The rest of you, however, use the stuff. And most of you have probably seen it advertised. I suspect that you have thoughts and opinions; I suspect that you were just thinking, Gee, if only I had the kind of friend I could talk TP with…

So come on, join me In The Powder Room today!

Psssttt… Sorry, I hate it when people pssst me. I apologize. How about a P.S. instead?

P.S. – Before you leave the Powder Room, take a look around, maybe order a copy of the best-selling book, You Have Lipstick on Your Teeth. Thanks for reading!

Do not call your eye doctor; you are seeing a second post this week. Wonders never cease.

Today, I’m guest posting at 3 Things for Mom, a blog so cool I wish I’d thought of it. Every day features a different writer sharing a truth, a tip, and a find for moms. The posts are short – the perfect quick, daily read.

Head over there to see what I have to say about having nice stuff, carb-laden meals, and stylishly saving your phone from imminent disaster. While you’re at it, please consider following 3 Things for Mom on Twitter and Facebook, too.

Thanks for visiting!

By the time the proxy server got its act together, I was traveling and having some minor issues of my own (my site didn’t want to publish anything). I’m pretty bummed I didn’t get to mention the post here, so I’m doing it today. In the constantly changing, up-to-the-minute-ness of the internet, I know it’s a little odd to promote a post that ran last week. Do we care, though? No, and that’s why I like you so very much.

So, let’s get right to it. The guest post, that is. Not too long ago I had a birthday, and was surprised by some of my feelings. I have no idea what’s next, and I’m not too sure how to go about getting wherever it is. You can read about it all here, in Adrift.

Hope you had a great weekend, and I’ll see you back here (or out there in the internets somewhere) later this week!

I’ll be here tomorrow with a real post, and on Wednesday I’ll be at Kludgy Mom. Two and a half posts in one week: let’s take a moment to feel the building excitement.

Okay. Today’s brief message:

I’m accepting Guest Posts again. Wahoo! Starting in February – I hope – I plan to run two guest posts each month. If you have something to wonder about in any of these categories, please get in touch:

:: Books & Writing

:: Family

:: Fitness

I hope you’ll consider guest posting here, whether you’re a blogger or not. I’m happy to return the favor any time, too!

Thank you. You may now return to your day.

Clearly, Stacy and Clinton have never tried to look presentable and raise small children in the summer. And certainly not in Texas.

Okay. It’s possible this issue is not as serious as I’ve made it out to be. But I do hope that you – and Stacy and Clinton – will click over there to read A Letter to What Not to Wear.

Thanks & hope you had a wonderful Fourth of July!

Okay, I’m back with a gin & tonic, and the hives feel much better. You silly people thought I was going to get medication for my hives. Well, you take your medicine and I’ll take mine.

Anyway, it’s the last week of school and also… the last guest post until fall. We will pick up again when school starts, and until then you’re stuck with just me, writing about whatever I can manage to pull together while the children set the house on fire play quietly with educational toys.

For my last guest writer, I have someone very exciting: my brother! Matt is one those people. You know the type: he’s really good at everything he decides to tackle. This could lead to some nasty sibling rivalry, as I excel at being perfectly mediocre in most things. Luckily for you, though, I like Matt in spite of the fact that he’s smarter than I am. He’s here today talking about one of his passions. Enjoy!

***

Texas-friendly landscaping.

A guest posting spot. I’ve made it (never mind the nepotism).

When my sister asked me to write a guest post here, I was flattered. And then overwhelmed with the number of things I could write about. Things I wonder about? Everything. Anything. It seems the older I am the more things befuddle me, like human nature, nature itself, and Natural Light (Why would anybody drink that? Besides a good ad campaign – adding nati as a prefix does, in fact, make words funnier).

So I limited the the things I wonder about to things I know a little about, and that pretty much leaves: drinking beer and gardening. We’ve already covered some beer drinking, so let’s stick with gardening.

Here is my latest gardening question: Why do we insist, as a people (Americans, Texans, Humans) on landscaping the way we do?

Wait!

Before you give up and start reading the back of your cereal box, this is an interesting question, I promise. To focus the question to something that we can dig into a bit, we’ll talk about 1) why must we have a lawn 2) who decided which plants belonged in the front garden (or yard) and which belong in the vegetable garden?

