i love Trader Joe's

My love affair with Trader Joe's continues to deepen - I could tell you that it's the low dairy prices, the free food and drink samples, or the Two-Buck Chuck that keeps me coming back.

But one of the things that I really love about Trader Joe's is this little-known fact about the neatly written, colored chalkboard signs around the store.

Well, each Trader Joe's store hires a local artist to create the signs: "Proudly supporting the arts, one chalkboard at a time," is how the corporate site puts it.

Plus, to boot, have you ever noticed how efficient AND good-natured the crew members are????

mom, I had a boring day

don't you love how when the day is drawing to an end, there isn't much wine left in the box and you're anxious to just get the kids to bed...they have the knack for saying the funniest things.

my five year old son, when told it is time for bed, responds with, "Mom, but I had a really boring day, first carpool line, then school, then to Giant for milk, only a little bit of time on Disney.com, then to the bus stop for my sisters, then home, then karate, then dinner and now bed!"

"Well, yes, I responded, sometimes you have a boring day, but tomorrow will be lots of fun."

"Arrgh, I don't want to have a boring day, every day, like you!"

holiday recovery

Took me a couple of days, but I'm back in the swing of things, determined to make 2007 a good year.

Enjoyed a couple of days at Massanutten resort in VA over the holidays. Snowboarded and my tailbone still won't forget all the wipeouts but good friends, good laughs and relaxing over the course of a couple of days.

But kids remember the dardenst things. They were so happy playing at the rented house, at the new http://www.massresort.com/v.php?pg=4 that I didn't force a ski lesson, thought I would stop their overdirected lives for a day. Then, when getting in the car to come home, my littlest one says to me, "Mom, you didn't teach me how to ski, just like you said you were going to do!" I responded, "I know babe, but you were so happy at the water park and playing that I thought we would just skip it." The eyes start welling it up and the response that came out was, "But mom, I wanted to do it with you and now I didn't get a chance."

Ahhh, once more the the guilt.