In my other life...

In my other life I teach graduate and undergraduate students. This can be super entertaining at times. A few weeks ago I had a graduate student in the middle of her paper say....."and as Spiderman's uncle says..." I don't even need to finsh that, do I?

How completely ridiculous. Is there no one better out there to quote. It is not even his original quote. Maybe get the real quote from Wikipedia or something....

A few weeks later I had a doctoral student say, and like Spiderman's uncle says.... This was preferable because it was not a paper, but still.

I think someone is trying to tell me something. Mr. Parker are you there?

Sacraficial balloons and Pillsbury love!

So to begin my new adventures in being more domestic I hosted my son's second birthday. Since his given name is Thomas and he likes trains we went with that. I mad a beautiful balloon wreathe, which I proudly pointed out to everyone who entered. I mean, that thing took several hours of my life and 200 balloons! I deserve some recognition here!

Also, much to my family's suprise, made most of the food myself. After this party my husband began to call me "The crescent roll goddess." Well you have to start somewhere. I labored over pizza pinwheels and ham and cheese roll-ups. I made train-shaped sandwhiches and even attempted cake pops. Apparently you really do have to use bakers chocolate.

We decorated the front walk with masking tape that looked like train tracks and gave everyone conducters hats when they entered. We had serveware shaped like trains and gave train whistles as favors. I felt very successful. Heck I may have even been prouder of myself than when I finished my dissertation. Bite me all you Martha Stewarts!

OR how Pintrest made me a "better mom"

So I decided to start this blog to document my attempts at domestication. These were mostly inspired by the following events that occurred over the last year:

1. My husband tried to teach me how to make pancakes..... EPIC FAIL

2. My father and mother stared at me in disappointed disbelief when my response to "You don't know how to fry an egg?" was a very honest "yes."

3. I joined a cooking club and made my husband cook all the meals.

Then came Pintrest, which I imagine everyone knows about. It has made me feel pretty inadequate as a woman, wife, and mother. Here everyone displays all their potential craftiness for the world to see. I was shocked (and a little horrified) to discover that some of my dear friends had found their inner Martha Stewart (the craftiness, not the thievery).

For example one friend is now quilting. Really? This friend drives a sports car, is a highly specialized doctor, and a ball-busting feminist. But apparently she quilts too. My best friend made her own Valentine's for her son's class (WTH? they like the store bought ones better anyway! Who exactly will be impressed by these?? Hmmmm?). I also have several friends who have found their inner photographer, etc....

Needless to say I am starting to feel a little, well NOT well-rounded. In the past I used to say "I don't like cooking" or "I am not crafty" and leave it at that, this just no longer cuts it and doesn't do the whole thing justice. I mean it is more likely that I am too high on achievement motivation or perfectionism, which has made me fear the failure that is likely to accompany attempts at these activities. Sorry for the psychobabble!

But now I have decided to try my hand at it and document the experience for mine (and maybe others') entertainment. This is not likely to be a very frequent blog because

1. I have no time.

2. I have 2 jobs.

3. I have 2 small children, 4 dogs, a husband, and a problem with overcommitting and

4. I have no time.

I also really like making lists :-)