All of the Above

The Post That No One Will Read

2011-01-11T11:59:00.000-06:00

July 27, 2010

"I will be posting things from time to time here, but not often."

Bwahahahaha!!!

And nearly 6 months later this is the first post on this blog since I got my new job. And this will most likely be the last :-(

I know you are all crying your eyes out because clearly I am a fantastic and prolific blogger. No one will even see this post. That's how cool I am.

I've started a new password protected blog. If anyone wants to follow along please leave me a comment with your name and email. I will send you the address and password! That is, if you want to hear about all of the mundane details of our daily lives. EXCITING, I tell you. Exciting.

xoxo,

..and the big news is...

2010-07-27T15:24:00.000-05:00

You must do the thing which you think you cannot do. ~Eleanor Roosevelt

Well, it's big news in my world, at least :-)

I have accepted a new job!

Through all of my ramblings on this blog about not living up to my potential, not being paid what I am worth, not challenging myself, etc... I finally put my money where my mouth is, so to speak.

After two grueling interviews, lots of prayers and lots of, ahem, drinks ... I decided that this was an incredible opportunity I could not pass up.

I will be working as a web content specialist for a world-famous medical institution. And if you know where I live then you can fill in the blanks. ha.

This kind of goes against my wish of spending more time at home with the boy. But such is life. The timing might not be perfect but when is it ever perfect?

I am leaving a job that I have come to love, and for that reason I am having some major panic attack moments. Did I make the right decision? OMG, what the hell am I doing leaving a job that I love???

But the bottom line is this: I am excited for my new adventure. It will be challenging. There will be moments of doubt and frustration. But in the end I need to do this for myself and for OUR future.

And guess what? I could love my NEW job, too.

So ...

What does this mean for this blog?

I am going to put it on hold for the moment. As I transition from my current job to my new one I will have even less time to blog. I know what you are thinking: "How can she blog any less than she already does (or doesn't)???" I know, I suck at blogging right now. But my focus is elsewhere.

I will be posting things from time to time here, but not often.

However, if you would like to keep up with me on Facebook, Twitter, or my other blog please feel free!

Thanks, all! xoxo

Your Assignment and ... My Response

2010-07-13T11:04:00.000-05:00

If you read my post from Friday you will already know that tomorrow is the big 77kids Do Good Day! Our Minnesota Mom Bloggers Do Good Day Team will be at the Minnesota Science Museum from 10am-1pm. Stop by and say hi!

And speaking of that, Erika came up with a great way that YOU ALL can get involved in this Do Good Day, too. So, here is your assignment:

~Write post about how you do good for others or for your community. Then go to The Girl Next Door Grows Up and LINK UP tomorrow!
* What kind of random acts of kindness do you do?
* Have you ever paid it forward? How?
* What will you do today that will make someone smile?

~If you can’t write a post, come back here on Wednesday and leave me a comment about something--one thing--that you did that made someone smile.

Now...I need to respond to Erika's post about how she is so nervous/excited to meet us bloggers in person that she is, frankly, a little nauseated.

Dear Erika and Do Good Day Team:

I am excited to meet you ALL in person tomorrow. Super, duper excited! I always love to meet bloggers in person because if I have been reading you blog that means I know you already, right? :-)

It definitely feels *safe* sitting and blogging from the relative anonymity of your computer. But that is a false sense of comfort! The truth is that we are all real people!!! So meeting in person, while in theory fun and exciting, could also be stress-inducing. But here is what I have to say about that: It's ALL GOOD. I know I will adore each and every one of you, therefore, I am not stressing in the least.

In response to Erika's post I will list some things that I think would be helpful for you all to know about me in advance of our meeting tomorrow:

1. My hair is all kinds of not fabulous right now because I refuse to pay more than $20 for a cut and color. Total. It's super awesome.

2. I do not go potty 100 times an hour like Erika, in fact I am the opposite. I have a bladder of steel and I am made fun of for it. That's just how I roll.

3. I tend to giggle when I am nervous.

4. I am nosy and will ask you a million questions about your life and your family. You have been warned.

5. The back left tail light is out in our van. So if I am late it means I have been pulled over. Or I am getting a coffee. One or the other.

6. I will only do a vlog with Erika if we can also videotape her running. Those are the rules, my dear, take it or leave it. :-)

I will have my camera with me and will be doing a "Meet the Team" post after Do Good Day. So, watch out! I might post the outtakes, too :-)

Love,

Feel Good Friday: Do Good Day Preview!

2010-07-09T09:32:00.000-05:00

There are few things in life that I enjoy more than cute kids clothes and doing something good for others.

So when I got an email several weeks ago from my "sister" Erika (if that is her real name..hahaha) over at The Girl Next Door Grows Up, I couldn't believe my eyes!

77kids by American Eagle has teamed up with The Motherhood to put together an amazing group of 77 mom bloggers from around the country to help them DO GOOD in their communities. (They are calling it "Do Good Day") AND as an added bonus we also get to help them launch their brand new stores. What could be more perfect?? AWESOME!

I am priviledged to be working with a group of 6 other Minnesota Mom Bloggers. We have been emailing and planning like the crazy women that we are, and are happy to announce that we will be DOING GOOD at the Science Museum of Minnesota from 10 am - 1 pm on July 14th! If you are in the area please stop on by to say hi!!!

We will also be helping 77kids open their brand-new store at the Mall of America on July 31st!

You will be hearing so much more about this project, and the other mom bloggers in the next few weeks so stay tuned...

Check out Erika's post for a few more details and links!

Know what else makes me FEEL GOOD today?

100 Followers! THANK YOU, everyone!!!

That's What She Said

2010-07-08T09:36:00.000-05:00

Grant and I do not have a perfect relationship or a perfect marriage.

This is not a news flash. No one does.

But in so many ways we are perfectly matched.

For instance, we are both the biggest nerds you will ever meet. Ever. Hands down. Huge geeks.

[pause for laughter and head nodding from those who know us in real life]

One example of what gigantic nerds we are happened last night.

Let me set the stage: We had just put Miles to bed. I was laying on the couch and Grant was sitting in the chair right next to the couch I was laying on. We each had our CrapBerry in our hands. What follows is the conversation that we had (the EXACT, word for word, letter for letter conversation) via CHAT on our BLACKBERRYs as we were sitting right next to each other. Nerdy.

Grant: What are you doing?

Anne: None of your business.

Anne: Want to watch True Blood?

Grant: Sure.

Anne: Ok, let's go.

Grant: Ok.

Anne: Nerd.

Grant: Vampire Geek.

Grant: We use punctuation more than other texters!

Grant: And CAPITAL LETTERS

Anne: I like correct punctuation, grammar and spelling. No matter what.

Grant: Your a good spellir;

Anne: We shld go down their now and wartch dat telervision show'

Grant: I want to do bad things to you. (It's a line in the theme song, don't get any ideas.)

Anne: That's what she said.

Are We There Yet?

2010-07-07T11:51:00.000-05:00

My sister and I are 6.5 years apart. And she hated me growing up. I was always the little, pesky sister who wanted to hang out with my older sister and all of her friends. But I wasn't wanted. I was the little sister who tended to be the center of attention. And she didn't like it.

So, we didn't get along.

Until I was 12.

She went to college.

Then she decided that if she didn't have to live with me, I was ok.

I think it took both of us growing up to realize that we were all we had! Each other. Siblings. And we actually liked each other!

And now she and I are very close, thankfully.

It just makes me think about timing. Life is all about timing. (Deep Thoughts by Anne. That one's for you S & S!) When is the right time to adopt a sibling for Miles? How far apart should our kids be?

I think the short answer is that there IS NO ANSWER.

It doesn't matter how close or far apart siblings are. It just matters if it is the right time for your particular family situation.

I keep thinking that I will know when the time is right. I feel like I will know when we are there. I haven't felt that yet. And maybe it will never come? In some ways I feel like our family is not yet complete and that little girl I have always dreamed of has yet to join our family. But again...there is no right or wrong answer here.

When I get the pang for another baby I am often quickly snapped out of it my the shrill screeching of my toddler throwing a tantrum. And then I am back to reality!

So, are we there yet? No. Not yet.

But maybe someday?

Life is all about timing.

A Twittvite

2010-07-06T09:45:00.000-05:00

I just Googled "Twittvite" and apparently there is a "Tweetvite" but not a "Twittvite". Should I coin the term??? Will it make me rich and famous??? Probably not. Dammit.

In any case I would like to offer you all a Twittvite, or an invitation to follow me on Twitter:

Anne's Twittvite!

I have recently discovered the power and magic of Twitter, even though I have been on there for quite some time. At first I could.not.figure.out why on earth people liked Twitter. I just didn't get it. I love Facebook but I really just couldn't get into Tweeting.

And then ...

... the clouds parted and the angels sang me a sweet Twitter song.

And now ...

... I GET IT.

Don't ask me to explain it because you have to have the epiphany yourself.

Pray to the Twitter Gods and maybe you, too, can be so blessed.

I tend to be Tweeting quite a bit lately, so come and join the fun!

* Disclaimer: My Tweets are only funny after I've had a few too many drinks.

Monday Minute and How to Hear Back From Me

2010-06-28T10:42:00.000-05:00

Has anyone you've known personally lived to at least 100?
Actually, no. But very, very close. We have some wicked longevity in our family so upper 90s is pretty much the standard. No one's cracked The Century Club though....yet!!

What material possession do you value the most?
Easy: My wedding ring. And my violin.

What do you think happens to us after we die?
This is waaaay too deep of a question for a Monday morning. Ummm, heaven?

Most embarrassing item in your house?
Probably my tummy-sucking-in-undergarments. That's hot.

and finally...

If you could rename yourself, what would your name be?
I would switch my middle name with my first name. Just do a flip flop. Can anyone guess what my middle name is????? (people who know....shhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!) If you leave a guess I will reply back and let you know if you are right or wrong. That is, if you have it set up so I CAN email you back. If not, here is a tutorial:

Go to your Dashboard on Blogger.com.

Hit your edit profile right next to your picture, avatar or whatever else you have showing.

Scroll down to the line that says : Show my email address and CHECK THE BOX.

Hit save.

For those of you who do not want a regular email address to show, go to Gmail, Yahoo or any other number of places and get a FREE email account and set it up.

Wordless Wednesday: The Self Portrait

2010-06-23T07:59:00.001-05:00

Feel Good Friday: Michael Jordan!

2010-06-18T10:01:00.000-05:00

So, we had some bad weather here in Minnesota yesterday.

For about 25 minutes last night we had some REALLY bad weather roll through our neck of the woods. Small trees uprooted, large branches down everywhere, power lines down. And we didn't even get the worst of it, not by a long shot! There were like 35 tornadoes in Minnesota yesterday and thankfully none of them landed in our neighborhood, or anywhere really close.

There was lots of damage and even some deaths associated with this storm so I don't want to make light of it.

However.

Last night was so much fun!!!

This probably sounds freakish considering the weather that we had with an inch of rain in 20 minutes and 60 mph straight line winds. And I HATE storms. Hate. I was nearly hit by lightning last October (that is for a whole other post) so I really, really, really despise storms.

[At this point you are wondering what the hell this has to do with Michael Jordan OR Feel Good Friday. Keep your panties on, I'll get there.]

When the sirens went off we were in the process of trying to get Miles to sleep. We knew there was the possibility of the sirens going off but we were going to give it a shot anyway. So when the sirens went off we grabbed Miles and headed for the basement.

For some reason it was fantastically fun to hunker down in the basement, the three of us snuggled up on the couch reading books. And Miles was having the time of his life! He was getting to stay up way past his bedtime and hang out with his two favorite people! What could be better?! He was silly and sweet and funny and patient as we waited out the storm. It was so much fun and made me incredibly happy! [There's the Feel Good Friday moment, Part 1]

We were flipping back and forth between the weather coverage and the NBA finals. We couldn't care less about the NBA finals but I knew Miles would dig it ... he loves watching basketball on TV. He will cheer loudly and enthusiastically when they make a basket and he will say "almost!" when they miss. It's friggin' adorable.

And then they cut to some commentary. For some reason they were listing some of the bball greats, "Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, ..."

Then came the scream out of Miles mouth: "MICHAEL JORDAN! MICHAEL JORDAN!"

Clear as a bell.

WHA?!?!?

Grant and I looked at each other in disbelief. We are NOT huge basketball fans, nor do we talk about Michael Jordan incessantly (or at all), nor do I give a flying fart about basketball.

And why, out of all of those names would be have picked out "Michael Jordan" when he was only half paying attention in the first place???

Then Grant remembered: Once a long time ago we went to a pizza place where they have a Michael Jordan pinball machine. Grant remembers saying, "That's Michael Jordan." ONCE. One time. Ever. Never to have uttered his name again. Why on earth would that stick in his little brain?

Some would say (and you know who you are) that it's because he is destined to be a basketball superstar.

I say [and this is the Feel Good Friday moment, Part 2] it's because my boy is brilliant and wicked smart! [parental bias notwithstanding :-) ] His brain is like a little sponge and we are constantly amazed at what a two year old can absorb and learn and RETAIN, even after just hearing something once.

So next time you are around a two year old watch what you say! You never know when it will pop back up and out of their mouth!!

