I inherited bushy eyebrows from my father. I somehow managed to make it through all of high school and part of college before realizing I could do something about my eyebrows.

There are many things wrong with this photo. First? The hair. Second? The cheerleading uniform. (Gold is not flattering on ANYONE. And, yes, I was a cheerleader.) Third? You can tell even from this horribly fuzzy photo I stole from Facebook that my eyebrows led me into rooms.

When I was around seven, my older cousin made me play the Big Bad Wolf in a series of family dramatic productions. Little Red Riding Hood? I was the Big Bad Wolf. The Three Little Pigs? Yep. Wolf. She even inserted a Big Bad Wolf into stories not featuring one, such as Hansel & Gretel. When I protested I'd like to play a sweet, adorable little girl, she told me I was destined to be typecast with those eyebrows.

It's a cruel world.

Once I discovered tweezers, I overplucked my eyebrows for quite some time. This unfortunate event coincided with me gaining weight after recovering from anorexia, which lent me the look of a round-faced eighty-three-year-old woman. I also apparently thought eyebrows were supposed to be the same thickness at each end, like a Cabbage Patch Kid's. Even Barbie had better brows than me.

The last few years have been slightly better, however I do have a tendency to get impatient and overpluck the edges. The problem? Even though I'm tweezing these days, and not to excess (I hope), the brow hairs themselves are still striving for Teen Wolf. I trim them with a button-sewing-kit pair of scissors every few days, but I could probably braid my eyebrows at this point if I left them to their own devices.

According to the Internet, my brows are supposed to be dying down with age. (I have lost the link that told me that. Sorry. But the Internet said it, so it must be true.) Many women spend lots of money to make their eyebrows grow. And yet I find myself wielding scissors every few days to avoid my God-given eyebrows.

 

Not my dad. But looks eerily like him twenty years ago.

Petunia Cookie Dough has an appointment to have a tooth extracted next week. Apparently she's got a cavity down to the root. It's causing her pain when she eats. I'd noticed her sort of turning her head to the side and hacking a lot, and I worried when we were gone for three days at Christmas that she wouldn't eat her hard food and then we'd come home to find an insane muted calico who'd eaten part of the couch and an entire package of dental floss while we were gone.

So I did the responsible cat owner thing and asked the neighbor to come over and give her a little soft food every day.

By the time we returned, Petunia had gained enough weight to notice a difference. In three days, she'd eaten four entire cans of soft cat food. The big ones, not the little ones. And like a vampire, she'd developed a taste for it.

On Monday, I didn't have any more soft cat food. I gave her hard food and sat down to start working. The withdrawal set in immediately. One would've thought Lindsay Lohan was spending time in my living room. She curled up to me, batting me playfully,  purring all the while. Then, when I didn't give in, she stomped off and sat in the kitchen, meowing mournfully for at least a half hour. Every time I got up to do something, she ran over to her bowl and meowed impatiently. I hid the car keys.

FREAK CAT.

Before this weekend, we'd never given her soft food, and she always ate like a really normal cat. The most normal cat we've ever had, actually, because Sybil always begged for soft food and Bella always begged for treats. I thought Petunia didn't have a junkie personality. I thought she was different.

WHAT HAVE I DONE?

I just wanted her to have food while her tooth was hurting! I didn't realize soft cat food has the same active ingredients as Red Bull, cigarettes and Chipotle all wrapped up in one tin. Now I'm going to have to check her in to Cat Rehab. Beloved said we should just stop cold turkey, but her tooth does still hurt and also? I am home all day now working, which means I have to watch little Miss Kitty LiLo cut herself, trying to get my attention. All for a little mushy chicken.

After a year where I finally and happily made self-care a priority, oh how I love this: The Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation is hosting First Day Hikes and First Day Skates to encourage folks to start the New Year on a fit foot. These events are free and family friendly; the hikes will span 16 parks across Massachusetts and the skate sessions will run in South Boston and Jamaica Plain.

