do you really truly need it? </p>\n\n<p>If the answer is no - get rid of it.</p>\n','Decluttering','\n','publish','open','open','','decluttering','','','2008-01-06 20:59:59','2008-01-06 20:59:59','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=368',0,'post','',4),(369,1,'2008-01-04 17:18:05','2008-01-04 17:18:05','<p>...and overall design - here (as you can see!) and at <a href=\"http://www.newenglandmamas.typepad.com/\">New England Mamas</a>. Can you tell I&#39;ve been inspired by winter?</p>\n','New banners!','\n','publish','open','open','','new-banners','','','2008-01-04 17:18:05','2008-01-04 17:18:05','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=369',0,'post','',5),(370,1,'2008-01-03 22:13:24','2008-01-03 22:13:24','<p>My husband, after inspecting the awesomely reusable, yet incredibly condescending shopping bag my new yoga mat came in:</p>\n\n<p>&quot;You should have asked the cashier to be your friend.&quot;</p>\n\n<p>&quot;Why?&quot;</p>\n\n<p>&quot;It says right on the bag - &#39;Friends are more important than money&#39; - apparently they would&#39;ve valued your friendship more than your money.&quot;</p>\n\n<p>(Here&#39;s a post making fun of some of the other things on <a href=\"http://fergis.wordpress.com/2007/10/20/dear-lululemon-manifesto/\">Lululemon shopping bags</a> - yeah, the bags are cheesy, but they&#39;re reusable so they&#39;re going <a href=\"http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/16/business/16bags.html\">shopping with me</a> - all in the name of less waste!)</p>\n','He\'s got a point...','\n','publish','open','open','','hes-got-a-point','','','2008-01-03 22:13:24','2008-01-03 22:13:24','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=370',0,'post','',2),(371,1,'2008-01-01 10:10:14','2008-01-01 10:10:14','<p>I love how January 1st is filled with sheer <em>possibility</em> - I know that in reality every day, every minute even, is filled with the same amount of possibility as today is - but I like the fact that we all start with new calendars on the same day. So sue me.&#0160; I fall for the New Year&#39;s hoopla every year.</p>\n\n<p>Today has been a day of decluttering and thinking about what I want to accomplish in 2008. It helps that there is nothing better to do, what with everything being closed for the day and snow threatening (yet again). I always make New Year&#39;s resolutions, and I&#39;ve learned that it is best to make them specific - vague just doesn&#39;t motivate me much.</p>\n\n<p>I don&#39;t feel like posting my resolutions here - mostly because I&#39;m still working on them, but I hope that you are also inspired to set some goals for yourself. It&#39;s important to have something to look forward to - which reminds me, my resolutions are always things I want to do and will enjoy- there&#39;s no point in planning to punish yourself. But I&#39;ve found that unless I make a plan to do something - even if it&#39;s something pleasurable - it somehow gets lost in the everyday, so I&#39;m spending today thinking about what would make 2008 great* and I&#39;m going to figure out how to do it.</p>\n\n<p>Then my son and I will make <a href=\"http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/lime-glazed-cookies?autonomy_kw=lime%20cookies&amp;rsc=header_3\">some</a> <a href=\"http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/deliciously-outrageous-chocolate-cookies\">cookies</a>.</p>\n\n<p>Wishing you a wonderful year!</p>\n\n<p>*am I the only one that&#39;s tired of hearing &quot;great 08&quot;? Sorry! I couldn&#39;t help myself.</p>\n','I love New Year\'s Day','\n','publish','open','open','','i-love-new-years-day','','','2008-01-01 10:10:14','2008-01-01 10:10:14','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=371',0,'post','',3),(372,1,'2007-12-27 17:33:19','2007-12-27 17:33:19','<p>We&#39;re having a wonderful time in Miami - where the weather is a perfect 78 degrees and Boston&#39;s snow is nothing but a distant memory - I&#39;m super warm and relaxed, except when I think about the potential mess waiting for us in our basement, but why would I spoil our trip thinking about that?</p>\n\n<p>Instead, we&#39;ve been busy visiting friends and family and dining outside as often as possible. It was on one of those outdoor dining excursions where my husband and I literally bumped into the <a href=\"http://diary.blogs.com/the_diary_of_a_reluctant_/2006/08/i_see_famous_pe_1.html\">same $300 million guy</a> we shared a latte with a couple of Thanksgivings ago. Alas, his daughter wasn&#39;t around, so I wasn&#39;t able to play matchmaker this time.&#0160; There&#39;s always next year!</p>\n','A late holiday greeting','\n','publish','open','open','','a-late-holiday-greeting','','','2007-12-27 17:33:19','2007-12-27 17:33:19','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=372',0,'post','',2),(373,1,'2007-12-19 10:40:12','2007-12-19 10:40:12','<p>I&#39;ve been in an incredibly good mood despite the two consecutive storms that hit Boston because we&#39;re going from this:</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/diary/2122310029/\" title=\"Winter by R. S. M., on Flickr\"><img alt=\"Winter\" class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef0120a93ce1e8970b\" height=\"375\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef0120a93ce1e8970b-pi.jpg\" width=\"500\" /></a></p>\n\n<p>To this:</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/diary/2122320929/\" title=\"Miami Beach by R. S. M., on Flickr\"><img alt=\"Miami Beach\" class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef0120a93ce1f2970b\" height=\"375\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef0120a93ce1f2970b-pi.jpg\" width=\"500\" /></a>\n</p>\n\n<p>I was even getting a bit <a href=\"http://newenglandmamas.typepad.com/new_england_mamas/2007/12/of-sandcastles.html\">sentimental about the snow</a> the day it started falling - but after driving in it I was reminded of why I hate it so very, very much. Soon I was feeling pretty good about escaping this icy mess and was already feeling my toes thawing out while dreaming about Christmas at the beach when we heard the smoke detector go off late on Monday night.</p>\n\n<p>Long story short: Ice dams. Frozen front steps. Flooded basement. </p>\n\n<p>Damn.</p>\n\n<p>Now we&#39;ve turned off the water in the house and shut off electricity in the basement and are hoping for the best. Seems old man winter won&#39;t release his icy grasp on us just yet. I&#39;ll be stuck watching weather reports thinking about thaws and snowplows even as I vacation at the beach.</p>\n','You win, Old Man Winter. FINE.','\n','publish','open','open','','you-win-old-man-winter-fine','','','2007-12-19 10:40:12','2007-12-19 10:40:12','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=373',0,'post','',3),(374,1,'2007-12-17 13:33:10','2007-12-17 13:33:10','<p>So the job is going well, and I&#39;m thrilled to be making some pocket money with a steady writing job. That&#39;s not surprising, of course, what I didn&#39;t expect is exactly how much I would enjoy writing about weddings. There&#39;s tons of materials about weddings, and they can even be <a href=\"http://www.aisledash.com/2007/12/16/how-to-do-the-chicken-dance/\">hilarious</a>, as long as you&#39;re not planning one yourself.</p>\n\n<p>But now that I have a nice groove going on at Aisledash, it&#39;s time to get back to some old-fashioned self-centered blogging. </p>\n\n<ul><li>It must be the cabin fever, but I&#39;ve lately become obsessed with my hair. I want to go from <a href=\"http://whoorl.com/archives/562\">this</a> to this:<a href=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/12/17/061307_holmes_400x400.jpg\"><img alt=\"061307_holmes_400x400\" border=\"0\" class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef0120a93cdfe5970b\" height=\"300\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef0120a93cdfe5970b-pi.jpg\" title=\"061307_holmes_400x400\" width=\"300\" /></a>\n\n\n</li></ul>\n\n\n\n<p>(Somebody stop me before it&#39;s too late!)</p>\n\n<ul><li>The three of us are sick again (how my husband manages to escape evil winter viruses is beyond me) and we are YET again packing to go on another trip. We&#39;re spending Christmas at my parent&#39;s house in Miami, and it&#39;s not a moment too soon, because it&#39;s currently 26 degrees out and our driveway is a lovely pool of black ice. I have no desire to leave my house, none at all, and Sebastian is in full agreement. The 8 month-old is the one suffering from cabin fever, and the poor thing doesn&#39;t understand just how miserable it is out there. </li></ul>\n\n<ul><li>I actually have this recurrent nightmare that we&#39;re going to come back from our trip only to find that our house is completely snowed in. That we&#39;re going to get to our house and all the doors are blocked by piles of that icy snow we have now. What do you do then? Do you suppose cad drivers carry ice picks in their trunks?</li></ul>\n','Let\'s get back to talking about me...','\n','publish','open','open','','lets-get-back-to-talking-about-me','','','2007-12-17 13:33:10','2007-12-17 13:33:10','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=374',0,'post','',4),(375,1,'2007-12-11 20:56:04','2007-12-11 20:56:04','<p>Mom #1 : I&#39;d been trying to get my husband to kill a fly that had been in the bathroom all day. It was driving me crazy! I finally told him I&#39;d give him 10 blowjobs if he killed it. You never saw a man kill a fly so quickly.</p>\n\n<p>Mom #2 : Wow. You must really hate flies.</p>\n\n<p>(I love my mom friends.)</p>\n','This is what they call positive reinforcement','\n','publish','open','open','','this-is-what-they-call-positive-reinforcement','','','2007-12-11 20:56:04','2007-12-11 20:56:04','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=375',0,'post','',3),(376,1,'2007-12-10 06:39:00','2007-12-10 06:39:00','<p>Anxious parents: its time to put your feet up and relax.&#0160; It’s OK to dump the flashcards, shut off the Mozart, and turn off those obnoxious Baby Einstein DVDs.&#0160; Turns out the very best thing you can do for your child’s intellectual development is to let them play with plain old blocks.</p>\n\n<p>As it turns out, my laissez-faire approach to parenting is actually a brilliant strategic move.&#0160; Phew! </p>\n\n<p>This article in the <a href=\"http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/magazine/articles/2007/10/28/rush_little_baby/\">Boston Globe Magazine</a> brings up a couple of interesting points about the wisdom of letting children develop at their own pace; the theory is that children that peak too early academically suffer from “neurological crowding” where too much information too soon actually clogs up synapses in the brain that could be used for more creative tasks in later years.&#0160; Late bloomers tend to outperform early achievers because their brains develop later, say at around 12 years versus 8 years, so their brains adapt to a more complex world.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>Makes sense to me. </p>\n\n<p>The author also warns about the very real risk that late bloomers, despite having greater potential than early achievers, may never realize that potential because they don’t meet the unreasonable expectations of today’s competitive childhood academic environment.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>Remember kids, all work and no play is stupid.</p>\n','Turns out I\'m brilliant instead of lazy','\n','publish','open','open','','turns-out-im-brilliant-instead-of-lazy','','','2007-12-10 06:39:00','2007-12-10 06:39:00','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=376',0,'post','',2),(377,1,'2007-12-07 22:16:53','2007-12-07 22:16:53','<p>Hello!&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>I couldn&#39;t bear to look at the below any longer. I can imagine what you&#39;re thinking: WE LEFT A COMMENT ALREADY, LEAVE US ALONE. I know! Sorry! But thanks to all of you that stopped by and especially to those of you that left comments saying how pretty the New England Mamas site is -- because I designed it myself! I&#39;m so proud of it, but I can&#39;t rest on my laurels since I&#39;ve promised to have a new design for each season and winter begins on the 22nd this year so I better come up with something soon. </p>\n\n<p>But I wanted to tell you that there&#39;s a reason, a very GOOD reason I haven&#39;t updated (not that you asked), and that is that I&#39;ve started a job. No, I didn&#39;t lose my mind and go back to brand management - don&#39;t worry, I&#39;m not about to start blogging about focus groups and spreadsheets - I like you all way too much for that. No, my new job is a blogging job, and this was my training week, so I posted 11 times in seven days. You all know that I&#39;m not used to that at all. I&#39;m exhausted. I have nothing else to say. Other than I&#39;m the newest blogger over at <a href=\"http://www.aisledash.com/bloggers/roxanna-sarmiento/\">Aisledash</a>, AOL&#39;s wedding blog, and I&#39;ll be blogging about stuff I love - parties, beauty, etiquette and all sorts of lovely things. If you know someone who&#39;s planning a wedding, or if you just love weddings (who doesn&#39;t!) send them our way. </p>\n\n<p>Next week: More content, less sending you elsewhere. Have a great weekend!</p>\n','Not much to say, except...','\n','publish','open','open','','not-much-to-say-except','','','2007-12-07 22:16:53','2007-12-07 22:16:53','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=377',0,'post','',3),(378,1,'2007-12-03 11:26:15','2007-12-03 11:26:15','<p>Get over there and win something:</p>\n\n<p><a alt=\"Visit New England Mamas\" href=\"http://www.newenglandmamas.typepad.com/\" target=\"_blank\"><img class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa3a0d1970c\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa3a0d1970c.gif\" /></a></p>\n\n<p>You don&#39;t have to live in New England...so click on the button.&#0160; Good luck!</p>\n','Who doesn\'t like FREE STUFF?','\n','publish','open','open','','who-doesnt-like-free-stuff','','','2011-02-07 17:56:45','2011-02-07 17:56:45','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=378',0,'post','',0),(379,1,'2007-12-01 13:12:23','2007-12-01 13:12:23','<p>There is nothing more boring that reading about stomach viruses and nasty colds, so I&#39;ll spare you.&#0160; Just imagine me and my two children passing the viruses back and forth like hot potatoes.&#0160; Then imagine the baby&#39;s fourth and fifth teeth breaking through simultaneously.&#0160; Oh, and don&#39;t forget my garage door breaking, trapping us in the garage for a bit.&#0160; And then when we finally make our escape (to a fun trip to the pediatrician&#39;s on a Saturday morning) discovering that both my front tires are dangerously low on air.&#0160; Cue me having to beg for someone (anyone!) to help me figure out what to do.&#0160; Thank goodness for kind strangers (who still took the last $10 I had in my purse because I felt I had to tip and thought it would be tacky to ask for five bucks back.)&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>(It would&#39;ve been tacky, right?)</p>\n\n<p>Then imagine my husband being far, far away (in Europe), missing all the fun.</p>\n\n<p>This has been going on since Wednesday.&#0160; I&#39;ve lost 3 pounds already.&#0160; Bah.</p>\n\n<p>I do have really exciting news that I can&#39;t wait to share.&#0160; It&#39;s great, trust me.&#0160; But both kids are asleep, and I&#39;m going to join them.</p>\n\n<p>See you next week.&#0160; Be good and wash your hands after you&#39;re done reading.&#0160; I wouldn&#39;t want you to catch this too.</p>\n','Sick, sicker and sickest','\n','publish','open','open','','sick-sicker-and-sickest','','','2007-12-01 13:12:23','2007-12-01 13:12:23','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=379',0,'post','',6),(380,1,'2007-11-28 13:13:02','2007-11-28 13:13:02','<p>Some of you know that I&#39;m one of the <a href=\"http://newenglandmamas.typepad.com/new_england_mamas/\">New England Mamas</a>.&#0160; Have you checked out our blog yet?&#0160; We&#39;ve got some of the best bloggers in New England (and me!) and they&#39;re smart and witty and brilliant storytellers AND they&#39;re devastatingly gorgeous.&#0160; &#0160;<a href=\"http://newenglandmamas.typepad.com/new_england_mamas/meet-the-mamas.html\">Take a look and see.</a> </p><p>The official launch date is next week so we&#39;re going to give away tons of great stuff to celebrate - some of it from mom-owned companies based right here in New England.&#0160; If you don&#39;t stop by next week and win something, I may just have to keep everything for myself.</p>\n\n<p>So never mind.&#0160; Don&#39;t add us to your feed reader or anything.<br /></p><br />\n','New England Mamas Giftravaganza!','\n','publish','open','open','','new-england-mamas-giftravaganza','','','2007-11-28 13:13:02','2007-11-28 13:13:02','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=380',0,'post','',2),(381,1,'2007-11-27 14:33:02','2007-11-27 14:33:02','<p>With a four day weekend tantalizingly ahead of us, my husband and I discussed how we could fill that time.&#0160; A short getaway to Montreal?&#0160; Shopping for much-needed furniture perhaps?&#0160; Sleeping in?</p>\n\n<p>Wrong!</p>\n\n<p>While those things sound fantastic we&#39;re now knee-deep in this parenting gig and that means that our precious stretch of &quot;free&quot; time would have to be filled up with more important things.&#0160; Things like teaching a 2.9 year old the art of making &quot;pee-pee&quot; and &quot;poo-poo&quot; in the &quot;potty.&quot;</p>\n\n<p>(Those of you looking for some erudite discussion on...anything really should cut your loses and click away now.)</p>\n\n<p>Yes my friends, this would be <u>the</u> weekend that our toddler would be potty trained SO HELP US GOD.</p>\n\n<p>We were optimistic as we started the process Thursday morning.&#0160; We gave Sebastian his first pair of big boy pants -- teeny tiny blue Bob The Builder underpants.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>&quot;Such a big boy!&quot;&#0160; We cooed with proud tears in our eyes.&#0160; &quot;No more diapers for you!&#0160; You tell us when you have to make pee-pee, OK?&quot;</p>\n\n<p>&quot;I big boy!&quot;&#0160; he said, and ran off to play in the living room.</p>\n\n<p>My baby.&#0160; Gone!&#0160; Just like that.</p>\n\n<p>Except that my husband spent the entire day changing our son&#39;s clothes and mopping the floors.&#0160; Because our big boy thought that he was supposed to tell us he had peed AFTER the fact.&#0160; He did this over and over again.</p>\n\n<p>Thankfully there was a turkey keeping me busy all day, so I simply couldn&#39;t be bothered with the unsavory job of cleaning up after a pottier-in-training.&#0160; I only tell you this so I can include a picture of the fruit of my labors:</p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/11/27/dscn5341.jpg\"><img alt=\"Dscn5341\" border=\"0\" class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39e0c970c\" height=\"225\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39e0c970c-pi.jpg\" title=\"Dscn5341\" width=\"300\" /></a>\n\n\n<br /><em>My mother asked for evidence that I can indeed roast a turkey.&#0160; This one&#39;s for you Mom!&#0160; <br />(and Martha Stewart)<br />(OK, so my Lil&#39; Butterball looks a little bit naked.&#0160; It needs some dressing it up, don&#39;t you think?&#0160; But that&#39;s neither here nor there</em>.)</p>\n\n\n\n<p>As you may have guessed, Friday wasn&#39;t spent shopping for bargains.&#0160; I was busy sprinting between the laundry room and the potty room all while keeping Sebastian off the furniture.</p>\n\n<p>Saturday was more of the same.&#0160; Except that we gave up just a tiny bit and put diapers on the boy, since we still had to catch up on all the laundry from the first two days.&#0160; Oh, and Sebastian had not pooped once since this whole ordeal began.&#0160; Things were not looking good.</p>\n\n<p>I woke up on Sunday determined to give my husband the &quot;we gave it a shot, but <em>clearly</em> he&#39;s not ready and we should try again later&quot; speech because I was tired of this.&#0160; I was trying to figure exactly when &quot;later&quot; would be (would his 15th birthday be too late?) when Sebastian jumped up from the breakfast table and announced, &quot;I need to go potty! I need potty!&quot;</p>\n\n<p>Off we went, and lo, there was much pee-pee and poo-poo in the potty.&#0160; And there was much rejoicing and videotaping and many long-distance calls were placed where a child&#39;s squeaky voice exclaimed:</p>\n\n<p>&quot;I use the potty!&#0160; YAY!&quot;</p>\n\n<p>And there was much flushing and very little diapering happily ever after.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>Don&#39;t you just love happy endings?</p>\n','A Very Soggy Story','\n','publish','open','open','','a-very-soggy-story','','','2007-11-27 14:33:02','2007-11-27 14:33:02','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=381',0,'post','',5),(382,1,'2007-11-22 07:14:00','2007-11-22 07:14:00','<p>Things I am Grateful for:</p>\n\n<ul><li>My husband - my partner-in-crime, the one person who knows how I like things, the person from whom I can&#39;t hide my true feelings and who makes me laugh everyday - all while looking like James Bond his tuxedo. Rawr. </li>\n\n<li>Sebastian - my &quot;big-boy&quot; pint-sized ball of energy and wit.</li>\n\n<li>Benjamin - the baby who will soon take over the world.&#0160; He is charisma personified.</li>\n\n<li>My family - you&#39;re all awesome and you know it.</li>\n\n<li>My friends - for everything. </li>\n\n<li>That dark chocolate and red wine are actually good for you.&#0160; Thank you Jebus!</li>\n\n<li><a href=\"http://www.bbcamerica.com/content/100/index.jsp\">How Clean is Your House</a> - for making me feel like a domestic goddess while I watch daytime television instead of dusting or whatever it is you&#39;re supposed to be doing.</li>\n\n<li>All-Wheel-Drive</li>\n\n<li>That my cousin the Marine survived a bomb attack and got back from Iraq in one piece.</li>\n\n<li>Totally related to the above bullet point - that election day is less than a year away and people are (finally!) waking up to Bush&#39;s fundamentalist hypocrisy.&#0160; Amen!</li>\n\n<li>Luxe environmentalism.&#0160; God, I hate patchouli.</li>\n\n<li>Jeans that hide a multitude of sins</li>\n\n<li>That I actually enjoy yoga and pilates.&#0160; Because I also love brownies.</li>\n\n<li>Boxer dogs</li>\n\n<li>Size 7 diapers.</li>\n\n<li>Courtesy pre-boarding for families traveling with children.</li>\n\n<li>Pumpkin pie, pumpkin soup, pumpkin ravioli.&#0160; You get the picture.</li>\n\n<li>Figs</li>\n\n<li>Fall foliage</li>\n\n<li>That ballerina flats are trendy now, so I can add to my collection with abandon</li></ul>\n\n<p>And you!&#0160; Thank you for reading and for your comments and emails.&#0160; Have a Happy Thanksgiving!</p>\n','I do more than just complain...','\n','publish','open','open','','i-do-more-than-just-complain','','','2007-11-22 07:14:00','2007-11-22 07:14:00','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=382',0,'post','',4),(383,1,'2007-11-20 13:44:05','2007-11-20 13:44:05','<blockquote><p>&quot;Nothing bad happens to a writer.&quot; <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Leaving-Trace-Keeping-Alexandra-Johnson/dp/0316121568/ref=cm_lmf_tit_8_rdssss0\"><em>Nancy D. Kelton</em></a></p></blockquote><p>...or to a blogger, I would add.</p><blockquote>&#0160;</blockquote>\n','Quote of the day','\n','publish','open','open','','quote-of-the-day','','','2007-11-20 13:44:05','2007-11-20 13:44:05','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=383',0,'post','',0),(384,1,'2007-11-19 16:50:13','2007-11-19 16:50:13','<p><a href=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/11/19/dscn5334.jpg\"><img alt=\"Dscn5334\" border=\"0\" class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39e65970c\" height=\"133\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39e65970c-pi.jpg\" style=\"margin: 0px 0px 5px 5px; float: right;\" title=\"Dscn5334\" width=\"100\" /></a></p>\n\n<p> I love getting real mail.&#0160; Who doesn&#39;t love finding a <a href=\"http://diary.blogs.com/the_diary_of_a_reluctant_/2007/07/timing-is-every.html\">handwritten note</a> buried in the daily stacks of bills and catalogs?&#0160; It&#39;s one of life&#39;s simple pleasures, and as letters and cards become rarer the people who actually take the time to send something that needs a stamp are becoming something like everyday superheroes in my eyes.\n</p>\n\n<p> Don&#39;t get me wrong; I&#39;m not some Luddite who hates technology--I wouldn&#39;t be able to survive without my Mac.&#0160; But nothing beats the thrill of mail in my eyes.\n</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Problem is, who has the time to write long letters anymore?&#0160; I sure don&#39;t, but I don&#39;t let that stop me.&#0160; What I do instead is I keep a stack of postcards (remember those?) around, and when my Google calendar tells me that somebody&#39;s birthday is coming up, or when I want to send a quick thank you to someone, I&#39;m ready.&#0160; Instead of typing &quot;Thanks for dinner!&#0160; It was fun!&quot;&#0160; I write it on the back of a pretty postcard, stamp it, and leave it for the mailman to pick up.</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/11/19/dscn5293_2.jpg\"><img alt=\"Dscn5293_2\" border=\"0\" class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39e71970c\" height=\"133\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39e71970c-pi.jpg\" style=\"margin: 0px 0px 5px 5px; float: right;\" title=\"Dscn5293_2\" width=\"100\" /></a>I got this idea from an article I read about some super-executive who kept a stack of postcards at the office and scribbled little notes while on on conference calls.&#0160; The article\nadmired her multitasking skills; I just thought it was a neat idea.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p> So I started collecting bird-themed postcards (what is it with birds and me lately?) and started sending off short messages for any little reason.&#0160; I don&#39;t spend a lot of money, and sometimes I buy personalized ones at Etsy.&#0160; It&#39;&#39;s more fun than text messaging and it&#39;s tons more personal.<br /> </p>\n','It\'s Like Twitter on Paper','\n','publish','open','open','','its-like-twitter-on-paper','','','2007-11-19 16:50:13','2007-11-19 16:50:13','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=384',0,'post','',8),(385,1,'2007-11-14 10:30:26','2007-11-14 10:30:26','<p>I&#39;ve really been enjoying the <a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/groups/nobloshoemo/pool/\">NoBloShoeMo </a>Flickr pool started by <a href=\"http://fridayplaydate.com/\">Susan Wagner</a>.&#0160; I love shoes of course, but I think the reasons for my enjoyment run a little deeper.&#0160; In getting a peek at people&#39;s shoes you get to know the real person hiding behind the expected - buttoned-up lawyers jazzing up black pantsuits with leopard print shoes, SAHM wearing satin heels, rock chicks in dainty ballerina flats...I just love it.</p>\n\n<p>It has also reminded me of all the nice things I already have but keep hidden&#0160; for &quot;another day.&quot;&#0160; Do you do that too?&#0160; Do you save your nice things for a &quot;special&quot; day?&#0160; &#0160;</p>\n\n<p>Let me ask you something -- does that mythical &quot;special day&quot; ever come? </p>\n\n<p>I&#39;ve been doing that since I was little, saving my nice things for later, and what ends up happening is that I live my life in mediocre shoes and the pretty ones never get worn.&#0160; I even forget I have them, so when a special occasion does come up, I end up running to the store (I hate shopping!) at the last minute (hate!) and buying something out of desperation.</p>\n\n<p>It&#39;s hard to break this habit.&#0160; As I&#39;ve become more aware of what I&#39;m doing, I&#39;ve noticed that this nasty habit has spread from shoes and clothing to other parts of my life.&#0160; For example, I buy pretty notebooks compulsively - they sit on my bedside table and what do I carry in my bag?&#0160; Nothing!&#0160; I end up writing notes on old ATM receipts is what I do.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>So I&#39;ve decided to stop saving my nice things for later.&#0160; Later never comes.&#0160; I&#39;m enjoying the pretty things now.</p>\n\n<p>This morning, rather than drinking coffee out of my trusty old <a href=\"http://diary.blogs.com/the_diary_of_a_reluctant_/2007/10/thats-not-coffe.html\">frog mug</a> I drank it out of my fancy wedding china.&#0160; Because I already have it.&#0160; Pouring coffee and milk into it didn&#39;t take any extra effort.&#0160; And the result?&#0160; Much prettier.&#0160; I started the day in a better mood.&#0160; It made today special.</p>\n\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/diary/2018980658/\" title=\"Teacup by R. S. M., on Flickr\"><img alt=\"Teacup\" class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39d8b970c\" height=\"180\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39d8b970c-pi.jpg\" width=\"240\" /></a>\n\n</p>\n\n<p>Try it.&#0160; You know you have pretty things hidden at home.&#0160; Take them out and use them.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>Today is worth it, I promise.</p>\n','If not today, when?','\n','publish','open','open','','if-not-today-when','','','2007-11-14 10:30:26','2007-11-14 10:30:26','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=385',0,'post','',9),(386,1,'2007-11-12 17:19:41','2007-11-12 17:19:41','<p>My toddler says the most adorable things, I swear.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>While I&#39;m convinced of his brilliance and wit (I am his mother after all) I also realize that a lot of the time what is adorable is not necessarily <em>what</em> he says, but <em>how</em> he says it.</p>\n\n<p>For instance, Sebastian&#39;s latest expression is &quot;Oh my goodness!&quot;- it&#39;s adorable because it&#39;s the kind of thing I imagine a prim schoolmarm would say but then he says it like the toddler he is,&#0160; &quot;Oh my guuuudness, Mama!&#0160; I drop my milk!&quot;</p>\n\n<p>You have to hear it in person to fully appreciate the cuteness.&#0160; Trust me.</p>\n\n<p>Last night, we were in the car with my brother and sister-in-law and I wanted them to hear for themselves just how cute he sounds when he says it.</p>\n\n<p>&quot;Sebi,&quot;&#0160; I said. &quot;Can you say &#39;oh my goodness&#39; for Rudy and Evelyn?&quot;</p>\n\n<p>A little voice pipes up from his car seat, &quot;F*CK!&quot;</p>\n\n<p>Everyone in the car sat in stunned silence.&#0160; We&#39;ve all heard about positive reinforcement blah, blah, blah, so we ignored him.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>Still, I shot my husband a dirty look.</p>\n\n<p>&quot;Um...I got lost in Cambridge once, and I forgot he was in the backseat,&quot; he said.&#0160; I could tell this wasn&#39;t necessarily his proudest moment in parenting. </p>\n\n<p>&quot;F***ck!&#0160; F*ck-f*ckety-f*ckety f*ck f*ck!&#0160; F*ck!&#0160; F*ck!&#0160; Freaking f*cking f*ck!&#0160; Faaaack!&quot;</p>\n\n<p>Sebastian paused and looked out the window at the lights on Newbury street.&#0160; You could hear the muffled laughter by now but we couldn&#39;t help ourselves.&#0160; He continued with his monologue without ever looking at us.</p>\n\n<p>&quot;Oh f*ck.&#0160; F*cking f*ck! F*ckety-f*ck! F***ck!&#0160; F*cking f*ckers!&quot;</p>\n\n<p>I was about to pee my pants at this point.&#0160; My husband gained a bit of composure and tried to defend himself:&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>&quot;Come on!&#0160; Have you ever tried to drive in Cambridge without navigation?&quot; </p>\n\n<p><em>(It didn&#39;t take very long to get some strange Google searches - so I added the asterisks, but you get the idea.)</em></p>\n','Variations on a Theme','\n','publish','open','open','','variations-on-a-theme','','','2007-11-12 17:19:41','2007-11-12 17:19:41','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=386',0,'post','',6),(387,1,'2007-11-10 07:37:00','2007-11-10 07:37:00','<p>She met us in full chador.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>How could I be sure we were meeting the same woman?&#0160; The truth is that I couldn’t, and that was part of the excitement.&#0160; That is the beauty of travel; doing things one would never do at home.&#0160; Would I follow a masked stranger into an unfamiliar alley in my hometown?&#0160; Of course not!&#0160; I would stick to safe places and routines.&#0160; Here I didn’t know what was safe and what wasn’t so it was all the same to us.</p>\n\n<p>We followed her into a silent maze of streets, walls golden in the morning sun, her chador billowing in the breeze as she rushed deeper into the city.</p>\n\n<p>Marrakech was like a time capsule, its history laid bare for us to see and touch, but I knew so little about it.&#0160; I wanted to learn more.</p>\n\n<p>“Those are the baths,” she said in French, pointing at a crumbling building.&#0160; That was the extent of our tour.&#0160; The rest of the time we rushed behind her in silence, afraid of getting lost.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>We would see a person here and there - men dressed like wizards in full hoods and pointy shoes, women bringing laundry inside - but they never looked at us.&#0160; Still, I could feel eyes looking at us from behind curtains made from old bed sheets, so I knew we were not alone. </p>\n\n<p>Eventually she stopped at a large building.&#0160; Most of it was painted light blue, then it just stopped and was cement gray.&#0160; It looked like someone had run out of paint and just left it that way.</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/11/09/dscn4962.jpg\"><img alt=\"Dscn4962\" border=\"0\" class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa3a02f970c\" height=\"300\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa3a02f970c-pi.jpg\" title=\"Dscn4962\" width=\"400\" /></a>\n\n\n</p>\n\n<p>The girl that had been with her when we got our henna tattoos was outside playing with a large sheep, trying to smooth its matted coat.&#0160; Our guide ignored the girl so we followed her inside.&#0160; The room was large enough to be a comfortable living room, but then I noticed that it was lined with twin mattresses and bedding was piled up against the wall to form makeshift couches.&#0160; There was only one door in the room – the one we had just walked through.&#0160; There were a lot of people in there and they were looking at us expectantly.&#0160; We waved shyly.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>No reaction. </p>\n\n<p>Our guide went to a slight man dressed in white who was seated in a corner of the room and got on her knees.&#0160; She kissed his hands.</p>\n\n<p>We looked at each other, unsure what to do.&#0160; We started to kneel when the man stood up and motioned for us to stop.</p>\n\n<p>“There is no need.&#0160; It is not your tradition,” he said shaking his head.</p>\n\n<p>English!&#0160; We were relieved and started to apologize for not dressing appropriately, for not having a chador, but we had just arrived and did not know where to find one…</p>\n\n<p>He smiled and dismissively waved his hands.&#0160; Then he nodded at the woman who brought us to his house.&#0160; She got up and in one swift motion, took off her chador. She was a young girl – maybe 19 or so, just like us—not the older woman we had expected.&#0160; The man must have been her father.&#0160; It was then that I noticed that the other women inside the house weren’t wearing chadors either.&#0160; They wanted to make us feel at home, and for the first time, they smiled at us.</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/11/09/dscn4960.jpg\"><img alt=\"Dscn4960\" border=\"0\" class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa3a03f970c\" height=\"300\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa3a03f970c-pi.jpg\" title=\"Dscn4960\" width=\"400\" /></a>\n\n\n</p>\n\n<p>Our friend was a very pretty girl.&#0160; She had a wide, friendly smile and sparkly eyes.&#0160; She made sure we all sat down and served us tea while the rest of the family watched us from across the room.&#0160; We did our best to make conversation, but found that only the men and boys spoke English.&#0160; They asked us if we found Moroccans to be friendly and we had to laugh.&#0160; One of our friends was very popular with the taxi drivers and shopkeepers, and we had been jokingly offered up to 20 camels for her.</p>\n\n<p>“She’s going for 20 camels at this point,” I said, pointing at the girl we had dubbed Ms. Morocco. </p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/11/09/dscn4953.jpg\"><img alt=\"Dscn4953\" border=\"0\" class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa3a04a970c\" height=\"533\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa3a04a970c-pi.jpg\" title=\"Dscn4953\" width=\"400\" /></a>\n\n\n</p>\n\n<p>The ice was broken, and we sat down in small groups.&#0160; They asked us questions about life in Europe and America.&#0160; We asked them about life in Morocco.&#0160; They told us about the lavish weddings, and even pulled out family photo albums.&#0160; For a while, we felt right at home – all differences forgotten in the universal sharing of wedding stories.</p>\n\n<p>At one point, all the men except for the father left the room.&#0160; I wouldn’t have noticed it, save for the desperate bleating of the sheep that the girl had been playing with outside.&#0160; The men dragged it to the front door and started singing as they struggled with it and held it to the ground.</p>\n\n<p>Then one of the mustachioed uncles, a man who a few minutes ago had been laughing and drinking tea with us stood at the door with a large machete.&#0160; He went behind the sheep and slit its throat.&#0160; The animal’s blood spilled onto the tile floor, into our room, onto the feet of the men.&#0160; I was so shocked, I kept taking pictures (warning:&#0160; graphic, don&#39;t click on the thumbnails if you don’t like blood). </p>\n\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/11/09/dscn4963_3.jpg\" onclick=\"window.open(this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=800,height=600,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39;); return false\"><img alt=\"Dscn4963_3\" border=\"0\" height=\"56\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/dscn4963_3.jpg\" title=\"Dscn4963_3\" width=\"75\" /></a>\n\n\n</p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/11/09/dscn4964_3.jpg\" onclick=\"window.open(this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=800,height=600,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39;); return false\"><img alt=\"Dscn4964_3\" border=\"0\" height=\"56\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/dscn4964_3.jpg\" title=\"Dscn4964_3\" width=\"75\" /></a>\n\n\n</p>\n\n<p>There were a few minutes of terrible silence, where my friends and I didn’t know what to do.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>This had been the reason we had seen so many sheep and goats on the train - Eid al-Adha – the family was recreating the biblical story of Abraham’s obedience when asked to sacrifice of his first-born son.&#0160; But what next?</p>\n\n<p>The sheep was hung from the doorframe (our only way out for the room) so that all the blood could drain off its neck.&#0160; I couldn’t look at it anymore, and my stomach turned knowing that the logical next step was for us to eat the poor animal.&#0160; The women started lighting up coal stoves (indoors!&#0160; I was sure I would die of carbon monoxide poisoning!) and the men passed down raw cubes of meat to them.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>The meat cooked for less than five minutes, and then it was put on a plate besides some bread.&#0160; Our hosts graciously waited for us, the guests of honor, to take the first bites.</p>\n\n<p>I closed my eyes and chewed into the vilest piece of meat to ever cross my lips.&#0160; To this day I cannot eat lamb without my stomach turning.</p>\n\n<p>I was wrong about the carbon monoxide poisoning.&#0160; I was sure that instead I would be eaten alive by the worms that were surely infesting the undercooked meat I had just swallowed.&#0160; But what could I do?&#0160; There was a man with a bloody knife blocking our exit.</p>\n\n<p>So I ate it all.</p>\n\n<p>Our guide wanted to give us a gift when we finished lunch.&#0160; She gave us Moroccan makeovers and made up our eyes with her precious khol powder.&#0160; I wanted to give her a gift to thank her, so I dug into my backpack and found a gold lipstick tube.&#0160; I gave it to her, and she hugged me in gratitude.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>Soon, it was time for us to go back.&#0160; We said goodbye to our new friends, refused the offer of food for later, and headed out onto streets that suddenly didn’t seem so unfamiliar.</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/11/09/dscn4961.jpg\"><img alt=\"Dscn4961\" border=\"0\" class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa3a04e970c\" height=\"300\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa3a04e970c-pi.jpg\" title=\"Dscn4961\" width=\"400\" /></a>\n\n\n</p>\n\n<p>Children were outside playing soccer.&#0160; Upon closer inspection, I noticed that instead of balls they were kicking charred sheep’s skulls.&#0160; It was like a scene in hell&#39;s playground, but we were getting used to this strange land.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>Later that day we headed out for the Sahara.&#0160; We were done with the city and crossed the Atlas mountains, marveling at their unfamiliar vistas, to travel deep into the desert on the back of camels.&#0160; We traveled with Bedouins with only a comet to light up the dark desert sky.</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/11/09/dscn4966.jpg\"><img alt=\"Dscn4966\" border=\"0\" class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa3a05c970c\" height=\"300\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa3a05c970c-pi.jpg\" title=\"Dscn4966\" width=\"400\" /></a></p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/11/09/dscn4969.jpg\"><img alt=\"Dscn4969\" border=\"0\" class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa3a066970c\" height=\"300\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa3a066970c-pi.jpg\" title=\"Dscn4969\" width=\"400\" /></a> </p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/11/09/dscn4968.jpg\"><img alt=\"Dscn4968\" border=\"0\" class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa3a070970c\" height=\"300\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa3a070970c-pi.jpg\" title=\"Dscn4968\" width=\"400\" /></a> </p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/11/09/dscn4971_2.jpg\"><img alt=\"Dscn4971_2\" border=\"0\" class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa3a084970c\" height=\"533\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa3a084970c-pi.jpg\" title=\"Dscn4971_2\" width=\"400\" /></a> </p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/11/09/dscn4970.jpg\"><img alt=\"Dscn4970\" border=\"0\" class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa3a08f970c\" height=\"300\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa3a08f970c-pi.jpg\" title=\"Dscn4970\" width=\"400\" /></a> </p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://diary.blogs.com/the_diary_of_a_reluctant_/2007/10/my-first-job-ou.html\">PART I</a> </p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://diary.blogs.com/the_diary_of_a_reluctant_/2007/10/part-1-is-here-.html\">PART II</a></p>\n','Morocco: So Far From Suburbia III','\n','publish','open','open','','morocco-so-far-from-suburbia-iii','','','2007-11-10 07:37:00','2007-11-10 07:37:00','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=387',0,'post','',0),(388,1,'2007-11-09 13:00:04','2007-11-09 13:00:04','<p><a href=\"http://diary.blogs.com/the_diary_of_a_reluctant_/2007/08/toxic-toys-than.html\">But I told you so.</a></p>\n\n<p>In the past few days I&#39;ve been receiving a lot of traffic from people looking for toys that aren&#39;t made in China.&#0160; I&#39;m so glad!&#0160; I love that people are FINALLY realizing that where you spend your money makes a difference.&#0160; Hurrah for us!&#0160; The safety record of Chinese-made toys (and the US companies that contract out production to Chinese factories) is completely unacceptable.&#0160; End of story.</p>\n\n<p>Like I said before, right now it seems pretty impossible to find toys that aren&#39;t made in China, but you can do it.&#0160; <a href=\"http://diary.blogs.com/the_diary_of_a_reluctant_/2007/08/china-free-chri.html\">Here&#39;s the list that&#39;s getting all the traffic</a> - it took me all of 20 minutes to put together, so don&#39;t be discouraged if things start to sell out.</p>\n\n<p>Also check <a href=\"http://www.coolmompicks.com/safertoy07/\">Cool Mom Picks</a> - they have discounts!</p>\n','I hate to say this...','\n','publish','open','open','','i-hate-to-say-this','','','2007-11-09 13:00:04','2007-11-09 13:00:04','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=388',0,'post','',0),(389,1,'2007-11-06 15:08:42','2007-11-06 15:08:42','<p><em>UPDATE:&#0160; Last night, after spending another hour on the phone with GE I was informed that the part we needed was out of stock and that they couldn&#39;t service my fridge until next week.&#0160; Which would put me at 20 days without a refrigerator.</em></p>\n\n<p><em>That is the point where I LOST IT.&#0160; I don&#39;t even know what I said on the phone, but it must have been pretty scary because a repairman was at my house by 8 AM today.&#0160; With the part that supposedly was out impossible to get until next Wednesday.&#0160; &quot;I just happened to have one in my truck.&#0160; What a coincidence!&quot; he said. <br /><br />I don&#39;t see another GE appliance in our future is all I&#39;m saying.&#0160; I know that you can all sleep better at night knowing that I</em><em> can finally buy some ice cream.&#0160; </em></p>\n\n<p>This is my fridge:</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/11/06/dscn5183_4.jpg\"><img alt=\"Dscn5183_4\" border=\"0\" class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39c87970c\" height=\"399\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39c87970c-pi.jpg\" title=\"Dscn5183_4\" width=\"300\" /></a>\n\n\n</p>\n\n<p>It&#39;s pretty, isn&#39;t it?&#0160; I don&#39;t think I&#39;ve ever mentioned my refrigerator because, well, it&#39;s pretty boring.&#0160; It holds our food and keeps it cold.&#0160; That is, until Saturday, October 27th.&#0160; That was the day I woke up to find this:</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/11/06/dscn5186.jpg\"><img alt=\"Dscn5186\" border=\"0\" class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39c98970c\" height=\"225\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39c98970c-pi.jpg\" title=\"Dscn5186\" width=\"300\" /></a>\n\n\n</p>\n\n<p>The interior of my fridge was 71 degrees.&#0160; My house was 69 degrees.&#0160; I had a freezer packed with frozen appetizers because we were having a party the next day.&#0160; A party for 35 people.&#0160; And my mother in law was staying with us.&#0160; As was my brother in law and his wife.</p>\n\n<p>In other words, I NEEDED MY STUPID REFRIGERATOR TO WORK.</p>\n\n<p>But it was a Saturday, and the fridge is under warranty, and GE would not come out until Monday.</p>\n\n<p>So me, being resourceful and cool-headed (for once) called good friends of ours and asked (begged!) them for freezer space, as I did not want to serve our friends salmonella-infested quiche.&#0160; They understood, of course, and kindly made room for our food. The party was saved!&#0160; Hot drinks are on me!</p>\n\n<p>Monday came.&#0160; The GE repairman came.&#0160; He looked at our refrigerator for a total of 5 minutes and announced that he needed parts, and that they would not arrive until Friday.</p>\n\n<p>We were leaving town on Wednesday and would not be back until Sunday.&#0160; No worries!&#0160; I made an appointment for Monday (yesterday) and cleaned out the fridge.&#0160; We left it looking like this:</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/11/06/dscn5190.jpg\"><img alt=\"Dscn5190\" border=\"0\" class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39ca3970c\" height=\"399\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39ca3970c-pi.jpg\" title=\"Dscn5190\" width=\"300\" /></a>\n\n\n<br /><em>That night the cleaners feasted on Trader Joe&#39;s pizza and cheese, and our wallet cried real tears.&#0160; All that food!&#0160; Gone!&#0160; Poof!</em></p>\n\n<p>Yesterday, I waited all day for the GE guy to come.&#0160; He fixed our fridge and left.</p>\n\n<p>Joy!&#0160; Living without refrigeration when you have small children is damn near impossible.&#0160; I made plans to go grocery shopping for those things you never think to buy - things like mayonnaise and mustard.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>Last night I took a peek at the fridge before leaving for the store.&#0160; The temperature?&#0160; 74 degrees!&#0160; AAUURGH!<br /><br />I&#39;ve been stuck at home all day waiting for the GE man.&#0160; He just left, and informed me that he needs ANOTHER part and we will not have a fridge until Friday, maybe Monday. We have guests arriving Friday.&#0160; I don&#39;t need to tell you why this sucks.</p>\n\n<p>Sebastian is very upset that we have no food in the fridge.&#0160; He keeps saying &quot;We no food!&#0160; We need to go growcery!&#0160; I drive red cart!&#0160; I fix frid-gerator!&quot;&#0160; He makes me read him books about grocery shopping.&#0160; I think he thinks we&#39;re going to starve.&#0160; </p>\n','Tales From The Fridge','\n','publish','open','open','','tales-from-the-fridge','','','2007-11-06 15:08:42','2007-11-06 15:08:42','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=389',0,'post','',10),(390,1,'2007-11-05 11:14:18','2007-11-05 11:14:18','<p>Vacation was wonderful, even with the rain and winds that come with hurricanes/tropical storms.&#0160; We did get to explore a bit of Bermuda, and I have to say that Bermudians are some of the classiest people I have ever met.</p>\n\n<p>Then again, I never ran into Ross Perot or Catherine Zeta-Jones.</p>\n\n<p>We did spent a lot of time in the resort so we befriended a lot of the staff, which came in handy at cocktail hour.&#0160; I don&#39;t even know how much champagne I had our last night there, but I&#39;m happy to report that it was yummy.</p>\n\n<p>...<br />(Imagine some sort of segue here)<br />...</p>\n\n<p>November is a huge month in the online world.&#0160; You may remember that last year I participated in <a href=\"http://diary.blogs.com/the_diary_of_a_reluctant_/2006/10/winner_back_fro.html\">NaNoWriMo</a> and though I didn&#39;t end up with a 50,000 word Great American Novel I did end up with 16,035 words that sometimes don&#39;t make me want to stab my eyeballs with a sharp pencil.&#0160; But, yes, most of the time it was bad - spectacularly bad.&#0160; I guess that means I failed.&#0160; But I did learn a lesson about being realistic about how much I can accomplish in a day, and 1,700 words of fiction is not it.</p>\n\n<p>So this year, I&#39;ve decided to leave <a href=\"http://www.nanowrimo.org/\">NaNoWriMo</a> to the truly dedicated.&#0160; I flirted with the idea of doing <a href=\"http://www.nablopomo.com/\">NaBloPoMo</a>--but let&#39;s face it, I&#39;ll never post every day and I&#39;ve decided to stay away from the computer on the weekends.&#0160; &#0160;So that leaves me with the <a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/groups/nobloshoemo/pool/\">NoBloShoeMo</a> Flickr pool.&#0160; Thirty days of shoes?&#0160; I can do that!</p>\n\n<p>My first contribution?&#0160; My <a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/diary/1874176852/in/pool-nobloshoemo/\">slippers</a>, because they&#39;re toasty.</p>\n\n<p>(Check out my sidebar for more shoes.)</p>\n','November...and we are back at last!','\n','publish','open','open','','novemberand-we-are-back-at-last','','','2007-11-05 11:14:18','2007-11-05 11:14:18','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=390',0,'post','',2),(391,1,'2007-11-02 23:56:49','2007-11-02 23:56:49','<p>Dudes.&#0160; Duuudes.</p>\n\n<p>I was on a good blogging roll when life got in the way - sorry to drop you like that.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>In the past three weeks, we&#39;ve had eight house guests stay with us (age range: 9 months to my mother in law).&#0160; Breakfast meant a dozen eggs and endless espresso, plus I don&#39;t even know how jars of marmalade.&#0160; I made dinner almost every night. </p>\n\n<p>Oh, and our refrigerator broke.</p>\n\n<p>It was awesome, despite the technical difficulties.&#0160; I love house guests - catching up with friends and family, spoiling them, giving them a taste of our life.&#0160; There&#39;s nothing better than entertaining the right people.</p>\n\n<p>But this time it has left me exhausted - I was taking naps every afternoon and that left no time to finish my Morocco story.&#0160; Our last guest left on Tuesday night at 9 PM, and we were up until 2 AM packing and cleaning up the house.&#0160; Then we got up at 5 AM so that we could catch our flight to Bermuda, where we&#39;ve been flirting with <a href=\"http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071102/ts_nm/storm_noel_hurricane_dc\">Noel</a> the entire time.</p>\n\n<p>I firmly believe that things happen for a reason, as gale force winds mean that I&#39;ve spent the last two days sleeping and getting massages and facials at an amazing spa (one massage was so good I FORGOT MY NAME.&#0160; That&#39;s talent, people) instead of snorkeling or trying to be adventuresome or productive.</p>\n\n<p>Guilt-free laziness is priceless.&#0160; I&#39;ve got a couple more days of sloth left, and then I&#39;ll be back to finish my story.&#0160; I&#39;m going to finish before my brother and my sis-in-law arrive later next week.&#0160; I hope the fridge is working by then, because he likes his beer. </p>\n','Bermuda Breeze','\n','publish','open','open','','bermuda-breeze','','','2007-11-02 23:56:49','2007-11-02 23:56:49','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=391',0,'post','',2),(392,1,'2007-10-20 16:39:40','2007-10-20 16:39:40','<p><em>(<a href=\"http://diary.blogs.com/the_diary_of_a_reluctant_/2007/10/my-first-job-ou.html\">Part 1 is here</a>)</em></p>\n\n<p>We ate a light Tandoori lunch and drank Pepsi.&#0160; We were starting to get nervous about having traveled to this country alone.&#0160; The women hissed at us from underneath their <em>chadors</em> and the men simply ignored us. We stood out, a group of young female foreigners, despite wearing the most modest clothing we owned--long-sleeved shirts, baggy pants or long skirts, socks. We tried to be respectful despite the sickening heat, but the fact that we were traveling alone was seen as a threat by some of the locals. </p>\n\n<p>Still, we explored the Bazaar at Djemaa el Fna and were underwhelmed by the snake charmers.&#0160; The famed dentists were nowhere to be found.&#0160; Apparently the Square only came alive at night, but we were feeling vulnerable and there was no way we were going there after dark, fire eaters be dammed.&#0160; Instead, we went into the <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Souk\">souk</a> and did some shopping.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>It was much friendlier at the marketplace, where every shopkeeper was eager to invite us in for mint tea – and to by the way take a look at his beautiful handmade shawls/pewter jewelry/rugs.&#0160; My friend listened to a rug salesman tell her the story of how this rug was made by his mother and that one by his wife. I wandered off while sipping my mint tea and peeked underneath a couple of rugs:&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>‘MADE IN INDIA’</p>\n\n<p>‘FABRIQUE EN CHINE’ </p>\n\n<p>Bored and not wanting to spoil her fun, I went to the spice stand and watched the shopkeeper pop in and out of a patchwork of colors like a mole, rushing to mix flavors as the shoppers barked their orders.</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/10/20/dscn4958.jpg\"><img alt=\"Dscn4958\" border=\"0\" class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef0120a93ce0d6970b\" height=\"300\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef0120a93ce0d6970b-pi.jpg\" title=\"Dscn4958\" width=\"400\" /></a>&#0160; &#0160;</p>\n\n<p>I didn’t buy anything.&#0160; But still, the Moroccans kept offering tea.&#0160; Maybe it was all the sugar, but Amy and I decided to get some henna tattoos instead of buying worthless knicknacks.&#0160; We found a woman in a black chador working on another tourist.&#0160; She had a little girl with her.&#0160; In broken French we asked the girl if her mother could work on us and the woman in the chador nodded -- maybe smiling, maybe not.&#0160; When it was my turn she quickly mixed the henna paste and set to work on my upper arm, drawing with a plastic syringe.&#0160; I didn’t know what I wanted or how to ask for it, but she got to work anyways and I was soon decorated with an intricate lotus flower. </p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/10/20/dscn4959.jpg\" onclick=\"window.open(this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=800,height=600,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39;); return false\"><img alt=\"Dscn4959\" border=\"0\" class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef0120a93ce0d8970b\" height=\"300\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef0120a93ce0d8970b-pi.jpg\" title=\"Dscn4959\" width=\"400\" /></a> </p>\n\n<p>I smiled and thanked her.&#0160; It was beautiful, even if it was not authentic.</p>\n\n<p>She worked on my friend Amy in silence, and didn&#39;t speak until she was done.&#0160; We waved goodbye after we paid the girl, but the woman kept going on and on in French.&#0160; I couldn’t understand what she wanted, so I figured she wanted more money.&#0160; I pulled out a few dollars.</p>\n\n<p>She refused and grew more agitated, black fabric flapping everywhere.</p>\n\n<p>We gestured for her to follow us as we looked for our Belgian friend Sylvie.&#0160; We finally found her looking at some rings.&#0160; The woman in the chador spoke to her, and seemed to calm down when she realized Sylvie spoke French.</p>\n\n<p>“She wants to invite us to meet her family.”</p>\n\n<p>Silence.&#0160; Somebody finally said OK.</p>\n\n<p>“We’re to meet her here at 7:00 am tomorrow.”