http://denver.yourhub.comThe latest blog posts in The Denver Newspaper Agency YourHub.comen-usnews@yourhub.com(c) 2009, YourHub.com5My self-imposed summer hiatus has ended. With my oldest back in school and enjoying 2nd grade, I now find myself once again able to cobble together tiny bits of time to write or take a poop. (Or occasionally do both simultaneously because I multi-task as only a single mother with a laptop can.)...http://denver.yourhub.com/Parker/Blogs/Archive/Blog~529505.aspx10/3/2008 5:47:52 PMNikki Britain The last time I spoke to my father was July of 1996. It was during that telephone conversation that he relayed to me his wishes to "enjoy the rest of his life free of the inconvenience of children he never wanted in the first place". At 29 years old, it was still hard to be rejected again, but n...http://denver.yourhub.com/Parker/Blogs/Archive/Blog~484123.aspx6/15/2008 9:10:07 AMNikki Britain This will be my seventh Mother's Day. I will celebrate it in the most appropriate manner possible... by simply being a mom. And of course, dreaming of a day in the future when my three sons will pin a corsage on my outfit, whisk me off to some wonderfully decadent champagne brunch, and toast to ...http://denver.yourhub.com/Parker/Blogs/Archive/Blog~468566.aspx5/10/2008 10:30:46 PMNikki Britain Lumps are rarely good. I smooth them from the beds every morning. I've held ice packs on them for my little ones on too many occasions. (Though I can admit that lumps are wonderful in the context of homemade mashed potatoes.) But finding a lump in one's breast? Well, that is just downright f...http://denver.yourhub.com/Parker/Blogs/Archive/Blog~446321.aspx3/25/2008 6:21:31 AMNikki Britain Life with multiples presents a variety of unique challenges. My little fellas will be two in July. They are walking, talking, and generally moving at hyper-speed whenever and wherever possible. Any parent with toddler experience knows that at this age, errand running, while still necessary, is...http://denver.yourhub.com/Parker/Blogs/Archive/Blog~428244.aspx2/13/2008 9:42:24 AMNikki Britain Grant took his first steps Thanksgiving night. Five or six wobbly movements forward, his arms raised into the air like a marathoner crossing the finish line. Friends and family watched as he stopped, swaying slightly, only three small steps from my outstretched arms. They began to applaud, c...http://denver.yourhub.com/Parker/Blogs/Archive/Blog~417308.aspx1/20/2008 6:50:41 AMNikki Britain With permission, I am posting this email I received from an old high school friend this afternoon : I'm wiping the tears of laughter away as I write this. Seriously, Brian, you are a gentleman and a scholar. And one of the funniest fellas to ever fall over on a motorcycle while not intoxicat...http://denver.yourhub.com/Parker/Blogs/Archive/Blog~404416.aspx12/14/2007 3:54:56 PMNikki Britain October brings many wonderful things to El Rancho Fiasco. Crisp, clear mornings. Yellow aspen leaves twisting in the breeze. Vegas odds makers who, even after eleven weeks of college football, have yet to figure out that the Cornhuskers never cover the spread. The disappearance of my sta...http://denver.yourhub.com/Parker/Blogs/Archive/Blog~389737.aspx11/8/2007 2:25:45 PMNikki Britain This weekend The Flu made its appearance at our house and because apparently I was Genghis Kahn in my former life, this nasty bug has affected all of the home's inhabitants with the exception of me. So, the role Mama here is playing in this germ-infested telenovela is "Mrs. Vomitus Vamoo...http://denver.yourhub.com/Parker/Blogs/Archive/Blog~377367.aspx10/14/2007 4:49:15 PMNikki Britain Several weeks ago, I picked up our six year old from his fourth day of first grade. On the ride home he informed me that he had "a crush" on one of his schoolmates. "She has brown hair and blue eyes and she looks kinda shy, but she isn't." Okay. I am just beginning to deal with the fact that