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.

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.

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