#twittersupperclub again

Last Saturday night, we decided to host another group for Twitter Supper Club. This time I invited Stephanie and Tadd, Robin and Marty, and Rachel and Chris.

When Jake's teacher heard that Steph was coming over to supper, she asked, "Are you crazy? You're cooking for Plain Chicken? Why in the world would you DO that? Aren't you nervous?"

UM, NOT 'TIL NOW.

Rachel showed up bearing artisanal chocolate.

Steph brought homemade Amish Friendship Bread that was better than anything I've served anybody in 2013.

And Robin brought LEGO minifigs for the guys, beautiful flowers and a Butterfinger for me, and a reusable tote for each of us girls.

Since I'd been busy with the garage-door installers for 10 hours that day -- and was literally still out in the driveway with them when Robin and Marty pulled up -- I was running a little behind on supper preparation. Steph jumped right in to help with the pasta.

I would love for The Whole Internet to enjoy the fact that I had no makeup on, my hair was in a scrunchie on top of my head, and I was wearing my actual exercise clothes -- including sports bra -- while cooking. DYING to have my picture taken, I was.

While I worked on the main dish (which had to be put together just prior to serving), the guys unwrapped their minifigs and put them together. Some of them took longer to put theirs together than others, but I'm not naming names. Even though minifigs only have like four pieces.

Amelia surprised me by cozying up to both Marty AND Rachel ... she hung out with us in the kitchen for a long time before she went to bed, and they MAY have bribed her with snacks. Possibly. It's likely.

Our group picture really makes me wish I'd made time to change my clothes. And also to smooth the lump out of my hair when I took the scrunchie out of it why didn't anyone tell me that was there OMG I can't count on #twittersupperclub AT ALL.

I'm including this group shot for Tadd, because he was worried that I didn't get one of him making a funny face. As it happens, I did.

We had Mandarin Chicken Pasta, Caesar salad and cheesy bread -- the chicken pasta dish was Grayson's request, but it may not be everyone's cup of tea.

photo by Steph

It's a pretty specific type of dish, but you can serve it hot or cold, and I do like that versatility.

During the meal, we laughed and laughed, and I really enjoyed the conversation. There's a lot to be said for making new friends at 40 ... Who knew that the Internet would bring all of us together? I LOVE THE INTERNET.

I made two desserts ... the first was Mocha Brownies. These are to die for, but they're rich. And by "rich," I mean for regular people. Not for me. I can eat a whole pan of them with no problem. But it's a Pioneer Woman recipe, and she says to cut tiny pieces. Heh heh. NOT ON MY WATCH, P-DUB.

photo by Robin

The other dessert was Lemonade Pie, which is really tart but yummy. I'll post this four-ingredient recipe soon on my Recipes page.

One last thing I wanted to say about Twitter Supper Club ... I wish I could invite 500 people and we could all hang out. I don't want anyone to feel left out just because they haven't been included. I mean, I kind of made the name up as a joke when some of us got together that first time, and it stuck -- but I don't own the concept or anything.

Feel free to host your own and use the hashtag and post pictures on your blog ... or better yet, INVITE ME.

Combo or sandwich only, Internet?

Melanie and I are having lunch together today, which reminds me of the last time we lunched together. Last week.

Allow me to set the stage. Mel texted me about grabbing lunch after her appointment with the alarm company. I responded with unrestrained glee, as is customary for me.

Soon after her confirmation text, she called me on her way to work. She said something to the effect of I can't wait to see you because you're my very favorite and this will take my whole day up a notch in the satisfaction department and then she said verbatim, "I HAVE CHIPS AND STUFF AT THE HOUSE."

Closer to lunchtime, she messaged me over our IM system at work:

She told me she wanted a "#1 sandwich." When I left for Chick-fil-A, I texted her to ask if she wanted a drink -- I didn't know if the "and stuff" she had at the house included drinks.

DRINK CONFIRMED.

So I ordered a (diet-mandated and not nearly as good) grilled-chicken combo for myself and a regular Chick-fil-A sandwich and a Coke for Mel, then headed to her house.

Where, when I pulled everything out of the bag, she was like, "HO', WHERE MY FRIES?"

And I said, "You told me you wanted a sandwich."

