Warning: I’m about to dump a bunch of raw words into your feeds, but I really need to throw my intentions out into the ether, you know, to make sure that shit sticks. Okay, now that the straights are gone, I can open up and speak a couple of truths, and if you're still here, thank you! I walked away from my “dream job” a year ago: A position that allowed me to financially support our household, while GarthNHRN and I continued to help care for our handicapped parents. I turned my back on people (team members/friends) who trusted me... Continue reading

Since you've been gone, Evelyn Grace Thompson has happened, and she's got her Nagy Papa's eyes, too. I sat down and logged into my blog, for the first time in a very long while, and found a post sitting in draft mode for more than 2 years: A funny parody of Children's Songs I was attempting to adapt for the Sandwich Generation: Think "The Wheels on the Bus" as "The Wheels on the Rollater," going round, and round. Which I finally deleted (frankly, there's nothing funny about getting old) and then I found myself deleting more than typing—because now, everything... Continue reading

I received a notification from Facebook recently, letting me know that...HEY!!!...we're going to delete this page you created, forever ago...because WE ARE FACEBOOK...and whatever Facebook wants, FACEBOOK GETS, right?!?! At first, I was all...meh, there hasn't been any activity on this particular page since 2010...and A LOT has happened, since then...soooo, who cares...g'head, deeeeeeleeeeeete it!!! And then, the logical more smarter part of my brain kicked in (yes, it DOES exist!) and something inside me said....hey, DUMBASS!!!....maybe you should click on over and see what got Facebook all...WE'RE KICKING YOUR PAGE OFFA FACEBOOK...you know...just in case. Hey look! The year... Continue reading

Our son signed up to become a Marine, at the beginning of his senior year of high school, through their early enlistment program, which means we've had almost a full year to prepare for Glen's departure – although it seems like yesterday I grounded him until boot camp. Glen's recruiter, at Glen's high school graduation And we played out each day, with a little more reverence for military families, while trying to better understand and appreciate our son's life-long dream of serving in the military was going to happen, whether WE were ready or not. Still. I personally found myself... Continue reading

Never underestimate the power of our olfactory receptors, because we Moms are bound to become the collective brain trust of bad smells! Continue reading

I've been blogging for a while -- like the equivalent of a Jurassic period of time, in Internet years -- and man have things changed since those early days of dialing in and waiting more than a nano-second for your modem to connect, I could: Clean up breakfast Take a shower Or not And then eat MY breakfast, for lunch And I'd still have time to pick my two oldest up from pre-school, before FINALLY getting online! via GIPHY For my first blog post of 2017, however, I'm going to attempt to do what I've done for the last 13... Continue reading

I was excited to have been invited to attend an evening performance of Kinky Boots The Musical on Broadway last week, and absolutely thrilled about my being allowed to bring a guest, so I asked my 15-year old if she would like to join me, you know, for a Mother/Daughter Broadway date, or something. Todrick Hall (c)Matthew Murphy OMG!!!...was her response, followed by...TODRICK HALL!!!...and then...OMG, TODRICK HALL!!!...and this is about the time I started to feel really, really excited about these tickets...beeeeecause...OMG, 15-YEAR OLDS ALMOST NEVER SMILE...and...OMG, MY 15-YEAR OLD CANNOT STOP SMILING!!! Rainstorm or nah, #KinkyBoots here we come!... Continue reading

Source My husband, Garth (not his real name) and I have been married for...uhhhhhh...okay, so we've been married for nearly...ummmmm...a lot of years, however, we still sometimes experience ah-HAH moments, you know, liiiiiike enjoying a quiet morning walk before work, while I try and figure out my travel schedule and my husband goes through our meal plan for the week, and...whoa...we're both all...maaaaan, but how our lives have changed, eh? My husband has taken over a lot of the cooking and it's not like I don't know HOW to cook (been doing it since I was 10!), now I just... Continue reading

Our youngest cut her own hair when she was 3 years-old (the only one of our four to ever do that, by the way), because being the youngest can be really hard, you know? Unless you have (and know how to rock) a pair of pink cowgirl boots, of course! Garth (not his real name) and I have always tried really hard to help our kids cultivate their own sense of style (i.e., point them toward the clearance racks and just get out of their way), however, Hope had fully-grasped her sense of...um...uniqueness at a very young age. Still, it's... Continue reading

It's been 36 minutes, since I hugged my son and wished him luck, reassuring him "not to worry," and "you got this," as I followed him through our front door and watched him get into his recruiter's car. I then proceeded to spend the next 36 minutes reliving the last 17 years, as parents do, with every passing milestone, I suppose. However, this time, Garth (not his real name) isn't home to reassure me that "he'll be fine," and there's really "no need to cry," because he's staying at my parents' house, helping to take care of my Dad and... Continue reading

If you were to ask me, as a social media enthusiast and OG blogger (never mind, just exactly HOW old gangstuh, you whippuh-snappuh, you!), hey Liz (psssst, that's me!), what IS the MOST difficult part of blogging...wait, I KNOW THIS!...for me, it's typing out this introductory sentence. This first paragraph is crucial, as it serves as a mini-outline for the blog post: It tells the reader what the blog post is about -- the hook, if you will. Here's mine: Life with teenage/adult kids does NOT get any less complicated, in fact, I haven't performed THIS many face-palms in the... Continue reading

I've always been a big fan of Fridays. In fact, my first published article (outside of this blog) from October 16, 2003 (forever ago, in Internet years) is entitled, "TGIF" and dedicated to all my fellow full-time stay-at-home Moms, who also looked forward to Fridays, as I did, at the time. Eleventy-three years later, I'm now a full-time working-outside-the-home-type Mom, while my husband plays the role of the stay-at-home parent (way better than I ever did, btw!) who's grown to truly appreciate the magic of three-day weekends, too! Last week, I was able to take off the Thursday AND Friday... Continue reading

