tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6792093885713797963Thu, 23 Feb 2012 20:24:28 +0000excerpttoo hotexercisemotherhoodkitten bestchildrenhide n seekGTWomanfalling asleepknock-knockChristmaseditorialshoppingcardwagonbirthwinterfallGardeningRUNNINGtoo coldbikingsummerclass ringLaineyminivantipsdrinkcomputerGNOmomflowershousebuildingfour wheelerhttp://kandacechapple.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com (Kandace Chapple)Blogger60125SweetSarcasticSurlyhttp://feedburner.google.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6792093885713797963.post-7199311012732044509Thu, 23 Feb 2012 20:18:00 +00002012-02-23T15:24:28.934-05:00motherhoodsummerchildrenkitten best <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Cambria; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin-top:0in; margin-right:0in; margin-bottom:10.0pt; margin-left:0in; mso-pagination:http://kandacechapple.blogspot.com/2012/02/happy-cat-goes-camping-story.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Kandace Chapple)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6792093885713797963.post-7862099846910347380Fri, 17 Feb 2012 20:29:00 +00002012-02-17T21:29:37.544-05:00biking <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Cambria; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin-top:0in; margin-right:0in; margin-bottom:10.0pt; margin-left:0in; mso-pagination:http://kandacechapple.blogspot.com/2012/02/february-bike-ride-yeowza.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Kandace Chapple)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6792093885713797963.post-6442612993848662043Tue, 31 Jan 2012 13:00:00 +00002012-02-17T14:58:07.526-05:00motherhood <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Cambria; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin-top:0in; margin-right:0in; margin-bottom:10.0pt; margin-left:0in; mso-pagination:http://kandacechapple.blogspot.com/2012/01/boys-in-business.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Kandace Chapple)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6792093885713797963.post-1773104454875635010Thu, 26 Jan 2012 16:52:00 +00002012-02-17T15:00:07.998-05:00motherhood There was a little throwdown at Popcorn Friday at the elementary school last week. With five moms and one dad huddled around a popcorn maker and 400 brown bags of popped kernels, the subject of housecleaning came up. One mom pointed out that another — the brunette holding a shaker of “Ranch” flavoring in her hand — did not mop her kitchen floor. A little sigh of recognition went through thehttp://kandacechapple.blogspot.com/2012/01/mopping-floor-for-once.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Kandace Chapple)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6792093885713797963.post-2367611452874841992Thu, 19 Jan 2012 17:58:00 +00002012-02-20T13:59:11.199-05:00LaineyexcerptmomHere's another scene for my book (maybe!). This is true and so true about my mother! I love thinking back to all the birthday gifts she gave us when we got older. The older we got, the funnier it got. My dad once estimated there were "at least 250" gifts under the Christmas tree. Birthdays weren't much calmer. Today is the 5th anniversary of saying good-bye to her. I miss her so much. ~ Laineyhttp://kandacechapple.blogspot.com/2012/01/book-excerpt-forgotten-present.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Kandace Chapple)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6792093885713797963.post-382550635650158715Thu, 12 Jan 2012 18:38:00 +00002012-02-20T13:59:38.345-05:00motherhood An iPad scuffle caught on camera: <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Cambria; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin-top:0in; margin-right:0in; margin-bottom:10.0pt; http://kandacechapple.blogspot.com/2012/01/my-ipad-my-wrath.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Kandace Chapple)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6792093885713797963.post-5469820429056842471Mon, 09 Jan 2012 14:19:00 +00002012-02-20T13:59:49.688-05:00LaineyexcerptmomChristmascard I just had my friend Barb mail me a Christmas card my mother sent her years ago. It's a TREASURE! If you have an old card or letter my mom sent you and would like to pass it back to me, I would treasure it. Please let me know. Seeing her handwriting and her thoughts and her life at that time would mean so much to me. ♥ I wrote this passage below after I got it. It might go in my http://kandacechapple.blogspot.com/2012/01/moms-card.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Kandace Chapple)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6792093885713797963.post-2898564428813974664Fri, 06 Jan 2012 03:38:00 +00002012-01-05T22:41:10.150-05:00editorialDo you remember two years ago when we listed our 2010 Resolutions? Neither do we. So we thought we’d revisit them and see what 730 days of diligent behavior gets you: 1. We will not wait until the last minute to write the editorial.Not True. We fear the day the printer accidentally prints the initial draft of our issue where we send a blank editorial page with nothing but the word “Surprised?” http://kandacechapple.blogspot.com/2012/01/gtw-editorial-2012-resolution-repeats.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Kandace Chapple)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6792093885713797963.post-2660963920814293028Fri, 23 Dec 2011 01:21:00 +00002011-12-22T20:28:04.885-05:00My essay on "Running with the kids at home" was featured on www.mypheme.com today! If you cruise around their site you'll see they have some downright outrageous to extremely funny on it. (Check out Tami Evans's essay on "expectations" and Anna Lefler's essay on mustaches!)http://kandacechapple.blogspot.com/2011/12/mypheme-up-and-running.