The Proposal (Part 2)

2010-06-16T07:30:00.005-05:00

There's really no good news OR bad news to share. Just news :-)

The long and the short of it is that the 'power that be' was less than enthusiastic when I presented my eloquent and well-thought-out proposal (I think I said a lot of things like "ummm..." and "ya know?" ... not my best delivery of all times). But I am pretty sure it wasn't HOW I said it, it was WHAT I was saying. It obviously isn't ideal for me to not work one day in the week, especially considering how tiny our staff is.

So, after more thought and conversation we decided that a happy medium would be for me to just take some days off this summer when I felt I needed them. I have time off, and I should use it. I have already planned some time off so I can spend it with my boy and that makes me happy for the time-being.

Best of both worlds? Maybe. It would be great to have a 4-day work week but for right now that is not in the cards.

Now, who has some good ideas for some fun mommy/toddler activities to do this summer???

It's My LOL Day!

2010-06-15T08:11:00.001-05:00

I often wonder if my humor translates on my blog. And I don't really have to wonder long because I think the answer is usually a big NO. Take yesterday's post for example. That was supposed to have been tongue-in-cheek. I thought that was rather tame compared to how shitty I was really feeling yesterday. I *could" have written a really depressing post but decided to go the humor route instead. As I often say, if I didn't laugh I would cry. Does that translate at all??

*crickets chirping*

And moving on...

If you can believe it I am actually the featured guest post today over at Laugh Out Loud. Go over and check it out!

Poetry That Makes Sense to Me

2010-06-14T11:30:00.000-05:00

If you are waiting to hear the outcome from this post, well....get in line. Me too.

If you checked in to hear me bitch about my toddler then you have come to the right place. After reading this post you will wonder why I want to spend extra time with our little monster. Again, get in line...I am wondering the same thing today, too. :-)

Here's a little poem I wrote that pretty much sums up where I'm at with the Terrible Twos right now. And I am not a big fan of poetry. I did all I could in college to avoid taking a poetry class. I think I begged my advisor and maybe bribbed her with some Olive Garden gift certificates if I could only just NOT take poetry. I don't like it. Are you pickin' up what I'm puttin' down?

But this, THIS is poetry that makes sense to me.

To My Dear, Sweet Two Year Old

When you cry I want to drink.
When you scream I want to drink more.
When you cry and scream until you throw up I want to break out the hard liquor and a straw.
When you whine I want to inject the vodka straight into my veins.

Oh, my two year old, don't cry because I won't let you eat ice cream for breakfast.
Oh, my two year old, don't scream because I put you in a time out. For the 12th time.
Oh, my two year old, don't kick me when I am trying to change your diaper.
Oh, my two year old, can I take a nap?

Dear sweet little 30 pounder, love of my life,
Give me a break.
Dear sweet size 3T-wearing and defiant child of mine.
I love you so.

But next time you whine and cry and scream...
Go find daddy first.

Mama's sleeping.
And sleeping.
And sleeping.
You tired her out.
And the vodka didn't help, either.

The Proposal (Part 1)

2010-06-09T14:55:00.000-05:00

You thought this was going to be the story of how Grant proposed to me, didn't you? Didn't you??? It's not. Although that would be an interesting post...

The kind of proposal I'm talking about is of the professional sort. I am going to make a proposal to my "boss" (those who know where I work can understand why this is in quotes...I work for Jesus...) about my work schedule. I want to work one day less a week. Well, a half-day less. Confused? Yeah, me too.

Let me back up a bit.

Yesterday when I picked up Miles from daycare (Sharon's) I heard these gut-wrenching words for the first time: "I want stay Sharon!" (translation not needed, right?)

Ugh.

When I heard him say that I wanted to do all of these things simultaneously: 1) Curl up in a ball and do the ugly cry. 2) Tell Sharon that I will not be needing her anymore because I am quitting my job to stay home full time. 3) Tell Miles that sounds like a good plan, see ya in the morning.

Now, let me just say that #'s 1 and 2 were the most prevalent thoughts at the time but #3 did sneak in there for a second (I was dreaming of a long, leisurely dinner with Grant and not doing the bedtime fight that is *so* fun right now). Those are words that you just don't want to hear. You want your child to run joyfully into your arms and be gleeful about the opportunity to come home with you. Most days he IS happy to see me and DOES want to come home with me. But he was in a mood yesterday. A foul one. However, that's beside the point. The point is that if Miles could hold up his middle finger he totally would have flicked me off right then and there.

Here are a few side thoughts: I don't want this to become a forum for Stay-at-Home vs Working moms. I do not engage in that kind of discussion because I think to each their own. I don't judge and hope no one else would judge me for decisions our family has to make in that area. I, personally, always want to work. And if we want to pay our mortgage every month I have to work. I think SAHMs are amazing, but I could never, ever do it. BUT (and this is a big BUT) this does not mean that I don't have oodles and oodles of Mama Guilt about it. Especially when my son would rather stay at his daycare provider's house than come home with his own mama. It's natural, I know, for him to be attached. And thank GOD he is! He loves Sharon and loves it there. But still....there is that lingering feeling of guilt that I am not home with him all day, every day.

I know he loves me. I know this because he won't even let go of me long enough to let me pee by myself.

And this comes off of a week (last week) where he was having SEVERE separation anxiety. If I would even look at my car keys he would burst into tears and not stop for hours. Seriously. It was sort of scary but I think it's a normal phase that all kids go through. We are now constantly reminding him that mama ALWAYS comes home. That seems to be helping.

Anyway, the point of this whole, long story is that I am going to propose that I have Fridays off. I only work half days on Fridays anyway, and could probably squeeze the hours that I would miss on Fridays into my Monday-Thursday schedule. I would like to have a whole day with him every week....just the two of us. I love the weekends when daddy is around but I would also love to spend some time with Miles that is purely our own. Know what I mean?

I have been thinking about this for a long time but Miles' words yesterday just pushed me into action.

So, I am going to breach this with the powers that be this afternoon. I have a good argument all laid out and I think I have a good shot. But there is always the very real possibility I will get rejected.

Will I get my wish? Look for "The Proposal (Part 2)" ... coming soon!

Sometimes It's Just All Good

2010-06-07T14:42:00.000-05:00

Sometimes you just need a little breather and don’t post on your blog for two weeks.

But it’s all good.

Sometimes you are unhappy that Blogger decided to be super sh*tty and crap out on you the second you actually wanted to post something.

But it’s all good.

Sometimes you slowly try to figure out what your blogging life should look like…and get nowhere in your discernment process.

But it’s all good.

Sometimes things that scare the bejeezus out of you and subsequent trips to the hospital to visit a tiny, treasured friend can make you lose sleep. And drink more. And pray A LOT.

The praying part is definitely all good.

Sometimes a dear friend can be moving thousands of miles away and that makes you want to cry. But then you think about the trips that you will get to take to her new home in a warmer climate…

So, it’s all good.

Sometimes you wonder why your neighbor with the blonde hair and tiny waist decided that doing weeding and other yard work is best done in a cute little sundress. Is she trying to look sexy for Grant? Probably.

But it’s all good.

Sometimes you feel really bad that you have neglected to comment on blogs lately. But then you realize that it is what it is. And they know you still adore them.

So, it’s all good.

Sometimes you drop your brand-new Blackberry (the replacement for the replacement) on concrete and it no longer looks very new.

But it’s all good.

Sometimes you see your 2 year old son ride his bike for the first time and do it with such ease it fills you with unimaginable joy and pride.

That is definitely all good.

Sometimes you are insanely grateful for things like doctors, nurses, medicine, clean water (*cough* BP *cough*), friends and family that stick with you through thick and thin, a good job, books, wine, kiddie pools in the summer, True Blood (my new addiction....for a whole other post) and loyal blog commenters :-)

ALL GOOD.

Photo Evidence

2010-05-25T10:38:00.000-05:00

Here is my tattoo, as promised, in all its glory:

This is the best I could do, people, in the one minute I had to take a shot of it this morning.

Did I get it close enough so you could see the hair on my legs? If not I could certainly zoom in a bit. No? Okay.

And don't blame the tattoo artist for the blah shape and ugly colors of my tattoo. That was all MY genius. Did I mention I had a few glasses of wine before doing this??

My tattoo is an analogy of my life: It might not be perfect. But I love it just the way it is. Wouldn't change a thing.

My Tatt

2010-05-24T10:50:00.001-05:00

(Thank you, Twitter, for inspiring this post. You do have a purpose in my life, afterall! I wrote this post a million years ago [or in March] but am just getting around to posting it now...)

May 1998 was the best month of my life. Hands down. No question about it.

That's probably sacrilegious to say. I mean, I should say that the best time in my life was when I got married or when we adopted. That would be the PC thing to say. But that month was particularly cool and life-changing for a myriad of other reasons. I didn't win the lottery or find Jesus or anything like that. But it was still the BEST month of my life.

And I have the tattoo to prove it. (I'll get back to that in a minute...)

May 1998 was a month that I spent traveling in Europe with a bunch of other college students (and one prof.). We went to Germany, Austria, Hungary and the Czech Republic. We saw about 500 cathedrals and churches, stayed with host families and in charming hotels, drank German beer, walked EVERYWHERE, saw stunning castles, rode on trains through gorgeous mountain passes, ate weird things like boar, saw a ballet in Vienna, visited fabulous museums, learned more history that can fit in my brain ... and on and on and on. It was the most amazing 4 weeks of my life.

This was not my first trip to Europe. In fact, it was my third. I had gone with my family when I was 9 and again when I was 16. I have done a lot of traveling so that wasn't a big deal. There was just something so magical about that month. I was free. I was away. I truly felt like an adult for probably the first time in my life. This, coming from the girl who cried when she went away to summer camps and had to wait an extra year after high school to go away to college because I just.couldn't.leave.home. This month was a turning point in my life as I went from Anne the girl to Anne the woman. No, not in THAT way ;) But in many other ways.

I felt like a butterfly that month, just opening my wings and learning how to fly.

ENTER: PRAGUE

If you have never been to Prague you must go before you die. Put it on your Someday List right now. Prague is my favorite city in the world, and I can say that after seeing many, many cities of the world. Paris is great, Copenhagen is wonderful, Budapest is incredible. But there is something out-of-this-world awesome about Prague. It's mysterious in a non-creepy way. I fell in love with it instantly. I will get back there someday. Mark my words.

And I have the best, most everlasting souvenir of my favorite city in the world that makes me smile every time I see it.

[teaser: you will have to come back to the blog tomorrow to see a pic of my tatt. I will wait for you to put that in your planner................okay, now we can continue]

This tattoo came after a couple of glasses of wine and a lot of prodding from my friend Megan, who was a tattoo veteran. We had seen a tattoo shop that was very busy as we were walking earlier that morning, and we just couldn't get the idea of leaving Prague with a tattoo out of our heads. Why not?

So we did it. And it hurt like bloody hell.

Thinking back (and frankly the memory is a little blurry ... wine and all, you know...), I can't remember why I chose a butterfly or why I chose my ankle. (My friend Megan got a lizard on her ankle, BTW.) But now when I look at the butterfly on my ankle I think 2 things: 1) OMG, how cliche to have a butterfly tattoo on your ankle, and 2) The butterfly symbolizes the incredible month I had 'flying' around Europe, spreading my new wings and making my transformation into who I was going to become.

There are, of course, religious overtones to a butterfly that also fit in perfectly with who I have become. But overall the butterfly was the perfect choice for me. I have never and will never regret it.

To my one reader who was with me on that trip...it was an amazing month, wasn't it???

My mom's reaction to my tattoo was classic. When she saw it she licked her finger and tried to rub it off, like it was a fake one!!! LOL!!! I think she had a heart attack right there and then. It was awesome.

And I am planning my next tattoo as we speak. I was thinking of something like this:

Yeah, right. ;)

What tattoos do you have or want to have? What would you think if your sweet little daughter came home from Europe with a tattoo?? Discuss.

Oops, I Did It Again

2010-05-18T09:30:00.000-05:00

Wow. I really didn't mean to go an entire week without a post. I keep doing that! I have a been a little stuck in my head the last few weeks. There's just a lot going on, we've been insanely busy, BLAH BLAH BLAH... And no, I actually haven't been posting that much on my 'secret' blog either. Like I said, stuck in my head. I don't know how to get un-stuck but maybe seeing CONAN tonight will help :-) There will be a post about that tomorrow. I assure you. But for now I guess all I can say is to just hang tight with me! I have been neglecting my blog reading, too, so please don't be offended if I seem completely absent. Absent Anne. Has a ring to it. *sigh*

Comment-Love Letter

2010-05-11T10:52:00.000-05:00

My bloggy buddy, Kerri (over at Kerri's Klutter), is super cool for many reasons: 1) She has a fun blog. 2) I recently won a giveaway on her fun blog and she sent me something in a box that vibrates. :-) 3) She has an ingenious meme called "Comment-Love Letters". 4) For everyone who does her meme today (or the rest of the Tuesdays in May) she will give $1 to Monkey. (If you don't know Monkey's story please click HERE!)

So, count me in!

To participate in "Comment-Love Letters" I have taken comments from last week's posts and basically mashed them all up in a semi-cohesive way that resembles something like a letter...from all of YOU! This is so much harder than it first appears to be...but hilarious! Maybe YOUR comment made it in?? You will have to read it to find out! Enjoy!!!

