bountifulplate

I have been super blessed to have had "other" moms throughout my life that have helped mold and form me into the woman I am today. You know these women, they are the ones not related to you by "blood" but rather related by love!  One of those "moms" was actually my own mom's best friend.   Her name was Mary Ann.  She was never able to have children of her own and she kind of "adopted" my brother, sister and I.  Mary Ann and her husband, Harold, lived right next door to my family growing up and I spent quite a bit of time at their house.  I love to bake (as I've mentioned many times in my blog) and so did Mary Ann.  She was known for her amazing, "Mary Ann's Chocolate Cake."  She also made the most incredible cookies with cream cheese.  I am lucky enough to have both recipes in my recipe collection. When she and her hubby moved to Iowa, I visited her a handful of times. Sadly, both Mary Ann and her husband have both passed on...

This week on the Today show, the author of the scarymommy.com blog and a columnist from the Huffington Post were on talking about the scarymommy.com blog.  Her blog has an enormous following.  Thousands and thousands! She just published a book. The definition of scary according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary is "causing fright."  Putting scary and mommy side-by-side doesn't exactly give me warm and fuzzy feelings about her blog.  It's quite the opposite.  I am hopping up on my soapbox now and tell you why I am not a fan of her blog. First of all, motherhood is hard and it's tough.  There are days where, yes, you do feel like pulling your hair out!  If you are having a particularly challenging "mom" moment, that is when you take a few deep breaths and step away from your kids to gain perspective.  Second, do these moms that post nasty and unflattering things on the website not think ahead to the future and realize their kids, husband or signific...

It took me a long time to get a cell phone.  Now, my husband, daughter and I all have one.  My hubby and I use ours mostly for touching base with each other. My daughter, like most teens, uses hers for texting. When I was a teen we used a telephone to communicate, some of my friends had their own phone line  (I was SO jealous of those friends)!!  In my family growing up, there were five of us sharing one phone line.  There was no e-mail or texting or cell phones.  Some of my friends (forgetting that I don't text), will say, "well, Cathy, I sent you a text about..."  I have to gently remind them I don't text.  I've told them, "I got your text, but don't know how to text you back!"  My friends and daughter would be ecstatic if I started texting on a regular basis.  My daughter has tried to give me "lessons."  She'll say things like, "mom, all the other moms text."  My response back has been, "well, this mom doesn't!...