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Kandace Chapple)4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6792093885713797963.post-4299314502181345484Fri, 16 Dec 2011 00:23:00 +00002011-12-15T19:23:30.639-05:00motherhood @font-face { font-family: "Cambria"; }@font-face { font-family: "Lucida Grande"; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; } Kendall said he was sick. He’d even acted sick the night before, uninterested in… brownies. Red flag. Then this morning, he was still claiming not to feel http://kandacechapple.blogspot.com/2011/12/faker-not-so-much.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Kandace Chapple)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6792093885713797963.post-8634299186235181166Mon, 28 Nov 2011 14:04:00 +00002011-11-28T13:08:12.728-05:00kitten bestSeriously, I have the world’s best cat. No offense to my other cat, but The Kitten has a lot going for her in the way of personality (if not so much by name). This cat will follow me all day long anywhere and everywhere. I know. This should be annoying. And in fact I’ve had cats who did this and excised a meow on me every chance they got. I wanted to kill them, or put them outside (one and the http://kandacechapple.blogspot.com/2011/11/kitten-worlds-best-pillow.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Kandace Chapple)4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6792093885713797963.post-4253278234753725340Wed, 23 Nov 2011 11:00:00 +00002012-02-20T14:00:07.979-05:00shoppingeditorialChristmasWith the holiday season here, it’s safe to say most of these buys are done exclusively by women: The Emergency Buy This occurs sometime before midnight Christmas Eve, but not much. It’s when you realize one of your children has one more toy than the others. You can’t bear to think of taking away a toy, storing it in your closet with its red festive wrapping staring at you, waiting to be returnedhttp://kandacechapple.blogspot.com/2011/11/gtw-editorial-shopping-strategy.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Kandace Chapple)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6792093885713797963.post-7479051644132578345Wed, 16 Nov 2011 19:39:00 +00002011-11-16T17:15:52.317-05:00A friend of mine just posted this awesome entry about being asked if she was expecting when she was not. We all have some version of this story, don't we? If you don't, step off. If you do, let me share mine. It was maybe 4 years ago and I'd been talked into modeling an outfit from a downtown store at our GTWoman Network Nite. A) The modeling gig had started out shaky. The boutique had maybe http://kandacechapple.blogspot.com/2011/11/are-you-expecting.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Kandace Chapple)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6792093885713797963.post-6591606354883764072Thu, 10 Nov 2011 11:00:00 +00002011-11-10T06:00:15.633-05:00LaineyexcerptLainey entered the wedding reception with high expectations. She was overdue. The year had brought her enough angst to fuel a college kegger. Tonight, she had a babysitter, a hotel room, dancing shoes, and little doubt she would even the score. She found her name place card in the most delightful of places: at the children's table. A perfect place to be at a child-free party. And so it was http://kandacechapple.blogspot.com/2011/11/book-excerpt-wedding-reception.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Kandace Chapple)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6792093885713797963.post-1630447898306800944Thu, 03 Nov 2011 20:40:00 +00002011-11-09T11:54:03.803-05:00motherhoodIt’s sad but true. I feel safer staying home with my two children than I do staying home alone. Translation: The first and third graders are my protection. But they are finally old enough to go off to deer camp for a night or two… leaving me alone. Very alone. And here’s what last Saturday night looked like for me: No kids, no Star Wars, no Beyblades. Freedom? Wrong. It felt more like a setup.http://kandacechapple.blogspot.com/2011/11/motherhood-home-alone.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Kandace Chapple)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6792093885713797963.post-1928133347594394418Thu, 20 Oct 2011 15:34:00 +00002011-10-20T11:34:00.382-04:00RUNNINGI did it. I started a "I hate running" FBook page. We've got 15 members as of today. I giggle every time someone else "likes" it. Let me tell you why I hate it (and, if pressed, why I love to hate it): 1. I can't find my pace. In the first 100 steps, I reach a point of oxygen deprivation that makes me look down at my watch and see that my pace is, gloriously, twice that of my norm. It takes http://kandacechapple.blogspot.com/2011/10/i-hate-running.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Kandace Chapple)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6792093885713797963.post-4178875359973879333Mon, 17 Oct 2011 16:08:00 +00002012-02-20T14:00:22.241-05:00biking I raced Peak2Peak this weekend at Crystal Mountain! I was hoping (praying) for Top 10 (I was 12th last year), so imagine my face when I saw the results... and I was 4th in my group. Before I could help myself, I leaned over to the guy next to me and was like, Do you see this sh!t? Then I tried very hard not to boogie around in celebration in the room full of manly men and their tighthttp://kandacechapple.blogspot.com/2011/10/peak2peak-4th-place-and-my-nemesis.