</p>\n','Morocco: So Far From Suburbia II','\n','publish','open','open','','morocco-so-far-from-suburbia-ii','','','2007-10-20 16:39:40','2007-10-20 16:39:40','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=392',0,'post','',4),(393,1,'2007-10-19 11:31:09','2007-10-19 11:31:09','<p>My first job out of college was as a marketing assistant in the beauty industry.&#0160; Manual labor is part of the job when you&#39;re that low in the totem pole.&#0160; For me, that meant unpacking endless boxes of product samples and marketing materials--which isn’t too bad when you’re a young beauty junkie because knowing that I got to see all this stuff before everybody else was still exciting then.&#0160; A few months into the job, by the time my life of freedom was a distant memory, I was unpacking one such box.&#0160; It was full of cosmetics that weren’t available in the US and had been sent to us for possible inclusion in the duty-free assortment.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>Among the perfume bottles and pre-wrapped boxes of miniature lotions – meant for clueless businessmen looking for a last-minute gift for ‘the wife’ -- I found a long thin metal tube.&#0160; It was just a lipstick (I remembered buying one at <a href=\"http://www.elcorteingles.es/\">El Corte Ingles</a> when I was studying abroad in <a href=\"http://www.andalucia.com/cities/granada.htm\">Granada, Spain</a>), but it brought back memories of dusty alleys and of the sweet taste of mint tea.</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/10/19/dscn4965_2.jpg\" onclick=\"window.open(this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=800,height=600,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39;); return false\"><img alt=\"Dscn4965_2\" border=\"0\" class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39aeb970c\" height=\"300\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39aeb970c-pi.jpg\" title=\"Dscn4965_2\" width=\"400\" /></a>\n\n\n</p>\n\n<p>I was in Morocco in April of 1997 because it’s what you did when you were an exchange student in Granada.&#0160; We first made plans for a large group, but when the guys heard that the girls in Ibiza were easy they changed their minds at the last minute.&#0160; So instead of nine, we were a group of five - all girls.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>(Jorge, our student advisor, had begged us not to go.&#0160; “Five females?&#0160; In Morocco?&#0160; Alone?&#0160; Are you mad?”&#0160; He was a law student and worried too much.) </p>\n\n\n\n<p>We left <a href=\"http://earth.esa.int/ew/special_events/Gibraltar/_images/strait_gibraltar.gif\">Algeciras</a> on an rusty ferry boat and crossed the Strait of Gibraltar, the famous rock getting smaller and smaller behind us as we got closer to the African shore.&#0160; As soon as we docked in Tangiers everything was different --the light red and hazy, everything soaked with the smells of cooking food.&#0160; It was crowded and people came at us from everywhere.&#0160; We ignored the many offers for private taxicabs and ducked into the relative calm of the train station, rushing to catch the last train to Marrakech.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>I was relieved when the train pulled out of Tangiers.&#0160; It was dangerous and I was glad to leave.&#0160; The train was dark and I tried not to think about the condition of our cabin as I forced myself to go to sleep.</p>\n\n<p>It was morning when the train reached the end of the line.&#0160; My friend Amy and I quickly gathered our things and looked for the rest of the group.&#0160; It was a madhouse and I wasn&#39;t sure how we would find them but we soon heard them.</p>\n\n<p>They didn’t look good.</p>\n\n<p>“What’s the deal with all the sheep?&#0160; It was like a fucking zoo in there.”\n\n</p>\n\n<p>Amy and I were in much better spirits because we had snatched the last two first-class cots on the train.&#0160; For $12 we got hard benches to sleep on and shared quarters with strangers.&#0160; At least we had some semblance of privacy.&#0160; Our cabin mates were already asleep in their bunks when we entered and had left by the time we had woken up the next morning.</p>\n\n<p>The rest of them were stuck in the regular cars and had to do their best to sleep while sitting up.&#0160; To make things worse, it seemed that every other person on the train was carrying either live sheep or chickens—and they did it like it was the most normal thing in the world. We didn&#39;t know it, but everyone was going home for <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eid_ul-Adha\">Eid al-Adha</a> and the whole scene was not unlike that at American airports the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, except that here people carried livestock instead of wheeled luggage.</p>\n\n<p>It was still early in <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marrakech\">Marrakech</a> and after dizzying rides in little private taxicabs we finally got to our hotel, a little hole in the wall called <a href=\"http://www.hotel-ali.hostel-marrakech.co.uk/\">Hotel Ali</a>.&#0160; It was perfect for us, cheap, clean, and most importantly, it overlooked the <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Djemaa_el_Fna\">Djemaa el Fna</a> square.</p>\n\n<p>We were ready to explore.&#0160; One of the girls wanted to find a carpet.&#0160; I was determined to photograph <a href=\"http://www.grayslaker.com/Pictures/D-Snakecharmer.jpg\">a snake charmer</a> and a <a href=\"http://www.grayslaker.com/Pictures/soukdentist.jpg\">Moroccan dentist</a>.&#0160; I never got my pictures.</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/10/19/dscn4957.jpg\" onclick=\"window.open(this.href, &#39;_blank&#39;, &#39;width=800,height=600,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0&#39;); return false\"><img alt=\"Dscn4957\" border=\"0\" class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39afe970c\" height=\"300\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39afe970c-pi.jpg\" title=\"Dscn4957\" width=\"400\" /></a></p>\n\n<p>More <a href=\"http://diary.blogs.com/the_diary_of_a_reluctant_/2007/10/part-1-is-here-.html\">here</a>.<br />\n\n\n</p>\n','Morocco: So Far From Suburbia','\n','publish','open','open','','morocco-so-far-from-suburbia','','','2007-10-19 11:31:09','2007-10-19 11:31:09','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=393',0,'post','',2),(394,1,'2007-10-18 10:16:19','2007-10-18 10:16:19','<p><a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/diary/1616873118/\" title=\"Photo Sharing\"><img alt=\"Good Morning!\" class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39de2970c\" height=\"375\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39de2970c-pi.jpg\" width=\"500\" /></a></p>\n\n<p>Guess who spoiled a perfectly delicious cup of coffee by pouring rice cereal in it?&#0160; In other news, the baby is remarkably alert today.&#0160; </p>\n','That\'s not Coffee-Mate','\n','publish','open','open','','thats-not-coffee-mate','','','2007-10-18 10:16:19','2007-10-18 10:16:19','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=394',0,'post','',11),(395,1,'2007-10-17 11:39:02','2007-10-17 11:39:02','<p><a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/diary/1600936838/\" title=\"Photo Sharing\"><img alt=\"Fall Welcome\" class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39f9c970c\" height=\"500\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39f9c970c-pi.jpg\" width=\"375\" /></a>\n\n</p>\n\n<p>New banner!</p>\n\n<p>I was planning to take pictures of the kids out on the stoop, but Sebastian would have none of it.&#0160; So I took pictures of the flowers instead, because flowers don&#39;t throw tantrums.</p>\n\n<p>Then I went inside and made a new banner based on the color of the flowers.&#0160; &#0160;<br /> </p>\n\n<p>I love fall colors.</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/diary/1600045689/\" title=\"Photo Sharing\"><img alt=\"Mums\" class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39fc4970c\" height=\"375\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39fc4970c-pi.jpg\" width=\"500\" /></a>\n\n</p>\n','Gold and Burgundy','\n','publish','open','open','','gold-and-burgundy','','','2007-10-17 11:39:02','2007-10-17 11:39:02','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=395',0,'post','',13),(396,1,'2007-10-15 10:58:51','2007-10-15 10:58:51','<p>I spent a good part of yesterday evening getting organized so that I can finally stop <a href=\"http://diary.blogs.com/the_diary_of_a_reluctant_/2007/10/inertia.html\">wasting so much time</a>.</p>\n\n<p>I woke up at 6:30, showered and was ready to go <em>before the kids were awake</em>.&#0160; This has never happened before, but I was a woman on a mission.&#0160; Today, I was going to Get Things Done.</p>\n\n<p>And!&#0160; Today is babysitter day, so I was going to have a fabulous morning of productivity.</p>\n\n<p>\nI scheduled my first exercise class in a long, long time so I arranged my morning around it (because health comes first!)&#0160; My plan was this:</p>\n\n<p>9:00 AM - 10:00 Breakfast and reading at the coffee shop.&#0160; <br />10:15 - 11:15 Pilates.&#0160; <br />11:30-12:00 Shopping for a baby shower my playgroup is throwing this weekend.&#0160; <br />12:00 - 12:30 Quick grocery run.</p>\n\n<p>Instead, this is what happened:</p>\n\n<p>8:45 AM Grab keys to head out the door.<br />8:46 AM <em>Where are my keys?</em><br />9:00 AM&#0160; <em>Seriously, where are my keys?</em><br />9:15 AM (email husband who is all the way in San Francisco) &quot;Check your pockets - do you have my keys?&quot;<br />9:30 AM&#0160; Think to check safe for a spare set of keys.&#0160; Forget combination.&#0160; Get self locked out of safe for two hours.<br />9:45 AM<em>&#0160;</em>(email husband) &quot;OMG WE&#39;RE STRANDED!&#0160; SEND HELP!&quot;<br />9:46 - 10:30 Turn entire house upside down while sitter, toddler and self look for keys.<br />10:31 AM Find keys in pocket of jacket left in the dirty clothes pile (also known as Mt. Rush-no-more)</p>\n\n<p>I have two hours of sitting left and I&#39;m about to run out the door like a madwoman, trying to get everything done at the last minute.&#0160; In other words, it&#39;s business as usual around here.&#0160; Maybe I should stop trying to fight the damn universe.</p>\n\n<p>Mostly, I&#39;m pissed that was up at 6:30 AM for nothing.&#0160; </p>\n','What\'s that saying about the road to hell?','\n','publish','open','open','','whats-that-saying-about-the-road-to-hell','','','2007-10-15 10:58:51','2007-10-15 10:58:51','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=396',0,'post','',12),(397,1,'2007-10-13 16:14:05','2007-10-13 16:14:05','<p>Benjamin’s belly smells sweet - like meringue.</p>\n','Baby Saturday 4','\n','publish','open','open','','baby-saturday-4','','','2007-10-13 16:14:05','2007-10-13 16:14:05','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=397',0,'post','',1),(398,1,'2007-10-12 09:44:53','2007-10-12 09:44:53','<p>I waste time every day and I don’t know why.</p>\n\n<p>What am I so afraid of?&#0160; What do I keep putting off?&#0160; What am I afraid of accomplishing?&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>It’s not like I set out to waste time; it simply slips away.&#0160; I have no respect for it.&#0160; I always thought that given free time I would fill it well.&#0160; When my days were busy working for others I had so many ideas and plans for how I would fill MY time when it finally became mine.&#0160; Now that my time is mostly my own, I have found that what I’m best at is wasting time.&#0160; I don’t know what to do with it.&#0160; Time scares me.&#0160; I tell myself I’m a perfectionist, but the more I try to spend my time perfectly, the quicker the minutes tick away into nothing.</p>\n\n<p>My master procrastination skills are a big part of the problem.&#0160; I’ve read that the reason so many of us procrastinate is that we’re adrenaline junkies--that we’re addicted to the rush of accomplishing things at the last minute.&#0160; Because deadlines drive us only when they loom large.&#0160; So instead of doing things we procrastinate.&#0160; And if you think about it, procrastination is nothing more than waiting.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>I hate waiting.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>I hate waiting in lines, I have waiting on the phone, I hate waiting for food to heat up in the microwave.&#0160; Yet I procrastinate like a champ.&#0160; It makes no sense.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>To think of all the amazing things that can be accomplished in a day, an hour, a minute.&#0160; Instead I put it off.&#0160; And what do I have to show for it?&#0160; Nothing. </p>\n\n<p>You know that dreadful feeling on Sunday afternoons when you realize that you don’t know where the weekend went?&#0160; Those precious two days you spent all week waiting for?&#0160; Gone.</p>\n\n<p>I’m starting to feel that way all week.&#0160; That is scary.</p>\n\n<p>I’ve got to stop waiting.&#0160; I’ve got to start right now.&#0160; Be in this moment.&#0160; Savor it.&#0160; Touch it.&#0160; Feel it.&#0160; Live it.</p>\n\n<p>Because the days, they go by so fast.&#0160; </p>\n','Inertia','\n','publish','open','open','','inertia','','','2007-10-12 09:44:53','2007-10-12 09:44:53','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=398',0,'post','',6),(399,1,'2007-10-07 09:20:00','2007-10-07 09:20:00','<p>Last Saturday, my husband and I went out for a date.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>The sitter fed Sebastian his dinner while we dressed upstairs.&#0160; When it was time to go, I was giving the sitter last minute instructions when Sebastian pulls up my pant leg and points to my shoes.</p>\n\n<p>&quot;You wear Lady Shoes Mama!&quot; he said, pointing at my Italian kitten heels.</p>\n\n<p>&quot;And you wear Lady Bag!&quot;&#0160; he said, pointing to my decidedly non-diaper bag.</p>\n\n<p>&quot;Doesn&#39;t your Mama look pretty tonight?&quot; my husband asked.</p>\n\n<p>&quot;Yes,&quot;&#0160; said Sebastian as he looked at my outfit approvingly. Then he gave me a kiss and rearranged my bag so that it sat on the crook of my arm, rather than on my shoulder.</p>\n\n<p>&quot;That&#39;s better.&#0160; Bye Mama!&#0160; Bye Papa!&quot;</p>\n\n<p>I can&#39;t even begin to tell you how sweet it is to have boys.&#0160; Lucky me.</p>\n','Toddler Sundays 3','\n','publish','open','open','','toddler-sundays-3','','','2007-10-07 09:20:00','2007-10-07 09:20:00','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=399',0,'post','',8),(400,1,'2007-10-06 11:12:36','2007-10-06 11:12:36','<p>This has been a busy week for Benjamin:</p>\n\n<p>1.&#0160; He turned six months old<br />2.&#0160; He now has two teeth<br />3.&#0160; He can sit up with minimal assistance<br />4.&#0160; He&#39;s figured out that solids are a very good thing<br />5.&#0160; Most importantly, he&#39;s starting to nap for longer than 10 minutes at a time.&#0160; HALLELUJAH!\n</p>\n','Baby Saturdays 3','\n','publish','open','open','','baby-saturdays-3','','','2007-10-06 11:12:36','2007-10-06 11:12:36','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=400',0,'post','',3),(401,1,'2007-10-05 15:17:23','2007-10-05 15:17:23','<p>Today I went to the doctor.&#0160; (Don&#39;t worry, I&#39;m fine!)&#0160; I needed to go in to have a few things checked out, and can I tell you what&#39;s sad (other than the fact I&#39;m telling you about this)?&#0160; It felt <em>indulgent</em>.&#0160; The fact that I went to see someone wearing a white coat and they there to take care of <em>me</em> and ask questions about <em>me</em>, and it had nothing to do with my kids or my reproductive parts made me feel like I was pretty special.</p>\n\n<p>Which goes to show you that I&#39;m way overdue for a Spa or Salon visit of some sort, because I&#39;m starting to confuse internists with estheticians.&#0160; Not good.</p>\n\n<p>Of course, this illusion of indulgence didn&#39;t last very long.&#0160; In fact, it lasted about as long as it took for the nurse to close the exam room door and I was faced with an instructional poster detailing the correct procedure for collecting fecal specimens:</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/10/05/unknown.jpg\"><img alt=\"Unknown\" border=\"0\" class=\"image-full at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa398ab970c\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa398ab970c-pi.jpg\" title=\"Unknown\" /></a> </p>\n\n<p>Yes, I felt stupid whipping out my cell phone and taking a picture of this poster but I had to do it.&#0160; I may be currently living the carefree life of a SAHM, but once, not so long ago, I was a marketing worker bee and this poster brought back many emotions, not the least of which was empathy.&#0160; I know that somewhere out there, probably in New Jersey, there is a product manager at some medical device company who spent hours, maybe weeks, on this poster, probably more hours than were spent on strategy (so why did they spend so much time at school on <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marketing\">the 4 Ps</a>?&#0160; It&#39;s a rhetorical question.&#0160; I don&#39;t know.)</p>\n\n<p>This poor product manager (whose business card probably reads &quot;Manager, Fecal Testing Devices&quot; --let&#39;s pray that they&#39;re not single.&#0160; THE HORROR.) had to write a brief detailing what they needed (&quot;a poster about poop handling&quot;), and send it out to illustrators and ad agencies and then look at the work of people who have done similar illustrations, and then hire someone and send countless emails back and forth asking the illustrator to make the poop on the collection strip less obvious (and really, do we need an &quot;after&quot; shot?) and then they had to make the poop more, um, realistic, in order to illustrate correctly how to &quot;pierce the specimen in at least <strong><span style=\"font-size: 1.2em;\">5</span></strong> different sites&quot; only to come up with this work of art:\n\n</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/10/05/unknown1.jpg\"><img alt=\"Unknown1\" border=\"0\" class=\"image-full at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa398c4970c\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa398c4970c-pi.jpg\" title=\"Unknown1\" /> </a>\n\n\n</p>\n\n<p>And this process goes on and on, and there are meetings about the illustrations, and there are re-writes and copywriters are involved - as well as the legal department and the regulatory department - and yes, this as exciting as it sounds.<br /> </p>\n\n<p>Boy am I glad I no longer work in pharmaceutical marketing, is all.</p>\n\n<p>I was once in charge of three canker sore products.&#0160; I won&#39;t go into detail about how I spent precious hours of my life on illustrations for the packaging, and how to this day I can&#39;t help but stare people at CVS when they&#39;re standing in front of the canker sore treatments, probably waiting for me to leave them alone so that they can make this borderline embarrassing purchase IN PEACE.</p>\n\n<p>(No one ever looks at the illustrations.&#0160; Bah!)</p>\n\n<p>Oh, and in case you were wondering, my business card read &quot;Manager, Oral First Aids&quot; I kid you not.&#0160; I always made sure that final <em>s</em> was there.&#0160; Too bad I wasn&#39;t single at the time because I have a feeling that title would have made me VERY popular at bars.</p>\n','Marketing Pooh-Pooh','\n','publish','open','open','','marketing-pooh-pooh','','','2007-10-05 15:17:23','2007-10-05 15:17:23','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=401',0,'post','',12),(402,1,'2007-10-04 15:37:25','2007-10-04 15:37:25','<p>You guys are more awesome than I ever imagined!&#0160; Children&#39;s book authors, publisher&#39;s Clearinghouse Prize Givers, Garbage Women and the First Female Red Sox Player are among us.&#0160; And James Bond!&#0160; And a real live worm composting dude!</p>\n\n<p>We would have been a force to be dealt with at the playground.</p>\n\n<p>Thanks to those of you that played along.&#0160; You made my day.&#0160; (And feel free to answer my question <a href=\"http://diary.blogs.com/the_diary_of_a_reluctant_/2007/10/the-great-delur.html#comments\">here</a> if you didn&#39;t play along yesterday.&#0160; It&#39;s never too late!)</p>\n\n<p>Today, I took the baby for his 6-month shots and we had a bonus round of flu shots for everyone!&#0160; So what we have is a cranky group of people at Casa Miguelina.&#0160; This is all the posting I can manage today.&#0160; Check out <a href=\"http://nemamas.blogspot.com/\">New England Mamas</a> if you miss me.</p>\n','Singers and Cowboy Princesses and Spies, Oh My!','\n','publish','open','open','','singers-and-cowboy-princesses-and-spies-oh-my','','','2007-10-04 15:37:25','2007-10-04 15:37:25','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=402',0,'post','',2),(403,1,'2007-10-03 06:36:00','2007-10-03 06:36:00','<p><a href=\"http://www.schmutzie.com/2007/09/814-great-mofo-delurk-2007.html\" title=\"The Great Mofo Delurk 2007\"><img alt=\"The Great Mofo Delurk 2007\" border=\"0\" class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39a15970c\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39a15970c-pi.jpg\" /></a></p>\n\n<p>I enjoy writing here for many reasons, but the main one is that you guys are out there reading.&#0160; Some of you are complete strangers and some of you are friends.&#0160; I don&#39;t even write consistently and still you come back and read -- some of you leave comments, others send email, or you just call and tell me what you think.&#0160; Hearing from you is great and for that, I thank you.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>Most people, however, just read and move on.&#0160; That&#39;s perfectly fine of course, but today I have a favor to ask of you.&#0160; I would love to know who you are.&#0160; Please leave a short comment below.&#0160; (Actually, even if you comment regularly I&#39;d still love to hear from you.)&#0160; No need to be brilliant or witty.&#0160; Just tell me something about yourself.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>Don&#39;t know what to say?&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>Start by telling me your first name.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>I also would like to know, when you were a child and adults would ask, &quot;what do\nyou want to be when you grow up?&quot; what did you say?&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>I&#39;ll start!&#0160; My name is Roxanna.&#0160; I wanted to be a zoologist.&#0160; And a writer.&#0160; And a spy.&#0160; (I blame <a href=\"http://www.nationalgeographic.com/\">National Geographic</a> and <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harriet_the_Spy\"><em>Harriet the Spy</em></a>.)</p>\n\n<p>You know a lot about me already.&#0160; I can&#39;t wait to learn a little something about you.</p>\n','Enough about me...what about you?','\n','publish','open','open','','enough-about-mewhat-about-you','','','2007-10-03 06:36:00','2007-10-03 06:36:00','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=403',0,'post','',35),(404,1,'2007-10-02 06:14:00','2007-10-02 06:14:00','<p>If there is one thing I&#39;ve learned since having kids is to never say &quot;I&#39;d never&quot;.&#0160; All it takes is one off-handed comment--along the lines of &quot;I&#39;d never feed my children McDonald&#39;s!&quot;--for you to find yourself on a lonely stretch of road with a screaming, starving child and nothing but the Golden Arches or Doublemint gum as dinner options.&#0160; Suddenly, McNuggets start to look pretty damn healthy and you look like an ass.</p>\n\n<p>Anytime I start to criticize a mother (shameful, but it happens!) I stop myself because I know what&#39;s coming.</p>\n\n<p>I call it Mama Karma and I&#39;ve learned to respect it.</p>\n\n<p>Let&#39;s say I&#39;m at the park and some kid starts to cry because they don&#39;t want to share the sandbox.&#0160; I mean, come on!&#0160; You&#39;re at the park, right?&#0160; Before my eyes are done with the involuntary eye rolling, guess who&#39;s kid starts screaming because a baby touched him and THE WIND!&#0160; IT IS BLOWING! WAAA!</p>\n\n<p>Karma.&#0160; Right. </p>\n\n<p>I think most of us have experienced this, and this is why the people who tend to hold doors open for me when I&#39;m pushing a stroller and trying to balance a huge bag and a coffee are other mothers (or fathers!) pushing strollers.&#0160; Because they know.&#0160; We have to watch out for each other. </p>\n','Mama Karma','\n','publish','open','open','','mama-karma','','','2007-10-02 06:14:00','2007-10-02 06:14:00','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=404',0,'post','',10),(405,1,'2007-10-01 21:58:00','2007-10-01 21:58:00','<p>Oops!&#0160; That&#39;s the post for the day my <em>other</em> fantasy comes true!</p>\n\n<p>Today I&#39;d like to thank Julie of <a href=\"http://theartfulflower.blogspot.com/\">Using My Words</a> fame, for nominating <a href=\"http://diary.blogs.com/the_diary_of_a_reluctant_/2007/09/employee.html\">this post</a> for a Perfect Post Award.&#0160; What a lovely surprise.</p>\n\n<p>(Check out the rest of the September posts <a href=\"http://www.petroville.com\">here</a> or <a href=\"http://www.suburbanturmoil.blogspot.com\">here</a>.&#0160; It&#39;s a very good way to start the month.)</p>\n','I\'d like to thank the Academy...','\n','publish','closed','open','','id-like-to-thank-the-academy','','','2007-10-01 21:58:00','2007-10-01 21:58:00','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=405',0,'post','',0),(406,1,'2007-09-30 08:25:00','2007-09-30 08:25:00','<p>I&#39;m in the shower when, suddenly, the shower curtain opens--<em>Psycho</em> style.</p>\n\n<p>&quot;Mama?&#0160; You dirty?&quot;&#0160; Sebi says, looking concerned.</p>\n\n<p>&quot;Um...yes, but not for long.&quot;</p>\n\n<p>The curtain closes.&#0160; Little feet run away.</p>\n\n<p>&quot;Mama&#39;s dirty!&quot;&#0160; <br /></p>\n','Sebastian Sundays (2)','\n','publish','open','open','','sebastian-sundays-2','','','2007-09-30 08:25:00','2007-09-30 08:25:00','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=406',0,'post','',2),(407,1,'2007-09-29 17:46:52','2007-09-29 17:46:52','<p>Today I turn 31--which means that I&#39;m officially <em>in</em> my thirties.</p>\n\n<p>Do you remember the debate about the turn of the Millennium?&#0160; Back then, there were two types of people in the world - those who felt that the year 2000 was not the beginning of the second Millennium, that in fact, it was the last year of the first Millennium.&#0160; And then there were the rest of us, who thought that those people were a bunch of spoilsports and we knew that the year 2000 was <em>indeed</em> the new millennium and we were going to party like it was 1999, all logical explanations to the contrary be damned!</p>\n\n<p>I still think I was right.&#0160; Even though when I turned 30, I shrugged it off because 30 is just the last year of your 20s.&#0160; (Hypocrite!)</p>\n\n<p>But now, now I can&#39;t put it off any longer.&#0160; Thirty-one is officially, unequivocally your 30s.&#0160; Even if I feel pretty much the same as I did when I was 14 - except for the\nmortgage, two kids and a husband part.&#0160; Oh, and the fact that I never,\never worry about Geometry these days.</p>\n\n<p>If anyone has any advice on how to make the 30s the Best Decade EVER, I&#39;d love to hear it!</p>\n','Today is the first day of the rest of my thirties','\n','publish','open','open','','today-is-the-first-day-of-the-rest-of-my-thirties','','','2007-09-29 17:46:52','2007-09-29 17:46:52','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=407',0,'post','',8),(408,1,'2007-09-29 17:14:47','2007-09-29 17:14:47','<p>And we have...a tooth!</p>\n\n<p>I don&#39;t want to jinx things, but your first tooth appeared drama-free.&#0160; The only reason I found it is that you almost cut my finger when I was wiping your face last night.</p>\n\n<p>It&#39;s time to say goodbye to your sweet gummy smile!&#0160; Congratulations!</p>\n','Baby Saturdays 2','\n','publish','open','open','','baby-saturdays-2','','','2007-09-29 17:14:47','2007-09-29 17:14:47','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=408',0,'post','',1),(409,1,'2007-09-26 14:54:55','2007-09-26 14:54:55','<p>My husband and I always thought that tackling DIY projects would be the surest way to marital troubles.&#0160; After all, neither one of us knows what we&#39;re doing so there are WAY too many opportunities to screw things up and get on each other&#39;s nerves about things and the way they should be done.</p>\n\n<p>So we bought the house we did precisely because it had been updated and we only needed to do a few things.&#0160; Such as:</p>\n\n<p>1.&#0160; Paint a bedroom and bathroom which had, inexplicably, been painted purple.&#0160; The rest of the house is tastefully done in Navajo White and soothing shades of green, blue and yellow - but these two rooms were a strange zombie-like purple.</p>\n\n<p>2.&#0160; Put a chandelier in the dining room.&#0160; Not a big deal because we didn&#39;t even have to buy one since a chandelier had been installed, inexplicably, in the middle of the kitchen.&#0160; (I&#39;m 5&#39;8&quot; and my husband is 6&#39;2&quot;.&#0160; Needless to say, our skulls couldn&#39;t take this anymore.)</p>\n\n<p>(Who needs a chandelier in the middle of their kitchen?&#0160; Our house is full of little oddities like this.)</p>\n\n<p>3.&#0160; Replace the kitchen chandelier with recessed lighting to match the rest of the kitchen.</p>\n\n<p>4.&#0160; Re-caulk a few spots in the two bathrooms.</p>\n\n<p>And that was it.&#0160; Simple!&#0160; We&#39;ll just hire a handyman and be done with it!</p>\n\n<p>So I took it upon myself, as Chief Executive Officer in Charge of All Household Operations and Negotiating Minx, to call every single handyman, painter and electrician in the Boston suburbs.&#0160; My plan was to screen a few companies, schedule a few appointments for estimates and then hire a professional based on who could give me the best quality work at the best price.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>Oh, how innocent I was!</p>\n\n<p>(This is the part where experienced homeowners try to suppress a little chuckle, amused at my naive belief that I would be in charge of this process.&#0160; Ha!)</p>\n\n<p>I&#39;m convinced that home repair contractors live by a code, and that code is:&#0160; ESTIMATES?&#0160; HAHAHAHHAHA!&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>Either the contractor flat-out refused to give me an estimate (or even better, they wanted me to PAY them $60 just to <em>hear</em> an estimate!) or they did what the handyman I ultimately hired did - they just pulled a number out of thin air and told me the work would be done in 10 hours.</p>\n\n<p>In the end I spent 3 days at my house without internet access or showers, and the cost was 3 times the original estimate (HAHAHAHA!&#0160; ESTIMATE!)</p>\n\n<p>I&#39;ve learned my lesson.&#0160; Next time, I&#39;ll learn to love the purple. </p>\n','A Few Things Before I Go and Lose My Mind','\n','publish','open','open','','a-few-things-before-i-go-and-lose-my-mind','','','2007-09-26 14:54:55','2007-09-26 14:54:55','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=409',0,'post','',9),(410,1,'2007-09-23 16:20:36','2007-09-23 16:20:36','<p>One of the most common complaints among my mom friends is that people are always telling them what to do.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p><em>You&#39;re going to spoil that kid...Shouldn&#39;t she be wearing socks?...Poor little thing, hasn&#39;t mommy fed you?...He should go to bed earlier...</em></p>\n\n<p>Imagine that!&#0160; The stereotype of the nagging mother turned on its head!&#0160; We’re not doing the ones doing the nagging…everybody else is!</p>\n\n<p>I’ve thought about this a lot lately.&#0160; I’ve been wondering why I’m in a constant pissy mood, and I’ve come to realize that it’s because everybody seems to think they would be better at my job than I am.</p>\n\n<p>And ever since I’ve come to this realization I’ve been freed of some of the brewing pissy-ness.&#0160; In fact, the more I think about this the more I start laughing to myself, not unlike a crazy lady.&#0160; Because let&#39;s face it, whoever thinks that they can do my job better than I can is just plain wrong.&#0160; My job description is very specific:&#0160; To raise two particular little boys, the likes of which the world has never known, and never will see again.</p>\n\n<p>I’m the only person who’s ever had this job, and while I’m not perfect at it by any stretch of the imagination, I’m the most experienced candidate.&#0160; Also, despite the inevitable complaint here and there, I truly love it.</p>\n\n<p>When I had a paying job, no one criticized every single decision I made.&#0160; It was assumed that I was qualified.&#0160; Now that I’m a mother, it’s the exact opposite.&#0160; Most people think that moms are guilty of incompetence until proven innocent.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>Maybe it’s because so many people seem to think that parenting is so easy any idiot can do it.</p>\n\n<p>It’s not true.</p>\n\n<p>There is no way that anyone can raise my two boys better than I can.&#0160; I don&#39;t care is the person <em>tsk-tsk</em>ing has raised 10 children or is childless and convinced when they have kids they will never (fill in the blank).&#0160; Maybe they mean well, I don&#39;t know.&#0160; All I know is that I didn&#39;t lose my brains the day I became pregnant.</p>\n\n<p>So stop trying to tell me how to do my job.&#0160; I&#39;ll ask for help when I need it.</p>\n\n<p>The management thanks you for your understanding.</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://petroville.com\" target=\"_blank\"><img alt=\"The Original Perfect Post Awards – Sept ‘07 \" border=\"0\" class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39b75970c\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39b75970c-pi.jpg\" /></a></p>\n','A Work in Progress','\n','publish','open','open','','a-work-in-progress','','','2007-09-23 16:20:36','2007-09-23 16:20:36','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=410',0,'post','',9),(411,1,'2007-09-23 08:10:00','2007-09-23 08:10:00','<p>&quot;I sleep so well!&quot;</p>\n\n<p>(What he says every time he wakes up - a sign that we have a lovely few hours ahead.&#0160; If he doesn&#39;t say it...well, then you&#39;d better get ready for hell on earth.)</p>\n','Sebastian Sundays (1)','\n','publish','open','open','','sebastian-sundays-1','','','2007-09-23 08:10:00','2007-09-23 08:10:00','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=411',0,'post','',1),(412,1,'2007-09-22 08:14:00','2007-09-22 08:14:00','<p>Benjamin is 5 months old.&#0160; He acts like he wants food.&#0160; He&#39;s hungry all the time.&#0160; We&#39;re thinking it might be time for solids.&#0160; But he refuses to eat rice cereal.&#0160; He bangs his tiny little fists on the highchair and gets super upset when I try to feed him the mushy stuff.</p>\n\n<p>I think he may want to skip the pureed foods and go straight to a cheeseburger.&#0160; With Parmesan fries and a Coke.</p>\n','Benjamin Saturdays (1)','\n','publish','open','open','','benjamin-saturdays-1','','','2007-09-22 08:14:00','2007-09-22 08:14:00','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=412',0,'post','',3),(413,1,'2007-09-20 18:07:17','2007-09-20 18:07:17','<p>I&#39;m over at <a href=\"http://nemamas.blogspot.com/\">New England Mamas, </a>writing about the joys of preschool admissions in the Boston suburbs:</p><blockquote><p><a href=\"http://nemamas.blogspot.com/2007/09/preschooligans.html\">So I start calling and visiting the local schools, checking to see\nif they had any room for my son. Surprise! They&#39;re all full! And the\nwaitlist? Full as well! Did you know that you have to apply <span style=\"font-style: italic;\">at least</span> a year in advance in order to get into PRESCHOOL?<br /><br />Let&#39;s\ntake a minute here for a reality check: My applications to graduate\nschool were due in January and by April I was looking for an off-campus\napartment. It takes 3 months to get into business school, but it takes\n13 months to get into PRESCHOOL.</a></p></blockquote><br /><blockquote>&#0160;</blockquote>\n','Preschooligans','\n','publish','open','open','','preschooligans','','','2007-09-20 18:07:17','2007-09-20 18:07:17','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=413',0,'post','',1),(414,1,'2007-09-19 13:33:28','2007-09-19 13:33:28','<p>My son got to meet Joe from Blue’s Clues last week.&#0160; He watches the show all the time--so I think I can be forgiven for <a href=\"http://diary.blogs.com/the_diary_of_a_reluctant_/2007/09/i-see-famous-pe.html\">thinking he might be at least a little excited about this</a>.&#0160; Yet when he was face-to-face with the guy that sings “Mail Time!” to him every morning he was all, “eh.&#0160; Whatever.”&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>I may have a two year-old teenager on my hands.</p>\n\n<p>Poor Joe tried to engage him in conversation, posed for a few photos and even did the Blue Skidoo dance for him.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>Nothing.</p>\n\n<p>I finally had to intervene.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>&quot;Hey!&#0160; Why don&#39;t you give Joe a high-five?&#0160; He&#39;d love a high-five!&quot;&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>Joe held out his hand.&#0160; My son gave him a high-five and practically ran out of the room.</p>\n\n<p>As we were driving home, my son summed his meeting like this:</p>\n\n<p>&quot;Joe&#39;s a nice man.&#0160; Joe needs a haircut.&quot;</p>\n\n<p>If he thinks Joe needs a haircut I wonder what he&#39;ll have to say when he meets Santa.</p>\n','Hey Joe','\n','publish','open','open','','hey-joe','','','2007-09-19 13:33:28','2007-09-19 13:33:28','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=414',0,'post','',8),(415,1,'2007-09-18 16:09:34','2007-09-18 16:09:34','<p>The other day I was in Sephora buying a giftcard for my son&#39;s preschool teacher* when I was inexplicably drawn to the mascara display and just had to buy <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Dior-Diorshow-Mascara/dp/B00021D45K\">DiorShow mascara</a>.&#0160; I have been reasonably happy with my cheap <a href=\"http://www.maybelline.com/Product/Eye/Mascara/full-n-soft-washable-mascara.htm\">Maybelline Full &#39;N Soft mascara</a> so I was surprised by this, but a little voice whispered &quot;buybuybuy&quot; so I did. </p>\n\n\n\n\n\n<p>I tried it.&#0160; I loved it.&#0160; Then I thought, &quot;why didn&#39;t anybody tell me about this before?&quot;</p>\n\n<p>But someone had!&#0160; I remember reading about it a while ago (probably on Jurgen Nation&#39;s <a href=\"http://jurgennation.com/jn_friends_comprehensive_beauty_list/jn_friends_comprehensive_beauty_list_project_eyes/\">Beauty List</a>) and my little brain must have held on to that piece of information until that fateful day when I found myself in front of a mascara display with $25 burning a hole in my pocket.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>(I guess life would be easier if I could remember phone numbers and birthdays as easily as beauty recommendations, but I have to live with the talents I have and not the ones I wish I had.)</p>\n\n<p>I must confess that thanks to <a href=\"http://metalia.blogspot.com/2006/12/whisper-words-of-wisdom-letter-p.html\">Metalia&#39;s</a> glowing words for Softsoap Pomegranate and Mango Body Wash my morning showers are yummier -- that stuff smells so damn good!&#0160; I went ahead and tried Dove Weightless Moisture hair stuff (despite my belief that Dove = soap and nothing more) because <a href=\"http://chickychickybaby.blogspot.com/2007/08/more-proof-that-inspiration-comes-when.html\">Mrs. Chicky</a> said it was good.&#0160; (It is--and it&#39;s cheap!)&#0160; I have a tube of Cover Girl Lipslicks in my bag because <a href=\"http://www.nothingbutbonfires.com/?p=257\">Holly</a> reminded me of their existence.&#0160; And I&#39;ve bookmarked <a href=\"http://whoorl.com/archives/360\">this post by Whoorl</a> because someday I might need to use a curling iron and when I do I want to do it right.&#0160; A girl needs to be prepared.</p>\n\n<p>So, thanks internet!&#0160; I look and smell better thanks to y&#39;all!</p>\n\n<p>I feel like I should share my must-haves so here are three products I&#39;ve been loving lately:</p>\n\n\n\n<p>1.&#0160; <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Chanel-Precision-Hydramax-Tinted-Moisture/dp/B000CCOMJ6\">Chanel Hydramax SPF 15 in Sunlit</a>:&#0160; It&#39;s a moisturizer/sunblock/foundation in one.&#0160; It&#39;s easy to use and it makes my skin glowy.</p>\n\n<p>2.&#0160; <a href=\"http://www.alternativeoutfitters.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&amp;ProdID=11\">Alba Coconut Milk Facial Wash</a>:&#0160; Great cleanser that rinses clean.&#0160; The fact that it smells like a Piña Colada makes me happy.</p>\n\n<p>3.&#0160; <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/OPI-Classics-Lacquer-Chick-Cherry/dp/B000NG479Q/ref=tag_tdp_sv_edpp_t/102-0397384-1165728\">Opi Nail Polish in Chick Flick Cherry</a>:&#0160; A true red nail polish that looks classy.&#0160; The perfect pedicure color.</p>\n\n<p>If you feel the urge to share your favorites, please do.&#0160; It&#39;s good karma, you know.<br /> </p> <p><em>*(In case you were wondering why I would do such a thing, she&#39;s leaving and I wanted to give her an awesome gift so that she\nwould love me and offer to babysit - and hell yes, IT WORKED.&#0160; Guess\nwho gets a night out for her upcoming birthday?&#0160; Guess!)</em></p>\n','Everything I Ever Needed To Know About Grooming I Learned From The Internet','\n','publish','open','open','','everything-i-ever-needed-to-know-about-grooming-i-learned-from-the-internet','','','2007-09-18 16:09:34','2007-09-18 16:09:34','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=415',0,'post','',12),(416,1,'2007-09-13 10:50:40','2007-09-13 10:50:40','<p>So, after months of reading about the dangers of <a href=\"http://www.thegreenguide.com/doc/114/bpa\">Bisphenol-A</a> in <a href=\"http://daddytypes.com/2007/02/28/about_that_bottle_of_death_you_just_put_in_the_kids_mouth_again.php\">baby bottles</a> I finally decided to toss the plastic baby bottles and buy some glass ones.&#0160; Apparently I&#39;m not the only one, because those suckers are nearly impossible to find nowadays.&#0160; Great!&#0160; The message is getting out.&#0160; I imagine sanitation workers scratching their heads, trying to figure out why all of a sudden the landfills are overflowing with Avent and Dr. Brown&#39;s bottles.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>My son is about to start solids, so I was at the supermarket picking up some commercially-prepared baby food.&#0160; I&#39;ve always bought the ones in glass jars (maybe because of nostalgia, I don&#39;t know), but out of curiosity I took a look at the <a href=\"http://g-ec2.images-amazon.com/images/I/51JA88QPA7L._AA280_.jpg\">Gerber first foods</a> in the square plastic containers.&#0160; Guess what?&#0160; They&#39;re packaged in <a href=\"http://mom-101.blogspot.com/2007/09/plastic-bubble-has-burst-or-why-7-is.html\">#7 plastic</a>.</p>\n\n<p>I&#39;m starting to think manufacturers of baby products are out to drive me crazy.&#0160; Why take the risk?&#0160; Why not go for the safest materials and ingredients?&#0160; Whyyyyy?</p>\n','Why Gerber?  Why?','\n','publish','open','open','','why-gerber-why','','','2007-09-13 10:50:40','2007-09-13 10:50:40','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=416',0,'post','',11),(417,1,'2007-09-07 10:33:48','2007-09-07 10:33:48','<p>Oh Mountain Buggy<br />Your tires are filled with air<br />Take us everywhere</p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"http://amommystory.blogspot.com/2007/09/haiku-fridays.html\"><img alt=\"Haiku Friday\" class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39ab9970c\" height=\"117\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39ab9970c-pi.jpg\" width=\"150\" /> </a></p>\n','Ode to an All-Terrain Stroller','\n','publish','open','open','','ode-to-an-all-terrain-stroller','','','2007-09-07 10:33:48','2007-09-07 10:33:48','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=417',0,'post','',5),(418,1,'2007-09-05 22:55:30','2007-09-05 22:55:30','<p><a href=\"http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/science/09/04/dating.mating.ap/index.html?eref=rss_tech\">Men want hot women, study confirms.</a></p>\n\n<p>Wow.&#0160; That explains a lot of things, doesn&#39;t it?</p>\n','Like we needed scientific proof...','\n','publish','open','open','','like-we-needed-scientific-proof','','','2007-09-05 22:55:30','2007-09-05 22:55:30','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=418',0,'post','',10),(419,1,'2007-09-05 07:45:00','2007-09-05 07:45:00','\n\n<p>Because Labor Day is behind us, and some of the trees are starting to change color, and summer just went by so darn fast.</p>\n\n<p>Also, I&#39;m a fan of alliteration.</p>\n','Watermelon Wednesday','\n','publish','open','open','','watermelon-wednesday','','','2007-09-05 07:45:00','2007-09-05 07:45:00','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=419',0,'post','',7),(420,1,'2007-09-04 14:53:06','2007-09-04 14:53:06','<p>Some of you may remember the time I ran into a drunk <a href=\"http://diary.blogs.com/the_diary_of_a_reluctant_/2006/08/i_see_famous_pe.html\">Hugh Grant</a> at a fancy hotel in Miami, or the time I shared an itsy-bitsy table at a Starbucks with <a href=\"http://diary.blogs.com/the_diary_of_a_reluctant_/2006/08/i_see_famous_pe_1.html\">Alex Rodriguez</a>.&#0160; If you know me in person you&#39;ve doubtless heard my &quot;I spent New Year&#39;s Eve with Madonna (at a private party- <u>not</u> at a concert thankyouverymuch)&quot; story.&#0160; You may have heard that one more than once, but seriously, wouldn&#39;t you talk about that all the time too?</p>\n\n<p>I used to run into famous people everywhere - Shakira at a hole-in-the-wall salon (we both got $15 haircuts), Richard Hatch and Pierce Brosnan (both at airports - guess who I was more excited to see.&#0160; Go on, guess!), Harrison Ford outside a dark South Beach alley (it was a great relief to learn that the footsteps echoing behind me belonged to Indiana Jones and not a homicidal killer.&#0160; In all seriousness, PHEW!)&#0160; Sadly, my sightings after moving here can be counted on one hand:&#0160; Jack Welch.&#0160; Ok, fine - they (it!) can be counted on one finger.&#0160; Whatever.</p>\n\n<p>So you will forgive my excitement at learning that I will be meeting <a href=\"http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0666556/\">Donovan Patton</a> next week.&#0160; Yes, I&#39;m excited that I will be meeting someone who is, for all practical purposes, a cartoon character.</p>\n\n<p>I&#39;m obviously doing this for my kids because I&#39;m a good mother.&#0160; Right!&#0160; Of COURSE it&#39;s out of pure unadulterated curiosity - will he act like the adult toddler we see on TV?&#0160; Or will he be bitter and washed out, not unlike a mall Santa?&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>The world needs to know.</p>\n\n<p>(Who wants to bet that Sebastian won&#39;t have a clue as to who this guy is?&#0160; Better put Blue&#39;s Clues on heavy rotation.)</p>\n','I See Famous People:  It\'s All Downhill From Here','\n','publish','open','open','','i-see-famous-people-its-all-downhill-from-here','','','2007-09-04 14:53:06','2007-09-04 14:53:06','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=420',0,'post','',7),(421,1,'2007-08-31 13:25:06','2007-08-31 13:25:06','<p>Walk into a fancypants restaurant at lunchtime with your double stroller.&#0160; When the hostess asks if more people will be joining you say, &quot;oh no, it&#39;s just me and the kids.&quot;</p>\n\n<p>The last time so many people in business suits stared at me I was presenting a marketing plan.</p>\n\n<p>I have kids but I get tired of &quot;family-friendly&quot; places.&#0160; Sometimes I want to pay $9.00 for a cheeseburger, you know what I mean?&#0160; &#0160;</p>\n\n<p>It went miraculously well.&#0160; My son even put his cloth napkin across his lap and ate his fancy fries like a champ.&#0160; The only disappointment of the afternoon came when I asked for a dessert menu - I was craving some chocolate mousse so I was going to order one &quot;for the kids.&quot;&#0160; Instead, the waiter gave Sebastian a free <a href=\"http://homepage.mac.com/stevegarfield/ooat/hoodsie.jpg\">Hoodsie cup</a> as a reward for being such a well-behaved gentleman.</p>\n\n<p>I didn&#39;t have the heart to upstage my son&#39;s well-deserved treat with my frou-frou dessert so I went without.&#0160; It was a small price to pay to watch him delight in eating ice cream out of a paper cup.&#0160; Motherhood demands many sacrifices- some are big, some are small - but they all come with enormous rewards.</p>\n','How to suck the air out of a room','\n','publish','open','open','','how-to-suck-the-air-out-of-a-room','','','2007-08-31 13:25:06','2007-08-31 13:25:06','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=421',0,'post','',7),(422,1,'2007-08-29 11:59:09','2007-08-29 11:59:09','<p>I just got off the phone with our real estate agent.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>No, we&#39;re not selling the house we just bought - I&#39;m done with real estate posts for now.&#0160; Then again, maybe not.&#0160; You see, she called because she&#39;s been trying to get me to become a real estate agent.&#0160; She was impressed with my obsessive research (a lot of the times I knew more about the houses we looked at than she did.&#0160; I am a world-class Googler!) and my compulsion to improve listing descriptions.&#0160; I can&#39;t help it - it&#39;s the marketer in me.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>Once, I told a seller&#39;s agent that while the house she was showing us was not for me, she should mention the attached two-car garage &quot;which is a rarity in a 1930&#39;s colonial in this price range.&#0160; And I would advise your clients to remove the brown drapes in the living room.&#0160; We want light.&#0160; Light is good!&quot;</p>\n\n<p>She looked at me like I was crazy.&#0160; My agent, on the other hand, started her campaign to get me to work with her.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>&quot;Nah,&quot;&#0160; I said.&#0160; &quot;I don&#39;t need the pressure.&quot;</p>\n\n<p>&quot;You can work as much or as little as you like.&#0160; The money is good.&#0160; Think about it.&quot;</p>\n\n<p>I told my husband about it that night and we had a good laugh.&#0160; I mean, I&#39;m a suburban stay-at-home mom who is <em>thisclose</em> to buying a minivan because <em>I think I want one</em>.&#0160; If I became a part-time real estate agent the logical next step in my Donna Reed transformation would be my purchase of a vacuum cleaner so that I can finally wear my pearls.&#0160; You know, while I vacuum.</p>\n\n<p>(The scary part?&#0160; I&#39;ve been eyeing the Dyson website.&#0160; Send help.)</p>\n\n<p>Anyways, where was I?&#0160; Oh yes, the part where my husband and I laughed about me becoming a realtor, which we did until we saw what she earned for a few hours a week looking at houses with me.&#0160; Then it wasn&#39;t funny - I could buy 50 Dysons with that kind of money.</p>\n\n<p>When I told her that I wasn&#39;t ready to commit any time to this she told me that if I took a real estate class and helped her market some homes she would give me 25% of her commission on any homes we sold together.&#0160; That&#39;s 12 Dysons right there.&#0160; And I wouldn&#39;t even have to change out of my pyjamas because she&#39;s convinced I can do this from home.</p>\n\n<p>People.&#0160; It&#39;s starting to sound REALLY good.</p>\n\n<p>Somebody alert the Fed, because this is not a good sign for the housing market.</p>\n\n<p>My timing is awful when it comes to career-related things.&#0160; When everybody was making buckets of money for playing foosball (ah, the sweet dot com days!) I decided that THAT was the perfect time to go back to school.&#0160; The genius of my strategy became evident when I graduated in 2002, right smack in the middle of the Enron/Tyco/WorldCom/Adelphia business scandals that made putting an MBA on your resume almost as attractive as saying that you have head lice.</p>\n\n<p>So if I enter the real estate field, even half-assedly, I&#39;m afraid I may just throw the country into recession.<br /> </p>\n\n<p>I promise to warn you if I ever decide to take one of those weekend real estate courses.</p>\n','Proof that the housing slump is about to get worse','\n','publish','open','open','','proof-that-the-housing-slump-is-about-to-get-worse','','','2007-08-29 11:59:09','2007-08-29 11:59:09','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=422',0,'post','',13),(423,1,'2007-08-26 22:39:57','2007-08-26 22:39:57','<p>Today I met some of <a href=\"http://www.nemamas.blogspot.com/\">these ladies</a> for lunch and learned a very important lesson:&#0160; Bloggers don&#39;t bite.&#0160; &#0160;</p>\n\n<p>(Turns out, the people writing blogs?&#0160; Are real people!&#0160; This is shocking - I know - so take a minute if you need it.)&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>I highly recommend meeting the people behind the words.&#0160; They&#39;re funny, smart, and they <em>get it</em>.</p>\n\n<p>But be careful, because sometimes they may make you laugh so hard that iced tea may or may not come out of your nose.</p>\n\n<p>I&#39;m just saying.</p>\n','Bloggers Don\'t Bite','\n','publish','open','open','','bloggers-dont-bite','','','2007-08-26 22:39:57','2007-08-26 22:39:57','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=423',0,'post','',9),(424,1,'2007-08-21 14:35:31','2007-08-21 14:35:31','<p><em>We&#39;re huge (HUGE) <u>Trapped in the Closet</u> fans round these parts.&#0160; I wrote this after we went to last year&#39;s R. Kelly sing-a-long, and I&#39;m sharing it here in honor of today&#39;s release</em><em> of chapters 12-22.&#0160; It&#39;s a big cultural event - the <a href=\"http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/20/arts/music/20trap.html?_r=1&amp;oref=login\">NY Times</a> says so and so do I.<br /></em></p>\n\n<p><em>I see an R. Kelly party at our home in the very near future...</em></p>\n\n<p>I almost forgot to tell you about the Trapped in the Closet Sing-a-Long!&#0160; I went!&#0160; And it was fun!&#0160; It also made me feel old!&#0160; But in a good way!&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>We were so glad we&#39;re &quot;responsible adults&quot; because when we got there, a full half-hour early, there were people standing in line - in the cold - waiting for a chance to be let in to the SOLD OUT show.&#0160; I was surprised that a theater would sell out for a midnight-2:00 am show even if was to make fun of R. Kelly.&#0160; (See?&#0160; I told you I was old.)</p>\n\n<p>Anyways, we were not about to stand in the cold so we went to a bar.&#0160; The only bar in Coolidge Corner is a college bar, which was cool - like being 19 all over again - except that I made a tactical mistake.&#0160; If you&#39;re over the age of 25 and find yourself in a &quot;college bar&quot; and you see that they have a &quot;martini menu,&quot; ORDER THE BEER!&#0160; Unless you like your martinis to taste like cough syrup.&#0160; If that&#39;s the case, by all means be my guest and order away.&#0160; Also, I have found that the size of the martini is inversely correlated to the amount of alcohol in the drink.&#0160; My glass was, I kid you not, the size of my head.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>So, we head back to the theater and I&#39;m disappointingly sober.&#0160; Then we saw the people in line, and I had to laugh.&#0160; It was full of <a href=\"http://www.sykospark.net/emo/idiotic.gif\">Emo kids</a>, all ironic and intellectual looking, except that I called them &quot;slackers&quot; because that&#39;s what they were called when I was in college back in 1994 (You guys remember <a href=\"http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a53/jemany/5.jpg\"><em>Reality Bites</em></a>, right?).&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>But I knew that this night was going to be SO worth the $60 we spent on babysitting when we finally made it inside the theater and the South Park episode on Scientology (watch it <a href=\"http://www.xenutv.com/cruise/sp-closet.htm\">here</a> if you&#39;ve missed it) was playing as the prelude - there&#39;s nothing like a quick refresher on Xenu to prepare you for deconstructing an urban opera, I always say.</p>\n\n<p>They started the evening with a &quot;R&amp;B Battle in the style of R. Kelly&quot; between a guy who looked exactly like the kid in <a href=\"http://rushmore.shootangle.com/academy/images/quote1pic.jpg\">Rushmore</a> and a plain vanilla jock.&#0160; The Rushmore kid won by a landslide.&#0160; In fact, if you closed your eyes he sounded just like R. Kelly (granted, not that it takes that much talent to do it).&#0160; The jock was literally booed off the stage - and I was happy.&#0160; I&#39;m always glad when the dopey kid wins.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>After some pseudo-intellectual intro that was really funny but I forgot, our emcee explains that they will only show 4 episodes at a time (there are 12 in total) because &quot;the intensity might kill us if we don&#39;t take a break.&quot;&#0160; He was not exaggerating - the level of noise and off-key singing that erupted the second the show started was deafening - it was impossible not to get into it.<br /><em><br /><span face=\"Verdana\">Seven o&#39;clock in the morning <br />And the rays from the sun wakes me <br />I&#39;m stretchin&#39; and yawnin&#39;<br />In a bed that don&#39;t belong to me-e ...</span></em></p>\n\n<p>As you all know the song quickly builds into a crescendo - it was impossible not to scream out the lyrics.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p><span face=\"Verdana\"><em>He looks at the closet!!! </em><br /><em>I pull out my Beretta!! </em></span></p>\n\n<p>The Husband (along with about 300 people) was really getting into it and we we got to the first cliffhanger we were shouting at the top of our lungs:</p>\n\n<p><span face=\"Verdana\"><em>He walks up to the closet !!!!<br />He comes up to the closet!!!!!!!!!! <br />Now he&#39;s at the closet !!!!<br />Now he&#39;s opening the closet...!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!</em></span><br /><br />The kid that was sitting next to The Husband yells in his ear &quot;this is going to be the BEST night of my life!&quot; <br /><br />OooooKaaay.</p>\n\n<p>He must have been really impressed that my Husband, a man who is probably twice his age, knew all the lyrics as well as he did because he took out his backpack and handed us beer.&#0160; He had contraband!&#0160; And he gave us two!&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>Budweisers.&#0160; In the white cans.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>I haven&#39;t had one since college (because I&#39;m a snob. I admit it!) but I have to tell you - that Bud was like the Ambrosia of the Greek gods - delicious!&#0160; We were young!&#0160; Carefree!&#0160; And Naughty!&#0160; We were drinking with our new best friends!&#0160; </p>\n\n\n\n<p>My husband, who is impeccably polite, had to reciprocate.&#0160; But our group had only one thing to offer.&#0160; So my husband takes it and taps the shoulder of our beer benefactor to offer some of our precious contraband.</p>\n\n<p>&quot;Want some?&quot;</p>\n\n<p>The kid&#39;s face breaks out into a grin until he looks down; he then looks up at my husband, puzzled.</p>\n\n<p>&quot;It&#39;s a Toblerone.&#0160; Take all you want.&quot;</p>\n\n<p>&quot;Um.&#0160; I&#39;m cool.&quot;&#0160; (Awkward pause.)&#0160; &quot;Thanks?&quot;</p>\n\n<p>Yeah, we felt stupid.&#0160; But we were soon back in good graces with our buddy.&#0160; By the next chapter, he had given us more beer and we were all happily singing along with R. Kelly as one big, happy, inter-generational family:<br /><em><span face=\"Verdana\"><br />She says you&#39;re the perfect lover!<br />I said I cant go no futher!<br />Then I flip back the cover!<br />Oh my God, a rubber...rubber...</span></em></p>\n\n<p>Kids today.&#0160; They&#39;re awesome.&#0160; </p>\n','29 is the New Old (except that now I\'m 30)','\n','publish','open','open','','29-is-the-new-old-except-that-now-im-30','','','2007-08-21 14:35:31','2007-08-21 14:35:31','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=424',0,'post','',3),(425,1,'2007-08-20 23:35:53','2007-08-20 23:35:53','<p>I&#39;m there:</p>\n\n<p><a alt=\"Visit New England Mamas\" href=\"http://www.nemamas.blogspot.com/\" target=\"_blank\"><img class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef0120a93ce268970b\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef0120a93ce268970b.jpg\" /></a></p>\n\n<p>I know a lot of you are from Massachusetts - you may be interested in my post on <a href=\"http://nemamas.blogspot.com/2007/08/dirty-water.html\">Dirty Water</a> - or you may want to read from the other contributors from all across the NE.</p>\n','If I\'m not here...','\n','publish','open','open','','if-im-not-here','','','2011-02-07 17:56:50','2011-02-07 17:56:50','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=425',0,'post','',1),(426,1,'2007-08-17 12:48:04','2007-08-17 12:48:04','<p>It won&#39;t be easy - but we&#39;re going China-Free this Christmas.&#0160; I&#39;ve started to collect resources and I&#39;m happy to share my finds - please let me know if you know of any other online shops or websites that have ideas on how to avoid China-made toys.</p>\n\n<p>Angry Chicken&#39;s <a href=\"http://angrychicken.typepad.com/angry_chicken/2007/08/not-made-in-chi.html\">&#39;not made in china&#39;</a> post is pretty much perfect.</p>\n\n<p>Sign the <a href=\"http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizationsORG/momsrising/signUp.jsp?key=2362\">petition.</a></p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://store.playmobilusa.com/on/demandware.store/Sites-US-Site/en_US/ViewApplication-DisplayCachedWelcomePage\">Playmobil</a> - Made in Germany.&#0160; I used to love Playmobil when I was little.&#0160; Thankfully, they&#39;re still around.</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.etsy.com/category_top.php?top_tag=toys\">Etsy Toys</a> - There&#39;s plenty of unique, one-of-a-kind handmade toys - and you buy directly from the artist.&#0160; Awesome!</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.step2.com/\">Step2</a> - It looks like most of their products are made in the US, but check the box - they do have a factory in Korea.</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.oompa.com/cgi-bin/category/0\">Oompa</a> - Has a &quot;Made in Europe&quot; shop</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.kettlerusa.com/page17.html\">Kettler</a> - Awesome toys made in Germany, including their famous trykes.</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.greentoys.com/index.html\">Green Toys</a> - Toys are made from corn plastic (wait...corn?)</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.americanplastictoys.com/\">American Plastic Toys</a> - If you&#39;re getting tired of wood and felt...</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.madeinusa.org/nav.cgi?data/toys&amp;\">www.madeinusa.org</a></p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.maplelandmark.net/toys.lasso\">Maple Landmark Woodcraft</a> - Made in Vermont</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.maukilo.com/index.html\">Maukilo</a> has a great Haba store (HABA makes all its toys in Germany)</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.gymnic.com/mascheraeng.html\">Rody</a> - We love our Rody Pony!&#0160; Gymnic Rody and bouncy balls are made in Italy and can be found all over the internet.</p>\n','China-Free Christmas:  A Resource List','\n','publish','open','open','','china-free-christmas-a-resource-list','','','2007-08-17 12:48:04','2007-08-17 12:48:04','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=426',0,'post','',10),(427,1,'2007-08-15 22:28:47','2007-08-15 22:28:47','<p>I love this post from Post Picket Fence - this woman can write!</p><blockquote><p><em>...<a href=\"http://www.postpicket.blogspot.com/2007/08/momifesto.html\">This is what I have learned about motherhood, stay-at-home motherhood: it’s a jungle in here.<br /><br />As\nit was in the office, so it is behind the picket fence. The geography\nhas changed but the scene is the same. The playground has become the\noffice cooler, the PTO meeting has become the company picnic, and there\nis jockeying and one-upmanship all over the place. I never knew that\nwhen I left the career I built to stay at home with my kids that I\nwould have to contend with another world of professionals. My greatest\nnemesis is no longer The Man, but The Mom: the Professional Mother. <br /><br />The\nProfessional Mother has a lot of company. She is one of the millions of\nwomen who benefited from every wave of Feminism. She picked a job she\nwanted, or thought she wanted, and she succeeded. When they told her as\na little girl that she could be an astronaut, she believed them. She\nnever got a free pass. She worked her ass off every step of the way and\nshe became whatever her heart desired: a marketing director, a teacher,\na filmmaker, a lawyer, a business owner, a nurse, a doctor, a banker,\nand even sometimes, an astronaut.<br /><br />Maybe because she could do it all, or because she wanted so badly to do it, she became a mom...</a></em> </p></blockquote><p>I hope she doesn&#39;t mind the extra-long quote, but it just rings so true.&#0160; There&#39;s a lot more were that came from, so click over and visit her.</p><p><a href=\"http://www.postpicket.blogspot.com/2007/08/momifesto.html\">MOMifesto</a></p>\n','Go Read...MOMifesto','\n','publish','open','open','','go-readmomifesto','','','2007-08-15 22:28:47','2007-08-15 22:28:47','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=427',0,'post','',3);
