I don’t think it will come as a surprise to anyone who knew me in grade school – or high school  – that I am not an athlete. I am a bookworm. I can read lightning fast. But run the 50-yard dash? Forgetaboudit. The only time I run willingly is if I’m caught in the rain. Or if a beast is chasing me. I’m slow. My husband says I run flat footed. I have no hand-eye coordination (to such an extent that a few beers typically improved my aim when playing a game of darts.) I am NOT competitive. Which is why I chose to NOT run in the Mother’s…

It’s nice to discover that some of the concepts that you drill via consistent harping instill in your children stick. In the course of our recent move, the playroom underwent a serious purge (the extent of which still has not been realized by my kids. Yes, I AM that mean).  The amount of toys they had was ridiculous (a point driven home when a delivery person looked into my playroom and asked if I was a child minder.) Embarrassing. The bottom line delivered to my children was that there was so many toys that there would be NO room for anything new from Santa come Christmas time. They did well…

This morning my 7 year old asked me why they didn’t celebrate the 4th of July here in the United Kingdom. We explained that the British weren’t so keen to celebrate the Americans’ independence from THEM. While I have settled in quite nicely here, there are days that I do feel a bit homesick, and today is one of them. Not because I’m fanatically patriotic, but because of how we would have spent the day. And with that, here is a list of the things I didn’t do for Independence Day: I wasn’t sitting on a curb on Main Street trying to keep the kids from getting run over by…

Reading through this week’s choices of blog prompts for Mama Kat’s Writers Workshop, I had to laugh. #3 read: What do you find most challenging about blogging? Obviously, looking back at my list of recent posts, it is being consistent about posting on a regular basis. Between attending the week-long Hay Festival, held here in town at the start of the month, and moving house two weeks later, I’ve been crap at finishing a coherent post. And putting one up on a regular basis. Moving house has really taken it out of me. I knew the process was going to be stressful but wow, it was way more stressful than…

As defined by Wikipedia, an afterimage is an optical illusion that refers to an image continuing to appear in one’s vision after the exposure to the original image has ceased. Could it be that all the photos of dildos from @cosmicgirlie’s post-Cybermummy dildo decorating party have damaged been burned permanently onto my brain? I swear, I am seeing them everywhere. I dunno.

Tomorrow morning I’m off to London for the Cybermummy conference. I SHOULD be in bed. I’m not. I’m too excited. I’m also a tad bit nervous. (Ok, a lot.) I’ve been to London on my own. But this is different. This is a blogger conference. I’m going to have to MINGLE. No hiding behind my laptop. (Did I mention I’m far wittier from the safety of my laptop, and with the benefit of the “Delete” key?) I AM really, really excited for the opportunity to meet some of the other bloggers who I stalk follow. I couldn’t make it to BlogHer yet again (I’m keeping my fingers crossed for NEXT…

The other day, while unpacking, I turned the television on to provide some background noise to distract me from the tiresome task at hand. I was watching the Style Network. Eventually, Jerseylicious came up on the schedule. I had never seen the show before, admittedly. I couldn’t turn it off. In the same way that you can’t help but slow down and look at a car accident. Are these girls for real? I don’t know what is more hilarious – the short skirts, the boobage, or the accessories. And don’t get me started on the “smokey eyes”. Seriously, Tammy Faye would think that this is a bit too much eyeshadow.…

Alas, I have been AWOL from my blog. At least, in the actual writing and posting. (The posts I’ve written in my head? Too numerous to count.) I wish I had a proper excuse, but I don’t. The reason for my absence that I can offer is that last week I moved. It was only about 1/2 mile or so, but the amount of work was the same. There was the packing, the move, and the unpacking. I had a few days with no internet. Or my Macbook. I did not sit down for 10 days. I lost nearly 5 pounds. *I would NOT recommend it as a method of…

So. I’m a bit late to announce the winners of my giveaways…but I’ll do that in just a few. The initial reason for the delay was that I fell into a deep well of self-pity, as I only had 13 – yes, THIRTEEN – comment/entries on my blogoversary post.  “Pity party of one, your table is ready”. But then family arrived from the US and we have been spending our time at the Hay Festival…and really, after listening to all these brilliant writers speak, I felt a bit inadequate as I sat down late at night with my laptop. Yes, I’m one of those – instead of hearing the message…