I went furniture browsing today. Hubby mentioned buying an electric fireplace for our living room because its a big room and can be chilly. I think its a great idea. The coziness of a fireplace without the mess of real logs. So I went browsing.

I went to the furniture store where we bought our carpet. They had 4 electric fireplaces. Beautiful looking things for prices between $1,000 and $1,600. But that’s not why this has become a blog worthy topic.

It’s because all four fireplaces came with (are we ready?) — a remote control!

Why do manufacturers think the best way to improve something is buy giving it a remote control? Do we really need to control our window fans, ceiling fans, fireplaces, TVs, cars, windows and who knows what else with a little black box that’s more than likely going to be chewed up, or lost? Yeah, I have dogs and kids. Things get chewed.

And as long as I’m ranting… Why would Mattel see fit to put dog food in the Barbie Pet Shop? As in more than a hundred teeny tiny plastic brown pellets? And if they are going to do this, why not include a resealable bag? I tried to convince Amanda to keep the dog food in the unopened bag. But noooooo…

Thanks for playing.

Yes, that’s right it’s 5 a.m.

What in the heck am I doing up at 5 a.m.? Good question, and yes, I have been to sleep. I even woke up naturally at 5 a.m. (without the aid of an alarm clock).

The idea was to wake up early and get some writing done for deadline day so I can start layout earlier and maybe get home before 11 p.m. It’s now 6 a.m. and I still haven’t written anything.

HOWEVER! I have done dishes, picked up the living room, cleaned the bathroom and made a large dent in a pile of papers on the corner of my desk. I sorted newspapers for recycling, and wiped down tables.

So why clean instead of write? Because tomorrow morning at 7 a.m., my mother-in-law will be at my house. And well, I’d like it to be sorta clean. And this worries me because I will be gone all day today (production day at the newspaper). Which translates to hubby will be home with the kids tonight. I’ll be home around midnight (sooner hopefully) and mil will be here at 7 a.m.

Why will she be here that early? Because my schedule is changing tomorrow and her being here is just one of the many things I had to plan ahead to accomodate me, dh and the kids.

My editor is going to the Michigan Press Association conference in Lansing this weekend. That means I’m taking his place on Friday doing the proofreading of the paper. This means driving to West Branch. For those who don’t know, West Branch is an hour drive for me when the weather is GOOD. I have to be at West Branch at 8 a.m.

Yes, you read that right. 8 a.m.

My kids get on their bus around 7:30 a.m. Although they need to be ready by 7:10 a.m. because that’s when the bus is supposed to come, but it’s always late. Anyway, I have to leave before 7 a.m. and hubby usually leaves for work around 7 a.m. That leaves no one here to make sure kidlets take all of their stuff and catch the bus on time.

Originally, I had suggested bringing the kids over to mil’s house and letting them catch the bus there. She said it’d be easier to come here. She’s right. So I’m really hoping dh and the kids don’t get too messy tonight.

Last night, dh dumped baby powder all over the living room floor just to annoy me. Instead I told him about this deal Home Depot has right now for a vacuum, shampooer and little hand-held vacuum for just $99. We need a new vacuum. I’ve been borrowing my mom’s and I’m sure she’ll want it back. His answer? What do I need a vacuum for? Have I seen the living room floor? There’s baby powder all over it. Dh was a bit corny last night. Gotta love him. He also stood up on the back of the couch right behind me. I turned to look for him (I was talking on the phone) and I see his foot at eye level. Silly man! And of course, two seconds later ds was on the back of the couch imitating his dad.

Congrats Pam!

Pam has stopped smoking. It’s been twenty-freaking-three days. Probably 24 now. Way to go, Pam! Keep it up!

agk

Step away from the job offer. Do not look back. Seriously, AGK. It’s up to you, but why don’t you see if your local newspaper needs a proofreader or something? You could get a paycheck AND not have to see too many people while doing it.

Website Update

I’m working further on my Web site. You can see the new title page and buttons at lindasherwood.com. I’m not sure if I’m keeping them as is. Someone thinks my attempts at drawing a tropical-type flower looks more like marijuana leafs on first glance. And I changed my navigation bar (the gray bar with a green line). I didn’t like the texture that you see there. But I haven’t uploaded the new version. The font I used is "Copyright Violation." I haven’t put anything on the buttons yet, but I’m getting to it. I swear.

I dont carry a purse. Now that?s not a big deal for any of the men readers out there, but I?m sure all of the women are gasping and shaking their heads wondering how in the world do I make it through life without a purse.