h...http://denver.yourhub.com/Parker/Blogs/Archive/Blog~366020.aspx9/21/2007 3:01:17 PMNikki Britain When the twins were born last summer, we received an inordinate amount of baby gifts. Two babies, two of everything. And, as is the nature of such things, we had a few duplicates. Baby clothes mostly, bibs and such. Some from Target as evidenced by the price tags and the brand: Circo. Much ...http://denver.yourhub.com/Parker/Blogs/Archive/Blog~335938.aspx7/17/2007 7:11:33 PMNikki Britain When my brother and I grew up we had ticks. I don't mean we had them as pets or anything, I mean we lived in "tick territory". Occasionally in the summer, my mom would have to slather one of these parasitic critters with Vaseline and yank the little vampire from our heads with tweezers. On...http://denver.yourhub.com/Parker/Blogs/Archive/Blog~333509.aspx7/11/2007 3:54:50 PMNikki Britain The other day while the sitter watched the babies, I picked our oldest up from Kindergarten. I had the dog and her Frisbee with me so we stopped at the park on our way home from school. While he amused himself by climbing on then jumping off the four foot perimeter walls and throwing rocks t...http://denver.yourhub.com/Parker/Blogs/Archive/Blog~312230.aspx5/23/2007 9:46:49 AMNikki Britain It was simple serendipity that I was seated next to the Art Director from TWINS magazine at a dinner early last summer. We got to talking and she showed me pictures of her twin grandbabies. And told me stories about how they lived with her when they were infants. I showed off photos of my single...http://denver.yourhub.com/Parker/Blogs/Archive/Blog~299872.aspx4/25/2007 4:32:28 PMNikki Britain Eric Carle wrote and illustrated a wonderful book called The Very Lonely Firefly . During the course of the story, the titular blinky bug flies around looking for someone like himself and finds instead things like flashlights and lanterns and other illuminated objects. Poor, lonely firefl...http://denver.yourhub.com/Parker/Blogs/Archive/Blog~297035.aspx4/19/2007 2:01:35 PMNikki Britain Okay. Okay. So there were no farm animals. Or nekkid ladies. But I think our first YourHub.com Blogger Beer Night was a success. Especially if you define success in terms of the amount of gratuitous man-boob sightings. (You can read more about that in Bill Boucher's blog.) http://denver.yo...http://denver.yourhub.com/Parker/Blogs/Archive/Blog~293607.aspx4/12/2007 7:19:32 PMNikki Britain NUDE Girls!!! Live Farm Animals!!! XXX (okay, now that I have your attention....) Mark your calendar for the 1st monthly Yourhub.com Blogger Beer Night. Wednesday, April 11th 7pm Old Chicago 14th & Market No flash photography. No one under 18 admitted.http://denver.yourhub.com/Parker/Blogs/Archive/Blog~290174.aspx4/6/2007 11:18:08 AMNikki Britain I love vinyl! No, I'm not a fetish dresser unless you count a killer bee pair of 5 inch stiletto Manolo Blahniks last worn circa B.C. (before children) And I'm not partial to sticky, squeaky furniture or car seats. Nope. I mean record albums. Those beautiful pressed plastic discs of yore. Em...http://denver.yourhub.com/Parker/Blogs/Archive/Blog~288703.aspx4/4/2007 10:00:00 AMNikki Britain I got my first tattoo a long time ago. Back when tattoo parlors were located on the same streets as liquor stores with liberal ID policies, shady pawn shops, and seedy strip clubs. I went alone because I am alternately either fiercely independent or stupidly cavalier. I downed a shot of Irish ...http://denver.yourhub.com/Parker/Blogs/Archive/Blog~281771.aspx3/20/2007 10:47:09 PMNikki Britain My fourth child looks nothing like me. She is black. I have skin that on a good day can be described as "pasty". She has beautiful brown eyes. Mine are bluish-greenish-grayish, the color of pond water. She is smart, energetic, and very well behaved. Me? Not so much so. And I don't mean to brag, ...http://denver.yourhub.com/Parker/Blogs/Archive/Blog~169880.aspx1/12/2007 2:25:09 PMNikki