Have you ever seen this show "Toddlers and Tiaras"? It's crazy. The kid's name is Sparkal Queenz. Seriously. When she grows up and becomes a stripper she won't even have to change her name.

I'm thinking about pitching a similar show called . . . OK, I can't come up with a good one for competitive softball. But if you took Toddlers and Tiaras and made it teenage girls at softball tournaments, you'd get the idea. This is what my family does every summer.

Do you know how much a damn softball bat costs? Like, $250! Do you know how many of them my husband has bought for my daughter? Me either. Scary!

I think that my daughter really likes to play softball, and she's pretty good. But seriously, three weekends a month from May through July. Almost every weekend requires a hotel stay, so, plan on spending $150 on hotel, $100 on food, $100 on gas. Guess how many family vacations we have taken in the past five years? None.

And what I find strange is that the driving force of these girls' softball teams is overwhelmingly the dads. Yeah, the moms are there and cheering, but it's the dads that are coaching and getting upset over losses. Us moms are thinking, "Okay, now we'll get home at 10 tonight, I have to wash that uniform, and get back up at 6 to get back here to the field by 8 tomorrow morning." I don't think any of the moms could honestly say that they really, really, care about going to softball tournaments. Or maybe I'm the only one that's thinking that and all the other moms are REALLY into the game. Right.

"Bitches and Bats." That's it.

I was in New Orleans a couple of weeks ago for work and took this photo at a booth in the French Market.

I'd never been to New Orleans before. It's amazing how it has come back since Katrina, but also sad how many people are still living in FEMA trailers or have just left and not come back.

I love my job

Have you ever worked with someone that is constantly telling you how busy they are? That is one of my biggest pet peeves ever! Don't you just want to tell such a person, "If you have time to tell me how busy you are, you obviously aren't all that busy."

The biggest problem is, I'm NOT all that busy right now. This is my slow time of year. Don't come around in June and July, though. That's when I am swamped. However, I don't go around telling everyone how swamped I am. So annoying.

I do really love my job, though.

So.....my daughter just got a pet hedgehog. I really hate any kind of rodent - mouse, rat, hamster - but I don't really mind the hedgehog. He's kind of cute. Anybody out there have any experience with hedgehogs? Love 'em? Hate 'em?

First Post

Well, this is my first post to my blog! No one will probably ever read it, though. I only considered it because I was ranting one evening and my daughter told me, "You should start a blog, mom!"

I think that my signature is "Justamom." I don't want a bunch of angry comments. I don't think I'm just a mom. Moms are very important. I think I just used that name because I get very frustrated at being taken for granted by my family. I'm not a super housekeeper or cook or anything, but just the normal day-to-day stuff - nobody seems to notice.

So anyway, the rant that I started one night that prompted my daughter to suggest this blog started with: Polly Pocket. Who do you think sat down one day and said, "You know what would be a great idea? A tiny little doll. And even better - let's make her clothes out of RUBBER! Yeah! That wouldn't be difficult for mothers to dress at all!"

That's all for now. Gotta watch the DVD I just got from the library - the first season of Mad Men!