Now, I know most readers have never really thought much about their yards, and kind of like it that way. But yards are about fashion. Just like the car you drive, the house you live in, and the clothes you wear. The fact is, American Garden fashion is, for the most part, stuck in a particularly nasty fashion trend. Where you see a large, grassy lawn with three shrubs and one tree, I see outdated fashion. Your house is wearing polyester bell bottoms. And your house is not doing it ironically.

First, the lawn. I could really bore you with the historical background of landscape design, but I’ll boil it down: we are all pretending to be landed gentry in England that live in a rolling parkland. This is a gift from Fredrick Law Olmsted. He gave us this concept… and Central Park. Let’s call it 1-1 on his ledger.

As you may have noted, we are not landed gentry, and we do not live in England. We do not need acres of grass to water and mow and water and mow and complain about. Do you really like your grass that much? I doubt it. So lets rip some out and replace it.

Replace it with what?

Mostly, you should replace it with some stuff you don’t have to take too much care of. Because let’s face it, we kind of suck at that. I’m thinking some pathways, patios, and seating areas. Try to eat up 1/3 of your front yard with stuff that doesn’t grow. You and your water bill will be grateful. Now for the rest, leave some lawn (again, 1/3 would be nice). It’ll help you fit in with your neighbors, and most of us long for that. As for the last 1/3, grow some stuff that is easy to grow. Pick natives and plants adapted to your area – any nursery or landscaper can help you decide.

This brings us to the second part of my question: Why not vegetables in your front yard? Crazy, you say? I know! But we should all be so crazy.

Vegetables need sun, water and good soil. You have that. The idea that they are not pretty is just fashion again. Petunias and the like are the equivalent of whatever kind of jewelry is considered tacky (I have no idea, I stink at jewelry shopping, ask my wife). Most vegetables, though, are beautiful, easy to grow and then… you eat them! Why grow grass if you’re not a horse or a cow? Do these animals roam about your neighborhood? No! Can you eat flowers? No! (Okay, some. But let’s not get into that just yet.) Grow something you can eat and your neighbors can eat.

Okay, sorry for the sermon. I get a bit preachy about this, because I think it’s the truth and needs to be spread. In 30 years when your new garden is horribly dated, you can rip it out and put in the full lawn that is all the rage. But in the mean time, hey, who wants some tomatoes?

I wonder…

:: Why do we grow and water all this grass in Austin when our lakes are going dry?

:: Could we end hunger if everyone grew some veg and gave away 50%?

:: Why I can’t find a wider range of English Style Bitter Ales? Am I the only Austinite who likes them?

***

About the Writer

Matt Evans is an equine veterinarian whose avocations include gardening, oil painting, writing and swilling ale. He lives in Dripping Springs, Texas with his beautiful wife and two amazing daughters. His passion is gardening for good and for awesome – you can read about it at christchurchgarden.com.

My guest today is my friend Gigi. You may know her as KludgyMom. Gigi is one of my very first blogging friends, and also one of the very first people that crossed over from the virtual world to real life friendship. Sadly, I don’t see her much these days, because she had the nerve to move back to California, but thankfully I still get to “see” her online. I think her post today is one that will resonate with a lot of people, especially if you’ve ever had to make a decision. Surely you’ve made one or two before even eating breakfast today.

***

I have a health problem.

One that affects me not only physically, but emotionally.

I have Sporadically Mute Gut Disorder. I’m sure you won’t find it on WebMD, although I diagnosed my symptoms there and if I don’t have SMGD, I might very well have osteoporosis, colon cancer or just a nervous eye twitch.

Sporadically Mute Gut Disorder is a condition in which your gut doesn’t tell you anything when you’re trying to ask it a question.

I try to go with my gut and my gut is utterly MIA.

Not always, though. On really uber major life decisions, my gut is there for me when I need it.

Last year, I asked my gut: Should I do a cross-country move with two kids, a dog, an unemployed husband and an unsold house in ten days’ time from beginning to end?

YES, my gut said emphatically. And we moved.

When Boy Wonder was two and not speaking, I asked my gut: I think this kid has a developmental delay…I’m not being a helicopter parent, am I?

NO, my gut stated. And I took my kid to the pediatrician, ignored him calling me a worrywart, and was vindicated when my son was indeed diagnosed with developmental delays.

But I have other decisions to make that ambush me daily – and for those, my gut disappears like a toddler in the crowd at Disneyland.

