Dear Cars Going Down the Road I Wanted to a Make Left Turn on on Saturday:

Why are you all out running around on Saturday morning? I expect there to be traffic during the week, hence I do not attempt to make a left hand turn onto that street during the week. However, it being Saturday, I thought I could get away with it. But no. Because you were all spread so far apart that every time I thought I could either make the turn or at least get in the center lane, someone decided they needed to get in the center lane to make a left hand turn into the shopping center across the street, thus making it impossible for me to turn out of the parking lot I was in. I waited for over five minutes, which may not seem long in the grand scheme of things, but is very long when trying to just get out of a PARKING LOT when you are the first person in line. So, thanks a lot for making me have to finally turn right and go out of my way to get to where I was going.

Sincerely,
Frustrated Errand Runner

Dear Stupid Man Pulling Out of the Parking Space in Front of the Hallmark:

Sir, when you pull out of a parking space, you pull straight back and then turn your car. You DO NOT, under any circumstances, turn your car into the empty space next to you as you are pulling out. Especially if there is a car (mine) trying to zip into the parking space next to you in the short little break before the car that just turned into the parking lot makes it impossible for me to do so. And then, after you do that stupid thing and almost hit me? You do not just sit there staring at me like I need to move. YOU need to pull back into your parking space and back out STRAIGHT like normal people do and THEN turn. You might also want to put your car in reverse so people have a frigging clue what you are going to do. And one more thing, look around before you pull out and see what the cars around you are doing. Just saying.

Sincerely,
Person Wondering How Anyone Could Possibly Be That Stupid

Dear Construction Workers on the Main Street Nearest My House:

Why do you find it necessary to put a no left turn sign out so that if I wanted to turn onto the street that leads to my street (which, by the way, is the only possible way to get there from that direction unless you either a) go past it and farther down the road where you can make a U-turn or b) go through the church parking lot)? If the church parking lot hadn’t been there for me to drive through, I would have probably rolled down my window and said something rude.

Sincerely,
Driver Warning You Not to Screw with My Way Home

Dear Stupid People on the Freeway Coming Home Last Night:

When the speed limit is reduced to 55, and I’m still going almost 70, why do you find it necessary to tailgate me? We’re going SEVENTY for god’s sake. SLOW THE HELL DOWN AND BACK OFF. Or hey, go around me. I don’t care. Jerks.

Sincerely,
Mommy Who Doesn’t Like to Drive on the Freeway in the Dark with My Kid in the Car All the Way Across Town in the First Place

Dear Amazon.com:

I would say thank you for having that awesome sale the other day where some of your children’s books were only 70¢! But since you apparently ran out and aren’t going to send them to me, I can’t express my gratitude. Especially since you are sending me the non-sale book I ordered and charging me for shipping on it even though my original order qualified for free Super Saver shipping. It’s really not my fault you sold out of your merchandise, so I should not have to pay shipping because of it. So try and practice good customer service for once and take the shipping charge off the order. M’kay? Thanks.

Sincerely,
The Person Who Still Remembers that You Didn’t Get the 6th Harry Potter Book to Me on Time and Took 6 Months to Refund My Money

Edited to add: In response to my email, they did indeed agree to take the shipping charges off the order. ;)

Dear Melody:

It is not really a good idea to take one of my shoes and chew the strap off. It makes Mommy very angry. Be a good puppy and LEAVE MY SHOES ALONE.

Love,
The Person Who Makes Sure You Have Food in Your Bowl

Dear Little Girl:

I am sorry that my yelling at Melody made you so upset that you had a tantrum. But tantrums don’t solve anything. It’s a good lesson to learn now because it might keep me from killing you when you’re 14.

Love,
Mommy

A website devoted to kids in the kitchen.

Make your own Play-doh.

If you’ve got kids in sports, this article about sports photography might be worth your while to read.

The ABCs, New York Style, with photos!

Whether you have a Blogger blog or not, this slideshow of the pictures being uploaded to Blogger is really cool. via 1, 2, 3, DUCK!

An amazing animal.

