Owen is pretty well completely potty trained, provided he is naked from the waist down. As soon as you put anything on him he is not potty trained at all. Does anybody have any experience with this and any advice on how to translate this into a form of potty training that will allow him to go to preschool? Alternately, does anybody in the D.C. Metro area know of a good pants-optional preschool?

I'm having a yard sale tomorrow, because Mia has been begging to do it for over a year now and I finally caved. I've never had a yard sale before, so would appreciate any tips from the veterans. Of particular interest are things like how much I should charge for a size 18M pair of pants and an old high chair in mediocre condition and some of Chris's old dress pants. Also, how to you hang clothes that need to be hung when you are setting up in your driveway? I am working to devise a system featuring the ladder, the push broom, and the recycling bin, but I am skeptical.

I am also trying to sell something on craigslist for the first time, and I posted it on Wednesday and got an email and was so scared that it was somehow a scam and the guy was really a serial killer and was trying to lure me into his grasp by feigning interest in my co-sleeper that I didn't answer his email. And then I did get up the nerve to answer his email and he had found another one somewhere else. Any craigslist tips?

It seems I only post anymore when I need something from you, sorry about that. In regards to my last post, we bought a LG front loader, even though I was Firmly Opposed to getting a front-loader, because it was the second-highest rated washer by Consumer Reports and I found it for $500 installed. So far it works great, so much better than my old front-loader, but it is all of a week old so I am reserving judgment.

And as thanks for all of your wonderful advice, I would like to offer some fabulous fashion tips that I just posted over at the fabulous Style Lush. For those of you who have seen pictures of me, do not fear, the tips are not from me. They are from Mia.

My three-year-old washing machine is broken to the tune of $1500. I am a little confused about how it can be $1500 worth of broken since it didn't cost that much new, but the fact remains that I am not paying that and need a new washing machine. There is some consolation in the fact that the washer came with the house so I didn't pay for it myself, but it is still aggravating to have the brand new (Kenmore, front loader, high-efficiency, didn't work that well to start with and dead in three years, in case you are thinking of buying one) washing machine broken while the twenty-year-old dryer works beautifully.

So, washing machines. I am researching, I need to buy one by this weekend at the outside because the old one broke at the beginning of laundry day not at the end, and even though the children and I and our laundry are visiting my mother on Friday, if I don't have a washer up in here by the end of next week I will have to start contemplating laundromats, and I would rather not because am a spoiled little rich girl and they always have uncomfortable chairs (although I could fairly decline to take the children with me - maybe I will delay buying a new washer in the name of some free time).

Anyway, I have one short, easy question. Is there anybody out there, anybody in the entire world, who has owned and used a front loader for at least a year and actually likes the thing? Mine wasn't all that great to start with and now is junk, and I seem to hear lots of complaints. The only benefit I can think of is that without the agitator I can wash my king-sized comforter, but the children rarely vomit on my bed these days and if it happens there is always the good old laundromat.

So tell me, love your front loader? I'm gonna be needing the model number on that. Or, bought something lately after days of careful research and willing to let me ride your coat tails? Would appreciate the advice.

I woke up at 5 AM and was totally fine. I woke up again at 6 AM and could barely move. I suppose it is a sign of getting older that you can grievously injure yourself with an hour of sleep.

A recent conversation:
Her: Hey, when I sit like this on my knees, it makes my vagina hurt.
Me: Maybe you should try not sitting like that.
Her: That worked! I thank you, and my vagina thanks you!
Me: Did you seriously just say that?

My mailbox door has been broken for months, and I just learned how to fix it. From Handy Manny. That's educational television right there.

Both kids are sick, and the washing machine just broke, which guarantees that one or both of the kids will start projectile vomiting within the hour.

It doesn't happen often, but these are the days I start to wish that I was the one with an office to go to.