Proof that Age is Relative

Earlier this evening, I wished a friend's 16-year-old son a Happy Birthday, and as I tried to hark back to myself at that stage, I suddenly realized that I am already more than three times his age.

I was feeling really old, until President Trump announced his nominee for the Supreme Court: Neil Gorsuch, who also happens to be 49. Now, everyone is saying how long-lasting his legacy on the bench could be if he's confirmed, because he's "so young."

And just like that, I'm back to buying green bananas again.

The Art of the Promposal

My youngest daughter has her Junior Prom coming up, and tonight, a friend surprised her with a "promposal", asking her to go as his date.

This is something new for us. Although I've certainly heard of "promposals"--creative, sometimes elaborate ways of asking someone to attend the prom, usually involving posterboard and a cheesy poem spelled out with candy wrappers--we'd never actually experienced one first-hand.  My older two daughters went to a high school that was girls-only, so the negotiation process for prom dates was handled almost exclusively by the girls themselves, usually during lunch period in the cafeteria. ("Hey, you can take my brother if I can take your cousin. And my brother's friend is available but then he needs someone to go to his prom two weeks later. Sounds good. Done deal. Who wants ice cream?")

Not so for my youngest, who attends a co-ed public school.  The boy who asked her is "just a friend," but seeing as he had a custom banner made for the occasion and threw in two dozen roses for good measure, I'd say at this point that he's elevated his status to a "good friend." We'll have to stay tuned on that one.

In the meantime, my daughter was very pleased by his thoughtfulness, and although there were other things going on in the world today that got far more airplay, this was certainly the highlight of OUR day.

An Early Start Today

It's 6:15am and two out of my 3 daughters are already up, dressed, and out of the house en route to their jobs, with the third about to get up for school any minute.  I'm pretty sure I haven't seen all 3 of them awake and fully-conscious this early in the morning since sometime in 2001.

Let Snoring Dogs Lie

Does anyone know if the company that makes those "breathing strips" that you put on your nose to help combat snoring makes one that you can use on dogs?

Asking for a friend. 

Get Your Elected Representatives' Phone Numbers Via Text

The folks over at the blog Blue Jersey shared some great info that merits passing along: if you'd like to get in touch with your local elected representatives, but you're not sure how to reach them, just text your zip code to 520-200-2223 and you will automatically receive the phone numbers for your U.S. Congressional representatives and State legislators texted right back.

An actual headline from today's news in New Jersey

We're less than 48 hours into the New Year, and already, I'm sensing it's going to be a doozy.

Call it a hunch.

New Year, Fresh Start