Wouldn’t you like to stop a headache before it even starts? Here’s how.

Just in time for Halloween: fake blood!

A flexible spatula that’s not made of plastic!

If you do a lot of gift baking during the holidays (or any other time), this is a good packaging idea.

I think LG’s dollhouse needs a craft room like this one.

Amen, Mir!

This game is frighteningly addictive.

Don’t know what to wear to an event? Try this site.

Do you love games like ping pong and pool, but don’t have a lot of space? Then this multi-games table is for you.

The problem with the gym is finding time to get there. The problem with work-out videos is it gets boring watching the same thing over and over again. Push is an interesting alternative to both. You get your own personal trainer via specialized dvd workouts sent to your door for a monthly fee. I might just try this out.

Some really great ideas for getting kids to eat vegetables.

Pretty recipe of the week

Tip of the week

Pointless quiz of the week:

Take the Quiz here!

I just installed a new Wordpress plugin (found via Sandier Pastures) called Comment Email Responder that allows any comment I respond to on the blog to also be emailed to the commenter. Which is awesome because I do like to respond to comments, but I usually do it via email which means I do very little responding on my actual blog. Because if you’re anything like me, you don’t always get a chance to go back to the blog where you left a comment and check it. This seems like the best of both worlds, so we’ll see how it works!

If you’d like to help me test it out, leave me a comment, and we’ll see how it works!

Update: Apparently the original version I linked to got taken down due to copyright violations. I found another one, but there’s no telling how long it will be up, so look quickly!

I. love. this!

Found via It’s Not All Mary Poppins.

By the way, LG informed me that it was Little Einsteins!

…you might not be able to find the sippy cup valves when you’re putting the dishes away.

If you can’t find the valves, you might have to ask your husband to help you look for them.

If he helps you look for them, he might find them in the “tunnel”, better known as the garbage disposal.

If he finds them in the garbage disposal, you might say a prayer of thanksgiving that you hadn’t used it in the last couple of days and that the valves are still usable and in one piece.

And then you might remind your husband that he should probably keep an eagle eye on Little Girl when she’s “helping” him with the dishes.

LG talked her Daddy into taking her with him to Home Depot today. When she got back she told me she saw “bones” (a skeleton) and that it “didn’t scare you” (although apparently it did startle her a bit when it talked to her…lol).

Then the competitor in me came out…

Me: Did you like Home Depot better than Joann’s?

LG: Uh huh.

Drat!

Me: Did you like Home Depot better than Target?

LG: Uh uh.

Ha! Target still wins! ;-)

Today we read Cows Can’t Fly. I asked LG if she could fly.

Her reply? “I don’t fink so. I don’t have any wings! We need to get some new wings, Mama.”

Because then she will obviously be able to fly, right? lol!

Do any of your kids watch A Big Big World on PBS? LG love love loves that show. And it doesn’t bug me too much either. Actually, I kind of like it. It has cool music and the closing theme song is one of those songs that you find yourself humming bits of at random times.

It used to be on later in the day, but PBS moved it to 7 am, which is earlier than we get up around here most days, so I’ve been recording it for her and we usually watch it before she goes to bed.

She absolutely adores the main character, Snook, so much so that she actually tries to have conversations with him. But my favorite thing she does happens at the end of the show when Snook sings the closing theme song. At the end of the song he puts his paw (he’s a sloth) up to the tv screen, and she always rushes to to put her hand on his. Sooooo cute. And she sings the theme songs, too.

I found this and I ordered it, of course, so she’ll be getting it either for her birthday or Christmas. I think she will love it.

Bahahahahahaha!

Since LG has bloody noses now and then, I’m always on the lookout for ways to remove stains.

Identify those bugs before you squoosh them.

How to make crystal clear ice cubes.

See how other people rate your doctor.

I love waterfalls.

This might have worked had the designer not chosen such unfortunate colors. Then again, maybe not.

Some really cool math tricks.

How to restuff a teddy bear.

Now here’s an interesting idea: a web-based travel organizer. via Lifehacker

Solutions for modern day problems.

Waterproof paper!

