4.) “Why do we watch them? Make fun of soap operas with a piece of writing.” (inspired by writing fix.com)

Soap Operas, always a controversial topic for some reason; and such judgement that I felt called to address this one! I grew up with extremely limited tv privileges - from after school friday afternoon until dinner time sunday with few exceptions. My parents had the Today Show on in the mornings to catch the news and we were allowed to watch the 6 and 6:30pm new, but that was it. We didn't even have cable until I was in high school - and yes smarty pants out there, it did exist! My parents did watch some tv in the evenings, but we were either doing homework, or I was at dance practice, so once we got used to the rules back in elementary school, it was pretty much a non-issue. That doesn't mean we didn't try! If we were left at home alone, my mom would check the back of the tv to see if it was warm (and therefore had been on when she was gone) and we were totally busted then! During the summer, we were allowed a little more viewing time, although never unrestricted, free reign over the tv! One exception came when we met Mary! Mary came to help clean the house once a week and she was a doll! My sister and I loved her - years later she even came to our weddings! Anyway, Mary LOVED The Young and the Restless and she scheduled her lunch and cleaning in the room with the tv around Y&R! During the summer, we would watch it with her! Truth be told, she got my mom hooked too! Even after Mary stopped coming to our house, mom managed to eat her lunch with Victor, Niki and the Y&R crew! My viewing habits have come and gone over the years - during college I might have watched it here and there - and thankfully you can miss months at a time and still pick it up again pretty quickly! Anyway, after college I worked 3-12 hour shifts and 1-4 hour shift per week so I was home during the weekday sometimes, so I would visit my old friends at Y&R from time to time! Well, after kids, I was often too busy with them to have the tv on and if it was on, it was on kids shows! My MIL has watched Days of Our Lives FOREVER - like I believe she listed to it as a kids on the radio (if I'm wrong, sorry MIL, that's the story in my head!). Anyway, when she visits here or when we visit her, we sometimes get a chance to watch it with her! She dvr's it so it's not like we are forced into anything, but she explains what's going on and BOOM, we are hooked again! Well, this time Big S and I are both hooked! I started watching Days on my own and then started dvr-ing it when I wasn't home, and sometimes I would watch it with her around, and NOW she is hooked too! I apologize. That was never my intent, it just happened. Now, I have to wait until she gets home from school and we watch it while she has her after school snack. Have I scarred her for life? I doubt it! Hopefully not! So few soaps are even left on tv - who's to say how much longer the remaining few will even be around?

As far as addressing the question; why do we watch? I'm sure there are several reasons - the two that I think are at the top of the list are that it is a mindless escape and that their lives are always such a mess that we feel a little better about the much smaller messes we have in our own lives! Those are my theories anyway! Also, perhaps there is a tiny addictive quality to it - they give you just enough to want more, but never enough for you to feel satisfied and walk away! They are tv crack dealers! Just a thought! Over and out!

Just in case you are bored...

So, one thing you may know if you are a regular reader is that from time to time I enjoy participating in Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop - today is one of those days!  She had some really good prompts this week, I just didn't have really good answers for them so I chose this one.....

3.) Write a list of 10 things that can be done to stave off boredom.

Today is one of those days that definitely falls into the category of boring!  We had a two hour delay for ice - we got freezing rain last night - so it was lovely to get some extra sleep, but when the phone rang at 5:15am, it scared the crap out of me and I was busy trying to figure out who had died while hubby shook the cob webs and stumbled towards the phone!  Amusingly, and irritatingly, enough, Big S and Little G BOTH complained that I let them sleep so late when they could have used that time "to watch tv for 2 hours" according to Little G!  Big S would have preferred to sleep 1 hour and use the 2nd hour for something - she was never really clear on what!  I apologized profusely, and sarcastically, and told them next time I'd get their little butts out of bed when the phone rang at 5:15am and then they would have plenty of time to do whatever they wanted to!  Big G made me a cup of coffee just a couple minutes later!  Guess that was her apology and request that I not follow through on my threat next time we are delayed!!!

As far as not staying bored, there is always PLENTY to do around here - if you don't have something to keep you "busy" at all times, I'll give you my address, I can keep you busy!  Anyway, busy isn't always fun, and Mama Kat specified that we stave off boredom, not that we keep busy, so here are a few - 10 to be precise - suggestions if you are bored!

1. Teach yourself how to wax!  Save yourself a few bucks at the salon every month!  I would however, suggest you start with a spot on your leg that no one will see for a few months since it is the dead of winter!!  I have NOT taken my own advice and was sorry!  I tried years ago to wax my bikini line - just the line, nothing too ambitious, before our honeymoon 14 years ago and I was terribly sorry!  I have since tried again, taking my own advice this time, and am treading cautiously!  I really want to do my eyebrows, but mistakes are hard to hide there, so I haven't attempted that yet!  Arm pits aren't that hard and no one sees them in January!  Just a thought!

