I've had one of those weeks where you sort of feel like a really bad traveling carnival -- the kids look at you and think you should be fun, but when in comes down to it, you're actually just a  bunch of thinly spread out rides that need paint, could breakdown at any moment, and [...]

Tonight I spent nine minutes watching my two kids do individual, interpretive dance routines to music from a Toy Story greeting card that only played the first four lines from "You've Got a Friend in Me."  The reason I know that the dances lasted nine minutes is because I mistakenly videoed them with my phone, [...]

All things considered, I think I'm holding it together remarkably well.I have a lot on my plate this week.  I actually feel funny complaining because everyone has a lot on their plate this week.  And every week.  I was at yet another kid's birthday party the other day (although this one was quite pleasant due [...]

We're less than two weeks away from the anniversary of my mom's death, and I stupidly (and, yes, incredibly) thought this would only be difficult on the actual day it occurred and not all the days leading up to it.  But then what would I know -- I'm a newbie mourner.My first clue was when [...]

So we're one day into summer vacation, and I'm already about to string everyone up.I tend to get the most pissed off when I've been busting my ass for other people's benefit and then all I get is grief.  It's enough when no one notices -- that, I've come to expect.  I am, after all, [...]

When I was a kid, I loved The Pink Panther Strikes Again with Peter Sellers. It's the one where Inspector Clouseau's loyal assistant, Cato, attacks him whenever possible so that Clouseau can practice warding off assassination attempts. If you haven't seen it, picture really bad martial arts, complete destruction of private property, and a funny [...]

There's nothing quite like a vacation to show your family what it's really made of. It's like life on steroids.All things considered, I wouldn't say we're on the Mark McGwire of trips right now, but we're still on some serious roids. Tenzin, the kids, and I are driving across eastern Nevada on the "Loneliest Road" [...]

I went to my friend's house yesterday, for her twin daughters' birthday party, and I relaxed at an event for the first time in I don't even know how long. I've been in a sort of "birthday party hell" for the last couple of months. The kids have been invited to all of the places [...]

I am officially the Wicked Bitch of the West.I was attempting to talk on the phone tonight when Elfie yelled down from the top of the stairs, crying about her "throat hurting." In my defense, she'd been running around like a chipmunk on speed and nitrous oxide just 2 minutes earlier, and this was the [...]