INSERT INTO `edt_posts` VALUES (428,1,'2007-08-14 22:37:23','2007-08-14 22:37:23','<p><img alt=\"P2978921reg\" border=\"0\" class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa399c1970c\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa399c1970c-pi.jpg\" style=\"margin: 0px 0px 5px 5px; float: right;\" title=\"P2978921reg\" />Do you want to know how I spent my morning?&#0160; Do you?</p>\n\n<p>A good 20 minutes was spent deciphering Mattel&#39;s Fisher-Price recall email.&#0160; Then I had to print out a postage-paid label, fill out paperwork and walk to the post office to return an innocent-looking Diego action figure.</p>\n\n<p>I then went on GoodyBlog and read <a href=\"http://www.goodyblog.com/playing_house/2007/08/update-mattel-r.html\">this</a>.</p>\n\n<p>Seriously? Are you kidding?</p>\n\n<p>This is ridiculous and I&#39;m beyond pissed.</p>\n\n<p>That&#39;s it.&#0160; It&#39;s going to be a China-Free Christmas.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>A brand is built on trust, and if toy makers are going to continue to put their brands in the hands of criminally incompetent factories simply because they&#39;re the lowest bidder then they&#39;ve lost my trust.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p><strong>No trust = No money</strong></p>\n\n<p>Chinese toy manufacturers?&#0160; You can suck it.</p>\n\n<p><em>(And Fisher-Price?&#0160; <a href=\"http://www.service.mattel.com/us/recall/39054_IVR.asp?prod=\">The Go Diego Go Deep Sea Rescue set (code J0344)</a> that you insist is sold in Canada only?&#0160; Newsflash - it&#39;s also sold in America.&#0160; I know for a fact that the set we received as a gift was purchased at a Target in Miami - which is pretty far from Canada last time I checked.)</em></p>\n\n<p>I know that it&#39;s pretty much impossible to not buy toys made in China.&#0160; But it&#39;s the only way I know to make a difference.</p>\n\n<p>So what if it&#39;s hard to find American and European toys?&#0160; That only means that I don&#39;t have go spend money in <a href=\"http://www.toysrus.com/shop/index.jsp?categoryId=2255956\">Hell&#39;s Armpit</a> this year.&#0160; It may be harder to find non-Chinese made toys, but that&#39;s why God invented the internet - it took me 2 seconds to find <a href=\"http://www.stillmadeinusa.com/toysngames.html\">a site that lists American made toys</a>.&#0160; Thank you Google!</p>\n\n<p>Non-Chinese toys too expensive?&#0160; Great!&#0160; We&#39;ll buy less toys - but better made ones.&#0160; That way there will be less plastic crap all over the house.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>I don&#39;t want to buy toys made in China anymore, and you know what?&#0160; I don&#39;t have to.&#0160; Neither do you.</p>\n\n<p>Remember milk from cows treated with rBST?&#0160; It&#39;s <a href=\"http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8QQFK680.htm\">getting harder and harder</a> to find, because enough people decided they didn&#39;t want to buy it anymore.&#0160; I can only hope that someday the same will happen with toxic toys.</p>\n','Toxic Toys:  A China-Free Christmas','\n','publish','open','open','','toxic-toys-a-china-free-christmas','','','2007-08-14 22:37:23','2007-08-14 22:37:23','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=428',0,'post','',9),(429,1,'2007-08-10 15:18:40','2007-08-10 15:18:40','<p>Virginia Woolf famously said <a href=\"http://etext.library.adelaide.edu.au/w/woolf/virginia/w91r/chapter1.html\"><em>&quot;...a woman must have money\nand a room of her own if she is to write...&quot;</em></a> </p>\n\n<p>Things have changed so preciously little since 1928.&#0160; I have a lot of things I need to write, some are obligations, some are personal, some are for pay, some are emails and letters and some are for just for fun.</p>\n\n<p>But I can&#39;t.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>Does anybody else have children that start screaming the second you put your fingers to the keyboard?&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>Yeah, me too.</p>\n','Quitting (for the day)','\n','publish','open','open','','quitting-for-the-day','','','2007-08-10 15:18:40','2007-08-10 15:18:40','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=429',0,'post','',9),(430,1,'2007-08-08 15:38:45','2007-08-08 15:38:45','<p>There&#39;s been <a href=\"http://theartfulflower.blogspot.com/2007/08/rainbow-connection-part-1-hump-day-hmm.html\">lots</a> of <a href=\"http://web.mac.com/quioguesperber/iWeb/daddyinastrangeland/blog/C0886C93-F4A7-45CF-AE6A-83787E174A62.html#comment_layer\">talk</a> around the <a href=\"http://citymama.typepad.com/citymama/2007/07/putting-pr-peop.html\">blogosphere</a> regarding <a href=\"http://www.blogher.org/marginalization-marketing\">race</a> and <a href=\"http://theartfulflower.blogspot.com/2007/08/is-internet-rainbow-connection.html\">ethnicity</a> and <a href=\"http://tere-tere.blogspot.com/2007/08/race-ethnicity-it-matters.html\">whether it matters</a>.&#0160; I&#39;ve been meaning to write about a million other things, but my thoughts keep coming back to this topic.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>First, a confession.&#0160; I have an MBA and I had a great career and now I get to stay home with my kids and try my hand at writing.&#0160; I&#39;m privileged - I know that - so this isn&#39;t a post about how life is so hard because I&#39;m Hispanic.</p>\n\n<p>I like being Hispanic.&#0160; I like it a lot.</p>\n\n<p>Unfortunately, that doesn&#39;t mean that I don&#39;t meet my share of idiots.</p>\n\n<p>So, back to the MBA.&#0160; When you&#39;re in business school there&#39;s an embarrassment of riches when it comes to career coaching and jobs and just plain old opportunity.&#0160; Companies basically wine and dine you for two years and sometimes they hire consultants to pick the &quot;cream of the crop&quot; for them and then they fly them out to a central location where they meet you and offer you jobs, jobs that sometimes come with salaries in the six digits.</p>\n\n<p>It&#39;s not a bad deal.&#0160; Especially if you&#39;re not switching careers, which I wasn&#39;t.&#0160; I had left a brand management job in a glamorous though not well-paying field with the goal to do the same job in a less-glamorous but better paying company.</p>\n\n<p>Since I already had brand-name experience on my resume and the school had awarded me a full-tuition fellowship my name was always on the invitation lists for marketing jobs.&#0160; (I think some of my classmates hated me.&#0160; I would have.)</p>\n\n<p>One time, one of these hiring consultants invited 15 of us to come in for practice interviews and resume reviews.&#0160; He would pick up to five of us and fly us to Chicago to meet with his clients (Big Brand-Name Consumer Goods Companies).&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>I was on the list.</p>\n\n<p>The day of my interview, if you&#39;d just let me brag a little here, I nailed it.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>&quot;I&#39;d like to offer you a spot on the Chicago trip.&#0160; You&#39;re smart, you know marketing and you present yourself very well.&#0160; &#0160;My clients would love to meet you.&quot;</p>\n\n<p>&quot;Thanks!&quot;&#0160; I said.&#0160; I gave myself a mental high-five.</p>\n\n<p>&quot;There&#39;s just one thing that needs to be fixed on your resume.&quot;</p>\n\n<p>&quot;OK.&quot;&#0160; I took out a pen so I could write on the copy of my resume I had put on the table between us.</p>\n\n<p>&quot;I think you should take out the last sentence in the &#39;Skills&#39; section&quot;</p>\n\n<p>I reread the &quot;Skills&quot; section.</p>\n\n<p><em>SKILLS</em></p>\n\n<p><em>Experience analyzing AC Nielsen data.&#0160; Working knowledge of French.&#0160; Fluent in Spanish (native speaker).</em></p>\n\n<p> &quot;I know that &#39;working knowledge of French&#39; is a bit awkward, but I don&#39;t want to misrepresent my skill level...&quot;</p>\n\n<p>&quot;No,&quot; he interrupted, &quot;you shouldn&#39;t say you&#39;re fluent in Spanish.&quot;</p>\n\n<p>Now I was confused.&#0160; I&#39;d never heard of such a thing - paring down my resume?&#0160; If anything, in business school we were taught to brag as loudly and as often as possible.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>&quot;Why?&quot;</p>\n\n<p>&quot;Because you&#39;re an excellent candidate and we don&#39;t want people to get the wrong impression.&quot;&#0160; The bastard said this while looking right at me.</p>\n\n<p>What impression would that be?&#0160; That I&#39;m Hispanic and therefore couldn&#39;t possibly be &quot;smart&quot; or &quot;an excellent candidate&quot;?</p>\n\n<p>I stood up and gathered my things.&#0160; &quot;My background is an asset.&#0160; I&#39;m Hispanic.&#0160; If you or your clients have a problem with that...&quot;&#0160; I was so angry I was about to explode.&#0160; &quot;This interview is over.&quot;</p>\n\n<p>I left the room and marched over to the Career Services Office, where I instantly filed a complaint.&#0160; Now that I&#39;m older and wiser I only wish that I had sent an email to the heads of human resources at his client companies so that they could learn what a <em>tremendo comemierda</em> was representing them.</p>\n\n<p>So yes, ethnicity matters.&#0160; As long as people ask you to deny the essence of who you are in order to be accepted, it matters.&#0160; As long as &quot;Hispanic&quot; is shorthand for &quot;poor&quot; (<em>i.e. Hispanic neighborhood, Hispanic worker, Hispanic mother</em>), it matters.&#0160; As long as Lou Dobbs and his friends look like they&#39;re going to throw up every time they say &quot;Hispanic&quot; it will continue to matter.</p>\n','Oh No!  Here comes another ethnicity post!','\n','publish','open','open','','oh-no-here-comes-another-ethnicity-post','','','2007-08-08 15:38:45','2007-08-08 15:38:45','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=430',0,'post','',12),(431,1,'2007-08-04 22:20:07','2007-08-04 22:20:07','<p>&quot;U hew dat guys?&#0160; The gwass is singing!&quot;<br /><em><br />And for those that don&#39;t speak toddler:&#0160; &quot;You hear that guys?&#0160; The grass is singing!&quot;</em></p>\n','Upon hearing crickets for the first time','\n','publish','open','open','','upon-hearing-crickets-for-the-first-time','','','2007-08-04 22:20:07','2007-08-04 22:20:07','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=431',0,'post','',8),(432,1,'2007-08-01 14:23:32','2007-08-01 14:23:32','<p><em>These are not my words.&#0160; They are the words of WhyMommy who has a toddler and a baby and inflammatory breast cancer.&#0160; She writes <a href=\"http://toddlerplanet.wordpress.com/\">here</a>.<br /><br />She&#39;s asked other writers to spread the word about IBC, and since I can&#39;t do her words justice here is the information in her own words.<br /><br />(Thanks for educating us WhyMommy.&#0160; Be well.)<br /></em></p>\n\n<p>We hear a lot about breast cancer these days. One in eight women\nwill be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetimes, and there are\nmillions living with it in the U.S. today alone. But did you know that\nthere is more than one type of breast cancer?</p>\n<p>I didn’t. I thought that breast cancer was all the same. I figured that if I did my <a href=\"http://www.cancer.org/docroot/cri/content/cri_2_6x_how_to_perform_a_breast_self_exam_5.asp\">monthly breast self-exams</a>, and found no lump, I’d be fine.</p>\n<p>Oops. It turns out that <strong>you don’t have to have a lump to have breast cancer.</strong>\nSix weeks ago, I went to my OB/GYN because my breast felt funny. It was\nred, hot, inflamed, and the skin looked…funny. But there was no lump,\nso I wasn’t worried. I should have been. After a round of antibiotics\ndidn’t clear up the inflammation, my doctor sent me to a breast\nspecialist and did a skin punch biopsy. That test showed that I have\ninflammatory breast cancer, a very aggressive cancer that can be deadly.</p>\n<p><a href=\"http://www.ibcresearch.org/\">Inflammatory breast cancer</a>\nis often misdiagnosed as mastitis because many doctors have never seen\nit before and consider it rare. “Rare” or not, there are over 100,000\nwomen in the U.S. with this cancer right now; only half will survive\nfive years. Please call your OB/GYN if you experience several of the\nfollowing symptoms in your breast, or any unusual changes: redness,\nrapid increase in size of one breast, persistent itching of breast or\nnipple, thickening of breast tissue, stabbing pain, soreness, swelling\nunder the arm, dimpling or ridging (for example, when you take your bra\noff, the bra marks stay – for a while), flattening or retracting of the\nnipple, or a texture that looks or feels like an orange (called peau\nd’orange). Ask if your GYN is familiar with inflammatory breast cancer,\nand tell her that you’re concerned and want to come in to rule it out.</p>\n<p>There is more than one kind of breast cancer. Inflammatory breast cancer is the<a href=\"http://www.komotv.com/ibc\"> most aggressive form of breast cancer </a>out\nthere, and early detection is critical. It’s not usually detected by\nmammogram. It does not usually present with a lump. It may be\noverlooked with all of the changes that our breasts undergo during the\nyears when we’re pregnant and/or nursing our little ones. It’s\nimportant not to miss this one.</p>\n<p>Inflammatory breast cancer is detected by women and their doctors\nwho notice a change in one of their breasts. If you notice a change,\ncall your doctor today. Tell her about it. Tell her that you have a\nfriend with this disease, and it’s trying to kill her. Now you know\nwhat I wish I had known before six weeks ago.</p>\n<p>You don’t have to have a lump to have breast cancer.</p>\n','Now I Know - and So Do You','\n','publish','open','open','','now-i-know-and-so-do-you','','','2007-08-01 14:23:32','2007-08-01 14:23:32','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=432',0,'post','',3),(433,1,'2007-07-31 22:59:22','2007-07-31 22:59:22','<p>I think this whole &quot;buying a house in a respectable suburb&quot; thing has aged me - quickly.&#0160; I&#39;ve gone from being a woman who still found time to tweeze her brows and maybe bought some lipgloss now and then to a woman who spends her days wearing a hat and canvas gloves and uses valuable Amazon giftcards to buy gardening books.</p>\n\n<p>Yes, gardening books.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>These days, I worry about the state of my trees more than my wardrobe.</p>\n\n<p>Do you want to know what I did last weekend?&#0160; I was weeding, and it was awesome.&#0160; Pulling those suckers out is really satisfying.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>I know how sad that sounds.&#0160; I&#39;ve gone from 30 to 67 in two months flat.</p>\n\n<p>Funny thing is, I have NO IDEA how to garden.&#0160; All the plants that looked so pretty when we bought the house are starting to look downright sad.&#0160; Our lawn is mostly beige.&#0160; But I still go for walks with the kids and I can&#39;t help but notice how nice the neighbor&#39;s gardens are and before long I have to turn around and go back home because I covet their hydrangeas and their climbing roses and I want to pull more weeds so that I can plant something pretty when planting season begins.</p>\n\n<p>Not that I know when that is.</p>\n\n<p>Tomorrow an arborist is coming.&#0160; Did you know that arborists make house calls?&#0160; I sure didn&#39;t.&#0160; Wonder what he will have to say about what is growing around our house.&#0160; I suspect it&#39;s mostly weeds.</p>\n','Peonies Envy','\n','publish','open','open','','peonies-envy','','','2007-07-31 22:59:22','2007-07-31 22:59:22','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=433',0,'post','',4),(434,1,'2007-07-26 11:21:36','2007-07-26 11:21:36','<p>Margaritas in Hialeah.&#0160; As any native Miamian can attest, this is an extreme oxymoron (you&#39;re supposed to drink cafecitos or maybe mojitos in Hialeah- but look at how pretty it is!&#0160; I couldn&#39;t resist.)</p>\n\n<p>Also?&#0160; Let&#39;s not discuss what I was doing in Hialeah.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/07/26/dscn4380.jpg\"><img alt=\"Dscn4380\" border=\"0\" class=\"image-full at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef0120a93ce24a970b\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef0120a93ce24a970b-pi.jpg\" title=\"Dscn4380\" /></a></p>\n\n<p><em>UPDATE:&#0160; In an attempt to come up with a way to explain Hialeah to the <a href=\"http://www.kevincharnas.com/\">wonderfully funny Kevin </a>I turned to Wikipedia and found this:</em></p>\n\n<p><em><a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hialeah,_Florida\">&quot;Hialeah is the Santeria World Headquarters and contains the largest Santero Community outside of Cuba.&quot;</a><br /><br />I don&#39;t know if this is true, but I can assure you my time in Hialeah did not involve dead chickens.&#0160; It did, however, include a fun night at a surprisingly good Mexican restaurant.&#0160; I used to make fun of Hialeah, mostly because it&#39;s the birthplace of <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Sanchez\">Rick Sanchez</a>, but Wikipedia also taught me that KC of KC and The Sunshine Band and Catherine Keener hail from there as well.&#0160; It almost makes up for <a href=\"http://content.answers.com/main/content/img/amg/pop_albums/6/3/a/c632982vpar.jpg\">Jon Secada</a>.&#0160; Almost.</em></p>\n','Because Every Story Deserves a Happy Ending...','\n','publish','open','open','','because-every-story-deserves-a-happy-ending','','','2007-07-26 11:21:36','2007-07-26 11:21:36','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=434',0,'post','',5),(435,1,'2007-07-25 15:15:57','2007-07-25 15:15:57','<p>Part 1 is <a href=\"http://diary.blogs.com/the_diary_of_a_reluctant_/2007/07/how-to-travel-a.html\">here</a>.</p>\n\n<p><strong>5.&#0160; Get Your Act Together</strong>\n\n</p>\n\n<p>Listen, I know that having two kids is exhausting and that there&#39;s only so much you can do to keep your kids from screaming while on the plane.&#0160; I know.&#0160; But that&#39;s no excuse to just give up - you HAVE to be &quot;on&quot; at all times.&#0160; This means that you have to dress decently for the flight (you don&#39;t have to wear heels or anything, but please leave the pajamas at home.&#0160; Seriously.)&#0160; It also means that your kids, both of them, are <u>your</u> responsibility.&#0160; Don&#39;t let them wander off and bother the other passengers.&#0160; Don&#39;t expect others to do things for you.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>I promise you that if people see that are you doing everything in your power to maintain control of the situation, they WILL help.&#0160; People (usually other mothers but even tattooed teenage boys might surprise you) will offer to entertain the older child while you nurse the baby.&#0160; They&#39;ll find a spork for you (did you know they keep them behind the counter nowadays?&#0160; First cold medicine and now plastic eating utensils...yet, strangely I don&#39;t feel any safer while you travel.).</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And this is where I give a thousand virtual kisses to all the kind strangers that helped us out on our trip.&#0160; There really are a lot of awesome people out there.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>You bet I&#39;ll never ignore another human traveling alone with kids ever again.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p><strong>6.&#0160; Be Assertive</strong></p>\n\n<p>As nice as people can be, sometimes they don&#39;t think to help.&#0160; It&#39;s classic bystander effect - in groups of people everyone assumes someone else will surely help and in the end nobody does.&#0160; Don&#39;t let this happen to you.&#0160; Pick someone and ask for help when you really need it.</p>\n\n<p>Case in point:&#0160; When I got on the plane and made it all the way back to row 24, I was faced with buckling in two kids and a carry on and only having two hands.&#0160; How could I possibly manage?&#0160; I turned to a woman who was clearly thinking the same thing and asked her &quot;would you hold my baby, please?&quot;&#0160; I never, ever thought I would be saying this to a total stranger, but you know, desperate times.</p>\n\n<p>You know what happened?&#0160; Two other passengers (one a 10 year-old kid) reached out their hands, eager to help.&#0160; It&#39;s OK to ask.&#0160; My chosen victim seemed shocked at first, but good-naturedly held Ben while I buckled in Sebastian and put my carry-on away.&#0160; She also offered to hold the baby again when we landed.</p>\n\n<p><strong>7.&#0160; Flight Attendants Are Evil.&#0160; </strong></p>\n\n<p>Have you noticed a theme here?&#0160; Most people are pretty nice, as long as they don&#39;t make a living in the travel industry.</p>\n\n<p>Sure, I travel a lot and have met many wonderful and professional flight attendants.&#0160; The ones on this particular flight, however, were vicious and did their best to not only ignore me, but to make everybody&#39;s trip a living hell.&#0160; When I asked for apple juice, I handed the flight attendant a sippy cup to pour it in.&#0160; I thought I was being helpful.&#0160; She handed the sippy cup back to me, empty, then she handed me a can of apple juice AND a cup filled with ice.&#0160; I was holding an infant and my toddler&#39;s tray table was full of toys I&#39;d brought on board to distract him.</p>\n\n<p>&quot;I don&#39;t need the cup with ice, thanks&quot; I said as I tried to open the can of apple juice and fill the sippy cup while balancing the baby in my arms.</p>\n\n<p>&quot;You have to take it! I, DON&#39;T. HAVE. A. PLACE. TO. PUT. IT.&quot;&#0160; she barked.&#0160; I looked at her and the beverage cart she was pushing (you know, the one where they keep the cups and the ice?) and smiled sweetly at her,&#0160; &quot;then I guess it&#39;ll have to wait until it&#39;s time for you to pick up the garbage!&#0160; It&#39;ll be here waiting for you!&quot;</p>\n\n<p>At least I wasn&#39;t the guy sitting in row 22 who got a beverage cart rammed into his elbow.&#0160; Ouch.</p>\n\n<p><strong>8.&#0160; Dora, In Excelsis Diego</strong></p>\n\n<p>A portable DVD player loaded up with Diego DVDs will save you.&#0160; Bring it out about an hour into the flight (after the excitement of being on a plane has worn off) and you&#39;re set.&#0160; Oh, and buy a cheap one, because your toddler will keep inserting and removing the DVD and if you&#39;re going to worry about him breaking it, well that takes all the fun out of it, doesn&#39;t it?</p>\n\n<p><strong>9.&#0160; Snacks.&#0160; Snacks.&#0160; And More Snacks.</strong></p>\n\n<p>Did I mention snacks?&#0160; Because you should bring snacks.&#0160; And bring the good stuff.&#0160; This is not the time for tofu chips.</p>\n\n<p><strong>10.&#0160; Deplaning.&#0160; Or, Revenge is Sweet.</strong></p>\n\n<p>\n\nFight the urge to make a mad dash for the exit.&#0160; You will be much happier if you wait until everyone is gone.&#0160; The kids can watch the bags being unloaded, everyone will wave at your &quot;amazingly well-behaved&quot; kids, and you will have time to pick up all the crap you needed to entertain the kids during the flight.</p>\n\n<p>Also?</p>\n\n<p>The flight attendants can&#39;t leave you on the plane.&#0160; So they will suddenly become EXTREMELY helpful, and you will have six assistants helping you out of the gate.&#0160; One will hold your toddler, the other will carry your bags, and the witch who had no room for her stupid cup with ice?&#0160; She&#39;ll assemble your stroller for you AND buckle the baby in for you.</p>\n\n<p>All in the name of getting the hell out of there.</p>\n\n<p>So take your time, make them work, and congratulate yourself on having survived the journey.\n</p>\n','Air Travel Alone With Two Under Three:  Part Deux','\n','publish','open','open','','air-travel-alone-with-two-under-three-part-deux','','','2007-07-25 15:15:57','2007-07-25 15:15:57','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=435',0,'post','',0),(436,1,'2007-07-22 23:41:01','2007-07-22 23:41:01','<p>Remember the days when I was <a href=\"http://diary.blogs.com/the_diary_of_a_reluctant_/2007/04/fear.html\">afraid of going to the supermarket alone with the kids</a>?</p>\n\n<p>I was so naive.</p>\n\n<p>I just got back from a vacation where I traveled on a commercial flight with my two kids (ages 2 and 3 months) all by myself.&#0160; I believe I may deserve a medal.</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/22/weekinreview/22sharkey.html?ex=1342756800&amp;en=2efa7ab301ede121&amp;ei=5124&amp;partner=permalink&amp;exprod=permalink\">I knew sadistic flight attendants and cruel airport screeners had it in for poor mothers traveling alone.</a>&#0160; Here are my tips for surviving if such a journey is in your future.</p>\n\n<p><strong>1.&#0160; Pack Well</strong></p>\n\n<p>Your carry-on bag is your friend.&#0160; It needs to make you self-sufficient while being lightweight.&#0160; This means you need to pack more diapers than you think you need.&#0160; (I pack one per hour of travel, including waiting time at the airport.)&#0160; This also means you need to pack every snack known to man (what if you get stuck on the tarmac for 10 hours?) but that it can&#39;t contain any fluid or have the word &quot;paste&quot; on the packaging.&#0160; The people at the security checkpoint are crazy - do not expect them to have any common sense whatsoever.&#0160; Once, they made my husband throw away some toothpaste because &quot;regulations don&#39;t allow you to carry more than 3 oz of paste on board.&quot;</p>\n\n<p>&quot;There&#39;s enough toothpaste in that container for 2 toothbrushes.&#0160; That&#39;s much less than 3 oz.&quot;</p>\n\n<p>&quot;But it says 8 oz on the tube.&#0160; That&#39;s more than 3 oz.&quot;</p>\n\n<p>Don&#39;t even try to argue with that logic because it can get you arrested.<br /> </p>\n\n<p><strong>2.&#0160; Security Checkpoints - Where Toddlers are Public Enemy #1</strong></p>\n\n<p>Remember that you are traveling with children - the biggest threat to the flying public after kindly old grandmothers.&#0160; That&#39;s why you only see old ladies and moms going through the &quot;random&quot; secondary screening.&#0160; It&#39;s also why the guy that stands at the metal detector will make you take your sleeping 3 month-old out of his stroller.&#0160; He will watch as you struggle to fold it while holding said infant.&#0160; He will stand by while a kind stranger folds the stroller for you and hurts his shoulder putting your huge carry on on the x-ray machine&#39;s conveyor belt.&#0160; He will not tell you that your toddler is wandering away.&#0160; And once you try to go through the metal detector, tickets and IDs in one hand, grumpy 3 month-old hanging precariously on the other, he will smile, point at your toddler and say &quot;You have to take off his shoes.&quot;</p>\n\n<p>Yes, he could have told you this BEFORE you took the infant out of his stroller.&#0160; Yes, he did this on purpose.&#0160; Fight the urge to kick him. They live for this shit.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>Instead, someone with some common sense (i.e. not a TSA employee) will get on her hands and knees and take off your kid&#39;s rubber sandals for you.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>Modern-day air travel requires you to check your dignity with your luggage.&#0160; Keep calm and carry on. </p>\n\n<p><strong>3.&#0160; Get Thee To The Gate</strong></p>\n\n<p>Do not purchase any magazines or entertainment for yourself.&#0160; You will not have the time.&#0160; Get yourself to the gate, but stop at the restrooms and the food court before hand.&#0160; Take the food with you to the gate.&#0160; Ask the gate agent if they could kindly seat you in a row with an empty seat.&#0160; He will give you a sob story about how the flight is full.&#0160; Sigh heavily.&#0160; Traveling sucks.</p>\n\n<p><strong>4.&#0160; Feed The Kids</strong></p>\n\n<p>Do this at the gate so your fellow passengers see that while you&#39;re crazy enough to travel alone with two children, you are not stupid enough to do it with hungry ones.</p>\n\n<p>(To Be Continued...)<br /> </p>\n','Air Travel Alone with Two under Three:  Part One','\n','publish','open','open','','air-travel-alone-with-two-under-three-part-one','','','2007-07-22 23:41:01','2007-07-22 23:41:01','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=436',0,'post','',7),(437,1,'2007-07-20 14:22:40','2007-07-20 14:22:40','<p>I sent out Benjamin&#39;s birth announcement on the day he turned 3 months old.&#0160; I, of course, felt the guilt that accompanies that, the kind that makes you feel bad because your first born&#39;s announcements were ready before he was born and in the eager hands of friends and family before they&#39;ve had the chance to meet him.</p>\n\n<p>By now, most everyone has not only met Benjamin, they&#39;ve had him spit up on them a couple of times.&#0160; So I imagine that receiving his announcement must have been a bit underwhelming.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>That was until a couple of weeks ago, when I received a card in the mail from a friend.&#0160; (Don&#39;t you love getting mail just because?)&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>The envelope was a bit dirty and had a bit of something pink on it.&#0160; Lipstick perhaps?&#0160; &#0160;Also, her return label had the words &quot;Ho Ho Ho&quot; in green letters.&#0160; Was my friend trying to tell me something?&#0160; Oh, then&#0160; I noticed she had a 39 cent stamp on it - the one with the Virgin Mary and Baby Jesus.&#0160; Maybe she&#39;s<br />trying to use up old stamps.&#0160; But then why did she have one of those ugly &quot;forever&quot; stamps next to the Madonna? Kind of defeats the purpose, doesn&#39;t it?</p>\n\n<p>Then I flipped the envelope over and found this note:</p><blockquote><p><em>Christmas in July<br /><br />I&#39;m sorry it&#39;s all scratched up because it&#39;s been in my purse since December</em></p></blockquote><p>Could it be?</p>\n\n<p>I opened up the envelope, and sure enough, there were the smiling faces of her two adorable children sitting next to a Christmas tree.</p>\n\n<p>I laughed so hard, tears were streaming down my face.&#0160; Genius!</p>\n\n<p>This is hands-down my favorite card.&#0160; It&#39;s the only Christmas card on my desk.&#0160; Talk about cutting throught the clutter.</p>\n\n<p>I&#39;m considering sending my Christmas cards out next July.&#0160; Friends, consider yourselves warned.</p>\n','Timing is Everything','\n','publish','open','open','','timing-is-everything','','','2007-07-20 14:22:40','2007-07-20 14:22:40','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=437',0,'post','',4),(438,1,'2007-07-19 16:02:14','2007-07-19 16:02:14','<p>Hello!&#0160; I went on vacation and decided to change the name of my blog to Miguelina.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>Miguelina was my middle name until I got married and changed my middle name to my maiden name.&#0160; I know it&#39;s confusing (like the whole AT&amp;T to Cingular back to AT&amp;T thing), but please bear with me.</p>\n\n<p>I always hated my middle name.&#0160; I used to dread the first day of school when the teachers would call me by my full name before I could beg them not to.&#0160; So the day I got married, I dropped the name.&#0160; It felt awesome.</p>\n\n<p>Now I kind of miss it.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>So here it is.&#0160; I&#39;m taking my name back.&#0160; The blog formerly known as The Diary of a Reluctant Housewife is now called Miguelina.&#0160; </p>\n','Miguelina.','\n','publish','open','open','','miguelina','','','2007-07-19 16:02:14','2007-07-19 16:02:14','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=438',0,'post','',10),(439,1,'2007-06-27 18:22:03','2007-06-27 18:22:03','<p>Driving home last week I was struck by how disgustingly lucky I am.&#0160; I was thinking of all the many things I have to be grateful for.&#0160; To top it all off, the weather was gorgeous, the kids were behaving and I was on Top of Things.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Everything was perfect.</p>\n\n<p>That&#39;s when I heard it.\n\n</p>\n\n<p>BOOM!<br /><em><br /></em><em>Someone&#39;s been in an accident!</em></p>\n\n<p>I was glad it wasn&#39;t me.&#0160; Until I noticed my car tilting, ever so slightly, to the right.&#0160; That&#39;s when the seconds turned to minutes.&#0160; But what happened didn&#39;t register until I saw the light reflected in the shards of glass raining around my car like bubbles.&#0160; I felt like I was drowning. </p>\n\n<p><em>Gratitude, my ass.</em></p>\n\n<p>I looked behind me and saw a silver car in the parking lane, its door flapping back and forth into the street, and the driver jumping up and down in her seat, her face frozen in terror.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p><em>How?</em></p>\n\n<p>I saw my boys, strapped in their car seats, searching my face for answers.&#0160; Thankfully, they were fine.</p>\n\n<p><em>Thank God.<br /></em></p>\n\n<p>I pulled over, got out of the car, opened the back door to get a better look at the boys.&#0160; I didn&#39;t notice how the door had buckled into itself, the gash.&#0160; People ran over, offering their cell phones, offering to hold my babies.</p>\n\n<p>I was in shock.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p><em>They&#39;re fine.&#0160; Thank you.</em></p>\n\n<p>The other driver rushed over.</p>\n\n<p>&quot;Are you OK?&quot;&#0160; Her eyes grew huge.&#0160; &quot;OHMYGOD YOU HAVE CHILDREN IN THE CAR!&#0160; OHMYGOD YOUR TIRE!&quot;</p>\n\n<p>That&#39;s when I noticed the damage.&#0160; That&#39;s when I saw the huge dent over my right front tire.&#0160; That&#39;s when I saw that the wheel had a 4-inch gash on it&#39;s side.&#0160; That&#39;s when I saw the crushed metal, the peeling paint - our brand-new family car&#39;s side crumpled like a piece of paper.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>&quot;Yes, yes, I&#39;m fine.&#0160; Move your car to the parking lot, get yourself out of traffic.&quot;</p>\n\n<p>I did that.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>She went back to her car.&#0160; A man in a business suit came over, cell phone in hand and called the police.&#0160; He offered to change my tire, but I refused.&#0160; A limo driver on break brought me water bottles and sat with me to keep me company until my husband could get there.&#0160; A nanny out with her charges offered to play with my son.</p>\n\n<p><em>Thank you.&#0160; Thank you.</em></p>\n\n<p>I asked the limo driver if he saw anything.&#0160; I still didn&#39;t know what had happened.</p>\n\n<p>&quot;I heard the accident, but I didn&#39;t see it.&#0160; But she definitely moved her car closer while you were distracted to make it look like she was further into the parking lane.</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Thank you.</em></p>\n\n<p>Police lights, a few questions.&#0160; My husbands arrives.&#0160; I try to cry, but no tears come out.</p>\n\n<p>&quot;What happened?&quot;</p>\n\n<p><em>I don&#39;t know.&#0160; I don&#39;t know.</em></p>\n\n<p>We eventually figure it out.&#0160; She opened her car door into the side of my car.&#0160; My front bumper is dent-free.&#0160; She wasn&#39;t looking, was distracted, parked too far from the curb, and opened her car door into a car.</p>\n\n<p>Into our car.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>Had she opened her door a second before she did, I might have seen her and been able to stop.&#0160; But she opened the door as I was driving past her, after she was in my line of sight.</p>\n\n<p>There was nothing I could have done to avoid it.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p><em>It&#39;s not your fault,</em> my husband said. <em> It&#39;s not your fault, s</em>aid the insurance company.&#0160; I try to tell myself, <em>It&#39;s not your fault.</em></p>\n\n<p>Still, my head is filled with doubt.&#0160; What if I had taken another route?&#0160; What if I had a left a few minutes later?</p>\n\n<p>What if?</p>\n','Lucky','\n','publish','open','open','','lucky','','','2007-06-27 18:22:03','2007-06-27 18:22:03','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=439',0,'post','',17),(440,1,'2007-06-16 15:15:41','2007-06-16 15:15:41','<blockquote><p><em>&quot;The girls are going to the movies, but I thought we could get a sitter and go out on a date instead.&quot;<br /><br />&quot;Nah.&#0160; You should go out with the girls.&quot;<br /><br />&quot;...Really?&#0160; You&#39;re saying no to a date with me?&#0160; Thanks for the ego boost, hon.&quot;<br /><br />&quot;No!&#0160; I mean you need the break!&quot;<br /><br />&quot;Riiiight.&quot;</em></p></blockquote><p>I&#39;d say that we&#39;re &quot;like&quot; an old married couple, except that obviously, we already are.<br /></p>\n','How I Scored a Date with George Clooney Tonight','\n','publish','open','open','','how-i-scored-a-date-with-george-clooney-tonight','','','2007-06-16 15:15:41','2007-06-16 15:15:41','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=440',0,'post','',2),(441,1,'2007-06-14 14:49:58','2007-06-14 14:49:58','<p><a href=\"http://bp3.blogger.com/_qjpwnPW4c1o/Rm_aPaS9XpI/AAAAAAAABYc/rez5kIIDCM0/s1600-h/57th-%26-5th-June-W.jpg\">I want to be this lady</a>.&#0160; Isn&#39;t she awesome?&#0160; She looks so confident and put together.&#0160; She looks supremely happy to be one of a kind.&#0160; <a href=\"https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=17177804&amp;postID=579797797542651084\">Kind of makes you look forward to growing up, doesn&#39;t it?</a> </p>\n\n<p>I don&#39;t know about you, but I rarely wish I was younger.&#0160; If I do find myself starting to worry about getting older I just turn on MTV or take a look at MySpace and I am filled with relief that I&#39;m not 19 years old - I don&#39;t aspire to be a Pussy Cat doll or a Lindsay Lohan, so I would not be a good fit with today&#39;s young exhibitonists.</p>\n\n<p>(Says she who has a blog.)</p>\n\n<p>I don&#39;t believe that youth is wasted on the young.&#0160; Instead, time slips through our fingers while we wish for a different past.</p>\n\n<p><em>Non, je ne regrette rien.<br /><br />\n\n<object height=\"350\" width=\"425\"><param name=\"movie\" value=\"http://www.youtube.com/v/kFRuLFR91e4\" /><param name=\"wmode\" value=\"transparent\" /><embed height=\"350\" src=\"http://www.youtube.com/v/kFRuLFR91e4\" type=\"application/x-shockwave-flash\" width=\"425\" wmode=\"transparent\" /></object></em></p>\n','When I Grow Up...','\n','publish','open','open','','when-i-grow-up','','','2007-06-14 14:49:58','2007-06-14 14:49:58','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=441',0,'post','',1),(442,1,'2007-06-13 01:07:54','2007-06-13 01:07:54','<p>I have been quiet&#0160; because my husband has been in Europe for the past 9 days (but who&#39;s counting!) for his brother&#39;s wedding.&#0160; I missed a fairytale medieval castle wedding because the bride and groom couldn&#39;t plan their big day around my pregnancy.&#0160; The nerve!&#0160; (I kid of course.)</p>\n\n<p>But that&#39;s not what&#39;s important.&#0160; What&#39;s important is that I&#39;ve been home alone, in a new house, with a new baby, and with a two year old.</p>\n\n<p>You thought calculus was hard?&#0160; THIS is hard.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>The husband is back tomorrow night - so I can finally put my virtual feet up and relax a bit.&#0160; I can&#39;t, however, come up with a coherent post, so I will give you the last nine days of my life - in bullet form:</p>\n\n<ul><li>Benjamin had his 2 month appointment.&#0160; I, being awesome experienced mother that I am, completely forgot that he would get his first vaccinations at this appointment.</li>\n\n<li>Somehow, as I was nursing Benjamin after his surprise shots, he managed to poop all over himself, the pediatrician&#39;s office floor, and my jeans.&#0160; Also, I stepped on the poop as I was trying to clean the floor.&#0160; I left the dr&#39;s office with a huge poop stain accross my lap.&#0160; Did I care?&#0160; No.</li>\n\n<li>My hairbrush is still packed away somewhere.&#0160; Do I care?&#0160; No.</li>\n\n<li>Benjamin ran his first fever.&#0160; Called the pediatrician in a panic because if a 2 month old runs a fever you have to go to the emergency room.&#0160; What would I do with Sebastian?&#0160; Then they reminded me that kids get fevers with vaccines.&#0160; I should have known that (see first bullet point).&#0160; Oops.&#0160; A little bit of Tylenol took it away.</li>\n\n<li>I ordered from Zappos for the first time.&#0160; I have to return two pairs of shoes.&#0160; My printer is packed away somewhere.&#0160; I KNOW I&#39;m going to forget to return the damn shoes.</li>\n\n<li>Sebastian may or may not have had a case of conjunctivitis.</li>\n\n<li>In an example of breathtakingly stupid behavior, I volunteered to recruit local merchants to give discounts to our local mother&#39;s group.&#0160; Like I have the time to do this.</li>\n\n<li>I memorized the &quot;I did that!&quot;&#0160; Blue&#39;s Clues episode.</li>\n\n<li>I sang &quot;Dora, Dora, the exploreeeeeeer!&quot; while at the supermarket checkout.&#0160; Out loud.&#0160; Oh God.</li>\n\n<li>Where are my summer clothes?&#0160; Anyone see them?</li>\n\n<li>Hi!&#0160; Our toilets are loose.&#0160; Awesome.</li></ul>\n\n<p>See what you missed?&#0160; Aren&#39;t you glad I was away from the computer?</p>\n\n<p>---------------</p>\n\n<p><em>I&#39;ve started a review blog - EverydayTreats - thanks to the nice people who send me stuff to try out.&#0160; (I do it for you, my readers!)&#0160; Every once in a while, I&#39;ll have a giveaway - so keep an eye on my sidebar!&#0160; Today, however, it&#39;s a stop on the MotherTalk <a href=\"http://www.mamasource.com\">Mamasource</a> blog tour.&#0160; <a href=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com\">Check it out.</a> </em></p>\n','Supermom','\n','publish','open','open','','supermom','','','2007-06-13 01:07:54','2007-06-13 01:07:54','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=442',0,'post','',8),(443,1,'2007-06-08 22:53:18','2007-06-08 22:53:18','<div style=\"float: right; margin-left: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;\"> <a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/vidalia/525515945/\" title=\"photo sharing\"><img class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa3a0f5970c\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa3a0f5970c-pi.jpg\" style=\"border: 2px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);\" /></a> <br /> <span style=\"font-size: 0.9em; margin-top: 0px;\">&#0160; <a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/vidalia/525515945/\">How to use a Western Toilet</a>&#0160; <br />&#0160; Originally uploaded by <a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/people/vidalia/\">Vidalia</a> </span></div>\n\n<blockquote><p>&quot;Photos of warning signs showing stick figures in dangerous, often life-threatening, situations.&quot;</p></blockquote><p>The internet is made for useless and therefore hilarious stuff like this.&#0160; <a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/groups/stickfiguresinperil/pool/\">Check it out</a> (the comments are funnier than the signs).</p>\n\n<div style=\"float: right; margin-left: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;\"> <a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/dermarkstein/524715757/\" title=\"photo sharing\"><img class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa3a105970c\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa3a105970c-pi.jpg\" style=\"border: 2px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);\" /></a> <br /> <span style=\"font-size: 0.9em; margin-top: 0px;\">&#0160; <a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/dermarkstein/524715757/\">30230003.JPG</a>&#0160; <br />&#0160; Originally uploaded by <a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/people/dermarkstein/\">dermarkstein</a> </span></div>\n','Stick Figures in Peril','\n','publish','closed','open','','stick-figures-in-peril','','','2007-06-08 22:53:18','2007-06-08 22:53:18','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=443',0,'post','',0),(444,1,'2007-06-07 22:41:05','2007-06-07 22:41:05','Judy, <a href=\"http://www.goodyblog.com/playing_house/2007/05/im_it.html\">of GoodyBlog fame</a>, tagged me (like a million years ago) with the following:\r\n<blockquote><strong>Give the meaning of your kids’ names, and write about what or\r\nhow or why you gave the name to your kids. </strong></blockquote>\r\nEven a lazy blogger like me can handle that, since I\'ve already told the internet everything there is to know about<a href=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/2007/03/the-name-game.html\"> how we went about naming our first child</a>, Sebastian.  I\'ve been meaning to tell you all about Benjamin\'s name and this is a great excuse to do it.\r\n\r\nOne thing I left out in the earlier post, and which is really the common thread between our children\'s names is that we\'re Catholic.  My husband\'s family is pretty traditional when it comes to names - and if you\'re Catholic that means that you choose saint\'s names for your children.  My family is not strict about this at all - my name is the Persian word for dawn, we are not Persian and there are no saints named Roxanna.  They just liked the name, I think.  But since there are about 3 million saints names to choose from and most of them have colorful stories, I was happy to continue my husband\'s family tradition.  It\'s actually pretty hard to find a name that isn\'t covered in <a href=\"http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/patron02.htm\">this list</a>.\r\n\r\nSt. Sebastian is a pretty famous saint - he\'s the one depicted tied up to a tree, his upper body pierced with arrows.  The martyrdom of St. Sebastian has been, and continues to be a favorite topic for artists from <a href=\"http://bode.diee.unica.it/~giua/SEBASTIAN/\">Rubens to REM</a>.  You can think of him as a rockstar - as far as religious figures go.  He represents physical and mental endurance, even in the face of extreme adversity.\r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=338\">St. Benjamin</a> is lesser known - but he stands for speaking your mind and standing up for what you believe in - and that\'s pretty awesome in my book.  It also doesn\'t hurt that one of the most famous <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Franklin\">Benjamin</a>s ever was \"a leading author, political theorist, politician, printer, scientist, inventor, civic activist, and diplomat\" and was a native Bostonian to boot.\r\n\r\nThat\'s a lot to live up to, but we\'ll have to wait a few years before we find out if they\'ll live up to their names.  For now, they\'re busy being babies and that\'s busy enough for me.','The Namesakes','','publish','closed','open','','the-namesakes','','\nhttp://www.everydaytreats.com/2007/03/the-name-game.html','2011-03-25 10:49:48','2011-03-25 14:49:48','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=444',0,'post','',4),(1162,1,'2011-03-25 10:50:51','2011-03-25 14:50:51','Judy, <a href=\"http://www.goodyblog.com/playing_house/2007/05/im_it.html\">of GoodyBlog fame</a>, tagged me (like a million years ago) with the following:\n<blockquote><strong>Give the meaning of your kids’ names, and write about what or\nhow or why you gave the name to your kids. </strong></blockquote>\nEven a lazy blogger like me can handle that, since I\'ve already told the internet everything there is to know about<a href=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/2007/03/the-name-game.html\"> how we went about naming our first child</a>, Sebastian.  I\'ve been meaning to tell you all about Benjamin\'s name and this is a great excuse to do it.\n\nOne thing I left out in the earlier post, and which is really the common thread between our children\'s names is that we\'re Catholic.  My husband\'s family is pretty traditional when it comes to names - and if you\'re Catholic that means that you choose saint\'s names for your children.  My family is not strict about this at all - my name is the Persian word for dawn, we are not Persian and there are no saints named Roxanna.  They just liked the name, I think.  But since there are about 3 million saints names to choose from and most of them have colorful stories, I was happy to continue my husband\'s family tradition.  It\'s actually pretty hard to find a name that isn\'t covered in <a href=\"http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/patron02.htm\">this list</a>.\n\nSt. Sebastian is a pretty famous saint - he\'s the one depicted tied up to a tree, his upper body pierced with arrows.  The martyrdom of St. Sebastian has been, and continues to be a favorite topic for artists from <a href=\"http://bode.diee.unica.it/~giua/SEBASTIAN/\">Rubens to REM</a>.  You can think of him as a rockstar - as far as religious figures go.  He represents physical and mental endurance, even in the face of extreme adversity.\n\n<a href=\"http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=338\">St. Benjamin</a> is lesser known - but he stands for speaking your mind and standing up for what you believe in - and that\'s pretty awesome in my book.  It also doesn\'t hurt that one of the most famous <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Franklin\">Benjamin</a>s ever was \"a leading author, political theorist, politician, printer, scientist, inventor, civic activist, and diplomat\" and was a native Bostonian to boot.\n\nThat\'s a lot to live up to, but we\'ll have to wait a few years before we find out if they\'ll live up to their names.  For now, they\'re busy being babies and that\'s busy enough for me.','The Namesakes','','inherit','open','open','','444-autosave','','','2011-03-25 10:50:51','2011-03-25 14:50:51','',444,'http://www.everydaytreats.com/2011/03/444-autosave.html',0,'revision','',0),(445,1,'2007-05-31 14:36:49','2007-05-31 14:36:49','<p>So...we moved over Memorial Day weekend.&#0160; And when I say &quot;over Memorial Day weekend&quot; I literally mean over the entire weekend.&#0160; Moving!&#0160; It takes so much time!&#0160; Who knew!</p>\n\n<p>Actually, I did.&#0160; I&#39;ve moved around a lot, but this time it&#39;s different.&#0160; We&#39;ve moved into our own home, the one we hope to be in for a long time.&#0160; This makes the unpacking process embarrasingly slow because every single decision is of monumental importance (&quot;Does the colander go in this drawer? Or on the shelf? Or should it be out on the counter?&quot;) - for some reason, I&#39;m stuck with the belief that the spot where I place things as they come out of the moving boxes will be the spot where the things will lay for the next 30 years.</p>\n\n<p>Of course, that&#39;s ridiculous.&#0160; I know that.&#0160; But that&#39;s how unpacking&#39;s going.&#0160; Thanks for asking.</p>\n\n<p>You know what else is ridiculous?&#0160; The bone-sucking exhaustion at the end of each and every day.&#0160; My brain is fried, and I&#39;m not exaggerating.</p>\n\n<p>Want an example?</p>\n\n<p>Our home came with a dishwasher.&#0160; Like most dishwashers, it&#39;s pretty aggresively boring, but it gets the dishes clean so we&#39;re happy.