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April 28, 2006

Fab Five Friday-Five Things I Want Now

For today's installment of Fab Five Friday, I bring you five things I lie away at night thinking about. Okay, that's an exaggeration. But I'd really love to own this stuff:

1. Sex and the City, The Complete Series--Owning this set would pretty much make my life complete.
2. Scotty Dog Laptop Sleeve from Shop City Girl--Sold out, but I'm waiting.
3. Transcend's JetFlash120--Ever since I saw my friend wearing a necklace with his flash drive dangling off the end, I've been pining for one of my own to hold all my work documents. These come in cool colors.
4. Linea Paolo 'Lourdes' Pump--I want a pair in every color they offer. The little studs make this pump fun and unique.
5. Anything from Bella Art--This online store would make any avid crafter drool.

Posted by L.C. at 08:05 AM | | Comments (4) | TrackBack
Filed under: Friday Fab Five | Meaningless Gab | Shopping

April 27, 2006

Fun Shoe Quiz

shoe
Wanna have some mindless, girly fun? Check out the Fashion Matchmaker Designer Shoes game at ivillage. Just match up the shoes with the designer. It's much harder than it sounds, unless you're a true, shoe-obsessed fashionista.

If you're still looking for ways to waste time after that one, check out Gagirl.com's quiz section. She has lots of fun and fast stuff, like the Lipstick Personality Quiz and the Ice Cream Quiz.

Posted by L.C. at 07:49 AM | | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Filed under: Beauty/Fashion

April 26, 2006

Is it Hot in Here or is it Just Me?

Yes, I think it happened. I think I had my very first hot flash the other day. I was driving to the high school to pick up my daughter, and all of the sudden I felt hot and clammy and started sweating. A few minutes later, it was gone.

To be perfectly honest, I'm not sure that it was a hot flash. I hadn't been feeling great all day, and I was a tad nauseous before this. But for me, the possibility that this was a peri-or-pre-menopausal-relate hot flash made me stop and think. I'm not upset, and I don't suddenly feel old. But the episode did make me start thinking about how my body and my life are changing, as I get closer to my 42nd birthday.

The other day I was getting ready to go out and I noticed, for the first time, that my neck is looking pretty wrinkly. Or is it saggy? I don't know, but it looks different. I've also noticed that my hands have started to show my age a lot too. And of course, those gray hairs poking out of my head are kind of a pain to deal with. But you know something? I just don't seem to care about all this stuff like I thought I would. I notice what's happening, but it's more like I'm watching a science experiment or something. And I am test subject. Hmm.

P.S.--Last day to visit my renter!

Posted by L.C. at 08:48 AM | | Comments (7) | TrackBack
Filed under: Health

April 24, 2006

Study Shows Women 45+ Are Happier

There was a time, not long ago, when most of the women I knew dreaded the big 4-0. But according to a recent study by AARP, many women in their forties are experiencing more happiness and freedom than ever.

Some of the study's findings show:

  • Many women find growing older has been a more positive experience than they anticipated
  • 61% feel financially prepared for their later years
  • 81% consider themselves to be in good health

You can download the full report here, on the AARP Web site.

And don't forget to visit my renter--she has just a day or so left!

Posted by L.C. at 12:46 PM | | Comments (3) | TrackBack
Filed under: General 40ish | News/Media/Studies

April 21, 2006

Almost Another Teenage Tragedy

According to this article on MSNBC:

"Five high school students were expected in court Friday on charges that they fully intended to go on a shooting spree at their high school — a plot officials said was foiled when one of them discussed it on a Web site."

Apparently, the Kansas high school students, aged 16 to 18, planned for the attack to occur on the anniversary of the deadly, 1999 Columbine shooting spree. Authorities were tipped off to the planned attack when a woman who found threats on a MySpace site contacted them. Perhaps this is one case where the existence of the much-maligned MySpace social networking site may well have helped prevent a horrible tragedy.

Posted by L.C. at 01:46 PM | | Comments (5) | TrackBack
Filed under: News/Media/Studies | Parenting

Friday Fab Five: Some Cool Mom Blogs

Okay, I could just post a list of sites that are already in my blogroll and link sites of online moms I know a little bit or get frequent comments from. But the journalist in me wanted to create an unbiased, I-have-no-affiliation-to-these-people list of mom blogs I enjoy.

