Because I'm a Mom....and I love you... that's why.

What do you do when yout teenage son want's to cook a pie? Short answer: You let him.

Oh sure, you can start out by trying to give him some advice. Explain what to do, what steps to follow. You can explain the dial on our stove is off center, so when it says 350 it's really only heated to about 275. Or, say something really useful, like "cook it on a baking sheet so it doesn't drip on the oven and start burning so the house smells". Then you see his eyes glaze over and you realize you are taking the "fun" out of it for him. So you stop talking and let him do his thing.

What do you do when the pie turns out looking like this?

Here are my 5 rules:

1. You eat a piece with him, and tell him how great it is.

(You see his face flicker for second...a cross between "thanks mom" and "I know she is lying to me")

2. The next morning you ask him if he would like you to pack him a piece for lunch at school and laugh when he says "I don't think my friends would understand why I was sucking pie through a straw" and you assure him again..."It wasn't that bad".

3. You throw a good size piece of it in the garbage disposal while he is at school. And when he comes home and asks who at it. You say "I did...I'm telling you, you almost nailed it...it really wasn't that bad".

4. It's dinner time, you ask if he would like some pie for dessert. (kinda sarcastic because he is my kid and well....he gets me) and when he says "No, I think we need to throw it away" you say "Okay if that's what you want" You are now relieved , BUT, for good measure you take a finger and taste it front of him one more time. When he says "Ewwww why did you do that"??

You say..."Because...I'm your Mom, I love that you tried....that's why".

oh and 5.???? Before you dump it, you take a picture of the pumpkin pie soup so you can blog about it.

VOGUE...VOGUE...VOGUE!

Yesterday, I got an email from Vogue Magazine. They wanted to let me know that the latest fashions from Milan were now AVAILABLE.( Like I could afford ANYTHING that VOGUE ever mentions) I cringed and smirked at the same time.

IF Anna Wintour only knew, I thought. If she knew I was basically an insecure beach girl rocking flip flops on my feet no matter the weather or what I wore above it, she would surely cancel my prepaid, coupon discounted, subscription herself.

But Anna doesn't know me....and today "SHE" sent me another email. About Prada and Max Mara and the designers insecurities about exploring a womans sweetness and obvious insecurities. ( I guess the yellow and turquoise dress is an example of sweetness& insecurity)

OK Anna. OK Prada. OK Max or is it Mara? Explore me, the basic So Cal beach mom who prefers comfort over design. Ohhh and after you get done...can you let me know how it works out for me?

Home School Transition

For the last 3 years, I have been home schooling my son. (I know) But honestly, there are more benefits to it than you might think. The downside.... you are with your kid 24 hours a day, oops did I say that out loud? I meant.... you aren't sure if you are doing the "right" thing by typical society standards. This year, my son who is 16, and I decided that this year he would reintegrate back into the "NORM". By norm I mean he needs to socialize on a more regular basis with kids his age AND I need a few school dance pics to post on Facebook or Google...or ....whatever the new thing ends up being.
Today, I sent my son off to a new school. One that was too far to walk to, so knowing he needed to "grow up" I made him take the bus. The city bus.

All. By. Himself.

My son has never taken a bus by himself before. I was terrified.


I realized 20 minutes before my son had to leave this morning, that he in fact had no ID on him. Though 16, he has no drivers license. With the conversion from home school to brick and mortar high school, we have had, well ummmmm, lets just call it a few snags.
OVERPROTECTIVE mom that I am................. I FREAKED.

What if my son was crossing a street and got hit by a car? Or worse a truck? How would the police and paramedics know who to call? How would they know "MY" son was extra special like as in Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious! Toooooooooooo meeeeeeee!!!!!
?????
They wouldn't!!!


So I wrote this note and forced him to carry it on his person. You know....Just...In...ca ca ca Case. Name ✓ . Phone number ✓ Mommys name ✓ .

I probably did not need to do the hand drawing of him( as in this actual real pic I took of the forbidden note). In his plaid shirt. With spiky hair. And a smile.

But seriously...can you blame me?

Alright...Okay...OK...you got me. I need to blog this stuff.

I am a "Facebooker" and by that I mean, I pretty much detail my life in the 500 characters it allows for me to explain the random events occurring on a day to day basics of my life. Every once in a while I say something funny. So my friends, my pals, my buds all say...you should have a blog. Well, I have a blog. It is Meals Steals & Family Deals @ OC Family . But it's not humorous, except for my grammer, lack of proper sentence construction and punctuation. It is a very useful ( if I do say so myself...and um yes...I do, coupon and savings blog. Other than that, I have this old thing A Simple Kind Of Life...which I set out on 3 years ago but have not done much with. Consider this post my newest maiden voyage. Welcome Aboard!

Coupons May 5, 2011