Because for most women, at least those with whom I?m acquainted, their lives reside inside that bag that dangles from their shoulder. You can?t just leave your life lying around anywhere.

So that means we see strange things like June Carter Cash climbing on stage clutching her purse on CMT?s Flameworthy award show. Or that women in the bar trying to fast dance with the purse that matches her shoes dangling from her shoulder.

I don?t understand the appeal of a purse. It?s just something that can be stolen, lost or make you the subject of ridicule. Or at least the person lugging around everyone else?s stuff.

One summer I had a friend visit me for a week. She lugged around her purse and I went purse free. It inspired her to try it at home. She decided to start small, literally. She replaced her large purse with a smaller version, determined to keep just her wallet in it. But she smokes and she needed a place to stow her cigarettes and lighter, and her checkbook. Oh and the baby?s hair brush.

Within a day, she had given up the smaller purse experiment and reverted to her usual daily luggage. How do I do it? she asked.

Luckily, she asked me and not my husband who constantly complains about my habit of shoving money in my pockets, wrinkling it into little wads.

My nonpurse carrying status hasn?t been perfected. For years, I carried a keychain with a student ID holder on it. It would hold my drivers license, an ATM card and a $20 bill with ease. That?s all I needed. But then I had kids.

Now I need to have available social security cards and insurance cards and a checkbook and other various paper forms. But with kids came a diaper bag, so I shoved any incidentals in the diaper bag along with the formula and the diapers. Why would I want to carry a diaper bag and a purse?

But the kids grow up and I no longer carry a diaper bag. But I do carry a camera bag for work, and along with my camera, I?ll put my car keys and a couple of bucks. Or I?ll shove it in my pocket.

The women in my family don?t understand my disdain for a purse. If you want something, no matter what it is, you can usually find it in my mom?s purse. That probably has something to do with why it weighs so much. She could make a bundle on that old game show, "Let?s Make a Deal," with the contents of her suitcase, er, purse.

As a child, I remember visiting relatives and a couple of hours after we?d left, my mom would gasp. Dad would sigh and turn the car around and we?d go back to the relative?s house to pick up my mom?s purse, which she had forgotten. This became such a regular occurence they no longer needed to do anything but gasp and sigh. I also remember that as a child any time I had enough money saved to require a wallet, I would buy one. Inevitably, I?d spend all the money I had on the wallet and no longer require its services.

Maybe that?s where my disdain for purses arose.

I do own a purse, but I don?t use it. You can find it in my locked car. Inside it you?ll find a couple of pens, a checkbook and possibly a receipt or two, and the things you might need in the course of a life as a mom, such as the insurance card. My wallet rarely resides in it. The wallet goes with me, transfering from my camera bag to my coat pocket as needed.

When my husband and I do find time to go out on a date, I leave everything at home except my driver?s license, which I hand to him to put away in his wallet.

I also don?t go to the bathroom in a group of women. I can, and do, go by myself. After all, what women would want to go with me? It?s not like I can lend them make up, or Kleenex, or tweezers, or an emergency threaded needle. Those things would never fit in my husband?s wallet.

Forgive me, Shelley, for I have not blogged. It’s been two days since my last blog…. Geesh! I did two blogs on Monday so doesn’t that count for anything?

Yesterday was spent surviving the winter weather. It snowed. Lots and lots of snow. Enough snow for people to harken back to the Blizzard of ’78. I tried to tell my dh it was the Blizzard of ’77, but EVERY one up here is saying ’78 and not ’77. Who am I to say? I didn’t even think there had been a blizzard to begin with!

Yesterday morning I arose and went to my children’s school and spent the next hour frying bacon. The kids started taking MEAP tests (Michigan Educational Assessment Program). Fourth graders take it. When I was a kid, we took the CAT (California Achievement Test). Anyway, parents volunteered to make breakfast for the kids every day of the test. So I was cooking bacon. Well fed kids tend to perform better on tests and its a nice program. I’ll be cooking for them again next Tuesday. They are doing it three days a week for two weeks, but I have to be at work-related things the other four days.

Today the schools are closed due to lots and lots of snow and my mother in law is watching my children. Mother in laws are so nice to have around!

Oh, and I’m in my newspaper’s employee newsletter. Why does the idea of being written about make me nervous? I write about people all the time, but when the tables are turned…. Yikes! Anyway, it was an OK write up. Nothing earth shattering or worth complaining about. Headline says, "’The Mommy’ hires on." Since I first started working for this place as a columnist and freelancer.

And that’s a blog. A real entry will be posted soon. Thanks for playing.