2. Curl up on the couch with a good book - preferably something a little smutty with just enough of a plot to keep your interest - grab your warmest blanket, a cup of joe - it tastes better when a remorseful preteen makes it - take my word for it!  Take your phone off the hook, or turn off the ringer!  Set a timer so you don't forget to pick the kids up from school, and loose yourself in a fantasyland for a few hours - we never do that for ourselves.  I read in bed almost every night, but I'm so tired that I often fall asleep with the book still in my hands.  It's just not the same as purposeful reading time in the middle of the day!

3. Go to blockbuster and rent a couple of those chick flicks hubby never wants to watch with you!  Assume same position as in #2, you can even invite a couple gal pals if you like!  Laugh cry and enjoy remembering when you still believed in fairy tales!

4. Organize your spice rack in alphabetical order OR in rainbow order!  Don't tell anyone you did it - ok that parts only fun if there is anyone else who EVER uses it, but then it's pretty funny!  Of course they think you are crazy or OCD, or both!  But I find it amusing!  You can do the same with your pantry too!  It would be funny to rearrange someone's closet to rainbow order, but that's a lot of work, and some people (sorry Lori) do that for real!

5.  As you go around changing the sheets and towels in the house short sheet EVERYONE'S bed!  We love short sheeting in our house!  We usually do it to guests, and it never loses it's power to amuse!!

6. Go to the mall and people watch.  Hear me out!  My sister and I LOVE to people watch together!  We make up stories about the people we see and always end up cracking ourselves up!  One time when we both had a lengthy layover in Charlotte, NC, we sat in those fabulous white rocking chairs that are all over the airport (yes, shocking, we found two empty ones together - they are a hot commodity) and we handed out superlatives to passers-by.  Well, we didn't actually hand them out, we chuckled and kept them between the two of us, but we were hysterical!  I'm sure the passers-by would have enjoyed hearing what we had to say about them, but they were all in such a hurry, we didn't want to cause them to miss their flights!

7. Make a "mixed tape" cd for your loved one(s)!  Didn't you always love it when someone took the time and thought to make one for you?  My big bro from college (fraternity) makes a mixed cd every year for Christmas and shares it with friends!  I love it!  He always picks sons (or at least artist) that for the most part I am unfamiliar with and I'm always excited to hop in the car and check it out!!  It would a great Valentine's gift - on second thought, I may do that for my girls!  They each did one for me back in the fall and I loved hearing, not just what songs they liked, but which ones they thought I would like!!  Big G made me one for Christmas too - so sweet!  See, that a great idea, isn't it?  

8. Put your computer's picture files on shuffle, grab that same blanket and cup of joe and kick back!  The farther back your files go, the better!  It's so much fun to relive those moments, especially on cold, gray, dreary days like today!  You can thank me later!  You might want to grab a box of tissues and your phone in case some of those pictures trigger the need to reconnect with old friends!

9. Start a blog if you don't already have one of your own!  Blogspot is a super easy way to start.  Do it for yourself first, it's fun and cathartic and you will probably surprise yourself with what comes out of your fingertips!  Share the addy with close friends and family - and send it to me, I'd love to read it!  It always starts small, but you never know where it may lead!  Perhaps you are a budding writer, perhaps you have a great idea that needs to be shared, perhaps what you have to say needs to be heard - even if it's by just one person - it still needs to be heard, or perhaps just needs to be said!  There are lots of people out there who have made blogging into a money making business, I am not one of those tho I wouldn't turn down any $$ anyone wanted to give me, but there are lots of people who have found ways to market themselves for their benefit - you never know!  The key is to do it for yourself and let it go from there!  And make it fun, if it's not, then it's a job and who needs another one of those?

10.  This is my last one!! I wasn't sure I'd make it that far!  Truth be told, I could come up with a million things that you could do if you are bored, but who wants to come here to read a boring list?  That just makes you more bored not less, right?  My last suggestion for those of you who are still reading because you have yet to be inspired is to go check out a few of the blogs that I enjoy reading and read some other people's thoughts!  You may find them amusing, interesting, educational or inspiring, but at the very least, you won't be bored!!

- Mama's Losin' It

- Cheaper Than Therapy

-A Mom on Spin

-Like a Warm Cup of Coffee

-That's What I was Going to Say

-My Insanity

-Hammond Ranch Happenings

-girl talk

-Half-Past Kissin' Time

-Evolving Mommy

-I'm an organizing Junkie

-Pioneer Woman

-Balancing Beauty and Bedlam

These are just a few of my favorites!   There are so many blogs worth reading these days - sometimes it takes a while to find them - I usually cruise my friends' sidebars to see who they are reading and check those out!  I myself don't like to see too many reviews or give aways - just my personal preference, I want to read to me amused, informed etc so one a week per blog is all I can handle.   I appreciate those who have separate review blogs - like my dear friend Jen at Cheaper Than Therapy - then I can go look at them if I have time and/or are interested and not if I don't!  Thanks Jen!!  To the rest of you, nothing personal, I just skim it and check back the next day!  Happy reading friends!