&#0160; Except for last night, where the thing would not start.&#0160; It was dead.&#0160; My husband and I looked at each other, not quite sure what to do.&#0160; As renters, we were used to just letting the landlord deal with it.&#0160; But now that we&#39;re homeowners it&#39;s our responsibility.&#0160; And it was late.&#0160; And we were tired.</p>\n\n<p>So my husband went downstairs to check the fuse box.&#0160; Everything seemed to be in order.&#0160; I pulled the dishwasher out from under the counter to see if it was unplugged, or whatever it is you do with a dishwasher.&#0160; Everything looked...like nothing I&#39;d ever seen before, so I assumed it was fine.</p>\n\n<p>Still, the thing would not start.</p>\n\n<p>Then we remembered that GE was recalling some dishwashers, so we went online and typed in the serial numbers on our machine, hoping that our machine was on the recall list.&#0160; We&#39;re probably the only people in the world wishing that their dishwasher was one of the ones that are likely to catch on fire so that we could have someone come over and fix it or replace it.</p>\n\n<p>No luck.</p>\n\n<p>Since we were on line, we looked up what a new dishwasher would cost.&#0160; Did you know that a dishwasher can cost $1600?&#0160; And that some brands don&#39;t even list a price online?&#0160; That you have to hear the price in person?&#0160; Probably so the sales person can catch you as you faint and wave some smelling salts under your nose.&#0160; Because more than 1600 dollars?&#0160; American dollars?&#0160; That seems excessive to me, but maybe I&#39;ve been out of the appliance buying market for too long.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>Buying a new dishwasher was out of the question, because we could find so many uses for $1600 (like childproofing...our house offers our toddler many more ways to injure himself than our old apartment ever did) so we came up with a strategy.&#0160; I would call GE in the morning and tell them that our dishwasher is less than two years old and we expect the company to stand behind their product.&#0160; I was going to sound indignant and a touch angry.&#0160; If they refused, we weren&#39;t sure what we would do.&#0160; My husband said to make sure I tell them that I have a blog and threaten them with a nasty post.</p>\n\n<p>I do not like it when he makes fun of my site.&#0160; I was very mad by the time I woke up this morning.</p>\n\n<p>We were standing around the kitchen counter, I had my coffee in one hand and the phone in another, and my husband was looking for the customer service number when Sebastian ran into the room and got into the cabinets under the kitchen sink.&#0160; I dropped the phone and went after him, certain that he was hell bent on drinking some dishwashing detergent in lieu of his apple juice.</p>\n\n<p>&quot;See!&quot;&#0160; I said to my husband.&#0160; &quot;We have to childproof this kitchen as of yesterday!&quot;</p>\n\n<p>When I opened the cabinet, Sebastian was playing with a switch.&#0160; He flicked it, and ran out of the room.</p>\n\n<p>My husband and I looked at each other.&#0160; We then looked at the dishwasher.</p>\n\n<p>He turned it on.</p>\n\n<p>Do I even need to tell you that it worked?&#0160; That it took a two year-old to fix our dishwasher?&#0160; That I need to stop unpacking and take a nap?</p>\n','Look!  I\'m updating!  To tell you about our dishwasher!','\n','publish','closed','open','','look-im-updating-to-tell-you-about-our-dishwasher','','','2007-05-31 14:36:49','2007-05-31 14:36:49','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=445',0,'post','',4),(446,1,'2007-05-19 08:29:00','2007-05-19 08:29:00','<p><a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/diary/344179407/\" title=\"Photo Sharing\"><img alt=\"Beah!\" class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39bcd970c\" height=\"500\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39bcd970c-pi.jpg\" width=\"375\" /></a></p>\n','His Buddy...','\n','publish','closed','open','','his-buddy','','','2007-05-19 08:29:00','2007-05-19 08:29:00','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=446',0,'post','',0),(447,1,'2007-05-18 03:23:00','2007-05-18 03:23:00','<p>I&#39;m the mother of two little baby boys.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>Boys!&#0160; &#0160;Two of them!</p>\n\n<p>Adorable, cute little babies that will someday grow up to be hyperactive, muddy, rambunctious boys.</p>\n\n<p>It&#39;s no secret that it <a href=\"http://www.reluctanthousewife.com/2006/12/boys.html\">scares me sometimes</a>.</p>\n\n<p>Because boys?&#0160; They are a mystery.&#0160; Even after 30 years.</p>\n\n<p>My oldest is only two and he&#39;s already a miniature daredevil, something I most certainly am not.&#0160; At the playground he wants to slide down the BIG! slide, and he runs FAST!, and he hides from me and he wants to hang from the monkey bars like a TALL MAN!&#0160; (I don&#39;t know why he says tall men hang from the monkey bars, but it&#39;s cute, no?)</p>\n\n<p>All this, while all I want to do at the playground is sit under the big tree, drink some lemonade and read my Vanity Fair in peace.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>But I don&#39;t do it, because it would be <em>dangerous</em>.&#0160; As a parent I have to be hyper alert at all times, especially when we are out at the playground.&#0160; I have to be vigilant about my son not falling off the playground equipment, make sure he does&#39;t get hurt by another kid, keep an eye on the adults around me.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>Because there is <em>danger</em> everywhere!</p>\n\n<p>I know my son loves it, the danger.&#0160; But it drives me crazy.</p>\n\n<p>I try very hard to not let on about my fears, because I don&#39;t want him to grow up anxious and scared.&#0160; I want him to experience life the way he does now, the way he should - like a child, free and wild and fearless.</p>\n\n<p>Danger is real.&#0160; I&#39;m not planning on raising a fool.&#0160; There will be a time to fear danger and be vigilant and responsible and careful.</p>\n\n<p>I just don&#39;t think that time is now.</p>\n\n<p>*****************<br /><em>This post is inspired by the current discussion over at <a href=\"http://www.mother-talk.com/wp/?p=70\">MotherTalk</a>.&#0160; </em></p>\n\n<p><em>I think it&#39;s fabulous that two men chose to write a book for boys. There all all these people that are up in arms because this book is &quot;for boys&quot; - I think the argument goes along the lines of &#39;men have all the power and are held in high-esteem while girls are stuck with Disney Princess crap.&#39;<br /></em></p>\n\n<p><em>Blah, blah, blah.&#0160; <br /></em></p>\n\n<p><em>So if men are held in high esteem does that mean that boys\nshould be ignored while we all go on and on about girl power?\nBecause, really! Who is buying all the Disney Princess garbage? Men?</em></p>\n\n<p><em>We should let boys unabashedly enjoy being boys.&#0160; And girls should continue to fiercely enjoy being girls.<br /></em></p>\n','Embracing a Dangerous Childhood','\n','publish','closed','open','','embracing-a-dangerous-childhood','','','2007-05-18 03:23:00','2007-05-18 03:23:00','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=447',0,'post','',8),(448,1,'2007-05-17 15:34:11','2007-05-17 15:34:11','<p>Sending some of <a href=\"http://www.someecards.com/\">these</a> out might be a way.&#0160; I got one (I won&#39;t say which) and I&#39;m still laughing!&#0160; Here&#39;s a few of my favorites:</p>\n\n<p><img alt=\"Cfh_10_2\" border=\"0\" class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39d13970c\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39d13970c-pi.jpg\" title=\"Cfh_10_2\" />\n\n\n<img alt=\"Flir_1_3\" border=\"0\" class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39d26970c\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39d26970c-pi.jpg\" title=\"Flir_1_3\" />\n\n\n<img alt=\"Fri_7_2\" border=\"0\" class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39d34970c\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39d34970c-pi.jpg\" title=\"Fri_7_2\" />\n\n\n</p>\n','I have no idea how people fill their time','\n','publish','closed','open','','i-have-no-idea-how-people-fill-their-time','','','2007-05-17 15:34:11','2007-05-17 15:34:11','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=448',0,'post','',0),(449,1,'2007-05-16 13:19:17','2007-05-16 13:19:17','<p>I got great news at my 6-week post-partum OB appointment:&#0160; I&#39;m down to my prepregnancy weight.</p>\n\n<p>Awesome!&#0160; I know!&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>Since I am absolutely sick and tired of my maternity pants I skipped over to my closet, packed up my maternity clothes (<a href=\"http://www.reluctanthousewife.com/2007/03/nesting_big_tim.html\">because we move in a week and a half!</a>), pulled out my favorite pair of jeans (the pair you wear everywhere - you know, THAT pair) and discovered that they don&#39;t fit.&#0160; I almost fainted when I tried to button up the perfect jeans that fit perfectly when I last weighed exactly what I weigh today.&#0160; (Got that?)</p>\n\n<p>So I tried another pair of jeans.&#0160; Then another.&#0160; Then, out of desperation, I pulled on some YOGA PANTS.&#0160; YOGA PANTS people!&#0160; You know - pants made of stretchy fabric!&#0160; Sure, I was able to squeeze into them, since they whole point is that they&#39;re flexible and zen and all, but trust me - they&#39;re just...I mean the proportions are just...wrong.</p>\n\n<p>Nothing fits!&#0160; Nothing!&#0160; In fact I&#39;m not wearing pants right now!&#0160; Because I&#39;ve got nothing!</p>\n\n<p>Maybe I&#39;m being a wee bit dramatic here.&#0160; A few things still fit.&#0160; Like that pair of jeans that are a couple of sizes too big and you&#39;ve had since college and that are totally soft and worn out and you used to wear back when you had time to sit around with your girlfriends watching Sex and The City Marathons&#0160; and you needed the extra room for all the ice cream and chinese takeout you were all bingeing on in the name of female bonding.&#0160; You know.&#0160; THAT pair?</p>\n\n<p>They fit - as long as I hold my breath and do a little hop when I zip them up.</p>\n\n<p>There is a lesson to be learned here.&#0160; Buy yourself some nice maternity jeans (if you&#39;re pregnant), because you&#39;ll be wearing them for a LONG time.</p>\n','Buzzkill','\n','publish','closed','open','','buzzkill','','','2007-05-16 13:19:17','2007-05-16 13:19:17','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=449',0,'post','',4),(450,1,'2007-05-14 14:13:20','2007-05-14 14:13:20','<p>It has been six weeks since Benjamin arrived - and it has taken almost as long for things to get back to normal.&#0160; I don&#39;t know why I say normal, because of course, normal today is completely different than it was before we had two kids&#0160; What I can say is that our new normal is good - very good.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>After the first weeks of the multiple tortures of relearning how to nurse (nursing a newborn feels like being stabbed by dozens of little daggers), dealing with a jealous and potentially dangerous older brother, and of course, sleep deprivation, we are finally reaching the point where I can feel our brand-new family of four coming together.&#0160; We&#39;ve figured out how to get everybody fed at more or less the same time, leaving the house doesn&#39;t take all morning, and I&#39;ve even managed to go to the grocery store with both kids on my own.&#0160; Imagine that!&#0160; Despite my anxiety, the earth did not stop spinning on its axis.&#0160; Everything was fine.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>Things are good.&#0160; Sebastian is past merely tolerating his new brother - he&#39;s actually a big help - letting me know when Benjamin is crying in his bassinet and getting a pacifier for Benjamin if I take too long to get to him.&#0160; Newborns are much easier when you have a pint-sized assistant ready to help.</p>\n\n<p>I&#39;m also over the guilt I felt when we brought Benjamin home.&#0160; Everytime I gave Benjamin attention it felt like I was cheating on Sebastian.&#0160; So I gave Sebastian extra attention, which in turn made me feel guilty for neglecting Benjamin, who is so little and probably needed my attention more than his older brother anyways.&#0160; That, my friends, is how one goes crazy.&#0160; Once I realized that there is no such thing as spending too much time with one child over another I was able to relax and enjoy both of them more than I ever thought would be possible.</p>\n\n<p>Now we are four.&#0160; &#0160;And we like it.</p>\n','A New Normal','\n','publish','closed','open','','a-new-normal','','','2007-05-14 14:13:20','2007-05-14 14:13:20','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=450',0,'post','',6),(451,1,'2007-05-12 20:56:58','2007-05-12 20:56:58','<p>Bring it on!</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/diary/495495801/\" title=\"Photo Sharing\"><img alt=\"Summer\" class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39e5a970c\" height=\"375\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39e5a970c-pi.jpg\" width=\"500\" /></a></p>\n','Summer...','\n','publish','closed','open','','summer','','','2007-05-12 20:56:58','2007-05-12 20:56:58','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=451',0,'post','',0),(452,1,'2007-05-11 13:26:02','2007-05-11 13:26:02','<p>Oh, how I&#39;m starting to miss the days when I didn&#39;t know there was such a creature as a Wonderpet!</p>\n\n<p>You see, even though my oldest son is two years old, I somehow managed to avoid children&#39;s television.&#0160; &quot;He refuses to watch!&#0160; What can I do!&quot;&#0160; I would say as I raised my hands up in the air in mock exasperation and other mothers rolled their eyes behind my back.</p>\n\n<p>This was based on the fact that one time when we were both deliriously sick from a daycare stomach virus (need I tell you that it is the worst kind to get?) and I was desperate for a break I turned on the television mid-morning and saw that the Teletubbies were on.&#0160; &quot;Aha!&quot;&#0160; I thought, &quot;if I remember correctly, these creatures have a hypnotic effect on drag queens*.&#0160; They should work on a toddler.&quot;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>They didn&#39;t.&#0160; And thus, I thought I was free from children&#39;t television forever - and I was, until I brought my second baby home and I had to breastfeed him.&#0160; My first was not amused by this.&#0160; He was jealous.&#0160; He tried to nurse on my shoulder.&#0160; I had to distract him or walk around with a hickey on my arm - so I turned on the TV.&#0160; There was a little girl with a football-shaped head and a vacuous expression on her face.&#0160; There was a monkey at her side.&#0160; And people, he was naked except for a pair of red boots.&#0160; I should have turned off the TV right then and there.</p>\n\n<p>&quot;Dora!&quot;&#0160; exclaimed my son.&#0160; He sat down and watched, and because I was in the middle of nursing, I was forced to do the same.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>I do not like Dora.&#0160; Dora is a bossy little tirant.&#0160; SNL totally nailed it on this sketch:</p>\n\n<p><object height=\"350\" width=\"425\"><param name=\"movie\" value=\"http://www.youtube.com/v/Sb7eLgaddI4\" /><param name=\"wmode\" value=\"transparent\" /><embed height=\"350\" src=\"http://www.youtube.com/v/Sb7eLgaddI4\" type=\"application/x-shockwave-flash\" width=\"425\" wmode=\"transparent\" /></object>\n</p>\n\n<p>What I don&#39;t know is how my son knew who Dora is.&#0160; Osmosis maybe?</p>\n\n<p>Then we watched the Wonderpets.&#0160; They&#39;re creepy - they&#39;re like moving paper dolls that can&#39;t pwonounce their Rs.&#0160; Their &quot;Teamwork!&quot; song makes my ears bleed.&#0160; And you know what?&#0160; They&#39;re supposed to annoy you!&#0160; It&#39;s true!&#0160; It says so right there on the Nick Jr.&#0160; site:</p>\n\n<table border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" width=\"470\"><tbody><tr><td valign=\"top\"><img class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39ad0970c\" height=\"175\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39ad0970c-pi.jpg\" vspace=\"3\" width=\"255\" />\n</td>\n<td><img height=\"10\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/spacer.gif\" width=\"10\" /></td>\n\n<td valign=\"top\" width=\"470\">\n\n</td>\n</tr>\n</tbody></table>\n<blockquote><p><a href=\"http://www.nickjr.com/shows/wond_parents/wond_about.jhtml\">\nLike real preschoolers, these three unlikely heroes don&#39;t have any\nactual super powers, but by working together they can conquer any\nobstacle: &quot;What&#39;s gonna work? Teamwork!&quot;...<strong>Each episode is like a mini-opera with dialog often sung to an\noriginal score by some of Broadway&#39;s top composers.</strong></a></p></blockquote><p>&#0160;</p>\n\n<p>Did you read that?&#0160; Each episode is a mini-opera!&#0160; Sung by <u>toddlers</u>!&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>What&#39;s gonna give mommy a headache?&#0160; TEAMWORK!</p>\n\n<p>At least there&#39;s Sesame Street.&#0160; I like Grover.&#0160; He&#39;s clever, that Grover, AND he speaks without using contractions.&#0160; I understand...it&#39;s a hard habit to break.<br /> </p>\n\n<p><object height=\"350\" width=\"425\"><param name=\"movie\" value=\"http://www.youtube.com/v/S7hD5SToAVw\" /><param name=\"wmode\" value=\"transparent\" /><embed height=\"350\" src=\"http://www.youtube.com/v/S7hD5SToAVw\" type=\"application/x-shockwave-flash\" width=\"425\" wmode=\"transparent\" /></object>\n\n\n\n</p>\n\n<p><em></em></p>\n\n<p>&quot;I mean that hairwise, you are...somewhat...challenged.&quot;&#0160; Ha!&#0160; He cracks me up.</p>\n\n<p><em>*OK, here&#39;s the backstory:&#0160; I know that they work on drag queens because I once went to a party where one of the roommates was a flight attendant and drag queen.&#0160; Unbeknownst to me, my friend David was a catty jerk.&#0160; &quot;Ladies!&quot;&#0160; he said to a roomful of, uh, guys: &quot;I brought a girl!&#0160; A </em><em>real one.&quot;&#0160; Funny!&#0160; Except the host was not amused.&#0160; You do not want a six foot-tall guy in platform heels and a red bouffant snarling at you.&#0160; You just don&#39;t.&#0160; So I complimented him on his eye makeup - which was truly spectacular.&#0160; And then I joined the other &quot;girls&quot; who were sitting on the couch, watching Teletubbies at 3 AM.&#0160; Of course, their interest may have been piqued by the sparkly beverages being served.&#0160; Who knows?&#0160; All I know is that I sometimes miss South Beach in the late 90&#39;s.&#0160; It was fun.</em></p>\n\n<p><em>****************</em></p>\n\n<p>I guess it&#39;s official.&#0160; The fact that I have opinions on children&#39;s TV makes me a mother.&#0160; What makes you a mother? Check out <a href=\"http://parentbloggers.com/\">Parentbloggers</a> and <a href=\"http://www.lightiris.com/\">LightIris</a> for their Mother&#39;s Day contests.</p>\n','Say Hello to my Little Friends','\n','publish','closed','open','','say-hello-to-my-little-friends','','','2007-05-11 13:26:02','2007-05-11 13:26:02','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=452',0,'post','',5),(453,1,'2007-05-09 10:58:35','2007-05-09 10:58:35','<p>I was reading a <a href=\"http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2007/05/04/it_tolls_for_the_city/\">newspaper story</a> about the bell on top of Faneuil Hall, a bell which basically sits smack in the heart of Boston, and how that bell sat quiet for decades because it was rusted.&#0160; According to the article, the best guess for when the bell was last rung is sometime around the end of WWII.<br />\nSo the city of Boston was quiet during the millenium celebrations, it didn&#39;t ring a bell when the Sox won the World Series.&#0160; It has only been sounded twice in recent memory - once to commemorate the victims of Sept. 11 and once to celebrate Boston&#39;s 375th anniversary, but in order to do it they had men strike the bell with mallets.&#0160; The historic bell (from 1866) now has dents from those mallets.</p>\n\n<p>Finally, city crews decided to fix it.&#0160; All it took was a can of WD-40*.&#0160; And now it&#39;s good as new.</p>\n\n<p>I&#39;ve got to remember that.&#0160; Sometimes simplest and cheapest works best.&#0160; Because sometimes we make things <a href=\"http://www.reluctanthousewife.com/2006/07/brat_sucks.html\">more difficult than they need to be</a>, don&#39;t we?</p>\n\n<p><em>*By the way, the name WD-40 itself is a great reminder that<a href=\"http://home.howstuffworks.com/question155.htm\"> persistence pays off.&#0160; </a></em></p>\n','WD-40','\n','publish','closed','open','','wd-40','','','2007-05-09 10:58:35','2007-05-09 10:58:35','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=453',0,'post','',1),(454,1,'2007-05-04 15:46:07','2007-05-04 15:46:07','<p>I&#39;m not being sarcastic.&#0160; Not even a little.&#0160; For you see, today (or rather, last night) we turned a over a new leaf at Casa de Housewife.&#0160; It is a milestone that fills me with great joy and once again makes me believe that, yes, there is a light at the end of the newborn tunnel.</p>\n\n<p>Little B. slept through the night.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.hallelujah-chorus.com/audio/hallelujah-chorus-9MB.mp3\">HALLELUJAH!</a>&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>I woke up and upon realizing that it was a) 8 in the morning, and b) grandpa was feeding S. (the oldest) breakfast, and c) Little B. was contentedly sleeping in his bassinet, I <em>literally</em> heard the notes from Handel&#39;s Messiah fill the room.&#0160; Then I rolled over and proceeded to sleep until 9.</p>\n\n<p>Because I am wild like that.</p>\n\n<p>It gets better...since today the sun is shining here in Boston AND my oldest (S.) has daycare AND grandpa is in town - a combination of events even rarer than a four week old sleeping through the night - I went out and got myself a pedicure and a latte.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>And if that doesn&#39;t sound heavenly to you - then you obviously don&#39;t have a newborn or two X chromosomes.</p>\n','Filled with the Joys of Spring','\n','publish','closed','open','','filled-with-the-joys-of-spring','','','2007-05-04 15:46:07','2007-05-04 15:46:07','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=454',0,'post','',7),(455,1,'2007-04-28 17:20:51','2007-04-28 17:20:51','<p>What&#39;s it like bringing a second baby home?</p>\n\n<p>Nothing like you expect it to be.&#0160; It&#39;s not as hard as I feared, but not as easy as you&#39;d think - considering the fact that I had just finished raising an infant into a full-blown toddler.&#0160; Thankfully, I&#39;ved had tons of help - my husband&#39;s company has a generous parental leave policy, my parents are visiting and our friends have been incredible - stopping by with fully cooked meals that tend to include simple instructions and lots of chocolate.</p>\n\n<p>But even with all this help it&#39;s still a lot to take in.&#0160; I feel like a brand-new mom all over again - lacking in confidence and afraid of leaving the house to perform the most mundane tasks.&#0160; Like the inevitable day when I have to take both of the boys to the grocery store all by myself.&#0160; Where do you put the oldest child?&#0160; In the main basket?&#0160; If you do that, where does the food go?&#0160; Thinking about this gives me a mild panic attack.&#0160; &#0160;Alright, maybe not a mild panic attack, but I&#39;m not going to admit to just how afraid I am.&#0160; It&#39;s embarrasing and I&#39;d like to maintain some dignity, thank you very much.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>And do you know why I&#39;m wasting precious time worrying about silly little things like that?&#0160; Because soon my husband is leaving on a business trip for an entire week* and it will be the boys and me.&#0160; Alone.&#0160; Terrifying, isn&#39;t it?</p>\n\n<p><em>*Crazy Internet Stalkers:&#0160; Stay away from my house.&#0160; My <a href=\"http://www.reluctanthousewife.com/2006/10/yes_were_still_.html\">landlady</a> bites.<br /><br />---------------------<br /><br />I must send out a HUGE thank you to Kristen from <a href=\"http://www.motherhooduncensored.typepad.com/\">Motherhood Uncensored</a> and <a href=\"http://www.coolmompicks.com/\">Cool Mom Picks</a>- she hooked me up with a <a href=\"http://nosefrida.com/\">Nose Frida</a>!&#0160; Now I have one less thing to fear - I can throw out that stupid turkey baster thingy from the hospital!</em></p>\n\n\n\n<p><span class=\"bl_key\">&lt;!-- ckey=&quot;579769C1&quot; --&gt;</span></p>\n','Fear','\n','publish','closed','open','','fear','','','2007-04-28 17:20:51','2007-04-28 17:20:51','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=455',0,'post','',12),(456,1,'2007-04-17 15:33:57','2007-04-17 15:33:57','<p>Wow.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>Thank you for the nice comments - Benjamin&#39;s birthday was a lovely day and I guess it comes through in the pictures.&#0160; The epidural helped, as <a href=\"http://www.drugstore.com/products/prod.asp?pid=157529&amp;catid=12243&amp;trx=GFI-0-RVP-11899&amp;trxp1=12243&amp;trxp2=157529&amp;trxp3=1&amp;trxp4=1&amp;btrx=BUY-GFI-0-RVP-11899\">did</a> <a href=\"http://www.drugstore.com/products/prod.asp?pid=157519&amp;catid=17704&amp;trx=GFI-0-RVP-11899&amp;trxp1=17704&amp;trxp2=157519&amp;trxp3=1&amp;trxp4=1&amp;btrx=BUY-GFI-0-RVP-11899\">this</a>.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>Really, you are all too kind.</p>\n\n<p>I find that the first 24 hours after giving birth are pretty easy - reality doesn&#39;t hit until the second day at the hospital and the first day you&#39;re home with the new baby.&#0160; After that the reality of life with a newborn hit me like a truck.&#0160; The strangest part is that this time I felt less prepared than I did with the first.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>Could it be that this time I didn&#39;t read anything about newborn care?&#0160; Could my mind have erased any memory of those first weeks in order to trick me into continuing to propagate the species?&#0160; I think so.&#0160; How else do you explain the fact that I forgot all about the umbilical cord stump and how much it freaks me out every time I have to change his diaper?&#0160; Or the sheer volume of diapers - I had forgotten that newborns poop every time they eat.&#0160; And that they like to eat at night.&#0160; So you have to get up and feed and change a diaper and they like to keep their legs close to their tummies and their legs are so squirmy yet so strong.</p>\n\n<p>And having a newborn and a toddler can be summed up by this:&#0160; the toddler sleeps all night, the baby sleeps all day.&#0160; Isn&#39;t that awesome?&#0160; Everybody gets attention, as long as you don&#39;t need to sleep.&#0160; And I do.&#0160; So goodnight, I&#39;m off to steal a few minutes of rest.</p>\n','No Rest for the Weary','\n','publish','closed','open','','no-rest-for-the-weary','','','2007-04-17 15:33:57','2007-04-17 15:33:57','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=456',0,'post','',6),(457,1,'2007-04-10 14:58:43','2007-04-10 14:58:43','<p><a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/diary/454329939/\" title=\"Photo Sharing\"><img alt=\"Benjamin Lucas\" class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39e8c970c\" height=\"333\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39e8c970c-pi.jpg\" width=\"500\" /></a>\n\n</p>\n\n<p>Benjamin Lucas was born at 10:43 AM on April 3.&#0160; He weighed 8 lbs 9 oz and he is wonderful.</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/diary/454317020/\" title=\"Photo Sharing\"><img alt=\"April 3, 2007\" class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39eb2970c\" height=\"375\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39eb2970c-pi.jpg\" width=\"500\" /></a></p>\n','A Week Ago Today','\n','publish','closed','open','','a-week-ago-today','','','2007-04-10 14:58:43','2007-04-10 14:58:43','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=457',0,'post','',33),(458,1,'2007-03-27 15:27:28','2007-03-27 15:27:28','<p>So.&#0160; Turns out the cold was intense but relatively short-lived.&#0160; I&#39;ve been feeling much better for a couple of days now.&#0160; Sleeping all day works to cure bad colds - too bad you have to be nine months pregnant to get away with actually doing it.</p>\n\n<p>Do you know the best way to stop yourself from going into labor?&#0160; Tell everyone &quot;it&#39;s imminent.&#0160; Any day now.&#0160; Why, I&#39;m feeling contactions <em>right now</em> - as I&#39;m standing right in front of you!&#0160; Ouch.&quot;&#0160; Because of course, then the baby will decide that maybe he should just stay inside where it&#39;s nice and cozy for a little longer.</p>\n\n<p>So there&#39;s no baby yet.&#0160; Apparently stretching my belly to the point where I look like I&#39;m going to explode is way more fun than actually being born.</p>\n\n<p>However!&#0160; I do have news and they are awesome.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>Remember how 22 days ago we still had to buy <a href=\"http://www.reluctanthousewife.com/2007/03/analysis_paraly.html\">a car and a house</a>?</p>\n\n<p>We bought a car.</p>\n\n<p>And - we found a house!&#0160; Of course, there was much drama.&#0160; We made an offer.&#0160; It was rejected.&#0160; We thought that was it - no house until after the baby was born.&#0160; (I was having contractions as we were writing up the offer.&#0160; I also had contractions when it was rejected.)&#0160; Then, a miracle happened and the offer was accepted.&#0160; So we are well on our way to finally owning a house!</p>\n\n<p>I won&#39;t share too much right now because I don&#39;t want to jinx myself, seeing as I have the power to stop labor by merely talking about it.&#0160; But I can&#39;t believe we actually managed to find a house before our lease was up.&#0160; I&#39;m keeping my fingers crossed.</p>\n','Nesting.  Big Time.','\n','publish','closed','open','','nesting-big-time','','','2007-03-27 15:27:28','2007-03-27 15:27:28','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=458',0,'post','',8),(459,1,'2007-03-22 12:25:13','2007-03-22 12:25:13','<p>I&#39;m 38 weeks pregnant.</p>\n\n<p>80% effaced.</p>\n\n<p>1 cm dilated.</p>\n\n<p>And all I&#39;m worried about right now are my sinuses.&#0160; I&#39;ve caught my 3rd serious cold this pregnancy.</p>\n\n<p>I can&#39;t go into labor feeling like this.&#0160; So I&#39;m staying in bed.</p>\n','Why I\'ve been quiet.','\n','publish','closed','open','','why-ive-been-quiet','','','2007-03-22 12:25:13','2007-03-22 12:25:13','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=459',0,'post','',9),(460,1,'2007-03-16 16:05:15','2007-03-16 16:05:15','<p><a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/diary/423277319/\" title=\"Photo Sharing\"><img alt=\"minimousse\" class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa3988d970c\" height=\"300\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa3988d970c-pi.jpg\" width=\"252\" /></a>\n</p>\n\n<p>New review at <a href=\"http://www.girlsguidetocitylife.com/boston/guides/2007/03/bread_and_choco_1.htm\">Girl&#39;s Guide to City Life</a>.\n</p>\n','Bread and Chocolate','\n','publish','closed','open','','bread-and-chocolate','','','2007-03-16 16:05:15','2007-03-16 16:05:15','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=460',0,'post','',5),(461,1,'2007-03-13 09:36:00','2007-03-13 09:36:00','<p>Like most new parents, my husband and I spent a lot of time searching for the perfect name for our firstborn.&#0160; We spent hours poring over baby naming books and dutifully combed the internet for ideas.&#0160; &#0160;We bounced suggestions off each other, listening to how each name would sound when paired with our last name.&#0160; I wrote out every potential name on a master list where I drew a dark line across the names that didn’t make the cut.</p>\n\n<p>We were methodical in our process.&#0160; We knew that we were having a boy, which narrowed the list of candidates quite a bit of course.&#0160; We also knew what we wanted; since we were born in different parts of the world we wanted an “international” name – one that would work in Spanish, German and of course, English.&#0160; We wanted a classic name with a modern sensibility.&#0160; Oh, and it had to sound good when his name was read aloud by the Nobel Prize committee.&#0160; (Hey, you never know.)</p>\n\n<p>In other words, we were paralyzed by our search for perfection.</p>\n\n<p>Naming your child is one of the few things expectant parents have any control over – you can’t control how or when the baby will arrive, or the gender, or what he or she will look like.&#0160; So it is natural to put a lot of thought into the name – and while coming up with a name can be a lot of fun it can quickly become a source of anxiety.&#0160; There are so many variables to consider – do we want to honor family traditions or are we brave enough to start our own?&#0160; (We weren’t, but good for you if you are.)&#0160; How do you find a name that’s too not common, but still familiar?&#0160; Will the name make him a target for playground teasing?&#0160; Who do we know by this name, and do we like this person?&#0160; It can go on forever.</p>\n\n<p>Thankfully, even though we were precariously close to falling into the trap of prenatal naming obsession, we ended up coming up with a name pretty easily.&#0160; As we took a walk one afternoon, my husband and I played a game where he suggested names and I dismissed them.&#0160; Until he said, “what about Sebastian?”</p>\n\n<p>Sebastian.&#0160; It’s a classic name, uncommon but not weird.&#0160; &#0160;It worked in all our required languages.&#0160; It sounded strong and masculine.&#0160; It worked with our last name.&#0160; We liked its meaning - “revered”. It definitely isn’t a name for everybody, but it was perfect for us.&#0160; We loved the name – so much so that we decided to keep it a secret until our son’s birth.&#0160; And when he was born, and we looked at his face for the first time, we knew it was perfect.</p>\n\n<p>One of my favorite memories of that day was overhearing my husband call the grandparents and tell them our son’s name for the first time.&#0160; They loved it.&#0160; Cheers all around!&#0160; We’d done well, and we moved on to the business of caring for a newborn.</p>\n\n<p>When Sebastian was a few months old, my brother made a comment along the lines of “I didn’t realize you liked the University of Miami so much.”</p>\n\n<p>“What are you talking about?”&#0160; I asked.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>“Well, you named your son after the <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sebastian_the_Ibis\">school mascot</a>.”</p>\n\n<p>“What!”</p>\n\n<p>After all the hours of researching every possible association for the name Sebastian, I had overlooked a most obvious and personal one.&#0160; While a beautiful name, it was also the name of the mascot of my undergraduate alma mater.&#0160; I even lived on the same floor as the guy that wore the costume, and this fact never once crossed my mind.&#0160; It’s still the perfect name for our son, but I thought I had uncovered everything there was to know about this name.&#0160; Clearly, this is impossible and I have learned my lesson.</p>\n\n<p>We are now expecting our second child, another boy.&#0160; We’ve been much more relaxed this time around, thankfully.&#0160; But I’m now in my eight month of pregnancy, and the blank spot in the birth certificate worksheet mocks me every time I dig it out.&#0160; I want my second son to have a name that was chosen as thoughtfully as our first son’s.&#0160; Our friends agree, “You need to find a name that goes with Sebastian – it’s not like you can call him Bob.” </p>\n\n<p>Sometimes it feels like we’ve dug ourselves into a hole, but of course we haven’t.&#0160; We may not have not bought any books this time around, and I haven’t visited any baby naming websites or looked up “The Hottest Names of 2007”.&#0160; Instead, we will meet this new little boy, and I know we will look into his eyes and just know what name is perfect for him.&#0160; And if this new, relaxed approach doesn’t work, we have a plan B.&#0160; I did go to graduate school.&#0160; I just don’t like how “<a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Cavaliers\">Cavalier</a>” sounds in German.</p>\n','The Name Game','\n','publish','closed','open','','the-name-game','','','2007-03-13 09:36:00','2007-03-13 09:36:00','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=461',0,'post','',14),(462,1,'2007-03-12 13:09:50','2007-03-12 13:09:50','<p>We&#39;ve somehow managed to acquire quite the collection of art supplies for wimps - the &quot;mess-free&quot; chemically-laden stuff that promises all the fun of art without the mess.</p>\n\n<p>As far as I can tell, the stuff works because it&#39;s too boring to use.&#0160; Voila! No mess!&#0160; The <a href=\"http://www.crayolastore.com/category.asp?NAV=COLOR\">Color Wonder </a>coloring books don&#39;t let you color outside of the lines, <a href=\"http://www.aquadoodletoys.com/proddetail.php?prod=70678\">Aquadoodle</a> lets you express yourself anyway you want as long as it&#39;s in blue and those <a href=\"http://www.lavrentyeva.com/portfolio.html?pageNum=0&amp;imageIdx=5&amp;cat=design\">paint with water </a>books manage to be messy and yawn-inducing.</p>\n\n<p>I can&#39;t bring myself to use this stuff with my kid even tough we have it at home.&#0160; It&#39;s boring for me and for him.&#0160; But give him plain old paper and pencil and he can entertain himself for a while.</p>\n\n<p>Hmm.</p>\n\n<p>I wonder if Van Gogh&#39;s mom worried about the mess when he was a kid?</p>\n','Overthinking It','\n','publish','closed','open','','overthinking-it','','','2007-03-12 13:09:50','2007-03-12 13:09:50','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=462',0,'post','',3),(2573,1,'2012-01-08 06:06:33','2012-01-08 11:06:33','Think of your favorite drink -- it doesn\'t have to be an alcoholic drink, it can be a mocktail or a juice blend or coffee or sweet tea -- and imagine having it any time you want.\r\n\r\nAh...\r\n\r\nTake the time to perfect your favorite drink. (Most of them are pretty easy.) Buy all the special equipment your drink requires (cocktail shaker? french press?) and learn how to use it.\r\n\r\nThen practice, practice, practice until you get it right.\r\n\r\nBeing able to treat yourself whenever you want to is so worth it.','Perfect your favorite drink: Everyday Tip #8','','publish','open','open','','perfect-your-favorite-drink-everyday-tip-8','','','2012-01-07 22:27:55','2012-01-08 03:27:55','',0,'http://www.everydaytreats.com/?p=2573',0,'post','',2),(2574,1,'2012-01-07 22:05:06','2012-01-08 03:05:06','','IMG_0408','','inherit','open','open','','img_0408','','','2012-01-07 22:05:06','2012-01-08 03:05:06','',2573,'http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/IMG_0408.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(2575,1,'2012-01-07 22:02:07','2012-01-08 03:02:07','','Learn to ','','inherit','open','open','','2573-revision','','','2012-01-07 22:02:07','2012-01-08 03:02:07','',2573,'http://www.everydaytreats.com/2012/01/2573-revision.html',0,'revision','',0),(2576,1,'2012-01-07 22:06:32','2012-01-08 03:06:32','','Learn to mix a classic drink: Everyday Tip #8','','inherit','open','open','','2573-revision-2','','','2012-01-07 22:06:32','2012-01-08 03:06:32','',2573,'http://www.everydaytreats.com/2012/01/2573-revision-2.html',0,'revision','',0),(2577,1,'2012-01-07 22:08:35','2012-01-08 03:08:35','It pays off to l','Perfect your favorite drink: Everyday Tip #8','','inherit','open','open','','2573-revision-3','','','2012-01-07 22:08:35','2012-01-08 03:08:35','',2573,'http://www.everydaytreats.com/2012/01/2573-revision-3.html',0,'revision','',0),(2578,1,'2012-01-07 22:08:47','2012-01-08 03:08:47','Teach yourself','Perfect your favorite drink: Everyday Tip #8','','inherit','open','open','','2573-revision-4','','','2012-01-07 22:08:47','2012-01-08 03:08:47','',2573,'http://www.everydaytreats.com/2012/01/2573-revision-4.html',0,'revision','',0),(2579,1,'2012-01-07 22:28:58','2012-01-08 03:28:58','Think of your favorite drink -- it doesn\'t have to be an alcoholic drink, it can be a mocktail or a juice blend or coffee or sweet tea -- and imagine having it any time you want.\n\nAh...\n\nTake the time to perfect your favorite drink. (Most of them are pretty easy.) Buy all the special equipment your drink requires (cocktail shaker? french press?) and learn how to use it.\n\nThen practice, practice, practice until you get it right.\n\nBeing able to treat yourself whenever you want to is so worth it.','Perfect your favorite drink: Everyday Tip #8','','inherit','open','open','','2573-autosave','','','2012-01-07 22:28:58','2012-01-08 03:28:58','',2573,'http://www.everydaytreats.com/2012/01/2573-autosave.html',0,'revision','',0),(2580,1,'2012-01-07 22:27:23','2012-01-08 03:27:23','Think of your favorite drink -- it doesn\'t have to be an alcoholic drink, it can be a mocktail or a juice blend or coffee or sweet tea -- and imagine having it any time you want.\r\n\r\nAh...\r\n\r\nTake the time to perfect your favorite drink. (Most of them are pretty easy.) Buy all the special equipment your drink requires (cocktail shaker? french press?) and learn how to use it.\r\n\r\nThen practice, practice, practice until you get it right.\r\n\r\nBeing able to treat yourself whenever you want to is so worth it.','Perfect your favorite drink: Everyday Tip #8','','inherit','open','open','','2573-revision-5','','','2012-01-07 22:27:23','2012-01-08 03:27:23','',2573,'http://www.everydaytreats.com/2012/01/2573-revision-5.html',0,'revision','',0),(464,1,'2007-03-07 12:15:54','2007-03-07 12:15:54','<p><a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/diary/413756973/\" title=\"Photo Sharing\"><img alt=\"2 Years Old!\" class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39861970c\" height=\"375\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39861970c-pi.gif\" width=\"500\" /></a>\n</p>\n\n<p>You had a birthday last month and you&#39;re not a baby anymore.&#0160; You can run and play on your own and make up silly songs. Now that you are speaking in sweet rudimentary sentences (&quot;Mama.&#0160; Belly.&#0160; Big.&#0160; Baby.&#0160; Coming.&quot;) I know that somehow you&#39;ve developed a Boston accent (&quot;Cah! Beah!&quot;) instead of picking up my Miami accent.&#0160; But at least you can point out Miami on a map (as long as it&#39;s marked by a big ol&#39; gator).&#0160; You love chocolate and turtles and trucks and snow and helmets.&#0160; And Elmo.&#0160; &#0160;You really, really, love Elmo.&#0160; You do a mean elephant impression, though your lobster is pretty darn cute.&#0160; And you make your papa and me laugh every night without fail.&#0160; Everyday you dazzle us with something amazing (today you finally learned to jump - who knows what tomorrow will bring!).&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>Two will be a very good year.&#0160; To quote you, &quot;Hoo-oo--ray!&quot; to that.</p>\n','And Now You Are Two...','\n','publish','closed','open','','and-now-you-are-two','','','2011-02-07 05:00:48','2011-02-07 05:00:48','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=464',0,'post','',1),(465,1,'2007-03-05 21:54:19','2007-03-05 21:54:19','<p>I am exactly one month away from my due date.</p>\n\n<p>This is not freaking me out.&#0160; Not one bit.</p>\n\n<p>What&#39;s my secret?&#0160; Simple:&#0160; Distraction.&#0160; It works wonders.</p>\n\n<p>For instance, this month we are working on buying <a href=\"http://www.reluctanthousewife.com/2007/02/one_of_the_nice.html\">a car</a> and <a href=\"http://www.reluctanthousewife.com/2007/02/the_hunt.html\">a house</a>.&#0160; How can I worry about layettes when we are choosing to make two of the most expensive purchases you can possibly make, and doing it on deadline?&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>I don&#39;t want to <a href=\"http://www.reluctanthousewife.com/2006/10/yes_were_still_.html\">renew the lease</a> on our apartment.&#0160; (Oh, and we have to give notice sometime in April.&#0160; LALALALALA.&#0160; I&#39;m trying not to think about this.&#0160; Because, you see, I&#39;m an optimist.&#0160; I&#39;m convinced we will find a house before we have to sign the lease.&#0160; LALALALALA.)</p>\n\n<p>It&#39;s not all bad.&#0160; I&#39;ve been interviewing realtors and found an awesome lionness of a woman who I&#39;m convinced will eat a seller for lunch.&#0160; I love her style and I&#39;m sure once we find our house, she will negotiate like a badass.&#0160; So that&#39;s one less thing to worry about.&#0160; Now we just need to find a house.&#0160; Thing is, I&#39;m so high on pregnancy hormones that when I see a house with ugly wallpaper and dirty carpets I take it personally.&#0160; I left a house in TEARS on Saturday because the master bath had pink and yellow tile and the owners had pink kleenex and toilet paper which means that they chose to highlight the pinkness ON PURPOSE and can&#39;t they see how cruel that is?&#0160; (To my credit we had just seen a house were the agent used the words &quot;asbestos&quot; and &quot;high lead levels&quot; and &quot;frozen pipes&quot; and &quot;great place to raise your boys&quot; in the same sentence.&#0160; So you see, my emotions were a little raw for good reason.)</p>\n\n<p>When I&#39;m not touring expensive Superfund sites so that I can raise my boys amid asbestos I spend my days going from car dealership to car dealership - test driving cars that never seem comfortable, because hello!&#0160; I&#39;m nine months pregnant.&#0160; Nothing is comfortable, not even sleeping!</p>\n\n<p>So this has left little time for other things that occupy my time, things like blogging.&#0160; But while I&#39;ve been away, two awesome things have happened.&#0160; One, I found out I&#39;m on the Parents Magazine blogroll (thanks <a href=\"http://www.goodyblog.com/\">GoodyBlog</a>!) and two, <a href=\"http://www.girlsguidetocitylife.com/\">Girls Guide to City Life</a> is joining <a href=\"http://www.federatedmedia.net/\">FM</a>.&#0160; Yay!&#0160; So if any of you guys read GGTCL (and I know you do), would you please take two minutes and fill out <a href=\"http://external.fmpub.net/take/130/\">this survey</a>?&#0160; Please?&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>Thanks!</p>\n\n<p>More fluff to come later.&#0160; Promise.</p>\n','Analysis Paralysis','\n','publish','closed','open','','analysis-paralysis','','','2007-03-05 21:54:19','2007-03-05 21:54:19','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=465',0,'post','',0),(466,1,'2007-02-23 16:00:12','2007-02-23 16:00:12','<p>I don&#39;t know if it&#39;s just me, but lately I feel picked on by the media.&#0160; Apparently, modern parents are <u>really</u> annoying to some writers - just look at what they&#39;re saying:</p>\n\n<ul><li>Women who have children are <a href=\"http://www.alternet.org/story/46805\">trend-following airheads</a> who have children only so they can buy those trendy maternity outfits - just like Angelina and Gwen Stefani! - and are then shocked, SHOCKED, that raising children is, like, hard.&#0160; <em>(This was just plain dumb.&#0160; Think about it - people having babies to be cool?&#0160; Give me a break!)</em></li></ul>\n\n<ul><li>Today Show segments that imply that moms who drink socially, especially with other moms, are <a href=\"http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16818362/\">pathetic alcoholics</a> who turn to the bottle in a desperate attempt to break the monotony of their lives - and endanger children in the process.&#0160; <em>(Just like anybody else who has a drink at the end of a long work day.&#0160; Happy Hour anyone?)</em></li></ul>\n\n<ul><li>Breastfeeding moms are perverted exhibitionists who must be <a href=\"http://izzymom.com/2007/02/22/myspace-says-baby-on-boob-must-go/#comments\">banned from MySpace</a>.&#0160; <em>(MySpace!&#0160; The land of underage exhibitionism and lecherous old men is suddenly too prudish for babies eating?)</em></li></ul>\n\n<ul><li><em>Et tu, </em><a href=\"http://select.nytimes.com/2007/02/25/opinion/25brooks.html?ex=1172552400&amp;en=4e8f1f17ec7b9ef2&amp;ei=5121&amp;emc=eta1\">New York Times</a>?&#0160; <em>(I guess Mr. Brooks doesn&#39;t like chickpeas.)</em></li></ul>\n\n<ul><li>And, most offensive of all, that <a href=\"http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1587254,00.html\">parents should be seen and not heard</a> because raising kids is about &quot;subordinating yourself.&quot;&#0160; <em>(Right.&#0160; I thought parents are in charge.&#0160; You try disciplining a two year-old by subordinating yourself.)</em></li></ul>\n\n<p>Clearly, people that become parents, and especially women that become mothers, have lost their minds.&#0160; Our generation of parents are clueless hipsters that absolutely refuse to grow up.&#0160; We should get serious and do things their way.&#0160; </p>\n\n\n\n<p>Excuse me if I don&#39;t buy this condescending crap.\n\n</p>\n\n<p>Of course, becoming a mother is one of the biggest changes a woman will go through in her life.&#0160; Of course, kids are hard work.&#0160; Of course, parenting requires sacrifices.</p>\n\n<p>Of course.</p>\n\n<p>But if having children was so terrible, then none of us would be here, would we?&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>Yes, parenting requires a lot of tedious boring work.&#0160; So does most of life.&#0160; Sitting in an office working on budgets and powerpoint presentations is hardly inspirational or self-actualizing.&#0160; I would venture to say that it requires some level of sacrifice.&#0160; Doing your laundry is tedious, whether you have children or not.&#0160; </p>\n<p>But motherhood also has many rewarding moments.&#0160; It doesn&#39;t have to be an isolating experience.&#0160; It doesn&#39;t mean that you have to lose yourself.&#0160; And you most certainly don&#39;t have to become a parody of a 50&#39;s sitcom parent.&#0160; You will change, sure.&#0160; But that&#39;s not necessarily a bad thing.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Don&#39;t listen to these people criticizing the style of your parenting.&#0160; What matters is the substance.&#0160; No one is looking over your shoulder, telling you what to do.&#0160; You&#39;re the boss.</p>\n\n<p>That might be scary to some people.&#0160; I find it liberating. </p>\n\n<p>This idea that there&#39;s a &quot;hipster parent&quot; movement is ridiculous, about\nas ridiculous as the idea that once you&#39;re a parent you&#39;ve bought a\none-way ticket to squaresville. </p>\n','The Woe of Motherhood (updated thanks to the NYTimes)','\n','publish','closed','open','','the-woe-of-motherhood-updated-thanks-to-the-nytimes','','','2007-02-23 16:00:12','2007-02-23 16:00:12','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=466',0,'post','',15),(467,1,'2007-02-21 14:25:50','2007-02-21 14:25:50','<p>One of the nicest things about being pregnant with your second child is that you are much more relaxed about everything.&#0160; In fact, and I am not exaggerating (much), the only preparation I’ve done so far for this baby’s arrival is popping a pre-natal vitamin every night.&#0160; Clean newborn outfits?&#0160; Check.&#0160; Bassinet?&#0160; Check.&#0160; Lansinoh?&#0160; Car Seat?&#0160; Changing Table?&#0160; Check.&#0160; Check.&#0160; Check.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>I admit that while we have approximately 600 size 5 diapers at home we only have one measly Newborn diaper – and that is only because of the generous people at Pampers who presciently (and just a little bit creepily) sent me one just two weeks after I found out I was pregnant.&#0160; But you now, now that I’ve been doing this for two years I know that the hospital has diapers in stock and that the nurses will send me home with samples and newborn pjs and those little blue and pink blankets that newborns seem to love.&#0160; Also, CVS carries diapers, or so I hear.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>So maybe we’ve kind of been slacking on the whole “preparation” thing.&#0160; And by preparation, I mean shopping.&#0160; At some point during my first pregnancy, I went from refusing to even set foot inside a Babies-R-Us to full-on Type A organizational freak.&#0160; I had lists and lists of things we needed to buy, things I needed to pack for the hospital, things to buy-buy-buy.<br /> </p>\n\n<p>For example, here is one of my lists - one that I had labeled my “bare essentials” lists.&#0160; (Every item on this list was purchased by my seventh month of pregnancy):</p>\n\n<ul><li>Infant Car Seat</li>\n\n<li>Stroller Frame</li>\n\n<li>Carrier</li>\n\n<li>Car Seat Cover</li>\n\n<li>Crib</li>\n\n<li>Dresser</li>\n\n<li>Rug</li>\n\n<li>Bassinet/Playard</li>\n\n<li>Mattress</li>\n\n<li>Crib Sheets</li>\n\n<li>Lap Pads</li>\n\n<li>Extra Playard Sheets</li>\n\n<li>Arm&#39;s reach extra mattress*</li>\n\n<li>Sleep Aid</li>\n\n<li>Mobile</li>\n\n<li>6 Undershirts</li>\n\n<li>4 footed coveralls/sleepers</li>\n\n<li>3 Knit Caps</li>\n\n<li>Sleep wear</li>\n\n<li>Cloth Diapers</li>\n\n<li>Boppy Pillow</li>\n\n<li>Nursing Pads</li>\n\n<li>Nursing Bras</li>\n\n<li>Lanolin Cream</li>\n\n<li>Changing Pillow</li>\n\n<li>Changing Pad Cover</li>\n\n<li>Diapers</li>\n\n<li>Cleansing Cloths</li>\n\n<li>Desitin</li>\n\n<li>Diaper Pail</li>\n\n<li>Diaper Pail Refill</li>\n\n<li>Sink BathTub</li>\n\n<li>Hooded Bath Towel</li>\n\n<li>Bouncy Seat</li>\n\n<li>Batteries</li>\n\n<li>Video Camera</li></ul>&#0160; &#0160;&#0160; &#0160;&#0160; <p>Is there anyone more anal-retentive than a woman pregnant for the first time?</p>\n\n<p>Of course, I do have a list of things that we absolutely must purchase before baby #2 arrives.&#0160; Even an experienced mother such as myself can&#39;t escape the reality of an expanding family.&#0160; And for our family, our list consists of this:</p>\n\n<ul><li>A car.&#0160; </li>\n\n<li>Where we all fit.&#0160; </li>\n\n<li>Car seats and all.</li></ul>\n\n<p>We&#39;re in the market for a car that will fit 2 car seats (and maybe, someday, a third.)&#0160; We need seating for at least two people other than my husband and myself.&#0160; We do have family and friends that come to visit occasionally.&#0160; I don&#39;t think they will be happy if I make them jog besides the car as I&#39;m zipping down the Mass Pike.&#0160; So for those of you keeping count, that means that we need a 7 passenger car.</p>\n\n<p>If anyone says &quot;minivan&quot; I will start to cry.&#0160; I know that it&#39;s the sensible choice, but, but - I don&#39;t like big cars!&#0160; I want a big family, but thinking of trying to parallel park a 200+ inch-long vehicle is making me lose sleep at night.</p>\n\n<p>So far we&#39;ve driven the Mazda CX-9, the Honda Pilot and the Mountaineer.&#0160; &#0160;All were nice, but I&#39;m torn between the Mazda and the Pilot.&#0160; Unfortunately, both of these cars require some creative body movements if someone wants to actually get to the third row.</p>\n\n<p>Next up, a Saturn Outlook and maybe a Toyota Sienna.&#0160; (I need a minute here.&#0160; I&#39;m considering a Saturn.&#0160; And a van.&#0160; Because, maybe someday we will need to have a car seat strapped to the third row.&#0160; Is that crazy?)&#0160; Three years ago I was driving a coupe.&#0160; Just take a look at me now!</p>\n\n<p>Does anybody out there drive a 7 or 8 passenger car?&#0160; Any recommendations?</p>\n\n<!--more-->\n<p><em>UPDATE:&nbsp; We bought a Pilot.&nbsp; We love it so far!<br /></em></p>\n','Baby Shopping','\n','publish','closed','open','','baby-shopping','','','2007-02-21 14:25:50','2007-02-21 14:25:50','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=467',0,'post','',9),(468,1,'2007-02-16 12:51:41','2007-02-16 12:51:41','<p>***************</p>\n\n<p>Hi!&#0160; I&#39;m still sick, so much so that the new OB-GYN at the practice refused to shake my hand today.&#0160; <em>(Pffft!&#0160; Amateur!)</em>&#0160; I&#39;m back at home cocooning and trying to get some rest.&#0160; Needless to say, there is nothing exciting to report in the past two weeks.&#0160; I&#39;ve turned into a hermit.&#0160; In the meantime, I dug this up in case you need something to help you procrastinate.</p>\n\n<p>Stay warm.&#0160; And don&#39;t shake germy people&#39;s hands.</p>\n\n<p>*****************</p>\n\n<p>Few things have tested my sanity like trying to buy a house in Massachusetts.&#0160; I have a toddler, so that’s saying a lot.&#0160; We’ve been searching for a house for over a year now, and I see no end in sight – even in this buyer’s market.&#0160; The only reason we haven’t given up and moved to a state where sellers of little old mildew-infested houses with plaid wallpaper and one tiny bath don’t expect a million dollars (ha!) is because of the optimism of our real estate agent - The World&#39;s Most Patient Realtor - who dutifully digs through the MLS for us even though he knows that my husband and I are convinced that a decent 4-bedroom house does not exist in our price range.&#0160; Looking for one is a fool’s quest, like looking for leprechauns at the end of a rainbow, an activity solely for the very young or naïve.</p>\n\n<p>A few months ago we went to see an antique colonial so perfect that it brought tears to my eyes.&#0160; It did!&#0160; While the house was built in 1847, the kitchen is a marvel of modern technology, with a Wolf stove and Sub-Zero refrigerator, a prep island with a sink, a sunny sitting area for six and a huge family room.&#0160; The living and dining rooms have floor to ceiling windows, and the house is surrounded by a white picket fence.&#0160; I could walk to a coffee shop and bakery within 2 minutes, drive to a major shopping area within 5, and be in downtown Boston in 20 minutes. </p>\n\n<p>This city woman didn’t even mind the fact that the location is more picturesque than urban.&#0160; My husband, however, completely freaked out at the sight of farm animals, even though we would only be 15 minutes from where we currently live.&#0160; It doesn&#39;t bother me as much as it does him, because as far as I&#39;m concerned, if this town is good enough for Neiman Marcus and Whole Foods, it&#39;s good enough for me.</p>\n\n<p>Despite my husband&#39;s hesitation, he couldn&#39;t hide his excitement at the beauty of this house.&#0160; The best part is that we&#39;ve seen houses at this price, houses that are a fraction of the size and dumpy and smelly.&#0160; Not this house.