Britain Barbara Neff, of Castle Pines, wrote a wonderfully honest and thought-provoking blog column last week about wildlife. Rather than responding in the comment section, I decided to throw my two cents in here on my blog instead. Our home in Parker backs to what is known in these parts as "open...http://denver.yourhub.com/Parker/Blogs/Archive/Blog~259039.aspx3/5/2007 10:43:08 PMNikki Britain Kermit the Frog had it right. Sometimes it's not so easy being green. Not when it seems so much simpler to just toss your refuse in some random garbage can and be done with it. Outta sight, outta mind. But the long term affects of this short-sighted thinking for our shared planet are potentially...http://denver.yourhub.com/Parker/Blogs/Archive/Blog~257983.aspx3/3/2007 8:49:44 AMNikki Britain Kermit the Frog once sang, "It's not easy being green." But around here we have an awful lot of brown. Yes, I am speaking of that which we all do in the privacy of our bathrooms. (or fishbowls, birdcages, cat boxes, dog runs, or diapers at my house) First, there is the beta fish who lives a pea...http://denver.yourhub.com/Parker/Blogs/Archive/Blog~254825.aspx2/23/2007 10:00:25 PMNikki Britain I have always fancied myself a woman of words and humor. Both were stripped from me today. For there is nothing funny about the funeral of a child. I babbled like a string-pull doll -- the only words that rattled around in my head, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm so very sorry." But I had tears. Oh, ...http://denver.yourhub.com/Parker/Blogs/Archive/Blog~181383.aspx2/9/2007 6:18:38 PMNikki Britain The role of chief Question Answerer generally falls to the stay at home parent rather than the one who goes out into the realm of big people to earn a living. Or at least it is such in our home. Mostly this is good because I am a Know-It-All at heart and also because I have howstuffwor...http://denver.yourhub.com/Parker/Blogs/Archive/Blog~182334.aspx2/12/2007 3:35:44 PMNikki Britain A boy met a girl at a cowboy bar deep in the heart of a moderately-sized Midwestern town. Neither one of them wanted to be there (at the bar or in the town). But billiards were played (the boy kept winning) and alcohol imbibed (this is why the boy kept winning). By the end of the evening th...http://denver.yourhub.com/Parker/Blogs/Archive/Blog~178631.aspx2/3/2007 10:47:29 PMNikki Britain So, we're back from Sin City. I know the city's newish motto is "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas." And I found that to be both true and false. The falsehood? My hangover did not stay in Vegas. (No, it came home on the airplane with me to three needy children and a hyper-active dog...http://denver.yourhub.com/Parker/Blogs/Archive/Blog~177711.aspx2/1/2007 9:47:11 AMNikki Britain It's a bird! It's a plane! No!! It's Pteromerhanophobia Girl! That's right. I have a "fear of flying". Not the 'Erica Jong' kind. The 'fly on an airplane' kind. I hate it. Absolutely. Utterly. Flying with me is always an adventure. It's just not an adventure most want to have. So, I take Valiu...http://denver.yourhub.com/Parker/Blogs/Archive/Blog~172975.aspx1/19/2007 8:08:36 PMNikki Britain We are going to Las Vegas in one week. Just me and the spouse. No pets. No kids. Just us. It has been six months since the twins were born and (surprise! surprise!) we've yet to kill them or each other. That's worth a little trip, we think. We lived in Vegas many years ago after we were first m...http://denver.yourhub.com/Parker/Blogs/Archive/Blog~170106.aspx1/13/2007 3:48:41 PMNikki Britain I had a birthday recently. I am 39 years old now. My age, or more specifically, my AGING, doesn't bother me. (Oh, I'll admit I had a rough patch a couple years ago when I realized that every single month the Playboy Playmate was born after I had already graduated from high school. But I'...http://denver.yourhub.com/Parker/Blogs/Archive/Blog~169290.aspx1/11/2007 10:54:06 AMNikki Britain