I listen carefully in case it’s just speaking quietly. I try to fold my head into my lap…nothing but the sound of Cheetos digesting.

When my gut shuts its mouth like this, it causes another chronic condition: Second-Guessitis.

Should I have punished Little CEO that severely for ignoring my seven requests to pick up her Littlest Pet Shops? Have I just broken her spirit? Will she no longer trust me? How long before she ends up on an episode of Intervention?

How much damage did I just do to Boy Wonder in feeding him that frozen, highly processed corn dog? Are the chemicals coursing through his body at this very moment, mutating themselves into some debilitating disease that make his life hell when he’s older? Did I just sign his death sentence?

Was I hasty in sending off that snappish email to the PTA mom? Should I have volunteered to contribute yet another $100 to the Teacher Appreciation Fund, even though some parents contributed nothing? What nasty things is she saying about me to her kid that will get back to mine? Will my kid be an outcast on the playground tomorrow? Worse yet, will she get a crappy teacher next year, thereby precluding her from ever getting into Harvard?

It’s times like these that I want to trust my gut. I want my gut to tell me: yes, Gigi, you’re doing okay, or no, Gigi, you shouldn’t do that. But instead, there is silence. And I spend the rest of the day in a tornado of self-doubt.

Other times, I want my gut to talk to me so badly that I just pretend it’s answering, giving me the response that I really want. The response that makes me feel like a better mom, wife or friend, justifying my bad or impatient behavior, giving me an excuse.

By day’s end, the symptoms of second guessitis have passed, only for another round to return the next day. I can count on it, as reliably as I can count on my Hillbilly Bob neighbor parking his bombed-out military vehicle on lifts in front of my house.

And so it goes.

I don’t know if I’ll ever kick this condition. My gut fails more more the older I get; the older my children become; the more complicated the problems we face together. All I can do is hope that next time, I’ll hear something besides those Cheetos.

I wonder…

:: Do you experience situations where your gut doesn’t tell you what to do?

:: How do you make decisions when you can’t trust your gut?

***

 About the Writer

Gigi writes at KludgyMom, a snappish take on parenting, pop culture and technology. She’s also the Editor of DailyBuzz Tech and DailyBuzz Healthy Living. Connect with Gigi on Facebook and Twitter.

So. That little rant has absolutely nothing to do with today on the blog, which happens to be Wednesday: guest writer day! My guest today is Kate Fineske from On-the-Go Momma. Kate really is a super mom, but not the annoying kind. She’s the kind I admire, and I get the feeling she goes about 90-to-nothing all day, every day. But as she tells us today, sometimes you have to shut down all the distractions and let your mind wander a bit. I relate to this post completely – we play the same game at our house – and can’t wait to find out if you do, too.

***

Kids, kids and more kids.

Work, work and more work.

Sometimes even the weekend isn’t a good enough reprieve from all the tasks on my plate that I am supposed to complete. Occasionally I just need to give my mind a break from my on-going to-do list.

After a long day of wearing multiple hats as a mother, a wife, a college educator, a non-profit staff member and a blogger, one of my favorite ways to end my day is to just…

Grab my husband, put the iPhone, iPad, Laptop, Google Reader, Twitter feed and Facebook conversations away

and…

Watch an episode or two of HGTV’s House Hunters International. (I know, maybe not what you were thinking I was going to say?)

My husband and I love watching HGTV’s House Hunters International because a.) they are short 30-minute episodes (and usually we are pretty spent and couldn’t fathom watching a 2-hour movie!), b.) we are complete travel addicts, and c.) the TV show allows us to dream.

And as we watch, the “what-ifs” tend to begin …

• What if we just took off and moved to Italy, the Bahama’s or China?
• What if we spent our days living a slower paced life and/or giving our children a taste of a different culture?
• What if we didn’t worry as much about deadlines, and expectations, and all the other things that often consume our days?

Wouldn’t that be nice?

Of course then “what-if” becomes “could-we”…

• Could we actually pick up and move halfway around the world with our three young children?
• Could we ever leave the stability of the home we’ve always known for a place that would be so “unknown?”
• Could we manage to make new friends for both us and our kids?

And finally, the “what-if” that turned into “could-we” eventually becomes “but …”

• Sure, we could pick-up and move BUT, we would really miss all of our family and friends.
• Yes, we could leave our home-sweet-home BUT, we would definitely be sad to leave the house that we have put so much of our own blood, sweat and tears to build and maintain.
• Of course, we could make new friends BUT, making good friends takes time. (A hot commodity in our books!)

