There is snow in the forecast for this week (finally....we have been waiting for it like expectant moms wait for labour--you know it is going to happen, you know it is going to hurt, you just don't know when it is going to actually begin.)

Here is one last glimpse of fall. I took these pictures during a hike in the countryside near our city. A friend who is a wizard with Photoshop brightened up the pictures and made this collage for me to give to the Grandmas for Christmas. I am really happy with how it turned out. I am also happy to help promote my friend's home-based business so if you want to know her name and contact info, drop me a line and I can pass her information on to you.

When did I get old???

I am 33. I thought I was young. Yes, I have been dyeing my hair for12 years because of premature greying, but let's emphasize the word premature here!

So, who says I'm old?? The September Issue of More Magazine.
More is a magazine marketed to women 40 years old and over. Why am I reading it? My mom regularly shares her magazines with me and this is one she passes on. Some of the articles are interesting, but the article entitled How Not to Act Old (with an exerpt of the book by the same name) really rubbed me the wrong way.

According to the article I am Old. Why? I leave voicemail instead of text messages. I wear a watch (there is a clock on your celphone, fogey!), I don't wax , (umm, ouch!) I am interested retro things and I can cook a mean roast.

As someone under 40 this article insults me. I can't imagine it being funny to someone over 40 either. I thought that part of growing up was growing into confidance and maturity. Doesn't that mean I can stop caring about what other people think about me? Doesn't that mean I can stop bending over backwards to try to fit in with all the cool kids?

More, you really dropped the ball on this one. I thought that I was supposed to look to women older than me to learn from them. What am I learning here? That nothing ever changes? That I am supposed to do everything I can to be someone I am not? I don't even think Seventeen magazine is sending that message to their young readers anymore. You are beginning to sound a bit like American Cosmo, undermining my confidance in order to try to make me conform to a predetermined standard. I thought you were supposed to be teaching me to age gracefully and confidantly--not just to lie about my age and cling to a youth that is really not worth clinging to.

So, I am going to start now, Screw you, More Magazine. I am going to put on my 50's style apron, cook a roast and when I call you to invite you to dinner I might just leave a message on your voicemail. Don't RSVP by text message, though. I probably won't get it.

Time for a musical interlude.

I have a two year old that can scale the entertainment unit. Keeping him and our possessions safe has become the main focus of my day. What time left is spent wondering why Char has regressed in her potty training and having the accompanying nervous breakdown over the sheer volume of peepee laundry in my house; the likes of which I haven't seen since I was washing cloth diapers.

This doesn't leave a lot of spare time for thinking deep thoughts and then posting them.
Instead, I give you an original musical number composed and performed by our own artist-in-residence.Please forgive the shaky video. I was fending off Matthew while trying to capture this moment.

I was raised by Muppets

Admit it, most of you reading were too. I don't think it was a bad thing! I loved Sesame Street growing up. Heck, our wedding song was a Muppet Song!


I remember watching Sesame Street with my dad at lunchtime, right after Mister Dressup. I know all of the words to Rubber Duckie a can Do the Pigeon (we had that song on 45!!). I learned how to say my alphabet in French thanks to Sesame Street and can count to 12 in a disco beat. I remember Susan and Luis's wedding and when Mister Hooper passed away.

Now you know how old I am!

Can you believe our street turns 40 this year? It has changed a lot over the years, and admittedly, my kids don't watch it because we don't have cable. I DO plan on getting the commemorative DVDs so my kids can see what it was like before it became the Elmo Show. Why is Elmo such a rockstar now?? Bert and Ernie are much more interesting to me. What about the more secondary characters like Sully and Don Music? I loved Don Music and his tantrums.

So, were you raised by Muppets?