&#0160; This house has been cared for, lovingly restored and maintained.&#0160; Unlike most of the other houses in our price range, this was a house where I could see us really living.</p>\n\n<p>“ This is a great part of town.&#0160; You get the best of both village and city life.”&#0160; Our realtor was clearly sensing our interest and was having high hopes of his own.&#0160; Maybe he would finally be rid of us and be able to move on with his life.</p>\n\n<p>“I know!”&#0160; I replied.</p>\n\n<p>“They must have invested at least $50K in the kitchen.” He was impressed too!&#0160; I was already dreaming of having my morning Cheerios in a $50,000 kitchen.&#0160; “The amazing thing is that the basement is dry even after all the rain we’ve had this week.”</p>\n\n<p>I tried to act cool,&#0160; “Yes, this house is nice.”</p>\n\n<p>“However,” (our realtor always points out the negative), “this house is next door to a cemetery.&#0160; Do you know what that means?”</p>\n\n<p>“It means that we would have really quiet neighbors,” I said, desperately, as I fondled the French doors leading to ‘my’ sunroom/office.</p>\n\n<p>He looked at me for a second, then pointed at me, and said, “You!&#0160; You should go into real estate!”</p>\n\n<p>Ah yes - I forgot to mention the fabulous deck with a view to the great beyond.&#0160; (Which, interestingly, the seller’s agent forgot to mention as well.)&#0160; But after months of touring houses that I just wasn’t that into - I was finally in love.&#0160; And who’s going to let a few tombstones come between them and true love?&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>Of course, real estate is more complicated than love.&#0160; I tried to be positive (“just THINK of the Halloween parties!”) but my husband wasn’t buying it.&#0160; So we passed on the house.&#0160; &#0160;I was heartbroken, but time has healed the wound, mostly.&#0160; And the search goes on. </p>\n','The Hunt','\n','publish','closed','open','','the-hunt','','','2007-02-16 12:51:41','2007-02-16 12:51:41','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=468',0,'post','',6),(469,1,'2007-02-13 13:40:56','2007-02-13 13:40:56','<p><em>Lather.</em></p>\n\n<p>It begins innocently enough.&#0160; On Monday, you notice a little trickle of a runny nose and you wipe it, without giving it a second thought.&#0160; What kid doesn&#39;t have a runny nose?&#0160; And then, before you know it, a flood of pestilence is unleashed upon your home - soon you are crashing against endless waves of green mucus and trying to keep your head above the waters of assorted bodily fluids.&#0160; And after a few days braving it alone, your child has a painful night filled with tears that Motrin can&#39;t stop and you know it&#39;s time to see the doctor.</p>\n\n<p>And off you go.&#0160; Finally, you get to leave the house after four days, only to hear from the doctor that it&#39;s a double ear infection...and a nasty one at that.</p>\n\n<p><em>Rinse.</em></p>\n\n<p>So you stop at the pharmacy, crying child in arms, and fill up the prescription for antibiotics.&#0160; And you start the regimen.&#0160; And you have a few more nights of late night crying.&#0160; And you continue to cancel appointments and lunch dates.&#0160; And you cancel your Saturday night plans, the ones for which you hired a new sitter - yes, you had finally found a sitter - and you stay home and watch the endless Anna Nicole Smith coverage.&#0160; You become an expert on inheritance law and DNA tests and are horrified by the greed and the sadness of the whole thing and by married Europeans with fake princely titles.</p>\n\n<p>And then, then it is Sunday.&#0160; And your child wakes up happy.&#0160; And the gushing nose has slowed down to a trickle again.&#0160; And he is smiling.&#0160; And there is hope.</p>\n\n<p>But then it is Monday.&#0160; Again.&#0160; And you&#39;re the one with the sore throat and the clogged sinuses.&#0160; And you can&#39;t breathe.&#0160; So it begins, again.</p>\n\n<p><em>Repeat.<br /><br /></em></p>\n','Lather.  Rinse.  Repeat.','\n','publish','closed','open','','lather-rinse-repeat','','','2007-02-13 13:40:56','2007-02-13 13:40:56','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=469',0,'post','',0),(470,1,'2007-01-19 16:17:40','2007-01-19 16:17:40','<p><a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/diary/362766938/\" title=\"Photo Sharing\"><img alt=\"Blue Ribbon BBQ\" class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef0120a93ce2ab970b\" height=\"500\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef0120a93ce2ab970b-pi.jpg\" width=\"375\" /></a> </p>\n\n<p>Check out <a href=\"http://www.girlsguidetocitylife.com/boston/guides/2007/01/blue_ribbon_bar.htm\">Girl&#39;s Guide to City Life</a> for a review.</p>\n','Blue Ribbon BBQ','\n','publish','closed','open','','blue-ribbon-bbq','','','2007-01-19 16:17:40','2007-01-19 16:17:40','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=470',0,'post','',8),(471,1,'2007-01-17 14:08:18','2007-01-17 14:08:18','<p>For the love of God, people...don&#39;t try to guess a pregnant woman&#39;s due date.&#0160; Is it not obvious that no good can come of this?</p>\n\n<p>Almost two months ago a nice cashier at the local supermarket was trying to calm my son down while I punched in my PIN code.&#0160; She told my son, &quot;you&#39;re such a big boy!&#0160; And soon, very, very soon, you will be a big brother.&quot;</p>\n\n<p>I just smiled and tried to give the woman a way out by ignoring her comment.&#0160; But she insisted.&#0160; &quot;When are you due?&quot;, she asked, with a kind smile on her face.</p>\n\n<p>&quot;Not &#39;til April.&quot;</p>\n\n<p>&quot;Oh.&#0160; Wow.&#0160; Here&#39;s a sticker for the boy.&quot;</p>\n\n<p>This happened in late November.</p>\n\n<p>Just last week, the parking attendant at the OB&#39;s office - a large scruffy man who usually takes my money without even the hint of a hello - had a huge grin on his face as I pulled up.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>&quot;Lemme guess...Don&#39;t tell me...February, right?&#0160; Am I right?&quot;</p>\n\n<p>&quot;Nope.&quot;&#0160; I said as I dug around my purse for my wallet.&#0160; I knew where this was going.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>&quot;January!&quot;</p>\n\n<p>&quot;April.&quot;</p>\n\n<p>Silence.&#0160; Then he waved me off.&#0160; At least I got free parking.</p>\n\n<p>The irony is that I haven&#39;t gained nearly as much weight as I did with my first.&#0160; But my belly is quite big -- of almost comedic proportions.&#0160; (HOW DOES THAT HAPPEN?)&#0160; I honestly can&#39;t blame these people for assuming I&#39;m due any minute.&#0160; But can&#39;t they keep their mouths shut?</p>\n\n<p>(Don&#39;t ask for belly pictures.&#0160; They&#39;re not coming.&#0160; Nooooooooo.)</p>\n','The \"Oh. Wow.\" Factor','\n','publish','closed','open','','the-oh-wow-factor','','','2007-01-17 14:08:18','2007-01-17 14:08:18','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=471',0,'post','',12),(472,1,'2007-01-05 12:43:27','2007-01-05 12:43:27','<p>Toddlerhood - the mere mention of it sends chills of fear down the spines of most new parents.&#0160; We&#39;ve all heard of the terrible twos.&#0160; We&#39;ve seen the brats throwing tantrums at Target.&#0160; I myself have marvelled at how quickly my son has learned to say &quot;NO!&quot; and &quot;MIIIINE!&quot; and have spent many afternoons on the kitchen floor asking a semi-verbal yet hysterical 22 month old &quot;What do you want?&#0160; Your car?&#0160; A cookie?&#0160; Milk?&#0160; Shoes?&#0160; What?&#0160; What? Whaaaaaaaaat!&quot;</p>\n\n<p>Yes, this stage is hard, but so is the newborn stage and I hear that teenagers are no walk in the park.</p>\n\n<p>But what you rarely hear is that toddlers can be a delight.&#0160; It&#39;s fun to finally get to meet that little person you&#39;ve been taking with you everywhere for the past year and a half.&#0160; Now that I&#39;m expecting another newborn, I kind of wish we could fast-forward through the first year so that #2 can be a toddler and can get to play with his brother.</p>\n\n<p>Yeah.&#0160; You heard that right.&#0160; I just wished for two toddlers - CRA-ZY.</p>\n\n<p>I love the fact that I know that my son is a full-fledged chocoholic.&#0160; Give him a piece of chocolate and the delight in his eyes will melt you heart faster than the chocolate buttons he savors and seems to nibble on for hours, trying to make the sweetness last.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>I love seeing him play with other toddlers - the giggles when things are going well, the anger when he gets mad at some toddler transgression (perhaps a child has taken his spot in front of the play stove?).&#0160; I love the developing friendships, and the way he interacts differently with individual children.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>I love the fact that he may be going through his first crush.</p>\n\n<p>I love that he won&#39;t let us feed him.&#0160; That he won&#39;t use &quot;baby&quot; spoons, and insists on using the same utensils as Mama and Papa.</p>\n\n<p>I love smushy loud sticky toddler kisses.&#0160; I love stealth tickle attacks. </p>\n\n<p>I love that when he is ready for bed, he screams &quot;BYE!&#0160; BYE Mama!&#0160; BYE Papa!&#0160; BYE-BYE!&quot;&#0160; We try for a sweet goodnight whispering, &quot;Good night...we love you!&quot; and singing lullabyes but our toddler simply waves us off with a &quot;BYE!&#0160; BYYYYYE!&quot;</p>\n\n<p>I ask him if he wants to join a group of kids who are playing, and his big eyes shine as he enthusiastically nods yes.&#0160; I&#39;m filled with pride as he approaches the group all alone and sweetly says &quot;hiiiii!&quot;.&#0160; &#0160;My big boy!&#0160; It breaks my heart when I see the look on his innocent face when the kids - in true toddler fashion - turn their backs on him, and he comes running, lips trembling, back to me.&#0160; How I hate those kids at that moment!&#0160; How I wish I could make everything better!&#0160; How suprised I am at my ability to not only console him, but to encourage him to go to other children - and he does, despite the recent snub.&#0160; I never knew I would be able to let go and let him be happy and play.</p>\n\n<p>Because they want to be independent, but they still need you.&#0160; As parents, we may be working ourselves out of a job - but oh, what a ride!</p>\n','In Praise of Toddlers','\n','publish','closed','open','','in-praise-of-toddlers','','','2007-01-05 12:43:27','2007-01-05 12:43:27','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=472',0,'post','',11),(473,1,'2007-01-03 10:01:52','2007-01-03 10:01:52','<p>One of my New Year&#39;s Resolutions is to be more consistent in speaking Spanish to my son.&#0160; After all, we are a multilingual, multicultural family.&#0160; I grew up bilingual in English and Spanish and can understand some French because I studied it as my foreign language in school and I worked in a French company that paid for private lessons.&#0160; (I&#39;ve tried my hand at German because my husband is Austrian, but I&#39;m no good at it.&#0160; In fact, I&#39;m VERY quiet when we&#39;re in Austria.&#0160; I smile, listen, and nod my head a lot.&#0160; Which come to think of it, might be one of the reasons my husband likes going there so much.)&#0160; He&#39;s fluent in five languages - sometimes I forget which ones, so there is no way I can test his skills.&#0160; But I believe him.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>Anyways...</p>\n\n<p>You would think that raising a child that speaks two/three languages would be easy for a couple like us.&#0160; It is not, and it is highly frustrating.&#0160; We continue to work on it, because we both intellectually understand the advantages of speaking more than one language.&#0160; You know what they are too.&#0160; But I will list a few here anyways:<br /> </p>\n\n<p>1.&#0160; Going to school almost anywhere you want.</p>\n\n<p>2.&#0160; Awesome career opportunities.&#0160; Would you rather get the job that sends you to Paris, Buenos Aires and Rome or stay chained to your desk all year?<br /> </p>\n\n<p>3.&#0160; The ability to see life from different perspectives.&#0160; &#0160;Think about it.&#0160; Syntax, or the way we put words together, defines the way you think.&#0160; The way you think defines the way you live.&#0160; I know that I think and act differently in &quot;Spanish&quot; and in &quot;English&quot; and I personally think that it is a good thing to have that choice.<br /> </p>\n\n<p>4.&#0160; Traveling fearlessly - because you can tell where the public toilets are.&#0160; Being in a strange country is hard enough without having to depend on the kindness of total strangers.<br /> </p>\n\n<p>5.&#0160; Making friends easily, at home and abroad.<br /> </p>\n\n<p>6.&#0160; Fitting in almost anywhere - or nowhere at all, if you don&#39;t want to.</p>\n\n<p>7.&#0160; Knowing when waiters are talking trash about you behind your back.&#0160; (Seriously, if you only speak one language I highly recommend you run out and get yourself some Berlitz tapes - most waitstaff probably hate you and talk bad about you, right in front of you.&#0160; Not to make you paranoid or anything.)&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>In addition, like all parents we want our kids to have the best things we had as children - and if you speak more than one language you get to celebrate more holidays and play more games.&#0160; I have fond memories of discovering the English language as a child, and I know that our children will be grateful if we can at least pass on some of our skills to them.</p>\n\n<p>So why has it been so hard to teach my toddler Spanish?&#0160; It&#39;s <em>only</em> Spanish!&#0160; Let&#39;s face it, it&#39;s everywhere:&#0160; there&#39;s &quot;Diego and Dora&quot; and &quot;Handy Manny&quot; and all these books and tapes PLUS the fact that it&#39;s my mother tongue, and I have to tell you - it&#39;s still hard.&#0160; There are many reasons for that, but I will save those for another post.&#0160; Suffice it to say that people that want to teach their children other languages need all the help they can get.&#0160; So I did some online research and was excited to find so much information out there for people like me.&#0160; People who need help.</p>\n\n<p>Here are some links.&#0160; I will add more sites as I find them.&#0160; Let me know in the comments if you have any sites I should add to this list.</p>\n\n<p><span style=\"color: #990000;\"><strong>ARTICLES &amp; INSPIRATION</strong></span></p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.biculturalfamily.org/magazine.html\">Multilingual Living Magazine</a> (Click to get a free issue of their magazine.&#0160; This month&#39;s issue is packed with 114 pages so it&#39;s a good one to get you started.&#0160; This magazine is entirely run by volunteers, and I have decided to volunteer my time as well.)</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.hispaniconline.com/lstyles/family/raise.html\">Hispanic Online</a> </p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://blogs.webmd.com/healthy-children/2006/05/raise-bilingual-21st-century-child.html\">WEBMD:&#0160; Raising a Bilingual 21st Century Child</a></p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.multilingualchildren.org/\">Multilingual Children&#39;s Association</a></p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://brio.typepad.com/brio/2006/11/raising_bilingu.html\">Raising Bilingual Children:&#0160; The First Five Steps To Success</a><br /><a href=\"http://www.webmd.com/content/Article/53/61255.htm?pagenumber=1\"><br />WEBMD:&#0160; &#0160;Never Too Early To Learn Second Tongue</a></p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.bilingualfamiliesconnect.com/\">Bilingual Families Connect</a><br /><a href=\"http://www.bilingualbabies.org/modules/news/\"><br />Bilingual Babies (Message Board)</a></p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.bilingualfamilynewsletter.com/\">Bilingual Family Newsletter</a></p>\n\n<p><span style=\"color: #990000;\"><strong>ACTIVITES</strong></span></p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.literacycenter.net/play_learn/index.htm\">LiteracyCenter.Net - Play and Learn</a>&#0160; (This site is completely free and has simple letter/color/number recognition games in&#0160; English, Spanish, German, and French.)</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.usborne-quicklinks.com/usa/usa_entity_pages/usa_adobe_reader.asp?lvl=1&amp;menu=s69&amp;id=1739\">Spanish Picture Puzzles</a></p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.enchantedlearning.com/languages/Spanish2dictionary.htmlhttp://www.enchantedlearning.com/languages/Spanish2dictionary.html\">English-Spanish Picture Dictionary</a></p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.usborne-quicklinks.com/usa/usa_entity_pages/usa_ref_list_select_link.asp?lvl=1&amp;menu=s69&amp;id=1745\">Spanish Grammar and Verb Websites</a></p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.funbrain.com/lang/index.html\">The Translator Alligator</a></p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.quia.com/shared/spanish/\">Flashcards and Matching Games</a></p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryspanish/index.shtml\">Simple Spanish For Complete Beginners</a> (children&#39;scourse by the BBC)</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/spanish/lj/index.shtml\">Spanish Steps</a> (another BBC course, for older kids and adults)</p>\n\n<p><span style=\"color: #990000;\"><strong>SHOPPING</strong></span></p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.languageland.co.uk/shop/index.php\">LanguageLand</a><br /><a href=\"http://www.languageland.co.uk/shop/index.php\"></a><br /><a href=\"http://www.languageland.co.uk/shop/index.php\">AudioVideoLatino</a></p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.welovespanish.com/\">We Love Spanish</a><br /><a href=\"http://www.abckinderladen.com/\"><br />ABC Kinderladen</a><br /><a href=\"http://www.multilingualmatters.com/\"><br />Multilingual Matters</a></p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https://www.magellanstoyshop.com/shop/\">Magellan Toys</a> <br /></p>\n','Bilingual, Baby!','\n','publish','closed','open','','bilingual-baby','','','2007-01-03 10:01:52','2007-01-03 10:01:52','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=473',0,'post','',6),(474,1,'2006-12-31 14:45:34','2006-12-31 14:45:34','<p>We just got back from our Christmas trip to Miami (going to the beach in December is awesome.&#0160; My fellow New Englanders, White Christmases are overrated.&#0160; Trust me on this.)&#0160; and were rewarded with a pretty yet manageable dusting of snow upon to welcome us home.&#0160; It couldn&#39;t be more perfect, really.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>Since this is the last day of the year, I had all sorts of plans to get myself ready for the New Year.&#0160; Do you do this too?&#0160; It&#39;s like somehow, January 1st will be a magical blank slate and the year will be just right IF I get my brand new planner in order, start the year with all my laundry clean and put away and if I finally catch up on my email and phone calls.&#0160; So, the 31st is usually a very crazy hectic day.</p>\n\n<p>However, and I believe this is a sign that I may be becoming an adult, I&#39;ve decided to do what I felt like doing today, which can be summed up as &#39;not much&#39;.&#0160; I can get organized - tomorrow!&#0160; Instead, we&#39;re resting up for a New Year&#39;s Party with a few friends.&#0160; We&#39;ve earned it.&#0160; Oh,&#0160; and I made a cake:</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/photos/uncategorized/dscn3651.jpg\"><img alt=\"Dscn3651\" border=\"0\" class=\"image-full at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39bce970c\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39bce970c-pi.jpg\" title=\"Dscn3651\" /></a> </p>\n\n<p>I may not be able to partake of much of tonight&#39;s sparkling beverages, but I want to be sure I can have some serious chocolate.&#0160; &#0160;So I volunteered to make a cake.&#0160; A very chocolately cake.&#0160; I don&#39;t know, nor care, whether chocolate is traditional New Year&#39;s fare - I just know that I&#39;m 26 weeks pregnant.&#0160; (If you live near Boston and were looking for some chocolate, my apologies, for it appears that I may have wiped out the stock at a couple of shops.)</p>\n\n<p>Have a Happy New Year!</p>\n','Goodbye 2006!','\n','publish','closed','open','','goodbye-2006','','','2006-12-31 14:45:34','2006-12-31 14:45:34','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=474',0,'post','',5),(475,1,'2006-12-14 22:27:27','2006-12-14 22:27:27','<p>A few weeks ago, we learned that a baby boy(!) will be joining the adorable toddler boy we already have.&#0160; Which means that I will be the lone female in this household (at least for a while) and that even if we have another child, and it turns out to be a girl, I will forever be outnumbered.</p>\n\n<p>Getting used to this idea has taken some time.</p>\n\n<p>I always assumed that I would have a daughter.&#0160; After all, I&#39;m a daughter myself, so it&#39;s familiar territory.&#0160; &#0160;It&#39;s definitely not because I want to have a little girl to play dress up with (I hate when people say that by the way.&#0160; I mean, little girls aren&#39;t Barbie dolls, but I digress..) because to be honest, having to worry about matching tights and shoes and color coordinating outfits gives me a headache sometimes.&#0160; And that&#39;s just getting myself dressed - I couldn&#39;t imagine having to go through that with a child.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>The thing is, my world has mostly been a woman&#39;s world - and I&#39;ve liked it.&#0160; I can&#39;t help it if I imagined myself sharing it with a daughter.&#0160; I like going out with &quot;the girls.&quot;&#0160; I like &quot;girly&quot; things (I can spend hours at stationery shops - it&#39;s scary how happy pretty paper can make me.)&#0160; &#0160;Even at business school, where we only made up 30% of the class, the ladies were mostly in charge.&#0160; I&#39;ve always worked in companies where women outnumber men - and in industries where it was all about the woman&#39;s purchasing power - because we make most of the economic decisions anyways.&#0160; So for me, it has been all about being a woman.</p>\n\n<p>But not anymore.</p>\n\n<p>When we found out that our family would be a boy family, my OB-GYN (a woman, of course) put her hand on my shoulder, looked me in the eyes and said &quot;as a mother of three boys, I have to warn you:&#0160; Your bathrooms will never be the same.&quot;&#0160; And with a wink and a smile, I was initiated into a new sisterhood, one that I never really knew existed - I became a Mom Of Boys.&#0160; And you know what?&#0160; I think I will like it.&#0160; I get to be the sole female in the house, and thus expect to be spoiled accordingly.&#0160; I can see it now - I&#39;ll start wearing pink and carrying a fluffy white dog to counterbalance the testosterone levels at home.&#0160; And spa days with the girls will probably be the standard Mother&#39;s Day present for a while.&#0160; I&#39;ll get to be a girly-girl, not only guilt-free but also for diversity&#39;s sakes.&#0160; It is my duty!&#0160; Of course, it also means that I have to be a role model and will represent All Of Womanhood to my boys for many, many years - that&#39;s a little scary (specially if I do indulge in all the girly things I&#39;m imagining right now), but I don&#39;t have to worry about that for a while.&#0160; (How very Scarlett O&#39;Hara of me!&#0160; I&#39;m even turning into a Southern Belle.)</p>\n\n<p>It also means that I get to be the Mother-In-Law.&#0160; Twice.&#0160; &#0160;I don&#39;t know if that makes me want to laugh maniacally or cry. </p>\n','Boys','\n','publish','closed','open','','boys','','','2006-12-14 22:27:27','2006-12-14 22:27:27','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=475',0,'post','',18),(476,1,'2006-12-12 13:57:21','2006-12-12 13:57:21','<p>So...I didn&#39;t make it to 50,000 words on NaNoWriMo.</p>\n\n<p>But that&#39;s fine.&#0160; I learned a lot by participating.&#0160; First, fiction writing is fun - as long as you allow yourself to be creative.&#0160; I know this is earth-shattering stuff - but I did get a taste for it and I&#39;ve even joined a writer&#39;s group that will (hopefully) be kind when I share my stuff with them.</p>\n\n<p>Second, I learned that giving yourself a crazy deadline when you have a toddler and are halfway through a pregnancy is dumb.&#0160; It was obvious that I couldn&#39;t write at a 1,700 word-a-day pace.&#0160; So I&#39;ve learned to take it easy on myself, because there are only so many hours in the day where one can nap, and those hours are precious and few.</p>\n\n<p>So I didn&#39;t finish, which means that it was about time that I took down that word count meter that has been taunting me for a month now.</p>\n\n<p>I decided that since it is christmastime I should use the freed real estate on the sidebar with something festive.&#0160; I would love to post pictures of the beautiful way I decorated our home this Christmas, but this year we will not have a tree of our very own.</p>\n\n<p>Instead, I cheated and posted pictures from last year.</p>\n\n<p>I&#39;m fine with that.&#0160; Starting next Christmas, we will probably have every Christmas at home until the kids are teens (gasp!) , so this is our last chance to go somewhere warm.&#0160; We&#39;re going to spend Christmas with my parents, so I&#39;m leaving the major decorating up to them. </p>\n\n<p>No tree.&#0160; The <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nativity_scene\"><em>pesebre</em></a> is up and that&#39;s it.&#0160; There will be no white Christmas this year.&#0160; Instead we will have palm trees strung with lights, pork instead of turkey, and ponche instead of eggnog.</p>\n\n<p>Also, there will be no pine needles to vacuum.</p>\n\n<p>I can&#39;t wait!</p>\n','Is it December Already?','\n','publish','closed','open','','is-it-december-already','','','2006-12-12 13:57:21','2006-12-12 13:57:21','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=476',0,'post','',2),(477,1,'2006-11-08 13:03:52','2006-11-08 13:03:52','<p><a href=\"http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/11/08/rumsfeld/index.html\">Rumsfeld</a> is gone!&#0160; Rejoice!</p>\n','Today just keeps getting better...','\n','publish','closed','open','','today-just-keeps-getting-better','','','2006-11-08 13:03:52','2006-11-08 13:03:52','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=477',0,'post','',4),(478,1,'2006-11-08 10:15:58','2006-11-08 10:15:58','<p>So 56% of the people in this state <a href=\"http://www.reluctanthousewife.com/2006/11/nag_nag_nag.html\">don&#39;t exist as far as I&#39;m concerned</a>.&#0160; I know it sounds melodramatic, but you would be upset too<a href=\"http://www.boston.com/news/local/politics/candidates/articles/2006/11/08/law_allowing_wine_in_state_food_stores_is_rejected/\"> if you had to go the nasty neighborhood package store every time you needed a bottle of wine.</a>&#0160; Oh well.&#0160; I guess I&#39;ll have to write it off as one of the quirky things about living in Massachusetts.&#0160; Like the predominance of Dunkin Donuts and the crazy lack of a street grid.&#0160; I&#39;ll live.</p>\n\n<p>But!&#0160; The rest of the election results, especially the national results, more than make up for it.</p>\n\n<p>This particular voter is happy for the first time since 2000.&#0160; <a href=\"http://news.yahoo.com/s/thenation/20061108/cm_thenation/3137918\">Voters are finally waking up</a>.&#0160; Turnout was high, and see what happened.&#0160; There is hope. </p>\n\n<p>I couldn&#39;t have asked for more.</p>\n','Yes!','\n','publish','closed','open','','yes','','','2006-11-08 10:15:58','2006-11-08 10:15:58','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=478',0,'post','',7),(479,1,'2006-11-07 12:52:01','2006-11-07 12:52:01','<p>Today is election day.&#0160; Go out and vote.&#0160; I don&#39;t want to hear your whining if you don&#39;t.</p>\n\n<p>(Oh, and if you live in Massachusetts and vote against letting me buy my wine at the grocery store, like the rest of civilization, you will be DEAD TO ME.&#0160; Just so you know.)</p>\n','Nag, Nag, Nag','\n','publish','closed','open','','nag-nag-nag','','','2006-11-07 12:52:01','2006-11-07 12:52:01','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=479',0,'post','',8),(480,1,'2006-11-01 21:47:28','2006-11-01 21:47:28','<p>Did you know that it is entirely possible to write 1809 words and have them all come together to form tired cliches and mixed metaphors?&#0160; Did you?</p>\n\n<p>Well it is.&#0160; I wrote 1809 words today and I made the mistake of rereading them.&#0160; Ouch.&#0160; I&#39;m pretty bad.&#0160; There go any dreams of literary virtuosity.&#0160; I would throw in the towel, except that going past my goal (&quot;only&quot; 1667 words a day!) is so exciting that I&#39;ve decided that since this Nanowrimo &quot;novel&quot; will never be read by another living human, I might as well see if I can make it to 50K words.</p>\n\n<p>Writing garbage is fun.&#0160; You should try it.</p>\n\n<p>I know that reading about the process of creating bad prose is about as exciting as watching paint dry (See!&#0160; Cliches!&#0160; They are easy!&#0160; So is bad grammar!) so I will do my best to not post about Nanowrimo until the end of November.&#0160; If you are at all interested in checking out my progress, you can check out the fancy meter on my sidebar.</p>\n\n<p>Instead of Nano garbage, I&#39;ll do my best to post my usual stuff.&#0160; Which come to think of it, isn&#39;t very literary either.&#0160; Some things never change!</p>\n','Na No More - I promise!','\n','publish','closed','open','','na-no-more-i-promise','','','2006-11-01 21:47:28','2006-11-01 21:47:28','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=480',0,'post','',5),(481,1,'2006-10-26 14:56:15','2006-10-26 14:56:15','<p>I signed up for Nanowrimo and then promptly decided to pretend it never happened.&#0160; I even sent out query letters (something I haven&#39;t done for months) because maybe, just maybe, I&#39;d get a fabulous assignment that would work as an excuse as to why I&#39;m not meeting the word count or would explain the mess of a story I&#39;ll be churning out.</p>\n\n<p>In other words.&#0160; I&#39;m in denial.&#0160; But hey, it&#39;s not like I&#39;ve signed a contract or anything.&#0160; I don&#39;t <em>have</em> to do it. </p>\n\n<p>Imagine my surprise when I open up the Sunday paper and read <a href=\"http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2006/10/22/some_key_bloggers_back_from_sabbaticals/\">this</a>.</p>\n\n<p>Oh.</p>\n\n<p>I guess I can&#39;t back out now.</p>\n\n<p>So here I am, five days away from Nov. 1st, and all I have is an idea.&#0160; No outline.&#0160; No real plot to speak of.&#0160; I can&#39;t even decide on names for the characters.&#0160; Needless to say, I&#39;m not the type to plan ahead.</p>\n\n<p>This is hard.</p>\n','Winner!  Back From The Dead Award','\n','publish','closed','open','','winner-back-from-the-dead-award','','','2006-10-26 14:56:15','2006-10-26 14:56:15','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=481',0,'post','',9),(482,1,'2006-10-19 23:05:15','2006-10-19 23:05:15','<p>We&#39;re still renters.&#0160; Yes, we are aware that housing prices are going down - so much so that the desperation in realtor&#39;s eyes is making me feel sorry for them.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I kid!&#0160; Of course not!&#0160; Seller&#39;s agents are evil, everybody knows that.</p>\n\n<p>But I&#39;m not going to discuss the ridiculousness of the Boston real estate market and the sorry state of most of the housing stock - especially in the &quot;desirable&quot; W towns.&#0160; Maybe another time.&#0160; Instead, I will tell you about how stupid it is to live right below your landlady.&#0160; Because it is all levels of stupid.&#0160; If there is one thing I want you to remember from this entry it is this:</p>\n\n<p>BE YE NOT STUPID:&#0160; DON&#39;T RENT FROM AN OLD LADY AND DO <u>NOT</u> SHARE A HOUSE WITH HER.</p>\n\n<p>Our landlady, a crochety 70 year-old woman who I&#39;ll call Vera, is crazy.&#0160; She talks to us as if we were her good-for-nothing children who won&#39;t move out of the house - despite the fact that we hand her a huge check every month.&#0160; She pleads poverty (did I mention the large sums of money she receives from us every month?) even as her 2 story apartment is getting remodeled.&#0160; Whenever we bring up issues with our apartment - the kind of things normal tenants talk to their landlords about - she tells us that her children wish they could live as well as us.&#0160; Mind you, her children are unemployed (by choice, I suspect), and we are not.&#0160; This is why we can afford to pay the rent, you see.&#0160; &#0160;(Am I bitter?&#0160; Well, yes, I am.)&#0160; Also, she knew that I was pregnant before I told her that I was.&#0160; I don&#39;t want to think about how she found out.&#0160; I pretend that she is psychic and leave it at that.<br /> </p>\n\n<p>Vera does not have many friends, and her children stay the hell away from her.&#0160; This would be sad, except that she instead calls me for all sorts of crazy reasons, like asking me if I know whether she locked her front door. Or this:</p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Ring! Ring!</em></p>\n\n<p><strong>Me:</strong>&#0160; <em>(After looking at caller ID and a long sigh)</em>&#0160; Hello, Vera.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Vera:</strong>&#0160; Oh, Hi.&#0160; It&#39;s Vera from upstairs.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Me:</strong>&#0160; Yes.&#0160; I know.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Vera:</strong>&#0160; I&#39;m calling to see if you have any electric things running in your apartment.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Me:</strong>&#0160; <em>(Huh?)</em>&#0160; Excuse me?</p>\n\n<p><strong>Vera:</strong>&#0160; I need to know if you have any electric things running in your apartment.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Me:</strong>&#0160; You mean things that plug into the electric outlets?</p>\n\n<p><strong>Vera:</strong>&#0160; Yes.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Me:</strong>&#0160; Of course I do.&#0160; Why?</p>\n\n<p><strong>Vera:</strong>&#0160; That explains it!&#0160; What do you have running?</p>\n\n<p><strong>Me:</strong>&#0160; Vera?&#0160; What does <em>it</em> explain?</p>\n\n<p><strong>Vera:</strong>&#0160; There&#39;s a strange hissing sound in my apartment, and I believe it is caused by some electrical appliance in your apartment.&#0160; So what&#39;s running?</p>\n\n<p><strong>Me:</strong>&#0160; <em>&#0160;</em>Vera.&#0160; We have all sorts of electrical things running in our apartment at any point in time.&#0160; The computer runs on electricity.&#0160; So does the fridge.&#0160; And the lightbulbs!&#0160; Why, this very phone works precisely because it is plugged into an electric socket!&#0160; I won&#39;t give you an inventory of all the electrical things we are using.&#0160; Use your imagination.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Vera:</strong>&#0160; <em>(Silence)</em></p>\n\n<p><strong>Vera:</strong>&#0160; That reminds me...can I borrow a can opener?&#0160; I&#39;m having tuna fish for lunch.</p>\n\n<p>Talk about a non-sequitur.&#0160; &#0160;</p>\n\n<p>Seriously.&#0160; We pay for this.</p>\n','My Landlady Is Crazier Than Yours','\n','publish','closed','open','','my-landlady-is-crazier-than-yours','','','2006-10-19 23:05:15','2006-10-19 23:05:15','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=482',0,'post','',13),(483,1,'2006-10-13 11:31:13','2006-10-13 11:31:13','\n<p><a href=\"http://www.nanowrimo.org/\">\n<img alt=\"Official NaNoWriMo 2006 Participant\" border=\"0\" class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef0120a93ce248970b\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef0120a93ce248970b-pi.jpg\" />\n</a>\n\n\n\n</p>\n\n<p>I may regret this come November 3rd - but I&#39;m giving it a shot anyways.&#0160; Have I ever written a novel?&#0160; No.&#0160; Come to think of it, have I ever written any fiction, of any kind?&#0160; Nope - not even on my resume.&#0160; I figure if can get a crappy first draft out of my system during November, I&#39;ll at least find out if I enjoy fiction writing.&#0160; I may not find out if I&#39;m good at it, but at least it will be out of my system.&#0160; Let&#39;s see what happens!</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I&#39;m off in search of a plot and maybe some characters.</p>\n\n<p><em>(Has anybody done this before?&#0160; How does one accomplish this?)</em></p>\n','Crazy','\n','publish','closed','open','','crazy','','','2006-10-13 11:31:13','2006-10-13 11:31:13','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=483',0,'post','',8),(484,1,'2006-10-10 14:10:03','2006-10-10 14:10:03','<p><strong>1.&#0160; I&#39;m Pregnant</strong></p>\n\n<p>Hey, it&#39;s not like I haven&#39;t done this before, but this time it has kicked my butt.&#0160; The first trimester went by in a blur of morning sickness and my shock at the fact that I started showing <em>before</em> the test turned pink.&#0160; Strangely, I seem to be the only person that expected my second pregnancy to be easier on me than my first.</p>\n\n<p>It&#39;s great news, but I&#39;m exhausted.&#0160; Let the 40 weeks of worry begin!</p>\n\n<p><strong>2.&#0160; We went to Austria</strong></p>\n\n<p>Most of August was spent in Austria.&#0160; I know, poor, poor me.&#0160; But before you call me crazy and ungrateful keep in mind my news above.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>No alcohol + No stinky cheese + No staying up late + No shopping (thanks to my quickly expanding belly)= There&#39;s no point in going all the way to Vienna.&#0160; I could have eaten saltine crackers at home.&#0160; Why deal with extremely high security at airports, a screaming toddler, and no liquids on board only to arrive in Europe and be greeted with secondhand smoke everywhere?&#0160; Do you know how much that stinks when your senses are hypersensitive thanks to first trimester hormones? </p>\n\n<p>And when all you can drink is water, it is no fun to be in a place where ice cubes are a rarity, and where they believe that drinking cold water is <em>baaad for you</em> but smoking and drinking while pregnant?&#0160; It&#39;s your pregrogative!&#0160; Try drinking room temperature mineral water for 3 weeks while politely declining shots of <em>schnapps</em> and you may understand some of my misery.</p>\n\n<p>Of course, there is a reason we keep going back to Vienna.&#0160; Everything is so grand and beautiful there.&#0160; For instance, here is a shopping mall:</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/diary/266194330/\" title=\"Photo Sharing\"><img alt=\"Viennese Palais\" class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef0120a93ce15a970b\" height=\"500\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef0120a93ce15a970b-pi.jpg\" width=\"375\" /></a></p>\n\n<p>\n\n<a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/diary/266194324/\" title=\"Photo Sharing\"><img alt=\"Viennese Palais\" class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef0120a93ce16b970b\" height=\"500\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef0120a93ce16b970b-pi.jpg\" width=\"375\" /></a></p>\n\n<p>Behold, a supermarket:</p>\n\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/diary/266194320/\" title=\"Photo Sharing\"><img alt=\"Julius Meinl\" class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef0120a93ce17c970b\" height=\"375\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef0120a93ce17c970b-pi.jpg\" width=\"500\" /></a><br /><em>(This is the <a href=\"http://www.meinlamgraben.at/meinl.aspx?target=106742&amp;l=2&amp;\">Julius Meinl</a> in the first district.&#0160; The first thing you see when you walk in is a huge display of Pepperidge Farm cookies.&#0160; The sight of floor to ceiling Sausalito cookies brought tears to my eyes.&#0160; So yeah, I&#39;m definitely pregnant.)<br /><br />(Oh, and they were sampling wine.&#0160; You could serve yourself as much as you wanted.&#0160; That also brought tears to my eyes, but for different reasons.)</em></p>\n\n<p>Even toddler tantrums are more elegant in Vienna:</p>\n\n<p>\n\n\n<a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/diary/266200919/\" title=\"Photo Sharing\"><img alt=\"Schonbrunn\" class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef0120a93ce190970b\" height=\"500\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef0120a93ce190970b-pi.jpg\" width=\"375\" /></a></p>\n\n<p>Guess who wanted to move to Schonbrunn palace.&#0160; <em>Hint:&#0160; Not me.</em></p>\n\n<p>We also left the city and took a trip to wine country (Niederosterreich):</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/diary/266194317/\" title=\"Photo Sharing\"><img alt=\"Niederosterreich\" class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef0120a93ce1a9970b\" height=\"375\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef0120a93ce1a9970b-pi.jpg\" width=\"500\" /></a>\n\n</p>\n\n<p>All those grapes!&#0160; All that fresh <a href=\"http://www.wineanorak.com/grunerveltliner.htm\">Gruner Veltliner</a>!&#0160; And me!&#0160; So pregnant.&#0160; Boo!</p>\n\n<p><strong>3.&#0160; We came back</strong></p>\n\n<p>And I was jet lagged, sick and grumpy for 2 whole weeks.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>Moving on...</p>\n\n<p><strong>4.&#0160; Project Runway</strong></p>\n\n<p>I had missed 4 episodes during my trip.&#0160; Thankfully, Bravo seems to have a marathon going on everyday.&#0160; So I had to catch up, of course.&#0160; Watching pregnant Laura have a meltdown made me cry, but in a good way.</p>\n\n<p><strong>5.&#0160; Daycare</strong></p>\n\n<p>My son started daycare 2 weeks after we got back.&#0160; I was very nervous.&#0160; It was like the first day of 4th grade.&#0160; We couldn&#39;t sleep the night before.&#0160; But, he went in and took to it like a pro.&#0160; He loves going to &quot;school&quot; and playing with his friends.&#0160; And mom gets a blessed 2 mornings a week when she can recuperate from the other 5 mornings in the week.&#0160; So not everything makes me cry.</p>\n\n<p><strong>6.&#0160; BIKE!&#0160; BIKE!</strong></p>\n\n<p>We bought our son a tricycle.&#0160; The weather has been absolutely gorgeous so I&#39;ve spent many afternoons pushing him around the neighborhood.&#0160; The best part is Sebastian proudly screaming &quot;BIKE!&#0160; BIKE!&quot; to every cyclist and Hell&#39;s Angels we encounter.&#0160; The look of pride on his face when someone acknowledges his little blue and red trike is priceless.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>I do my best not to post pictures of my family here, but this one - oh, I couldn&#39;t resist!</p>\n\n<p><strong>7.&#0160; I turned 30</strong></p>\n\n<p>I had an amazing birthday.&#0160; My husband and parents spoiled me immensely.&#0160; My friends were there for me.&#0160; But still, I&#39;m now in my thirties.&#0160; Wow.</p>\n','What I\'ve been up to (in chronological order) and now with pictures!','\n','publish','closed','open','','what-ive-been-up-to-in-chronological-order-and-now-with-pictures','','','2006-10-10 14:10:03','2006-10-10 14:10:03','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=484',0,'post','',16),(485,1,'2006-10-04 21:24:15','2006-10-04 21:24:15','<p>Hi!&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>Umm...Hello?</p>\n\n<p>It&#39;s been a long time since I&#39;ve written here.&#0160; Heck, it&#39;s been a long time since I&#39;ve written anywhere - including work stuff - and that&#39;s just lame because the &quot;work&quot; writing?&#0160; It consists of me enjoying myself and then writing about it.&#0160; And I haven&#39;t even managed to do that.</p>\n\n<p>You may or may not be asking yourself why.</p>\n\n<p>Well, for the lamest, most overused reason ever:</p>\n\n<p>Because I&#39;ve been Busy.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>(Note the capital &quot;B&quot;.&#0160; I totally did that on purpose so that my excuse would seem Important.)&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>(Didn&#39;t work, did it?)</p>\n\n<p>Seriously folks, I&#39;ve been busy.&#0160; I swear.&#0160; I&#39;ll even tell you about it, but not now.&#0160; (One of the benefits of taking a break is that I&#39;ve improved my already impressive procrastination skills.&#0160; I&#39;m sure that they will come in handy someday.)</p>\n\n<p>OK, maybe I wasn&#39;t busy <em>all</em> the time, but for a while there I kind of forgot that I had a website, and that I had made a commitment to write.&#0160; Then I got a little check in the mail for a past writing project, and it kind of reminded me that this writing thing?&#0160; It&#39;s not so futile.&#0160; Oh, and then I was reminded that I do indeed have a website (by friends who very clearly know that I am alive, but who still called to ask if I was OK.&#0160; Because I hadn&#39;t updated my blog.)&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>(I&#39;ve created a monster, I think.)</p>\n\n<p>Most people that write choose to do it because it feels good and because you are just driven to do it and <em>blah, blah</em> I&#39;ll spare you the commencement speech.&#0160; That&#39;s why I decided to do it too.&#0160; And I worked at it, and just when I was getting a little momentum, just like that, I didn&#39;t need to write.&#0160; In fact, I needed to not write.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>So I didn&#39;t - for eight weeks.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>And it was good.</p>\n\n<p>But now writing is ever so gently calling me again.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>And that is even better.</p>\n\n<p>So I need to get to work, but I promise that that includes updating this here site.&#0160; </p>\n','It\'s not you.  It\'s me.','\n','publish','closed','open','','its-not-you-its-me','','','2006-10-04 21:24:15','2006-10-04 21:24:15','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=485',0,'post','',7),(486,1,'2006-08-29 16:33:00','2006-08-29 16:33:00','<p><em>NOTE:&#0160; I&#39;m posting some old stuff until I&#39;m back in September - Enjoy!&#0160; Or ignore!&#0160; Whatever!<br /><br /></em></p>\n\n<p>My first job out of college was in marketing for a very large, very\nfrench, very hip cosmetic company.&#0160; Many\npeople are fascinated by my past life and want to know how to get a job\nthere.&#0160; But there are always the people who\nwant to know if I feel guilty because I was promoting unattainable\nstandards of beauty.&#0160; They want to know if I felt personally\nresponsible for the lack of self-esteem in today&#39;s young women.</p>\n\n<p>No I didn&#39;t and I still don&#39;t.</p>\n\n<p>In fact, I LOVE the beautiful advertisements in women&#39;s magazines.\nIt was uplifting to come to work every morning and be surrounded by\nposters of gorgeous faces.&#0160; Really!&#0160; We would ooh and aah every time a\nbeautiful ad was unveiled.&#0160; It was cool.&#0160; And I never compared myself\nto those images.&#0160; I did compare myself to the models pre-airbrushing.\nI mean they&#39;re still gorgeous, but they get pimples and cellulite, just\nlike us.&#0160; Really.</p>\n\n<p>To me, these ads are works of art, not a to do list.&#0160; It has been\nsaid before, but it bears repeating:&#0160; PEOPLE DON&#39;T LOOK LIKE THAT.&#0160; I\nlove the Cindy Crawford quote &quot;“Even I don&#39;t wake up looking like Cindy\nCrawford.”&#0160; No model or starlet does.&#0160; I saw it for myself.&#0160; Photoshop\nand airbrush artists are amazing.&#0160; Also, most of the models are 14.\nI&#39;ll never forget the first time I saw and ad pre-completion.&#0160; It was\nfor an eye cream.&#0160; The model was 14 and gorgeous.&#0160; She had a huge smile\nin the ad, and I thought it was beautiful.&#0160; Then a few weeks later I\nsaw the <em>real </em>finished product.&#0160; The huge smile was still there,\nbut you know those lines you get under your eyes when you smile?&#0160; (Yes\nyou do.&#0160; We all get them.&#0160; The Boy gets them, and he&#39;s not even one.)\nThey were gone.&#0160; The shadows under her eyes were gone as well.&#0160; It was\nfreaky.&#0160; I mean, the girl was 14, and she was selling eye cream to 40\nyear-olds!&#0160; It felt weird, but I was an idealistic 19 year old at the\ntime.</p>\n\n<p>I quickly grew to appreciate the images for what they are.&#0160; They&#39;re\naspirational images meant to be beautiful and illustrate a fantasy.&#0160; I\nstill like them, although I can see how people who haven&#39;t been exposed\nto the inner workings of the advertising industry could be misled.\nDon&#39;t be. </p>\n\n<p>Photoshop isn&#39;t going away anytime soon (and thank God for that!&#0160; I\njust airbrushed a booger out of The Boy&#39;s nose in a photo for the\ngrandparents.)&#0160; Enjoy the photos in ads and magazine covers, they can\nbe breathtaking.&#0160; Just do it with a healthy dose of scepticism.</p>\n\n<p>Here&#39;s a <a href=\"http://www.i-am-bored.com/bored_link.cfm?link_id=14537\">link</a>\nto a website that illustrates just what can be done to a photo of a\nreal person (and a pretty one at that.)&#0160; You&#39;d think they&#39;re\nexaggerating, but the photo looks like any picture on the cover of\nMaxim or Cosmo.&#0160; &#0160;(For the record, I think those are tacky as all hell.&#0160; &#0160;\nI prefer the airbrush artistry of Vogue or Vanity Fair.&#0160; But that&#39;s just me.)<br />\n</p>\n','You Should Be in Pictures','\n','publish','closed','open','','you-should-be-in-pictures','','','2006-08-29 16:33:00','2006-08-29 16:33:00','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=486',0,'post','',1),(487,1,'2006-08-24 16:29:00','2006-08-24 16:29:00','<p><em>NOTE:&#0160; I&#39;m posting some old stuff until I&#39;m back in September - Enjoy!&#0160; Or ignore!&#0160; Whatever!<br /><br /></em></p>\n\n<p>Hey look!&#0160; It&#39;s time for another completely pointless I See Famous People post.&#0160; Woo-hoo!&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>The Husband, The Boy and I were visiting my family in Miami on\nThanksgiving weekend.&#0160; It was exactly 72 degrees out so we thought it\nan absolutely perfect day for the beach.&#0160; This only proved to the rest\nof my family that the metamorphosis from In-The-Know Miamian to\nCrazy-Ass Bostonian was complete (as if the pale skin and decided lack\nof lacy tank tops wasn&#39;t proof enough). </p>\n\n<p>&quot;Are you crazy?&quot;</p>\n\n<p>&quot;What about the baby?&#0160; It&#39;s freezing!&quot;</p>\n\n<p>&quot;Only tourists *chuckle* go to the beach in November...you&#39;re not serious are you?&quot; </p>\n\n<p>ME:&#0160; &quot;B-but it&#39;s 28 degrees back home...&quot;</p>\n\n<p>They looked at me like &quot;hey, it&#39;s not <em>our</em> fault you guys\nmoved to the freakin&#39; tundra&quot; and it was settled.&#0160; We were going\nshopping instead.&#0160; On a warm day in November.&#0160; Bah!</p>\n\n<p>Beautiful weather is wasted on Miamians, I tell you.</p>\n\n<p>But I digress.&#0160; After an afternoon of much people-watching and very\nlittle actual shopping we decided to stop at Starbucks, all 7 of us.</p>\n\n<p>Almost as soon as we were settled into our tables, a couple with a\nbaby sits right to us, their Bugaboo side by side with our Sit and\nStroll.&#0160; I turn to the guy, because his shoulder was touching mine, and\nhello?&#0160; I need more room!</p>\n\n<p>&quot;Hello&quot; I blurt out, and I freeze as my glare is met by a pair of\nelectric green eyes.&#0160; The owner of those eyes nods and stares off into\nthe distance without a smile.</p>\n\n<p>My mind starts racing...could it be?&#0160; Those eyes! Was I really\nsitting next to... the $30M man?&#0160; Holy crap!&#0160; I was sitting shoulder to\nshoulder with the one and only Alex Rodriguez.</p>\n\n<p>Or as I hear he is called,&#0160; A-Rod.</p>\n\n<p>With my personal <a href=\"http://diary.blogs.com/the_diary_of_a_reluctant_/2006/01/lessons_learned.html\" target=\"_blank\">Celebrity Encounter Rules</a>\nracing through my head (pretend you don&#39;t know who they are...do not,\nunder any circumstances, touch the famous person...be cool...be cool) I\nproceeded to actively ignore Mr. A-Rod.&#0160; Which of course made it\ncompletely obvious that I had recognized him and made him more\nuncomfortable by the minute.&#0160; So I sat there like an idiot, pretending\nthat he had vanished into thin air while he focused intensely on a palm\ntree off to my right.</p>\n\n<p>Smooth operators, aren&#39;t we?</p>\n\n<p>The Husband, God bless his heart, had no idea who these people\nwere.&#0160; So he was deep in conversation with A-Rod&#39;s wife, chatting about\nstrollers and travelling with kids, and &quot;is she teething?&quot;, while\ntrying to get The Boy to flirt with baby A-Rod.</p>\n\n<p>&quot;Isn&#39;t she a pretty girl?&quot; The Husband coos.</p>\n\n<p>&quot;Pfftllrr!&quot; is The Boy&#39;s rude but totally age-appropiate response.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>I started to daydream about how my life would change if The Boy were to sweep A-Rod Baby off her $30M feet...</p>\n\n<p>&quot;Gffft...Pfft!&quot;</p>\n\n<p>And on it went.&#0160; I racked my brain for something, anything, I could talk to A-Rod about (The Red Sox?&#0160; Ha!&#0160; I&#39;m not <em>that</em>\nstupid.&#0160; His deodorant deal?&#0160; Why the hell he was wasting a sunny day\nin November at Starbucks?) and came up with nothing.&#0160; Why must I be so\nlame?</p>\n\n<p>He continued to actively ignore me.&#0160; The poor man couldn&#39;t even have\nhis Venti-whatever in peace.&#0160; My Husband soon lost interest in The\nA-Rod Baby so I was forced to drop my dream to have The Boy become\ninsanely wealthy by marrying into the A-Rod family.&#0160; He&#39;s a little\nyoung, I know, but you have to plan ahead when you&#39;re thinking BIG.</p>\n\n<p>We drank our coffee in uncomfortable silence.</p>\n\n<p>&quot;It&#39;s him!&quot; my mother stage-whispered to my brother.&#0160; I cringed.\nThe Husband wanted to know who they were talking about.&#0160; I kicked him\nunder the table.&#0160; Oh yeah.&#0160; We&#39;re smooth.</p>\n\n<p>And that&#39;s it.&#0160; A-Rod drank his coffee, all the while pretending\nthat there weren&#39;t crazy people sitting but a few inches from his\ndaughter.</p>\n\n<p>I told you it was pointless.</p>\n','I See Famous People:  Play Ball!','\n','publish','closed','open','','i-see-famous-people-play-ball','','','2006-08-24 16:29:00','2006-08-24 16:29:00','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=487',0,'post','',1),(488,1,'2006-08-22 16:27:00','2006-08-22 16:27:00','<p><em>NOTE:&#0160; I&#39;m posting some old stuff until I&#39;m back in September - Enjoy!&#0160; Or ignore!&#0160; Whatever!<br /><br /></em></p>\n\n<p>I have the completely useless talent of running into famous people.\nThey&#39;re everywhere!&#0160; Gay people have gaydar, I have this.&#0160; Sometimes it\ncan be a curse, because these encounters have never led to anything\nother than a story I can&#39;t share since most people don&#39;t care.&#0160; So I&#39;ll\ntell you!<br /> </p>\n\n<p>I&#39;m telling you this because if VH1 can make silly shows more\ninteresting simply because famous people are involved, then surely this\nsilly blog can only benefit from being infused with some celebrity.&#0160; So\nevery once in a while (like when I don&#39;t have anything else to say) I\nwill share a random celebrity sighting experienced by me.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>Most of these happened when I lived in Miami.&#0160; In Miami, celebrities are almost as plentiful as the <a href=\"http://www.dudeface.com/pbdefinit.html\" target=\"_blank\">Palmetto bugs</a>.&#0160; &#0160;They both must love the humidity and the palm trees.</p>\n\n<p>So here it is, my big encounter with a cute Brit.&#0160; Brace yourselves.</p>\n\n<p>The Husband and I were leaving our hotel (The Delano) when I spotted\na short, alarmingly pasty guy who was obviously wasted beyond belief.\nHe could not stand up without swaying, his eyes were out of focus, he\nlooked like he was going to throw up.&#0160; This is not such a strange sight\nin South Beach, but this guy was just standing there and had an eager,\nsad look in his eyes.&#0160; I think he was waiting to be recognized.&#0160; Well,\nI recognized him, but I was not going to give him the satisfaction.\nHell no.<br /> </p>\n\n<p>&quot;Honey look!&quot;&#0160; I whispered, &quot;I think that&#39;s Hugh Grant!&quot;</p>\n\n<p>&quot;There&#39;s NO way that&#39;s HUGH GRANT.&#0160; That guy is WAY too short.&quot;</p>\n\n<p>Obviously we&#39;d already begun our, um, festivities and The Husband\ncould not whisper to save his life.&#0160; Thankfully, he didn&#39;t hear us.\nBut a group of trashy girls wearing cheap clingy dresses and way too\nmuch makeup did.</p>\n\n<p>&quot;OH MY GAWD!&#0160; IT&#39;S HUUGH GRAANT! AAAAAHHH!&quot;</p>\n\n<p>And they ran over to him, making both a scene and fools of themselves.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>Amateurs.&#0160; </p>\n\n\n<p>These women were obviously not locals, since they violated Cardinal\nRule #1 of the Random Celebrity Encounter (always ignore celebrity) and\nRule #2 (do not touch celebrity under any circumstances).&#0160; Come to\nthink of it, celebrity sightings are not unlike wildlife sightings.\nAnd as with wildlife sightings, there are good reasons for these\nrules.&#0160; Follow them, people!</p>\n\n<p>Mr. Grant was not scared of the running mass of polyester and Ciara\nheaded his way.&#0160; Instead, he suddenly came to life and grabbed one of\nthe women, thrust his tongue down her throat, pawing and slobbering all\nover her.&#0160; It was a sad, sad sight.&#0160; Back then he was with Liz Hurley.\nWhere was she?</p>\n\n<p>All I could think of was that this was the man who spent <a href=\"http://www.rotten.com/library/bio/entertainers/actors/hugh-grant/\" target=\"_blank\">$45</a> to catch <a href=\"http://www.rotten.com/library/bio/misc/divine-brown/\" target=\"_blank\">Divine Brown&#39;s</a>\ncooties.&#0160; **shudder**&#0160; Now he was getting his kicks for free, and\npassing all the things he&#39;d picked up to this girl.&#0160; &#0160;Maybe he was\ngenerous enough to share with all of them?</p>\n\n<p>We did not stay to find out.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>&quot;That could have been you,&quot; said The Boyfriend (he hadn&#39;t been promoted to The Husband yet) &quot;if you weren&#39;t with me.