Abby Off the Record — The scoop on life, writing & raising kids

Flashback 4th: Hidy Ho, Neighbor!

July 4, 2011

Happy 4th of July, everyone! While I’m off celebrating at the neighborhood block party, hope you enjoy this post from my archives: Hidy Ho, Neighbor! I ran into my neighbor the other day. “Sally” has been having terrible problems with raccoons breaking into her house. I could commiserate, since we had a whole family of […]

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Random Friday Food Post

July 1, 2011

Even though I’ve all but given up on preparing family dinners that all 4 of us will eat without threats or bribes, I still have to feed these people I live with. They just get louder when they’re hungry. Here are some recent hits. Real Simple’s 3-ingredient recipes. If you don’t subscribe, go out and […]

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How to Justify Anything

June 29, 2011

I know my husband and I can’t be the only ones who do this. As soon as we had a baby, we’d look at couples who were going out on spontaneous dinner dates or jetting off on exotic vacations or even just going to the movies on a Sunday afternoon and say, “Well, sure. They […]

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Sleeping In

June 27, 2011

Since we have a couple of early risers, my husband and I take turns getting up with the kids in the morning. Now, I will fully admit that C. takes on most of this burden. But in my defense, I need more sleep than the average person in order to function as even a moderately […]

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Shopaholic in Denial

June 24, 2011

It was a funny coincidence that I read this post about a fellow blogger reigning in her shopping habit hours after I got home from the mall. First, though, you should know that I RARELY go to the mall. When I do, it’s usually to visit the kids’ play area, grab lunch at the food […]

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Partying Like an (Aging) Rockstar

June 22, 2011

So yesterday was my birthday. Don’t get all excited; I didn’t. And besides, I do not want to be one of those people broadcasting their birthday all over the internet only to get a few knee-jerk “Happy Birthdays” from people I don’t even know that well. (OK, I’m actually jealous that I’ve seen PETS get […]

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Family Trips Are Like Chili Peppers

June 20, 2011

I’ve thought about this a lot and I’ve decided that people who go on vacation with young children are like people who eat very spicy food. It’s not appealing to everyone, there are some tears and discomfort involved, but ultimately the pleasure outweighs the pain or nobody would do it. If you were to ask […]

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A Working Vacation

June 17, 2011

Right now I’m in the bedroom of a rented beach house on Cape Cod, writing brochure copy and sending out e-mails. And I don’t mind a bit. Some people might think, “Oh, that’s so sad, working during a family vacation.” Not me. Here’s why: I’m self-employed. I don’t get paid vacations, nor do I have […]

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Guest Post: ‘I Saw the Signs’

June 15, 2011

As you know, I am on a super-relaxing family vacation right now. (And, yes, that was sarcasm — the toddler had about 5 tantrums today, down from 9 the previous day.) So I coerced my fellow writer/mom/blogger/friend Angie Mizzell of AngieMizzell.com to do a guest post in all her spare time when she’s not working […]

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Family Vacation: The First 10 Hours

June 13, 2011

7:00am – Scheduled time of departure. 7:52am – Actual time of departure. Took more time than planned to get the bikes on the car, fetch the last-minute items (extra wipes, bike helmets, phone charger), and wedge the dog into the approximately 4 inches of space between the car seats. 8:20am – Miles: “Are we still […]