Not quite Supermom

I'm doing some real estate work right now--some old clients (who are also good friends) contacted me to help them with a transaction. It's been keeping me very busy the last few days.

Yesterday was especially busy. I had a continuing ed course in the morning, and in the afternoon and early evening I was working on various details of my clients' transaction, interspersed with tasks like getting kids down for naps and cleaning Zoodle's poop out of the carpet.

You'd think after a day full of parenting and work I'd feel like I could do anything, like I was Supermom.

Nope. Not Supermom. Just Exhaustedmom.

I love being able to work occasionally. It's fun to use the business side of my brain, and it shakes up my normal schedule a bit. It's interesting and challenging. But when I do work, I realize just how hard it is to handle a family and a job.

So this rambling post is in tribute to the moms out there who work out of the home all the time. Who somehow manage to handle it all...or if not all, at least enough that the whole family stays afloat. I'm not sure how you do it...but I think it's pretty amazing.

Lost in Austen

There's nothing like the sweetness of a great romantic comedy. And there's also nothing like the horror of a terrible one! I was thrilled yesterday to discover a romantic comedy of the great variety.

I thoroughly enjoyed watching Lost in Austen, which was originally a BBC miniseries. The main character, Amanda, is a modern woman who loves the book Pride and Prejudice. She ends up accidentally trading places with Elizabeth Bennett, the main character from the novel. Amanda is suddenly in the setting of her favorite story, trying desperately to ensure the plotline survives her entrance into it.

It's fantasy, and it's messing with an extraordinarily popular, classic author, and it could easily end up being irretrievably corny. But the casting, acting, and writing are all excellent, so instead of being cheesy, it's charming.

Next time you need a girl's night (by yourself or with friends), grab some chocolate and Lost in Austen. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

32 years old

Thirty-two years ago...


(C. Beth on the left, beckiwithani on right, held by our maternal grandfather, "Papa.")

Thanks, Mom, for carrying two wiggly babies for a 37 1/2 week pregnancy, and then for pushing us out without any meds...the day before your birthday! I was happy to discover in looking at old pictures that we were angels from an early age.


(beckiwithani on the left, C. Beth on the right. Our singing career never quite took off like the Olsen twins' did.)

Happy 32nd birthday, Becki! Between 10:54 a.m. and 10:59 a.m. PST, I hope you relish the five minutes of the year in which you're younger than me. (Call me if you need any sage advice; I'd be happy to share some of my vastly greater life experience with you.)

(Oh, yeah, and happy birthday to me, too.)