&quot;</p>\n\n<p>No, not really.&#0160; I&#39;m too stuck-up for that.&#0160; And now whenever I see\nHugh Grant I need to shower.&#0160; He spoiled adorably bumbling British\nheartthrobs for me.&#0160; </p>\n\n\n\n\n\n<p>That is, until <a href=\"http://www.firth.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Colin Firth</a> came along. </p>\n\n<p><strong>Lesson Learned: </strong> Celebrities are shorter in person than you\nwould expect.&#0160; And, unlike most regular people, you don&#39;t even have to\nbuy them a drink to catch their cooties.</p>\n','I See Famous People:  British Invasion','\n','publish','closed','open','','i-see-famous-people-british-invasion','','','2006-08-22 16:27:00','2006-08-22 16:27:00','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=488',0,'post','',2),(489,1,'2006-08-17 16:25:00','2006-08-17 16:25:00','<p><em>NOTE:&#0160; I&#39;m posting some old stuff until I&#39;m back in September - Enjoy!&#0160; Or ignore!&#0160; Whatever!<br /><br /></em></p>\n\n<p>I went to yoga class this morning hoping to get some exercise in\nbefore the end of 2005 and as a bonus I was given my mantra for 2006. </p>\n\n<p>I usually have to stop myself from laughing when the instructor says\ninsipid things like “every breath is a chance to start anew.” Blah. I\nwant tight abs, not mystical thoughts, on the rare times that I do\nmanage to get my ass to the gym. However, today she said something that\nstruck me. Maybe the extra oxygen from the deep breathing is turning me\ncrunchy, I don&#39;t know. But it doesn&#39;t matter. I like the words and I’m\nsticking by them. </p>\n\n<p>She was asking us to do one of the poses when she said something\nmeant to get us to stop looking around at the others in the room, but\nthat sounded like a revelation to me:</p>\n\n<p><em>“Go for pleasure, not for perfection.”</em>&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>Wow. I don’t know why this struck a cord, but I decided right then\nand there that I have all my resolutions for 2006 wrapped up in those\nsix words. In 2006, I’m going to enjoy myself by letting myself do the\nthings that make me happy and enjoying it. It is so liberating to let\nyourself just enjoy life rather than try to be perfect.</p>\n\n<p>2006 will be enjoyable.&#0160; So:</p>\n\n<p>Since a clean house makes me happy AND I am a terrible housekeeper,\nI will go for pleasure, not for perfection, and I will clean for about\n30 minutes each day and not beat myself up because I’m not anal\nretentive.</p>\n\n<p>Friends make me happy.&#0160; So I will be a better friend.</p>\n\n<p>I like yoga and pilates. So I will do more of both and stop trying\nto become a jogger. See? Go for pleasure, not for perfection!</p>\n\n<p>I will play with The Boy more instead of worrying about every little aspect of his development.</p>\n\n<p>I will get more sleep, because sleep is pleasurable.&#0160; And I will have better days for it too.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Anyways, I could go on forever, but I will stop now. What gives YOU\npleasure? Consider doing more of it in 2006. Happy New Year!</p>\n','Words To Live By: 2006 Edition','\n','publish','closed','open','','words-to-live-by-2006-edition','','','2006-08-17 16:25:00','2006-08-17 16:25:00','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=489',0,'post','',1),(490,1,'2006-08-15 16:22:00','2006-08-15 16:22:00','<p><em>NOTE:&#0160; I&#39;m posting some old stuff until I&#39;m back in September - Enjoy!&#0160; Or ignore!&#0160; Whatever!<br /><br /></em>\nI am a transplanted Bostonian. Moving here from another, warmer, city\nhas been an adjustment, to say the least. And yes, I have adjusted. I\ndon&#39;t break out into a cold sweat anymore because of a snowy forecast.\nAt this time of year I can say, &quot;33 degrees? Nice!&quot; and only be half\nkidding. Bad drivers on 128 don&#39;t scare me (much) anymore. But my\ntransformation can only go so far. There is one thing, a small thing\nreally, but a thing that is at the essence of being a Bostonian, and\nthat thing is one thing that I still do not get.\n\n</p>\n\n<p>I do not understand the obsession with Dunkin&#39; Donuts coffee.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>I am a Starbucks person. I can&#39;t help it if I like my coffee strong\nand tasty. I prefer to buy my coffee in clean cafes with good music and\na relaxed vibe. I get nervous at the lines at the Dunkin&#39; Donuts, which\nremind me of the lines at Taco Bell. The service is invariably bad. Yet\nthe natives love it. I have made it a point to appreciate the hometown\nbrew, and my attempts have failed miserably. I cannot stand the watered\ndown chemical brew that Dunkin&#39; coffee is. </p>\n\n<p>Unfortunately, we&#39;ve moved to a neighborhood where there are no\nStarbucks cafes within walking distance. I so miss walking to\nStarbucks! Instead, we have a Dunkin&#39; Donuts shop. It is small and\ncrowded and the decor is alarmingly pink and yellow. Still I persist\nand I go in and order coffee every once in a while because I need to\nfind a product that I will like so that I don&#39;t have to get in the car\nto get my caffeine fix, even if the pink store has no seating. Besides,\nthere are some smart people in this town and they can&#39;t all be wrong.\nSo I&#39;ve ordered regular coffee with milk. It is absolutely tasteless,\nsince it usually has been sitting in the machine for God know how long.\nI once ordered a &quot;specialty&quot; coffee, something called a toasted almond,\nwhich tasted like burnt engine oil smells. Had to dump that in the\ngarbage can right outside the store. But last week was the worst\nexperience of all. The shop committed a cardinal sin; a sin so\negregious I feel like the shop staff has something against me -\npersonally. </p>\n\n<p>Initially I was full of hope because the sign outside read &quot;REAL\nLATTES&quot;. My mouth literally salivated. The coffee in the picture did in\nfact look like a latte, all tall, dark and handsome with a light layer\nof foam. I went inside, happy in the belief that at last I had found my\nbeverage. I order my &quot;real&quot; latte, and do you know what they did? Can\nyou handle it? They made my &quot;real&quot; latte with <em>drip coffee</em>.&#0160; There wasn&#39;t an espresso maker in the store! </p>\n\n<p>Now that is just cruel.</p>\n','I\'m an Orange Lost in a Sea of Ah-pples','\n','publish','closed','open','','im-an-orange-lost-in-a-sea-of-ah-pples','','','2006-08-15 16:22:00','2006-08-15 16:22:00','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=490',0,'post','',3),(491,1,'2006-08-13 16:43:00','2006-08-13 16:43:00','<p>The day has arrived!&#0160; Today we leave for our trip, where we find out what it is like to travel with a toddler while packing no liquids.</p>\n\n<p>(Think about that:&#0160; We will be flying clear across the Atlantic without deodorant, toothpaste, scented lotion, perfume or face wash to make us presentable after hours of sharing stale cabin air with hundreds of similarly toiletry-less people.&#0160; Actually, don&#39;t think about that.&#0160; It&#39;s disgusting.)&#0160; &#0160; <br /> </p>\n\n<p>We&#39;ll be gone until September.&#0160; I&#39;ll try to write when I find a free computer, but I&#39;m not holding my breath.&#0160; Anyways, I&#39;ll probably be eating lots of <em>Sachertorte</em> and doing terribly boring and touristy stuff and I&#39;m guessing that you don&#39;t need a minute-by-minute account of that.&#0160; The tedium would be enough to cause you migraines and I can&#39;t be responsible for that.</p>\n\n<p>Instead, I&#39;ve scheduled some of my old postings to automagically appear while I&#39;m away from the computer.&#0160; Just in case you&#39;re bored and need some of my ramblings to keep you &quot;busy.&quot;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hope you have lots of adventures while I&#39;m away.&#0160; We&#39;ll catch up next month.</p>\n','1-2-3...VACATION!','\n','publish','closed','open','','1-2-3vacation','','','2006-08-13 16:43:00','2006-08-13 16:43:00','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=491',0,'post','',2),(492,1,'2006-08-11 22:33:22','2006-08-11 22:33:22','<p>Next time my son gets sick, I&#39;m going to skip calling the pediatrician and I&#39;m just going to ask the wise, all-knowing mothers of the internet what I should do.</p>\n\n<p>My son&#39;s ear infection improved on the Amoxil, which he&#39;s been on since Monday.&#0160; While he&#39;s not screaming in agony anymore, something just wasn&#39;t right, so we took him to the pediatrician today.</p>\n\n<p>Guess what he said?</p>\n\n<p>&quot;It looks like the ear has improved but, it&#39;s still infected.&#0160; We&#39;ll put him on <strong>Zithromax</strong> (!!!!!!) and it should be all cleared up in time for your trip.&quot;</p>\n\n<p>Did you hear that - ZITHROMAX!&#0160; Just like the lovely strangers who commented on my last post suggested!</p>\n\n<p>Who needs pediatricians with fancy offices and fancy Harvard MDs when you&#39;ve got the internet?</p>\n\n<p>(thanks)</p>\n\n<p>Moving on...</p>\n\n<p>We are still sick.&#0160; All three of us.&#0160; And we are still flying to Europe - foiled terrorist plots be damned.</p>\n\n<p>But I have to admit a moment of hesitation when I turned on the news at 6 am on Thursday (as I carried my sick child) and heard on CNN that terrorists wanted to blow up AA and British Airways planes (<em>hey!&#0160; That&#39;s what we&#39;re flying...</em>), and that Heathrow was closed (<em>We&#39;re spending the night at a hotel near there and flying out the next day..</em>.) and that we would not be able to bring any liquids on board (<em>b-b-but we&#39;re traveling with a sick toddler...what will he eat?</em>).&#0160; Honestly, I just turned off the TV and was in complete denial all day.</p>\n\n<p>Today we called AA and they said that we would not be allowed to bring ANYTHING on board other than our passports and wallets because we were flying to London.&#0160; My husband and I looked at each other, and for a split second thought this was a sign that we should cancel.&#0160; But after the week we&#39;ve had in preparation for this trip, we were not going to give up so easily.</p>\n\n<p>We switched airlines.&#0160; We&#39;re not flying through London anymore, and our new airline provides baby food.</p>\n\n<p>Things are looking up.</p>\n\n<p>(PS- I must give AA props.&#0160; They were very courteous when we switched carriers.&#0160; And by courteous, I mean that they did it for free.)</p>\n','Oh Wise and All-Knowing Mothers of the Internet','\n','publish','closed','open','','oh-wise-and-all-knowing-mothers-of-the-internet','','','2006-08-11 22:33:22','2006-08-11 22:33:22','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=492',0,'post','',4),(493,1,'2006-08-08 13:03:34','2006-08-08 13:03:34','<p>Once our son turned one, he started sharing more of himself with us.&#0160; I don&#39;t know why this is, but since his big B-Day have managed to catch every single virus his little hands get into his mouth.</p>\n\n<p>We are now on the third virus in six months to totally knock me out.</p>\n\n<p>I don&#39;t know why this is.&#0160; When he was an infant I never caught his germs.&#0160; Now, all bets are off.&#0160; I guess I&#39;m powerless against his germy kisses.</p>\n\n<p>This is a long way of saying that I&#39;ve been terribly sick while busy blowing noses, humidifying rooms (yes, I was just complaining about the humidity - I KNOW), and calling the pediatrician in the middle of the night.&#0160; Because he&#39;s developed an ear infection along with his cold.</p>\n\n<p>Poor little thing.&#0160; I&#39;ve never seen him in so much pain.&#0160; It seems like the antibiotics are taking a while to work.</p>\n\n<p>On top of the heartbreak of seeing him scream in agony night after night, I am in a state of perpetual anxiety because we are supposed leave for our vacation on Sunday.&#0160; The tickets were purchased months ago - and we probably won&#39;t be able to change them if we need to.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>The tickets for an 8 hour plane journey to Austria.</p>\n\n<p><em>(A baby!&#0160; </em><em>On a plane!&#0160; </em><em>With an ear infection!)</em></p>\n\n<p>It&#39;s the most cruel and terrifying thing I can think of.&#0160; And it&#39;s not going to happen.&#0160; If he&#39;s still sick on Sunday, we&#39;ll have to cancel.&#0160; <em>Ouch.</em></p>\n\n<p>We&#39;re not giving up without a fight.&#0160; We&#39;re fighting his cold/ear infection/fever with all the Pediacare, Infant&#39;s Advil and Amoxil we can scrounge in the greater Boston area.&#0160; The baby is sick and tired of swallowing sickly sweet medicine.&#0160; But he has to.&#0160; He can&#39;t be in pain forever - he needs to get better.&#0160; Soon.</p>\n\n<p>Because we so need this three-week vacation.*&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>When will we learn?&#0160; What&#39;s the point of planning in advance when you have a little one?</p>\n\n<p><em>*We&#39;re visiting family!**&#0160; We&#39;re going to Vienna!&#0160; We&#39;re staying in wine country!&#0160; I&#39;m dragging my husband to Salzburg and Schonbrun!<br /><br />**Free babysitting!&#0160; Now you see why WE HAVE TO GO.</em></p>\n','A baby!  On a plane!','\n','publish','closed','open','','a-baby-on-a-plane','','','2006-08-08 13:03:34','2006-08-08 13:03:34','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=493',0,'post','',17),(494,1,'2006-08-02 07:48:08','2006-08-02 07:48:08','<p>It&#39;s supposed to hit 105 F today, with a heat index of 115 F.&#0160; I don&#39;t need to tell you how much that sucks, but I do want to point out that we don&#39;t have air conditioning. </p>\n\n<p>My brain will possibly melt today.&#0160; It was nice knowing you.</p>\n\n<p>I was looking for pictures of snow and I realized that I rarely take pictures of it.&#0160; This is because I have a mini anxiety attack everytime there is a forecast of snow.&#0160; Throw in icy conditions and I become a whimpering mess.&#0160; But today, today I think I will actually miss the cold fluffy stuff.</p>\n\n<p>I can&#39;t believe I just admitted that.</p>\n\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/diary/204754382/\" title=\"Photo Sharing\"><img alt=\"Polar Bear\" class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39e47970c\" height=\"375\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39e47970c-pi.jpg\" width=\"500\" /></a>\n<br />(Like a Polar Bear in California - Must. Think. Cool. Thoughts.)\n\n</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/diary/76040347/\" title=\"Photo Sharing\"><img alt=\"Christmas Shopping\" class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39e72970c\" height=\"375\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39e72970c-pi.jpg\" width=\"500\" /></a></p>\n\n<p>\n\n<a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/diary/71813723/\" title=\"Photo Sharing\"><img alt=\"Winter is Here\" class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39e9c970c\" height=\"375\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39e9c970c-pi.jpg\" width=\"500\" /></a></p>\n\n<p>\n\n<a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/diary/204754383/\" title=\"Photo Sharing\"><img alt=\"Snowy Street\" class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39ec6970c\" height=\"375\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39ec6970c-pi.jpg\" width=\"500\" /></a></p>\n\n<p>\n\n<a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/diary/204754381/\" title=\"Photo Sharing\"><img alt=\"Backyard Tree\" class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39f04970c\" height=\"500\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39f04970c-pi.jpg\" width=\"375\" /></a></p>\n\n<p>And lest you think I&#39;ve forgotten why I don&#39;t like the winter:</p>\n\n<p>\n\n<a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/diary/204754378/\" title=\"Photo Sharing\"><img alt=\"Shoveling\" class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39f2c970c\" height=\"375\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39f2c970c-pi.jpg\" width=\"500\" /></a></p>\n\n<p>Almost makes me appreciate 105 F with no AC.&#0160; Almost.</p>\n\n<p>We&#39;re off to find some air conditioning...</p>\n','Snow','\n','publish','closed','open','','snow-2','','','2006-08-02 07:48:08','2006-08-02 07:48:08','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=494',0,'post','',15),(495,1,'2006-07-29 13:25:41','2006-07-29 13:25:41','<p>To the moms and dads out there:&#0160; Raise your hand if your 12 month-old fits into size 12 month-old clothes.</p>\n\n<p>I didn&#39;t think so.</p>\n\n<p>Why on earth are baby/toddler clothes sized by months?&#0160; My 17 month-old is perfectly average in size and weight yet barely fits into 24 month-old clothing.&#0160; Is this the equivalent of women&#39;s sizing (you know, where designers cut clothes bigger than the true size, so you fit in a 4 when you&#39;re really an 8)?&#0160; How is this of any use to anybody?&#0160; At first, you get a little rush when you think that your child is bigger and taller than they&#39;re supposed to be, but after a few months you&#39;re on to their scam.&#0160; Yeah, it&#39;s a psychological boost when I fit into a size small skirt (even if it&#39;s a lie and I know it) but I get nothing but irritated when I can&#39;t figure out my son&#39;s size.&#0160; I&#39;ve got better things to do than trying to remember if my son&#39;s an 18 month or 24 month size at Old Navy.&#0160; Like going shoe shopping.&#0160; &#0160; </p>\n\n<p><em>Aside:&#0160; Gymboree/Janie and Jack run big (he can still wear size some size 12-month clothes from them).&#0160; Old Navy/Gap?&#0160; Their stuff is tiny - buy twice the age.&#0160; How clever!<br /></em></p>\n\n<p>My proposal is this - why not size toddler-infant clothing by weight?&#0160; Then you will know that this shirt will fit your child when he is between 20-30 pounds, for example.&#0160; &#0160;And if there is one thing a parent knows, it is the weight of their child.&#0160; It&#39;s one of the least bothersome questions you get asked by total strangers.&#0160; The pediatrician tells you the weight at each visit.&#0160; Wouldn&#39;t that be easier?</p>\n\n<p>Also feel free to discontinue &quot;newborn&quot; sizes.&#0160; Shower gift recipients everywhere will thank you.&#0160; It doesn&#39;t matter how many times a day you change a newborn, it is statistically impossible to get all the adorable newborn gift outfits on them before they outgrow them 3 days after getting home from the hospital.&#0160; The onesies they gave me at the hospital were size 6 months, that should tell you something.</p>\n\n<p>Thank you.</p>\n','A Modest Proposal - For The Makers of Infant Clothing','\n','publish','closed','open','','a-modest-proposal-for-the-makers-of-infant-clothing','','','2006-07-29 13:25:41','2006-07-29 13:25:41','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=495',0,'post','',15),(496,1,'2006-07-28 13:35:06','2006-07-28 13:35:06','<p><img alt=\"Sandwich_375_1\" border=\"0\" class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39b5d970c\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef01310fa39b5d970c-pi.jpg\" style=\"margin: 0px 0px 5px 5px; float: none;\" title=\"Sandwich_375_1\" /> </p>\n\n<p>If you don&#39;t know what the <a href=\"http://news.google.com/news?client=firefox-a&amp;rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official_s&amp;hl=en&amp;q=fluffernutter&amp;btnG=Google+Search&amp;ie=UTF-8&amp;oe=UTF-8&amp;sa=N&amp;tab=wn\">deal is with the Fluffernutter</a> it&#39;s a dead giveaway that you a) don&#39;t live in Massachusetts or b) that you, quite possibly, have a life.&#0160; &#0160;\n\n</p>\n\n<p>The short story:&#0160; A local politician was outraged that 3rd graders were getting served Fluffernutters as a school lunch so he proposed that, just maybe, schools should instead be serving foodstuffs that occur in nature or at the very least pretend to be nutritious.&#0160; I personally think that this is a rational position (you can still eat the stuff at home) but the locals went crazy.&#0160; &quot;Save the Fluff!&quot; read the banners, &quot;Keep the Fluffernutter legal!&quot;&#0160; Newspaper columnists wrote 1000 word essays on the topic.&#0160; <br /> </p>\n\n<p>I became interested - how could a simple &quot;sandwich&quot; inspire so much passion from a people as jaded and cynical as the people of the Commonwealth?&#0160; It&#39;s the kind of thing you have to experience for yourself, so I did. </p>\n\n<p><strong>NOTE:&#0160; I&#39;ve thoughtfully provided a video in case you feel you must learn how to make a Fluffernutter.&#0160; Watch at your own risk - I will not be held responsible if you can&#39;t get the irritating jingle out of your head:</strong>\n<object height=\"350\" width=\"425\"><param name=\"movie\" value=\"http://www.youtube.com/v/4P-ccC1q35U\" /><embed height=\"350\" src=\"http://www.youtube.com/v/4P-ccC1q35U\" type=\"application/x-shockwave-flash\" width=\"425\" /></object></p>\n\n<p>\n\nI made one (with <a href=\"http://www.teddie.com/peanutbutter.html\">Teddie Peanut Butter</a>, even)&#0160; The sandwich, while not technically &quot;food&quot;, was delicious.&#0160; It brought back memories of a childhood spent sneaking into Fenway Park and drinking hot chocolate in front of the fire after shoveling February snow.&#0160; Which makes the sandwich even more impressive because I grew up in the Caribbean and didn&#39;t see snow until I was in graduate school.&#0160; That&#39;s some powerful Fluff.</p>\n\n<p>The stuff is good, but I&#39;ll do my best not to become addicted.&#0160; I don&#39;t trust the Fluff.&#0160; Do you know why?&#0160; The key ingredient in a Fluffernutter, a substance called Marshmallow Fluff, is an unapologetically artificial and retro food product.&#0160; (<a href=\"http://www.marshmallowfluff.com/pages/history1.html\">Hello 1920</a>!)&#0160; The label looks like it hasn&#39;t changed in, oh, 86 years or so, and it comes in a glass jar (like mayonnaise used to!).&#0160; The most alarming part is the ingredient list:</p>\n\n<p>Corn Syrup<br />Sugar<br />Dried Egg White<br />Vanillin</p>\n\n<p>Ugh.&#0160; I can&#39;t believe I ate this stuff.&#0160; And liked it.</p>\n\n<p>I&#39;ll probably need to eat organic vegetables for a year to make up for the damage.&#0160; I don&#39;t think this is what the health nuts mean when they say &quot;<a href=\"http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4312591.stm\">Eat Locally</a>&quot;.&#0160; </p>\n','Fluffernutter','\n','publish','closed','open','','fluffernutter','','','2006-07-28 13:35:06','2006-07-28 13:35:06','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=496',0,'post','',6),(497,1,'2006-07-25 14:36:30','2006-07-25 14:36:30','<p>My article on Nantucket is <a href=\"http://www.girlsguidetocitylife.com/boston/guides/2006/07/nantucket_islan.htm\">here</a>.&#0160; I promise, no limericks.&#0160; </p>\n','There Once Was A Girl From Nantucket...','\n','publish','closed','open','','there-once-was-a-girl-from-nantucket','','','2006-07-25 14:36:30','2006-07-25 14:36:30','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=497',0,'post','',2),(498,1,'2006-07-20 12:13:36','2006-07-20 12:13:36','<p>My newest reading obsession is this website called <em><a href=\"http://www.happiness-project.com/happiness_project/\">The Happiness Project</a></em>.&#0160; The author is trying out every tip or theory on happiness out there and reporting the results on her blog.&#0160; It&#39;s a clever idea, and she&#39;s working on a book of the same title so I&#39;m curious to see how the blog and book compare when its all done.</p>\n\n<p>She has posted <em>20 tips for cheering yourself up (from 1820)</em> - something that I&#39;ve been needing lately.&#0160; Who hasn&#39;t?&#0160; Anyways, here are the ones that got me right here <em>(thumps chest)</em>:</p><blockquote><p><em>1st.<strong>&#0160; Live as well as you dare.&#0160; </strong><br /><br />3rd.&#0160; Amusing books.&#0160; <br /><br />\n5th.&#0160; Be as busy as you can.&#0160; <br /><br />6th.&#0160; See as much as you can of those friends who respect and like you.&#0160; <br /><br />7th.&#0160; And of those acquaintances who amuse you. <br /><br />8th.&#0160; Make no secret of low spirits to you friends, but talk of them freely—they are always worse for dignified concealment. <br /><br />11th.&#0160; Don’t expect too much from human life—a sorry business at the best.&#0160; <br /><br />14th&#0160; Be as much as you can in the open air without fatigue.&#0160; <br /><br />15th.&#0160; Make the room where you commonly sit gay and pleasant.&#0160; <br /><br />16th.&#0160; Struggle by little and little against idleness.&#0160; <br /><br />17th.&#0160; Don’t be too severe upon yourself, or underrate yourself, but do yourself justice.&#0160; </em></p></blockquote><p>Read the rest <a href=\"http://www.happiness-project.com/happiness_project/2006/07/tips_for_cheeri.html\">here</a>.</p>\n\n<p>I loooooove #1.&#0160; I will add it to &quot;go for pleasure, not perfection&quot; as my personal mantras.&#0160; But in order to do that, I also have to work on #14, #5 and #16.&#0160; In other words, I&#39;m in a funk, and my fingers freeze up whenever I sit down to write.&#0160; My brain is mush.&#0160; I guess that takes care of #8!</p>\n','Live as Well as You Dare','\n','publish','closed','open','','live-as-well-as-you-dare','','','2006-07-20 12:13:36','2006-07-20 12:13:36','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=498',0,'post','',11),(499,1,'2006-07-18 11:30:41','2006-07-18 11:30:41','<p>Sebastian has been sick with an evil stomach virus that also claimed his father and me over the weekend.&#0160; He&#39;s had it all - vomiting, body aches, listlessness.&#0160; But most of all, he&#39;s had diarrhea.&#0160; And we all know what that means - the BRAT diet.&#0160; I now hate the stupid BRAT diet.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>I remember the last time we had to do the BRAT diet - he was on baby food, and while I was a little concerned that he couldn&#39;t have milk during the duration of the diet he drank his Pedialyte like a champ.&#0160; I think he was on the diet for over a week with no major effects.</p>\n\n<p>This time, at the willful age of 17 months, he did not take to it well.&#0160; Not well at all.&#0160; The child whose eyes lit up at the sight of a banana (<em>na-na, buh-na-naaaa!</em>) turned up his nose at them in disgust.&#0160; Bread?&#0160; Made him scream.&#0160; Pedialyte was an insult, and water barely torelable.&#0160; It&#39;s like he knew that he was forced to eat these previously favored foods, and he was NOT GOING TO DO IT.&#0160; NO WAY WOMAN.&#0160; GET THAT STINKY BANANA AWAY FROM MY FACE - WAAAAAAAAAAAAA!&#0160; Everytime I opened the refrigerator he pointed to the&#0160; treats we were denying him and screamed.&#0160; The screaming got louder when he saw the milk bottle - the one thing that the nurse at the Pediatrician&#39;s office insisted I not feed him lest his diarrhea get worse.&#0160; It was torture, both for me and for him.</p>\n\n<p>He barely ate for four long days.&#0160; Worse of all, he barely drank anything.&#0160; I was convinced that he was on strike because we were denying him his milk.&#0160; It got so bad that yesterday he went all day without wetting his diaper - and the nurse had warned us that 6 hours without a wet diaper meant a trip to the emergency room.&#0160; We wanted to avoid this like the plague.&#0160; We had been to the ER already earlier in the illness (for the same reason) and we were sent back with instructions to give the kid a drink already, but what can you do?&#0160; We couldn&#39;t force feed him Pedialyte for four days, and now he had gone all day without a diaper and he was groggy and had dark circles under his eyes and we did not like the looks of him at all.</p>\n\n<p>I called the nurse to&#0160; see if I could give him milk.</p>\n\n<p>&quot;Absolutely not.&#0160; Not until the diarrhea stops.&#0160; You need to take him to the ER.&quot;</p>\n\n<p>After waiting all day, trying to get him to drink something - anything - and failing miserably, off we went.</p>\n\n<p>The ER is nothing like it is on TV (duh).&#0160; We felt like idiots for being there for something as simple as the lack of a wet diaper, but then again, this is our baby and he could be dehydrated ANDOHMYGOD his Pediatrician made us.&#0160; I&#39;ll spare you the long story, but we were there for six hours.&#0160; He was hooked up to an IV, about the most traumatic experience of his young life, and he passed out from the exhaustion of screaming in terror for 15 straight minutes while his parents held him down as he was prodded and weird things were hooked up to him and he started bleeding and it all sucked.</p>\n\n<p>The worst part?&#0160; The ER doctor sitting us down and telling us that &quot;there have been studies that prove that the BRAT diet is useless.&#0160; If a kid is on the verge of dehydration give him whatever he wants to drink.&#0160; Even milk.&#0160; We could have avoided all this.&quot;</p>\n\n<p>Shit.&#0160; Do you think these doctors could come to a consensus on this? </p>\n\n<p>Anyways, we went home, went to bed, and <em>- Hallelujah! - </em> his diaper was wet in the morning.&#0160; And he was hungry.&#0160; And he drank water.&#0160; And we gave him milk.&#0160; You saw that right - MILK.&#0160; And you know what?&#0160; No more diarrhea.&#0160; &#0160;And he&#39;s happy, so I don&#39;t care what the nurse says.&#0160; We will never do the BRAT diet for more than 48 hours. </p>\n\n<p>He wins.&#0160; I win.&#0160; Whatever.</p>\n','BRAT Sucks','\n','publish','closed','open','','brat-sucks','','','2006-07-18 11:30:41','2006-07-18 11:30:41','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=499',0,'post','',6),(500,1,'2006-07-15 10:23:52','2006-07-15 10:23:52','<p>Yeah, things look a little different around here.&#0160; Bear with me as I work on the new design.</p>\n','Under Construction','\n','publish','closed','open','','under-construction','','','2006-07-15 10:23:52','2006-07-15 10:23:52','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=500',0,'post','',8),(501,1,'2006-07-14 14:02:44','2006-07-14 14:02:44','<p>Our search for a house is still going on.&#0160; It&#39;s mostly thanks to our real estate agent - <a href=\"http://diary.blogs.com/the_diary_of_a_reluctant_/2006/01/he_might_be_wor.html\">The World&#39;s Most Patient Realtor</a> - who still humors us even though he knows that my husband and I have different ideas on what the perfect house is and when we should buy said perfection.</p>\n\n<p>Last Sunday we went to see an antique colonial so perfect that it brought tears to my eyes.&#0160; It did!&#0160; While the house was built in 1847, the kitchen is a marvel of modern technology, with a Wolf stove and Sub-Zero refrigerator, a prep island with a sink, a sunny sitting area for six and a huge family room.&#0160; The living and dining rooms have floor to ceiling windows, and the house is surrounded by a white picket fence.&#0160; I could wallk to a coffee shop and bakery within 2 minutes, drive to a major shopping area within 5, and be in downtown boston in 20 minutes.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>The part I like the best (and which I, city woman, am shocked to admit) is that my son can see horses and cows anytime, because while we would be in a city, there are organic farms all around.&#0160; Perfection.&#0160; My husband is completely freaked out by the sight of farm animals, even though we would only be 15 minutes from where we currently live.&#0160; It doesn&#39;t bother me as much as it does him, because as far as I&#39;m concerned, if this town is good enough for Neiman Marcus and Whole Foods, it&#39;s good enough for me.</p>\n\n<p>Despite my husband&#39;s hesitation, he couldn&#39;t hide his excitement at the beauty of this house.&#0160; The best part is that we&#39;ve seen houses at this price, houses that are a fraction of the size and dumpy and smelly.&#0160; Not this house.&#0160; This house has been cared for, lovingly restored and maintained.&#0160; Seriously, the house is so perfect for us that it gives me hope that there is a God in Heaven who loves me and who, 160 years ago, put the architect who designed this house on earth just so he could design this house for me.&#0160; Unfortunately, there&#39;s always something...</p>\n\n<p>REALTOR:&#0160; This is a great part of town.&#0160; You get the best of both village and city life.</p>\n\n<p>ME:&#0160; I know!</p>\n\n<p>REALTOR:&#0160; The kitchen - they must have invested at least 50K on it.</p>\n\n<p>ME:&#0160; <em>(I have nothing to say.&#0160; I drool instead.)</em></p>\n\n<p>REALTOR:&#0160; The amazing thing is that the basement is dry even after all the rain...</p>\n\n<p>ME:&#0160; <em>(Trying to act cool)</em> Yes, this house is nice.</p>\n\n<p>REALTOR:&#0160; However, <em>(our realtor always HAS to point out the negative - and that&#39;s why we LOVE him)</em>, this house is next door to a cemetery.&#0160; You know what that means?</p>\n\n<p>ME:&#0160; <em>(As I fondle the french doors leading to &quot;my&quot; sunroom/office)&#0160; </em>It means that we would have really quiet neighbors.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>REALTOR:&#0160; <em>(points at me)</em> You!&#0160; You should go into real estate!</p>\n\n<p>Ah yes - I forgot to mention the fabulous deck with a view to the great beyond.&#0160; Honestly, after looking at houses that are next to undesirable things (a middle school, a medical office building, the Mass Pike...) what&#39;s a little cemetery?&#0160; It&#39;s pre-civil war, so it&#39;s not like it&#39;s going to be busy or anything.&#0160; Also, it&#39;s over a stone fence all the way at the end of the beautifully landscaped yard.&#0160; We just need to plant a couple of extra trees and presto!&#0160; Problem solved.</p>\n\n<p>Just THINK of the Halloween parties.</p>\n','Realty is Scary','\n','draft','open','open','','realty-is-scary','','','2006-07-14 14:02:44','2006-07-14 14:02:44','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=501',0,'post','',29),(502,1,'2006-07-14 14:02:21','2006-07-14 14:02:21','<p>I&#39;ve been in Miami for the past week. I&#39;m overwhelmed by how much everything has changed-the skyline, the people, me- I think I&#39;ve changed the most.&#0160; </p>\n','I\'ve been in Miami','\n','draft','open','open','','ive-been-in-miami','','','2006-07-14 14:02:21','2006-07-14 14:02:21','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=502',0,'post','',1),(503,1,'2006-07-14 14:02:03','2006-07-14 14:02:03','<p>It&#39;s true what they say about coming home again.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>I was proud of being from Miami.&#0160; It defined me.&#0160; Whenever someone found out where I was from they invariable smiled and said &quot;of course!&quot;&#0160; To me, my hometown was the world - full of opportunity and beautiful people, warm and inviting, a never ending party.&#0160; I&#39;ve always been a traveler, so it&#39;s not like I was never exposed to other places (big and small) but whenever I came to Miami I was Home.</p>\n\n<p>I knew that it wasn&#39;t perfect.&#0160; The locals, we were always arrogant and sometimes a bit superficial.&#0160; But once you lived here you knew that there was more to the people than the way they looked and their cars.&#0160; Family is big here.&#0160; The people of Miami come from everywhere.&#0160; I loved that everybody has story and that you always met their grandmothers.&#0160; I loved the unapologetic wackyness of the place.&#0160; I loved the sophistication and beauty of this magical city.</p>\n\n<p>Lately, the magic is gone.&#0160; I feel very little that is good when I come to Miami.&#0160; It&#39;s not home anymore.</p>\n\n<p>Where once the air was sultry, it&#39;s now just humid.</p>\n\n<p>Once I thought that the people glowed, but now their skin is leathery from the sun.</p>\n\n<p>The city, which once was so immense seems to have shrunk.&#0160; (And the traffic...where did all these cars come from!)</p>\n\n<p>What was once sexy is now cheap.</p>\n\n<p>The sun, which I miss so much during the freezing Boston winters, is now oppressive and dangerous.</p>\n\n<p>The exuberant people I remember now seem bitter and disenchanted.</p>\n\n<p>What was once fun is now ridiculous.</p>\n\n<p>I don&#39;t think that the city has changed much.&#0160; It&#39;s that I&#39;ve changed.&#0160; I had my magical time in Miami.&#0160; I guess it&#39;s now somebody else&#39;s turn.</p>\n','A Miami Story','\n','draft','open','open','','a-miami-story','','','2006-07-14 14:02:03','2006-07-14 14:02:03','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=503',0,'post','',9),(504,1,'2006-07-14 14:01:44','2006-07-14 14:01:44','<p>You know the AirMall catalog you get on American Airlines flights?&#0160; The one you look at when you&#39;re bored to tears and you realize you&#39;ve only been on the plane for 20 minutes?&#0160; The one with the crazy products that nobody needs but which are good for a laugh?&#0160; That&#39;s how I feel about the One Step Ahead catalog I started receiving the second the testing stick said I was pregnant.</p>\n\n<p>I mean, come on!&#0160; Who really buys this stuff?&#0160; <a href=\"http://www.onestepahead.com/product/85216/150779/117.html\">Knee protectors</a> for crawling babies?&#0160; <a href=\"http://www.onestepahead.com/product/86203/1040/117.html\">Toilet locks</a>?&#0160; <a href=\"http://www.onestepahead.com/product/85206/303755/117.html\">Cooling dishes</a>?&#0160; A <a href=\"http://www.onestepahead.com/product/86197/148756/117.html\">helmet</a>?&#0160; Don&#39;t get me wrong, I take childproofing seriously.&#0160; I made my husband bolt all of our bookshelves to the wall (take that, evil landlady!), we&#39;ve plugged all the outlets, and most importantly, I&#39;m slowly going crazy because I attempt to keep an eye on my son at all times.&#0160; I&#39;m not exactly the most relaxed mom out there, but I think that a lot of these products take paranoia to new levels.</p>\n\n<p>So I look through the catalog merely out of curiousity and so I can laugh at truly paranoid parents.&#0160; Ha ha ha!&#0160; I&#39;m so much better than you!</p>\n\n<p>Well,&#0160; I think I may have to apologize to all you baby-proofing crazy parents out there.&#0160; BECAUSE my darling lovely boy has a new habit that is forcing me to swallow my pride and place an order for what I thought was one of the stupidest items out there.&#0160; Don&#39;t worry, he&#39;s perfectly safe.&#0160; I think.</p>\n\n<p>I was in the bathroom, washing my hands in the sink when I turned around and caught my son sticking his hand in the toilet.&#0160; And licking the water off his fingers.&#0160; And liking it. </p>\n\n<p>Grossed out yet?&#0160; Just wait, that&#39;s not the part that makes me sick.</p>\n\n<p>It was a public toilet.&#0160; At Miami International Airport.</p>\n\n<p>Let the toilet locking begin.</p>\n','Skip This If You\'ve Just Had Lunch','\n','draft','open','open','','skip-this-if-youve-just-had-lunch','','','2006-07-14 14:01:44','2006-07-14 14:01:44','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=504',0,'post','',21),(505,1,'2006-07-14 14:01:13','2006-07-14 14:01:13','<p><img alt=\"Firefox\" border=\"0\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/photos/uncategorized/firefox\" style=\"margin: 0px 0px 5px 5px; float: right;\" title=\"Firefox\" />Can anybody explain to me why a certain lovely baby is on my start page?&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>I admit she&#39;s cuter than the Firefox Fox, but why is she picking on me?&#0160; I&#39;ve closed Firefox.&#0160; I&#39;ve restarted my computer.&#0160; I&#39;ve refreshed.&#0160; She&#39;s still there.</p>\n\n<p>Maybe I read too much <a href=\"http://mom-101.blogspot.com/\">Mom101</a>?</p>\n\n<p>(In all seriousness, I don&#39;t know why Thalia started showing up on my computer.&#0160; Has this every happened to anybody?&#0160; Is my mac infected with some virus?&#0160; Does Firefox do this to anyone else?&#0160; Anyone?&#0160; ANYONE?)</p>\n','Talk about pushy...','\n','draft','open','open','','talk-about-pushy','','','2006-07-14 14:01:13','2006-07-14 14:01:13','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=505',0,'post','',7),(506,1,'2006-07-14 13:49:31','2006-07-14 13:49:31','<p><em>&quot;To you, I may be Christmas tree.&#0160; But to someone else, I may be God.&quot;</em></p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.beachersmadhouse.com/variety/act.php?act=2\">Leonid the Magnificent</a>, <em>America&#39;s Got Talent</em></p>\n\n<p>I haven&#39;t watched TV since the season finale of <em>Grey&#39;s Anatomy </em>so this obviously staged and fake talent show left me...well, I can&#39;t get Leonid&#39;s sparkly lips off my mind.</p>\n\n<p>Also, Hasselhoff gets 20 points for his honesty when he let the harp girl (yawn) go to the next round:</p>\n\n<p><em>&quot;I was hoping you would be good, because you&#39;re so beautiful.&quot;</em></p>\n\n<p>The man is nothing if not honest.&#0160; She was boring, but oh so pretty.</p>\n','Quote of the Night','\n','draft','open','open','','quote-of-the-night','','','2006-07-14 13:49:31','2006-07-14 13:49:31','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=506',0,'post','',1),(507,1,'2006-07-14 13:48:05','2006-07-14 13:48:05','<p>If any of you receive the emails below from a certain Chad Horton, be aware that it is a scam.&#0160; Don&#39;t believe me?&#0160; Check out <a href=\"http://bloggersrepent.blogspot.com/2006/06/blogger-thy-name-is-patsy.html\">Blog Antagonist</a> and her commenters (who actually did some research on them and stuff).</p>\n\n<p>I knew that it was a scam because an acquaintance of mine somehow signed up for something from SMS.ac and I received dozens of sketchy emails from SMS.ac as a result.&#0160; They annoyed me so much that I of course refuse to even consider reading their requests.&#0160; But when I saw Blog Antagonist&#39;s post on this I realized that I should spread the word as well.</p>\n\n<p>What scammer is stupid enough to target Bloggers anyways?&#0160; I mean, we tell the entire internet EVERYTHING, including the fact that our child drinks toilet water.&#0160; Ahem.</p><blockquote><p><em>Hi, <br /><br /> I have not heard back from you in regards to my email below, so I wanted to check with you to see if you are interested in publishing your existing blog on SMS.ac.&#0160; <br /><br />If you are not interested and wish to stop receiving emails, please do let me know.<br /><br /><br /> Let me know if you have any questions, and have a great day!<br /><br /> Best Regards, <br /><br /><br /> Chad Horton <br /> Blog Pod Development Team <br /> SMS.ac Inc. <br />619-696-1376 <br /> 255 G Street, #723 | San Diego, CA, 92101 | USA<br /><br /><br /><br />Hi,<br /> <br />I saw your blog on and thought you would be interested in publishing it on SMS.ac.&#0160; You can get your blog in front of 50 million readers worldwide, and get paid when users subscribe to it.<br /> <br />We have a Blog Wizard that makes it very easy to sync your SMS.ac and blog accounts.&#0160; You retain the rights to all your content, and there is no need to make any changes to the way you blog.&#0160; Simply post new entries as you normally would, and the new content is automatically updated and displayed on SMS.ac.<br /> <br />Your readers continue to view the same version of your blog, and SMS.ac users can subscribe to it from our directory. Subscription fees are charged directly through their mobile phones, and the revenue is shared between you, the mobile phone operators, and SMS.ac.<br /> <br />You can also send text messages to your subscribers to inform them of new content or exciting updates. Starting in August, your blog will also be available on your readers’ mobile phones.<br /> <br />Going live and making money from your blog takes less than a minute! Get started now at http://www.sms.ac/blog or contact me if you have any questions.<br /> <br />I look forward to hearing from you.<br /><br /><br /> Best Regards, <br /><br /><br /> Chad Horton <br /> Blog Pod Development Team <br /> SMS.ac Inc. <br />619-696-1376<br />255 G Street, #723 | San Diego, CA, 92101 | USA</em></p></blockquote>\n','PSA','\n','draft','open','open','','psa','','','2006-07-14 13:48:05','2006-07-14 13:48:05','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=507',0,'post','',5),(508,1,'2006-07-11 22:50:48','2006-07-11 22:50:48','<p>Hi!&#0160; Just stopping by for a minute...</p>\n\n<p>I&#39;m still alive.&#0160; Thanks for your emails - I password-protected the site and it appears that I scared some of you - I&#39;m extremely flattered.&#0160; Password protection is off.</p>\n\n<p>I&#39;m playing around with my archives and the design, so your bloglines may register a&#0160; new post where one doesn&#39;t exist.&#0160; Sorry!</p>\n\n<p>What else have I been up to?&#0160; I&#39;ve been writing, working and playing.&#0160; We&#39;re going on vacation next month - typical summer stuff.&#0160; I hope you&#39;re all having a fabulous summer as well.</p>\n\n<p>That&#39;s it for now.&#0160; As Ahnold said so well, I&#39;ll be back.</p>\n','Nothing to See Here!','\n','draft','open','open','','nothing-to-see-here','','','2006-07-11 22:50:48','2006-07-11 22:50:48','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=508',0,'post','',1),(509,1,'2006-07-08 00:01:00','2006-07-08 00:01:00','<blockquote><p><em><br /></em></p>\n\n<p><em>Under pressure people admit to murder, setting fire to the village church, or robbing a bank, but never to being bores.</em><br />-Elsa Maxwell<em>, How to Do It</em></p></blockquote><p>Lately, this blog has been boring.</p>\n\n<p>I admit this not to ask for your sympathy, or to have you protest to make myself feel better (though I&#39;ll admit to dreams of receiving dozens of emails along the\nlines of &quot;No, no, no, you have been so consistently witty it makes me\nfeel inadequate!&quot;).&#0160; I do it to prove Elsa Maxwell wrong.&#0160; Some people (me!) can admit to being bores.</p>\n\n<p>It&#39;s OK.&#0160; I know it.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>I had suspected as much for the past few weeks (months?) so I decided to go back and read some of my latest posts.&#0160; It was painful.&#0160; So this is an apology to all of you that keep coming back.&#0160; I don&#39;t understand it, but I thank you for doing so.&#0160; Really.</p>\n\n<p>I think that the reason I have been so painfully boring lately is that I&#39;ve been self-conscious about blogging.&#0160; I started anonymously, just out of pure curiousity, and I learned that I love blogging along the way.&#0160; However, as this blog grew, it became more and more difficult to tell people about it because I didn&#39;t want to admit that I&#39;d been writing all this time - quite possibly about them.&#0160; So I continued anonymously, and while I thought doing so would free up my writing it eventually had the opposite effect.&#0160; Sure, at first I wrote without a care in the world, but eventually I became paranoid that someone I knew would figure out who I am and I started censoring myself.&#0160; And second-guessing myself.&#0160; And driving myself insane with worry, FOR NO REASON AT ALL.&#0160; It&#39;s not like this is a particularly saucy blog or anything like that, but I still continued to worry.&#0160; Which is stupid, but true.</p>\n\n<p>So I&#39;m doing something about it.</p>\n\n<p>I&#39;m taking a little break.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>And then I&#39;m starting over.&#0160; But I&#39;m not going anywhere.&#0160; I&#39;m staying right here.&#0160; And to prove it, I bought the <strong>www.reluctanthousewife.com</strong> domain.&#0160; (I&#39;m all growed up!&#0160; Update your bookmarks!)</p>\n\n<p>I&#39;m going to make the site over because I&#39;m bored with the banner.&#0160; I&#39;m unpublishing the archives.&#0160; I will come back with a focus.&#0160; (I think.&#0160; Quite possibly.&#0160; I don&#39;t know!)&#0160; I will share the site with my friends and family - eventually.&#0160; Because it&#39;s what I need to do.</p>\n\n<p>For you, who come here and read my junk and keep me going when I wonder if I should quit blogging, there should be no difference.&#0160; Except that, hopefully, I will be less boring.<br /> </p>\n\n<p>Also, I feel like I owe you something for being so nice so here it is.&#0160; Or shall I say, here we are:</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/diary/126403816/\" title=\"Photo Sharing\"><img alt=\"The Reluctant Housewife and The Boy\" class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef0133ee2777a5970b\" height=\"240\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef0133ee2777a5970b-pi.jpg\" width=\"228\" /></a></p>\n\n<p>(YES!&#0160; I have both a toddler AND a white couch!&#0160; What can I say?&#0160; We live on the edge.)<em></em></p>\n\n<p><em>NOTE:&#0160; In the meantime, please check out my work-in-progress <a href=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com\">www.everydaytreats.com</a> and tell me what you think!</em></p>\n','Blog Suicide, Possibly (But Not Quite)','\n','draft','open','open','','blog-suicide-possibly-but-not-quite','','','2006-07-08 00:01:00','2006-07-08 00:01:00','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=509',0,'post','',23),(510,1,'2006-06-11 12:16:00','2006-06-11 12:16:00','<p>I was surprised to learn that there is another &quot;<a href=\"http://www.mylifeasareluctanthousewife.blogspot.com/\">reluctant housewife</a>&quot; out there in blog land.&#0160; Our blogs are very different - hers is a cooking/personal blog while mine is, well, this.&#0160; I only found out about it because someone did a Google search on &quot;My Life As A Reluctant Housewife&quot; and somehow that person ended up on my blog.&#0160; Anyways, I was surprised at first.&#0160; It&#39;s like googling yourself and finding out that there is someone in Peru with your same exact name (this has happened to me - it&#39;s so freaky!).&#0160; &#0160;All this time, I thought I was the only one!<br /> </p>\n\n<p>I chose the name because, well, I AM reluctant about this whole housewifery thing.&#0160; When I fill out forms that ask for &quot;occupation&quot; I reluctantly write &quot;housewife&quot; - hence the name for the blog.&#0160; It&#39;s not that I&#39;m unhappy with my life; after all, I quit my job, entirely by choice.&#0160; It was something I had been dreaming about, and one day I just went and did it.&#0160; It&#39;s the way I work.&#0160; I dream, make plans in my head, procrastinate, and then one day I go do whatever it is I had been scheming about.&#0160; That&#39;s how I applied for jobs and graduate schools, how I decided to pursue my husband, how I decided to get pregnant.&#0160; The thing is, that while I dream about doing &quot;whatever&quot;, I don&#39;t necessarily prepare myself for the realities of day to day &quot;whatever.&quot;&#0160; For example, when I started working I was prepared to kick ass in marketing - and I did - but I wasn&#39;t quite prepared for the day to day drudgery of office life.&#0160; Having to be there at 8:30 am, every day.&#0160; Having to wear a suit.&#0160; Having to live and breathe whatever brand I was assigned to.&#0160; Having a boss.&#0160; &#0160;I&#39;m falling asleep just thinking about it.</p>\n\n<p>So when I decided that I wanted to quit working in an office and try the domestic life it was with all the idealism and passion of a newbie.&#0160; I would have all the time in the world, dedicated to doing things my way.&#0160; Living spaces are very important to me.&#0160; I like pretty things.&#0160; So I thought that I would be able to get our house in order, all while figuring out other things I wanted to do.&#0160; Two years later, the house is clean, but it is not as stylish as I would want it to be.&#0160; I know I want to write, but where I will focus my energy is still a work in progress (and you are coming along for the ride!).&#0160; I have an adorable and willful son and a husband that still makes me laugh.&#0160; So things are not 100% perfect, but I&#39;ve never had a 100% perfect day, so that&#39;s not the problem.&#0160; The problem is that as a person of the human persuasion I have this need, this drive, to classify myself.&#0160; We all do, I think.&#0160; &#0160;I&#39;ve been called many things (nerd, smart girl, hot chick, brand manager), all of which I could accept in one way or another (esp. &quot;hot chick&quot; - that one was really easy for some reason).</p>\n\n<p>The one label I have yet to accept is &quot;housewife.&quot;&#0160; Yet, I continue calling myself that, because I feel silly writing in &quot;Domestic Diva&quot; on a passport application and don&#39;t even get me started on &quot;Chief Household Officer&quot; or other cutesy businnessy titles like that.&#0160; I just need one word to describe my occupation.&#0160; It&#39;s a loaded word, for sure, but I have yet to find an alternative.</p>\n','Reluctantly, She Writes','\n','draft','open','open','','reluctantly-she-writes','','','2006-06-11 12:16:00','2006-06-11 12:16:00','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=510',0,'post','',11),(511,1,'2006-06-10 21:04:00','2006-06-10 21:04:00','<p>I went in for the colposcopy, and while I am not miraculously clear of abnormalities I learned that my condition has been downgraded from &quot;abnormal&quot; to &quot;atypical.&quot;</p>\n\n<p>Apparently, this is good.&#0160; And I am sooo relieved.</p>\n\n<p>I will be back for another pap in 4 months.&#0160; But don&#39;t worry!&#0160; You won&#39;t have to read about it.&#0160; I promise.&#0160; This topic is officially closed!</p>\n','Update, and quite possibly, too much information','\n','draft','closed','closed','','update-and-quite-possibly-too-much-information','','','2006-06-10 21:04:00','2006-06-10 21:04:00','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=511',0,'post','',0),(512,1,'2006-06-07 15:18:21','2006-06-07 15:18:21','<p>Remember when I was procrastinating and putting off applying for <a href=\"http://diary.blogs.com/the_diary_of_a_reluctant_/2006/04/and_the_winner_.html\">this</a>?</p>\n\n<p>I did.&#0160; I applied.&#0160; Eventually.&#0160; After reading your comments over and over again.</p>\n\n<p>And wouldn&#39;t you know...I got it!&#0160; Meet your new guide to the <a href=\"http://girlsguidetocitylife.com/\">city life</a> - me!</p>\n\n<p>Actually, my bio isn&#39;t up yet, so you won&#39;t really see anything new about me there - but eventually my picture and real name will be up there.&#0160; My first three reviews are <a href=\"http://girlsguidetocitylife.com/boston/\">here</a>.</p>\n\n<p>The site was started by Alex Beauchamp, whose work at <a href=\"http://www.girlatplay.com/\">Girl At Play</a> has been such an inspiration.&#0160; I&#39;m very happy to be working with her and the other writers on the site.&#0160; I have so much to learn from all of them.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>Most of all, I&#39;m giddy that I am now an official &quot;travel writer&quot; - yay! <br /> </p>\n','Because It\'s Not All Gloom And Doom Around Here','\n','draft','open','open','','because-its-not-all-gloom-and-doom-around-here','','','2006-06-07 15:18:21','2006-06-07 15:18:21','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=512',0,'post','',22),(513,1,'2006-06-05 10:48:45','2006-06-05 10:48:45','<p>Am I the only person intimidated by hairstylists?&#0160; I don&#39;t know what it is, but whenever I go get my haircut I feel completely inadequate - like a bumbling fool.&#0160; I blame my mother for cutting our hair at home, and then taking us to Supercuts when she grew tired of doing it herself.&#0160; Thanks to her I was sheltered from the madness that is beauty-salon etiquette and hairdresser-sized egos.</p>\n\n<p>Now that I&#39;m a woman, I have this love-hate relationship with the beauty shop.&#0160; It&#39;s probably my fault because I like salons that are trendy and modern and filled with fashionista wannabe stylists who look like they know what they&#39;re doing.&#0160; My life is not as glamorous as I&#39;d like, I guess, so I like to have some of their glitter and hairspray liven mine up.</p>\n\n<p>I had a perfect salon in Miami.&#0160; My stylist was funny and hip and quite possibly gay <a href=\"http://www.sportsevents.net/events/images/jerry_seinfeld.jpg\">(not that there&#39;s anything wrong with that)</a>.&#0160; But most importantly he always gave me a perfect cut, and I happily threw wads of dollar bills his way to work his magic.&#0160; That has to be where my reverence for hairstylists must have come from.</p>\n\n<p>Now that I&#39;m in Boston, I have yet to find a truly great stylist.&#0160; Believe I have tried.&#0160; Also, believe me when I tell you that I don&#39;t have challenging hair, not in the least.&#0160; My hair is straight and long and the color of a chocolate bar.&#0160; All I need is a pretty cut.&#0160; That&#39;s it.&#0160; I&#39;m even game to have someone cut it real short, if they dare.&#0160; No one does.&#0160; Yet they manage, somehow, to make my long straight hair look matronly.&#0160; It drives me craaaazy!&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>You would think I would be able to go back to my old Miami hairstylist since I go back there every few months, but he has never forgiven me for moving to Virginia for grad school.&#0160; When I went to him to have my hair cut during Christmas break he asked what had happened to me.&#0160; I told him about my move to Charlottesville.&#0160; He looked me up and down and said, &quot;that explains it.&quot;</p>\n\n<p>I had to break up with him.&#0160; Actually, he broke up with me, because he gave me a Campbell Soup Kid cut that day.&#0160; Why be so cruel?&#0160; So that I could fit in better in my new surroundings?</p>\n\n<p>My current stylist is the owner of a hip salon that has been featured in <em>Vogue</em> and <em>Allure </em>so it is also very busy.&#0160; (I know that the way you get into those magazines is to sell a lot of high-end products but I still fall for it!&#0160; I can&#39;t help it!)&#0160; That would be intimidating enough, but he also looks <strong>exactly </strong>like <a href=\"http://www.chepo.net/blogimgs/tony_soprano_front.jpg\">Tony Soprano</a>.&#0160; The cognitive dissonance that results from seeing a big balding stereotypically mafia looking man in charge of a girly-girl salon would be hilarious if not for the fact that he is usually holding very sharp and expensive scissors very close to my neck.&#0160; He also works in complete silence, which creeps me out.</p>\n\n<p>He does a pretty decent job with my hair.&#0160; Unfortunately, he is always very busy and needs to be booked months in advance.