Do Men Think Women Love To Clean?

The kids are gone for two weeks and tomorrow hubby and I are off to the beach for ten days! Ten days of silent bliss. I am very excited.

I wrote previously on my children's sad departure as they pulled from the driveway this past weekend. I have cried my last cry and am enjoying the alone time with myself and my hubby. I have gotten chores done around the house that would never have been attempted if the children were around. I mean you can't trash toys that are literally junk around kids. Even if it's a Barbie car with one wheel, if you make a slight suggestion that maybe it's on it's last leg and should be tossed in the garbage, an excuse will be found on why it must remain in the toy box. "But Aunt BeBe gave it to us before she died," or "But it's Dottie's favorite." Speaking of Dottie, she's a stuffed deer. It's impossible to rid your home of old toys when children are around to see.

We head out tomorrow for my husband's father's beach house. We have previously stayed her multiple times before. As always, the only request about the house is when you leave, leave it the way it was.

Earlier my husband met his father for the keys and helped him run an errand. Well, it seems as if someone hadn't left the house in tip top shape and now we have been given handwritten instructions on how to leave it this time. I'm fine with this but the funny thing was, when hubby returned home, he handed me the list. ( I know he did it not even thinking about what I may read into it.)

Why, oh why do men think women love to clean up? Is there a sign above women's head that say, Let Me Clean For You. I wonder why the list was mine for the holding?

Do men really think we pray for instructions on what to clean next? Is this sexist to think this way or just natural?

Who's obsessed? Mariah or Eminem

Mariah Carey pulls a funny in her new music video. While filming her new video "Obsessed" in New York today, Mariah Carey dresses as Eminem, the controversial rapper who has targeted her in his recent song, "Bagpipes From Baghdad." In the lyrics Eminem warns Carey's husband, Nick Cannon, to "back the f--- up."

In Carey's new song, she fires back by asking, "Why are you obsessed with me/lying that you're sexing me?"

Speaking in terms of obsession in relationships it seems as if the two of them are both obsessed with mentioning one another in each other's songs.

At one point or another, most people have a person that becomes an target of their time. They think of them constantly and imagine what it would be like if the two were together. They look and relook at pictures of them. With all of the social networking sites available now, you have to admit it's easier than ever to look at people's pictures. They write poems or stories or songs about the person. They doodle their names interlocked. It's a nasty habit that takes some time to untwine yourself from once the behavior takes hold.

What's your take on the whole Eminem/ Mariah Carey saga? Are they obsessed with one another?

What's Your Signature Sunglasses Color?

My husband tells me I am obsessed with sunglasses. He's right. I am. There is something about sunglasses that fascinate me. With so many styles and options, they can totally change your look at any given moment. As an accessory, what woman doesn't have enough sunglasses?

Recently I purchased a new pair of white sunglasses because for one, I love white sunglasses and for two, they were too cute pass up. Whipping out my debit card for my new gem, a sale was occurring stating if you purchased two pairs, you would save a certain amount of money over buying just one. You guessed it, I caved. Red sunglasses are popping up everywhere. On celebrities, in magazines, on me...

For years I was the tortoise shell sunglasses girl. The biggest and the roundest were going to be found on me. Finally I was tired of this look and ventured out of my tried and true. I've tried black and white, pink and purple. Now it's the red.

Do you have a signature sunglasses color or do you play around with them?

What Makes A Mom Cry: When Kids Go On Vacation Without Them

After two weeks with my mother in town for a visit, I allowed her to take my three kids back to my hometown to visit. They will be gone for two weeks. This will be the longest I have ever been without them and watching them drive out of the driveway this morning has been the hardest thing emotionally I have dealt with so far as a mother.

I can remember leaving on trips with my grandparents when I was younger, waving at my mom as we drove out of the driveway, smiling and waving. I was headed for fun. With her sunglasses masking her tear streaked cheeks, I never understood why she was crying. I understand now. The worry about the safety of their well being and their physical safety has wrap itself tightly around my heart. As I walk around the house and glance at certain items that up until now didn't mean as much to me as they do now, it's as if they may never return to them again. The chair my youngest daughter eats her breakfast ever morning looks lonely. I want to fling my body on it and hug it until I can no longer hug. The skateboard my middle daughter rides triggers a tear. I would love to ride it to feel closer to her but my fear of flying off it holds me on land. My oldest daughter's array of clothing piled in her closet breaks my heart and these powerful emotions take me down into a wave panic and despair. I feel I may never ask her to pick them up again.