New Year’s celebrations take on a different flavor with kids, and we’re fortunate to have a number of family friendly celebrations in the works in and around Boston. Consider these city celebrations -- First Night Boston, First Night Worcester, Beverly’s New Year, and New Year's Needham -- as well as the family New Year’s parties at the Children's Museum in Easton and Children's Museum of New Hampshire.

Image credit: Susan Cole Kelley/First Night Boston

We went to Iowa for Christmas.

 

This was our 2009 contribution to the memory tree.

We arrived just hours before the blizzard.

 

I can't put my arms down.

The snow fell for three days straight.

 

The little angel in her new snow bed.

It fell and fell and fell, and so we were obligated to go terrace sledding in our insulated coveralls.

 

As you do. I love a man in Carharts.

We played and played until her face matched her new Walmart snow pants,which we procured for $12 after realizing we brought the boots and coatand forgot the rest at home.

Less than enthused when the snow gets in the hood.

 And she screamed and laughed, fearless in the face of snow up to her thighs, and we played Queen of the Mountain and rode saucers over broken cornstalks and ate springerle and stollen and brownies.

All in all, it was the best Christmas yet.

Just before the holidays, Babble published their Top 50 Mommybloggers of 2010 list. I  perused it, saw some of my favorite bloggers and wondered briefly what the criteria were for inclusion. I finally decided it was an editor's pick sort of list and went back to packing for the holidays.

I saw a few tweets about it over the weekend, but this morning, Twitter was afire with bloggers on the list upset that a popular vote had been added. 

Voting. Ugh. 

Yes. Yes!

That is what voting does to us. It makes people (except those with lots of friends) feel like shit.

It sure made for a good conversation.

I've been upset for years that blogging seems to reward with traffic a) those who campaign for it or b) those who throw other people under the bus. I'd like to see a list rewarding good writing, as that is what blogging is: Writing.

Which is more authentic? Babble's original list or the new popular vote? Or neither? It's hard to say. The popular vote doesn't jibe with the Babble editors picks, as of 11:15 this morning. Why did Babble open it up?

The commenters on the list post were unhappy about the already-popular nature of the list:

 

They were also unhappy about the lack of diversity on the list:

But opening up the list to the popular vote may have been the straw that broke the already-so-done-with-popular-vote mommyblogging community's back.

Babble, you may have blown it this time.

What do you guys think? I'm waiting for Mom101's list instead.

Today from Jules, because no doubt some post-holidays push-ups could do us all good:

“As busy mothers (synonymous words as far as I’m concerned), we tend to put ourselves on the back burner to care for the little ones. With two babies under the age of 18 months, I have had to sacrifice lots of me time. However, one thing I refuse to give up is my daily workout regimen. And on days where I only have 10 minutes to spare, I do push-ups. Push-ups are a weight bearing exercise that target multiple muscle groups and, when done correctly, can seriously tighten you up in no time.
When doing push-ups, use good form and focus on quality over quantity. You will see better results if you do 10 good push-ups than if you do 50 bad ones. If you’ve done your push-ups correctly you will feel sore in your chest, arms, and abs. Here's the how-to for doing proper push-ups.

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1. Lie chest-down with your hands at shoulder level, palms flat on the floor and slightly more than shoulder-width apart.

2. Keep your feet parallel; you can opt to position your feet shoulder-width distance apart, or for more of a challenge, I prefer to keep my feet together. Note that your back will want to arch so keep your abs tight and your body straight. Keep your legs straight and your toes tucked under your feet. (Note: beginners may wish to start with their knees on the ground as a modification; but still make sure that the line from your knees to the top of your head forms a straight line.)

3. Look ahead/forward rather than straight down at the floor, so you form a straight line from head to feet. (The first contact you make with the floor should be your chin, not your nose.)

4. Take a deep breath, then exhale as you straighten your arms and push your body up off the floor. Keep your palms fixed in the same position and keep your body straight. Try not to bend or arch your upper or lower back as you push up. Hold this position for one second.

5. Inhale as you lower your body slowly towards the floor by bending your arms and keeping your palms in the fixed position. Your chest should touch the floor. Don’t bend your back and keep your body straight and your head in line with your body.

