Living only an hour away from the Canada-USA border has definite advantages.

Take entertainment, for example. Unlike other markets, we don't have to wait for the big premieres--movies open here on the same weekend they open in New York and L.A. We also get all the major American networks as part of our regular cable package, meaning that we're right in step with the season premieres. Plus, we have our own industry as well, meaning that there's also a wealth of Canadian films to choose from (not that anyone ever does), and television programs on offer--we don't pay premium cable prices for Degrassi here. Then there's the food. Anyone who ran into the MBT crew at BlogHer can tell you not only do we get all of the standard American candy, we also have our own unique treasures like the Aero bar and Smarties to compete with those Hershey Bars and M&M's.

We also have many of the same stores--a walk through any major mall will show you Claire's, The Children's Place, Gap...No Target, but that's ok; that's what cross border shopping is for.

I love reading the local paper every morning, don’t you? I mean, where else can you find out the real scoop on what’s happening in your own neck of the woods? Take this recent breaking front page news from my hometown paper. Turns out the self-appointed nutrition police in the county just north of mine has come out with the brilliant idea of passing an ordinance prohibiting its senior citizen centers from serving donated doughnuts to this community's grandmas and grandpas.

Hi there. First off, let me start by saying how utterly adorable you were with your snuggles and your giggles and your little whispers of nothing. You looked such the picture of new, young love--complete comfort without the complacency that familiarity often breeds--that you warmed the cockles of my cold, dead heart.

And then proceeded to fan that spark into a towering inferno of annoyance.

It doesn't matter where we are, who we're with and even if we just made pee pee, Lily is always grabbing her crotch. She particularly likes to do this in restaurants, in public, at formal family gatherings like weddings and wherever else I can be embarrassed by it. Why?!

When I ask my husband why he simply replies, "Why not? If I could do that all the time I'd never leave the house." Great. Thanks. That's really helpful.

My college student came home yesterday for a long family weekend. I pick him up from the train station.

Dog in car with me for the big reunion? Check.
Surprise at how more grown up he looks even after a few weeks away? Check.
Home cooked meal prepared and happily devoured (after all, it doesn’t take much to top cafeteria fare)? Check.

“Mom,” my Soph-person says with a mischievous smile later that night. “I brought you a present.” Of course, he was the real gift. The dirty laundry? A mere goody bag.

Facebook has taken down pictures of lactating mamas on the grounds that it’s “obscene content”. They claim that photos containing a fully exposed breast violate their rules. The debate rages on amongst the breastfeeding women in our message board community. I’ve seen some of the banned breastfeeding pictures, and all I can say is that if you search for “breast” on Facebook now, you’ll find a whole lot of non-lactating breasts that didn’t get banned – and offer an awful lot of exposure.

I am hereby claiming the title of "Best Mommy Ever" for myself. What did I do to earn such an auspicious honour, you ask?

Well, I'm pretty sure I clinched it when, after about half and hour of listening to Diva Girl natter on about her plans for playing "princess fairies" at her sleepover tomorrow, I finally snapped during the detailing of why each crown went to each particular girl and said "I don't care anymore."

I've already waxed poetic about my love of Diva Girl's new school, but please indulge me a little bit more. Because I am just loving all the changes switching schools has brought (and I'm not even being sarcastic there).

First, there's the bus. It's still a little odd to be sending her off like that, but it gets easier every day. Especially when I consider that what was once a 45 minute round trip that included crossing a major street during rush hour traffic has morphed into a two minute game of tag through our back yard.

I just had to show you this photo of Lily and her dad at the Prairie Dog exhibit at the Brooklyn Zoo. They look like they're on the moon or something....are those moon rocks?! No, they're turds! This shot made me laugh out loud it's so ridiculous.

Bragging about one’s kids is practically a varsity level sport out here in the ‘burbs (hence, the proliferation of all those “My child is an honor student at ABC Middle School” bumper stickers). But how many residents can brag about that iconic symbol of suburban domesticity, their lawn? The answer: us.

Yes, the hubby and I are fairly bursting with pride. I came home from work the other day to find a letter in our mailbox informing us that our personal patch of earth is being considered for a national TV commercial for a big name lawn care company. Yup. Apparently our lawn is

Whew. A study recently conducted for USA Today says that I am not alone in employing the time-honored “throw-everything-in-the-closet-when-company-stops-by-unexpectedly” approach to house cleaning.

Over 800 moms were asked to clock their weekly clean up time. The majority of respondents – more than half or 61% - said they spent one to five hours a week cleaning. (Twenty-three percent spent between six and ten hours a week, 7% between 11 and 15, 3% between 16 and 20, and 5% more than 21 hours weekly.) Two-percent don’t

It may not come as a total surprise, but it’s something to keep in mind: overweight moms may lead to overweight kids. A new study found that children with overweight or obese moms had more body fat than children with mothers of normal weight. Is it genetic? Is it lifestyle? Does it begin in pregnancy? Researchers aren’t sure, but it’s something to think about when you sit down in celebration of National Eat Dinner Together Week. That’s right – it’s such a rarity, it needs to be acknowledged on the calendar (9/16-9/22).

These days there are so many “holidays” on the calendar that it’s hard to get excited about some of those wacky and obscure commemorations. But every once in awhile, nestled in there between National Chocolate Milkshake Day (9/12) and National Comic Book Day (9/25), there’s a day worth noting. Sunday, September 16 acknowledges a big group that deserves a little recognition. It’s Working Parents Day – yes, you heard right -- and a shout-out is definitely in order for the over 52 million moms and dads who are bringing home the bacon every day in the U.S.

In spite of all my handwringing about it, I'm still on the Supply Teachers List this year, and I have to confess, I feel pretty good about it. I probably would have taken a fulltime job if one had been offered, but it wasn't and I'm ok with that. The fact that I didn't have a cell phone for them to call me on and was in PEI when the major hiring was done might have had something to do with it, but such is life.

I'm especially ok with it because being on the supply list means that unlike Diva Girl, I didn't start back at school a day after getting home from our trip. While I think that the quick turn around was the right decision for her, I'm glad to have the extra time to settle into a new routine before adding work to the mix.

Why was the piano invented? So the musician would have a place to put his beer.

Here's a picture of Lily practising on her new piano - a gift from her grandparents. Lily has such love of music and a tremendous zeal for playing any and all musical instruments. Here's the latest instrument to be added to her collection. To tell you the truth, I prefer she play with them than those lead laden toys from China. And if we have another baby...I'm convinced

A friend of mine told me about this story. I don't know if it's true, if the tiger was drugged or someone deserves an award for their photoshop-ing skills but nevertheless, it's an interesting story and exemplifies the whole point of this post.

In a zoo in California, a mother tiger gave birth to a rare set of triplet tiger cubs. Unfortunately, due to complications in the pregnancy, the cubs were born prematurely and due to their tiny size, they died shortly after birth. The mother tiger after recovering from the delivery, suddenly started to decline in health, although physically she was fine.

There were tears and whining, they kept saying "Hug me"....and that was just the parents. Yesterday, was a sad but brilliant day for Lily. It was her first day of Kindergarten. She's enrolled in a full day program (8:00am-2:20pm).

It was strange yet comforting when I went to say goodbye to Lily and took a few moments to reassure her only to have her say, "Okay, see you later, go home now." Obviously, she's ready for school. (At least that's what I tell myself.)

I went to the orientation today and her teacher informed us that at 11:00am one of the students went over to his cubby and took out his backpack. He put it on and proclaimed, "Thank you but I think I've had enough, I'm going home now." Well, that brought the house down.