And she was like, "Yesssss, but I said a NUMBER-ONE SANDWICH. Which is a COMBO."

And I said, "No, a Number-One Combo is a Number-One Combo. A Number-One Sandwich with a Diet Coke and I Have Chips and Stuff at the House is a totally different thing."

AND THEN SHE ROLLED HER EYES AT ME, INTERNET.

So I gave her my fries and I ate the Baked Doritos she had at the house, which were better for my thighs and surprisingly tasty. Although not nearly as tasty as Chick-fil-A Waffle Fries.

Assuming you had only the information I had -- DO NOT ASSUME YOU WOULD HAVE ASKED ANY ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS, BECAUSE THAT SHIP HAS SAILED AND I DON'T LIKE MONDAY-MORNING QUARTERBACKS-- would you have bought Mel a combo or just a drink and sandwich?

Pinch-hitting: Uncomfortable truths by Jan Moyer

I've never met Jan Moyer (@moyermama) in real life. She's Canadian! As a matter of fact, we haven't even known each other on social media for that long. 

But some people, when you find them, you just connect. And in Jan, I've found a real soul sister. She makes me laugh out loud (if you're not following her on Twitter, you're missing out on a daily treat), and we're constantly echoing each others' Tweets.
 
I KNEW that she'd be the perfect Canadian! addition to our lineup of pinch-hitters with Uncomfortable Truths, and Internet, she didn't disappoint. When I read her email of submissions, I grinned from ear to ear. And I bet you will, too. Here they are!

1. I read an entire book and pronounced Phoebe “Fobe” the whole time. Later learned it was Fee-Bee. Ditto on the character “George” from Nancy Drew. I still say “Gee-orge” in my head.

2. When I was home on my first maternity leave, I timed my lunch so I could watch “Arthur” (yes, of PBS and TVO fame) at noon most days. Baby laid on his blanket while I dined on leftovers or a grilled cheese and caught up on Arthur, D.W., Buster and all their friends.

3. I have never eaten cereal with milk. I have a bowl of cereal and a glass of milk. Take a bite, take a sip. That’s how it should be done and I’m proud to say I’m the first one to discover that.

4. When any form or survey asks me our annual household income, I always check “prefer not to say” because I prefer not to say that I don’t know.

5. One summer I was a bank teller and it was the most stressful job I have ever had. I was so tired of never balancing my till that one afternoon I took a twenty from my own wallet just to even things out. 

Now, go follow @moyermama on Twitter and on her blog! (Only 192 Twitter followers ... that's SHAMEFUL, Internet! Go get those numbers up.)

Remember, SHE'S CANADIAN!

Pinch-hitting: A handmade dress, by Amelia

Hey, Errbody! It's me, Amelia!

I have a bunch of pictures to show you, because Mommy wanted to take some pictures of me in this pretty dress that our friend Amanda made for me.

I'm all about it, by the way. I'm really into pretty dresses, and I like to wear a bow in my hair now, and I really want a ring to wear on my finger.

So anyways, Mommy asked me to look at these flowers in our front yard.

 I was like, "Okay," because I mean, who doesn't want to touch flowers?

My favorite color is pink, so I wanted to touch this pink one that was right out in front. It was practically calling my name.

But then the weirdest thing happened.

OH SNAP!

It broke. I have no idea what went wrong; I mean, obviously it was nothing I did, but it must have been afflicted or something, because it just fell right off the stem.

My GOSH, the whole PLANT must have been sick, because every bloom kept coming off. Bizarre.

But also, AMAZING!!

I'm really not sure why Mommy hadn't told me about these flowers before, and how I could just go out and the blooms would come right off in my hands.

I could have been doing this for MONTHS if she'd told me earlier.

Sigh. I guess I'll just have to make up for lost time now.

I really love my new dress, can you tell? Nathaniel and Nick's old teacher Amanda made it for me with her own hands. OMG can you imagine?

I had a feeling that it would be a great trampoline dress, so I ran to the backyard to try it out. Mommy put me on the trampoline with Daddy and the boys.

It was a leeeeetle hard to crawl around in, but I made it work.

The key is keeping your knees up off the trampoline and kind of crab-crawling across it. In case you ladies need any tips.

I jumped with Daddy for a little bit, and I was right about the dress.

