noa's sense of humor is developing right before my eyes, and it's a riot to witness! lately her favorite pastime is coming up with ways to make the people around her laugh, and once she discovers a method that gets good results she sticks with it for awhhile. for about a month now her all-purpose one-liner has been to shake her head mock-sadly and say "the economy..." and it has people (our family, friends, strangers at the grocery store!) ROFL-ing. HA!-- read more >>

i'm a bit confused by the recent anti-obama sentiment that he's a "socialist", and i'm not sure why this would be such an awful thing if it were true. i know that extreme socialism is pretty close to communism, but aren't there different ways that socialism can be implemented in a society, to specifically prevent it from become communist?? from what i read, socialism would be a way to counteract the class system that capitalism has created in america...which if i'm not incorrect is failing, right?!?

i've been trying to do some online research on this stuff, because it's all really confusing to me. so far the articles i've come across have all been very factual and encyclopedia-ish, but i would love some input about how a socialist government would affect america right now. specifically, is obama really leaning toward socialism?? what would socialism mean for the poor working class in our country?? what would it mean for the wealthy??

teach me, mamas! i have a thirst for knowledge on this subject that only some smart, hip mama input can quench for me!

adam quit drinking coffee for the new year (he also completely cut out alcohol and dairy!!) and he's miserable right now. this is day three without any caffeine and he says his head hurts so much he's having a hard time working. does anyone have any suggestions for anything he can do to make this transition a little easier on him?? please and thankyou!

being cozied up under a soft fleece blanket with my little girl, her warm little palm stroking my cheek while she whispers the words to "twinkle twinkle little star" into my neck. {sigh}...ecstasy!

this may be a huge TMI violation, but i don't really have anyone to talk about it with IRL, so here goes.... i have herpes, and i'm having a KILLER outbreak right now. like, walking is making my eyes water. ugh. i had my first outbreak about 5 years ago and got it alot when i was preggo, but since then i only get it a couple times a year. my immune system must be seriously f*cked right now because i've been so sick lately, so here i am recovering from this shitty flu-ish thing and also dealing with a serious case of crotch pain. i am not really a happy camper, mamas.-- read more >>

my energy IS up a bit today, but i still feel so shitty. i'm sooo tired and achy, my head is throbbing, and my lungs feel like they're filled with sand...how much longer is this going to go on for???-- read more >>

i was feeling really achy and rundown all week, but then my lungs started feeling very tight and heavy for a few days, and i was feeling like i couldn't get full breaths in. i went to the walk-in center and they said my right lung sounded pretty bad, which they assumed was due to pneumonia and ordered some chest x-rays. the results showed no pneumonia (thankfully), so the doctor thinks i just have a cold/flu bug that's hitting my lungs really hard.-- read more >>

fill in the blank with whatever you want to, and that's what i hear from noa about a dozen times a day. "i don't like that shirt anymore." "i don't like this book anymore." "i don't like this store anymore." "i don't like apple juice anymore." "i don't like school anymore." "i don't like my bed anymore." "i don't like this song anymore."-- read more >>

noa's stepgrandpa got her this kickass snowsuit for her birthday and she had a chance to really break it in this weekend with the two feet of snow we got....she's a fearless snow adventurer, and i love seeing how much fun she has!

disclaimer: i'm totally ripping this question off from a jezebel post i just read, but i'm snowed in and i really want to read all your answers, mamas! so tell me, tell me, tell me!

