Barefoot in the Kitchen.

Having the carpets periodically cleaned is NOT an optional activity in a house with 2 small boys, 2 hairy cats (BLACK!) and 1 very large dog.

Today is the day that Stanley Steemer is coming to remove a year's worth of juice stains, funny-smelling patches that we blame on the dog (because that's less disturbing somehow than blaming the children. Even if they are the more likely culprits than the ridiculously well-housebroken Gizmo). Then, there's the built-up cat hair, ground-in dirt and the occasional coffee or soda spill. Even after going through gallons of Resolve over the course of the year? The carpet still looks like we threw several wild parties and maybe dragged dirty diapers around on it for good measure.

So today was a flurry of activity, getting the house prepped to be deep-steam-cleaned. Rolling up rugs, moving small tables off onto hard floors, and vacuuming the entire blasted house. Also? Many MANY loads of laundry. (Look honey! You finally have clean underwears!).

And so! Once all that was wrapped up, I sat down - sweaty and sore - to catch up on my blogroll and perhaps even add to that other blog of mine.

That's when I realized it.

I'm done. Done with the shopping blog... because? Because with 2 kids and a hefty mortgage and the expense just to get the things we absolutely MUST have (note to self: make eye doctor appointments, find dentist who accepts new insurance, check flex spending account for enough funds to get the thousand dollars of dental work I still need this year)... it's really not any fun any more to spend time looking at things I'd really *like* to have, but cannot justify spending money on.

And so.

And so, I will no longer be updating What Mommy Wants. I'll leave it up for archival purposes for a while, but beyond that... it is finito. Done. Kaput.

But fear not! Lest you crave more of my Buddha-like wisdom than can be gleaned from only the pages of this written wonder that is Stay At Aum Mom... I present to you....

"Eat Drink and Be Married".

I started it almost 1 year ago as a place for T and I to write about our foodie exploits. Okay, so we're dissociated foodies - enjoying homemade lamb curry and frozen fish-sticks, sometimes in the same weekend. That said, we do manage - once in a good while - to make some pretty impressive delights.

And so, hopefully to be updated on at least a weekly basis, and with guest posts from the Man Himself (hopefully a periodic article or two on the gastric delights he will be enjoying as he travels the globe) please to be bookmarking Here. Be nice to him. Remember, the man doesn't just cook (things like rosemary braised tuna steaks with stuffed portabella mushrooms and brown sugar and mustard-glazed salmon filets with homemade whipped potatoes) ... he also does the dishes when he's done.