I’ve never been brave enough to join an online swap, but I know a lot of people love them. If you’re one who does, here is a site that lists current swaps going on all over the internet. via CraftGossip

Learn a foreign language! I’m working on Spanish since I’m pretty familiar with it. via Lifehacker

Find local live music. via Lifehacker

Some good advice on making exercise a habit. via Lifehacker

The 10 most effective exercises.

via Trying to Catch Up

Pretty recipe of the week

Tip of the week via Parent Hacks

We decided to get out of the Valley and the heat (although it’s not as bad now that it’s under 100 degrees) for the day yesterday, and took a drive up to Flagstaff. (Read on …)

Today we made Apple Bread Pudding…

Mix, mix, mix…

Stir, stir, stir…

Add the apples…

Yum!

I looked out the window this morning and I saw beautiful puffy clouds, and I knew. I knew deep in my bones that it was finally here. Fall. Here the temperature decreases slowly from the 100s to the 90s to the 80s and then it takes a steep dip and you wake up one day to feel a nip in the air.

There are no beautifully colored leaves to herald the arrival of autumn. Here, you notice a change in the clouds - from the dark threatening monsoon clouds to the gentle puffy clouds I saw this morning. Here, you notice a change in the wind - from the hot summer winds blowing in the monsoon storms in the evening to the gentle rustling breezes of fall which make you want to stay outside all day and enjoy the coolness on your skin.

It’s different than what most of you are used to, but it’s no less thrilling to feel the change of seasons. And the end of the oppressive heat of summer is very welcome. I couldn’t resist going outside to take some pictures today.

Clouds…

Melody trying to flush the cottontails out of their hiding places…

More clouds…

Yardwork…

Even more clouds…

A Little Girl zooming past…

And yet more clouds…

I just have no words for this.

Another site for napkin folding.

How to clean your house in 19 minutes. via sk*rt

How to remove wax from clothing.

I’m a cookie cutter fanatic. I’m not sure why since I don’t actually make cookies all that often, but I still have a sizable collection. I may just have to add these 3-D Halloween cookie cutters to my stash!

October 1 - 7 is “Buy a Friend a Book Week”. Cool.

Take notes online. via Lifehacker

15 uses for aluminum foil. Number 1 works for rotary cutters and paper cutters as well.

These may be the cutest cupcakes ever.

Would you wear this ring?

How to avoid internet phishing scams. via Lifehacker

The ultimate how-to guide to making gift baskets.

Who knew tennis balls could be so useful?

Track airline flights with Google Earth.

Of course this comes out after we’ve pretty much ditched the stroller.

For the Star Wars fan on your Christmas list.

Yes, Virginia, there are reference sites besides Wikipedia. via lifehack.org

Ever thought about marketing your crafts? Then you need to read this blog.

Check out this site that allows you to match fabrics to colors and patterns. via CRAFT Magazine

A pretty alternative to the vibrate setting. On your phone. What were you thinking?

Irons can do it. So why not cooktops, too?

How to talk to professors.

How to store food so it lasts longer. via Lifehacker

Pretty recipe of the week

Tip of the week

I missed my mom today.

My mom has been gone for 7 1/2 years now. Seems hard to believe really. I miss her every day, but most days it’s in the back of my conscience because I’m busy with Little Girl and with day to day life. But there are moments…

I never know when they are going to happen. I never know what it is that will bring that sadness bubbling up to the top of my memory. Sometimes it’s something huge and sometimes, like today, it’s something small, some mundane little thing that flutters through my mind.

Today as we were driving home from having lunch with my friend T and her 7 month old daughter, I passed a store. I couldn’t see the name of the store and I was trying to remember what it was. I knew it started with an “S” and for some reason the only thing I could think of was Sprouse-Reitz. Anyone remember those old five-and-dime stores?

Well, I do. I remember going there with my mom and spending my birthday or Christmas money when I was a kid. I remember how my mom never could pronounce it quite right with her Texas drawl. I remembered those things and I wished my mom was around to go shopping with me and LG in whatever store that was that I couldn’t remember the name of.

And I missed my mom today.