It was totally great for that.

But what I REALLY wanted to do was fly like a kite. And Daddy's a total pushover ... all I have to do is ask.

See? My dress was made to fly!

I wish Daddy could have made me fly for an hour, but he said something about his arms getting tired. WHATEVER.

I think that might have just been an excuse, but I know where to find him ...

Wrapped around my finger.

Beware the spider-climb

Are you guys familiar with the Summer Phenomenon known as American Ninja Warrior?

It's an NBC obstacle-course reality show that we discovered while we were at the beach in July, and the boys are completely obsessed with it. It's kind of like Wipeout, except that actual athletes and gymnasts audition for it, and the course is totally grueling ... they give you an entire package on each contestant's background right before their run, JUST LIKE THE OLYMPICS. With music and everything.

Anyway, the final obstacle on each of the courses is the Spider Climb, which is a 40-foot vertical climb up a glass tube. And our boys figured out that they could pretty much replicate it on a small scale on all of our door frames.

Good times.

I tweeted this collage recently, but I can't remember if I posted it here ... sorry if it's a repeat, but it's relevant to the story.

Yesterday while I was washing dishes and Grayson was grilling supper, we realized that Nick and Jake had been spider-climbing on one of the walls in the basement. Only just ONE side of that particular doorway is reinforced, and the other side is plain drywall.

So this is what happened:

Mm-hmm. And do you notice how it looks like there were multiple climbs, not just one? Yeah.

Me: "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?"

Nick and Jake: [silence]

Me: "WHEN DID YOU DO THIS?"

Jake: "While we were playing board games."  [pause]  "While we were SUPPOSED TO BE PLAYING board games." 

Me: "HOW MANY TIMES DID YOU CLIMB UP? OH MY GOSH THERE ARE SO MANY HOLES."

Nick: "JAKE MADE THAT ONE."

Me: "WHY DIDN'T YOU STOP WHEN YOUR FOOT WENT THROUGH THE WALL THE FIRST TIME? WHY DID YOU CLIMB UP AGAIN ... AND AGAIN?"

Nick: "Well, I mean, the holes aren't that BIG."

Internet. Have you EVER.

Flashback Friday: April 1988

Since I directed you to a rather intense photo of myself and my hair yesterday, I thought today would be a great day for another Flashback Friday post.

These pictures pre-date my adventures with Sun-In, and I share them not really because of what I look like, but because I happened to have one of my parents in this set.

I mean, I looked pretty much like all of my friends in April of 1988. Perm. Ginormous bangs. Frosted lipstick. Braces. Teal eyeliner. Chin zit.

Okay, I WAS carrying around the eyebrow equivalent for three girls my age, but I hadn't discovered eyebrow waxing yet. Patience, grasshoppers ... patience.

What is so significant to me about 1988 is that I was 15, my mom was 38 and my dad was 45.

Um. Exsqueeeze me? Today I am 40 and Grayson is 43. SO PARDON MY LITTLE COME-APART IF YOU WILL.

It's just hard for me to wrap my head around the fact that I was in high school, I have really vivid memories of my parents at this point, and they were then basically the ages we are now.

Scratch that, MY MOM WAS YOUNGER THAN I AM NOW.

When I combine that with the fact that I will be 44 when Amelia starts kindergarten -- nearly 20 years older than some moms of kids in her class -- I want to find the nearest hole and crawl in.

(A month ago I would have said I wanted to eat a pan of brownies, but since that's not an option right now, I'll go with a hole.)

Why buy the cow

Today I'm guest-posting over on Jamie's blog, talking about which celebrity I'd like to spend a day with, my definition of a perfect day, what's on my bucket list, and my "best" hairstyle. Complete with a never-before-seen picture of me from the '80s.

At some point in the near future, she's supposed to come back here and pinch-hit with her own Uncomfortable Truths -- which I imagine to be EPIC. For whatever reason, she's been procrastinating on getting them to me. I can't imagine why you wouldn't want to disclose your most embarrassing inner thoughts on someone else's blog ... can you?

Anyway, I'd love it if you'd click over there and read what I wrote. Let's show her how amazing you are, Internet.