Dear Anne,

Gasp! Our relationship is so new and you're already cheating? The horror! I knew something was going on! How *could* you?!?! You sneaky, sneaky lady!!

JEALOUS!!!

Just kidding! I say "Rock On, Sista!" Proud of you. What a lovely feeling that must be. I love it. Good for you! I bet it does feel nice to be able to write stuff that no one else can read. It's your journal. And I am sure it's very therapeutic! I am totally with you.

I like this idea and may have to go on a quest to find the hidden blog. I have to say, I kind of am intrigued. I bet it is much more interesting than you are giving it credit for. Aww man...I wish I could know. I don't have any cash for bribery, but I'll have to work on figuring something out... Your bribe is on it's way to you in the form of a big brown box with something inside that vibrates!! Do I get the address now? lol.

Maybe instead of playing with my dog, I should be blog stalking you. If I find you, do I win a prize? A tell all book perhaps?

You are funny. Funny!

I was much worse than that as a child. My mother had to cut the feet off of my pajamas and put them on me backwards.

WHHHHHAAAAAAAAAT. NO NO NO NO Make the image stop!! What the hell? Is this some kind of conspiracy? Ugh. Oh, please don't tell me this... That is a nightmare indeed. I'm going to get a glass of wine now.

Nuff said.

Have a lovely day!

Your Favorite Commenters

Spoiled Rotten

2010-05-10T11:06:00.001-05:00

Mother's Day is very quickly becoming my favorite holiday of the year. Because my husband and family spoil me rotten.

I won't go into every detail of the weekend because frankly WHO CARES besides me. But I will say that I have the best husband and extended family on earth and if you think yours is better you are wrong :-) Just kidding, of course. But seriously, I am one blessed mother. I have to pinch myself often. How did I get so lucky to be this kid's mama????

Photo by Catharine

It got me thinking about what I could do for Grant for Father's Day. Hmmmm.....any ideas??

Here is a quick update on the sleeping situation and then I will hopefully be done whining ... I am sick of talking about it and I bet you are all sick of hearing about it!

Putting him down is slowly getting *easier* every night. And I say a cautious *easier* because it's still far from easy. It's nowhere as easy as it used to be. But we are working with what we've got, making some changes and the most important thing is that we are NOT giving up or giving in. If we are consistent and stick to our guns we will get through this bump in the road okay. I hope, I hope, I hope. Thanks, all, for your words of encouragement and wisdom. I needed them more than you know...

It Got Worse

2010-05-07T11:53:00.002-05:00

Oh, how I terribly and desperately wish I could tell you that the sleeping thing was just a fluke but if I told you that I would be a lying liar who lies.

Here's what happened last night:

IT GOT WORSE.

Remember yesterday's post where he was "kicking around in his crib for an hour and a half"? That seems like a nice dream compared to the 2 hours of screaming that we encountered last night. NO he is not sick and does not have an ear infection of any kind. He is just being a pain in the ass and that is that.

So, after going in and out of his room, trying to calm him down, willing him to not fling himself over the side of the crib again ... I let him cry.

I stayed out of his room and listened to him wail for what seemed like an eternity but it was probably more like 10 15 20 minutes.

Then I couldn't stand it anymore. I had to go in.

And what did I find when I went in, you ask?

Everything had been thrown overboard and out of the crib: pillow, blanket and his beloved kitty and lambie stuffed animals.

But that's not the worst part.

The worst part is that he had also managed to unzip his footie pajamas and take them off. And he was half-way toward taking his diaper off.

UGH!

That's about all I'm going to say about that because then mama lost her sh*t and it got ugly. He did eventually fall asleep and slept the entire night like usual. We don't have any problems with him waking up once he is asleep (he sleeps like a friggin' rock) (and now I just jinxed that, too) but now GETTING him to sleep is suddenly a huge chore.

UGH, again.

I would like to add (and this is IMPORTANT so listen up) that this was preceeded by a fantastic evening. The three of us went out to dinner, went shopping to buy him a basketball hoop (yeah!) and we went to a softball game that a friend of mine was playing in. He even got his picture taken by the local paper. Maybe he will be in the paper today? We will see.

In any case it was a super fun evening that was topped off by Miles peeing in the potty!! It's a first!! He has been sitting on the potty and "pretending" for months but this time there was pee action and it was AWESOME. We did the potty dance and clapped and called Grandma ("I pee!") and it was fantastic.

And then the bedtime hell.

Did I mention that his eye is also partially swollen shut from falling at daycare yesterday?

Never a dull moment with this kid. *sigh*

Wish me luck with nap today. I'm gonna need it.

Two Quick Stories

2010-05-06T07:26:00.001-05:00

Okay, one more quick wedding story...

I once had a bride who was missing her front teeth. So during pictures she had "fake teeth". She would pop in her fake teeth, smile perrrrdy for a few pictures and then proceed to ........ wait for it ........ spit her fake teeth into her hands. I will never get the image of this bride standing with her fake teeth in her hands out of my brain. So gross. I can't make this stuff up. I really wanted to slip the words "cosmetic dentistry" into a conversation with her but somehow I could just never finagle it in there :-)

Now for a quick story about the fresh hell that is happening in our house...

Last night we listened to Miles toss and turn in his crib for an hour and a half (this is after 30 minutes of crying and stalling before going to bed). Then, when he started yelling for me after being in there for 90 minutes, I went in to hear this come out of his mouth: "All done sleeping, mama." He decided that he was done and wanted out of the crib. *Oh my holy god awful WTF is this hell* And this is NOT an isolated incident. I don't even want to talk about naps. Our once easy sleeper is suddenly easy no more. Kill me now.

Just Call Me JLo

2010-05-05T08:06:00.000-05:00

I once did a little stint as The Wedding Planner, JLo-style.

Actually, I was the Lead Wedding Coordinator at our church for over 2 years and it was a fascinating, fun, frustrating gig. Our church performs over 40 weddings a year and I did most of those. It was a huge time commitment.

People always said, "That must be such a fun job! I LOVE weddings!!" Yes, it was fun sometimes. When you had the right bride and groom. But it could be downright painful if you got a cranky Mother-of-the-Bride. Believe me.

But the best part is that I now have some classic stories. Oh so many stories...

Have you ever seen the Mother-of-the-Groom step on her skirt while walking up the aisle and have it fall COMPLETELY TO THE FLOOR? I have. :-)

The most interesting situation came about when I got a call from one of my grooms about 3 hours prior to their Friday evening wedding rehearsal:

"Anne, we have a problem."

The problem? The bride was in the hospital. But not just in the hospital...she was in surgery for an emergency appendectomy. Yup.

The kicker is that we went ahead with the rehearsal without her. And then the next day they went ahead with the wedding!

The morning of their wedding, after she was released from the hospital, we got her dressed, put her make-up on and propped her up for pictures. She was able to stand there for a couple of pictures, then run to the bathroom to throw up. Then she would come back and do more pictures. Repeat. It was awful.

She was such a trooper the entire time. Trying to smile. Trying.

And her husband-to-be? So sweet, so concerned. But helpless.

She made it through without passing out during the ceremony. But we had them sit the entire time. Poor girl.

I heard she actually danced quite a bit at their reception. Unbelievable. But true. They will have quite the story to tell their children and grandchildren about their wedding day...

I have so.many.stories. However, the only thing that would coax me back into being The Wedding Planner again would be the promise of slow dancing with Matthew McConaughey. Mmmmmmm.....

Let the Truth Be Told...Today

2010-05-04T07:11:00.002-05:00

I need to tell you all something and it's painful so I'm going to come right out and say it:

The truth is...I am cheating on you.

With another blog.

Do you remember all of my waxing and moaning about how I wish this blog was more 'anonymous' because I would feel so much more free to write what I wanted to write without trepidation? And remember how I said I was thinking about starting yet another blog to fulfill that desire??

Well, about a week ago I DID start another blog.

~~You know, with all my spare time.~~

It's out there and anonymous and I have ZERO readers and it's FANTASTIC.

Writing just to write is amazingly freeing. Writing just to have an outlet for things I am struggling with is so therapeutic. SO therapeutic. Hitting "publish" and letting it all out there in the universe is fabulous and I really love it.

I'm not really cheating on you, per se, but I have been rather neglectful. This is my first post in 6 days because I have been working on posts on the other blog. Sorry.

But have no fear. (Because you are all shaking in your booties right now of course because you all LIVE to read this blog I just know it...ha) I will continue to write on this blog because I also love it here, with all of you, my 2 loyal readers :-)

Don't even think about asking for the blog address. But I will accept bribes in the form of cash.

And now with 3 blogs (not to mention a toddler, a husband, a job, life in general ... and a partridge in a pear tree) I will be getting even less sleep. Good plan, Anne. No one has ever accused me of being a genius.

But my blogs are like my children (if I actually had more than one kid): I love them all equally. But have my secret favorites, of course ;)

My truth is here, but it is also out there ... somewhere ...

Life Imitating Art?

2010-04-28T10:07:00.000-05:00

Well, by now you have heard the big news...

I am thrilled and think this is fantastic!!! Isn't he just the most gorgeous little thing?? I am equally as thrilled to hear that she is dumping her LOSER husband and going forward as a single mom. Way to go, Sandra.

Considering her recent Oscar-winning role in The Blind Side, it's sort of like life imitating art. Well, it's not like she adopted a teenager. But still, you can't help but think that her role in that movie might have had some kind of profound influence on her choosing transracial adoption. I *might* be biased but I think it's a beautiful thing.

In the PEOPLE article coming out soon, she says, "It's like he's always been a part of our lives." I totally know what you mean, Sandra...

Death of a Blackberry

2010-04-27T20:06:00.000-05:00

My Blackberry caught a virus and died today. It was a short, painless death for my phone, I think. "JVM 102 Error" were its last words. At least it didn't have to suffer very long. My misery, however, is deep and prolonged. Well, at least until Friday when my new phone comes...

We spent some good times together, my pink Blackberry Curve 8330 and me.

RIP my beloved Crackberry.

Award Season

2010-04-27T12:41:00.000-05:00

Even though I did not win the photo contest (unhappy face) I thank all those who voted for me! And I still have a reason to smile today because I have awards to accept!

I got this award from Kerri at Kerri's Klutter. Thank you, my dear! Go and check out her blog. She is having a fun Blogiversary party over there!!

Here are the rules of the award:

1. copy and paste the award on your blog.

2. list who gave the award to you and use a link to her/his blog (or hyperlink).

3. list 10 things that make you happy.

4. pass the award on to other bloggers and visit their blog to let them know about the award.

10 Things That Make Me Happy

1. The obvious: Hy hubby and my baby ;)

2. Rearranging furniture in my house.

3. Cheetos.

4. Merlot.

5. Ponies.

6. Raindrops.

7. I lied about the last two, sorry.

8. Reading a really good book.

9. Seeing a really good movie.

10. Sleep.

And now I bestow the award on to these fabulous peeps:

Jenn @ Yellow Tulips: Because she so sweetly posted on her blog (twice) asking for people to vote for my picture in the photo contest. That just made my week.

B @ Not a Sparrow Falls: Because she is going through a journey in her life right now that could use a little bit of happy.

Melissa @ My Life and How It's Going: Because she is one of my top commenters (see the widget on the side bar??) and her blog always makes me happy.

Marianne @ Diary of a Fickle White Woman: Because she is one cool chic. Our conversations via comments are always entertaining. And she can't get a date because gay men won't do it with her. :-) (love ya, girl!)

I also choose Marianne because she gave me an award that I have yet to accept...until now! (See? You don't have to harass me about it anymore! hee hee!)

Am I preppy? I don't know. Do I have style? I don't know. If I got a Sloppy Mafia Award that might be more fitting... *sigh*

I try.

1. Who is your style icon?
Michelle Obama.

2. What is your favorite socialite book?
Huh?

3. What is your favorite party theme?
Booze.

4. What is your go-to Halloween costume?
Mom.

5. What is the extravagance you just can't live without?
Booze.

6. Who is the living person you admire?
Mom.

7. What is my greatest fear?
Lightning.

8. What's the trait you dislike about yourself?
Impatient.

9. Which talent would you most like to have?
Guitar.

10. What is my greatest achievement?
Parenting.

11. Who are the 10 people I'd like to tag with the Preppy Mafia award?
All of you PREPPY people!

Monday Minute

2010-04-26T12:59:00.000-05:00

I am a Monday Minute virgin no more! Here goes nothin'. Thanks, Ian!

1 - What drugs have you done in your life?

Honestly? Zero. Oh, except for that one time... :-)

2 - A/S/L?

If I hadn't already read other people's Monday Minutes I would have no clue what that meant.

Age: 32

Sex: Yes please! (sorry, LAME Austin Powers joke)

Location: Minnesota

3 - Do you pick your nose?

Can anyone honestly answer this question no? I doubt it. I mean, I don't pick my nose like it's my job or anything ... but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do, ya know?

4 - What's your favorite childhood cartoon

Scooby-Doo! Still a classic

5 - List the URL of what you believe to be the best blog post you've ever done

OMG, really? That is not for me to judge, I don't think. But if I had to choose I think I would go with my first two posts on All of the Above which, collectively, I call my "Blog Theology":

I'm a Mother, Not a Martyr

All of the Above...And Then Some

One More Favor?

