Ramblings of a Thirty-Something

It might just be me, but I'm getting a little tired of the winter doldrums. My kiddos at school, God love them, are turning me prematurely gray. The weather won't make up its mind {honestly, I think that beautiful Saturday we just had only made things worse}. We need a holiday--a real one that doesn't just involve furniture sales.  Well, never fear, everyone! There are some super fun days ahead, so get ready to celebrate. I might even share how I plan on celebrating, and you should do the same!  Most of the "days" left in February are rather dull, so let's look ahead to March! First of all, in case you didn't know, March is Women's History Month!   Some fun ways to celebrate could be to learn about some amazing women and the amazing things they did, like Amelia Earhart and Alice Paul. Or dress like your favorite woman from history...or just be appreciative of women and stop being sexist or chauvinistic. Just a suggestion or two! Now, I won

**Disclaimer:  this post is not actually about tea.** Now that half my readership has left, let's get down to brass tax {or is it tacks...and where does that expression come from? Fodder for another post perhaps}. And please, in advance, forgive me for the roundabout nature of this post--I promise, the train will eventually come back to the station. Where to begin... I suppose we go back to just before Christmas. One fateful afternoon, I turned my television to the Hallmark Channel. You know how it is...you try to watch just one Christmas-themed love story. And then you've taped them all and watched 98% of the Countdown to Christmas  lineup. And then you remember how much you love the Hallmark Channel and don't turn your television off that channel for the next two months...just me? Okay, moving on. As you may or may not know, I was having a lot of trouble sleeping last week. Probably because I stopped taking sleeping pills for a while, but that's neither

Does everyone know that Little Big Town song that came out last year, Girl Crush?  It's got such a cool groove to it that you can't help swaying to, and the premise of the song is that the singer/narrator has a "girl crush" on another woman--because this other woman is with the man the narrator loves {on a slightly unrelated tangent, I've never really loved that the reason the singer admires another woman is because of the man she is with...like if she was a strong, amazing woman who has done extraordinary things, then sure, but the feminist in me is kind of bothered by it...however, that does not stop me from crooning along when it comes on the radio}. Also, there will be more tangents like that. I'm really sleep deprived right now. Although I have gotten some great ideas for future posts...tangent again, sorry. Anyway, what I more want to focus on is the idea of a girl crush. I googled it, and according to the official Google definition, a girl crush {in

Today was LOOOOOOOONG. More O's are necessary than that, to be totally honest. There are lots of reasons why #1. Mardi gras and fourth graders do not mix! #2. No sleep aids for Kaitlin {because you thought it'd be a good idea to detox yourself from them...there's a reason you take them, Past Kaitlin!} #3. From my prone sleeping position, totally looked like a snow day. From my slightly-more-upright position, totally not a snow day. Sadness ensued. Yep, it was one of those days where you just need some comfort. And what better way to enjoy it than in a cup? {And no, I'm not talking about wine...although I did crack open a Mike's Hard when I got home...I'm trying to clean out the fridge, you know?} No, I'm talking about CHOCOLATE CAKE IN A MUG!!!!! If you don't know what I'm talking about, first of all, do you live under a rock? Second of all, it's exactly like it sounds. You make chocolate cake. In a mug. It really isn'

As I mentioned in my first post about Germany, our trip seemed to have a World War II theme, and many of the places on our trip were repeats from my first journey over the pond.  Except for our second day in Germany, that is. We were staying in Munich, which is not far from the Austrian border. I had visited Salzburg before {for all The Sound of Music  glory, of course}, but I had not made it to Berchtesgaden because it is closed during the winter months until May and the timing just didn't work out.  But Audra and I made a point to see Hitler's Eagle's Nest this time around. It only seemed fitting with the rest of our trip. We took the train from Munich to Berchtesgaden {and apparently overpaid for our tickets, according to the conductor on the train}. We had some time before our tour started, and so we walked around near the train station. Berchtesgaden is in the Bavarian Alps, and so we had some spectacular views as we waited for the tour to start. If