I posted this on Signing Time's Facebook page today.

My 7 and 9 yr old boys tease each other, as brothers often do. Today, we were watching Baby Signing Time with their little sister. Rachel was singing The Bug Song when my 7 yr old says to his older brother, "I'm going to bug you." Expecting a tease, I started laughing when he went to his brother and signed bug on his brothers nose. LOL!

Do you want to be organized?

You know I do! I'm incredibly organized when it comes to my paperwork, my digital files on my computer, my money and sales receipts, etc, but when it comes to my home, uh, not so much... Well, at least not this house.

I just found out that one of the moms from my Baby Signing Time class is a PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZER! Not only that, she even wrote the book on it. To be more specific, she wrote, The Pregnant Entrepreneur: How to Hand Pregnancy's Physical, Emotional and Financial Baby Bumps - While Running Your Own Business.

While I am not pregnant, and don't have pregnancy on any future agenda of mine, I could definitely use some advice about balancing my home and work life. I'm sure most of us could use those tips! So, this book may specifically cater to pregnant ladies, but I think any working mom could use this book!

And just because I love to share, Darla gave me a book that I can give to one of you. Entry is easy, just go to her website, read the About the Organizer tab and tell me one thing you learned about Darla in the comments section. You can also be a fan of HeartWork Organizing and leave another comment. Contest ends on May 1st at midnight so I can announce the winner on Brad's birthday. hee hee

Traffic law

As I am sure I have mentioned, I'm just not a fan of Philly traffic. Ugh. So, I'm calling on people with knowledge of traffic laws to help me out. What do you make of this intersection?

Like my stop signs? And my lovely house really is that long and narrow. So, knowledgeable people of traffic law, who has the right of way in the following situations?

• Turning onto "My Street" from Main


• Turning on Main from My Street

I try and turn onto My Street and the people "stopping" at Bad Street don't even pay attention to that sign and stop at the My Street sign, effectually blocking my turn onto My Street since they are stopped across the street.

I was trying to turn onto My Street today and the lady completely blew through the Bad Street sign WHILE I WAS TURNING onto My Street. I'm still shaking. I honked and she stopped, but I'm really tired of this happening.

Any ideas on how to deal with this besides moving, which is obviously my first choice. I called the Traffic Safety number and he said to treat it like it is an intersection, so, the people on Bad Street don't have to stop for people coming down My Street if they got there first. Okay fine, but the fact is, even if I DO get there first, they still go while I'm there. Freaking annoying. Don't you take TURNS at an intersection???

Have I mentioned I am really, as in REALLY excited to move? Is 52 weeks to soon to start my count down?

Dodging a bullet

While some of you might believe I asked Roo to put his DS away after the fiasco last week because I am either A) saintly or B) spineless, neither is in fact true. Before causing a commotion, I wanted to make sure that there really was no rule about playing with a silent DS. This was my first time at this office and I wasn't entirely sure of the rules. I emailed the lady in charge and without revealing the situation, confirmed that silent DS games are allowed. Thus armed with knowledge, I brought Roo's (and Sugar's) DS games to the meeting today. The mom didn't even come. The baby sitter brought the older brother attending the meeting with Jamo. Roo happily played his DS for about 30 minutes, and then spent the remainder of the time reading National Geographic Kids. With about 10 minutes left, the mom and younger brother came. But Roo was no longer playing his DS, and while tempted to hand it to him and say, "Here, hurry up and play," I'm not exactly trying to instigate a confrontation either. So, if things continue this way, it looks as though the problem is solved. I can hope, right? :o)

Tax time!

Anyone else still trying to get their taxes done? Uh yeah. That's me. One week to go and still working on my taxes. Somehow, I'm not as motivated to get it done when we have to pay... We are doing our own taxes; 'we' being Brad. And since he knows about blood and guts, not as much about taxes and deductibles, any help with understanding the W2 form is greatly appreciated. How about you? Do you do your own taxes? Are you done yet?

Liar, liar, pants on fire

This is one of those posts where I come to my brilliant readers for advice. I'm not quite sure what to do and would love some feedback. We were at an appointment for Jamo yesterday afternoon. Roo, Sugar and I had an hour in the waiting room to chill. They did a fantastic job of sharing, playing nice, etc. I was really proud of them. About 10 minutes before it was time to go, Roo got tired of playing with the toys and got out his Nintendo DS to play. I have no problem with him using his DS in a waiting room. I think waiting rooms can be boring too. The problem is that this other little boy didn't have one. Roo was willing to let him watch, and might have let him play had it been more than a few minutes. BUT, this little boy goes and complains to his mom that he doesn't have his DS. The mom says to him, "You aren't allowed to play with electronic devices here. Do you see that sign? It says "No electronics." The boy of course whines, "But he has one!" She replies, "Well, he is breaking the rules." Um, excuse me? I see 3 signs hanging on the wall:

1. Please enjoy the toys but clean up when you are done.


2. Please inform the secretary that you have arrived.


3. Please do not use cell phones in the waiting room.

That's it. Nothing about electronics. So the boy goes and tells Roo, "You are breaking the rules." Surprised, Roo asked, "What rules?" The boy points to the signs. Roo, who has read chapter books since pre-kindergarten, says, "I don't see that rule anywhere." The boy comes up to me, "He is breaking the rules." I kid you not, the mom was sitting right next to me. She had to have heard all of this. Did she expect me to lie to him too? I'm sorry lady, but just because you lie to your kid doesn't mean I'm going to go along with it.

I said, "Oh really?" "Yes. Look at the sign." Resisting the urge to walk him over to the sign and read it word by word to him, I said, "Thank you." I called Roo over and asked if he could put it away since it was causing problems. He did, to his credit, though disappointed since they rarely get to play with their DS during the school week.

Now my questions: What would you have done in my situation? Would you have lied to the kid and said, "Oh yes, it does say that." Would you have told him it didn't and maybe read it to him too? Would you have said something to the mom?

Keep in mind I have 7 more weeks of this as it is an 8 week course. Do I let Roo bring his DS next week??

Advice is appreciated!