I stayed in bed a few extra minutes this morning. I wasn't tired - I was in pain. My butt hurt. My back hurt. And there was definitely something funky going on with my left thigh.

Then I remembered. Ah, yes, the Daisy Fuentes Wii Pilates DVD I'd checked out last night. Daisy looked so sweet and nice on the cover. And I'd done a little Pilates before; it seemed like a good way to start to get back in shape.

But Daisy was not particularly sweet - even after I took the…

My boy is staying over at his friend's house tonight - it's his very first sleepover. He was ecstatic about going, didn't seem the least bit nervous. This is his very best friend, after all, and they haven't seen each other all through holiday break. For an 8 year old, that's an eternity.

I packed his pajamas, his toothbrush, his Pillow Pet - all the essentials he'd forgotten in the excitement of packing those all-important toys. I taped our phone number to the outside of his bag,…

I'm restless. Already. You probably know how it is. You've been been so hyped up for Christmas; you've shopped, baked, mailed, decorated, done everything you need to do to fulfill your holiday obligations and you've succeeded.

Your days have been overflowing with Christmas spirit.

But ... now Christmas is over. Just. Like. That. And don't get me wrong - it was great. I loved it. And I miss it already. But it's just when you've been going, going, going for so long, it's kind of…

The kids crept in to wake us up at 6 a.m today, just as they promised.

I'm sure they'd been up much longer, but they know the rules - no one goes downstairs on Christmas morning before 6 a.m.

Soon after, the squeals and oohs and ahhs began. But not for the presents I expected.

The big-ticket items were appreciated, of course. But my son's favorite gift wasn't the Wii game we splurged on. It was a Mario figurine stocking stuffer from Santa. ("It can move its…

So I had a little meltdown at work today. You know, holiday stress, last-minute assignments, all that fun stuff. And so I snuck out of my cubicle kingdom for a minute to go take a few deep breaths.

I went to the ladies room. Not a good choice for a variety of reasons, but my options were limited. I locked the door of the stall and just stood there, trying to organize my thoughts and tell myself that yes, I could get everything done, and no, I wouldn't have a nervous…

The children have been out of school one day - yes, one day - and I can already feel my sanity slipping away. I'll miss it.

My daughter is already using the time off to ask a few questions, like: When can she get her own computer? Why is her brother being so annoying? Why can't she have a kitten? Or a puppy? And what does Santa have to do with Jesus, and what is the significance of a Christmas tree?

My son doesn't have any questions. He's an  entertainer!! Ta da!!! So…

My daughter was incredibly excited about graduating from elementary school. A budding artist, she even drew a portrait of herself and her friends with the words "We're middle schoolers now!" above it in bold print. But the beginning of the year was a disaster.

The bus route confused her. The school pace was intimidating. And then, in gym, she hesitated before passing a sheet of paper to her partner. "Give it to me, you retard," the girl said. My daughter looked back to see…

We are baking Christmas cookies tonight. Lots and lots of cookies. And by "we," I mean me and the oven.

See, the kids and I had decided awhile back that we'd make batches of cookies for their friends and teachers. But time got away from us, and here it is just a few days before school vacation starts.

And we have all these pretty boxes to fill.

The kids wanted to help, they really did, but what they wanted to do even more than help was to sneak a bunch of cookie dough.…

After four long days, my computer has come home. I can't believe how much I missed it. We've been spending some quiet time together, just the two of us, trying to get over the trauma of being apart.

It all started last week, when a strange message kept appearing on - and then freezing- my screen. I tried everything to get rid of it. But I had a bad feeling. I finally gave up and took it to the local computer doc.

As I waited in line, my laptop held gingerly in my arms, swaddled…

It's all a matter of perspective, I guess. When I wake up on the weekend and the snow is falling in fat, heavy flakes, I want to stay inside. I want to bake cinnamon bread, drink coffee and curl under a blanket.

My children? They're scrambling into snow pants faster than you can say "Michigan winter." It's snowing!! It's snowing!! Time to get outside and build a gigantic snowman. No matter that there's not quite enough snow on the ground yet or that the snow that exists is…

Monday was a shopping day, Tuesday was a church class, Wednesday was a birthday celebration, and on Thursday the car was shanghaied by surly mechanics.

But I've been a bundle of boundless energy. My secret to success? Edible Legos, of course.

What are they? Why, they're tiny building blocks of pure sugar, that's what they are. You can build with them, just like real Legos, but then instead of stepping on them in the middle of the night and screeching in agony, you can EAT…

So this story is pretty creepy. Not Stephen King-creepy, not keep-you-up-at-night creepy, but creepy enough to jolt you awake without your second cup of coffee.

At least it was for me. Because this is what happened. I stopped at the library the other day on the way to work with my usual giant bag of overdue books. No big deal. The library was crowded, like it always is. There's a story hour in the morning, so there are dozens of moms and little kids running around, and there's…

My son's birthday is this week, and he wants to bring treats to school. So treats we will bring, of course. But there's just a wee dilemma. No edible treats are allowed.

Yep, that's right. No cupcakes. No cookies. Nothing yummy, tasty or fattening. Instead, the kids are allowed to hand out treat bags at the end of the day. You know,little goodie bags filled with tiny doo-dads like pencils, stickers and glo-sticks.

It's a nice idea. But with 26 kids in the class, filling those…

Today was popcorn day at school and I forgot. Simply forgot. But I could smell my mistake as soon as I walked in the door. So I accompanied my son into his second-grade classroom so we could figure out what to do.

"Sean," I said. "We forgot about popcorn. Do you want me to run out to the car and get some change?"

My little boy turned around from where he was unloading his backback with a look of pure mortification on his face. "No!" he said. "It's…

"SNOW!" said my daughter this morning, looking out the window and jumping up and down with excitement.

"Snow," I echoed, considerably less impressed.

My girl looked back at me, surprised. "Mom?" she asked. "Don't you like snow?"

Ummm, well, sure. I guess. In a poetic sense. On a Christmas card. Through a window. Watching it drift as I read in front of the fire. I like the idea of snow, I guess. You know, that pretty, picture-perfect…