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Kandace Chapple)6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6792093885713797963.post-2362257296717840907Wed, 12 Oct 2011 12:09:00 +00002011-10-12T08:09:00.313-04:00biking @font-face { font-family: "Cambria"; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }p.MsoListParagraph, li.MsoListParagraph, div.MsoListParagraph { margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }p.MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst, li.MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst, div.MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst { margin: http://kandacechapple.blogspot.com/2011/10/my-secret-training-weapon-nemesis.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Kandace Chapple)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6792093885713797963.post-8224196438392728231Mon, 10 Oct 2011 14:56:00 +00002011-10-10T11:00:07.400-04:00fallchildren @font-face { font-family: "Cambria"; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; } I love this time of year when our Michigan maple forests are turned on end. It’s like being able to walk in the trees. Their beauty, having spent the entire summer decorating the sky, comes down at last http://kandacechapple.blogspot.com/2011/10/pleasure-of-fall-day.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Kandace Chapple)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6792093885713797963.post-1298215108069048783Tue, 20 Sep 2011 13:22:00 +00002011-09-20T14:16:30.443-04:00LaineyexcerpthousebuildingHere, an excerpt from my novel and work-in-progress, Monday Night Bike Club: They built their house, officially, in the middle of nowhere.  They spent hours after work, after college classes, before breakfast and during lunch working on the house. It was his idea, a terrible one she thought.  Her dad had looked at Lainey and said, “Your Aunt Emily built her own house too.”  “Great,” she said. http://kandacechapple.blogspot.com/2011/09/book-excerpt-house-building-in-1997.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Kandace Chapple)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6792093885713797963.post-3824854461890156497Thu, 15 Sep 2011 13:15:00 +00002011-09-15T09:15:00.965-04:00GTWomaneditorialGNOHere's fair warning: A Girls Night Out is imminent. You might consider attending GTWoman's Ultimate Girls Night Out on Oct. 14, but mostly we recommend that you attend any GNO you can get your hands on and watch the magic unfold. While there's plenty of magic that can happen at a GNO, we mostly applaud the magic that happens outside the official agenda, the kind you can't get unless you commit http://kandacechapple.blogspot.com/2011/09/gtw-editorial-girls-night-out-imminent.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Kandace Chapple)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6792093885713797963.post-8083275892068708663Fri, 09 Sep 2011 13:17:00 +00002011-09-09T09:17:00.614-04:00motherhoodThe 1985 Yoda Song started it. If you have kids who love Star Wars, be sure to introduce them to Weird Al Yankovic's song all set to the "Lola" song. (Which is, unfortunately, catchy.) The kids played it over and over. And then they asked for more music like it. So. I've taken it one step further and started using music to send subliminal messages. Exhibit A: Weird Al's wildly popular "Eat It" http://kandacechapple.blogspot.com/2011/09/motherhood-yoda-song.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Kandace Chapple)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6792093885713797963.post-6344118542785425437Wed, 07 Sep 2011 19:41:00 +00002011-09-07T17:00:57.595-04:00bikingSo. The invite came in from the boys to go biking. Last fall I was all about running around with the boys. I was at the peak of my biking fitness (a.k.a. when I'm least addicted to peanut butter bars) and willing to chase them through the woods. Yesterday, however, was a different story. I could smell it in the air - they were all out to kill each other. I saw the three of them looking each http://kandacechapple.blogspot.com/2011/09/bike-ride-from-hell-aka-log-jumping.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Kandace Chapple)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6792093885713797963.post-6700618331369117182Tue, 02 Aug 2011 13:38:00 +00002011-09-05T09:39:23.778-04:00RUNNINGmotherhood I've started running, something I swore I’d never do. Why? I like the way I feel when I roar back into the house in the morning with the taste of sweat in my mouth, my tank sticking to my back, grit on my face and a blue bandana flopping on my head. And that it's a workout I can do with no babysitter needed. Sure, working out with the children underfoot isn’t ideal. But when they're out of http://kandacechapple.blogspot.com/2011/08/motherhood-running-with-kids-at-home.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Kandace Chapple)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6792093885713797963.post-4276195607145432245Thu, 21 Jul 2011 13:30:00 +00002011-09-05T09:35:05.609-04:00LaineyexcerptbirthHere, an excerpt from my novel and work-in-progress, Monday Night Bike Club:  Her mother had bought her a fluffy red robe with yellow and brown and white kitties embroidered on the sleeves and back. She would wear it as she paced the hospital floors, waiting for her first son to be born. She would wear it later, when the doctor said her baby was sick and they would take him down the hall, http://kandacechapple.blogspot.com/2011/07/book-excerpt-birth-of-laineys-son.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Kandace Chapple)0