And that is when we realize something. (Note: The same thing is realized again and again and again since we often end our night with a DVR’ed episode or two.)

We realize that it is good to dream.

And it is fun to wish.

Yet you always seem to want what you don’t have.

And also that with every decision you make there is always consequences.

Then, just about at this point – this point RIGHT HERE – is when we realize that right now it is way more fun to watch others pick-up their lives and start over then to actually do it ourselves.

And we start thinking: OK, so maybe we could do this when we retire…

I Wonder…

:: Do you ever think in terms of what-if, could-we and but?

:: How do you differentiate between a wish, a dream and a true goal?

***

About the Writer

Kate is a self-procaimed busy, on-the-go, not-so-perfect, often forgetful (yet well meaning) mom of three who blogs personally at On-the-Go Momma and is also a staff member and contributor to the National Association of Mothers’ Centers’ blog, Mothers Central. You can follow her on twitter and like her on Facebook.

***

Bets on how long he stays dry?

He went from a cute, cuddly baby that we all adored so much & was the center of our universe to this walking, talking, incredibly busy toddler who sometimes annoys his sisters so much that I wonder about his safety.

As a mom to 3 girls prior to having a little boy I had nothing to compare a boy to other than what I had heard from other people. What I did know was that the girls were a piece of cake…. or I’ve just blocked all the bad memories.

Regardless, the girls were simple. They played quietly alone or together and while they did get into things it was nothing compared to a boy. With the girls I was able to not worry when I went to the bathroom or left the room for a couple minutes.

You know that saying, ‘if they’re quiet you better check on them’? Well, that goes double for little boys… especially curious toddler boys.

This week these are a few of the highlights:

• Playing in the toilet water after I put the blue cleaner in it.
• Moving the chair to the counter so he can get a knife out of the block to help with dinner.
• Waking up at 5am to sleep with me and then kicking me for 2 hours.
• Peeing on my couch and then telling me he made a mess when he knows to use the potty.
• And my all time favorite…. screaming at the top of his lungs for fun and then laughing about it. Even with my ears plugged it hurt and I think that people a mile down the road could hear him.

And just so you know… this was all with me in the same room as him! Who knows what he would do if I went to another room!

I wonder….

:: Am I the only one who thinks girls are easier?

:: Am I the only mom of a boy who gets confused by their actions?

:: Does the screaming stop?

***

About the Writer

Jackie writes over at With Just a Bit of Magic. You can find just about anything there from recipes, to pictures, to fiction. She is a wife and mom to 4 kids, and during the day she spends her time working as a product owner for a software development company and heading up social media at her husbands business. In the meantime, she dreams of new career in social media and freelance writing. You can follow her on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and Pinterest.

***

I don’t think I am alone. Everyone has a secret fantasy, right?

I definitely have one.

You see, as a Mom, my life is full. Very full. And often, I do all of the day-to-day grind.

I sometimes I feel –

Unappreciated.
Taken for granted.
Overwhelmed.
(A simple thank-you after a meal would be “appreciated” by me.)

So, I carry around this fantasy that if I ever went away for a weekend, the house would fall to shambles and nobody would be able to function.

I *see* both the girls dressed in dirty clothes, hungry, getting into mischief, and amid piles of clutter and rubbish.

Thumper, helping herself to a beverage.

Simply put, I think my family wouldn’t be able to survive without me.

I’m not an egomaniac. I do have some confirmation my fantasy may not be far off.

On a recent business trip, my husband made a car reservation with Avis online. When he arrived at the airport, Avis couldn’t find his reservation by name. He called me to for his reservation number.

“It’s on the print-out I gave you,” I said.

“Oh,” he said. “I’ll get the sheet. Can you hold on while I show it to her?”

He placed the phone on the counter and rustled through his bag.

Then I heard, “Well here’s the problem sir. This is the Hertz line.”

He hung up.

I wonder…

:: Am I right? Would they survive without me?

:: Who else has the same fantasy?

:: Should I test this theory?

About the Writer

Carolyn can be found over at Hooked and Happy. She’s a mother to two active and lovable daughters, and loves to craft, cook, write, and drink coffee. You can subscribe to her posts in a Reader, fan her on Facebook, follow her on Twitter, and check out her boards on Pinterest.