I'd Like to Take My Kids to D.C.

A few years ago, my husband and I took our first child with us to Washington D.C.. My daughter was too young at the time to know where we were, but it was AMAZING for me! I had never been there but of course I've always seen replications of the places there on TV or in film.

There are so many things for them to see. Most of which they've only seen on TV...the White House, Washington Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Capitol Building, Arlington Cemetary, and of course all the many FREE museums!!

I recommend watching some films that feature Washington DC before you go because it makes your experience more fascinating. For instance, if you watch National Treasure -- it will help you create an itinerary of places you may want to see...and there are sooo many. Just think about it...there have been hundreds of historical events that took place at our nation's capitol. It's like walking around one huge landmark. You can teach your children so many history lessons here! Show them old pictures of historical events like MLK's famous speech in front of the Washington Memorial.

I also recommend not going during the summer because it's extremely hot and humid. If you can-- try finding someone that could get you into the White House for a tour. It's a lot harder to do now (a lot of security/background checks) but it's totally worth it!

TV Show Update

So...I'm giving up on Fringe and Brothers and Sisters. Fringe is always on the brink of getting the axe and I'm so behind on the shows that I've decided to let that one slip though the cracks. As for Brothers and Sisters...that's just too much drama for one family and besides, I hear Rob Lowe is leaving.

Another Rendition Of I Watch Too Much TV

I used to read a lot of books (as you can figure out from the name of this blog) and now, I'm lucky if I read one a month. I always ask my friend how she has time to read so many books and she Facebooks a lot. You know what she told me? She doesn't WATCH TV!!! So that got me thinking...I really watch a lot of TV:

1. Brothers and Sisters
2. Chuck
3. The Mentalist
4. Modern Family
5. Fringe
6. Lost
7. Cougar Town
8. Ugly Betty
9. Friday Night Lights
10. Grey's Anatomy
11. Private Practice
12. Shark Tank
13. Hung
14. Entourage
15. American Idol

Sadly, in addition to these shows, I am also enrolled in a movie rental program by mail too. *sigh* I guess you now know why I am a FORMER bookworm. So please help me...which shows do you think I should give up? 15 shows is way too many!

The Winter Season

I'm not sure if I've ever described the winter season on my blog before. It's truly the worst season for me. My two youngest children have perpetually dripping noses that generally turn into ear infections within one to two weeks. They generally are not contagious after the first week but people always think they are sick. It's such a nightmare for me though because:

1. I can't hang out with my friends and their kids (so I go stir crazy)
2. I can't send them to school (such a waste of money!)
3. They generally have to go on antibiotics (and how healthy is this really?)
4. Which means I have to take them to the doctor
5. which means now that we have crappy health insurance, I have to pay $100 to the doctor and $40 to the pharmacy
6. I often catch their illnesses.

You see where I'm going with this? It's just an expensive and miserable season for me. I think I'm basically paying my children's preschool money to get my kids ill and have me keep my children at home with me. I almost think that I should just take my kids to the doctor's office and just sit in the sick room. At least it would be free and I'd get the same "immune system build up." However, I think if the CDC or news ever heard about that, they'd be up in arms. I remember watching the news the other day and they were talking about how people were having swine flu parties when people had mild cases of it. That way-- they'd only catch the mild version of the swine flu. Needless to say, the CDC sent out a message quickly that that was a terrible idea (they didn't want virus mutations).

Ho hum. What's a mom to do?

It's Been a While

I haven't written for a while. I actually misss blogging but sometimes life kind of gets in the way. When I saw Julie and Julia, I was totaly inspired to start blogging again but then I got kind of busy. I've been organizing a lot of things but I've kind of been on hiatus of late.

What have I been up to? Hmm, let's see. I've been volunteering at my daughter's elementary school. My middle child has started preschool and I've been dragging my baby on all sorts of errands or putting her down for a nap so that I can clean my house...(I sooo miss having a housekeeper *sigh*). I also have gone back to school (slowly though). I took a photography class last semester (totally fun! Maybe I'll post more pics now...). This semester, I'm taking a programming class and we'll see where I go from there.

Hopefully I'll write more soon! Probably something a little more thought out.

Are These the Rules?

When I was in college, I was in a sorority. It was my first experience in a women's group and I didn't know what to expect. In my sorority there were about 120 young women (I think these days, my sorority has closer to 200 women because the number of sororities has dwindled). It's supposed to be a sisterhood but quite often, there were quite a few arguments and some ladies that just didn't get along. Perhaps it's as simple as there being too many "queen bees" in a nest. There were power struggles, disputes about guys, stealing, people eating other people's food, revenge, the whole gamut of crazy stuff and not to mention the gossip.

I almost feel like this is the norm when you get a large group of women together. I've seen the same kind of things going on in the mom groups that I belong to. Women get catty and often they get mean. Now, granted it's a little bit more subtle, as we get older. It's more of the passive aggressive kind of stuff. After having kids, you'd think that we'd be better people but many of us are not. I think I'm a better person after having children and I try to teach my children not to be mean, but sometimes I wonder if it will work. After all these years and all the different parenting books/techniques that have been introduced, it almost seems like we as a society are no better than we were 30 years ago. In fact it almost seems worse with the introduction of the internet into the picture. People still get terrorized.

I mean really people let's get a life and act a little bit more mature. In my mom's group alone, a couple really surprising incidents happened. One mom-- a great mom that is completely involved and absolutely nice person was treated rudely despite all the work she put into the club. Another mom-- a smart, amazing, fantastic mom that fosters so much imagination in her children, received horribly mean anonymous letters. It's all so petty and annoying.

So STOP!! Make a decision to make it stop with you and remember that the bystander is almost as guilty as the bully.

A Lecture

About a month ago, I went down to San Diego to visit my best friend from high school. My kids love both her and her husband as if they were their Aunt and Uncle. We stayed there overnight and she got to see inside my chaotic, whiny, temper tantrum and crying filled world. That may be why, before we left, she gave me a book about living life. She gave me Randy Pausch's book, titled "The Last Lecture."

I had heard of him previously around the time that he passed away. The last lecture of this Carnegie Mellon professor was circulating around YouTube like wildfire. I saw bits and pieces of it but I never actually SAW the lecture. After reading the book, I would definitely like to see his last lecture. I found the book to be quite inspiring. It's about a man that is trying to enjoy life and help others enjoy life despite the his grim pancreatic cancer diagnosis. His love of life could be seen in spite of his cancer within this book and in his last lecture, which was ultimately for his young children to see. It's filled with many life lessons that are useful to any person at any stage of their life...a teenager, a recent college graduate, and even a mother of three that sometimes loses track of time. :)

I think Randy Pausch's life lessons and legacy for his children can be best summed up with a quote from the end of the book:

"It's not about how you achieve your dreams. It's about how to lead your life. If you lead your life the right way, the Karma will take care of itself. The dreams will come to you."

So, with Mr. Pausch's words in mind, live your life well, do the right thing and be an awesome role model for your children.