Three words that are seared into my brain forever: Mammoth. Russian. Sunflower.

So, my mom decided to plant some sunflowers this year along with her tomatoes. She thought the grandkids would enjoy them. She bought a packet of seeds, planted them, and didn’t think too much more about it.
Until they started to grow.
And grow.
And then they grew some more, until they were grotesquely huge.
Mom called me on [...]

If this post seems familiar it’s because I wrote one almost exactly like it two weeks ago. Feel free to skip this one. You won’t hurt my feelings. Much.

Mr. Caffeinated and I have submerged ever deeper into the baby name mania these past couple of weeks. Some evenings we sit and yell out names like we’re on some sort of bizarre Asian game show where the ultimate prize is finding a name that we both agree on. And let me tell you, it [...]

Raccoons: The Musical

The house we lived in in Northern California had cat doors leading from the back yard into the garage and from the garage into the house. We kept those cat doors unlocked because at the time we had four cats. Don’t ask me why we had four cats, we just did.
One night we were lying [...]

I didn’t even know it was possible to sunburn my armpits. It’s exquisitely painful in a way that I have never before experienced.

Highlights from our weekend trip to Dublin (California, not Ireland):
A family meltdown in the car that included tears, screaming and much kicking of seats and ultimately led to a pit stop on a dirt road off the 152 just before Los Banos. The only sane one during the melee was Caroline, who kept asking, “Can’t we just keep [...]

Stuck In A Box

You probably thought the title of this post was metaphorical. It’s not.
It’s my kid.
Stuck in a box.

This is an activity of her own choosing. I didn’t put her in the box. She saw the box and said, “Gee, I think it will be fun to walk around in a box for a while.”
And so she [...]

And now for some good news

Some solid good news to report here, as my insane worrying has finally come to a satisfyingly abrupt end.
After a harrowing Xray experience in which the Xray tech wanted to take Avery, who happens to be very shy and is terrified of strangers, back to have her hip Xrayed by herself (without benefit of parent or [...]

And Sophie is still mine, bitches

Since finding out that Baby Half Caff is a girl, the name selection frenzy has set in. I’m spending half the day, every day, on this website called Nameberry, run by the two ladies that wrote the Beyond Jennifer & Jason and Cool Names for Baby books. (If you are looking for a good baby name [...]

Beatles Rock Band Trailer: Just about the coolest thing I’ve ever seen

We don’t even own a video game system, and I’m not one to gush over animated videos, but I seriously lurve this trailer for The Beatles Rock Band release: