Tonight is the little angel's dance recital. She doesn't even have to be there until 7:45 p.m.  Her bedtime is 8:30.  This will be interesting.  Also? The dress rehearsal is at 10:30 a.m.  Again with all the events during working hours?  WTF?

I'm really excited for her, but also nervous. Will she actually walk out on stage, or will she freak out?  Will she be okay backstage without me?  (If you wanted to be a "stage mom", you have to attend a mandatory meeting today, again during work hours.) Will she like it?  Will she remember her little dance?  Will we be able to get her back up there tomorrow for another two performances?

This morning she was so excited she crawled into bed with us at 6:30 and proceeded to spend the next half hour elbowing me out of the way, demanding her own pillow, stealing all the covers and telling me she didn't like my morning breath.  She has interesting ways of reaching out for support.  And I, in return, respond by trying to squeeze her to death as she attempts to wriggle out of my arms. 

Today, Kate reports on an indoor spot for kids to stretch their legs:

“For those of us raising kids in the city, we all know that space – space to play, space to spread out, space just to run – is precious. Playgrounds and parks are great, but are often crowded, and the weather doesn't always cooperate. For those days when you need an alternative, check out IMAJINEthat in Lawrence.
Located on the second floor of an historic mill building, IMAJINEthat is enormous compared to most indoor playgrounds and offers a wide variety of activities: arts, crafts, a climbing structure, a moon bouncer, a mini supermarket, toys for infants and toys for bigger kids, and private rooms for birthday parties. IMAJINEthat also provides a full calendar of special events – story times, music times, times for art – that can appeal to kids with different interests and attention spans. With plenty of parking, good access to the MBTA Commuter Rail, and affordable fees, IMAJINEthat is a hidden gem for families in greater Boston. Bring your city kids and give them a chance to stretch their legs in a safe and fun environment.”

Well, today I spent three hours at a Toyota dealer.  A man with very bad teeth tried to convince me that Social Security numbers have eight digits, then he asked me how to spell the word "quote."  (Hint to Toyota:  Up your standards.)  The guy who actually sold us the car did a really decent job, though, harried as he was.  *Those who doubt the economy, go to a Toyota dealership -- they are making out like bandits.

And the verdict:  We own a Toyota Corolla.  Yea, verily, we gave up our 17.5 mpg gas guzzling but beautiful Ford Explorer for a cloth-seat, no-moon-roof, fuel-efficient, smaller-carbon-footprint Corolla.  That gets an estimated 35 miles per gallon.

Driving off the lot, I had a moment of angst.  I missed my comfy leather seats. The Corolla is definitely not as posh.  Also, it was weird to be back down on the ground again after a few years of sitting up high and mighty.  I called Pa and told him I was a little weirded out.  "That'll wear off," he said, "the first time you go to the gas station."

And I know he's totally right.

It was maybe a little painful. But the Corolla, which my daughter promptly named "Roxy" after the neighbor's little dog, is now sitting happily in the garage where the albatross SUV used to sit. I think we may actually get my husband's Explorer and the Corolla in the garage this year, AT THE SAME TIME, provided we store our 1974 AMF Puffer, which we bought off my best friend's dad for $10. 

And I'm intensely relieved. I'd say that's my main emotion now. We got almost what we owed on the SUV, which in today's market is unbelievable - we actually got $700 over blue book value for it.  Shocking.  And we got 2.9% financing on the Corolla. Also shocking.  So I think the stars aligned for us. 

Since I've done so much research on this topic, my BlogHer post for Monday will be on this subject. Stay tuned, true believers.

Long live good gas mileage! And Blondie will be so proud, as now her Corolla has a SISTER.

Huzzah.

Wish me luck, folks! This afternoon I’m off to tape my first TV interview, with New England Cable News’s New England Dream House program. I’ll be chatting with NECN about cool kitchen gadgets for parents. The episode will air this Sunday, June 29 at 10am and 7pm, and will repeat at 3:30pm on June 30, July 3, July 8, July 11, and July 16. The segment will be on their website starting June 29.

Not into the tactile tasks associated with traditional scrapbooking? Today, Evadne reviews How Fast They Grow's digital scrapbooking service. Read on for Evadne’s review, as well as to learn how to be one of two winners to receive a $25 gift card to How Fast They Grow!

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“Although I love taking photos and do indulge in some crafty paper arts, I am not a scrapbooker by nature. I rarely get around to ordering prints of my digital photos and I have little patience for cutting and gluing. So while traditional scrapbooking is not my thing, I did jump at the chance to check out How Fast They Grow's digital scrapbooking service. Both of my children are indeed growing up fast and I wanted to do more to capture the memories of their childhood. The idea of being able to create a scrapbook online by dragging & dropping digital photos onto pre-designed pages seemed appealing - and very do-able.

After overcoming some initial inertia, I jumped onto How Fast They Grow's website and learned how to digi-scrapbook through their helpful virtual demo. I was then inspired to create my own project after taking a peek through the sample pages showcased in the Gallery. The variety of page templates available to choose from was mouth-watering and I was impressed by how stylish the designs were.

Actually uploading my photos to my scrapbook page, adjusting them, and entering text took me a while, but I do have perfectionist tendencies that likely stretched out the process (according to the website, it is possible to put together a page in seven minutes or less!). So it was helpful to be able to save my project and return to it, and it was also reassuring to know that the folks at How Fast You Grow are both knowledgeable and responsive (at one point, I needed help entering some title text).

The final steps of sharing my online pages with friends & family, and receiving my printed scrapbook pages were the most fun. I couldn't wait to receive my pages in the mail and, when they arrived, they didn't disappoint! The quality was impressive - rich colors printed on sturdy cardstock - a highly finished product! It would be wonderful to see the pages bound into an album but, in the meantime, I'm going to pick up some more scrapbook sleeves...I can't wait to start my next digi-scrapbook project!”

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THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED
Congrats to winners JoAnne C. and Heather!
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Now, want to be one of two winners to receive a $25 gift card to How Fast They Grow? Here’s how:

Visit the How Fast They Grow gallery, then email contests@bostonmamas.com (with ‘How Fast They Grow’ in the subject), and name your favorite sample page in the gallery.

One entry permitted per person; US & Canada entrants welcome to enter.

Entry period closes at midnight EST, Wednesday, June 25, 2008.

For the past year we’ve been sharing in our neighbor’s slow and lazy composting method, but we now want to move to a more contained, easy to rotate system. I immediately e-mailed my friend Braden, who has urban composted everywhere from NYC to Tokyo. She writes, “I love that when you think of rotting food you think of me! We use the EnviroCycle Composter [available at Planet Natural and Amazon], a rotating composting bin with a fairly small footprint. Indoor composting or vermiculture are other urban options but I really cannot imagine most urbanites taking up that challenge.”

So after processing a drive to Iowa that culminated in three $70 fill-ups of the Ford Explorer, we're ditching it.  Even though we're a little upside down in our loan.

We're downsizing -- drastically.  Like to a compact for our family car downsizing.  Like to something that gets more than 30 mpg highway downsizing.

Goodbye, swimming noodle at all times in the trunk.

Goodbye, leather seats and moon roof.

Goodbye, third row for when Ma and Pa are in town.

Goodbye, intense guilt about my carbon footprint.

Hello, freedom from the vise that settles around my temples every time I pull into a gas station, which is at least once a week.

Hello, four more years of car payments.

Hello, managing our variable monthly costs in the best way we know how to do.

Last Friday, I attended a green fair at my work and checked out the Honda Fit, among other cars.  I spent the weekend trying to convince my beloved to give up the huge tanker we drive now in favor of something definitely less comfortable and tricked out. Something with FEWER bells and whistles.

He is a man.  This was hard for him.

I enlisted my brother-in-law. Over noodles at lunch on Sunday before we drove home, my brother-in-law looked severely at my husband.  "G," he said.  "You need to embrace the economic realities of our time."

Beloved had been beaten at his own game.

Last night, we test-drove a Fit and looked at a Corolla.  Both are probably half the size of the Explorer and get literally twice the miles per gallon.  Beloved took one look at the 14-inch wheels on the Fit and visibly shrunk a few inches, but he manned up and hid his disappointment. 

We didn't buy anything yet, but we are definitely shopping.  The Explorer's days are numbered.  We'll keep the old one, as it is paid off, and you really can't argue with that.  I can't wait to ditch the one I'm driving, as its huge wheels and vast expanse of space no longer seem prudent for the family of three that doesn't plan to grow any more and the four-year-old who no longer needs a Pack-n-Play, a stroller, to carry her own food and diapers, a carseat the size of a sofa or 6,000 bottles when we travel.

It's time to start getting our lives under control.  This is step one. (cut a hole in the box)
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Need some light summer fiction? Read my review of Emily Giffin's new book at Surrender, Dorothy: Reviews.

Today, Jules and Heather review Mothers Need Time-Outs, Too, a book that seeks to motivate moms to give themselves the time-outs they need and deserve. Read on for their reviews, as well as to learn how to be one of two winners to receive a copy of Mothers Need Time-Outs, Too:
From Jules:

“Before becoming a mom, I feared that I would be the type of mother whose life revolved around moms’ groups, shuttling kids from soccer practice to boy scouts and back, laboring for months over Halloween costumes, and any other banal tasks where I’d lose my sense of self in the process of being a slave to my son. But now that I am a mom, I understand that these tasks are not banal and they are anything but ordinary. How extraordinary it is to watch your child grow and learn and play and interact, and mine is only four months old! I have found so much joy and genuine happiness in the day to day of motherhood.

These feelings, of course, do not shield me from the daily volatilities and stressors that a mother faces. And Mothers Need Time-Outs, Too – a book that gives a positive voice to every mother who has ever felt exhausted, rejected, disconnected, impatient, isolated, unattractive, depressed, or incapable – encourages mothers to be a little selfish; to evaluate their priorities and really take time to nurture the self.

Acknowledging the fact that mothers are challenged by their selflessness, feelings that they need to do it all, and societal pressures, rather than offering quick fixes for the every day struggles, Mothers Need Times-Outs, Too offers insights, stories, and realistic solutions to every day issues by taking our unrealistic expectations and turning them into realities. My favorite chapters include: The Power of Self Awareness, The Value of Downtime, The Loving Link with your Partner, and The Significance of Self Care. These chapters ask moms to focus on eating right, sleeping right, exercising, having quiet time, verbalizing your stressors/fears, and staying sexually active. The principal of the book is basic and most of us know it in theory, but it is refreshing to have tangible guidance on how to achieve selflessness, passion, relaxation, and nurturing in reality.

No matter what your mothering situation, Mothers Need Times-Outs, Too is a great book to help moms justify their fears, feelings of inadequacy, and frantic-ness, and move towards change. I know now that having children will not ever mean losing me. They are me. Now find yourself some quiet time, some comfy clothes, and get reading!”

From Heather:

“I am often told, ‘I don’t know how you do it all.’ After all, what people see is a mama of four well adjusted healthy kids under 5; someone who never says no to host a play date or backyard BBQ while managing a full time career, happy hubby, and clean house (please don’t look under the couch…). But the reality is that these days I only appear to do it all; instead I feel that I do nothing well, and all too often what I do accomplish is at my own expense. But I keep on trucking because this is the alleged norm for today’s mom, right?

Think again. In reading Mothers Need Time-Outs, Too by Susan Callahan, Anne Nolen, and Katrin Schumann, I was thrilled to discover that this book is chock-full of wonderful advice, delivered via hundreds of real moms using relevant examples of daily life issues. The key message of this book is that being a little selfish actually makes us better mothers. It’s really as basic as the pre take-off ‘oxygen mask’ instructions when flying. Secure your oxygen mask first and then take care of your children. We are no good to anyone if we don’t take care of ourselves first.

The authors summarize it best in the introduction:

With this book, you’re about to begin a journey of self-discovery. Your willingness to open yourself up to scrutiny, to change habits, to ask for help and to admit and even relish in imperfection will help you regain control of your life. You’ll learn to listen to your instincts again and to stop feeling guilty about never being quite good enough. You’ll treat yourself with more compassion and become more patient with those around you.’

I encourage all moms to time-out for you and read this inspirational book!”

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THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED
Congrats to winners Jennifer G. and maxwellj!
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Now, want to be one of two winners to receive a copy of Mothers Need Time-Outs, Too? Here’s how:

Visit the Mothers Need Time-Outs Too reseller page, then email contests@bostonmamas.com (with ‘Time-Outs’ in the subject), and name a reseller where you can purchase Mothers Need Time-Outs Too.

One entry permitted per person; US entrants welcome to enter.

Entry period closes at midnight EST, Tuesday, June 24, 2008.

I’m not sure whether it’s coincidence or consequence that June-born Jon loves cherries, but every year he’d rather have cherry pie than cake. The year Laurel was born, in my sleep deprived, frantically trying-to-bake-while-on-a-conference-call state, I dropped my fully assembled pie as I tried to put it in the oven. I thus was too traumatized last year to try again, but when Bon Appétit’s June 2008 issue featured this Classic Sour Cherry Pie With Lattice Crust recipe, I knew it was time to give cherry pie another go. Plus, Laurel was sure to keep reminding me to use both hands when putting the pie in the oven.

The recipe is by dessert maven Lori Longbotham, whose Luscious Lemon Desserts and Luscious Chocolate Desserts cookbooks we also own. A cherry pitter makes quick work of fresh cherries (or go ahead and use the pitted, jarred Morello cherries from Trader Joe’s – drain them and use the higher lemon juice content suggested for sweet cherries), and while people often are intimidated by homemade crust, with a Cuisinart, it takes about one minute to knock together pie crust dough and another few minutes to roll it out once chilled. I didn’t have a fluted pastry wheel to cut the lattice crust but it still looked fantastic with a straight knife cut. Not that any of us were even paying attention to the aesthetics after taking a bite of the divine crust and filling.

Image credit: James Wojcik, from Bon Appétit feature