6. Pause for a moment. Begin straightening your arms for a second push-up. Exhale as you raise your body. Use your breath (exhale as you push up, inhale as you come down) to help you through.

This is a detailed version of something you’ve likely seen done a million times, but it’s important to note the form elements as people often aren’t aware of proper positioning. I get lots of comments on my upper body physique and strength and though I often attribute it to toting two little ones around, push-ups are my secret weapon!”

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Image credit: Purchased image from iStockphoto.com

Best-of lists are tricky. At best, they’re meant to be interesting, fun, and sometimes even inspiring; at worst, they cause ill will or seem random and/or contrived. In the former realm, I was honored and humbled to learn last week that I was named to Babble.com’s list of 50 Best Mommy Bloggers. So why is this list different and worthy of mention? First, it's purely editorial (not vote-driven), and second, there is a thoughtful editorial spread about why each blogger was selected. In addition to overall rank, there also are rankings for a handful of breakout categories; clearly, time and thought were put into this process.
Anyhow, I learned about this accolade last week -- technically old news in the online sphere. However, I wanted to share this link in advance of the holidays (when the web slows down a tad) in case you are interested in discovering some fantastic new blogs. Happy reading, and if you visit The Pioneer Woman, look up and try her tres leches cake; I’ve made it twice already and it’s spectacular.

It seems I forgot to do this last month. Oops.

In December, I got a new job! At BlogHer! So I suspect most of my posts from now on will be showing you what I've been doing over there. However, as Cagey pointed out at Average Jane's cookie soiree, "You never link, then you just tell me about the post. I want to read it." This is a good point. I should link. I wrote about the Elf on the Shelf vs. Jesus this month. You might want to read it. (FYI: there is a little widget in my left sidebar that links to my work on BlogHer. But it doesn't catch everything else so I will keep doing this for myself mostly.)

In which I finally break into national print:

• Let's Get Together -- November 2009 issue of Scholastic Parent & Child

In which I judge others:

• Kid Suspended for Camping Utensils as Schools Are Forced to Parent -- I really hate it when schools have to take a hardline because they don't really know which kids are insane.
• Why Is Yelling a Parental Hot Button? -- I maintain that if I meant to yell? I meant to yell.
• Our Daughters' Hair Length: Let the Armchair Psychoanalysis Begin -- Why does everyone keep telling me how long my kid's hair should be or if she wears it up or down?

In which I judge myself:

• He Sees You When You're Sleeping: The Elf on the Shelf vs. Jesus -- I think the title pretty much sums it up.
• Has Swine Flu Created the Purell Period in History? -- I'm so ambivalent about magic goo.

In which I question society:

• Grandparents and Their Truckloads of Gifts -- Note to Ma and Beloved's mom: I'm not talking about you.
• Does Everybody Really Hate Mommy? -- Views from both sides of the stroller.
• When Does Bullying Stop and Start? -- I hope NEVER.

Community and citizen journalism projects at BlogHer:

• What the Heck is a Momspotter? -- I'm project editing a citizen journalism project at BlogHer, which I was doing before I got my new job. We're discussing parenting in a digital age. I think it's cool.
• We Want to See Your Holiday Hot Mess -- A photo contest at BlogHer where people post photos of their messy houses. Probably the most fun I've ever had at work. Go check out the entries.

Reviews:

• A is for Admission: The Insider's Guide to Getting into the Ivy League and Other Top Colleges -- not for the faint of heart
• The Double-Daring Book for Girls -- a must-have addition to The Daring Book for Girls
• Cat Ladies -- I loved it so much I made all my former co-workers watch it at the office.
• The Case for Make Believe: Saving Play in a Commercialized World -- solidified my resolve not to buy close-ended toys
• MedSafe -- hide your prescription drugs from your teens 
• Great Discoveries: Explorations That Changed History -- Time did a great job with this entertaining coffee book.
• SnapGifts -- Get your giftcard in .02 seconds, shipped next day

Enjoy your holiday week!