2010-04-26T09:57:00.000-05:00

ONE MORE FAVOR...and then I am done asking. I promise!!!

Some of you already "voted" for this last week (and thank you for doing so)....but those votes are now null and void. The short story is the voting was compromised and now has to start over.

You can vote TODAY and today only. And ONCE and once only.

Go to: http://oliveavenuephotography.com/blog/?p=310

Scroll to the bottom of the page.

Enter your name and email address (no spam, don't worry), and then "12" in the comment section.

That's it!

I would love to win this photo contest so thanks for helping me out today!

Any favors I can do for YOU???

His Best Jeans

2010-04-25T22:32:00.001-05:00

Grant and I had a date night this weekend. It was our first date night in quite some time. And by quite some time I mean that I can't even remember the last time we went out to dinner, just the two of us.

Sad? Yes. But that is the reality of life these days.

We started a regular date night BEFORE we had kids (weekly, on Wednesdays) because we thought that surely if we got in the habit before we had kids it would be easier to continue the tradition later...when we actually had kids. Bwahahahahaha! That is so funny to me now.

Naive, party of two?

I do believe in date nights, though. I believe that it is essential to have dedicated alone time with your spouse. And no, 10 minutes at the end of the day before we both pass out is not something that I consider good quality alone time.

So, I decided to make date night happen. We did a date night swap with some friends. We took their son one night and they took Miles the next. PERFECT. It worked out better than I ever imagined it would. We had a fun playdate one night and a fun date night the next. That will happen again, you can bet on that!

Here's the funny part: Grant (in his quest to get lucky) put on a nice shirt, cologne and his "best jeans" (his words) for our dinner date.

Then, I look over at him while we are driving to our friends' house to drop off Miles before going out ... and bust out laughing.

Why?

His "best jeans" had huge, green grass stains...on both knees.

Nice.

It's so classic Grant. And it made me love our date night even more because it reminded me of the things that made me fall in love with him in the first place. He is one of a kind.

Do Me a Favor?

2010-04-21T11:37:00.000-05:00

Dear Readers,

Can I ask a small favor, please? And in return can I just say that I think you are all the most beautiful, intelligent and wonderful people I have ever known? It's true.

Please click on this link: Olive Avenue Photography

Scroll down to the bottom of the page (admiring entry #12 on the way).

Vote for #12.

Repeat for the next 5 days.

THANK YOU!

I have entered my photo (isn't it adorable? that's Miles and one of his bff's, Sophia) into this contest and hope to win!

And my friend Jess is a very talented photographer, yes?

Again, thank you for voting. Leave me a comment telling me you voted so I can properly thank you. I am offering my FB friends either a big hug or a big kiss, and I will offer the same to all of my readers. Let me know which you would prefer ;)

Why I Hate Claritin

2010-04-19T14:10:00.001-05:00

Ok. So. Where to being with this. Maybe at the beginning.

First of all a few disclaimers: 1) I realize that not every kid will have this reaction to this specific type of medication. 2) I realize not everyone would agree to giving their kids allergy meds in the first place, so you will have to just get over that if you want to read this post. 3) No matter what I say in this post I make no claims to have handled this whole situation with any shred of grace.

Having said all that...

We took Miles to his pediatrician last week because he was basically hacking up a friggin' lung and we were scared it might be pneumonia. Even though I had Googled it and he didn't really have any of the other pneumonia-like symptoms, I still went to the worst case scenario and thought that he surely had pneumonia. This theory also came from this fact that at least one other child at his daycare had been diagnosed with contagious pneumonia last week.

So off to the doctor we go. After a thorough exam and lots of talking about his symptoms the doctor tells us what his thinks is going on--allergies. I have suspected this for quite some time now but I was glad to get at least partical confirmation that I was not Crazy McCrazylady to think he might have allergies.

We talk about all of our options and land on trying Claritin. Awesome. After 2 nights of listening to my poor child cough his brains out I was so happy to see a remedy might be in sight.

The first night we gave him like half of what the recommended dosage was for a child his age, per his doc. We noticed that he was sort of restless, that it took him a long time to actually get to sleep and that he woke up at an ungodly hour (5 a.m.) which we thought was odd but we really didn't think much of it beyond that.

Let me just preface this next part by saying that Miles is a good sleeper. A really good sleeper. I am NOT being smug about it in any way shape or form, I am just stating the facts. He almost always sleeps like a rock for 10-11 hours and takes a 2-3 hour nap each day. Again, I only say this so you will know just how upsetting and weird what happened was.

So the next night we give him the full recommended dosage of the Claritin. I had specifically asked the doc about giving it to him at bedtime and he said he thought that would be a good idea since it will most likely help to calm his cough at night.

THEN ALL HELL BROKE LOOSE.

We could hear him rustling around in his crib from the moment we put him down. Finally, at 10:30 he starts to cry. And the crying DOES NOT STOP. He was psychotic, out of sorts, disoriented, upset, AWAKE...honestly. THE WHOLE NIGHT. Did I say the whole night? Because I'm not sure you heard me the first few times. Literally at 4:45 a.m. when we had not gotten any sleep I was still trying to get him to calm down. At one point we thought about throwing him in the car and heading to the ER because he was just out of his mind. He would sort of calm down a little at some points because clearly he was tired and knew that it was "night night" time. But the poor kid was so hyped up on meds he couldn't simmer down enough to actually get some solid sleep.

UGH.

But let me tell you--I thank my lucky stars for my husband's patience that seems comes from a place that I will never understand ... but am always grateful for.

In my totally worried and sleep-deprived state I thought about all the ways I would torture our doctor for giving us the devil's medicine.

I kid.

I know it's not his fault. Like I said, all kids react differently to meds and Miles just happened to react POORLY. (That is an understatement.)

I said in my FB status the next morning that I thought it was one of the worst nights of my life, because it was. I had The Mama Guilt in huge quantities for giving him the Claritin in the first place. And on top of that I was worried that I had somehow permanently damaged my child's brain. And on top of that I had just listened to my boy scream for hours on end, unable to do anything to help him. And on top of that I hadn't slept a wink all night. So Yeah, it kinda sucked.

And the next night, after throwing the Claritin in the garbage, he slept like a rock again. Thank you sweet Jesus.

The moral of the story is this, readers: There is no moral. I don't have any advice or wisdom to impart after all of this. Because, at the end of the day, we did what we thought was best for Miles at the time, and at the time we thought that was giving him Claritin. There's really no right or wrong here. Parenting, in my experience, is all about trial and error. This was an error. And now we learn from our mistakes and move on. We will have to go down a different road in order to help Miles deal with his allergies

We will figure it out.

And we will all sleep better knowing the evil Claritin is in the garbage where it belongs. :-)

Clarification

2010-04-17T13:24:00.000-05:00

Hi all-- Just wanted to clarify about the Minnesota Mom Bloggers network (see last post). The network is up and running so please join! Ning will be closing their free networks but they have not set a date for it--might be next week, might be next year. In the meantime, hop on over and sign up! I will take you all with me if and when I move the network. Pass on the word to other Minnesota Mom Bloggers, too. The more the merrier!

Gracias :-)

Coming up on Monday: Why I Hate Claritin

Join the Minnesota Mom Bloggers Network!

2010-04-16T09:43:00.001-05:00

Visit Minnesota Mom Bloggers

Hey Fellow Minnesota Mom Bloggers!

I have created a new network for those of us who happen to be moms, happen to blog, and happen to live in Minnesota! I am constantly amazed at the wonderful friendships that I have formed through this world of blogging. The Minnesota Mom Bloggers network will allow all of us to connect and meet each other via our blogs, and the best part is that because I have created this as a geographical area we *might * even be able to meet in person someday! :-)

Here's the deal: You won't get any SPAM by joining this network. You can set it up however you want, visit as little or as often as you would like. There really are NO strings attached.

I have also created a group within the network called MN Adoption Bloggers. So, if you fall into that category please join in! And feel free to create other groups, as well.

I am planning a blogger get-together for the summer! If you want to be a part of that then by all means please join the network so you won't miss out!!!

To my "out of state or out of country" friends: I love, love, love you. Sorry to leave you out of this one. Hey--if you feel like you might be a Minnesotan at heart or have a Minnesota connection by all means join!

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MINNESOTA MOM BLOGGERS!

***EDITED TO ADD: Of course this would happen. Literally the moment I create this network Ning decides to close all free networks. Still, join in. Then if and when I migrate to a different platform you can come along. Crap. Here's the article.

Guest Post by Grant!

2010-04-14T13:16:00.000-05:00

A word from Anne:

Have you ever seen Office Space? If you have then you will totally appreciate this post. If not then go and watch it -- then come back to read this post. ;)

I promised way back during March Madness that my husband would be guest posting at some point, so here he is! Enjoy!

*And by the way, I did not make him write that last line. But I may or may not have slipped something into his drink to make him hallucinate such things.

------------

I live in the movie Office Space when I’m at work. I wouldn’t say any single character represents my professional life, but a collage of the characters can paint an accurate picture.

Here are a few interesting similarities…my Top 10 List:

10. Within the first year of my current job my cubicle has moved a total of three times. No kidding…if my manager utters the words “um yeah…I’m going to have to ask you to go ahead and…yeah…move your things down to storage area B” I’m going to burn down the building.

9. I am permitted to listen to my music at a reasonable level.

8. My co-worker actually produces a report that has the initials T.P.S. I hope he got the memo about the new cover letter.

7. I have a trusty Swingline stapler on my desk.

6. The digital display on my printer reads “PC Load Letter” from time to time. “PC Load Letter, what the f&%* does that mean?”

5. Our fax machine will one day wind up in millions of pieces in the middle of a pasture.

4. I honestly had a colleague use the phrase “a case of the Mondays” without making a reference to Office Space.

3. I have three bosses.

2. The ratio of people to cake is always too big.

Here is the funniest example and my inspiration for this post:

1. I had a meeting today with “The Bobs”. I can’t make this stuff up! Here’s the real story…you let me know if it reminds you of Peter Gibon’s initial interview with the consultants. Two folks from HR sat down in my tiny cubicle to learn more about what it is I do here (I had to move the Swingline stapler to make room for my guests). I can’t believe that I just spent two hours with two individuals to discuss what I do at work. I was torn about whether I should joke about showing up late and performing 15 to 20 minutes of work each week, or possibly going ballistic trying to convince the Bobs that I am a people person. After the work was complete I couldn’t help myself, I had to ask if they were fans of the movie Office Space. They laughed, and in fact, they joked about it when the meeting was scheduled. One of them has a spouse who recommended they introduce themselves as Bob and Bob.

At least my wife is as hot as Jennifer Aniston!

English Majors Don't Get Jobs

2010-04-13T10:44:00.000-05:00

It's funny how you can be [insert my age here] years old and still not know what you want to be when you grow up.

And when I say "funny" I actually mean mind-blowingly annoying.

I have never known what I want to be when I grew up. When I was a kid I would mostly say "teacher" because that's what all of my little girl friends wanted to be and that's what girls were supposed to say. Boys were supposed to say "firemen" and girls were supposed to say "teacher". Which now when I look back on it is really weird that I thought that because my father was a teacher. Hmmm....

Anyway, when I went to college I still had NO CLUE what I wanted to do with my life.

What to major in, what to major in..........how about Psychology? My friends tell me I'm a good listener and I think Freud is on to something, so why not???

Then I learn of the Stats for Psych requirement and I know I am totally screwed. Math and I do not play well together.

So I fail the statistic class.

Okay, now what? I clearly couldn't retake it because that would have been a whole new level of HELL. I needed a new plan.

What major doesn't require any math????

English.

That's the ticket!!!

I'm a decent writer, my dad is a college English teacher, I like words, I'm fluent in the language. This has to be good.

And it was good. Except for the tiny little fact that was lost on me at the time: English Majors Don't Get Jobs.

I mean, it's not like I'm a "nursing" major or an "education" major. Those people will actually get jobs in their chosen fields, most likely.

For a while I thought about going into journalism and even took a path in that direction. But between a seriously bad relationship that I had with the one and only journalism prof at my college and a lack of any kind of REAL drive to do what it would take to actually land a job in journalism after college, I sort of gave up on that.

And I really never wanted to be a teacher, despite my canned answer from childhood.

This is a lovely picture that I paint of myself, isn't it? Unfocused much?

I am actually known for being responsible and organized to a fault. But when it comes to my career decisions, as I have said many times in the past on this blog, I just seem to lose my focus.

It's not entirely true that English majors don't get jobs. I have a job. And several of my good friends who were English majors have even better jobs. But THIS English major has her sights on much more than the path I am currently on.

Even more embarrassing and unhelpful? My minor: German. Ach nein!!!

You Aren't Going To Believe This...

2010-04-12T12:56:00.000-05:00

...except for the fact that I have pictures for proof!

So, I look out our bedroom window and see that Grant had put our handy-dandy dog bark repelling birdhouse out. Remember this post about the incessant barking that was driving me insane?

I was happy that he had put it out, except for one thing: I was totally confused and dismayed that it looked like he had put the birdhouse on HER fence right next to HER house!! What was he thinking?? I mean, it would have been one thing if we put it on our side of the fence, but REALLY...putting it on her side was going a bit too far.

So I ran outside where Grant and Miles were playing to ask him about it. His response? "I didn't put the birdhouse out yet." WHAT??? "It's in the office," he says.

I run inside to see this sitting in our office. Just like this:

And then I nearly die laughing. For real.

Our neighbor, apparently scared by little ol' ME, must have ordered her own birdhouse. The exact same one. Was she listening to our conversations?? Does she read my blog??? Whatever the case this is TOO weird to be true. But it is. And so funny, to boot.

Look, more proof that I do not make this stuff up, here they are together (see hers back there on the fence?):

Now what to do with the birdhouse that we have?

I'm not quite ready to give it up yet. I think it's good to hold onto as backup, don't you?

After all, we haven't heard a bark all weekend!!! Maybe two birdhouses are better than one?

Should I send her a thank you note??? ;)

We Are Family

2010-04-11T21:24:00.001-05:00

The tagline I usually use for my blogs, my FB page, etc… is that we are a happy family of three, formed through love and adoption. It’s the tagline for our lives. Because it’s true.

* Thanks for the sweet family pic, Shawna!

FGF: Hand-me-down Heaven

2010-04-09T10:09:00.000-05:00

What makes me feel good today?

Hand-me-downs.

LOTS of them.

We are so spoiled. My sister just happens to have 2 boys (6 & 8) and also just happened to keep every single piece of their previously-worn clothing neatly stored in bins that she rolls out for us each season. It's insane.

They have also given us a crib, dresser, stroller, pack-n-play, toys ... and the list goes on and on.

Spoiled, I tell you.

I have the best sister in the world!

See all the clothes in the pic below? That's only about 1/3 of what she gave us for summer.

Not having to drop tons of cash on summer clothes for the boy makes me soooo happy!

Your Husband is Hiding Something From You

2010-04-08T09:48:00.000-05:00

I was desperate. It was one of those rare 80-degrees-in-April kind of days here in Minnesota recently and that presented a crisis of ghastly proportions.

I wanted to wear capris. But wearing said short pants would show parts of my pasty white legs that have not seen the light of day since last September.

But that's not the worst part.

The worst part is the hot mess that is created when you don't have to/need to/want to shave your legs for days/weeks/months at a time.

I needed to shave. Seems simple enough, right?? But then I looked around for a razor. Generally I use something like this: Schick Quattro for Women High Performance Razor

But I could not find any extra blades ANYWHERE. Then I looked for a crappy disposable one. NOTHING. But I was desperate here, people.The word forest comes to mind and I'm not even kidding. I thought nothin' was getting through it...

[TMI? Yeah. I think so, too. Sorry about that.]

So, I did what anyone else in my situation would do. ~~Steal~~. Borrow.

My hubby (who we joke has a 5 o'clock shadow by 9 a.m.) uses these beauties with FIVE blades: Gillette Fusion Manual Razor

I give it a try. And let me just say this: Shaving with this thing is like getting licked by friggin' kittens.

*sigh*

I feel almost betrayed. Like my husband has been keeping this huge secret from me all this time. Why didn't he tell me about the five blades from heaven???

I'm never, ever, ever, never, ever going back to using women's razors again.

So ladies, raid your husband's toiletries and start shaving. Those replacement cartidges are not cheap....but it's so very worth it.

Happy Spring, legs!

W... W... W... Wednesdays

2010-04-07T07:30:00.001-05:00

This is a meme after my own heart...books. If you haven't already gotten the hint I LOVE books. I wish I could dedicate my life to reading books but sadly just squeeze it in when I can. So, I am going to participate in W... W... W... Wednesdays over at Should Be Reading.

What are you currently reading?

I am actually reading these two simultaneously right now. Because obviously.

Dead Until Dark is the book that the HBO series "True Blood" is based on. Now, I haven't seen the show but damn the book is intriguing. It's a mix of sex, mystery, sci fi and romance...all mixed up in one big vampire stew. I am half way through and loving it. Escapism at it's finest.

And I am just a couple of pages into the Lincoln one so stay tuned for a review.

*** PLEASE NOTE: I would just like to say that I am really not that into vampires and zombies. It just happens that MANY of the books I have read recently (including the Twilight series) falls into this category. It's all the rage right now and I'm hip like that. All the cool kids are doing it.

What did you recently finish reading?

See this post.

What do you think you'll read next?

I will be reading The Help. I cannot wait to start this one. It is our next bookclub book and it has been on my "to-read" list for many months. I have read so many glowing reviews of this book I hope it will live up to all the praise! I'm sure it will.

The Downsides of Skype

2010-04-05T08:25:00.006-05:00

I decided that Skype definitely has it's negatives after a conversation that I had with my dad the other night that went something like this:

Dad: "How are you doing?"

Me: "Fine. Tired."

Dad: "Yeah, you definitely LOOK tired."

Thanks. Thanks a lot.

So, the downsides of Skype, as I see it:

1) You clearly can get unwanted comments about the state of your appearance.

2) Going to the bathroom while having a conversation is out of the question.

3) You have to wear clothes. Unless you're into that kind of thing.

4) You can't roll your eyes at something the other person says.

5) You can't multitask. (i.e. wash the dishes, watch American Idol and talk on the phone all at the same time...just isn't happening with Skype)

I know this person agrees with me.

Don't get me wrong, I actually really like Skype for the fact that Miles can now see and talk to my parents when they are down in Arizona for the winter. But, like I have already pointed out...there are some definite pitfalls I hadn't imagined.

So, yeah...regular old phones definitely look pretty good sometimes...especially when I don't.

Feel Good Friday: Dumpster Diving

2010-04-02T07:00:00.000-05:00

Here I go again, back for more Feel Good Friday presented by The Girl Next Door Grows Up.

I chose prompt #2 this week:

Write about something that happened to you this week that really made you smile. Was it your child, husband, or maybe a complete stranger did to you?

Well, here's a little story about something that a stranger did that is just too good not to share ;)

Does anyone remember the "Stop glaring at my son and go back to pretending your kids are perfect" post from way back in November? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller??

Well, we decided to give storytime at the public library another shot a few nights ago. It was...I can't sugarcoat this one -- it sucked. He lasted for approx. 10 minutes being fully engaged in the songs and the stories and then it was all over. Suddenly my two year old decided it was way more important to throw a fit over the animal crackers in the diaper bag that I wouldn't let him have. So, needless to say, we left. Such is life with our spunkalicious boy. (I totally just made up that word and I kinda dig it.) He has been such a doll as of late I really can't complain.

As we were walking out of the library and back to our car we noticed an older, well-dressed gentleman walking toward the dumpsters behind the library. I didn't think much of it until he opened up the lid to those dumpsters and started digging through.

Now, normally I would be a mixture of horrified and sad that someone feels the need to dig through dumpsters to get what they need in life. But this time? This time I was thinking that this man is a genius.

Grant and I shot each other an "OMG" look as we watched this guy pull out BOOK after BOOK. He would check out the title, keep the ones that he wanted and throw the others back in. He was shopping for discarded books in the library dumpster. Sad? NO. Brilliant!

I'm sure the library has some pretty good reasons for throwing out books that can't be recycled or given to Goodwill. They are probably old, damaged, spilled on, ripped apart or just so out of date they have no relevance anymore to anyone. I am not questioning the library at all. I am the biggest fan of public libraries that you will ever meet. Clearly a woman invented public library because they are JUST. THAT. COOL.

What's the saying? One person's trash is another person's treasure? YEP.

It was all I could do not to run over and dig through there with him.

Okay, that's a lie. The germaphobe in me repels against dumpster diving of any sort. But I really did want to go over there and ask him what in the world ever possessed him to start looking for tossed out books in the library dumpster. Truly, if I was a documentarian this would be a fascinating subject, yes? What lengths people go to and how creative they get to save a buck!

And what did Frugal Grant think?

I think I saw a tear in his eye. This man is now his hero.

By Popular Demand: The Zombie Punch Recipe

2010-04-01T07:00:00.000-05:00

This is not an April Fool's joke. There really is that much alcohol in this punch. ;) Deeeelish!

Zombie Punch

1/2 c Bacardi® 151 rum
1 frozen, thawed container 100% pineapple juice, undiluted
1 c orange juice
1/2 c apricot brandy
4 tsp sugar
2 c light rum
1 c dark rum
1/2 c lime juice
Mint leaves and cherries or dried cherries, more for garnish
TONS OF ICE IN THE PITCHER

Thanks, Nurse Leathers!

ENJOY!

March Madness: The Grand Finale?

2010-03-31T07:46:00.001-05:00

Today is the last day of March. YIPPEE!!! I made it!!! I blogged every single day for a month and I only had to get drunk to write like two of the posts. hee hee Just kidding.

It was more like three. LOL.

Again, I kid about the drinking. It's my thing. The kidding, not the drinking.

Several people have asked me if I plan on continuing this little blogging adventure after "March Madness" is over.

My answer is ...

I have at least until midnight to decide, right, so why are you people rushing me?? ;)

I started "March Madness" as a way to see if I could find my voice, find my way in the world of blogging and lose my mind a little in the process. And I am not sure if I have accomplished any except for the last one. It was really my answer to writer's block. And it did unconstipate (is that a word?) me a bit. March Madness: A Laxative for Your Blog. I should market that. Anyway, I think it served the purpose it was supposed to serve. But beyond that? My crystal ball is fuzzy.

Blogging every day is HARD. Not hard like doing advanced Calculus hard, but hard nonetheless. And did I have to pick one of the longest freakin' months of the year?? Apparently February with 3 less days would just not have done it for me. Gah! So will I continue to blog every day? N.O. But the big question is whether or not I will keep the blog up in general. Hmmmm...

I still struggle a lot with the fact that I really, really, really wish I could be as raw and honest on here as I truly want to be. I am envious of those bloggers who just seems to put themselves out there with no apologies, balls out, here I am, take it or leave it. I really wish I could do that. But the bottom line for me is that THIS blog can't be that. And I have to let that go and be okay with it. I have thought about starting another blog that is just out there and anonymous, and really dig into things on there. Anonymous sounds good sometimes. I am inspired by a blog that I recently found that was so amazingly pure, honest and simple that I am starting to crave that for myself.

But yet ANOTHER blog???? I have truly lost my mind.

I know there are some out there (who I clearly don't like) who think that blogging is silly, meaningless and low-brow. To them I say this: You have a point. ;) No, really...all joking aside I think that blogging has and will continue to open up whole new worlds of possibilities for me. There are friends to meet, things to say and fun to be had. I have actually really come to love this blogging world and the people in it. (A very sincere and hearty THANK YOU to all those who have been frequent commenters and all my cheerleaders out there who have encouraged me to just keep writing. I am truly grateful.) Where I fit in this blogging world is yet to be determined. But that's where the fun is.

So, to answer your question my dear readers: Will I continue All of the Above?

The answer is (in my best Minnesotan accent): Ya sure, you betcha.

And besides, Grant still owes me a post. Can't let him off the hook THAT easily. ;)

March Madness: Zombie Punch

2010-03-30T10:17:00.003-05:00

What Happens at Bookclub Stays at Bookclub.

Therefore I cannot divulge any information about the completely and utterly entertaining conversations that we have. Or the fact that someone inevitably stands up to do an impromptu dance. Or that fact that we talk less and less about actual books every time we meet. Or the fact that we really just get together to drink.

I can't talk about any of that. It's a secret.

However, I CAN tell you that last night at bookclub we discussed Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. If you haven't read it yet DO IT. So incredibly funny. If you can get through the violent zombie beheadings and strangulations with bowels you will be so amused by this witty book. I am reading Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter next. Can't wait.

I also shouldn't tell you that the punch we had last night that we dubbed "Zombie Punch" was all kinds of yummy, boozy goodness. I think there were at least two different kinds of rum in there and beyond that I have no idea what she spiked it with...and WHO CARES! It was fab.

Bookclub started at 7:00 p.m. and by 7:08 p.m. we were all buzzed. Excellent way to spend a Monday evening.

Happiness is: Drinking and laughing and talking until you have no clue what time it is.

I wish bookclub was every night...

March Madness: Happy Place

2010-03-29T15:18:00.004-05:00

Do you have a happy place that you go to? You know, like when things get really rough and you need a mental escape. Is there a place that you can go to either figuratively in your mind (or literally, for that matter) where you just feel better. Instantly?

My mind doesn't really work that way but I ran into someone today who will literally go to her happy place when she is in the midst of chaos. She closes her eyes...breathes deeply...thinks of her "happy place"..and GOES THERE. In her mind. Takes a little mini-vacation. She claims that she can't hear anything that is happening in the outside world when she is in this place. Everything is completely shut out. She is THERE totally and completely, at least in her mind. She never actually told me what she is imagining but as she was talking about her happy place her whole demeanor changed--she was calm, peaceful. So it must be a pretty great place.

Now, this is a coping mechanism that she has had since childhood, which frankly sounded hellish. Abuse, neglect in different forms, awful stuff. She has used her happy place to escape any horror that was going on around her.

On the one hand I am envious of her ability to shut down and check out at will. I have always been jealous of people who could meditate for hours on end. I can't even be in my house without the TV on or music going. Silence is hard for me. Really hard. I think most people are probably like me, though. Silence is not my happy place.