Uncomfortable truths, vol. 52

Over the last few weeks, I've invited guest-posters to share their Uncomfortable Truths with you. First Ricky, then Steph, and then Rachel.

They were all great, and I have at least three more pinch-hitters to go. But in the meantime, I thought I'd pop back in this week with another set of my own. Because if I go too long without posting a list of five, they start to back up in my mind -- and we can't have that.

Tune in next week for the next exciting guest, who will be baring her soul for you. That is, if you can ever bring yourself to come back here after today.


1. When I entered the restroom at work recently, it stunk horribly of poop. For better or worse, the offender had already departed. As I was washing my hands, another woman came in. I left the restroom, then doubled back in and said to her stall door, "I'm sorry. I just can't go back to my desk letting you think I did this. I DIDN'T DO THIS." Pride. It's a terrible thing.

2. I wiped out Nick and Jake's sink the morning on which I took this picture. They brushed their teeth, and then I took this picture. This doesn't even count Nathaniel's mess ... he has his own sink.

3. Someone used the phrase "in my carefree 20s" the other day. Carefree 20s? What are those? I don't think I was ever carefree in my entire life. Do all firstborns feel that way? I remember worrying excessively in like 2nd grade. Got married at 22. Yep, bypassed carefree altogether.

4. Ever since I was little (I was reminded of this when I featured a letter to "Santa" I wrote when I was 10), I've written my lowercase letter A differently depending on my mood. I think the style that comes most naturally to me is the rounder version ... an O with a little tail on the right side. But if I'm feeling feisty or artsy, I go with the one you see in this typeface ... a. And sometimes I start out with one and then unconsciously switch to the other ... like I did here:

5. This is the worst Uncomfortable Truth I've ever shared here. I know. I've said that before. BUT I REALLY MEAN IT THIS TIME. It might even cost me some readers. But it can't be helped. I took a picture of it, and therefore I have to share it. It's been burning a hole in my laptop for a few months now. So. It only takes one day -- ONE DAY -- for our kitchen sink to fill to overflowing if I don't load the dishwasher. And a few months ago when I went more than a day without doing it, I came down the next morning to find this:

To those of you who never come back, it was nice knowing you.

The first day of school

I had more than enough posts lined up this week without adding one about the first day of school to the list.

But then my sister left a comment recently about how much she likes the posts in which I smack you all in the face with a bunch of pictures of the kids. And since tomorrow my poor family will have to endure an Uncomfortable Truths post authored by Yours Truly, I decided that they have preemptively EARNED some pictures of the kids on their first day of school.

Everyone woke up right on time, which was a welcome treat. Nick said, "Well, of COURSE I'm excited TODAY. It's the first day of school. Gimme a week."

We took about 90 seconds to snap a few pictures in the driveway before we left, and you know there was ZERO chance that it could be uneventful. There had to be some horseplay.

But in general they were cooperative, so I can't complain. Too much.

I love how I managed to turn Nathaniel into a gutterhead. Don't know how I got him standing right there, but I did.

We had to leave Amelia in a crumpled, crying heap on the garage floor with Grayson, which broke my heart. She wanted to come with us and didn't understand why we were leaving her. I very nearly took a picture of it but 1) I didn't want to break your hearts, too; and 2) I didn't want you to report me to DHR.

The short drive to school (less than two miles) was punctuated by the rockin' sounds of Robin Thicke's Blurred Lines, one of their favorite songs that just happened to come on the radio when we were about halfway there. They were yelling, "Turn it up, Mommy! Turn it up!"

When we got to the front of the carpool line, they hurled quick goodbyes over their shoulders as they dashed out of the van ... they couldn't be bothered to give me a glance. One ...

 Two ...

Three.

And just like that, they were gone.

Except, did you notice the woman in the purple shirt coming over in the last picture? She was coming because we were holding up the whole line because Jake's leg got caught on something in the car. I thought it was his backpack strap, but I now believe -- after extensive research -- that it was the handle of Nathaniel's karate bag.

I was THAT MOM in the front of the carpool line who -- even after five years -- still held everyone else up on Day 1.

But cut me some slack, okay? I'd just had to watch six dimples walk away from me without so much as an "I love you" or "I'll miss you." I may have needed that extra 10 seconds of the view of the backs of their heads. For my sanity.