Mom always told me how one day I would understand what it was like when they leave the nest. They haven't even left the neighborhood and I can't help but boo hoo my eyes out. My husband looks on at me and tries to make me smile but it hasn't come quite yet.

As a parent what is the longest you have been away from your children?

How long would you let them go on a vacation with their grandparents?

The One Beauty Product I Couldn't Live Without: Garnier Sleek & Shine Anti-Humidity Smoothing Milk

My hair has always been "my thing." From the ages of ten to twelve, I had to have curly hair. My grandmother would take me to the salon were I would get a 'permanent.' I would sit for hours with my hair rolled in blue and pink rods all the while stinking to high heaven. One day while visiting my aunt's house with freshly permed hair, for some reason she a brush to it and killed it. You can imagine my grandmother's response when she saw my frizz-stricken hair. This was the end of my obsession with curly hair.

I have banished my love of curly hair for myself and instead opened my heart to super straight hair. My natural hair is not curly or straight. It's frizzy. Straight hair is not an easy accomplishment when you live in a humid environment like I do. So many companies promise the world with their straightening products but I have only found one that has told me the truth. When it has to be straight, I swear by Garnier's Sleek & Shine Anti-Humidity Smoothing Milk. I won't trust my hair to anything else.

Photo courtesy of: http://www.viewpoints.com/images/review/2009/118/11/1240934675-37401_full.jpg

Michael Jackson: What song will live on forever with you?

As the world mourns over the loss of "The King of Pop," just as when the world learned of the untimely death of Princess Diana or the killing of John F. Kennedy in a public forum to the loss of Elvis Presley, a spot in history has been carved for all. The moment we learned of his death will be forever etched in one's mind.

My family and I were just coming in from a fun filled day at the water park. Running upstairs to check my e-mail, I refreshed my yahoo page and stared at the screen in disbelief. Sitting in shock for a moment gathering my thoughts, I was able to shout down the stairs to my mother the news I had just learned. She the relayed the message to my husband. As we gathered our thoughts and congregated on the back porch, a look of shock and disbelief wore upon our faces.

Michael Jackson was gearing up for his last tour, This Is It. The tour was to start on July 13th, 2009 at the O2 arena in London. With a series of 50 sold-out shows, this was to be the final farewell to the legendary "King of Pop." The world will never get to tell Michael Jackson goodbye in person as he suffered a cardiac arrest in his Los Angeles home yesterday and died.

As a child, I grew up listening to his music as many did. I can remember gathering in the family room with my parent's and some of their friends to watch Thriller when it debuted on MTV. With buckets of popcorn and Cokes we watched in awe of what was seen in this video. Who can't forget Beat It? Jamming with the windows down and the volume turned up high, this was a song many loved and then came to loathe. My personal favorite has to be Billie Jean. Whenever my husband and I get to go out on the town without the children and a local band covers this song, it makes us take to the dance floor.

Michael Jackson will never perform live again but his music will play on. What song is your favorite Michael Jackson song? What song will live on forever with you? Is it because of the beat of the song or because it makes you dance? Maybe it makes you sing along? Maybe another reason?

Reality TV: Helping kill off another family

It seems that Real Housewives of New Jersey cast member, Danielle Staub, may have more explaining to do with her children about her past than she previously wanted to.

On Tuesday, The Smoking Gun website published a 26 page federal document that detailed her sordid past.

When arrested in a plot that involved kidnapping a man's son for $25,000 in a cocaine deal gone bad, she went by the name of Beverly Ann Merrill. She also had an alias she went by known as Angela Minelli. Working this plot along with Daniel Aguilar, whom she met while working for an escort service, "threatened injury or death" to the son whom they had kidnapped, "was blamed by Merrill and Aguilar for the botched drug deal, which cost them a kilo of cocaine worth about $24,000," according to the papers.

When they were arrested, "agents discovered six kilos of cocaine and about $16,000 in cash."

Staub "was charged with eight felonies, including extortion, cocaine possession and narcotics conspiracy."

My mother was married before she married my father. I was never told about this but being the snoopy child I was, I sniffed out the truth. It has been said that curiosity killed the cat but I have always been able to tell when something seems a little "off." Ask my husband.

Should Danielle Staub not have thought more intently about her involvement joinging a show were the media could seek out her past and exploit her and her family?

Should all who decide to join a reality show be more cautious in their decisions to do this?