Two parents, two kids, two dogs, too tired

Inspired by my literate coworker, Karen, I've decided to get back to blogging. It has been so long since I blogged that I completely forgot my password and had to have everything reset. But considering that I forget my Yahoo/Snapfish/Beneficial Saving Bank/PayPal/etc username and/or password at least once every six months, I guess the amnesia was bound to happen after a two-year absence.

Life has changed a lot since I last blogged in 2009. Facebook came along, which basically rendered blogging unnecessary for me -- although the character limits placed on status updates often yielded seriously truncated musings on important topics like, "Counting down to Duran Duran concert," "I just saved $62 thanks to coupons!," and "Pumpkin spice lattes are so yummy!"




We are now a family of four, thanks to the adoption of our son, Ayden. This has also rendered my screenname ("mommy2jake") sort of inaccurate, since I am now a mommy to two. For those who think it's funny to ask if we'll be trying for a girl, I bluntly offer, "No. We are done. Two parents, two kids, two dogs, too tired."

Our sons, who are now 7 and 5, are doing things like math, reading, and practicing death-defying (and mommy stress-inducing) wrestling moves in the hopes of being picked up by Vince McMahon for some sort of Jr. WWE circuit. They also alternate between telling us they love us and wishing that they lived in other houses. I guess this is the circle of life that Mufasa missed out on with young Simba. God bless Scar!

There is so much to write, but so little time, since I'm actually doing this on the work clock. Anyway, glad to be back in the digital world. Hope to interface with you all soon!

Beware the Facebook Quiz Junkie

Does anyone have a facebook friend who spends way too much time taking quizzes and letting you know about it? I've had to "hide" about five people, most of whom are only friends in the digital world anyway,who seemingly do nothing all day but take quizzes on things like "Which month I should have gotten married in?" and "Which Philly neighborhood are you REALLY from?"

I don't mind a quiz once in a while, and I've even been known to take a few (or maybe more than a few during a slow night of bad TV). But why do these results need to clutter up my facebook page? It seems like the majority of these test-happy facebookers are stay-at-home moms who turn into quiz junkies while junior is napping, playing at camp, or watching SpongeBob in the other room. How much more could I possibly need to know about these people who I don't really know in the first place??

Thinking about the quizzes makes me think about who's actually writing them, and perhaps more importantly, how are they being validated? How can I know that I'm really a "Kensington" if I don't even know where that part of Philly is? Would married life have really been easier if we tempted the meteorological fates and gotten married at the end of February instead of the middle of October? If only facebook had existed back in 2000 when we were planning our wedding!

But what I really want to know is if it's possible that I could use my extensive background in multiple-choice test construction, pop culture minutiae, and social networking sites to score a job that can tell you what John Hughes character you are most like by just answering 10 simple questions about underwear preference, what kind of car you drive, and what color dress you wore to your senior prom....

...Because that would be an AWESOME job!