On the other hand this strikes me as a really sad statement on this woman's life. She has had to create a place for herself that is imaginary. The only place that she has known, at some points in her life, that has given her solace has been a place that doesn't actually exist. That makes me so incredibly sad for her. She is not looking for people to feel sorry for her, though. She really loves that she has the ability to calm her mind in a healthy way...whenever...wherever.

We all have our own way of coping, and this is hers. I just think it's amazing. I tend to be the more external coping person--like I will cry or eat french fries or call my best friend if I need to check out. This woman is the complete opposite--she goes completely internal. Isn't that fascinating? I think so.

It makes me think that the mind is a vast and mysterious place. I am convinced that my mind, on the other hand, is just filled with gray matter and goo. But that's a whole other story. But still, I am amazed at the mind's ability to act as a filter.

By the way, since I am unable to use my mind to get to my happy place I choose to use my car instead: The movies. That has been, and is still, the place that I escape to when I need a little "happy".

Where is your happy place?

March Madness: Stealing Sunday

2010-03-28T20:23:00.001-05:00

I have way too much going on in my brain today to write down something that might resemble a coherent post. So, like any self-respecting blogger, I shall hide behind a meme ;)

1. How far away is the last person you kissed? In the next room. In his crib. Sleeping. Ahhhh....

2. Has someone ever told you they would be with you forever? Several.

3. Last person you were in a car with? People: Grant and Miles. Longest car ride of our lives. I don't want to talk about it...

4. Any plans for tomorrow? I have this thing called a JOB and I'm going to do it. Oh, and bookclub (Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. With Bloody Mary's. Have I mentioned how much I love my bookclub?)

5. How long does it take for you to take a shower? If there is a toddler whining for me to get out, then 1 minute. If no toddlers are whining, approx. 37 minutes.

6. Best friend or close friends? Yes.

7. Is tomorrow going to be a good day? Yes.

8. Did you kiss anyone Friday? Yes.

9. Ever thrown up in public? No. But I've heard it's a great time.

10. What's on your mind RIGHT NOW? I'm wondering where the hell the remote is because I'm watching Home Alone and it might be the worst movie I've ever seen.

11. Who was the last person you talked to? Grant.

12. What is the WORST subject they teach at school? Math.

13. Have you seen anyone this week that you don't get along with? No, but the week is still young.

14. What is your favorite color top to wear? Black. Goes well with my nice rack.

15. Have you ever been in a car accident? Nope.

16. What's the closest thing to you that's green? One of Miles' toys cars.

17. Where would you like to be right now? I'm livin' in the now, so...right here.

18. Write down some lyrics to the song you're listening to? No thanks.

19. How many dogs do you have? Zero. But I have a lovely neighbor dog that I would like to sell if anyone's interested...

20. Is anything bugging you right now? I plead the Fifth.

21. Is life going right for you now? Yes and no. And yes. And no. So yes. And no.

22. Is there someone you care about more than yourself? Yes.

23. What made you laugh today? Miles. About a million times.

24. What was the last movie you watched? HOME ALONE (*banging my head against the wall*)

25. Whats the last conversation you had about? Ugh. You don't want to know.

26. What were you doing at 7:00 this morning? IN BED. Miles slept in. And so did we!

27. Do you like your hair long or short? Oooo, tough one. How about medium length?

28. Do you want to see somebody right now? Not really, I'm enjoying my alone time.

29. Do you like the rain? Not unless we need it.

30. Did you have a valentine this year? Two of them!

31. The last person you kissed needs you at 3 am, would you go? What kind of inane question is that? Of course!!!

32. Would you honestly say you'd risk your life for someone else? Ummm, hell to the YES.

33. Honestly, if you could go back 1 month and change something would you? No regrets.

34. How do you feel about boys smoking? Dumbest question I have ever heard.

35. Could you see yourself with someone forever? Wow, this meme got worse as it went along. Sorry about that. Forever is a looooong time, but that's the goal. Forever.

March Madness: Ode to Granny

2010-03-27T08:00:00.004-05:00

We are headed to a very special birthday party today for a very special lady.

Grant's grandmother is affectionately known as Granny. And oh how we love our dear Granny. She might be turning 80 but she is all spunk, this one. I fell in love with her from the moment I met her. And I have just come to love her even more dearly as the years go on.

I never had a chance to know my own grandparents as an "adult" because I lost all of them by the time I was 25. So, I have been extra happy to know Grant's grandparents so well. They are each unique and lovely in their own ways, but Granny and I have so much in common--first and foremost a love of music. We don't get to see them nearly as much as we would like, but she and her hubby Grandpa J are sharp as tacks and so much fun to chat with. They are full of life and love.

And I think Granny might like me, too. At least she thinks I have a nice rack. ;)

The very first time I met her, while Grant and I were still just dating, she had some choice words of wisdom for Grant: As she was giving him a hug goodbye after our visit she whispered in his ear, "Hang on to this one. She's got a nice rack!" Can you see why I love this lady? We laughed the entire 5 hour trip home. Granny, only Granny...

Happy Birthday to one extraordinary 80 year old!

Thanks to Erin Jo for her amazing photo!

March Madness: Does This Button Make My Blog Look Big?

2010-03-26T09:50:00.000-05:00

I'm turning into such a huge blog nerd. Good thing it's just a hobby and I don't spend, like, lots and lots of time thinking about it and planning and plotting and tweaking and playing and ... crap. Is there a way to actually make money doing this? Don't answer that. Because I already know...NO. At least not enough to make me rich, and of course that's the goal, right? ;) I would even settle for just a little money because as we all know mama needs a new pair of shoes. Weekly. And the cash budget does not allow for such things.

The moral of the story is: I spend lots and lots of time putting meaningless junk out there into cyberspace for my amusement and my amusement alone. Yep. Blog nerd.

That leads me to the next example of how much of a blog nerd I am. I now have a button. And I love it more than I should. If you would like to grab my button please do so. I will grab yours right back! There will be a whole lot of grabbin' goin' on, in a non-dirty kind of way. I am even going to dedicate a page (see it up there on the menu?) to grabbing people's buttons and I will do it proudly and with no shame. So, I suggest you go to said page and start clicking away (when I get more buttons in there...)! Because there are some GREAT bloggers out there just waiting to be read and discovered. By you.

p.s. Please leave me a comment if you have grabbed my button so I can be sure to grab yours.

p.p.s. Thank you to Rae Ann at The Button Box for her help!

March Madness: Perfection

2010-03-25T07:49:00.005-05:00

There are moments in life when time just seems to stop.

When you hear a little voice saying, "Good morning, mama."

When you open your eyes to see a beautiful face...

You snuggle in bed, you sing the ABCs together, you giggle, you kiss.

You say, "I love you, baby."

And then you hear, "I love you, TOO."

And you smile.

Time is standing still.

And you are more than okay with that.

March Madness: Clean-up, Clean-up

2010-03-24T10:09:00.001-05:00

Oh that damn Barney song. But Miles loves to sing the clean-up song so I roll with it.

This is going to be a clean-up post. Tie up loose ends, answer questions that have been asked of me, etc. Very fun and exciting. If you needed some bedtime reading material to lull yourself to sleep you've come to the right place. Save this one for night night time and you will be good to go. Like a coma pill. I know you're grateful, you really don't need to thank me.

-Miles' lip is HUGE. I mean big huge huge. Almost cartoonish. But it just makes him cuter...how is that possible? I really wish I would have taken a pic of it to post. Grant picked out a red shirt for him to wear to daycare today because, well, you know...if he busts it again the blood will just blend in. WE KID, we kid. He is in absolutely no pain and he is a-ok. And cuter than ever.

-I was totally geeking out yesterday over the new favicons for my blogs!!! Look, up there, on the browser tab! Isn't it adorable?? I am in the process of making a sort of "Blogging for Dummies Like Me" page with tutorials that will show you how to pimp your blog a little. Mine is definitely a work in progress so when I do figure out how to do something new I feel like sharing my joy ;) Look for that to come soon!

-I was informed by Grant that he is not, in fact, as uncomfortable with Miles' new doll as I made him out to be in the Guys and Dolls post. So, here's my retractions/apology: I agree with you, my love. Although you did make an "I don't know how I feel about this" kind of comment, you truly do encourage him to play with it and you are especially good at teaching Miles how to be gentle with it. And now I know that you actually read the blog, so....that's good ;)

-The birdhouse is here. I repeat, the birdhouse is here. Dogs beware.

-We skyped with my parents! But it was really funny because their microphone wasn't working. So not only were we on Skype with them but we were also on the phone with them so we could hear each other!!! Silly. The next day my mom sent me the sweetest email (subject line? "Mom Here" I kid you not.) saying that she can't believe how far technology has come in her lifetime: She can still remember when their phone barely connected with the farm next to them and long distance was nearly impossible. And now we can see and hear each other from thousands of miles away! Once again, my mom gives me perspective on the world.

-Those of you who followed my blog pre-"March Madness" know that Grant and I put ourselves on a cash budget. And I am happy to say that it is going GREAT. I can't believe that we have been doing this since Jan. 1 and are still going strong! It's really fantastic, I would highly recommend it to anyone who wants to start getting themselves in a better place financially. We were never credit card users even before this, but now I don't even think about pulling out my Debit card. If I don't have the cash I am SOL. It makes me really think about each and every purchase. Not in a 'make you crazy' kind of way. In a good way. We are in a much better place financially than we were just a few months ago....it's amazing what a tiny tweak like that can do to your bottom line!!! We are going to have our van (which I lovingly call the Silver Bullet) paid off 2 years early. YEP. I know. I can't believe it either. Thanks, Frugal Grant ;)

Shhhh, my readers are sleeping......

March Madness: The Call

2010-03-23T10:13:00.003-05:00

...or "March Madness: Dude, We Need to Get This Kid a Friggin' Mouth Guard"

When your daycare provider calls in the middle of the day you KNOW it's not good news.

I dread that phone call. When I see "Sharon" pop up on my Crackberry screen my heart drops to my stomach. Is he sick? Is he hurt? Or did he hurt another kid???

Whatever it is, it ain't good.

So when I got the "Sharon" call this morning I instantly felt ill. Uh oh, brace for it.

When we picked him up yesterday she said that he had fallen and busted his lip. She said there was blood, lots of it, but that he calmed down fairly quickly and went about his business. Although it did keep bleeding on and off all day, as is evidenced by the blood on his clothes.

Poor little guy. His teeth are a bit crooked in front, and SHARP, and he always seems to cut his lip on the inside in the exact same spot. Every time. The first time he did it we were at the Minnesota Children's Museum with some friends...I feigned an air of composure while inside I was screaming "OMG! He's bleeding, he's bleeding! Someone call 911!!!" Okay, so that was a first-time mama over-reaction. Just a slight one. But when you see blood gushing out of your son's mouth you tend to freak. Since then I have seen him do it so many times it has become much less freaky for me.

So when Sharon said he busted his lip my reaction was, HE DOES IT ALL THE TIME. No worries.

But then today I guess she was concerned enough to call me and tell me that he did it yet again, which I appreciate sooooooo much. She really cares about Miles. It gives me a sense of peace knowing that if I'm not there to comfort him I know she will be.

She used words like "tons of blood" and "deep cut" and "extremely swollen, huge lip". That was enough to make me want to run over there and grab him and take him to the ER. But I abstained, especially since she said that the bleeding had stopped, he had stopped crying and he seemed to not be bothered by it at all now.

Instead of a trip to the ER I opted for a call to his pediatrician's office. I have called them before about things and the nurses are always happy to give us advice and help us in any way they can. They assured me that even if I took him in they would not do stitches on the inside of the mouth, especially at this age. The best thing we can do is give him Popsicles (to ice it) and let the swelling go down.

Another consultation on the phone with Sharon, and we were both satisfied that he would live. In fact, she said he is back to playing already so he must not be in too much (or any) pain.

WHEW.

I think I might change "Sharon" on my phone to "Don't Panic, It Will Be OK". Maybe I will dread seeing that call just a little bit less that way ;)

March Madness: Guys and Dolls

2010-03-22T09:26:00.002-05:00

Before Miles' birthday I let it be known in a not-so-subtle way that I wanted him to have a doll. I think the conversation with my sister went something like this: "What does Miles want for his birthday?" "He wants a doll. He told me."

So, being the best Auntie in the world, she obliged.

I think I was more excited than Miles was when we opened it up on his birthday. I may or may not have squealed.

She got him the cutest little baby doll (darker skin, of course) that can also go in the bath. The doll came with some bath toys and a little diaper that can get wet in the tub. We haven't actually taken her in the tub yet because Miles has now decided that she needs to sleep in the crib with him. Soooo sweeet.

Now, I am delighted that he has taken a liking to this doll. I didn't think it would happen because I'm pretty sure the first thing he did with his doll when we got home is throw her across the room. Ummm, yes. That is exactly what happened. My boy has a good arm.

So when he wanted "Baby" (as he calls her) to take a nap with him the other day I just about cried.

And so did Grant.

But for very different reasons.