So without further adieu, here 'tis:

1. CityMama
2. Mother Talkers
3. Stranded in Suburbia
4. Incoherent Ramblings of a Punk In Suburbia
5. Artsy Mama

Sorry I have no time to write a little review for each site--I'm busy, busy, busy today with all sorts of meaningless junk. But they're all great sites, I promise, so go visit! And have a fab weekend : )

And don't forget to visit my renter!

Posted by L.C. at 07:14 AM | | Comments (2) | TrackBack
Filed under: Friday Fab Five | Parenting

April 19, 2006

The Undomestic Goddess--A Chick Lit Review

styleA few years ago, I decided my taste in reading (and even most of my movies) was a little too serious. So on a whim, I picked up my very first Chick Lit book: Confessions of a Shopaholic, by Sophie Kinsella. It was like discovering I needed a guilty pleasure after all, and that Chick Lit books were just the answer. I proceeded to read several more books by Kinsella since then, and pretty much loved them all.

This weekend, I finished reading The Undomestic Goddess, Kinsella's latest work, and once again, I was pleased. The story revolves around Samantha, a high-powered attorney in London who has no life outside of her work. Then a mistake at work, followed by a series of mishaps, land her in a job as domestic help, although she can't cook or clean or do much of anything besides practice law. Since she wanted to escape what she thought was a career-devastating error back in London, she fibs her way into a new life, and discovers true happiness for the first time, complete with deep insights about a simpler life and a hunky gardener boyfriend.

Although the story sounds a little sappy, Kinsella manages to pull it off brilliantly. She's funny and succinct, and she makes me love her characters. And as a writer, it's one of those books--as are her others--that makes me say "Damn, why couldn't I have written that?" Oh well. Maybe someday.

Posted by L.C. at 08:30 AM | | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Filed under: Reviews

April 17, 2006

Weird Things

Well it was a fabulous Easter weekend here! We went to church, hung out at my in-laws, and enjoyed the most beautiful weather we've had in a long time.

So Karen from Does She or Doesn't She tagged me this morning, and I have come up with a list of "Weird Things About Me":

1. I am so claustrophobic that when I visited Ruby Falls in Tennessee, I had to literally RUN out of the place crying.
2. In my rooms that have window blinds, all of them have to be at the exact same height or I feel lopsided.
3. I have a near-obsessive love for office supplies.
4. I am slightly afraid of hot tubs.
5. I love lists. I have them for things I need to do, things I have already done, goals, home projects, things I just want to remember--everything.
6. I am very short, and when I wear flat shoes, I stand on my tippy toes a lot so I can look people in the eye.
7. Listening to big band music puts me in a party mood.
8. I don't like carpeted floors.
9. I don't like ice cubes. But I love crushed ice.
10. When I get stressed out, I clean, decorate, and make more lists.
11. I don't like it when the foods on my plate touch each other.
12. I have a favorite toe--right foot, the one in the middle.
13. I think my dog can read my mind.

Anyone else want to play? Leave me your list in a comment, or a link to your site in comment, or send me a trackback.

Posted by L.C. at 10:30 AM | | Comments (2) | TrackBack
Filed under: Meaningless Gab

April 14, 2006

Coolest Gift for a Teenage Girl

My daughter will soon be a licensed driver, and a few weeks ago, I was looking for a birthday gift for her. Of course, she has just about EVERYTHING she needs (not everything she wants, but most everything she needs). So I was trying to think of something that was just really cute, different, and maybe even a little practical for a girl her age, when I found the Safety Girl Roadside Emergency Kit. This fabulously clever kit includes all you need for on-the-road emergencies, like:

  • an emergency blanket
  • instructions for changing a flat tire and jump-starting a battery
  • bandages
  • safety matches
  • and other safety items.

But every girly girl knows looking and feeling fabulous will also help you get through a true emergency, so the brilliant chicks at Safety Girl have also included:

  • aromatherapy headache remedy
  • deodorant
  • tampons
  • a nail file
  • a piece of chocolate
  • and other fun stuff, all contained in a cute, pink, lunchbox-style tin.

