• Childhood Memories

    S.

    When I was in elementary school, I was pulled out of class regularly for sessions with a speech therapist, for a lisp. I hated leaving my classroom for the private sessions in which I had to practice my “s” sound. The speech therapist was nice enough and I never caused a scene about my dislike for the whole process, but it was–by far–my least favorite part of school. I remember being frustrated that I couldn’t always make the right sounds for her sometimes. Youngsters don’t really have the capacity to understand that certain things are indeed under their control, that if they work hard and keep trying even as they…

  • Confessions,  Too Funny To Ignore

    From “Never Say Never” To “Better Late Than Never”

    I had big plans to post about the Justin Bieber movie (“Never Say Never”) first thing this morning, but things got busy, and then I had to leave the house, and you know the rest. I still want to get it in under the wire before midnight, since I said I’d do it TODAY, and so I’m in a “better late than never” situation. I’m sure most of you have been on the edge of your seats all day, just waiting for me to click “publish”. Right? So without further ado, let me share with you my Bieb-sperience. I tried to get Jim and/or J to go to the movie…

  • Confessions

    To Bieb Or Not To Bieb, That Is The Question.

    Last Thanksgiving weekend, my family was part of an audience in a local movie theater that had tremendous problems with sound quality for the first few minutes. On our way out, management handed everyone a complimentary ticket for another visit (classy: I love that they did that proactively, before some of the crankier audience members took it upon themselves to mutiny). The tickets have been magnetized to our refrigerator since that day, and I just noticed last week that they will expire this Wednesday. Jim and I used two of the tickets for “The King’s Speech” yesterday*. In trying to decide what other movie to use the tickets for, I…

  • Roxie

    Fool(ed)

    I was at work yesterday when my boss was having a conversation with a client about the client’s beagle. “Melisa has a beagle,” my boss told her. “You do?” asked the client. “Is your dog stubborn?” “Oh my goodness. Don’t get me started,” I replied, before, well, getting started. After we exchanged a few “my beagle is a troublemaker” stories, my boss asked, “How old is Roxie again?” That’s when it hit me. Her birthday had been on Wednesday, and it totally slipped my mind. “She turned seven yesterday! Oh my gosh. I’ve never missed a birthday!” I spent the next forty-five minutes before leaving for home feeling guilty for…

  • Uncategorized

    Not So Sweet.

    One of the most popular candy categories in this house is Easter candy. (It’s not just for Christians, you know!) Right around February 15, when the Easter candy typically appears in stores–that’s about two weeks before the Christmas ornaments appear, right?–the four of us tend to get a little giddy. We love Cadbury eggs (creme for me and J, caramel for Jim and D, usually), Reeses peanut butter eggs, and Cadbury mini eggs, and we usually have at least one of those varieties in the house at any given time, through Easter. I have even been known to buy a few extra bags and hide them deep in the back…

  • Family Fun,  Too Funny To Ignore

    I Think We’ve Discovered The Solution To Our Economy

    Over the weekend, the four of us (D was home for spring break) sat at the dining room table, eating dinner. We were having a conversation about J’s college plans, and he brought up possibly going to a local college. I said, “Sure, that’d be fine. I’m fine with your living at home for a little longer.” And then, grinning, I emphasized, “A LITTLE longer. Just not forever!” D said, “Well, one of us needs to stay with you guys forever…” (He was laughing.) Jim stated, “Sure, you can both stay with us forever, as long as you pay rent!” Nearly 19-year-old D replied, “Okay! Hugs and kisses everyday*!“ What…

  • Chicken in the Car,  My Friends Have Mad Skillz,  My Kid Has Mad Skillz

    The Big Book Reveal!!!

    Today is an exciting day for me. Sure, it’s SATURDAY (always very thrilling), but there’s something else. I am finally ready to reveal the fantastic cover of my book–which will be published in May!–along with my super-awesome book website! Very few people have been privy to sneak-peeks before today, and it makes me more happy than you can imagine to finally put it out there for everybody. Before you check them out, I have just a couple of things to share. The book is called Chicken In The Car And The Car Won’t Go: Nearly 200 Ways To Enjoy Chicagoland With Tweens And Teens. The main title comes from an…

  • I've Got Mad Skillz

    Sometimes You Can’t Find Something Until You Stop Looking For It.

    Heads up: more big changes are just around the bend around here! A little more than a year ago, I bought my own dot com. I had big plans to get this blog moved as soon as possible. Well, you know how that goes. Once I got busy with my book, I let the “moving the blog” thing go out of my head for a while, figuring that as long as the dot com is in my possession, I didn’t need to rush things. I started thinking about it again in January, and when I spoke to my very talented webmistress about helping me make the move, she told me…