And the winner is...

The Acura! We're sure all of you were sitting on the edges of your seats waiting to hear about our car decision. We went for the 2005 dark gray Acura TSX (4 cylinder, so somewhat better gas mileage than the TL). We bought it from a salesman who, by his email address, referred to himself as "Big D." But, lucky for us, he was pathetically inexperienced and his first offer (without even asking if we had a trade) was $4500 below sticker. We negotiated a great deal, and I got to play "bad cop"! I was so good at it (hard to believe, I know) that Big D kept trying to get Sweetie to shake on a deal while I was on the other side of the dealership on the phone. Much, much fun.

IT'S SWEETIE'S BIRTHDAY!!

Happy 32nd Birthday to the most wonderful husband I could ever have dreamed of. I wish to take this opportunity to publicly declare, once again, my undying love for this man. He spends every day working incredibly hard to create a beautiful life for our family, and with every single thing he does, he devotes himself to being a compassionate and generous husband and father. Noah, Luke and I are three of the happiest people around, simply because he's around with us. HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEETIE!! (Photo taken by Noah Mason)

Things I have recently learned from my children

1. It is apparently "not good manners to yell at little boys."
2. It is "not nice to people to turn off the TV when they go upstairs."
3. It is "not fair" to be given four mini-chocolate chip cookies instead of five.
4. It is "not fair" not to be given a snack within 5 minutes of having refused to eat one's lunch.
5. When Noah is not given the afore-mentioned snack, he will grunt loudly in protest once every few minutes. If ignored for about 20 minutes, he will fall asleep.
6. "Mommies are supposed to buy little boys toys when they stay home with Mary [the babysitter]."
7. You will be "wasting time" if you wait more than 2 minutes between an almost-4 year old's request for milk and receipt of milk.
8. Never tell a little boy that you will be taking him to Chuck-E-Cheese's for his birthday with his best friend when, in fact, his birthday is still one month away. He will demand you go now, then will cry uncontrollably for 10 minutes when you tell him you can't go now. But that was a rookie mistake. I knew better than that.
9. Big brothers don't like their little brothers to "talk" to them (i.e. scream in their face) while SuperWhy is on.
10. If I am slow on the breakfast clean-up (this morning it was Toastee-O's and diced apples), and put Luke's lunch in front of him at the table while his leftover breakfast is still within reach, he will pour the cereal and the apples on top of his tofu & vegetables, stir it all up with a spoon and eat it together.
11. Luke can vomit without letting his binky fall out of his mouth. And he doesn't seem to mind sucking back whatever vomit stayed on the binky.
12. Mrs. Newell (Noah's preschool teacher) doesn't like dinosaurs.
13. But she does like new Lightening McQueen shoes.
14. Mabel also likes new Lightening McQueen shoes. Apparently they taste good. We need another new pair of Lightening McQueen shoes.
15. Noah: "Mommy, I love you so much."
Me: "Awww. That's so sweet. I love you, too. HOW much do you love me?"
Noah: "I love you 5000."
Me: "5000? What about 10,000?"
Noah: "No, just 5000."

More and more reasons to go organic

There really is no longer any doubt that organic food (that means ALL food, not just fruits & vegetables) is better for your health and for the environment. Here's more evidence. (I hereby confess that I will likely use this blog as a medium to convince everyone I know to go organic, sustainable & fair trade -- I'm talking produce, dairy products, meat, poultry, grains, household cleaners, hygiene products, etc. It's not any harder and it doesn't have to be any more expensive than conventional comparables.)

This is from an op-ed piece in Sunday's NY Times:

Most mass-produced coffee is grown in open fields heavily treated with fertilizers, herbicides, fungicides and insecticides. In contrast, traditional small coffee farmers grow their beans under a canopy of tropical trees, which provide shade and essential nitrogen, and fertilize their soil naturally with leaf litter. Their organic, fair-trade coffee is now available in many coffee shops and supermarkets, and it is recommended by the Audubon Society, the American Bird Conservancy and the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center.

Organic bananas should also be on your list. Bananas are typically grown with one of the highest pesticide loads of any tropical crop. Although bananas present little risk of pesticide ingestion to the consumer, the environment where they are grown is heavily contaminated.

When it comes to nontraditional Latin American crops like melons, green beans, tomatoes, bell peppers and strawberries, it can be difficult to find any that are organically grown. We should buy these foods only if they are not imported from Latin America.

And then there's this, posted last week on Grist:

Overall, the nutritional value of conventional veggies has been falling for decades. As farmers (and their input suppliers and extension agents) have worked to maximize yield, food has become significantly less nutritionally dense. In a survey of veggie crops, for example, riboflavin levels dropped nearly 40 percent between 1950 and 1999. (For more info on this, see an earlier Organic Center report called "Still No Free Lunch: Nutrient Levels in the U.S. Food Supply Eroded in Pursuit of Higher Yields.")

The protein content of conventional U.S-grown corn and soybeans has plunged in recent years -- likely due to yield-boosting mania and the near-universal use of genetically modified seeds for those crops.

Acura or Prius???

So folks, the Mr. and I need some help. We're having a dilemma.

We need a new car -- the Volkswagon's day has passed. After a very costly emergency repair during my trip to Atlanta, our research indicates that this could possibly just have been the first in a lengthy series of costly repairs. We've been advised to get out while the gettin' is good.