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we're among the very lucky few that have had it restored, since hundreds of thousands of people are still without it (my mom and most of my friends among them, unfortunately). i distracted myself last night with some beer and an inspired performance of blondie's "one way or another" while i was playing rock band with adam's roomates, and then late last night someone who lives in my building called to tell me that the power had come back on...WOO-HOO!-- read more >>

my state (not to mention alot of new england) is a frigging disaster right now. most of us are without power, and pretty much *every* hotel in NH and MA is full. it rained for about 48 hours straight, and then dropped down to about 20 degrees last night during the worst of the downpours....everything turned into one giant sheet of ice. trees and branches started collapsing everywhere under all the extra weight, taking homes and power lines with them.-- read more >>

so, adam actually saved up enough to get us a wii for christmas--WOOHOO!! i'm not even really a big gamer but i'm totally psyched about this. i've never played any of the games before and don't know which one i should get for us....i'm thinking super mario galaxy or lego indiana jones, but mario party and mario kart look really fun too. does anyone out there have a wii that could tell me about some of the games??

so i bought the "play and freeze" ice cream ball for the kids at work for christmas (and for a friend's daughter), and i want to find some rock salt to go with it. i found 5 lb bags on @m@zon.com for only 3 bucks, but there's no way i want to pay shipping charges for that, so i need to find some locally. what's my best bet-- a craft store? specialty foods store? i have no clue where to go, and i don't want to drive all over the place looking for it! any help for me, mamas?

okay, so maybe i'm totally ungrateful but adam's mom is buying these boots for noa:
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she's been single for yeeeears now, and she recently joined match.com to try to meet someone...she's emailed with a couple guys recently but this is the first time she's actually met any of them. they met tonight for drinks at a busy local restaurant and i made her swear she would call me when she left to give me all the details. she just called a couple minutes ago, and it sounds like it went amazingly! she said he's smart, funny, handsome, and best of all, NICE!-- read more >>

Fred Phelps and his group of evil followers are coming to boston next friday (the 12th) to protest the local opening of the laramie project (which is the play documenting the death of matthew shepard). phelps is a seriously *evil* motherf*cker, and has devoted his entire life to spreading his message of hate and intolerance.-- read more >>

i've been doing pretty good lately about getting into the gym for some quality time with the elliptical machine, and tonight i worked my ass off for sixty minutes. fucking yay for me!-- read more >>

it still feels strange but exciting to be a family again! we took these the other night with adam's phone in the bathroom after we all washed up for bed. check out how short my hair is now! (and check out noa's awful little impetigo cuts...) this is the only ho i'll be posting for while since the usb port on my computer is broken and i can't upload from my camera anymore...so sad, since i love posting ho!

hey mamas, it's been awhile so i thought i'd share another of miranda july's Learning to Love You More assignments. i loved reading your responses the last time i posted one, and i hope you have fun with this one!

all of us mamas deserve props for how much we do for our families, but right now i want to congratulate all the brand-new mamas around here again! turtle, enelesn, and blueorange....i hope you're all enjoying getting to know your baby girls, and i hope your first thanksgiving holiday with them was a peaceful one. love you guys, and can't wait to hear more tales from the trenches as your girls grow!! (p.s- mommyisadiva, i'll include you in this too because i know you're about to pop any second, if you haven't already!)

yesterday afternoon at work C, age ten, came home from school and sat on the couch playing video games while listening to his ipod. at one point i heard him humming along to that justin timberlake song 'rock your body'....you know, the one that goes "i've gotta have you naked by the end of this song"? so a little while later i casually asked him "are you allowed to pick whatever you want for your ipod or do your parents have to think it's okay before you download it?" and he told me "oh, no, they sit and do it with us so they know we're not downloading bad songs."-- read more >>

noa is at work with me today and a little while ago she looked like she had something in her mouth. i stormed over, ready to do the mouth-sweep, and asked "WHAT DO YOU HAVE IN YOUR MOUTH?!"...and she grinned up at me and said "boogers, mama!"

know what? i don't even really care. i'm just happy it wasn't glass!

my little monkey lady started climbing out of her crib a little over week ago, so i moved her into a bed. she's doing really well in it, but the one thing that's killing me is that she gets up now at like 6:30 in the morning...and this is a girl who used to sleep until about 8:30. i think she's just so psyched about her newfound freedom that when she stirs a little in the morning she ends up realizing "i'm in a bed! i can climb out and roam the house!-- read more >>