&#0160; I am not the planning ahead type, and therefore I rarely manage to get my hair cut.</p>\n\n<p>I was determined to get a cut this week.&#0160; &quot;Tony Soprano&quot; was busy, of course, so I impulsively booked one of the junior stylists.&#0160; I was extremely nervous so I hatched a plan as I walked to the salon.&#0160; I was going to go up to him as soon as I walked in and explain that I just simply had to go to the new girl because he was so busy and we would laugh about it because its no big deal, really, and everything would be perfect.&#0160; But when I got there he was in the middle of mediating a fight between two stylists.&#0160; So I kind of snuck in and the jr. stylist was already cutting my hair when &quot;Tony&quot; spotted me and went into the back room for what seemed like an eternity.&#0160; Eventually he came out and started frosting the hair of an expensive-looking older lady.&#0160; By now my cut was done, and I confessed to the Jr. stylist that I&#39;m usually &quot;Tony&#39;s&quot; client.</p>\n\n<p>&quot;Really?&quot;&#0160; She put down the dryer.</p>\n\n<p>&quot;Yes, but as you know he is always so busy!&quot;</p>\n\n<p>&quot;That he is.&quot;&#0160; I didn&#39;t like the look on her face.&#0160; I think she was scared of Tony thinking that she was stealing his client.</p>\n\n<p>&quot;I&#39;ll go up to him and say hello.&#0160; When you&#39;re done.&quot;</p>\n\n<p>&quot;OK.&#0160; We&#39;re all done here!&quot;&#0160; She couldn&#39;t push me out of the chair quickly enough.</p>\n\n<p>I paid for my cut and tipped everyone (another thing that makes me crazy nervous!) and walked towards the changing room.&#0160; &quot;Tony&quot; refused to look at me.&#0160; I stopped right in front of him and waved so that he could not ignore me any more:</p>\n\n<p>&quot;Hi!&quot;</p>\n\n<p>&quot;Hi!&quot; he said back, mock-cheerfully.</p>\n\n<p>&quot;You were so busy today, this being Saturday and all, and I have a trip coming up so I just decided to get a cut with Bee.&#0160; She&#39;s so nice!&quot;</p>\n\n<p>He smiled at me without showing any teeth.</p>\n\n<p>&quot;And did Bee do a good job for you?&quot;</p>\n\n<p>Was this a trick question?&#0160; The truth is, I didn&#39;t know.&#0160; I hadn&#39;t even looked in the mirror because I was keeping an eye on him the entire time.</p>\n\n<p>&quot;Yes!&#0160; She was great!&quot;&#0160; I smiled.&#0160; I hope that was the right answer.&#0160; Stupid salons and their crazy rules!</p>\n\n<p>&quot;Good!&quot;&#0160; He gave me a 1000-Watt smile that was as artic as February in Maine.</p>\n\n<p>&quot;OK-Bye!&quot;&#0160; I had to get out of there.&#0160; Why all the drama?&#0160; Why do I care?&#0160; He should be apologizing to me - the customer!</p>\n\n<p>All this and I hate my new cut.</p>\n\n<p>I think I need a new salon.&#0160; </p>\n','It\'s Not Personal...It\'s Strictly Business','\n','publish','open','open','','its-not-personalits-strictly-business','','','2006-06-05 10:48:45','2006-06-05 10:48:45','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=513',0,'post','',23),(514,1,'2006-06-02 11:54:17','2006-06-02 11:54:17','<p>When my cell phone rang at noon yesterday I picked it up just in time to miss the call.&#0160; When I checked the caller ID my heart sank.&#0160; It was my OB-GYN calling.&#0160; Then my house phone rang.</p>\n\n<p>&quot;Ms. Housewife?&quot;</p>\n\n<p>&quot;Yes?&quot;</p>\n\n<p>&quot;This is Wendy from the Dr&#39;s office.&#0160; I&#39;m sorry, but the abnormal cells are back.&quot;</p>\n\n<p>&quot;Oh.&quot;</p>\n\n<p> &quot;Will you be at this number for the next hour?&#0160; Barbara will call to schedule a <a href=\"http://womenshealth.about.com/cs/cevicalconditions/a/colposcopy.htm\">colposcopy</a>.&quot;</p>\n\n<p>&quot;Yes, I&#39;ll be at this number.&#0160; Thanks.&quot;</p>\n\n<p>I started crying as I cut up green beans for my son&#39;s lunch.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>The first time I got a call telling me that my <a href=\"http://www.gynalternatives.com/abnpap.htm\">pap was abnormal</a> was April 2003.&#0160; I was at work, and I didn&#39;t think twice when the phone rang.&#0160; I thought it was the ad agency finally coming through with the revisions they owed me.&#0160; It didn&#39;t even register when I heard my doctor&#39;s voice on the other end because I had a deadline and <em>where the HELL are they</em>?&#0160; When the doctor said that my pap was abnormal and that I needed to see a specialist all I heard was &quot;you&#39;re going to die.&#0160; Who cares about the stupid ad?&quot;&#0160; I put her on hold, got up, closed my office door so no one would see, and started to cry.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>When I got to the specialist&#39;s office, the doctor, a stern-looking British gentleman, asked me to sit in his study before he performed the test.</p>\n\n<p>&quot;Do you have any questions?&quot;</p>\n\n<p>I tried to lie: &quot;No.&quot;&#0160; &#0160;But maybe I wasn&#39;t as good as lying as I thought I was.&#0160; Maybe I looked desperate.&#0160; Or maybe, he was used to having this conversation.</p>\n\n<p>&quot;Well&quot; he said, &quot;in that case, I want to remind you that a pap is just a screening test.&#0160; Your last pap came back with an <a href=\"http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=10630\">ASCUS</a> result.&#0160; That literally means that we don&#39;t know if anything is wrong, but we need to investigate further.&quot;</p>\n\n<p>&quot;OK.&quot;</p>\n\n<p>He searched my eyes, &quot;This doesn&#39;t mean that you have cancer.&quot;</p>\n\n<p>&quot;I know.&quot;&#0160; My voice started to crack.</p>\n\n<p>&quot;And we will take care of it if it starts to change, before it ever has a chance to turn to cancer.&#0160; You don&#39;t have to worry about that.&quot;</p>\n\n<p>I nodded, but I couldn&#39;t breathe.&#0160; The lump in my throat was tightening and I thought I might asphyxiate.</p>\n\n<p>&quot;I know that you probably are wondering if this will affect your fertility.&#0160; It will not.&#0160; You will be able to have children.&quot;</p>\n\n<p>That&#39;s when I burst into tears.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>I was in shock.&#0160; Because up until that minute I never realized that I wanted children that badly.&#0160; Or that I could get sick, even if, as he said, it would be ten years at the earliest.</p>\n\n<p>Since that day, I&#39;ve gotten married, quit my job, had a baby.&#0160; Did my pap results have anything to do with my husband and I finally getting our act together?&#0160; Maybe, I don&#39;t know.</p>\n\n<p>I&#39;ve also had pap smears every 4-6 months.&#0160; I&#39;ve had 3 colposcopies - including one while I was pregnant.&#0160; I&#39;ve had more abnormal paps than normal ones.&#0160; At one point the nurses and I would joke &quot;what will this one be - good or bad?&quot;&#0160; It&#39;s amazing what one can get used to.</p>\n\n<p>But when I got pregnant, my current doctor told me that sometimes delivering a baby vaginally gets rid of all the abnormal cells.&#0160; We were hopeful.&#0160; I think that is why they never once suggested a c-section, even though I pushed for four hours.&#0160; Four hours!</p>\n\n<p>And for a while things were good.&#0160; I had 3 normal paps in a row!&#0160; I thought my son had cleaned out my cervix for me!</p>\n\n<p>I was so confident that stopped worrying about my pap tests.&#0160; <a href=\"http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/23/health/23comm.html?ex=1149393600&amp;en=65a9ede3ba7ca1bc&amp;ei=5070\">I was happy when I heard about the new &quot;cancer vaccine&quot; because the next generation* won&#39;t have to deal with what I&#39;ve had to deal with.</a>&#0160; I put my fear in the past.</p>\n\n<p>And now, with this last result, this last &quot;abnormal&quot;&#0160; this last &quot;we need to schedule another colposcopy&quot; the fear came back with a vengeance.&#0160; Yesterday was not a good day.&#0160; I fought back the tears as my son played at his Gymboree class.&#0160; My uterus hurt.&#0160; I cried when I told my husband.</p>\n\n<p>Then, amazingly my cranky sad mood started lifting.</p>\n\n<p>Because I was now mad at myself for wasting a week moping for nothing.&#0160; I now had a reason to be sad, and it just made all that wasted time seem the more precious.</p>\n\n<p>Because I have great doctors that are rooting for me.&#0160; That were just as hopeful as I was that everything would be back to normal.&#0160; Doctors that see this everyday.&#0160; Their jobs suck.</p>\n\n<p>Because I once was afraid that I&#39;d never become a mom, and look at me now.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>Because my husband brought me a dozen roses yesterday.&#0160; Because he loves me.</p>\n\n<p>Because I&#39;m not sick.</p>\n\n<p>I&#39;m nervous about the colposcopy, but I refuse to be sad over nothing.<br /><em><br />*On the &quot;Cancer Vaccine&quot;:&#0160; If you are one of the people who will refuse to vaccinate their children because you think that doing so will &quot;encourage promiscuity in young girls&quot; you are a selfish idiot.&#0160; <br /><br />Everybody else:&#0160; Schedule your pap test.&#0160; Don&#39;t be stupid.<br /><br />That is all.</em></p>\n\n<p><strong>NOTE:&#0160; </strong>Thank you all for your comments and emails!&#0160; I feel so much better (and much less afraid) knowing that I&#39;m not alone!&#0160; Maybe somebody will find this post after googling &quot;abnormal pap&quot; and will find some comfort after reading about our experiences.&#0160; Thanks!</p>\n','I\'m Not Normal.  Again.','\n','draft','open','open','','im-not-normal-again','','','2006-06-02 11:54:17','2006-06-02 11:54:17','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=514',0,'post','',29),(515,1,'2006-05-31 16:00:28','2006-05-31 16:00:28','<p>Lately, I&#39;ve alternately been royally pissed off (at humanity!&#0160; All of it!&#0160; We suck!) or feeling sorry for myself.</p>\n\n<p>Don&#39;t ask me to explain why.&#0160; Maybe I&#39;m turning into a toddler.</p>\n\n<p>Today I was moping around feeling sorry for myself because my kitchen floor was ugly and filthy.&#0160; So you know what I did?&#0160; I got on my hands and knees and scrubbed it to an inch of its life.&#0160; I haven&#39;t done that since I was pregnant.&#0160; (I&#39;m not.)</p>\n\n<p>The floor still looks like shit, but at least it&#39;s clean.&#0160; And I feel better.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>Who knew?&#0160; Cleaning actually works as a mood-lifter.&#0160; If only I had know about that, oh, about 15 lbs worth of Mallomars ago!&#0160; I sincerely hope this cranky mood turns me into an obsessive-compulsive so that I can finally be a neat and organized person.</p>\n\n<p>Unfortunately, the effects are short-lived, so I&#39;m going to take a nap instead of doing the nasty dishes in the sink.&#0160; Because I&#39;ll get on my hands and knees and scrub linoleum, but wet food stuck on forks?&#0160; That&#39;s just going to make me sad.</p>\n','I May be Cranky and Sad but at Least the Floor is Clean','\n','draft','open','open','','i-may-be-cranky-and-sad-but-at-least-the-floor-is-clean','','','2006-05-31 16:00:28','2006-05-31 16:00:28','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=515',0,'post','',14),(516,1,'2006-05-29 20:32:23','2006-05-29 20:32:23','<p>Just when you think you have it all under control, life goes ahead and trows you a curve ball.&#0160; (Don&#39;t you just hate it when that happens?)</p>\n\n\n\n<p>My son, who up until now has been more or less a model baby (if I do say so myself), has suddenly morphed into this irrational, demanding, stubborn and overtly emotional creature.&#0160; I believe the fancy term used by parenting experts for his condition is &quot;toddlerhood.&quot;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Urgh.</p>\n\n<p>Seemingly overnight I have become &quot;that&quot; mother - the one with the kid with the shriek that won&#39;t quit.&#0160; Where people used to stop me on the street and compliment me on my child&#39;s impeccable behavior (&quot;He&#39;s such an angel!&quot;) and I lapped up the praise as if his temperament was in any way a result of my skills, they now pointedly ignore me as my kid toddles in circles, alternatively giggling and crying like a manic depressive.&#0160;\n\n</p>\n\n<p>Mealtimes used to be lovely bonding times and now have morphed into torture sessions.&#0160; For me.&#0160; The battle of wills is not pretty.&#0160; He will scream and push food away one second, then gobble up the scraps that happen to accidentally fall into the pocket on his bib when he thinks I&#39;m not looking.</p>\n\n<p>By early afternoon, I&#39;m completely exhausted - merely a shell of myself.&#0160; I hate to hear myself say this because I wanted to be the mom that always had her shit together.&#0160; I can hardly hear his screams anymore, and while I full well know that the other people out there on planet earth are not as used to it as I am, somedays I don&#39;t care.&#0160; I just let him scream at somebody else for a change.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>I tell myself that this stage will pass.&#0160; It&#39;s the only thing that keeps me going.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>It will pass.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>Right?</p>\n','The 15 Month Itch','\n','draft','open','open','','the-15-month-itch','','','2006-05-29 20:32:23','2006-05-29 20:32:23','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=516',0,'post','',22),(517,1,'2006-05-24 15:37:20','2006-05-24 15:37:20','<p>My biggest fear when I became pregnant wasn&#39;t labor and delivery or even Becoming A Mother.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>I was afraid of one thing, and one thing alone:&#0160; Stretch marks.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>Despite months of slathering my stomach with Palmer&#39;s religiously and constantly smelling like a Hershey Bar, one morning, the morning that I was EXACTLY 36 weeks pregnant, I woke up to THEM.&#0160; The worst part is that none of my friends got stretch marks.&#0160; I repeat,\nNONE OF MY FRIENDS got stretch marks.&#0160; I was starting to feel like a\nfreak or like I needed normal non-amazon friends -\nuntil Katie came along.&#0160; (<a href=\"http://community.livejournal.com/ohnotheydidnt/6777255.html\">Never in my life did I think I would have something in common with Katie Holmes</a>.&#0160; At least I&#39;m not married to Tom &quot;Looney&quot; Cruise, but dear Katie, I feel your pain.)&#0160; I sent this panicked email to my friend:</p><blockquote><p>Hey there...I just had to share something with you - not that it will make you feel better, but I know that you will understand.</p>\n\n<p>Today is officially the 1st day of month 9 (36 weeks!) in two weeks I am officially full term.&#0160; So anyways, I get up and when I undress for my shower and to my horror there they were.&#0160; I officially have stretch marks!&#0160; Can you believe it!&#0160; I was in shock and could not stop staring at them.&#0160; And I was almost done!!!&#0160; And my stomach doesn&#39;t look any bigger!!&#0160; If anything it looks smaller.&#0160; Maybe it&#39;s because he dropped.</p>\n\n<p>Now that I have calmed down a bit, I realize that they are not that bad - I&#39;ve seen worse.&#0160; Please, no pity.&#0160; And they are on the lower, lower part of the tummy - but I really thought I was going to get away with an easy, scar-free pregnancy.&#0160; I know it sounds vain and shallow, but its the truth.&#0160; Oh well.&#0160; I know I will get over it.&#0160; After all I have a very pointy belly.&#0160; Just wanted to let you know to show that we all have sacrifices to make for the joy of children...</p></blockquote><p>I sent off the email and cried.</p>\n\n<p>Once I gave birth I realized that the stretch marks actually spread out over my entire non pregnant belly.&#0160; And that sucks.</p>\n\n<p>Yes, my stomach looks like crepe paper.&#0160; I have craters the size the Grand Canyon crossing my midriff.&#0160; My bellybutton? HAHAHAHAHAHAHA.&#0160; It looks like the mouth of an old woman puckering up for a kiss.</p>\n\n<p>The worst part is that there is nothing that can be done about it.&#0160; I know that.&#0160; But still, I try.</p>\n\n<p>First, the friend who I sent that email to was working at Estee Lauder and promptly hooked me up with the <a href=\"http://www.cremedelamer.com/templates/products/sp_nonshaded.tmpl?CATEGORY_ID=CATEGORY5782&amp;PRODUCT_ID=PROD2467\">Creme De La Mer Concentrate</a> ($325!!!!&#0160; Whaaaaa?).&#0160; I slathered it on it like butter on toast, all the time thinking &quot;these tiny drops would cost about $35 at retail,&quot; but still, I saw no difference.&#0160; So the moral of the story is - don&#39;t buy it for stretch marks.&#0160; (Although it makes my face glow!)</p>\n\n<p>I went to the dermatologist and begged for help.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>ME:&#0160; &quot;Strivectin?&quot;&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>DR. SKIN:&#0160; &quot;Won&#39;t help.&#0160; Save your money.&quot;</p>\n\n<p>ME: &quot;What about Mederma?</p>\n\n<p>DR. SKIN: &quot;HAHAHAHAHAH!&#0160; You&#39;re kidding, right?&quot;&#0160; (I swear, she laughed in my face.)</p>\n\n<p>ME:&#0160; &quot;I will not stop until you give me something!&#0160; I NEED SOMETHING!&quot;</p>\n\n<p>DR. SKIN:&#0160; &quot;You may want to try Olay Regenerist.&#0160; I&#39;m doing a study on it for stretch marks.&#0160; But you can&#39;t use it while your nursing.&#0160; Would you mind just using it on half your stomach to see if you it makes a visible difference?&quot;</p>\n\n<p>ME: &quot;Half my stomach....HAHAHAHAHAHA&quot;</p>\n\n<p>I nursed for a year.&#0160; I lived with the marks for a whole year before I did anything about them.&#0160; They faded somewhat on their own, but the skin texture was still crinkly.&#0160; So I finally bought some Regenerist at the drugstore, and wouldn&#39;t you know it?&#0160; After a month of using it they look better.&#0160; Really.&#0160; They&#39;re still there, and they will never go away, but some days I can look at my stomach and see an improvement.&#0160; The skin is, for lack of a better word, thicker.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>I love my dermatologist.&#0160; She saved me $100s!</p>\n\n<p>So there you go.&#0160; My stretch mark helper.&#0160; Has anything helped your stretch marks?&#0160; Do share!</p>\n\n<p><em>(By the way, I didn&#39;t receive any samples or ads or anything from P&amp;G.&#0160; I just wanted to share something that has helped me.&#0160; However, if anybody from P&amp;G is reading this - you can buy my love!&#0160; Send me some stuff!)</em></p>\n','Stretched!','\n','draft','open','open','','stretched','','','2006-05-24 15:37:20','2006-05-24 15:37:20','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=517',0,'post','',24),(519,1,'2006-05-22 23:52:17','2006-05-22 23:52:17','<p>This is the view I was faced with every morning on the first half of our vacation:</p>\n<p><a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/diary/151521166/\" title=\"Photo Sharing\"><img alt=\"The Ritz\" class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef0133ee27768d970b\" height=\"375\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef0133ee27768d970b-pi.jpg\" width=\"500\" /></a>\n\n</p>\n\n<p>(You remember, right?&#0160; The half where we stayed at <a href=\"http://diary.blogs.com/the_diary_of_a_reluctant_/2006/05/california_drea.html\">fancy shmanzy place</a> thanks to my husband&#39;s job?&#0160; The place where we stayed for free?)</p>\n\n<p>Of course, the second half of our trip, the half where we stayed in San Francisco and actually had to pay for our room (or rather, use hotel points for), was destined to be a disappointment as far as hotel accommodations go.&#0160; And it was - at first.&#0160; I had a big old frown on my face the entire time as we checked into the 70&#39;s time capsule that is the Fisherman&#39;s Wharf Courtyard Marriott (I mean, if I wanted fake wood paneling I would have stayed home and hung out at the Department of Motor Vehicles).&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>That&#39;s the problem with spoiling yourself.&#0160; You start believing that you will always come home to fresh towels and marble floors after a day of exploring dramatic seaside cliffs.</p>\n\n<p>So you can imagine my dismay when we went into our room, which despite being a non-smoking room smelled like an ashtray (I thought people didn&#39;t smoke in California!).&#0160; I was acting like a spoiled little princess until I pulled back the curtain and discovered this lovely view RIGHT OUTSIDE our room:</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/diary/151263772/\" title=\"Photo Sharing\"><img alt=\"Yum!\" class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef0133ee27769b970b\" height=\"375\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef0133ee27769b970b-pi.jpg\" width=\"500\" /></a></p>\n\n<p>I cannot describe the excitement I felt...I&#39;d always heard about the Holy In-N-Out Burger, and now there was one just a few steps from our hotel.</p>\n\n<p>So we went.</p>\n\n<p>And it was GOOD.</p>\n\n<p>I think I&#39;m in love.</p>\n\n<p>The <a href=\"http://www.in-n-out.com/menu.asp\">menu</a>!&#0160; It&#39;s straight-to-the-point perfection.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>The food!&#0160; Heaven!</p>\n\n<p>It&#39;s a good thing I don&#39;t live out west - otherwise I would be eating there morning, noon and night.</p>\n\n<p>(All I could think about was the lovely <a href=\"http://www.whoorl.com/archives/2006/03/when_the_cats_a.html\">Whoorl</a> and how lucky she is to live in a state where she could eat this all the time!&#0160; I&#39;m so jealous!)</p>\n\n<p>In-N-Out Burger, you complete me.</p>\n','What I Miss The Most About California','\n','draft','open','open','','what-i-miss-the-most-about-california','','','2006-05-22 23:52:17','2006-05-22 23:52:17','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=519',0,'post','',9),(520,1,'2006-05-19 11:25:35','2006-05-19 11:25:35','<p>I was one of the lucky bloggers invited to a conference call with <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonia_Manzano\">Sonia Manzano</a>, who played Maria on Sesame Street.&#0160; Sonia is working with <a href=\"http://www.firstbook.org/site/c.lwKYJ8NVJvF/b.674095/k.CC09/Home.htm\">First Book</a> and <a href=\"http://www.firstbook.org/site/c.lwKYJ8NVJvF/b.1552321/k.B398/First_Book_Partner__Cheerios.htm\">Cheerios</a>&#39; Spoonfuls of Stories Program to stress the importance of books and&#0160; instilling a love of reading early on.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>Did you know that Cheerios has given away 20 million books since 2002?&#0160; Awesome.</p>\n\n<p>I&#39;ve been a bookworm since I was a little girl.&#0160; My parents encouraged me to read everything I could get my hands on, and I am forever grateful to them for that.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p><strong>PSST!&#0160; <a href=\"http://www.theliteracysite.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/CTDSites.woa\">Click Here</a>, then click on the red button.&#0160; You can&#39;t miss it.&#0160; Each click funds 1% of a book, to be given away to kids who need them.&#0160; I never ask you for anything, so please do that for me.&#0160; Pretty please????<br /><br /><em>Did you click?</em>&#0160; <a href=\"http://www.theliteracysite.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/CTDSites.woa\">DO IT</a>.</strong></p>\n\n<p><strong>(Thank you.)</strong></p>\n\n<p>So I&#39;m on the call and at some point they open up the call to us so that we can ask questions (to Maria!&#0160; From Sesame Street!&#0160; OH MY GOODNESS!)&#0160; and wouldn&#39;t you know that the first person on the line was another superstar?&#0160; Ms. <a href=\"http://www.underpaidkeptwoman.blogspot.com/\">Susie Sunshine</a> (herself!) was brave enough to go first.&#0160; OH MY GOD I LOVE HER AND I HATE HER BECAUSE HER TEMPLATE SHOULD BE MINE!&#0160; But there she was, and I got to hear her voice.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>It is a lovely sound.</p>\n\n<p>I also asked a question, just to be able to say that I spoke to Maria.&#0160; My hands were shaking and I was feeding Goldfish to my son in a desperate attempt to keep him from acting up in the middle of the call.&#0160; (Because, what would Susie Sunshine think of me?)&#0160; He did OK.&#0160; I, on the other hand, almost passed out from the adrenaline rushing through my veins.&#0160; I totally forgot to use my blog name and I totally kissed up to Maria.&#0160; (&quot;Hi!&#0160; I went to school in Miami!&#0160; We are like sisters!&#0160; Please, wise Maria, teach me how to raise a bilingual child!&#0160; Forget the other bloggers with real questions about literacy!&#0160; Make it about ME!&#0160; ME! ME!)</p>\n\n<p>I kind of feel bad about that, my apologies to those of you whose time I wasted.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>Yet, I must point out that Maria spoke directly to ME.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>Nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah!</p>\n','I Just Met A Girl Named Ma-ria!','\n','draft','open','open','','i-just-met-a-girl-named-ma-ria','','','2006-05-19 11:25:35','2006-05-19 11:25:35','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=520',0,'post','',8),(521,1,'2006-05-16 23:54:47','2006-05-16 23:54:47','<p>People, you need to sit down for this one.&#0160; I am about to make a statement of such staggeringly obviousness that I think I may actually shock some of you out there:</p>\n\n<p><strong>Fox News hires arrogant smirking morons as anchormen.</strong></p>\n\n<p>Apparently, there&#39;s this guy, John Gibson, who is asking the &quot;European ancestry people, white people&quot; to &quot;do your duty. Make more babies.&quot;&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>And why?</p>\n\n<p>&quot;...half of the kids in this country under five years old\nare minorities. By far, the greatest number are Hispanic. You know\nwhat that means? Twenty-five years and the majority of the population is\nHispanic.&quot;</p>\n\n<p>So to this jerk the very fact that my son exists - the very fact that I\nam a mother - is something to fight against?&#0160; It&#39;s enough to make me\nwant to be pregnant RIGHT NOW.</p>\n\n<p>Unbelievable.&#0160; You can watch him <a href=\"http://mediamatters.org/items/200605120006\">here</a>.<br /><br />I have <a href=\"http://diary.blogs.com/the_diary_of_a_reluctant_/2006/05/warning_rant_al.html\">spoken my piece</a> about the idiots out there that think that somehow Hispanics are not Americans.&#0160; I can&#39;t call him a racist because &quot;Hispanic&quot; is not a race.&#0160; But <strong>arrogant moron</strong> fits him just fine.</p>\n\n<p>(I&#39;m going to send this asshole a birth announcement every time I make another gorgeous baby.&#0160; Just to spite him.)</p>\n\n<p>At least there&#39;s Keith Olbermann to knock some sense into cable news.</p>\n\n<p>From\nthe May 12 edition of MSNBC&#39;s <em>Countdown\nwith Keith Olbermann</em>:</p><blockquote>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://mediamatters.org/items/200605150003\">\n\nOLBERMANN:\nThat&#39;s ahead, but first it&#39;s time for <em>Countdown</em>&#39;s latest list of nominees for &quot;Worst\nPerson in the World.&quot; The bronze to John Gibson of Fox News Channel.\nHe&#39;s now encouraged his viewers to quote, &quot;Do your duty. Make more\nbabies&quot; because Hispanics are quote, &quot;having more kids than others.\nYou know what that means, 25 years and the majority of the population is\nHispanic,&quot; unquote. <strong>John would have\nplaced higher, but it&#39;s become obvious he no longer hears what he&#39;s\nsaying, and besides which, the average age of his viewers is about 70, so this\nis only hypothetical eugenics.</strong></a> </p></blockquote><p>Ha ha.</p>\n','Hypothetical Eugenists and The Idiots Who Watch Them','\n','draft','open','open','','hypothetical-eugenists-and-the-idiots-who-watch-them','','','2006-05-16 23:54:47','2006-05-16 23:54:47','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=521',0,'post','',24),(522,1,'2006-05-16 15:50:17','2006-05-16 15:50:17','<p>We have a <a href=\"http://diary.blogs.com/the_diary_of_a_reluctant_/2006/05/baby_blog_book_.html\">winner</a>!</p>\n\n<p>It&#39;s <a href=\"http://mrsfortune.blogspot.com/\">Mrs. Fortune</a>, with her simple, yet maddening, &quot;Why do babies prefer one boob over another?&quot; </p>\n\n<p>I don&#39;t know!&#0160; But congratulations to you!&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>(And good luck with the nursing.&#0160; It gets easier.)</p>\n\n<p>Thanks to everybody who played along - you made me laugh, you even made me worry.&#0160; (Lemons?&#0160; Really?)&#0160; Maybe Jennifer will be able to write <u>Why Babies Do That - The Sequel</u>.</p>\n','Drumroll Please...','\n','draft','open','open','','drumroll-please','','','2006-05-16 15:50:17','2006-05-16 15:50:17','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=522',0,'post','',1),(523,1,'2006-05-15 23:45:41','2006-05-15 23:45:41','<p>I know I owe you a contest winner and stories about California, but if any of you had just watched 3 hours of Grey&#39;s Anatomy you would understand why I can&#39;t post tonight.</p>\n\n<p>(DID YOU SEE IT?&#0160; <u>Hot damn</u>!&#0160; A prom!&#0160; A transplant!&#0160; Sex!&#0160; Death!&#0160; Cannot!&#0160; Breathe!)</p>\n\n<p>I&#39;m light-headed.&#0160; I think I held my breath through all three hours.</p>\n\n<p>*<em>Sorry about the cheesy title.&#0160; I really think I need more oxygen.&#0160; (Damn you Grey&#39;s Anatomy writers!&#0160; Stop messing with my brain!)&#0160; And you!&#0160; Dr. McDreamy!&#0160; Grow some warts or something.&#0160; I&#39;m tired of swooning over your cheating ass.<br /><br />PS:&#0160; Mother Nature, thanks for the soggy welcome mat.&#0160; How many more days of rain?&#0160; 10 you say?&#0160; You shouldn&#39;t have!&#0160; Really!</em></p>\n','I Left My Ark In San Francisco*','\n','draft','open','open','','i-left-my-ark-in-san-francisco','','','2006-05-15 23:45:41','2006-05-15 23:45:41','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=523',0,'post','',6),(524,1,'2006-05-13 01:11:00','2006-05-13 01:11:00','<p>When Jennifer Margulis (an editor at <a href=\"http://www.literarymama.com/\">Literary Mama</a> and all around-fabulous writer and mother) contacted me to see if I was interested in joining the <a href=\"http://www.toddlertruestories.com/BlogBookTour.html\">Baby Blog Book Tour</a> for <em><a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1595432434/sr=8-1/qid=1142235641/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-2233906-0216154?%5Fencoding=UTF8\">Why Babies Do That</a></em>, I accepted because she said the magic words (no, not &quot;please&quot; - she said &quot;free book!&quot;).&#0160; (To her credit, she did say please as well.&#0160; She is very polite.)&#0160; I have this condition, you see, where I can&#39;t say no to a freebie.&#0160; It&#39;s a curse.&#0160; Also, I really wanted to read her other book, <em><a href=\"http://www.toddlertruestories.com/\">Toddler</a></em>, and she agreed to send a copy to this gushing fan-girl. (Thanks!)</p>\n\n<p>Why <u>Babies Do That</u> is a comforting little book.&#0160; It has short essays and cute baby pictures and a shiny, easy-wipe cover.&#0160; In other words, it&#39;s the perfect book for anxious first-time parents with short attention spans and a tendency to spill liquids.&#0160; (Is there any other kind?)</p>\n\n<p>The questions are the best part of the book.&#0160; I think Jennifer&#39;s goal was to answer every question a new parent could possibly come up with - from the universal (&quot;Why Do Babies Cry?&quot;) to the really embarrasing ones you know you want to ask but don&#39;t (&quot;Why Do Babies Like To Play With Their Own Poop?&quot;).&#0160; Other questions include:</p>\n\n<p>Why Do Babies Drool?<br />Why Do Babies Always Try to Put Their Fingers in Electric Sockets?<br />Why Do Babies Sleep During the Day And Wake Up at Night?&#0160; (Why, oh, whyyyyyyyyy!)</p>\n\n<p>As the experienced and all-knowing mother of a 15 month-old, I believe I can answer all these questions for you in three words:&#0160; Because They Can.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>Of course, this is why I don&#39;t have a book contract.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>Jennifer, on the other hand, actually answers the questions and she does it in a gentle, non-judgmental way.&#0160; It&#39;s a nice change of pace from the typical tone in books geared at new parents (&quot;Do it our way - or ELSE!&quot;).&#0160; She&#39;s like the patient, all-knowing friend we all wish we had during those first weeks of parenthood.&#0160; Be nice to the new parents in your life and get them a copy...or ELSE!</p>\n\n<p>FREE BOOK!&#0160; FREE BOOK!&#0160; FREE BOOK!</p>\n\n<p>I&#39;m sharing the free book love!</p>\n\n<p>Do you want your own copy of <u>Why Babies Do That</u>?</p>\n\n<p>Then try to come up with a question that&#39;s not already in the book (and it will be hard - &quot;Why Are Babies So Fascinated by Balls?&quot; and &quot;Why Do Babies Flail Their Little Arms and Legs Like Miniature Kickboxers?&quot; are already taken) and post it in my comments for a chance to win a copy of <em>Why Babies Do That</em> - for FREE!&#0160; No purchase necessary!&#0160; Void where prohibited!&#0160; Entries must be received by 6:00 pm Monday because that&#39;s when I&#39;ll be back in Boston and able to read my comments!&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>So go ahead.&#0160; All you have to do is ask...as long as it&#39;s a question that&#39;s not in the book.</p>\n','Baby Blog Book Tour:  Why Babies Do That and FREE BOOK!','\n','draft','open','open','','baby-blog-book-tour-why-babies-do-that-and-free-book','','','2006-05-13 01:11:00','2006-05-13 01:11:00','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=524',0,'post','',13),(525,1,'2006-05-08 23:42:00','2006-05-08 23:42:00','<p>What the hell is wrong with me?&#0160; Why don&#39;t I live in California?&#0160; EVERYBODY is happy and gorgeous here - and who can blame them?&#0160; The weather is perfect, the scenery breathtaking and the food...the food!</p>\n\n<p>I may never leave.</p>\n\n<p>We&#39;re on a trip to Half Moon Bay and San Francisco.&#0160; After surviving a 6 hour flight with a 15 month-old on our laps (barely) we needed a full day to crash and recharge the batteries.&#0160; We are currently staying at an incredibly beautiful <a href=\"http://www.ritzcarlton.com/resorts/half_moon_bay/\">hotel</a> thanks to a company <a href=\"http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;oi=spell&amp;resnum=0&amp;ct=result&amp;cd=1&amp;q=define:boondoggle&amp;spell=1\"><del>boondoggle</del></a> conference and later in the week we will be going to San Francisco proper where we need to find a hotel that doesn&#39;t charge $8 for a bottle of water(!!!) since we will be paying for it out of our own pockets.&#0160; For now, I&#39;m spoiling myself.&#0160; &#0160; </p>\n\n<p>It will be interesting to see how we navigate the city with a stroller.&#0160; Last time we were here, we weren&#39;t parents and just loved the fact that you had to climb steps to get anywhere.&#0160; Now, not so much.</p>\n\n<p>PS:&#0160; Any suggestions on things to do in San Francisco with a toddler are greatly appreciated!</p>\n','California Dreamin\'','\n','draft','open','open','','california-dreamin','','','2006-05-08 23:42:00','2006-05-08 23:42:00','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=525',0,'post','',16),(526,1,'2006-05-06 11:00:00','2006-05-06 11:00:00','<p>I almost forgot to tell you about the <a href=\"http://diary.blogs.com/the_diary_of_a_reluctant_/2006/04/if_i_was_smart_.html\">Trapped In The Closet Sing-a-Long</a>!&#0160; I went!&#0160; And it was fun!&#0160; It also made me feel old!&#0160; But in a good way!&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>We felt like The Shit when we got there, a full half-hour early, and saw people standing in line - in the cold - waiting for a chance to be let in to the SOLD OUT show.&#0160; I was surprised that a theater would sell out for a midnight-2:00 am show even if was to make fun of R. Kelly.&#0160; (See?&#0160; I told you I was old.)</p>\n\n<p>Anyways, we were not about to stand in the cold so we went to a bar.&#0160; The only bar in Coolidge Corner is a college bar, which was cool - like being 19 all over again - except that I made a tactical mistake.&#0160; If you&#39;re over the age of 25 and find yourself in a &quot;college bar&quot; and you see that they have a &quot;martini menu,&quot; ORDER THE BEER!&#0160; Unless you like your martinis to taste like cough syrup.&#0160; If that&#39;s the case, by all means be my guest and order away.&#0160; Also, I have found that the size of the martini is inversely correlated to the amount of alcohol in the drink.&#0160; So I was pissed that my glass was, I kid you not, the size of my head.&#0160; (Old Grouchy Lady Alert!)</p>\n\n<p>So, we head back to the theater and I&#39;m disappointingly sober.&#0160; Then we saw the people in line, and I had to laugh.&#0160; It was full of <a href=\"http://www.sykospark.net/emo/idiotic.gif\">Emo kids</a>, all ironic and intellectual looking, except that I called them &quot;slackers&quot; because that&#39;s what they were called when I was in college back in 1994 (<a href=\"http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a53/jemany/5.jpg\"><em>Reality Bites</em></a>, anyone?).&#0160; The supposedly sensitive kids around us were not pleased.</p>\n\n<p>But I knew that this night was going to be SO worth the $60 we spent on babysitting when we finally made it inside the theater and the South Park episode on Scientology (watch it <a href=\"http://www.xenutv.com/cruise/sp-closet.htm\">here</a> if you&#39;ve missed it) was playing as the prelude - there&#39;s nothing like a quick refresher on Xenu to prepare you for deconstructing an urban opera, I always say.</p>\n\n<p>They started the evening with a &quot;R&amp;B Battle in the style of R. Kelly&quot; between a guy who looked exactly like the kid in <a href=\"http://rushmore.shootangle.com/academy/images/quote1pic.jpg\">Rushmore</a> and a plain vanilla jock.&#0160; The Rushmore kid won by a landslide.&#0160; In fact, if you closed your eyes he sounded just like R. Kelly (granted, not that it takes that much talent to do it - but he was obviously drunk).&#0160; The jock was literally booed off the stage - and I was happy.&#0160; I&#39;m always glad when the dopey kid finally wins.&#0160; I&#39;m willing to bet he finally lost his virginity that night.</p>\n\n<p>After some pseudo-intellectual intro that was really funny but I forgot, our emcee explains that they will only show 4 episodes at a time (there are 12 in total) because &quot;the intensity might kill us if we don&#39;t take a break.&quot;&#0160; He was not exaggerating - the level of noise and off-key singing that erupted the second the show started was deafening - it was impossible not to get into it.<br /><em><br /><span face=\"Verdana\">Seven o&#39;clock in the morning <br />And the rays from the sun wakes me <br />I&#39;m stretchin&#39; and yawnin&#39;<br />In a bed that don&#39;t belong to me-e ...</span></em></p>\n\n<p>As you all know the song quickly builds into a crescendo - it was impossible not to scream out the lyrics.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p><span face=\"Verdana\"><em>He looks at the closet!!! </em><br /><em>I pull out my Beretta!! <br /></em></span></p>\n\n<p>The Husband (along with about 300 people) was really getting into it and we we got to the first cliffhanger he was shouting at the top of his lungs:</p>\n\n<p><span face=\"Verdana\"><em>He walks up to the closet !!!!<br />He comes up to the closet!!!!!!!!!! <br />Now he&#39;s at the closet !!!!<br />Now he&#39;s opening the closet...!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!</em><br /><br /></span>The kid that was sitting next to The Husband yells in his ear &quot;this is going to be the BEST night of my life!&quot; <br /><br />OK, dude - you&#39;ve got a lot of living to do.</p>\n\n<p>He must have been really impressed that my Husband, a man who is probably twice his age, knew all the lyrics as well as he did because he took out his backpack and handed us the ultimate symbol of acceptance in the college crowd.&#0160; He had snuck in a shitload of beer.&#0160; And he gave us two!&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>Budweisers.&#0160; In the white cans.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>I haven&#39;t had one since college (because I&#39;m a snob. I admit it!) but I have to tell you - that Bud was like the Ambrosia of the Greek gods - delicious!&#0160; I was immortal!&#0160; We were young!&#0160; Carefree!&#0160; And Naughty!&#0160; We were drinking contraband with our new best friends!&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>That alone was worth the price of admission.&#0160; It reminded me of the delicious brownies people passed around at a Pink Floyd concert I went to in college.&#0160; The constant pushing of paper cups filled with piss-colored beer at parties.&#0160; The days when you wanted everybody to be as drunk as you so that they don&#39;t kill your buzz.</p>\n\n<p>My husband, who is impeccably polite, had to reciprocate.&#0160; But our group, which included an engineer, a lawyer, a Presbyterian, a woman who is 8 months pregnant, a banker and me, had only one thing to offer.&#0160; So my husband takes it and taps the shoulder of our beer benefactor to offer some of our precious contraband.</p>\n\n<p>&quot;Want some?&quot;</p>\n\n<p>The kid&#39;s face breaks out into a grin until he looks down; he then looks up at my husband, puzzled.</p>\n\n<p>&quot;It&#39;s a Toblerone.&#0160; Take all you want.&quot;</p>\n\n<p>&quot;Um.&#0160; I&#39;m cool.&quot;&#0160; (Awkward pause.)&#0160; &quot;Thanks?&quot;</p>\n\n<p>Yeah, we felt like tools.&#0160; But we were soon back in good graces with the college crowd.&#0160; By the next chapter, he had given us more beer and we were all happily singing along with R. Kelly as one big, happy, inter-generational family:<br /><em><span face=\"Verdana\"><br />She says you&#39;re the perfect lover!<br />I said I cant go no futher!<br />Then I flip back the cover!<br />Oh my God, a rubber...rubber...</span></em></p>\n\n<p>Kids today.&#0160; They&#39;re awesome.&#0160; </p>\n','29 Is The New Old','\n','draft','open','open','','29-is-the-new-old','','','2006-05-06 11:00:00','2006-05-06 11:00:00','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=526',0,'post','',12),(527,1,'2006-05-03 22:00:26','2006-05-03 22:00:26','<p>Stop the presses!&#0160; <a href=\"http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20060501/tutpnis_arc.html?click=dscTkr\">King Tut&#39;s penis has been found! </a> </p>\n\n<p>(Admit it.&#0160; You thought I was talking about Joan Rivers, didn&#39;t you?)</p>\n\n<p>So where was it?&#0160; <em>&quot;It lay loose in the sand around the king&#39;s body. It was mummified.&quot;</em></p>\n\n<p>He he.</p>\n\n<p>You must read the <a href=\"http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20060501/tutpnis_arc.html?click=dscTkr\">article</a>.&#0160; It&#39;s extremely hilarious.&#0160; Apparently archaeologists spent a few decades worried sick about the whereabouts of the Pharaoh&#39;s member.&#0160; They even have <a href=\"http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20060501/tutpnis_arc_zoom0.html\">pictures</a> that prove that he&#39;s well endowed (for a mummy).&#0160; Click on the link.&#0160; I&#39;m not kidding.</p>\n\n<p>And what about Ötzi, the&#0160; World&#39;s Best Preserved Mummy (AKA as <a href=\"http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3227339.stm\">The Iceman</a>)?&#0160; How does he, um, compare?</p>\n\n<p><em>&quot;King Tut has been flattered by the embalmers&#39; work. There is no comparison with Ötzi&#39;s penis... Ötzi&#39;s natural mummification and dehydration in an Alpine glacier produced a &quot;collapse of the genitalia,&quot; which left the Iceman with an almost invisible member.<br /><br /> &#39;He would not make a bella figura today,&#39; Egarter said.&quot;</em></p>\n\n<p>Ouch.</p>\n\n<p>(I saw <a href=\"http://www.sudtirol.com/en/oetzi.htm\">Otzi</a> a couple of years ago.&#0160; I must admit, I never thought to look for his penis.&#0160; Good thing, because apparently my search would have been futile.)</p>\n\n<p>Don&#39;t say you never learn anything useful here.</p>\n','Sex Lives of the Rich and Mummified!','\n','draft','open','open','','sex-lives-of-the-rich-and-mummified','','','2006-05-03 22:00:26','2006-05-03 22:00:26','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=527',0,'post','',16),(528,1,'2006-05-01 12:56:02','2006-05-01 12:56:02','<p>I am a very lucky person.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>I am an American citizen by birth.&#0160; I was born in the Dominican Republic, to a Dominican mother and an American father.&#0160; My father was born in Bogota, Colombia.</p>\n\n<p>I did not set foot in the United States until I was 13 years old.&#0160; The biggest hardship I faced when we entered the country was that we flew coach on American Airlines.&#0160; Kidding!&#0160; Of course not.&#0160; No, My father and his three American children had to leave our mother behind because she had let her US residency slide once they moved to Santo Domingo and started having us, so she had to wait until her paperwork cleared.&#0160; She joined us two months later, and became a citizen five years later.</p>\n\n<p>Life was pretty normal after that:&#0160; I went to school, graduated with honors, earned a couple of academic scholarships for college and graduated from the honors program at my University&#0160; I studied abroad in Spain, came back and found a dream job in the cosmetics industry.&#0160; In six months, I was promoted and became a marketing manager, which helped me earn a full academic scholarship to a top business school.&#0160; I earned an MBA.&#0160; I worked in consumer packaged goods marketing at a huge corporation.&#0160; There is a 100% chance that you have at least one of the products we sold in your bathroom, makeup case or kitchen.&#0160; In other words, I was well on my way to single-handedly taking over the world, BWAHAHAHA!</p>\n\n<p>In many ways, I guess my story personifies the American dream.&#0160; &#0160;And I am lucky, mostly because I worked really, really hard.<br /> </p>\n\n<p>I tell you all this, because all the immigration talk has me very upset.&#0160; I am upset because the media is equating &quot;Hispanic&quot; or &quot;Latino&quot; with &quot;immigrant&quot; and &quot;immigrant&quot; is being equated with &quot;illegal.&quot;&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>First of all, immigrant is not a dirty word.&#0160; &#0160;I may or may not be an immigrant in the literal sense of the word, but my parents certainly are.&#0160; And I am proud of that, so proud that I happily tell everybody that asks about the long and convoluted history of all the wonderful places we&#39;ve lived and how we ended up here.</p>\n\n<p>Second of all, not all immigrants are Hispanic*.&#0160; Duh.</p>\n\n<p>And third of all, not all illegal immigrants are Hispanic*.&#0160; I am insulted that the people who are on both sides of this issue (for and against amnesty for illegal immigrants) are painting it as a &quot;Hispanic*&quot; or &quot;Latino*&quot; issue.&#0160; It is not.</p>\n\n<p>Do you care to know where I stand?&#0160; I am against illegal immigration, whether you cross the Mexican or Canadian border or whether you are an European or Asian student who overstays your visa *cough, cough, cough*.&#0160; Fair is fair.&#0160; My mom had to wait her turn, and I think everybody else should as well.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>HOWEVER - </p>\n\n<p>I am dismayed at all the &quot;racist*&quot; talk recently about closing our Mexican border, &quot;send them back!&quot;, blah blah blah, because this talk is aimed mostly at people who are of &quot;Hispanic*&quot; descent.&#0160; If you are for deporting all illegals, then be prepared to send EVERYBODY back.</p>\n\n<p>I am saddened by the people who say &quot;Hispanics*&quot; are a drain to the economy.&#0160; That we are not &quot;real Americans&quot; (those people deserve one of my pointy Jimmy Choos up their ass.&#0160; Truly.)&#0160; That we are poor, that we are lazy, that we are criminals, that we are taking more out of the system than we are putting in.&#0160; Please!</p>\n\n<p>I am horrified at the hypocrites who blame all that is wrong with America on the &quot;illegals&quot; yet happily exploit them when they need a cheap nanny, or a housecleaner or a meal.&#0160; These are the people that are up in arms over the price of gas - imagine what would happen if unskilled laborers (whether they were citizens or not) were paid minimum wage, with health benefits and prices went up accordingly.&#0160; Oh the drama!</p>\n\n<p>I don&#39;t have a solution.&#0160; I don&#39;t even have all my feelings on this issue sorted out.&#0160; All I know is that I am seeing a lot of ignorance, a lot of hate and I don&#39;t like it.<br /><em><br />*I hope I don&#39;t have to explain that &quot;Hispanic&quot; or &quot;Latino&quot; is not a race** - or a country - right...RIGHT?&#0160; God, I hope so.<br /><br />**(And to the people who upon meeting me say &quot;you don&#39;t look or sound Hispanic&quot; - what do I say? &quot;Funny, you don&#39;t look or sound smart&quot; - Grrr!)</em></p>\n','The American Dream','\n','draft','open','open','','the-american-dream','','','2006-05-01 12:56:02','2006-05-01 12:56:02','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=528',0,'post','',24),(529,1,'2006-04-28 20:17:00','2006-04-28 20:17:00','<p>One of my husband&#39;s endearing little quirks is his habit of adding ridiculous notes to my To Do lists after I&#39;m done writing them.&#0160; No matter how many times he does it, I&#39;m always surprised (and sometimes annoyed) to see that he has hijacked my list with his silly little jokes.&#0160; (My quirks are more along the line of taking on monumental craft projects that we both know I&#39;ll never finish.&#0160; I have yet to surprise him by completing one.) </p>\n\n<p>I once inexplicably decided that not only was I going to bake a cake, but that I was also going to make fondant icing from scratch.&#0160; Oh, and get this - my first cake was going to look like <a href=\"http://www.celebritykitchensinc.com/Cake%20Decorating%20Class/Amy%20Hetrick%20fondant-cakes.jpg\">this</a>.&#0160; I carefully copied the ingredients from <u>The Essential Cake Decorating Guide</u> and put the list down for maybe 2 minutes before heading out to the gourmet food shop - confident that I, a cake decorating novice, would pull this off in time for the party we were having that night.&#0160; Culinary school?&#0160; Puh-lease! </p>\n\n<p>I was so overwhelmed by the vaguely medical-sounding stuff on my list that I just handed it to a friendly store clerk and stood back as she found the ingredients for me:</p>\n\n<p>FOR TONIGHT:</p>\n\n<p>icing sugar<br />gelatine<br />liquid glucose <em>(?)</em><br />glycerine <br />gum tragacanth <em>(!)</em></p>\n\n<p>I was starting to imagine myself executing an extravagant cake and breezily waving away our guests&#39; praise with a &quot;it was nothing!&quot; when my hostess-with-the-mostest fantasy was interrupted by the clerk.</p>\n\n<p>“I don’t think we carry the last item on your list.&#0160; You may want to try a pharmacy” she said as she handed me my shopping list and walked away.</p>\n\n<p><em>&quot;Well, that&#39;s odd - why would I need to go to a pharmacy to bake a cake?&quot;</em>&#0160; I thought as I checked the list and started laughing as soon as I saw my husband&#39;s handwriting:</p>\n\n<p>OVULATION PREDICTOR KIT</p>\n\n<p>I laughed, went home, and frosted the cake with some whipped cream.&#0160; You know what?&#0160; Life&#39;s too short to deal with &quot;gum tragacanth.&quot;&#0160; Sometimes it takes silly little notes to remind you of that.</p>\n','Silly Little Notes','\n','draft','open','open','','silly-little-notes','','','2006-04-28 20:17:00','2006-04-28 20:17:00','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=529',0,'post','',16),(530,1,'2006-04-25 20:16:41','2006-04-25 20:16:41','<p>Have you ever been to one of those midnight showings of “The Sound of\nMusic” or “The Rocky Horror Picture Show”?&#0160; &#0160;You know, the ones where\npeople dress up in costume and sing along to the music?</p>\n\n<p>\nYeah.&#0160; Me neither.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>\nUntil I saw <a href=\"http://www.bostonist.com/archives/2006/04/18/now_were_trapped_in_the_coolidge_coolidge_coolidge.php\">this</a>.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>My prayers have been answered:&#0160; The <a href=\"http://coolidge.org/s_ser_mid.html#kelly\">&quot;Trapped in The Closet&quot; Sing-a-long</a> is coming to town!</p>\n\n<p>\nYou bet your ass I’m going.&#0160; There will be props! (will\nit be spatulas?&#0160; pies?&#0160; Berretas?&#0160; pears?)&#0160; There’ll be singing!\nThey’ll even have a little bouncing ball over the subtitled lyrics\n(“Oh-my-God a rubber!”)&#0160; I may even get into the spirit and dress up as\nBridget.</p>\n\n<p>\nIf you don’t know what I’m talking about, check the <a href=\"http://www.somethingawful.com/articles.php?a=3100\">Cliff’s Notes</a> or <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trapped_in_the_Closet\">Wikipedia</a>.&#0160; (What rock have you been hiding under anyways?)</p>\n\n<p>\nSometimes living in a college town is SO worth it.</p>\n','If I Was Smart I Would Figure Out The Cliffhanger.  But I Doubt It.','\n','draft','open','open','','if-i-was-smart-i-would-figure-out-the-cliffhanger-but-i-doubt-it','','','2006-04-25 20:16:41','2006-04-25 20:16:41','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=530',0,'post','',12),(531,1,'2006-04-24 12:39:00','2006-04-24 12:39:00','<p>This here is my 100th post!&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>In that time, I&#39;ve discussed everything from <a href=\"http://diary.blogs.com/the_diary_of_a_reluctant_/2006/01/ive_been_loving.html\">thong underwear</a> to <a href=\"http://diary.blogs.com/the_diary_of_a_reluctant_/2005/12/im_an_orange_lo.html\">Dunkin Donuts</a> to <a href=\"http://diary.blogs.com/the_diary_of_a_reluctant_/2006/01/he_might_be_wor.html\">real estate</a> to <a href=\"http://diary.blogs.com/the_diary_of_a_reluctant_/2006/01/lessons_learned.html\">Hugh Grant</a> to <a href=\"http://diary.blogs.com/the_diary_of_a_reluctant_/2006/03/the_note.html\">shoes</a> to <a href=\"http://diary.blogs.com/the_diary_of_a_reluctant_/2006/02/you_should_be_i.html\">advertising</a> and back to <a href=\"http://diary.blogs.com/the_diary_of_a_reluctant_/2006/02/oh_goody.html\">shopping</a>.&#0160; I wanted to mark this milestone in a special way, so I reflected on my &quot;work&quot; so far.&#0160; I wish that I could say that the 100 posts all add up to a cohesive message, that these 100 posts are body of work with a higher purpose -- but there is none.&#0160; I just like blogging.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>Heh.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>But then I thought, you know what else I like?&#0160; Reading blogs!&#0160; So to commemorate my 100th post, I collected 100 posts from some of my favorite writers from around the web.&#0160; Yes, I said &quot;some,&quot; because there are so many people I love to read that I could have kept on going until who knows when.&#0160; The posts are not ranked, they are placed randomly so you can click away and maybe discover a new read.&#0160; Also, I should have picked my all-time favorite post from each blogger, but I am too lazy.&#0160; Instead, I just chose a representative post.&#0160; You get to pick your own favorite.</p>\n\n<p>The only non-random placement is number one, which is literally the first blog post I ever read.&#0160; I thought it was hilarious and strange at the same time.&#0160; I remember wondering what would possess a woman to talk so openly about her life, yet also being happy to read the words of a stranger going through the same thing I was (pregnancy).&#0160; Then I got a Blogger account and the rest is on the internet.</p>\n\n<p>That&#39;s enough about me.&#0160; Enjoy the rest!</p>\n\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 1.2em;\"><a href=\"http://www.dooce.com/archives/daily/07_10_2003.html\">1</a>&#0160; &#0160; <a href=\"http://smartypants.diaryland.com/112205.html\">11</a>&#0160; &#0160; <a href=\"http://www.bostonisfunny.com/2006-03-15-st-pattys-day-tips-4.html\">21</a>&#0160; &#0160; <a href=\"http://www.mil-millington.