Here's the deal: I've said it before on this blog that I am not a feminist. I don't think that traditional gender roles are evil. I just like to think that kids can play with all kinds of toys. What's so wrong with teaching Miles to be gentle around babies? I think nothing. I wanted him to have a doll for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is because if there is a baby in the house again someday we can start to teach Miles how to behave around a little one. (BTW, this is not a hint that we are adopting again right now, don't get any crazy ideas.) And I DO think that it's sort of limiting to only give trucks to boys and dolls to girls. I got Miles a play kitchen for that same reason. We live in a world where traditional gender role lines are becoming less and less valid, and more and more blurred. I dig that.

Grant, on the other hand, is not so sure how he feels about Miles wanting to snuggle his "Baby". I don't think it makes him uncomfortable, but there is naturally a little part of him who just has to let some of those preconceived notions of what boys and girls should be playing with go. He is warming up to this idea, let's just say that ;)

I have a friend who has three boys and her oldest is in dance. I have to admit that the first time I saw a picture of him with his dance class with all the little girls in tutus around him (and him in tights) I recoiled a bit. I will be the first to admit that I was a little taken aback by the site of this little boy doing such a NON boyish activity. But now that I think about it I really applaud his mom for being brave enough to allow him to participate in the activities that he wants to participate in. No judgment. Just good parenting, in my book.

If Miles wanted to put on some tights and go to dance class I can honestly say that it would give me pause. It would give Grant a heart attack. I guess we will just cross that bridge if and when we get to it. (Those of you who know Miles IRL are laughing right now at the thought of Miles in tights. He is such a rough and tough BOY. In a good way.)

What kinds of toys do you give your kids? How do you feel about toys and gender roles??

March Madness: Four Years

2010-03-21T20:34:00.003-05:00

I started taking violin lessons when I was four. When my mom tells the story it's four and a half. Because that half year is so important, you know. But whatever. The point is I have absolutely no memory of my life without the violin in it.

I am not going to go into the whole history of how the violin has impacted my life because that would be waaaaay too long of a post. It would be more like a book. All I know is that I am grateful my parents decided to put that breakable instrument in my hands at such a tender age. They gave me the gift that keeps on giving, the gift that has lasted me a lifetime. And lasting...

It makes me really wonder about how to direct (or not direct) Miles when it comes to music and sports, but again that is for another lengthy post. Excited for that one, eh? ;)

The reason I mention the violin is because it's very much on my mind tonight. I just ended a four-year run of a musical. I was a part of the orchestra, obviously. It was not a four solid years of performances, thank GOD! But it was four years of spending a good portion of December through March in rehearsals, resulting in six performances each year.

We were counting up how many times we have done the musical from start to finish and it's over 30. That doesn't include other rehearsals. The short story is that I have spent a lot of time with this music, a lot of time with the people, and a lot of energy in the performances.

I know it seems L.A.M.E. to be bummed about this four-year run being over as of today. But I am just that: A little sad. It's bittersweet for me. I think back to when I started this whole journey. I was a reluctant participant. I remember almost not going to that first rehearsal. But I'm so glad I did.

One thing that amazes me is how very, very different life was four years ago. I think that's why part of me is feeling nostalgic tonight...this musical was like a bridge from my past life to my current one. It has been a blessing in so many ways. But when I think back on it, I think I will most remember it as being a musical oasis in a time of huge change in my life. Each year when we would come back to put the musical together life was different than it was the year before. Each year is like a time-capsule of in the chronology of my life...memories that will be etched in my mind forever.

March Madness: Nachos Rule

2010-03-20T23:17:00.004-05:00

I had nachos with friends tonight. And it was good. But since it's 11:30 p.m. that's all I really have to say for today. ;)

I found this poem that expresses my thoughts about nachos exactly. I really couldn't have said it better myself... although I might have said it with a little less sexual innuendo. And where did I find such wonderful poetry? Why, nachosrule.com, of course! Enjoy.

Free Style Nacho Poem

Nachos...In all your cheesy glory

Let me crunch you in my mouth and let me savor your zesty goodness on my tongue.

I look for your salty bite on my lips....to find all that is hidden under your aboding layer of cheese.

What is it about you, Nacho that makes you lure me into you complexity?

I am conflicted by your glorious taste and your ability to cause horrible intestinal conflict.

Nacho, in all your cheesy glory...you give us all glorious Nacho dreams.

March Madness: Tiny Streaker

2010-03-19T07:24:00.001-05:00

What a difference a day makes. Wednesday evening = crap. Thursday evening = FUN. What gives? I blame my multiple personality disorder.

And although I have the worst cold ever (is that dramatic enough for you? I could add a *sigh* in case you don't feel sorry enough for me yet...), I am thinking this will be a fun weekend, too.

Anyhoo, I had to share this video that maybe only Grant and I think is hilarious...but I will share it anyway.

Introducing: Our tiny streaker. Blink and you'll miss it!!!!

March Madness: Mr. Friendly Makes My Day

2010-03-18T09:35:00.005-05:00

Yesterday would not be what one would consider a "good" day. It's wasn't a horrible one, but it was somewhere in between.

Grant and I both had days at work that were not full of the awesome (as Aunt Becky would say). So I hatched a plan to make all of the unawesomeness (just made that word up, patent pending) go away. Three things came to mind:

1) Alcohol (of course) (I promise to stop talking about the booze so much. maybe.)

2) Junk Food

3) Movie

I got numbers 2 and 3 accomplished with a quick run to Target during lunch. Junk Food = microwave popcorn. Movie = The Princess and the Frog.

I got number 1 done after work with a stop to my favorite liquor store. They are always so friendly and cheery there, and they carry my booze to my car for me. I like them.

I also enjoy going to the liquor store to see if they will card me. It's happening at an alarmingly low frequency as of late. So when I do get carded I feel sorta good about myself.

Here was the conversation with Mr. Friendly Liquor Store Checkout Man from yesterday:

Mr. Friendly: Oh, let me see your ID. Just for good measure!

Me: Bless your heart [handing him my ID].

Mr. Friendly: [looks at ID] Well, Annie [hate when people call me Annie. The e is clearly silent], you don't look a day over 21!

Me: Thanks! You just made my day.

Mr. Friendly: Must be all that clean livin'!

Me: Yes, that must be it [I say as I reach for the massive amounts of alcohol that I have just purchased].

Yes, Mr. Friendly, one gigantic bag of liver killer must be considered "clean livin". Two would be going overboard.

The rest of the evening was also not full of the awesome.

1) Miles whined for 10 minutes about wanting "back-gone". WTF. We could not figure it out. At all. Then it dawned on me. POPCORN. I had mentioned having popcorn once like 2 hours earlier. I should learn by now that his mind is a steel trap. I often wish toddlers had an LCD screen attached to their foreheads so I could get a universal translator application. Would save me [and him] a lot of grief.

2) Popcorn ground into the couch cushions. Enough said.

3) "Watched" the movie for like 20 minutes. Didn't hear much of it over all the yelling. [mine]

4) Grant takes Miles outside and I can hear him [Miles, not Grant] screaming his head off. The neighbors surely called CPS.

Bedtime was at 8:15 [for me] because I decided that this day needed to END. But I fell asleep with a smile on my face because Mr. Friendly thinks I don't look a day over 21. Must be all the sleep ;)

March Madness: Best.Invention.Ever.

2010-03-17T08:14:00.001-05:00

There are so many things that I come across in life where my immediate reaction is: why didn't I think of that?? Like, say....the Snack Trap. Brilliant!

But THIS takes the cake--> The Outdoor Bark Control Birdhouse

Our prayers have been answered. This thing will save me from becoming the crazy lady who yells. A lot. At dogs. And neighbors.

You see, we have a next door neighbor who is not very bright. She lets her dog bark right outside our bedroom window ALL THE TIME. I can't count the number of times that bleeping dog has woken me up. Since we have a corner lot the back of our house faces the side of her house and her backyard. So, if the dog is next to the fence on the side of her house (which he always is) he's only like 10 feet from our bedroom window. It's like the damn dog is standing in our room, barking his head off. UGH!!!

Even though it's the dog that does the barking I don't blame the dog at all. In fact, I think the dog's IQ is significantly higher than our neighbor's.

Why not just talk to her, you ask? Oh, WE HAVE. Again, not a smart person.

And usually when she sees me coming she won't answer her door.

Disclaimer: Even though I am not a huge fan of this particular dog, I do love animals. [Read: Cat Person] But I still reserve the right to believe that there is a special place in hell reserved for people who let their dogs bark outside at all hours of the day and night.

So, my friend tells me about this amazing birdhouse that repels dogs by emitting an ultrasonic sound. Don't get your undies in a bunch, it doesn't hurt the dog. It just makes it so the dog won't want to hang out in that part of the yard. A dog repeller disguised as a birdhouse....genius!

Grant ("Frugal Grant" as one of my BFF's calls him) said that he will pay any amount of money for that thing. Sweet.

So when our friend sends us the link to order it Grant says (and this is why I love him), "I think we should order 4 of them and drive that damn dog into the next zip code!"

Again, we just kid. We love dogs. No PETA-like comments, please.

So, he orders it. Giddily. Happily.

Then I get this email from him:

It is ordered. I can’t wait! I considered paying $50 for UPS next day air, but decided to save money and just pay for regular shipping. I can’t wait! I think we should videotape the first encounter just for fun. I can’t wait! Here’s my favorite product review:

Sean, 2.8.2009
Tested it. Hung it. Immediate results. On the lowest setting, my neighbor's 5 little dogs now bark inside their owner's house (now she knows what it’s like for the rest of the neighborhood). My 3 just go out, do their business and come back inside. No more social activity at 6:00 in the morning.

I can’t wait!

Did I mention giddy?

*THANK YOU to Lina at Bees Knees and Joey at Big Teeth & Clouds for awarding me with the Beautiful Blogger Award! Go and check out their beautiful blogs!!

March Madness: Truthful Tuesday

2010-03-16T09:13:00.005-05:00

Did you know that the fastest growing segment of the population who smokes weed on a daily basis is mothers of two year olds?

I just totally made that up. But it feels like it should be true, right?

Actually, I can't tell you how many times in the past few weeks (in light of the fact that Miles turned two and I have been bitching about the Terrible Twos non-stop) that someone has said, "Oh, no, the threes are waaaay worse." GULP. And inhale.

I'm just kidding about the weed. I don't even know what it smells like, mom. Really.

That reminds me of my favorite new line I have been using lately. When someone asks me how I am I say, "Could be drunker, but thanks for asking."

Again, just kidding about all the drinking talk. Humor, people. Humor. I don't even know what tequilla tastes like, mom. Really.

With all the talk of weed and tequilla you might think that I either, a) need rehab, b) need to be on that show "Intervention", or c) all of the above. None of that is actually true, however. I assure you. Grant makes fun of me because I can never finish an entire beer if that tells you anything about my drinking habits. I talk big. But I am all talk.

The truth of the matter, because it IS Truthful Tuesday, is that if I didn't laugh I would cry. No, things aren't that bad. But when your daycare provider agrees with you that your two-year-old has anger issues you kinda feel like you need a drink.

So, my friends, if I joke about getting high and drunk....please just indulge me. Understand. And then raise a glass for me. I need all the virtual drinking buddies I can get.

March Madness: My First Stilettos

2010-03-15T11:18:00.005-05:00

I love this award. And what's not to love? Who doesn't love new shoes?

Granted, I would certainly fall down or sprain an ankle if I wore actual stilettos. But a girl can dream about rockin' some Manolo Blahniks like Carrie Bradshaw. Alas, only a dream.

Thank you to Jill at The Husailey Bunch for bestowing me with such a stylish blog award. Read more about this award here.

I will pass it on to 5 fellow bloggers this week. Check your comments! Like you don't already ;)

[Maybe my foul mood is starting to lift?? Take that Ides of March!!]

March Madness: Hump Day

2010-03-14T21:17:00.002-05:00

This is my hump day. It's the day in the month that I have to get past in order to get past the rest of the days in the month. This blogging every day for a month thing is much easier in some ways than I thought it would be, but then again it's SO MUCH HARDER in other ways. This weekend was a doozy. In more ways that I can even recount. So, I won't recount. I have nothing at all witty, interesting or otherwise to say. Nothing in my brain except knowing that I have to get my exhausted ass to bed because Miles now apparently has a cold and will cough all night long. And what do I have to look forward to tomorrow? The Ides of March. Sh*t.

Yours Truly,
Pollyanna Sunshine

a.k.a.

March Madness: Two

2010-03-13T12:54:00.002-06:00

Well, he's two. We had a big ol' party this morning with all of his BFFs. It was toddler mayhem. I love my friends and family dearly. They are the sun and moon and stars to us. So much gratitude for them today.

But all I can say is this: he is two. Through and through. *sigh*

I am invoking a little known (a.k.a. I just made it up) clause in the "blogging every day for a month" contract. When your son turns two, and you are frankly just too tired and cranky to deal with life, you get to take a day off of blogging. So that's what I'm going to do today. But I guess this would technically be a post, wouldn't it??

Maybe I will get sh*t for not having an "oh, I remember fondly the day you were born" post. That's definitely not where my head is at today, though. Gotta be honest.

Why is it that I want another one? Someone please explain this to me.

In any case, don't forget to SPRING FORWARD tonight. Great, we lose an hour of sleep. That is totally going to help my mood.

It's a vodka kind of night. I can feel it comin'...