Please leave a comment here if you have some good reading suggestions!!

For those of you who were bored before reading all of this, you have NO EXCUSE now!!

By the way, I have NO IDEA why part of this post is underlined and some isn't - it appeared and disappeared all on it's own and I can't seem to delete it!  Go figure!

My assignment....

So, I like the linky love every once in a while and Mama Kat at Mama's Losin It always has great writing prompts that she puts out on tuesday with her "your assignment, should you choose to accept it..." so, I choose #4 for this week! "When I look in the mirror..." (inspired by Liz from Loving Mom 2 Boys)Now, the caveat to this is that it really is a challenge for me to really, I mean really look in the mirror. Of course at first glance, I see those extra lbs that I put on a couple years ago and have yet to drop - why? a combination of laziness, other priorities, surgically induced menopause, a pathetic thyroid that has to be augmented daily to work right, an erratic schedule that creates munching instead of meals... I could go on and on, but who cares, really? What do I see next? The roots that need touching up, the grey that shows through the highlights and especially at the roots that need touching up! I see a handful of wrinkles that I immediately decide I don't give a hoot about - better than lots of gals my age and honestly, nothing that I have ever wasted much energy worrying about. It may be that I have been blessed with fairly good skin - I wash my face in the shower and any other face regimen is strictly hit and miss - moisturizers when it crosses my mind, same with eye creme and all that other stuff that fills the cupboards and counters of so many of our bathrooms! What do I see after that? Hmmm, not a 42 year old wife and mother of 3 for sure. Sometimes I see the little girl who loved spending all day alone in her room cleaning, organizing and reading. Sometimes I see the young mother still trying to figure things out but glad to hear the little voices down the hall! Some days I see a strong woman who has earned every little line - the smile lines, the laugh lines and the frown ones too! There's probably so much more to thisexercise that I will learn over time, but for now, I need to go put on some make up looking in that mirror so I don't look like a slop when I show up at my meeting later! Hope you have a great day!

4.) When I look in the mirror...
(inspired by Liz from Loving Mom 2 Boys)

wanted.......

so, Mama Kat over at Mama' Losin' it hosts writers' workshops and as you know, sometimes I feel inspired!  Well, there were some good ones last week, but we were crazy busy, so I'm just getting to it now!

write a creative want ad...

WANTED....

a wife for the wife

Looking for someone to be my wife, preferably a little on the old fashioned side, someone who can keep up with the laundry and the cleaning (not one or the other), likes to bake from scratch, prepare properly balanced meals also from scratch.  When those things are taken care of, this person must also be a good companion for this wife - must like to read, knit, sew, photography, hanging out on the back porch, volunteer, participate in moms' groups and Bible studies, hang out with my kids who also enjoy crafting of all sorts!  She must not be too thin or too pretty but able to help motivate me to do a little more in the working out category!  Must have working knowledge of budgeting, bill paying, menu planning, grocery shopping, PTO meeting protocol and teaching PRE.  Must enjoy lively discussions and hanging out with the family!  Ability to teach dogs to stop barking every time the wind blows is an added plus!

Any interested candidates simply apply here!

Every once in a while Mama Kat puts out a writing prompt that I just love!  She has several great choices a week, but you know how sometimes they just grab you?  Anyway, This week I thought that the "10 things that you are currently sick of" was calling my name!

1. school!  totally sick of school this year - not all year, just now - good thing we only have 3 1/2 days left and one of those is field day!  I need a break!  So do the kids, but the prompt is about what they are sick of!!

2. my current menu  - I need some new recipes (and motivation) especially with school almost out and the weather FINALLY warming up - grilling is always great, but even that we need to mix up a little bit!

3. laundry - especially with 3 girls in the house - it never seems to end!

4. my yippy little dogs barking at anything and everything  - animals outside, people outside, cars outside, people coming from one room in the house to another, the wind... they are getting on my last nerve.  We tried those antibark collars that spray citronella in their faces when they bark - only worked for a while then they decided they didn't mind it all that much after all.  Shock collars may be next!

5. dust - what else needs to be said about that!

6. tv reruns - yes, I know that the rerun season is just beginning but it really gets on my nerves

7. fighting the blasted thistle weeds in my yard - this is year three and it keeps coming back

8. my girls bickering - it drives me crazy and it seems that someone is always picking or shining or tattling or out and out fighting -ugh

9. headaches - I get one almost everyday, they are so annoying!

10. spam emails, seems like no matter what I do I get over 100 each day - yahoo needs stronger filters!