Brilliant. Simply, brilliant. And my daughter and her friends love it.

Posted by L.C. at 04:29 PM | | Comments (3) | TrackBack
Filed under: Parenting | Shopping

April 12, 2006

When Your Babies Aren't Babies Anymore

The day after I graduated from college, I overheard my parents having what seemed to my 22-year-old self to be a strange conversation. They were talking about how their youngest child was now a full-fledged adult, and soon, their nest would be completely empty of their offspring for the first time in more than three decades. My father sat in silence for a long time, and then turned to my mother and said "what now? It's kind of like dying isn't it?"

My mother insisted that it wasn't, but in a way, she was wrong. Part of their lives did die that day. They'd been parents for such a long time, they couldn't figure out how to be anything else. A few weeks later, my parents separated, and a few years after that, their divorce was final. Of course, there were many other factors at play here, but I think the fact that their baby was leaving forced them to examine their lives very closely. They decided they'd be happier apart, and there was nothing holding them in their unhappy union any longer, since I was leaving and moving to another state.

When my oldest child turned 16 yesterday, I remembered that day back in 1986, and I started thinking about milestones in general. I remember feeling sad when my son began kindergarten, and also when he finished elementary school. Like I was to my parents, he is the baby in the family, and his milestones represent the beginning of one stage, but the sometimes-sad end of another. At his fifth grade graduation, I turned to my husband and said "we'll never have another child in elementary school again." Then I realized why so many of the women around me were crying.

So now I am the mother of a 16 year old, and I have no idea how that happened. I am excited for her, because teenagers are so in love with the world, as they explore and learn and grow into adults. I am scared for what she sees everyday, the responsibilities she will soon have, and the world my generation is handing her. And for myself, I feel just a bit of what my father might have felt on the day I graduated. I still have a younger child at home, and I don't really feel like a part of me is dying. But for a moment yesterday, I felt a deep, sad loss. Because my little girl isn't a little girl anymore. And I'll never have one in my house again.

Posted by L.C. at 08:49 AM | | Comments (3) | TrackBack
Filed under: General 40ish | Parenting

April 10, 2006

Spirits in the Material World?

I am back home after spending a few days at the beach near Charleston, S.C. The weather was great, the beach was beautiful, and we got to do lots of fun stuff.

We arrived Wednesday and explored the island. We hadn't been there in a few years, and the most difficult part at first was learning to S-L-O-W down. I mean that literally. Driving at 25 mph takes some practice, since I'm used to road-raging city streets. We managed to get the hang of just laying around by the end of the first day, and proceeded to eat lots of junk food, watch movies, and just hang out and enjoy each other's company. We also saw a couple of alligators, which reminded me of my old college days in Florida. Good times. Good times.

The craziest thing happened Thursday night. We went on a ghost tour that night, which we have done twice before. But on this one, we went into a dungeon (an old jail) that was supposed to be haunted. We didn't see anything there, but then we went into an alley, where several murders supposedly took place in the 1800s. Several people in the group said they felt like they were being watched in the alley, but to be honest, I didn't feel anything. I'm not a skeptic by nature, and I've always thought of myself as pretty in touch with the supernatural. (Something passed down from my mama--she used to talk to ghosts all the time.)

So after we left the haunted alley, the tour guide showed us some photos of what was supposed to be ghosts--photos that have a cloudy, white, unexplained mass somewhere on them. As he was telling us about a particular ghost that is said to have been seen by many people near an Episcopal church, my son took a photo with his camera phone of the steeple. He didn't use a flash, it was a very clear night, there were no lights in the area (just on the ground, pointing to the steeple), and no one was around him taking photos. He took several photos of the steeple, and all were clear--except one. You guessed it--there was a cloudy, white mass of something near the steeple in one shot. My daughter and her boyfriend took many photos of the same building, and there was nothing odd in their photos. My son showed the tour guide his photo, and the guide said he's seen several like it of the same building. My son was very excited when the guide told him "Dude, I think you've got something there."

I think my little boy might just be the most popular kid in his middle school today. Okay, the kids might all think he's crazy. But he's got his story and he's sticking to it.

Posted by L.C. at 09:49 AM | | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Filed under: Meaningless Gab