Alrighty, it's giveaway time. And confession time. Don't worry dad. It's just a goofy confession about my changing body that not even my closest friends know about me. Aaaaaaaaaaand we just lost my dad. [Please tell me she's not about to talk about women's troubles.] Don't worry, I'm not talking about women's troubles. I'm talking about my ears. [I guess it depends on the woman as to whether or not there's trouble in that department.] Seriously, cut it out. This is a friendly place. [Who is Katy always talking to in the brackets? I'm so confused by this blog sometimes.] So, my ears. They're just…different. For one, they just don't work as well as they used to, according to my husband. Whether or not that is a "selective" phenomenon is still up for debate.

"She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue. She looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: 'Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all.' Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised." (Proverbs 31:26-30, ESV)

When the author of the second part of Proverbs 31 "penned" these words, I can only imagine he must have known a woman like this:

If you had a chance to catch my first ever Google Glass video, you may remember the part where I compared the entire New York experience to a hair appointment in a really swanky salon. And it truly was just like that. The different "stations" with mirrors and the ambiance had me itching to act like I was at a hair appointment and get video of the whole thing.

Me to Google Employee: "Okay, so I'll pretend like you just gave me a haircut—except that the "haircut" is Google Glass—and then I'll just act really surprised and maybe cry a lot. Also, we'll get it all on video and promote it to my millio—dozens of subscribers."

Only, my Google Glass representative didn't quite share my enthusiasm for improv.

Remember a few weeks ago when I said I would never again take a road trip while our kids are toddlers? Remember that? Remember how I said I'd rather rip off my toenails with a crowbar?



Yeah. I lied. Actually, I didn't lie. I just forgot that we planned this Labor Day weekend trip to my in-laws' farm house in Indiana. So, last Thursday morning—around (ahem) noon—we piled in the car, set Blues Clues on constant loop, and made the 10-hour trek to the Hoosier State.

No more feeling hopeless and helpless during one of the most important supporting roles of your life as a labor & delivery coach. Watch this video and learn how to shine as a birthing coach!

Some of you may have picked up on all the hubbub on my Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages, but Brian and I dashed off to New York City last Saturday for a pretty exciting opportunity. I was selected to join the Google Glass Explorer Program. Now, In case you are like me and never really know what's happening until your mom calls to tell you, I'll give you a quick overview of what that all means: 1) Google invented a wearable computer. It looks like a pair of glasses. They call it Google Glass (or "GLΛSS" if we're getting really specific). 2) Google then chose a select number of people to beta test this new technology. These people are called "Explorers." 3) Google thought, "Who better to wear GLΛSS than a stay-at-home mommy blogger who basically watches cartoons all day and will probably post ridiculous videos of herself using our groundbreaking technology incorrectly?" Naturally, I was invited to join the Google Glass program. I believe it was because of all my experience with cartoon explorers—thanks, Dora!

As many of you may have noticed from my social media pages, Brian and I jetted off to New York City Saturday morning and returned to Kansas on Sunday evening. The purpose of our trip was blog-related [update: read more about my experience with Google Glass here], but we did our best to soak up the city while we were there. And by "soak up" the city, I mean that I ended up sneezing black stuff for a solid 24 hours after we returned home. [Well, that was an unnecessary detail.] Seriously, New Yorkers, how do you deal with all that smog? It's so suffocating! Wait, I know how. It's the food. The glorious food! Mmmm...I could really go for some Bareburger right about now.



Enough about the food, though. That's not what stresses me out about traveling to New York. The purpose of this post is to tell you more about our hotel. Because I like to talk to fellow hotel snobs before I spend the equivalent of a mortgage payment on a hotel room. That's why.

There are three things I do far better than most women I know: 1) saving money, 2) homemade recipes, and 3) doing laundry. Wait, no. What I meant to say is that I do them worse. Worse than most women I know. Worse than all the women. Everywhere. And men. Also, most children over the age of 4. Shoot, there are probably a few species of primates that could argue their superiority in those three areas as well. But I'm probably better than most primates at arguing, so it would be a very long, cyclical debate. With lots of mud-slinging. I have absolutely no idea where I was going with this. Wait! Good thing I went ahead and wrote out the title of this post. See how smart that was? [Yes, I think what we've all learned so far is exactly how smart you are, Katy.]