Photo of the Week: Road Trip Friends

This week's Photo of the Week is definitely an oddball. Recently, Anna and I visited a local coffee shop that sells a number of essentials other than caffeinated beverages - including magnetic finger puppets.

Predictably, Anna decided she wanted one of the puppets. At first, she attempted to choose a figure that looked like the devil, which of course I immediately vetoed. She then chose this, a much better selection:

That's right, folks, we're now the proud owners of a magnetic Gandhi finger puppet. If nothing else, it presented an opportunity to teach Anna something. And it was nice to have a friend along on our journey to visit Uncle Keith last weekend. :)

Were They Really The "Good Old Days"?

This one's for all you working moms. Yes, there are many working dads as well, but I'm venturing back into ye olde 1950s for this post, when most men worked and most women stayed at home with their kids. No gender discrimination meant.

Recently, I read a newspaper article about a working mom who started a company that provides contract legal services. She has a part-time job and also manages her company, all while raising two beautiful young children. The article discussed how her company fills an important void because it enables professional women - and men - (lawyers, in this case) to use their professional skills in a way that allows them to earn money while, at the same time, it creates a better work life-balance for them. Work and time with your kids....and they said we couldn't have it all.

My Birthday Wish

Today marks the beginning of my journey on the slippery slope that is the latter half of my thirties, my entry into a new demographic category, as I can no longer choose the bubble for "19-34"......yes, I am turning 35 today.

I am choosing to look at this questionable milestone with a glass-half-full perspective. Just for today, I will try to look at myself through Anna's eyes. So, I have but one birthday wish for myself:

May I always be as intelligent, invincible, wealthy, energetic and impervious to injury as my daughter thinks I am.

Welcome to 35.....

Have a great day, everyone!

A Little Morning Outrage

The title says it all. And when you finish reading this article, I bet you'll feel a little morning outrage too.

I hadn't even finished my first cup of coffee when I came across this ridiculous story about a mother who left her five-week-old baby - strapped into a car seat - on the roof of her car and then drove off. ON THE ROOF. And she DROVE OFF.

First of all, why the hell would you put your child on the roof of your car to begin with?! And second of all, how could you drive away and "forget" to put your kid in the car - and not realize it until you got home? Seriously?? Thankfully the baby, who fell into an intersection still in the seat, is "okay," though I'm not sure how that is possible. A miracle, I guess.

I'll keep my comments about how tragic it is that some people can reproduce to myself.

It's Our Anniversary!

Happy Monday!

I just wanted to start off this new week by noting an important milestone. Yes, Heidi and I are very happy to have celebrated our 7th anniversary on Friday, June 1, and we're really proud of that. But I'm talking about the blog - we have an anniversary too!

June 1, 2011 was the first day I posted anything on My Life With Pie. I had a vision of what I thought the experience might be like, but I never could've imagined then that it would be as fun and as challenging as it's been to maintain this blog. I didn't know whether my words would resonate with people, how large (or small) an audience I'd have, what the response would be, how much material I was capable of generating - it was all a big question mark.