Drawing Inspiration From Real Life

One day this past school year, I caught Colson playing Minecraft when he should have been doing schoolwork. I threatened to delete the game from his computer.

Later that day he took an English test. He had to make up sentences for one part.

Zachary Phelps

Zachary has been wanting to pass his green band swim test at the pool this summer, which would enable him to swim in the deep end unchaperoned, go down the slides, etc. The test consists of swimming the entire length of the pool, and then treading water for 60 seconds. Zach attempted and failed earlier this summer, because unbeknownst to me the requirements had changed. You can no longer swim underwater the whole way, you have to do some semblance of a freestyle stroke.

So for the past few weeks I've been helping him practice his freestyle. I told him a few days ago I thought he was ready to try the test again. He was hesitant, but decided to trust me. I said a little prayer that he wouldn't fail again, twice in a row might have ended his swimming career for good.

I could tell that towards the end of his swim his little body was getting tired, but he made it.



His celebratory jump into the deep end after earning his green band says it all.

NFL Brain Damage History

Presented By: MedicalBillingandCoding.org

Credit to @SubEWL.

Style, Not Quantity

Only my mother (well, and Melissa Tabasso) can move into a house 2 weeks before 90% of her furniture and decor is delivered, and for those 2 weeks make it look like she lives in a model home.

100 Riffs

100 Riffs (A Brief History of Rock N' Roll) from Chicago Music Exchange on Vimeo.

So very cool, found by my brother Eric. 100 famous guitar riffs, played back to back in a single take, that gives a brief history of rock and roll.

How To Bring A Burly Man To His Knees (And The Creepy Woman Following Behind Him)

At Walmart the other day. Saw a big burly man walking with two boys and a little tiny curly haired blonde girl in a floral bubble skirt. She was holding on to his cart and taking lots of little tiny girl steps to keep up with him, in her little tiny white summer sandals. Little girl looked up at the big burly man and said in her little tiny girl voice, "Daddy, can you call me Lovey now?" Big burly man looked at her and said in a not-very-big-burly-man voice, "Of course, Lovey!"

I fell a little bit in love with that big burly man for a minute.

The Broken Jug

So, my husband has one of those 5 gallon glass milk jugs that he keeps spare change in.

Well, the other day the kids needed quarters for something, so as I usually do in that situation, I went to the milk jug to get a few. As I tipped the jug on its side to shake some coins out, I heard a loud pop and realized all the coins were spilling out the side of the jug! Somehow a circular section about 4 inches in diameter shattered.

We haven't picked the coins up yet, mainly because Eric says he won't pick them up until he has a replacement jug. Yesterday I got an email from him: subject line "You Owe Me One Of These" and this link in the body. 

Yesterday he came home from work, walked over to his dresser to put down his wallet, and then walked over to the pile of change and dropped his spare pennies into it. It was so funny seeing pennies drop from the hand of the meticulous Eric Mosley on to the bedroom floor, as if that was where they belonged. The coin pile has inspired conversations like this:

Eric: You still owe me a jug.

Me: I got your jugs right here.

Eric: Those don't hold quarters

I don't know, it kind of looks artsy to me. Like some kind of cool abstract sculpture....like it's supposed to mean something really deep. 

Will she ever buy him that jug? Will the coin pile ever be cleaned up? Will there eventually be an ER visit because someone forgets the broken shards of glass under the coins?

Put Your Desks Away!

My brother Eric sent me this link to a piece of furniture I think would be genius for homeschooling families!

As If From Nowhere bookcase

Store your schoolbooks AND your desks all in one place!


*In other news, Solomon saw yesterday's post and IM'd me:

Solomon: I've never had a whole blog post to myself before, praise jojoba oil.

Get Off The Roads NOW

My friend Solomon recently got his driver's license. After living in NYC for his entire life and never needing to learn to drive, he decided it was time to learn a new skill! He im-d me Friday morning:






Solomon: I drove to work today

no one died

Me: It's a new day

Solomon: Crazy, huh? A couple of times I thought I was going to crash, but I would just close my eyes, let go and say "JEBUS TAKE THE WHEEEEEL!"

(Solomon is my best atheist friend. Yes, I have more than one. He likes to make up new names for Jesus and Jehovah...his current favorites are Jebus and Jojoba.)

In other Solomon news, he sent me an email from work the other day. He works for Revlon, and Revlon has created a new line of rhinestoned eyelash curlers. He asked if I wanted his, because:

Solomon: I don't use an eyelash curler often enough.

Yep, he doesn't use them OFTEN ENOUGH.

I love that guy.