Mom’s thoughts | Hip to be Mom

If you’re not sure which is the mother and which is the daughter, don’t second-guess.
Don’t pick up the call if you don’t recognize the number.
Just because you’ve driven past a building (and I’m not just talking metal buildings here) 837,239 times before doesn’t mean you’ll be able to find it again, just like that.
Always unplug the modem even if it’s looking bright and sunny outside.
When all else fails, sandwiches always work.

What did you learn this week?

Joyce of From This Side of the Pond is inspired by apples, peaches and pumpkins this week. So that’s where we’re headed with the questions.

1. What do you do at the first sign of a cold? Will you get a flu shot this year?

Lots of water and Vitamin C. I wrote a post about this recently, you can read it here.

2. What advice can you give about how to conquer fear?

Close your eyes, say a prayer and jump.

3. Share two good things about your life right now.

Watching my teens grow, and eating out.

4. A hot fall fashion trend for 2011 is a return to sixties style…tunics with pants, shift dresses, pencil skirts, cinched waists, bold prints, high necklines and short lengths to name a few. How does this fashion trend fit with your wardrobe and personal sense of style?

I’m not really sure about the 60′s but I do love pencil skirts. Most of my skirts are pencils (convenient for times when I can’t find a pencil ). I definitely love bold colors and prints especially on my nails.

5. Were you involved in scouting as a kid? How about as an adult?

Yup,� I have some great memories of cookouts on the beach (with a dash of salt and sand in our food, sure!), hiking and camping, singing and doing silly dances around campfires, washing cars for charity, jamborees, the works. Wish my kids had had a chance at scouting the good old-fashioned way, long before iPads and cell booster homes.

6. Apple, pear, plum, pumpkin…your favorite fall flavor?

Apple. I’m thinking of apple pie. Hmm, maybe I’ll bake one this weekend.

7. What characteristics do you think are essential in a good teacher?

I think being passionate about teaching and the subject matter forms the basis to being a good teacher. Sprinkle on some patience, creativity and a love for working with people, and I guess you’re set. I’m a fairly new teacher (started teaching college and working adults a few years ago) so I still have a lot to learn. But I’m loving it so far. It’s a lot of laughs and I try to make it fun for my students as well because I believe if you enjoy learning, you’ll find it easier and less of a chore.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Waiting for the weekend…

Stuck at home with the sniffles last weekend, the girls and I cuddled up for several movie nights and one of the movies we watched was The Switch. Okay, I had no idea Jason Bateman was still acting but hey guy, you’re still pretty hot! This is where my girls start grimacing and contorting their faces at their Mom’s choice of cute.

Never mind, on with the show. So Kassie (Jennifer Aniston) wakes up one morning to the loud ticking of her biological clock and decides she must have a kid. So the hunt for a sperm donor begins and she finally settles on Roland, an overly energetic and enthusiastic guy who would probably be out trying to tame a set of maxxim custom wheels as soon as he runs out of rocks to climb.

At the insemination party (harhar!), Kassie’s BFF, Wally (Jason Bateman) inadvertently switches Roland’s ingredients with his own. I’m not going to give too much away here in case you haven’t watched the movie.

Fast forward 7 years and Kassie returns to town with her son, Sebastian, who not only hits it off with Wally but also bears an uncanny resemblance, characterwise, to the man. And as parents, we all know how it thrills us to catch nuances of ourselves in our kids .

So what did I think of the movie? Loved it. Would watch it again.

Watched it? Watch it again? What do you think?

Getting phone calls after 9:30pm.
Filling out forms.
Eating with my fingers. Any food that requires more than two fingers to pick up, I’ll pass!
Sharing food or drinks with anyone other than immediate family.
Being kept waiting for anything more than 10 minutes.
People breathing down my neck. Literally.
Bad customer service. I have enough stories to fill a book half a foot thick.
Killing anything that moves. Yes, I’m the one who opens the car windows to let out that one piddly mosquito!
Talking to people who don’t answer.
Any function that excludes my kids.

How about you?

By the way, here are some of the things I enjoy.

For the past week, I’ve been stressing about a trip I had to make that would take me out of the civilized world, as I know it. You would be stressing too if you were anywhere as directionally challenged as I am. I blame it entirely on my bad genes, of course… and the fact that I refuse to get myself a GPS.

Okay, fine, maybe I’m just being silly, or illogical, or stubborn. But I’m not sure I want an electronic control freak telling me where to go! That and the fact that year after year, I’ve had to answer frantic calls from my cousin saying her husband’s been driving around in circles and they’re completely lost getting to my place.

It seems we’re not just a family of directionally-challenged, we’re also in the habit of marrying the directionally-challenged. But in her case, it’s not that they refused to get a GPS, it’s that they were lost in spite of one!

As for my trip to nowhere yesterday, I had Raine with me, my trusty navigator who helped me get out of that SF fix. But no GPS. Armed simply with paper and pen, she was busy leaving a trail of breadcrumbs so Hansel and Gretel could find their way home later.

Am I the only person in the modern world who does not own a GPS? Just sayin’.

Painting my nails. It’s therapeutic.
Afternoon naps. Something I never got to do when I was working full-time.
Working out. But you already know that.
Eating out. I love to cook but sometimes I’d rather not.
Making funny faces at little kids and watching their reactions. Could this be some kind of disorder, you think ?
A good laugh. So good to laugh at yourself too sometimes.
Lazing around over an ice-blended coffee with my teens. Maybe there’s a slow mo inside the hyper after all.

Being crazy now and then. Like breaking into song in an opera-like voice, or jumping up and dancing.
Dressing up. Finding a ball to go to, now that’s another story!
Trying new recipes. Often inspired by my picky eaters.

Okay, that’s it from me for now. Your turn…