The Mr. had been considering either the Volvo S60 (who doesn't love a nice, safe car?), an Infiniti and an Acura TL or TSX. I guilted him into also considering the Prius (isn't the environment worth a little consideration here?). Well, after consulting the EPA's website, we ruled out the Volvo and the Infiniti -- as far as sedans go, they do more damage in terms of fuel efficiency and emissions than some of their counterparts. So, that leaves us with the Acura TSX (as a more fuel-efficient choice than the TL) and the Prius.

This would be an easy choice if we enjoyed driving the Prius. But we don't. I mean, we REALLY don't. It's boxy; it feels somewhat like driving a tin can; the seats are totally uncomfortable; they don't make them with sunroofs (a Tomback family favorite). And then there's Matt's balls to think about. He says that his brains and his balls are conflicted. Apparently, no guy can really enjoy driving a "really dorky looking" 110 hp hatchback that can go from 0 to 60 in 25 minutes. Having no balls myself, this consideration was news to me.

But what are some tree-hugging wannabes to do? We are really, REALLY trying to go green. We have banned plastic bags. We eat organic and as local as possible, and we no longer use any chemicals to clean our house. You won't find any sodium-lauryl or laureth sulfates or parabens in our medicine cabinets. We are starting to do the compact-fluorescent bulb replacement, and launder with only cold water. Much to our neighbors' chagrin, we let weeds take over almost our entire yard rather than use an abundance of chemicals and water to preserve our suburban lawn. I'm switching to glass containers in the kitchen instead of plastic; and we're transitioning from conventional cotton sheets and towels to organic cotton or bamboo fibers. I've even started turning off the shower when I shave my legs!! Etc., etc. So is all this enough to constitute an adequate carbon offset? And where does my beloved (somewhat gas-guzzling) minivan come into the mix in this decision??

The prices of the two cars will be virtually the same. The Prius, however, will use about half the gas, which would reduce the operating cost by about $50 a month (or more, depending on what happens to gas prices -- nothing good, I think).

So people? What should we do?
A) Buy the Acura
B) Buy the Prius
C) Buy Matt a nicer bike so he can ride to the train station (a 15 minute ride, unless he wants to hop on the interstate with his 10-speed)

And we're looking for actual advice here. So make all the fun you want, but conclude with something concrete, would ya?

The Story of My Life...

A dear friend of mine from college, Christine, who is also a full-time stay-at-home mom, sent me this today. It makes me feel very good about the contribution I'm making to our family; helps me remember that I didn't take the easy way out by suspending (indefinitely) my legal career; and, best of all, is giving me some interesting ideas for next week (be scared Sweetie, be very scared...).

A man came home from work and found his three children outside, still in their pajamas, playing in the mud, with empty food boxes and wrappers strewn all around the front yard.

The door of his wife's car was open, as was the front door to the house and there was no sign of the dog. Proceeding into the entry, he found an even bigger mess. A lamp had been knocked over, and the throw rug was wadded against one wall.

In the front room the TV was loudly blaring a Cartoon channel, and the family room was strewn with toys and various items of clothing.

In the kitchen, dishes filled the sink, breakfast food was spilled on the counter, the fridge door was open wide, dog food was spilled on the floor, a broken glass lay under the table, and a small pile of sand was spread by the back door.

He quickly headed up the stairs, stepping over toys and more piles of clothes, looking for his wife. He was worried she might be ill, or that something serious had happened.

He was met with a small trickle of water as it made its way out the bathroom door. As he peered inside he found wet towels, scummy soap and more toys strewn over the floor. Miles of toilet paper lay in a heap and toothpaste had been smeared over the mirror and walls.

As he rushed to the bedroom, he found his wife still curled up in the bed in her pajamas, reading a novel. She looked up at him, smiled, and asked how his day went.

He looked at her bewildered and asked, "What happened here today?"

She again smiled and answered, "You know every day when you come home from work and you ask me what in the world I do all day?"

"Yes," was his incredulous reply.

She answered, "Well, today I didn't do it."

Stay tuned later this weekend, as I plan to post a "day in the life of the Tomback children." FYI, the day described above would be like heaven for them, and would be exactly what would happen -- dog food, toilet paper, open fridge door and all...

Things to pass the time...

What could be MORE FUN than edible playdough?? ANSWER: watching your children occupy themselves with edible playdough while you drink coffee spiked with Bailey's!

Playdough:
1. Mix together
18 oz. jar creamy peanut butter (organic and all-natural, of course)
6 tbsp honey (local wildflower is best -- helps with seasonal allergies)
2/3 c. powdered milk

2. Add enough all-purpose (organic) flour to reach the consistency that you think will work best.

3. Throw a pile of it on a placemat for each of the children attending your "playdate," along with a collection of the cut-outs included with the real Play Dough kit given to your toddler by your in-laws to punish you. (Why else would you introduce a toddler to something that embeds itself on his mother's beige carpet, seems like the perfect snack to the one-year old brother and dog, and dries out seemingly within moments of hitting air, only to find itself crumbled to bits and scattered through a 2400 square foot home?? That's the clear benefit to being a grandparent ;-).)

4. Feel free to skip lunch for your children. With that much protein, they'll be set until dinner!

Coffee:
1. Mix one part coffee to three parts Bailey's. Repeat from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. as often as necessary.
2. After 5 p.m., switch to wine.

Have fun everyone!