I like gummy bear | i love gummy bear | gummy bear song english

M had her third dance recital on Friday night. Hard to believe she's been doing this for three years! Her class danced to "Workin' at the Car Wash". It was darling. She was wonderful. There's not much more to say except... Can you believe I actually got in a picture?!

Yesterday, for the first time since I left the practice of law almost three years ago, I attended a professional conference. I spent the day at Chicks Who Click/Kansas City with a room full of fun, cool and very interesting women. (There were four or five men there at different points during the day - a speaker, a conference organizer, a product presenter and a husband or two.) The conference was a full day of speakers, conversations and networking - all centered around social media - blogs, Facebook, Twitter and other online social marketing tools. I feel like I learned a good bit and I'm most excited about meeting so many fabulous people. I'm really glad I went. The resounding - if unintended - theme of the day was the importance of authenticity in your (or your client's) participation in online social media. Be yourself. Trying to be someone else will never ring true, will never gain someone's attention or admiration, will never inspire readers to return, will never

I read Karen's post this morning at Chookooloonks about the reasons she left her law career and changed her life. It is titled "the reveal". I have nothing quite so eloquent or dramatic to disclose about my own decision to leave the practice of law after 10 years but I still saw much of myself in the her words. These in particular: Why I practiced law for as long as I did : After working that hard on both making it through law school and passing the bar exam, it seemed a shame not to use the degree and the license. Despite the bad rep lawyers have, I liked that people assumed I was smart because I was a attorney. I'm not proud of this, but there it is. I also liked proving that not all lawyers are jerks, and would often find myself going out of my way to do so. I loved drafting deals. I really loved it. I didn't so much like reading contracts, and I could take or leave the negotiation part of a deal, but the crafting of a document that was easy to understa

Lesson: Don't make fun of the seven-year-old for having sore muscles before you've fully woken up. Because when you get moving and realize that your right arm from forearm to shoulder is achy and your lower back is stiff, you'll realize that you don't even have a cool excuse like Wii Boxing. Just five fucking rose bushes that needed pruning. And that, my friends, is when you come to accept that you're old. Rose bushes kick my ass in one afternoon.

Me (in the car, after Mass last night): Alright, which one of you was tooting all through Mass? G: Oh, that was me... Me: Okay. I know that sometimes you just can't help it. But if you can possibly help it, it is best to NOT toot when you're in a group of people, like at church. G: Okay, sorry. M: You know, Mom. If nobody ever tooted, that would be really helpful. Me: Yes, it would be very helpful. G: But no one would feel very good. The conversation was capped off, I shit you not, by this: Me: OKAY! Who just tooted in the CAR?! M: Oops. That was me...sorry. Not exactly the parental-type lessons I envisioned teaching my kids before I became a parent.

It has rained every weekend since the beginning of April. The kids have played two of their regularly-scheduled six soccer games thus far. Rain-out make-up games have been rained out. Practices have been rained out. Fields are swishy and muddy and nasty. But all of the cancellations have freed up my schedule a bit and that's been nice. Today, though, we were supposed to have an 8am softball practice, a 9:30 soccer game, an 11am baseball practice and a 2pm soccer game. The first soccer game got called last night because of soggy, messy fields. M and J left for the softball practice at 7:55 with droopy eyes and sweatshirts. A few minutes later, J called and asked me to confirm the practice location. I hopped onto my email and replied that practice was at the middle school. The one he was standing at. Alone. Ultimately, no practice. We still don't know why. G and I left at 10:45 for baseball practice. We got the the elementary school ball fields and saw only one team of pre-k kids

Hi! I revamped the site a bit. Hope you like it. Don't tell me if you don't. Thanks. I should have some new posts up soon. Promise!

The Peeps and jelly beans and chocolate bunnies have all been consumed. I'll be picking Easter grass off the floor for months. Plastic eggs back to the basement. Easter is over. At least it is in Kansas City. When I was in college in South Bend, I was exposed to a cultural tradition I had never heard of before (and have never heard of since). Dyngus Day. What is Dyngus Day , you ask? First, it's Easter Monday. Second, it's a Polish thing. Apparently, cities with large Polish populations celebrate it. Which 'splains South Bend's fixation on Dyngus Day. Alongside Buffalo and Chicago, South Bend has the most notable Dyngus Day tradition in the U.S. Sure, there are religious and historical foundations for Dyngus Day - much like there are for St. Patrick's Day. And, like their Irish cohorts, the Poles have turned Dyngus Day into a party. Google tells me that Dyngus Day in South Bend is the traditional kick-off to political campaigns, local, state and national. Politi

Last year, I started receiving solicitation mailers from the AARP - which I believe stands for American Association of Retired Persons? I thought it was funny. A mislabeled, mis-sold mailing list, for sure. Lately though, I've noticed continued mail from the AARP as well as junk mail from companies which I have to believe have purchased the AARP mailing list. I get a shit-ton of solicitations for supplemental Medicare coverage. Yesterday, I was specially invited to check out a new community of maintenance-provided villas in a community for older adults via a lovely postcard. I don't think any of those older adults would appreciate it if I moved in next door with my 7 year old, his basketball goal and scooter, my 6 year old, her bike and traveling circus of toys, my two 2 year old boys and their wagons, riding toys, Fisher-Price lawnmowers and screaming fits. So, anyway. The mail. I finally realized that the AARP (and now the sharers of its lists) truly believe that I am over 50

A year ago, I was a "retired" attorney (the Bars like to call me "inactive", which I take as a personal affront). And a stay-at-home mom with four kids, a Suburban and a blog. The mortgage crisis was taking its financial toll on our family income and I was casually looking around, trying to figure out what I could do to generate a little bit of extra cash. But the conditions were strict. Must be able to continue to stay home. Must have flexible hours due to school, twin toddlers, soccer, basketball, baseball, softball, summer camps, religious ed, dance class, etc. I toyed with re-activating my law license and realized that it would require many hours of (and dollars for) CLE. And the payoff was uncertain. My experience in the legal practice is that most attorneys don't understand/care about the demands of children. (Have I told you the story of my former law partner who volunteered his secretary to babysit my infant in our office so that I could attend a meeting

My mother has offered to stay overnight with the kids this weekend so that J and I can go out, hang out, relax, get a hotel room, eat, shop, drink, whatever. I'm madly doing laundry, cleaning, trying to finish up work, etc. so that I can actually do the relaxing part. Hafta stock the fridge so that Mom doesn't have to trudge out with four kids or order out. So, after I pick the kids up from school, we're headed to SuperTarget. Why not the grocery store? Well, largely because I also have to get a birthday present for G to take to a party on Sunday (my sister, god bless her, is taking him to the party). And the babies could each use a cheap pair of shoes to get them through to summer. But also on my list? Something cute to wear this weekend. And maybe some fun underwear. Not Victoria's Secret and Banana Republic. Freakin' Target. So. This is what it has come to. 37 years old. Married almost 10 years. Four kids. And I'm buying milk, frozen waffles, diapers, Bakugan