My husband and I have always been avid readers. I'm not sure exactly how many books (hardcover and paperbacks) we've collected over the 25 years we've been married, because that would involve digging them out, dusting them off and actually counting them and, well, ain't nobody got time for that, but I'm pretty sure the number is in the hundreds. And I have a confession to make. Ready? Okay! Here it is: I am a historical romance novel addict, from way back. Date night with my oldest and youngest girls. If anyone needs me, I'll be right here...immersed in one... Continue reading

GarthNHRN and I have been married for 25 years (and YES, it totally does sound like a lot of years to be married and IT IS a very long time to be married, to the same person!) and we've been parents for 22 years (wut?!?!) and I've been a full-time mom (while working part-time from home as a professional blogger, writer and content producer) ever since. Until this past April: When I accepted a full-time position at my current job. And then my husband lost his job, in October. This is the first time I'm speaking of it in a... Continue reading

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I used to be a planner, also super-organized (and this is the part where my husband would insist otherwise and I would end any possibility of a long, drawn out debate, by insisting back "WAS SO!" Because I am a great debater, like that!), but those days seem so long ago. I knew if I just held out long enough, mismatched plates and glasses would become a thing (are so!). In our house, the holidays were my Olympics! I researched recipes, collected odds and ends for binge-crafting sessions with the kids and made lists for ALL things holi"daze". This year?... Continue reading

Our youngest daughter is not a fan of hospitals. Not that anyone we know is all...yay, we're going to the hospital!!!!...or anything...but if she were to measure up with her three siblings, when it comes to being squeamish, Hope has succesfully unlocked the "Holy Crap, I'mma Throw Up!" achievement medal at the age of 8. If it is associated in any way, shape or form to the medical profession, she will work herself into a full blown anxiety attack and then projectile vomit all over your nice, crisp, white medical lab coat -- you're welcome! At fourteen, it bothers her... Continue reading

Yesterday started out uneventfully enough -- I hopped onto the train (okay, so it was more like a slow side-step, being very weary of not falling in between the dreaded gap) settled into my seat (near the emergency exit, of course!) and then started playing around with my phone. What?!? I get bored, easily. And then my left eye began to twitch and I started rubbing it...and rubbing it...and daaaaaaang, what is UP with the itching...so I rubbed it some more, blaming the stupid cat or the dumbass dog for dumping hair all over the house. I got into work... Continue reading

I love going through my Instagram feed, especially while riding the train, first thing in the morning. You people take good pictures, while I play with apps and filters and pretend like I know what the heck I am doing. Photo apps are so much more forgiving, they make even the most...meh, it's a drawbridge...image worth an extra 3 seconds of non-scrolling. Today, I took this picture of one of my favorite little coves along the water (in between the Raritan River and the New York Bay) and a drawbridge...but, well, the poor drawbridge can't help its utilitarian feel. I... Continue reading

Many of my friends with younger children aren't very fond of Daylight Savings and rightfully so. It takes a while (if ever) to adjust a child's internal clock and convince them that...yes, I know it's still light outside...and YES!!!... it is SO bedtime. If you have teens then you already know -- rebooting is near to impossible once they've executed an all systems shut down -- asking them to get up earlier than they need to? It's like a scene out of Clash Of The Titans, where Zeus hesitantly asks Poseidon to...WAKE...THE...KRAKEN...while us mere mortals duck and cover. Note: I'm... Continue reading

With my working full-time and commuting into "the city" (NYC, if you live in and around "the city") 3 days out of the week, my kids and my husband have taken over some of the cooking...okay, they do a lot of the cooking...fiiiiiiiiiine...I haven't cooked a solid meal since April. Oatmeal craisin cookies Garth(NHRN) is an especially gifted baker and I would do almost anything to bite into one of his delectable cookie creations (that's what SHE...I mean...that's right, I said it!) like those up there, they ARE my favorite! And now he's experimenting with real food. Herbed chicken casserole... Continue reading

It’s that time of year, again! November is National Blog Posting Month, when many of us blogger-types are reminded about how much we USED to blog...dammit...and, truth be told, although committing to writing every day in November is ambitious (even for social media enthusiasts, like me) I could really use a good brain-vomit (you're welcome!) soooooo, let's catch up, shall we? Dad, after waking up from yet another procedure, this morning: Hey Babe, I made it! Mom, giggling a little: That's a good thing!!! Still a long road ahead, but they make a pretty danged good team, yeah? Sorry I'm... Continue reading

I have straight fine hair (and by fine I mean not like...duuuuude, you got some fine-looking hair... but more like...duuuuude, your hair is soooooo fine, can't do nothing wit-it!), so I keep it short and make sure to take many selfies on good hair days...you know...to document...on the Internet...forever and ever, amen. "What color are we doing, today?!?" Fortunately, my hairdresser has known me for a very long time and happens to be a good friend of mine. "Oh, I don't know, surprise me!" She is also a master colorist and a Ninja with a pair of razor shears. We... Continue reading

I'm headed to Chicagoland to visit my sistuh-from-anuh-thuh-muh-thuh, Melisa (YAY!) so my husband dropped me at the airport a little early before going into work, today. Ticketing Agent: I'm sorry, but you can't check in any earlier than 4 hours before your departure. Fiiiiiiine, I was waaaaay earlier, but it's okay. Garth (NHRN): Maybe you can see if there is an earlier flight you can get on. The thing is, here's the thing: This particular flight has first come first served sort of seating and I had a pretty good boarding spot. Me: I don't mind, I'll just watch all... Continue reading