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/things.html\">31</a>&#0160; &#0160; <a href=\"http://newlywedded.blogspot.com/2005/12/i-love-coffee.html\">41</a>&#0160; &#0160; <a href=\"http://mommymatic.blogspot.com/2006/03/grown-up-questions.html\">51</a>&#0160; &#0160; <a href=\"http://wantsugar.blogspot.com/2006/03/mommy-couture.html\">61</a>&#0160; &#0160; <a href=\"http://bloggersrepent.blogspot.com/2006/04/spirit-moves-him.html\">71</a>&#0160; &#0160; <a href=\"http://mom-101.blogspot.com/2006/02/if-you-cant-say-anything-nice-ill-do.html\">81</a>&#0160; &#0160; <a href=\"http://www.whoorl.com/archives/2005/09/new_drinking_ga.html\">91</a><br /><a href=\"http://www.richardherring.com/warmingup/\">2</a>&#0160; &#0160; <a href=\"http://soulgardening.typepad.com/soul_gardening/2006/04/she_was.html\">12</a>&#0160; &#0160; <a href=\"http://mrsfortune.blogspot.com/2006/03/doo-doo-dilemma.html\">22</a>&#0160; &#0160; <a href=\"http://www.suburbanbliss.net/suburbanbliss/2005/02/where_i_say_a_l.html\">32</a>&#0160; &#0160; <a href=\"http://www.jenniesmash.com/2006/04/jennie-smash-vs-personal-trainer-fight.html\">42</a>&#0160; &#0160; <a href=\"http://suburbanturmoil.blogspot.com/2005/08/pick-of-sitter.html\">52</a>&#0160; &#0160; <a href=\"http://finslippy.typepad.com/finslippy/2006/04/cute_at_three_c.html\">62</a>&#0160; &#0160; <a href=\"http://www.2blowhards.com/archives/002400.html\">72</a>&#0160; &#0160; <a href=\"http://izzymom.com/2006/01/19/none-for-me-thanks/\">82</a>&#0160; &#0160; <a href=\"http://www.nabbalicious.com/nabbalicious/2006/04/you_cant_escape.html\">92</a><br /><a href=\"http://mamalikey.blogspot.com/2006/04/steel-plates-in-head.html\">3</a>&#0160; &#0160; <a href=\"http://eyeswideapart.blogspot.com/2005/07/got-blog-banner.html\">13</a>&#0160; &#0160; <a href=\"http://merujo.blogspot.com/2005/12/u-r-best-evah_11.html\">23</a>&#0160; &#0160; <a href=\"http://papernapkin.typepad.com/about.html#100\">33</a>&#0160; &#0160; <a href=\"http://www.lileks.com/\">43</a>&#0160; &#0160; <a href=\"http://wakemeupforbrunch.blogspot.com/2005/10/my-breasts-rule-and-its-dictatorship.html\">53</a>&#0160; &#0160; <a href=\"http://alisavaldesrodriguez.blogspot.com/2006_03_27_alisavaldesrodriguez_archive.html\">63</a>&#0160; &#0160; <a href=\"http://www.byrneunit.com/blogs/?p=1015\">73</a>&#0160; &#0160; <a href=\"http://tickytacky.typepad.com/tickytacky/2005/01/huh.html\">83</a>&#0160; &#0160; <a href=\"http://somethingsoclever.typepad.com/something_so_clever/2006/02/playing_with_my.html\">93</a><br /><a href=\"http://www.krissyinboston.com/?p=261\">4</a>&#0160; &#0160; <a href=\"http://www.nothingbutbonfires.com/?p=83\">14</a>&#0160; &#0160; <a href=\"http://www.rockstarmommy.com/archives/2005/02/sometimes_youve.php\">24 </a>&#0160; &#0160;<a href=\"http://mommyofftherecord.blogspot.com/2006/04/baby-frankeinstein.html\">34</a>&#0160; &#0160; <a href=\"http://misplacedtexan.typepad.com/what_do_you_mean_its_not_/2006/03/twentysomething.html\">44</a>&#0160; &#0160; <a href=\"http://everydaygoddess.typepad.com/everyday_goddess/2006/04/punctuation_mar.html\">54</a>&#0160; &#0160; <a href=\"http://girlsgonechild.blogspot.com/2006/04/confessions-of-masculist.html\">64</a>&#0160; &#0160; <a href=\"http://wordy-girl.blogspot.com/2006/03/elmore-leonards-ten-rules-of-writing.html\">74</a>&#0160; &#0160; <a href=\"http://www.pinkandgreengirl.com/2006/01/music_to_fold_laundry_by.php#000524\">84</a>&#0160; &#0160; <a href=\"http://blogs.iberkshires.com/BreedEmAndWeep/archives/196\">94</a><br /><a href=\"http://sliceofpink.typepad.com/blog/2006/04/whos_the_ringle.html\">5</a>&#0160; &#0160; <a href=\"http://lovelydavis.blogspot.com/2006/01/postmodern-childhood.html\">15</a>&#0160; &#0160; <a href=\"http://www.joyunexpected.com/archives/001896.php\">25</a>&#0160; &#0160; <a href=\"http://jennnster.blogspot.com/2006/04/bridezilla-in-making.html\">35</a>&#0160; &#0160; <a href=\"http://yonkogirl.blogspot.com/2006/04/two-gurus-in-drag.html\">45</a>&#0160; &#0160; <a href=\"http://chickychickybaby.blogspot.com/2006/04/copping-out.html\">55</a>&#0160; &#0160; <a href=\"http://www.alyssaboehm.com/2005/12/our-houses-national-television-debut-i.html\">65</a>&#0160; &#0160; <a href=\"http://mommyofftherecord.blogspot.com/2006/04/you-know-your-easter-is-gonna-suck.html\">75</a>&#0160; &#0160; <a href=\"http://amommystory.blogspot.com/2006/04/difference-of-generations.html\">85</a>&#0160; &#0160; <a href=\"http://badladies.blogspot.com/2006/04/my-bad-mother_11.html\">95</a><br /><a href=\"http://sweetjuniper.blogspot.com/2006/04/sweet-juniper-monday-morning-mix.html\">6</a>&#0160; &#0160; <a href=\"http://sunshinescribe.blogspot.com/2006/04/whats-in-name.html\">16</a>&#0160; &#0160; <a href=\"http://www.sothefishsaid.com/archives/000315.php\">26</a>&#0160; &#0160; <a href=\"http://breadcrumbsinthebutter.typepad.com/bread_crumbs_in_the_butte/2006/04/when_i_pay_bill.html\">36</a>&#0160; &#0160; <a href=\"http://www.jurgennation.com/2005/11/concerning_my_footinmouth_pred.php\">46</a>&#0160; &#0160; <a href=\"http://www.missdoxie.com/2006/01/everything_fall.html\">56</a>&#0160; &#0160; <a href=\"http://mylifeasacliche.blogspot.com/2006/02/driving-miss-daisy.html\">66</a>&#0160; &#0160; <a href=\"http://www.sarcomical.com/sarcomical/2006/04/you_knew_i_was_.html\">76</a>&#0160; &#0160; <a href=\"http://blog.thesilentk.com/?p=287\">86</a>&#0160; &#0160; <a href=\"http://badladies.blogspot.com/2006/04/cause-sequels-are-always-disappointing.html\">96</a><br /><a href=\"http://www.theblogfathers.com/\">7</a>&#0160; &#0160; <a href=\"http://gorillabuns.typepad.com/my_weblog/2006/03/ebay_911.html\">17 </a>&#0160; &#0160;<a href=\"http://peanutmahoney.blogspot.com/2006/03/what-is-wrong-with-america.html\">27</a>&#0160; &#0160; <a href=\"http://poppisima.blogspot.com/2006/02/all-you-really-need-to-know-about-me.html\">37</a>&#0160; &#0160; <a href=\"http://shenuts.com/?p=1828\">47</a>&#0160; &#0160; <a href=\"http://darrenmclikeshimself.blogspot.com/2006/02/bulls-eye.html\">57</a>&#0160; &#0160; <a href=\"http://fridayplaydate.blogspot.com/2005/03/why-i-hate-walmart.html\">67</a>&#0160; &#0160; <a href=\"http://www.theimpulsivebuy.com/wordpress/2006/03/29/jockey-next-to-nothing-thong/\">77</a>&#0160; &#0160; <a href=\"http://www.wouldashoulda.com/archives/2006/04/out_of_the_rain.html\">87</a>&#0160; &#0160; <a href=\"http://anothermommymoment.blogspot.com/2006/03/my-dirty-little-secret.html\">97</a><br /><a href=\"http://somethingbabyblue.blogspot.com/2006/04/photo-happy.html\">8</a>&#0160; &#0160; <a href=\"http://jessriley.blogspot.com/2006/04/grown-woman-wine-procrastinating.html\">18</a>&#0160; &#0160; <a href=\"http://www.jenandtonic.ca/2006/02/memetacular_baby.html\">28</a><a href=\"http://www.jenandtonic.ca/2006/02/memetacular_baby.html\"> </a>&#0160; &#0160;<a href=\"http://scarbiedoll.blogspot.com/2006/04/cosa-nostra-aka-this-thing-of-ours.html\">38</a>&#0160; &#0160; <a href=\"http://fashionablechaos.com/2006/02/in-which-i-appease-internets-with.html\">48 </a>&#0160; &#0160;<a href=\"http://angelbabyannabelle.blogspot.com/2006/04/babys-got-new-pair-of-shoes_09.html\">58</a>&#0160; &#0160; <a href=\"http://julia.typepad.com/julia/2006/01/several_things.html\">68</a>&#0160; &#0160; <a href=\"http://www.greghoward.net/index.php/weblog/etiquette/\">78</a>&#0160; &#0160; <a href=\"http://chickychickybaby.blogspot.com/2006/04/one-where-i-get-all-sappy.html\">88</a>&#0160; &#0160; <a href=\"http://wondermom.blogspot.com/2006/03/chicken-soup-for-young-and-perky-soul.html\">98</a><br /><a href=\"http://underpaidkeptwoman.blogspot.com/2006/03/helpful-housewife-tip-eleventy-nine.html\">9</a>&#0160; &#0160; <a href=\"http://marytsao.blogspot.com/2006/04/monday-morning-mommy-musings.html\">19</a>&#0160; &#0160; <a href=\"http://fancypants.typepad.com/fancypants/2006/03/im_sensing_a_pa.html\">29</a>&#0160; &#0160; <a href=\"http://balefulregards.blogspot.com/2006/04/ever-graceful.html\">39</a>&#0160; &#0160; <a href=\"http://sorrysoldout.blogspot.com/2006/04/too-much-information.html\">49</a>&#0160; &#0160; <a href=\"http://whataboutmommy.blogspot.com/2006/04/to-love-is-to-hurt.html\">59</a>&#0160; &#0160; <a href=\"http://mommaamme.typepad.com/mommaamme/2005/06/o_controversy.html\">69</a>&#0160; &#0160; <a href=\"http://mylifeasacliche.blogspot.com/2006/04/why-i-love-my-hubby.html\">79</a>&#0160; &#0160; <a href=\"http://www.tastetheworld.org/blog/2006/03/at_least_i_like_the_south.html\">89</a>&#0160; &#0160; <a href=\"http://www.amalah.com/amalah/2006/03/_mercury_retrog.html\">99</a><br /><a href=\"http://antiquemommy.blogspot.com/2006/04/corn-great-mystery-of-universe.html\">10</a>&#0160; <a href=\"http://spinabifidamoms.blogspot.com/2006/04/my-blogiversary-year-in-review.html\">20</a>&#0160; &#0160; <a href=\"http://mommyhasaheadache.blogspot.com/2006/04/gyms-can-be-seriously-bad-for-your.html\">30 </a>&#0160; &#0160;<a href=\"http://cynicaldad.blogspot.com/2005/08/dont-tell-me-how-to-raise-my-kids-and.html\">40</a>&#0160; &#0160; <a href=\"http://orthoticcontessa.com/2006/04/19/kvetch-blogger-and-the-terrible-horrible-no-lunch-very-bad-date/\">50</a>&#0160; &#0160; <a href=\"http://peanutwagon.blogspot.com/2006/04/peanut-tales-faq.html#links\">60</a>&#0160; &#0160; <a href=\"http://calimckoys.blogspot.com/2006/04/happy-birthday-to-my-buddy-phillip-1.html\">70</a>&#0160; &#0160; <a href=\"http://weirdgirl.typepad.com/home/2006/04/things_parents_.html\">80</a>&#0160; &#0160;<a href=\"http://www.blogography.com/archives/2004/03/toothpaste.html\">90</a>&#0160; &#0160;<a href=\"http://www.x-entertainment.com/articles/0913/\">100</a> </span></p>\n','100 Posts!','\n','draft','open','open','','100-posts','','','2006-04-24 12:39:00','2006-04-24 12:39:00','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=531',0,'post','',42),(532,1,'2006-04-18 11:57:16','2006-04-18 11:57:16','<p>I was surfing the Internet two weeks ago when I came across this website that reviews &quot;hidden gems&quot; in major cities.&#0160; Then I saw that they are looking for someone to write reviews on places in Boston.&#0160; And this is what went through my head:</p>\n\n<p><em>OH.&#0160; MY.&#0160; GOD. </em> <br /><em>I live in Boston...I have opinions...I like to write them down...Hello?&#0160; Is it me you&#39;re looking for?</em></p>\n\n<p>So I sat down at my computer this morning to write some sample reviews so I can introduce myself and beg them to let me in:</p>\n\n<p>&quot;The best place for brunch in the entire universe just happens to be in Boston...&quot;*</p>\n\n<p><em>Well...I don&#39;t really know for a fact that it is the best place in the <u>Universe</u> do I?&#0160; At least not the &quot;entire&quot; Universe?&#0160; </em></p>\n\n<p>I hit &quot;delete&quot;.</p>\n\n<p>&quot;My favorite place for brunch has a sophisticated European atmosphere but with an all-American lack of pretension - just like Boston...&quot;</p>\n\n<p><em>Wow.&#0160; That comes across as pretentious doesn&#39;t it?&#0160; Maybe I should get back to it later.&#0160; Let me work on my bio.&#0160; Oh wait!&#0160; I think I have to submit a picture!&#0160; And all the other reviewers link back to their personal blogs.&#0160; I can&#39;t do that, can I?&#0160; I just wrote this post telling people that if there will be no pictures of me on the Housewife blog....I am such a hypocrite!&#0160; Just yesterday I was invited to join the &quot;Myself in the Mirror&quot; group at Flickr, and I RAN to take a picture of myself in the bathroom because the cool kids invited me to jump off the bridge with them.<br /><br />I wonder if anyone has seen it?</em></p>\n\n<p>I click over to Flickr.</p>\n\n<p><em>Ack!&#0160; I knew it!&#0160; I have ginormous hands!&#0160; I&#39;m a freak!&#0160; That girl in the comments agrees!&#0160; Maybe I should start a Flickr group for people with big....STOP IT!&#0160; Must...focus...</em></p>\n\n<p>So I quit Firefox and focus on my open word document, all 20 words of it.</p>\n\n<p><em>So if they take me, should I link to my blog or not?&#0160; Will I have to upgrade my Typepad account to handle the increase in traffic?&#0160; <br /><br />Traffic?&#0160; Will I have to start writing brilliant posts to please my new super huge fan base?&#0160; What if I lose my anonymity?&#0160; Will I have to build a huge security fence around my house like Dan Brown?&#0160; Or worse, could I get sued in England?&#0160; Shit.&#0160; Maybe Oprah will skewer me on her show because I may have my facts wrong on one of my personal posts.&#0160; I must remember to carry a pen and index card with me at all times so I don&#39;t forget things.<br /><br />But then, the publicity might get me a book deal.&#0160; Hmmm.&#0160; I guess I need a book first.&#0160; I wonder how far along <a href=\"http://www.girlsgonechild.blogspot.com/\">GGC</a> is on her second Great American Novel.&#0160; Fuck.&#0160; I&#39;m still stuck at 4 pages.&#0160; She probably has at least 7 by now.<br /><br />Oh look!&#0160; An email!</em></p>\n\n<p>&quot;Hi!&#0160; It&#39;s so nice out today, do you want to take the boys out for a walk?&#0160; Let me know, I was thinking of leaving in an hour.&quot;</p>\n\n<p><em>An hour?&#0160; I haven&#39;t even showered yet!&#0160; Too bad:</em></p>\n\n<p>&quot;Hey girl, I&#39;d love to but I have to get some writing done.&quot;</p>\n\n<p><em>Ha ha.&#0160; Look at me!&#0160; I read the intro to The Artist&#39;s Way and I&#39;m already Too Busy Writing.&#0160; I&#39;m such a dork.&#0160; But it sounds better than saying &quot;I won&#39;t go out because I haven&#39;t showered yet and it&#39;s 2:30 in the afternoon&quot;.</em></p>\n\n<p>So I hit &quot;send&quot;.</p>\n\n<p>&quot;Writing?&#0160; Cool.&#0160; Let me know how it goes.&quot;</p>\n\n<p><em>I guess it&#39;s official now.&#0160; I&#39;m a &quot;Writer&quot; because I said so.&#0160; I can&#39;t disappoint her.&#0160; Must get writing done.&#0160; I never said I was going to write anything good....&#0160; <br /><br />They did hand out the Pulitzer yesterday, didn&#39;t they?&#0160; Do they physically hand them out, like the Oscars?&#0160; Or do you just get a phone call?&#0160; I guess writers would prefer phone calls, wouldn&#39;t they?&#0160; I think I&#39;d rather have them give me a statue, even with my lumberjack hands...</em></p>\n\n<p>Needless to say, I haven&#39;t accomplished anything.&#0160; If only there were awards for procrastination.</p>\n\n<p>*Psst:&#0160; The best place for brunch in the Entire Universe just happens to be in Boston...and it is called <a href=\"http://www.beaconhillhotel.com/bistro.html\">Beacon Hill Bistro</a>.</p>\n','And The Winner is...','\n','draft','open','open','','and-the-winner-is','','','2006-04-18 11:57:16','2006-04-18 11:57:16','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=532',0,'post','',16),(533,1,'2006-04-14 17:01:02','2006-04-14 17:01:02','<p>It&#39;s Spring!&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>We opened the windows.&#0160; I got my first pedicure of the season.&#0160; I went out for iced tea and gossip with my mom friends.&#0160; The Boy and I explored our neighborhood.&#0160; Everything is nicer when you can FINALLY wear sandals.</p>\n\n<p>I&#39;m in such a great mood, I have nothing to post.&#0160; Except for pictures!</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/diary/128524141/\" title=\"Photo Sharing\"><img alt=\"Daffodils\" class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef0133ee277636970b\" height=\"375\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef0133ee277636970b-pi.jpg\" width=\"500\" /></a></p>\n\n<p>Look!&#0160; The daffodils came out!&#0160; And this time, Mother Nature didn&#39;t smother them with a layer of snow!</p>\n\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/diary/128525262/\" title=\"Photo Sharing\"><img alt=\"Magnolia\" class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef0133ee27764d970b\" height=\"401\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef0133ee27764d970b-pi.jpg\" width=\"500\" /></a></p>\n\n<p>\nFlowers, flowers, everywhere.&#0160; I love it!\n\n</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/diary/128525261/\" title=\"Photo Sharing\"><img alt=\"Red!\" class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef0133ee277660970b\" height=\"500\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef0133ee277660970b-pi.jpg\" width=\"375\" /></a></p>\n\n<p>They make everybody want to be outside...\n\n</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/diary/128524145/\" title=\"Photo Sharing\"><img alt=\"Green\" class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef0133ee277674970b\" height=\"375\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef0133ee277674970b-pi.jpg\" width=\"500\" /></a>\n</p>\n\n<p>...even the GARGOYLES.&#0160; I present to you my neighbor&#39;s idea of outdoor decor:\n</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/diary/128524142/\" title=\"Photo Sharing\"><img alt=\"Garden Gnomes\" class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef0133ee27768a970b\" height=\"375\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef0133ee27768a970b-pi.jpg\" width=\"500\" /></a></p>\n\n<p>Didn&#39;t you know I live next door to Salvador Dali?\n</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/diary/128524143/\" title=\"Photo Sharing\"><img alt=\"Dali lives here\" class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef0133ee277698970b\" height=\"375\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef0133ee277698970b-pi.jpg\" width=\"500\" /></a>\n\n\n</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/diary/128525260/\" title=\"Photo Sharing\"><img alt=\"Duck\" class=\"at-xid-6a00d8341db04e53ef0133ee2776aa970b\" height=\"375\" src=\"http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/6a00d8341db04e53ef0133ee2776aa970b-pi.jpg\" width=\"500\" /></a></p>\n\n<p>The boy loved feeding the birds at the playground.&#0160; I tried not to think about where the geese and ducks had been all winter (Bird flu!&#0160; Bird flu!&#0160; Aaaack!)</p>\n','The Week In Pictures','\n','draft','open','open','','the-week-in-pictures','','','2006-04-14 17:01:02','2006-04-14 17:01:02','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=533',0,'post','',18),(534,1,'2006-04-12 15:27:28','2006-04-12 15:27:28','<p>I have been tagged (for the first time ever!) by <a href=\"http://wantsugar.blogspot.com/2006/04/ive-been-punkd.html\">sugarmama</a> who was tagged by the <a href=\"http://www.thepajamamama.com/\">pajama mama</a>.&#0160; I&#39;d love to say that I am much too sophisticated to play along, but that would be a lie, and we all know that lying is baaad.&#0160; <br /> </p>\n\n<p>I&#39;ve been asked to reveal six weird facts/things/habits about myself and then tag six people.&#0160; Here it goes:</p>\n\n<p>SIX THINGS YOU REALLY DON&#39;T NEED TO KNOW ABOUT ME:</p>\n\n<p>1.&#0160; I used to eat ants when I was a child.&#0160; Yes, raw ones.&#0160; I used to pick them off the floor and pop them in my mouth.&#0160; I think I remember them being crunchy, but I may just be making up that last part.</p>\n\n<p>2.&#0160; I don&#39;t trust cats and I&#39;m afraid of sleeping in the same room as one because once I saw a movie where a cat &quot;stole&quot; it&#39;s owners breath while she slept. *shudders*</p>\n\n<p>3.&#0160; I find pulling my eyebrows relaxing.&#0160; I can end up with bald eyebrows if I&#39;m not careful.</p>\n\n<p>4.&#0160; I&#39;ll eat my son&#39;s Veggie Puffs and Zwieback toast instead of making myself a sandwich.&#0160; In other words, I am seriously lazy.</p>\n\n<p>5.&#0160; I have a strawberry-shaped birthmark on my upper arm.&#0160; My mother says it&#39;s there because she craved strawberry milkshakes when she was pregnant with me, and I believe her.</p>\n\n<p>6.&#0160; I am one of those rare people that are more boring drunk than sober.&#0160; But does that stop me?&#0160; No, of course not!</p>\n\n<p>And now my chosen 6 (chosen not only because of their fabulousness, but also by the totally scientific method of picking on my last 6 commenters.&#0160; Who says that no good deed goes unpunished?):</p>\n\n<p>1.&#0160; <a href=\"http://www.peanutwagon.blogspot.com/\">Emily</a> <br />2.&#0160; <a href=\"http://www.mommyofftherecord.blogspot.com/\">Mamma Mia</a><br />3.&#0160; <a href=\"http://chickychickybaby.blogspot.com/\">Mrs. Chicky</a><br />4.&#0160; <a href=\"http://sweatpantsmom.blogspot.com/\">SweatpantsMom</a><br />5.&#0160; <a href=\"http://lovelydavis.blogspot.com/\">Mrs. Davis</a><br />6.&#0160; <a href=\"http://whataboutmommy.blogspot.com/\">Nicole</a></p>\n\n<p>Or maybe YOU want to participate!&#0160; Yes YOU!</p>\n\n<p>Here are the rules:<br />1.&#0160; Reveal six weird facts/things/habits about yourself and then tag six people<br />2.&#0160; Leave a &quot;You&#39;re Tagged!&quot;&#0160; comment to let the people you have tagged know they have to reveal six things (or the entire blogosphere will explode and it will be their fault)<br />3.&#0160; Leave me a comment letting me know that you have completed your mission (if you have chosen to accept it!) </p>\n\n<p>PS - <a href=\"http://www.amalah.com/\">Amalah</a>, yes, THE Amalah, was also tagged for this meme and did it.&#0160; So really, you have no excuse.</p>\n','Six Things','\n','draft','open','open','','six-things','','','2006-04-12 15:27:28','2006-04-12 15:27:28','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=534',0,'post','',18),(535,1,'2006-04-10 14:49:56','2006-04-10 14:49:56','<p>I&#39;m feeling guilty, people.</p>\n\n<p>I love the fact that everybody is posting photos of themselves on their blogs.&#0160; I look at all your pictures (every single one).&#0160; I love knowing what you look like, seeing your children and pregnant bellies grow.&#0160; I love reading what you write knowing what the face behind the words looks like.</p>\n\n<p>I also very much like the fact that there are no pictures of my family on this&#0160; site.&#0160; And that&#39;s not changing.</p>\n\n<p>But I do feel that it&#39;s unfair that I get to know what you look like and you don&#39;t even know if I&#39;m a real person.&#0160; I could be a 75 year-old man for all you know.</p>\n\n<p>So I&#39;m going to remedy the situation.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>I&#39;ve decided that the best way to share images with those that want to see them is to mark them as &quot;friends only&quot; in Flickr.&#0160; And then share them with my friendternets*!</p>\n\n<p>Are you one of my friendternets*?&#0160; Do you want to see my vacation pictures?&#0160; Do you have Flickr?</p>\n\n<p>Then send me a quick <a href=\"mailto:reluctant.housewife@gmail.com\">email</a> or add me as a Flickr <a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/people/diary/\">contact</a>.&#0160; If I recognize you, I&#39;ll add you to my &quot;Friends&quot; and you will have access to some photos with actual people on them.&#0160; Imagine that.</p>\n\n<p>And if you&#39;d rather not know what I look like, suit yourself.&#0160; It&#39;s a free country.&#0160; <em>But how can you not be curious?</em></p>\n\n<p>It&#39;s not a perfect solution, but at least I&#39;ll know who can see my pictures, and that makes me feel better.</p>\n\n<p>*term coined by the one and only <a href=\"http://sarcomical.typepad.com/\">Sarcomical</a></p>\n','Show and Tell','\n','draft','open','open','','show-and-tell','','','2006-04-10 14:49:56','2006-04-10 14:49:56','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=535',0,'post','',9),(536,1,'2006-04-09 22:08:52','2006-04-09 22:08:52','<p>Thanks to all of you for being so nice about my babysitting drama and for your patience as I wallowed in a little self-righteous anger because the sitter left me me me (Grrrr!).&#0160; It&#39;s not the end of the world, but I hate when the delicate balancing act that is my life is thrown off.</p>\n\n<p>Obviously I&#39;m not the only one.&#0160; Phew!</p>\n\n<p>I will start calling sitters tomorrow morning, STAT.&#0160; I once again will go with the college kid route, since I live in the Boston area and they&#39;re quite easy to find.&#0160; Since many of you seem to be in the same boat I wanted to share this site <a href=\"http://www.sittercity.com/\">www.sittercity.com</a> which is where most of my friends have found their sitters.</p>\n\n<p>Apparently, all the cool kids have profiles there and most schools don&#39;t post jobs anymore because of the efficiency of the internets.&#0160; The irony is that I was a member of this site up until a month ago, but I cancelled because I was so happy with my sitter.&#0160; And then she quit!&#0160; Now I have to pay the $35 sign-up fee again.&#0160; But I&#39;m not complaining ANYMORE...it&#39;s getting boring - I KNOW!<br /> </p>\n\n<p>This time I&#39;m hiring at least 2 sitters.&#0160; An heir and a spare.</p>\n','Um, Apparently There Are Babysitters ALL OVER The Internets...','\n','draft','open','open','','um-apparently-there-are-babysitters-all-over-the-internets','','','2006-04-09 22:08:52','2006-04-09 22:08:52','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=536',0,'post','',7),(537,1,'2006-04-07 12:31:41','2006-04-07 12:31:41','<p> Remember The Boy’s babysitter?&#0160; The one I was so grateful for that I wrote an entire <a href=\"http://diary.blogs.com/the_diary_of_a_reluctant_/2006/01/rock_n_roll_coo.html\">post/love letter</a> about because I was so lucky to find her?&#0160; Well, luck has left us. Dumped us, really.&#0160; The air is warmer and the flowers are blooming, so now the baysitter wants to be outside all day (the nerve of some people!) and has decided to become a dog walker.&#0160; She has figured out that becoming a dog walker will not only only let her do that, but will also be more profitable since she can’t push 10 strollers like she can hold 10 leashes.&#0160; So due to weather and simple economics I’m back at square one:&#0160; alone - and pondering this imponderable:</p>\n\n<p>Where can I find flexible, excellent and affordable childcare?</p>\n\n<p>I know that I’m soo lucky to stay home with my son and blah, blah, blah.&#0160; That if I was a working single mother left without childcare then I would really be in trouble.&#0160; I know.&#0160; My sister’s a single mother, so I KNOW.&#0160; But when you live thousands of miles away from family you need to have dependable childcare, even if you get to stay home.&#0160; I need to get things done that can’t include a curious one year old.&#0160; Knowing that I have (make that “had”) four hours a week where I could schedule gynecologist appointments and do other self-indulgent things *snort* knowing that my son was in safe hands has proven to be a huge contributor to my happiness as a mother.&#0160; I can’t do it all.&#0160; Maybe you can (I’m sure you never use the microwave either, and that you never surf the internet instead of cleaning the house and that your perfect little offspring are on a perfect schedule and you so never, ever need a break- I’m sure), but me?&#0160; I’m no supermom.&#0160; I need a break.</p>\n','Gimme a Break!','\n','draft','open','open','','gimme-a-break','','','2006-04-07 12:31:41','2006-04-07 12:31:41','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=537',0,'post','',16),(538,1,'2006-04-05 15:48:03','2006-04-05 15:48:03','<p>If there is a way to spend money frivolously, rest assured that I will find it.&#0160; Which is why I am so excited that I came up with a way to NOT SPEND MONEY!&#0160; And it&#39;s related to poop, so I can finally call this blog a mommy blog with a straight face.</p>\n\n<p>When I was pregnant, we purchased a cute <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00005V6C8/qid=1144265731/sr=2-3/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_3/102-6851052-7320154?v=glance&amp;s=baby\">Diaper Dekor</a> to collect our soon-to-be-born son&#39;s precious poop.&#0160; My mother thought buying it was, to put it gently, stupid.&#0160; &quot;Why don&#39;t you just put the dirty diapers in plastic shopping bags?&quot;&#0160; she asked sensibly.&#0160; &quot;All those pails do is stink up your house, and you have a million shopping bags under the kitchen sink anyways.&#0160; Just wrap up each diaper in a grocery bag and you&#39;re done.&quot;</p>\n\n<p>Ha!&#0160; My silly mother!&#0160; What does she know?</p>\n\n<p>The fancy pail with the expensive liners worked like a charm until about a month ago.&#0160; Never mind that The Boy&#39;s room always had a faint...aroma, but he wasn&#39;t complaining, so whatever.&#0160; About month ago, The Boy discovered that if he stuck his hand down the pail he would pull out a diaper.&#0160; And if he was lucky, it would be a stinky poopy diaper!&#0160; Good times!</p>\n\n<p>So the Diaper Dekor was moved to the hallway OUTSIDE his room.&#0160; Meaning NEXT to our room.&#0160; Meaning that all of a sudden, the first smell to greet me in the morning was that of diapers left stewing overnight.&#0160; Gaaaagh - I mean, &#39;morning!</p>\n\n<p>Then 3 days ago the little interior flap thingy broke, and the stinky old diapers WOULD BE CONTAINED NO MORE.&#0160; My entire house smelled like <em>that house</em> - you know the one, the one where even the couch smells like a 3 day-old diaper.&#0160; The horror!</p>\n\n<p>So as I was considering buying ANOTHER Dekor (told you I can spend like a champ) a light bulb (a decidedly dim one, but still) went off in my head:&#0160; <em>Why not wrap each diaper in one of the gazillions plastic bags I&#39;ve been collecting under the kitchen sink?&#0160; Why, I could twist the bag and DOUBLE wrap the diaper - just like a <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0001NE8OA/qid=1144265731/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-6851052-7320154?v=glance&amp;s=baby\">Diaper Genie</a>!&#0160; </em></p>\n\n<p>Brilliant!&#0160; Now my house smells like...something else (I&#39;ve got to find out what that smell is.)</p>\n\n<p>I feel so clever because it&#39;s like I&#39;m sticking it to the Baby Products Industry.&#0160; Take that, Diaper Dekor!&#0160; You can keep your stinking $30 refills.</p>\n\n<p>I&#39;m so proud of my frugality I went off to type all about it.&#0160; Just please don&#39;t tell my mother.&#0160;\n</p>\n','The Obligatory Poop Post','\n','draft','open','open','','the-obligatory-poop-post','','','2006-04-05 15:48:03','2006-04-05 15:48:03','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=538',0,'post','',14),(539,1,'2006-04-04 14:51:28','2006-04-04 14:51:28','<p>I&#39;m trying to cheer up, but you know how sometimes you just know it&#39;s going to be a bad day?</p>\n\n<p>I was woken up this morning by the sound of ambulances and fire trucks.&#0160; At least I think that&#39;s what it was, because it&#39;s not like I was going to get out of bed to check unless it was absolutely necessary.&#0160; I&#39;m still exhausted from the time change.</p>\n\n<p>Then I noticed that it was raining.&#0160; Just then, the alarm went off and the weatherman said that there was a chance of SNOW on Wednesday.&#0160; Just when I was thinking of buying some flip-flops to celebrate spring.&#0160; Sigh.</p><p>I was driving on Commonwealth Avenue around 1:15 and my street was blocked by more ambulances.&#0160; There cops and firemen everywhere.</p>\n\n<p>I even saw a reporter with a notepad running past the police barricade.&#0160; Like in a bad movie.</p>\n\n<p>Then, as I was driving in the carriage lane I saw the reason for all the commotion.&#0160; A big yellow school bus had caught fire.&#0160; I didn&#39;t see any kids, so I assume that it was empty.&#0160; I certainly hope so.</p>\n','Spring, Where Have You Gone?','\n','draft','open','open','','spring-where-have-you-gone','','','2006-04-04 14:51:28','2006-04-04 14:51:28','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=539',0,'post','',5),(540,1,'2006-04-03 10:36:20','2006-04-03 10:36:20','<p>Have you ever been too afraid to read a book?</p>\n\n<p>I’ve had this memoir called The Tender Land sitting around my house for 3 weeks.&#0160; I checked it out of the library fully intending to read it, but the more I thought about the book and its subject matter the more afraid I became of it.</p>\n\n<p>The book is about the suicide of the author’s younger brother and the impact it has on the family.&#0160; You learn about the suicide and his reason for killing himself (heartbreakingly it’s a junior high humiliation) on the book jacket, so it’s not like it was a surprise.&#0160; But every time I picked up the book the author’s regrets and love really came through in her excellent writing; the pain so raw it hurt to read it.&#0160; I came across her brother’s suicide note while flipping through the book and the knot that developed in my throat is still there some six hours later.&#0160; In it he says that decided to kill himself because he is tired of being unloved, that during lunch at the school cafeteria he has to sit near people that don’t like him, that the girls that sit behind him in class giggle about him behind his back.&#0160; That he isn’t a fun person.&#0160; And that is why he killed himself, even though he knows that that means he will go to hell (he’s a catholic).&#0160; He wanted to call his friend to tell him that he was going to kill himself that night, but he felt like a failure for not being able to talk about it.</p>\n\n<p>I can’t even type this without tearing up.&#0160; I can’t imagine how his family must have felt, knowing that their love wasn’t enough to keep him alive.&#0160; That childhood slights, which all of us have faced, hurt him so much that he killed himself.</p>\n\n<p>I mean, aren’t those things that we all go through?&#0160; Just read Mrs. Fortune&#39;s <a href=\"http://mrsfortune.blogspot.com/2006/04/sins-of-mother.html\">excellent post</a> on this and the responses she received.&#0160; We are all awkward children inside.&#0160; How many of us had miserable days, weeks, months, years in our youths yet we never reach that point of pure despair, that point of wanting, needing to end it all?&#0160; Why do most of us make it while others don’t?</p>\n\n<p>Ever since I became a mother I have become hypersensitive to the cruelties of childhood.&#0160; I don’t watch the local news because I can’t hear about children who have been wronged by their own families.&#0160; I can’t hear my nephew telling me how the other kids in his 3rd grade classroom don’t want him to sit at their table because he stinks at kickball.&#0160; I can’t hear about Mexicans handing their children to smugglers in a desperate attempt to give them a better life.&#0160; I never look at my spam folder because I’m afraid I’ll see a disgusting message from a pedophile.</p>\n\n<p>I remember hating eight grade.&#0160; I was new in school, and was lonely.&#0160; Yet, somehow, I knew that it wouldn’t always be like this.&#0160; Maybe it was my love of reading, but more likely it was the knowledge that my family would be moving to America at the end of the school year.&#0160; That offered me a concrete escape.&#0160; Kids are very literal.&#0160; Every time I see an unhappy child I want to hug him and promise him that things change, life changes, that they are full of possibilities.&#0160; That their eight grade self, while always a part of them, is not all of the person they are to become.&#0160; Of course, the typical eight grader would think that I am full of shit.</p>\n\n<p>Like every mother out there, I protect my child fiercely.&#0160; I don’t want the innocent sparkle in his eyes to ever go away.&#0160; But I don’t live in a fantasy world.&#0160; I know that no matter what I do, someday, my child will be wronged.&#0160; Kids will tease him.&#0160; Maybe he won’t be part of the cool crowd because he’s wearing the wrong shoes.&#0160; Or he won’t make the team.&#0160; It’s unavoidable.&#0160; The rational psychologist in me tells me that worrying is futile, that all I can do is to prepare him.&#0160; That my job is to build up his character to deal with life; to share the perspective of the 28 year head start I have.&#0160; Truth lies in perception.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>But for now, the weight of this responsibility is paralyzing.</p>\n\n<p>It’s one of my biggest fears.&#0160; That my child will be hurt and I won’t be able to make it go away.</p>\n','Mean People Suck','\n','draft','open','open','','mean-people-suck','','','2006-04-03 10:36:20','2006-04-03 10:36:20','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=540',0,'post','',18),(541,1,'2006-03-30 11:29:08','2006-03-30 11:29:08','<p>So I&#39;m home alone for the first time in a week, blissfully, happily alone.&#0160; I&#39;m still in my bathrobe, The Boy&#39;s asleep, and the breakfast dishes are still on the table.&#0160; The Husband is dropping off his parents at the airport and I&#39;m seriously bummed that after my weeklong performance as a The Daughter-In-Law I have nothing to tell you (I&#39;ll spare you stories of my week answering questions like &quot;why don&#39;t they sell tea at Boston Harbor?&quot;) when I hear a knock at the front door.</p>\n\n<p>No one ever knocks at the door, except for the UPS man and he knocks and runs, so I was surprised when I went out to the foyer and saw a shadow through the window at the front door (we live in an old 1919 house that used to be grand at one point, but is decidedly less so now.&#0160; But it still has a heavy outside door with a brass knocker and an inside door with a doorbell.&#0160; Our friends know to ring the bell so I&#39;m always suspicious when someone uses the old knocker).</p>\n\n<p>When I pulled the curtain, I saw a ridiculous looking man in a very bad troupee.</p>\n\n<p>&quot;Fuller Brush Man&quot; he says.</p>\n\n<p>&quot;Excuse me?&quot;&#0160; Is he kidding me?&#0160; What is this, <a href=\"http://tv.msn.com/movies/movie.aspx?m=475167\">1948</a>?</p>\n\n<p>&quot;I&#39;m the Fuller Brush Man&quot; he repeated, and then added helpfully &quot;I sell Fuller Brushes.&quot;&#0160; Duh.&#0160; I&#39;m starting to feel like a <a href=\"http://www.rareads.com/scans1/27832.jpg\">50&#39;s housewife</a> (but with better hair and a blog, if I do say so myself).</p>\n\n<p>Then I noticed that he wasn&#39;t wearing a uniform or even a <a href=\"http://www.norsic.com/ax1fuller.html\">fedora</a>.&#0160; He also didn&#39;t have a suitcase or anything.&#0160; It was just this weird guy in a tan windbreaker.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>I had to bitch slap myself away from 1956 and back into 2006.&#0160; When people don&#39;t sell things door to door because, really, who buys toilet brushes from men who show up at your door in strange toupees?&#0160; Hasn&#39;t he ever heard of Target?&#0160; <br /> </p>\n\n<p>&quot;I&#39;m not interested.&#0160; Sorry.&quot;&#0160; <br /> </p>\n\n<p>&quot;What?&quot;</p>\n\n<p>&quot;Goodbye!&quot;</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I slammed the inside door and didn&#39;t even think to see if he got in his car.&#0160; So now I&#39;m all paranoid that this man was just casing the neighborhood, or even worse, looking for people that are home in the middle of the day for God know what reason.&#0160; Because he couldn&#39;t simply be trying to sell brushes door-to-door, could he?&#0160; Isn&#39;t that sad?</p>\n\n<p>I&#39;m expecting the Avon Lady to come calling any minute now.</p>\n\n<p></p>\n','Strangers With Brushes','\n','draft','open','closed','','strangers-with-brushes','','','2006-03-30 11:29:08','2006-03-30 11:29:08','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=541',0,'post','',25),(542,1,'2006-03-26 22:34:08','2006-03-26 22:34:08','<p>I&#39;ll be away from the computer these days (miss me yet?).&#0160; As I&#39;ve whined about before, we have out-of-town visitors and I&#39;m tour guide/cook/driver/hostess-in-chief (plus I still have the evil cough from hell) so there&#39;s only so much of me to go around.&#0160; I can&#39;t even read my bloglines and I&#39;m realizing just how truly addicted<em>&#0160; </em>I am.&#0160; I miss reading about your lives!</p>\n\n<p>Also:&#0160; Somehow my blog was quoted in the <a href=\"http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2006/03/26/its_not_your_fathers_city_anymore/?page=2\">Boston Globe</a> website.&#0160; Why am I telling you this?&#0160; I just needed to tell someone about it, and since I blog anonymously, you guys are it.</p>\n\n<p>There.&#0160; It&#39;s out of my system now.&#0160; Thanks for listening.</p>\n','The Post About Nothing','\n','draft','open','closed','','the-post-about-nothing','','','2006-03-26 22:34:08','2006-03-26 22:34:08','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=542',0,'post','',15),(543,1,'2006-03-23 10:08:48','2006-03-23 10:08:48','<p>Hey look!&#0160; It&#39;s time for another completely pointless I See Famous People post.&#0160; Woo-hoo!&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>The Husband, The Boy and I were visiting my family in Miami on Thanksgiving weekend.&#0160; It was exactly 72 degrees out so we thought it an absolutely perfect day for the beach.&#0160; This only proved to the rest of my family that the metamorphosis from In-The-Know Miamian to Crazy-Ass Bostonian was complete (as if the pale skin and decided lack of lacy tank tops wasn&#39;t proof enough). </p>\n\n<p>&quot;Are you crazy?&quot;</p>\n\n<p>&quot;What about the baby?&#0160; It&#39;s freezing!&quot;</p>\n\n<p>&quot;Only tourists *chuckle* go to the beach in November...you&#39;re not serious are you?&quot; </p>\n\n<p>ME:&#0160; &quot;B-but it&#39;s 28 degrees back home...&quot;</p>\n\n<p>They looked at me like &quot;hey, it&#39;s not <em>our</em> fault you guys moved to the freakin&#39; tundra&quot; and it was settled.&#0160; We were going shopping instead.&#0160; On a warm day in November.&#0160; Bah!</p>\n\n<p>Beautiful weather is wasted on Miamians, I tell you.</p>\n\n<p>But I digress.&#0160; After an afternoon of much people-watching and very little actual shopping we decided to stop at Starbucks, all 7 of us.</p>\n\n<p>Almost as soon as we were settled into our tables, a couple with a baby sits right to us, their Bugaboo side by side with our Sit and Stroll.&#0160; I turn to the guy, because his shoulder was touching mine, and hello?&#0160; I need more room!</p>\n\n<p>&quot;Hello&quot; I blurt out, and I freeze as my glare is met by a pair of electric green eyes.&#0160; The owner of those eyes nods and stares off into the distance without a smile.</p>\n\n<p>My mind starts racing...could it be?&#0160; Those eyes! Was I really sitting next to... the $30M man?&#0160; Holy crap!&#0160; I was sitting shoulder to shoulder with the one and only Alex Rodriguez.</p>\n\n<p>Or as I hear he is called,&#0160; A-Rod.</p>\n\n<p>With my personal <a href=\"http://diary.blogs.com/the_diary_of_a_reluctant_/2006/01/lessons_learned.html\" target=\"_blank\">Celebrity Encounter Rules</a> racing through my head (pretend you don&#39;t know who they are...do not, under any circumstances, touch the famous person...be cool...be cool) I proceeded to actively ignore Mr. A-Rod.&#0160; Which of course made it completely obvious that I had recognized him and made him more uncomfortable by the minute.&#0160; So I sat there like an idiot, pretending that he had vanished into thin air while he focused intensely on a palm tree off to my right.</p>\n\n<p>Smooth operators, aren&#39;t we?</p>\n\n<p>The Husband, God bless his heart, had no idea who these people were.&#0160; So he was deep in conversation with A-Rod&#39;s wife, chatting about strollers and travelling with kids, and &quot;is she teething?&quot;, while trying to get The Boy to flirt with baby A-Rod.</p>\n\n<p>&quot;Isn&#39;t she a pretty girl?&quot; The Husband coos.</p>\n\n<p>&quot;Pfftllrr!&quot; is The Boy&#39;s rude but totally age-appropiate response.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>I started to daydream about how my life would change if The Boy were to sweep A-Rod Baby off her $30M feet...</p>\n\n<p>&quot;Gffft...Pfft!&quot;</p>\n\n<p>And on it went.&#0160; I racked my brain for something, anything, I could talk to A-Rod about (The Red Sox?&#0160; Ha!&#0160; I&#39;m not <em>that</em> stupid.&#0160; His deodorant deal?&#0160; Why the hell he was wasting a sunny day in November at Starbucks?) and came up with nothing.&#0160; Why must I be so lame?</p>\n\n<p>He continued to actively ignore me.&#0160; The poor man couldn&#39;t even have his Venti-whatever in peace.&#0160; My Husband soon lost interest in The A-Rod Baby so I was forced to drop my dream to have The Boy become insanely wealthy by marrying into the A-Rod family.&#0160; He&#39;s a little young, I know, but you have to plan ahead when you&#39;re thinking BIG.</p>\n\n<p>We drank our coffee in uncomfortable silence.</p>\n\n<p>&quot;It&#39;s him!&quot; my mother stage-whispered to my brother.&#0160; I cringed.&#0160; The Husband wanted to know who they were talking about.&#0160; I kicked him under the table.&#0160; Oh yeah.&#0160; We&#39;re smooth.</p>\n\n<p>And that&#39;s it.&#0160; A-Rod drank his coffee, all the while pretending that there weren&#39;t crazy people sitting but a few inches from his daughter.</p>\n\n<p>I told you it was pointless.</p>\n','I See Famous People:  Play Ball!','\n','draft','open','closed','','i-see-famous-people-play-ball-2','','','2006-03-23 10:08:48','2006-03-23 10:08:48','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=543',0,'post','',11),(544,1,'2006-03-21 14:45:22','2006-03-21 14:45:22','<p>1.&#0160; Boston drivers.&#0160; They suck.&#0160; Why can&#39;t people get that a blinking left turn signal means &quot;I&#39;m making a left turn&quot;?&#0160; Why must they then turn right?&#0160; Isn&#39;t that why cars have a right turn signal as well?&#0160; Also:</p>\n\n<p>Left lane = Right turn.&#0160; Right lane = Left turn.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>GRRRR!</p>\n\n<p>2.&#0160; Doing Pilates whilst infected with the Nastiest Cough Ever?&#0160; Not a good idea.&#0160; I almost killed myself AND the trainer.</p>\n\n<p>3.&#0160; Today is supposed to be the first day of spring and BRRRRR.&#0160; Mother Nature is a cruel bitch.</p>\n\n<p>I&#39;m off to numb the pain with some NyQuil.</p>\n','Three Reasons I Should Have Stayed Home Today','\n','draft','open','closed','','three-reasons-i-should-have-stayed-home-today','','','2006-03-21 14:45:22','2006-03-21 14:45:22','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=544',0,'post','',9),(545,1,'2006-03-20 11:01:03','2006-03-20 11:01:03','<p>So &quot;Mortified&quot; came to Boston and I couldn&#39;t go because of the aforementioned illnesses in my household.&#0160; What&#39;s &quot;Mortified&quot; you ask?&#0160; It&#39;s a performance filled with &quot;everyday adults sharing aloud their most embarrassing, pathetic and private teenage diary entries, poems, love letters, lyrics and locker notes... in front of total strangers.&quot;&#0160; In other words, COMEDIC GOLD.&#0160; I was upset to miss the show and went to their website instead and yes! - they let you read people&#39;s angst-filled bad poetry right online.&#0160; Totally worth a <a href=\"http://www.getmortified.com/woe/\" target=\"_blank\">look</a>, if only for the hi-la-ri-ous pictures.</p>\n\n<p>They let you &quot;audition&quot; for future shows (if you live in Beantown, LA, NY, or SF) and while I will happily sit in the audience and laugh at people, I would never get on stage and admit to the stupidity I put to paper back in the day.&#0160; I may have baby snot on my shirt, but I still have my dignity.&#0160; I will not embarrass myself in a roomful of strangers.</p>\n\n<p>But embarrass myself in front of an <em>internet</em> full of strangers?&#0160; Well, that&#39;s what a blog is for!</p>\n\n<p>So without further ado, I present to you:</p>\n\n<p>PITY BY MYSELF<br />(by RH, age 14)<br /><em><br />I don&#39;t know who I love,<br />or who loves me.<br />Is it that I don&#39;t wan&#39;t to,<br />or that I can&#39;t?<br />Is it that no one wants to,<br />or no one can?<br />For now, I just sit here<br />feeling pity by myself.</em></p>\n\n<p></p>\n\n<p>I can feel my cheeks burning from the pointing and laughing already.</p>\n\n<p>I KNOW that I&#39;m not the only person out there who kept a journal as a teen.&#0160; I was brave enough to post my crap (behind a veil of internet anonymity - but still).&#0160; I double-triple-dare you to do the same.</p>\n\n<p>And put a link in my comments so I can read it, will ya?&#0160; Misery loves company.</p>\n\n<p>Others who have opened up their diaries and/or embarrasing prose from more innocent times:</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://mrsfortune.blogspot.com/2006/03/i-triple-dog-dare-you.html\" target=\"_blank\">Mrs. Fortune</a></p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://lovelydavis.blogspot.com/2006/03/bad-poetry.html\" target=\"_blank\">Mrs. Davis</a></p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://motherhooduncensored.typepad.com/motherhood_uncensored/2006/03/before_i_was_th.html\" target=\"_blank\">Kristen</a> </p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://anothermommymoment.blogspot.com/2006/03/dora-sign-language-and-teenage.html\" target=\"_blank\">J&#39;s Mommy</a></p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://girlsgonechild.blogspot.com/2006/03/my-first-poem-ggchildhood.html\" target=\"_blank\">Girl&#39;s Gone Child</a></p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://mommaamme.typepad.com/mommaamme/2006/01/not_a_poet_and_.html\" target=\"_blank\">Nancy</a></p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://mom-101.blogspot.com/2006/03/poetic-suckitude.html\" target=\"_blank\">Mom-101</a></p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.lastnail.org/2006/03/ode-to-i-suck.html\">Christine</a><a href=\"http://scarbiedoll.blogspot.com/2006/03/confessions-of-teenage-dirtbag.html\"><br /></a></p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://scarbiedoll.blogspot.com/2006/03/confessions-of-teenage-dirtbag.html\">Martinis for Milk</a></p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://rnmorgan1.blogspot.com/2006/03/angst-its-not-just-for-breakfast.html\">Robin</a></p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://weirdgirl.typepad.com/home/2006/03/poetry_or_lack_.html\">Weirdgirl</a></p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://ktjrdn.tripod.com/whats_new/index.blog?entry_id=1444239\">ktjrdn</a></p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://bloggersrepent.blogspot.com/2006/03/time-to-remember.html\">Blog Antagonist</a> </p>\n\n<p>Now, doesn&#39;t that feel better?</p>\n\n<p>(Let me know if I should link to yours)</p>\n','TOP SECRET - KEEP OUT!','\n','draft','open','closed','','top-secret-keep-out','','','2006-03-20 11:01:03','2006-03-20 11:01:03','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=545',0,'post','',23),(546,1,'2006-03-17 09:04:37','2006-03-17 09:04:37','<p>I can’t get sick.</p>\n\n<p>I’ve spent the last few days telling myself that because, well, I can’t.&#0160; The Husband will be going to NY for a couple of days to pick up my in-laws, who are flying in from Europe to spend a week with us (Operation Spoil The Boy is on).&#0160; I’m hoping for everybody’s sake that he is healthy by then.&#0160; But most importantly, I CANNOT get sick.&#0160; The In-laws, they are a-coming, and there is much spoiling of the baby to be done.&#0160; <br /><em><br />(</em><em>Did I ever mention that my FIL is a semi-retired ambassador?&#0160; Which means that my MIL is a professional hostess?&#0160; That we are going to use the <a href=\"http://www.belk.com/media/images/products/master/china/lenox/coronet_platinum/plate_and_cup._z1.jpg\" target=\"_blank\">&quot;good china&quot;</a> for the first time ever?&#0160; That it’s still packed in bubble wrap...two years after the wedding?&#0160; That they ‘can’t wait’ to taste my cooking?&#0160; That they’ve already asked The Husband why I don’t speak German - pressure much?)</em></p>\n\n<p>I CANNOT GET SICK.&#0160; &#0160; </p>\n\n<p>So in between wondering if The Boy’s cough sounds <a href=\"http://diary.blogs.com/the_diary_of_a_reluctant_/2006/03/germ_warfare.html\" target=\"_blank\">bark-ish</a> (I can’t tell and it’s driving me nuts) while wiping his nose/butt and hoping for The Husband’s sake that his digestion doesn’t fail him in the middle of a conference call (because he’s sick...but not me!) I repeat to myself “you cannot, CAN-NOT, get sick!”&#0160; Even as I feel my sinuses tingling and my throat starts to itch...&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>I don’t want to get sick. What’s the point of getting sick if you can’t sleep in and be completely selfish, watch movies while someone else makes your meals, and you don’t have to worry because who the fuck cares if the budget is a few days late?&#0160; But in <em>this</em> job, it makes a huge difference if I’m not there.&#0160; EVERYBODY cares if I miss a day, especially me.&#0160; Even if I could magically spend the day in bed, I would be wondering if my boy ate his lunch and thinking about his cute cheeks, and thus would not be able to give my 863rd screening of Ferris Buehler’s Day Off the attention it deserves.&#0160; Why even bother?</p>\n\n<p>It’s possible that if I had been more diligent with the Purell maybe I wouldn’t be in this situation.&#0160; But when my son comes at me for a kiss I don&#39;t want to run away, even when you can plainly see the layers of germs and viruses dancing on him.&#0160; And I can’t complain about The Husband, because even though he got to take a sick day (<em>unfair!</em>), he does come home from work as early as possible and forces me to nap.&#0160; Yesterday, he brought me <a href=\"http://www.blueribbonbbq.com/default.htm\" target=\"_blank\">pulled pork</a> almost as good as the stuff I used to eat in Virginia and ate his white rice and banana dinner without one complaint (he’s on the BRAT diet).&#0160; That takes fortitude, people.&#0160; He also, desperately, doesn’t want me to get sick.</p>\n\n<p>As much as I fear being sick next week, I also think that somehow I’ve developed super-resistant skin which viruses simply cannot penetrate and slide off me like eggs off Teflon®.&#0160; It&#39;s one of the perks I received when I accepted this mothering gig.</p>\n\n<p>But sick days, unfortunately, are not part of the package.</p>\n\n<p><em>Ich kann nicht krank werden! </em>Or something like that.</p>\n','Because I don\'t get sick days, that\'s why.','\n','draft','open','closed','','because-i-dont-get-sick-days-thats-why','','','2006-03-17 09:04:37','2006-03-17 09:04:37','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=546',0,'post','',14),(547,1,'2006-03-16 12:56:23','2006-03-16 12:56:23','<p>OK, by now the entire world has seen this, but I&#39;m linking to it too in case somebody missed it.&#0160; <a href=\"http://blogs.clubmom.com/clubmom/2006/03/wanted_mom_blog.html\" target=\"_blank\">ClubMom</a> is looking for 10 (or so) moms to blog at their site.&#0160; And they&#39;re paying a salary!&#0160; Yes! You can get paid for doing something you already love to do.</p>\n\n<p>I&#39;m giving it a shot, and if you have the desire to do it, so should you.&#0160; Don&#39;t pass on this opportunity because you think someone who is &quot;bigger&quot; or &quot;cooler&quot; will get the job.&#0160; I&#39;m not saying those thoughts haven&#39;t crossed my mind, but hell, I&#39;m not letting that stop me.&#0160; And neither should you.</p>\n\n<p>Go for it.</p>\n','Got Blog?','\n','draft','open','closed','','got-blog','','','2006-03-16 12:56:23','2006-03-16 12:56:23','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=547',0,'post','',4),(548,1,'2006-03-15 13:16:58','2006-03-15 13:16:58','<p>Last week we dealt with yet another episode of diarrhea.&#0160; My life centered around the BRAT diet and the thankless task of wiping an adorable little butt.&#0160; It got to the point where I was slipping poop into normal conversation without any pretense of it making sense:</p>\n\n<p>FRIEND:&#0160; “Are you guys going to Deb’s 40th birthday party?”</p>\n\n<p>ME:&#0160; “So the poop? It was a mustard-y color yesterday, but as soon as we gave him the grape Pedialyte it turned the color and texture of green Play-Doh.”</p>\n\n<p>I’m a lot of fun to be around these days, obviously.</p>\n\n<p>To complicate things, I can’t stay indoors for longer than 24 hours without going stir crazy.&#0160; I try to have an activity everyday, even if somedays all I do is meet a friend for coffee.&#0160; I was fortunate to meet a few cool moms during those heady early months of motherhood, when “mom-dates” filled the hours between feedings and crying jags (mine, not the baby’s).&#0160; Boy, am I glad that’s over!&#0160; Now I have a great weekly playgroup and hang out with one-on-one with some of the moms a few times a week.&#0160; It’s great because we support each other and blah blah (the truth is that we laugh a lot and make fun of other people - not that the two aren&#39;t related).</p>\n\n<p>ANYWAYS, I tell you this because The Boy finally got over his diarrhea, only to catch the <u>Worst Cough Ever</u>.&#0160; His coughing fits sound pretty scary to me, but the pediatrician says not to worry unless it starts to sound like a barking dog(?!).&#0160; Otherwise we need to turn on the humidifier (which we’ve had on all winter- duh) and give him plenty of fluids. </p>\n\n<p>I haven’t left the house in 3 days.&#0160; Not even the pediatrician will see us in person.&#0160; The Husband?&#0160; He’s also sick, but still drags his ass to work. </p>\n\n<p>So it’s just The Boy and me in germy exile.&#0160; </p>\n\n<p>Maybe it’s payback for all that poop talk last week.</p>\n','Germ Warfare','\n','draft','open','closed','','germ-warfare','','','2006-03-15 13:16:58','2006-03-15 13:16:58','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=548',0,'post','',5),(549,1,'2006-03-14 14:40:20','2006-03-14 14:40:20','<p>They were firm once; small and ripe like apricots.&#0160; I always wanted them to be bigger, just a little bigger, but tried to comfort myself with the belief that they were definitely cute.&#0160; Sure, I looked at other women who had larger, sexier ones and was sometimes jealous.&#0160; I wondered what it was like to have “womanly” ones.&#0160; But at least mine were perky and youthful and I never really worried about the way they looked.</p>\n\n<p>The first thing I noticed when I got pregnant is that they changed.&#0160; They became swollen and bruised, like overripe fruit.&#0160; But...how they filled my sweaters!&#0160; Puberty had finally arrived!</p>\n\n<p>Once my son was born, they became the source of interminable pain.&#0160; Raw and bleeding, and then filled to the point where I thought they would explode - that the skin was going to burst - and the pain, so sharp! I hated them.&#0160; I was their slave, and they were a sadistic master.</p>\n\n<p>Once we got the feeding thing down, they became useful for the first time in my life.&#0160; They gave me the power to nurture and sustain life.&#0160; I was in touch with their rhythms and they became my partners in the business of keeping The Boy alive.&#0160; I didn’t let The Husband touch for fear they might leak.&#0160; But I loved the feeling they gave me - a feeling of power and being full of life.</p>\n\n<p>As nursing wound down, I felt less maternal about them and more sensual.&#0160; They were full, yes, but now that The Boy was more independent they were also fun again!&#0160; Not too big, not too small - with maybe a stretch mark here or there - they were more perfect than I ever thought possible.</p>\n\n<p>But as soon as we stopped nursing, they became sad.&#0160; They sat, flaccid, limp, like empty balloons.&#0160; They merely hung, empty sacs of flesh, suddenly useless.&#0160; I panicked...where <em>did</em> they go?&#0160; The strange thing was, now that they were barely more than skin I was more aware of them than ever before.&#0160; They hung heavy and limp against me and weighed a ton.</p>\n\n<p>It took a few weeks (maybe the hormones needed time to sort things out?) but now they’ve settled in and I love them.&#0160; Oh, they’re not the firm apricots of my youth,&#0160; but they aren’t the sad old-lady sacks of a few weeks ago either.&#0160; They’re a nice size but nowhere near generous.&#0160; They’re softer.&#0160; Now their curve isn’t as obvious as before, more pear than apricot.&#0160; And while they aren’t youthful - they hang a little lower, the shape is not as round, the skin is not as smooth - they’re womanly at last.&#0160; They are sensual, in more ways than I ever thought would be possible.&#0160; For they have earned it.&#0160; </p>\n','My Lovely Lady Lumps','\n','draft','open','closed','','my-lovely-lady-lumps','','','2006-03-14 14:40:20','2006-03-14 14:40:20','',0,'http://everydaytreats.frogandsnail.com/?p=549',0,'post','',6),