Inspired by Shit My Dad Says.

The back story: Every time either my husband or I leaves town, the one who is staying home often takes leave of their senses and orders evil, fattening takeout.

The qualifications for the takeout chosen are:

• the at-home person desperately craves it but rarely orders it, on account of the out-of-town person’s preferences
• delicious enough to cure loneliness after the baby goes to bed for the night.

When The Hubby is away, a binge-worthy serving of Thai drunken noodles is my vice. When I’m gone, The Hubby favors a big bucket of crispy-fried chicken parts.

While I was in San Diego for a few days last week at BlogHer ’11, I called home to check in. Here is a rough approximation of the conversation.

Me: How’s it going?

The Hubby: Not so good. I’ve been eating off this same bucket of chicken for two days and I had to throw it out.

Me: Old chicken, eh. Did the crispy coating get soggy?

The Hubby: No, it’s time to detox. I’m sweating gravy.

Me: I could use a detox myself. I’m going to eat more vegetables.

The Hubby: I’m going to eat jambalaya with sausage.

Why hello there, good lookin’. I did it again — I ran off and wrote a bunch of stuff on Parentables without telling you. I suck. Below you’ll find all the links to these stories so that you may click at your leisure.

By clicking these links, and sharing the stories you like on your social media platform of choice (Facebook, Twitter, StumbleUpon, etc.), you keep me employed in the bloggy world. I can’t thank you enough for that.

So please don’t be shy — if you appreciate something you read, “like” it! And if you hate something you read … bury your emotions beneath a heavy pile of bitterness and vitriol, or you can get drunk and break stuff. Your choice.

I’m going to be at BlogHer ’11 this week in San Diego. If you’re going to be there, let’s say hello in person! Please send me a note via the contact form.

Without further ado, LINKTASTIC!

What Career Advice Will You Give Your Children?

Is This Generation of Parents More Thoughtful, or Just Plain Neurotic?

Parking Lot Etiquette During Car Seat Combat

5 Things Lady Gaga and Moms Have in Common

Imagine Away Your Cravings to Lose Weight

50 Awesome Things About Babies

14 Ways to Help Your Child Defend Herself Against Bullying. Hint: Be Prepared Before it Happens

How Our Baby Began Sleeping Through the Night: My Saga of Exhaustion and the Sleep Solution That Rescued Me

Help Your Baby Sleep by Popping in Your Earbuds

How to Make Your Days Run Smoother by Recharging Your Morning Routine

How to Keep Sane by Choosing 10 Easy Things to Accomplish Every Day

Gender Identity and Hair Length: Should Parents Dictate a Kid’s Hairstyle?

Pregnancy Calendar: Week 11 Pregnancy Symptoms

How Using Paid Childcare Could Make You a Better Mother

Pursue Your Passion, Even With Small Children at Home

Party Planning 101: Keep it Simple to Make the Party More Fun

Work Smart, Not Hard: Be More Productive by Spending Less Time in Front of Your Computer

How I Save Money on Clothes Shopping: Avoid the Mall at All Costs

Pregnancy Calendar: Week 15 Pregnancy Symptoms

Your Facebook Friends Could Save Your Child’s Life

Why Parents Should Learn to Trust Their Gut Instinct

Can Calling Your Child “Good” Be a Bad Thing?

Finally, I Have a Reason to Boycott American Girl Stores

Pregnancy Calendar: Week 19 Pregnancy Symptoms

The Severe Brain Injury That Produced Amazing Artistic Talent

Easy New York Style Pizza Recipe: You Can Even Buy the Crust and Sauce

How to Teach Your Baby or Toddler to Drink From a Straw

Make Your Life Click by Learning How to Parent Your Inner Child or Inner Rock Star

How My Picky Eater Became a Gastronomic Explorer

Some Schools to Restrict Assignments: The Battle Over Homework Continues

I must apologize to my email subscribers. I promised to send updates when I blogged at Parentables and I haven’t been doing that.

The post about How to Get More Nutrition Into Your Picky Baby or Toddler (Recipe Included) cost me some subscribers, I’m assuming because that’s clearly a topic that’s very parenting focused, and not true to the original content categories of Swell Easy Living.

And so I was hesitant to continue to supply updates here. But the truth is, a lot of the content I write for Parentables is not purely about parenting. Some of it is, sure, but people can choose to read what interests them, and it’s completely unhelpful of me (and completely ridiculous, I might add) to avoid updating my subscribers for fear that I will lose some!

So all of this to say that I have been blogging, and I need to send a whole host of updates, which I will do in batches with multiple links. I will try to keep specific content categories lumped together in each update as I get us all back on track.

I am going to attempt (near) daily updates until we’re caught up. Beyond that, I do plan to blog much more frequently, and so expect to see emails (more often than never) for subscribers. In case this results in too many emails for some, I am launching a Facebook page. And then if you “like” me, well then, I can hardly be sad if you unsubscribe from my email updates.

Carry on.

The reason for this pose is that Alex can only crawl backwards. Which is way more than cool with me, since she can spot something she’s not supposed to have and then in an effort to move towards it, she actually crawls backwards and away from it.

I’m hoping she sticks with thwarting her devious intent.

Hence, in an effort to keep herself out of trouble, she backed herself under the couch thusly. It was pretty awesome.