March Madness: Things My Mom Learns From Oprah

2010-03-12T09:26:00.003-06:00

I love getting emails from my mom. They always have one of two subject lines:

Mom Here (if she is addressing me)

or

Grandma Here (if she is talking about Miles)

I thought surely there would never be another subject line from her. Ever.

Until the other day when I got this shocker:

Subject: Skype

WHA?? I nearly fell out of my chair. This surely can't be an email from MY mother, the one who can't figure how to to check her voicemail on her cell phone, the one that only just recently joined Facebook (after I set it up for her). Surely MY mother does not know such a thing as Skype!?!

My parents are snowbirds, meaning they go down south for the winter. They head to sunny AZ to escape the 7 coldest months of the year in Minnesota. Smart people, my folks. They love it down there. They love everything except for the fact that their daughters and grandsons are so far away for so many months.

So, Sweet Jean (as Grant calls her) comes up with this brilliant idea to Skype with us from AZ. I'm pretty sure she got the idea from Oprah.

"Does your computer have a Skype camera on it?" she asks.

I love the fact that she thinks that Skype is a type of camera. That makes me smile. But mostly it just makes me miss her. Tomorrow is Miles' 2nd birthday and my parents won't be here to celebrate with us.

And obviously she is thinking the same thing. Miles is growing up and changing at the speed of light, and I know she doesn't want to miss a minute of it.

But honestly? I never thought my 64 year old mother would know the meaning of Skype. She proves me wrong, yet again.

(Thanks, Oprah, for turning my mom on to Skype. Oh, and I have always wanted to thank you for introducing me to Spanx. My muffin top Spanx you very much, too.)

Maybe she will get her 'Skype camera' set up in time to chat with us on his birthday? I sure hope so.

March Madness: CONAN!

2010-03-11T10:04:00.007-06:00

OMG! I am so excited! I'm going to see Conan!!!

Those of you who know and love me can appreciate my over-the-top enthusiasm for this news. I L.O.V.E. Conan. In fact, he made my Someday List. I have always wanted to see him live, but I honestly never thought it would happen.

When he was in New York I thought, dang! I'll never get to NY. When he was in L.A. I thought, dang! I'll never get to L.A. And when he went off the air I thought, dang! Now all hopes are dashed of ever seeing him in person.

But because he is going on this fabulous tour to a city near me (Minneapolis on May 18) I will get to check that one off my Someday List: I will get to see him live, on stage, in all his orange bouffant glory.

I saw it on Twitter this morning and nearly peed my pants. I quickly texted Grant ("Conan is coming to Mpls May 18, can we go? Pleeeeease?") Not that I really needed to ask because HELLO of course we are going! But he responded with an enthusiastic YES (after some discussion about our budget). So GAME ON!

His website says it will be "A night of music, comedy, hugging, and the occasional awkward silence." Awesome.

Entertainment Weekly had it so right when they said Conan is funnier in 140 characters on Twitter than Jay Leno is for an entire hour on his show. Go Team Coco! (@ConanOBrien)

March Madness: Discontent

2010-03-10T09:44:00.002-06:00

dis·con·tent
a. Absence of contentment; dissatisfaction.

b. A restless longing for better circumstances.

"A restless longing for better circumstances" <--- That's putting it mildly.

I am the definition of this word today. I am utterly shocked that my discontent mugshot is not next to this dictionary entry. Because it should be.

I have written before on this blog about the fact that I am not at a happy place in my career (and I use the word career lightly). It's sort of a joke, really, how underpaid and unfulfilled I am.

Pity party, table for one. I know, I know.

I am not someone who fits in a neat little box of career choices. I can't classify myself as any one thing because, as I pointed out in yesterday's post, I have done many things. I have spent 10 years trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up and I have yet to figure it out.

Here's a huge clue that you are not in the right job: You have people saying things like, "Aren't you a little, ummm, overqualified for your job?" I get that one A LOT. And the answer is YES.

But it's my fault. I don't put myself into positions where I can either, a) be truly successful, b) be truly fulfilled, or c) live up to my potential. I am a self-saboteur. WHY do I do that to myself? Why am I constantly undercutting my own abilities and aspirations??

Maybe it's a fear of failure?

Makes me think of that great Spiderman quote: "With great power comes great responsibility." I fear the long fall down if I do dive into a career that might be more challenging, more risky, harder ... with a greater chance of failure.

I often wonder if I will ever find that magic bullet, or if it even exists.

This is what keeps me up at night. This AND the very bizarre Lindsey Lohan/E-Trade lawsuit. Have you heard about that crap? She is seriously disturbed.

March Madness: Beautiful Blogger Award

2010-03-09T09:45:00.002-06:00

I have been given the Beautiful Blogger Award by the very sweet Kelli. She is mama to the always adorable Aiden, and her blog is certainly beautiful. Therefore I am honored to have been chosen by her for this award. I wish I could make a Sandra Bullock-like acceptance speech but I'm just not that articulate and luminous. So instead I will just say THANK YOU Kelli, and pass it along!

First, I believe I am supposed to say 7 things about me. I am going to try and come up with some obscure facts that my friends might not even know about me. Maybe.

1. I've had something like 15 different job titles in the 10 years since I have graduated from college. I didn't say 15 different jobs, I said 15 different job titles. I tend to morph into other things once I get into a job, and my title inevitably changes. Am I proud that that? Not particularly. But VistaPrint has made a fortune from me in business cards.

2. I hate horror movies. Like, HATE them. I will even turn the channel if there is a commercial for one on. They are a waste of time.

3. I was originally going to be a psychology major but then failed Stats for Psych miserably so that was the end of that. There were no statistics requirements for a B.A. in writing, so I decided that sounded like a good choice.

4. Did I mention I am bad at math? That's why I married an accountant.

5. I have never been in a car accident and I have never received a speeding ticket. True story. But now that I have written this I will certainly do both. Today, probably.

6. I have been to Bourbon Street in New Orleans and I received beads while I was there. That's all I'm going to say about that.

7. I love my friends, family and life so fiercely that sometimes it scares me. But life is all about passion, right?

Passing on awards is a hard thing to do for so many reasons, but I am going to do my best. So many of you that I would have chosen have already gotten this award, and for good reason!!

I have decided to give this award to a bunch of blogs who make me smile every day with their beautiful pictures. I love me some good photography. And as a bonus these wonderful picture-takers just happen to be awesome mamas, too!

Bliss Photography (other blog at Little Baby Bliss)

Olive Avenue Photography (other blog at Our Golden Girl)

Songbird Photography (other blog at Stoll My Heart)

3 Continent Family

Love is Spoken Here

March Madness: Vegetable Relocation Program

2010-03-08T21:08:00.003-06:00

I vaguely remember a Jon & Kate Plus 8 episode (yes, I watched it religiously before all the drama, before her ugly hair extensions) where Kate says something like, "The kids eat what I put in front of them or they don't eat at all." Something to that effect. [In her really bitchy, holier-than-thou kind of way.] I actually really admired that about her. She stuck to her guns when it came to nutrition. Their family tried to eat locally and organically (which I think was all a bit staged for the show, but whatever). But I just remember thinking, OMG, she actually gets her kids to eat veggies. How does she do it???

Miles is like any other toddler, or at least many that I know: PICKY. And getting pickier. I wish I had the strength to stick to my guns and not give in when he whines and cries for something. But I am weak. And at the end of the day when I am tired and crabby already he can wear me down REALLY fast.

But it's not like we are feeding him crap and he is making his own decisions about food. Oh no, no, no. To the contrary. If nothing else I am a product of my mother, the dietitian, who always had balanced and healthy meals on the table for us. So I am forever trying to get in more fruits and veggies when I can with him. Our "snack drawer" is stocked with raisins, applesauce and granola bars. That does not make me Mother of the Year. But it does give me some hope that I can establish some good eating habits. Even if we do go to McDonald's once in a while. Mama likes fries, what can I say?

Lately Miles has decided to try a new and fabulous trick to avoid eating veggies that I have dubbed the "Vegetable Relocation Program". You know, kinda like the Witness Relocation Program without all the cops and mob hits and such. He starts by transferring all of the veggies from one side of his plate to the other. When he can see that has, in fact, not deterred me from trying to coax some in his mouth he then tries to relocate them to the table. And when that doesn't work he tries to put them on MY plate. Or else, and this is a brilliant reverse-psychology move on his part, he tries to take all the veggies off my plate and put them onto his. Smart move, but I'm not buying it, mister.

It is really funny to watch him relocating his veggies around everywhere. Such a silly one, that kid.

So, I have resorted to buying baby food (because I am frankly just too lazy to make my own purees) and plotting to hide it in his food. I plan to mix squash into his mac n cheese. I plan to mix carrots into his spaghetti sauce. Etc... I got the book Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld as a gift recently (thanks, Jess!) and I plan on making many things in there, too. Whatever it takes. I have my own form of the Veggie Relocation Program up my sleeve, buddy, and I will succeed! Like I often say to Miles when he is refusing to put on his shirt or his coat, "Mama will win eventually. You might as well just give in now."

How do you get your kiddos to eat veggies???

March Madness: The Birth of Blogs

2010-03-07T21:10:00.004-06:00

Nothin' like squeaking in a post just under the wire, eh? Thought I wouldn't get 'er in today, didn't you??? Yeah, I didn't either. But here I am, watching the Oscars (what's up with George Clooney looking all pissy tonight?) while I hear my bed calling my name. So, a quick post before I heed that call! I really want to respond to a bloggy award that I was given but that will have to wait until tomorrow!

This is a crazy busy week for me and I have no clue how I will get everything done, but I am going to take a deep breath and dive right into the deep end. Hope I will keep my head above water.

One quick thought for the day: Grant pulled up our first blog (4 blogs ago. really.) last night and we had so.much.fun. going back and reading those first posts. Windows Live Spaces. That was our first blogging platform. January 11, 2007. That was our first post date. We birthed our blog after starting the adoption process as a way to communicate our progress with friends and family, and as a way to connect with other adoptive families or PAPs (prospective adoptive parents). And then, 3 blogs later...here we are!

After that little walk down memory lane, and when I think back on our life pre-Miles I have two thoughts: 1) I used to have more brain cells and be way more interesting...what happened??, and 2) What the hell did I do with all of that free time???

I love having these blogs to reference to how life used to be. It's a history book, a postcard, a networking tool, a time machine and a scrapbook all rolled into one. How cool is that? I know those of you who have blogs will agree with that. I guess tonight I am just feeling grateful for the ability to look back .. and look forward ... all at the same time.

What was your first blog, and when/why did you start it? Do you ever go back and read your old posts?

March Madness: Saturday Smatterings

2010-03-06T12:50:00.003-06:00

First of all, thank you and welcome to some new followers from MBC and FGF. I think I have gotten around to the vast majority of your blogs but if not I will get there soon! I love this crazy, fun blogging community. It's like one big party that we're all invited to. I dig it.

[Oh, and if you are a newbie to All of the Above, please note that March Madness is my answer to writer's block. I am attempting to blog every day for a month, and because of that I might go mad. I was about to throw in the ol' bloggy towel but instead decided to kick myself in the ass and do March Madness. Maybe I've already gone mad... :-) ]

Second of all, it seems that I need to start some sort of drinking club for mamas of 2 year olds. Let me work on that and see what I can come up with... ;)

Lastly, my baby boy is going to officially be in the Terrible Twos Club a week from today. I was just thinking about the fact that exactly two years ago we still weren't matched with Miles' birthmother and we actually had only just been accepted to our adoption agency. Crazy how life can change in just one short week, because a mere 7 days later our son was born. AWESOME (as he says).

And now I am planning his 2nd birthday party which will be on his actual birth date, next Saturday. Lots of toddlers. Oh the fun. It is a little different twist on the traditional birthday party and I will fill you all in on the "juicy" details after it's all said and done!

My son is napping. My husband isn't home. The house is quiet. What the hell am I doing on the computer?!? NAPTIME for mama. Nighty night!

March Madness: Feel Good Friday

2010-03-05T07:13:00.001-06:00

My bloggy pal over at The Girl Next Door Grows Up has been doing this fabulous thing called "Feel Good Friday" for quite some time now, and I have yet to partake--until now! She has given us several things to consider when writing our "Feel Good Friday" posts and I am going to take suggestion numero uno:

Just make a list. List 5 things that made you really happy this week. No matter how bad or boring you think your week was, I bet you can find 5 things.

So, here's my list!

1. I had a hysterical email conversation with three of my favorite people (you know who you are) that made me literally laugh out loud. LOL. It's one of those "you had to be there" moments but believe me, it was classic. It had to do with conspiracy theories, collating for Jesus and the company that makes Cheetos.

2. My cousin-in-law posted something very flattering about me and my blog on Facebook yesterday, and it has puffed me up so much that I am now asking everyone to please address me as Her Royal Highness. And add in comments from her sister, another awesome cousin-in-law, and you have me at a full-on blush. I don't deserve a word of it, but that doesn't mean I'm not grateful. So grateful.

3. I have found a blog (courtesy of Girl Next Door) that makes me happy. It's called Mommy Wants Vodka. I can relate. Aunt Becky (the author) is someone who hits the nail on the head every.single.time. She uses words like "cooter" and it makes me laugh so hard I nearly pee. Check it out. You will NOT be disappointed.

4. I have actually enjoyed March Madness, thus far. I have yet to go mad. So, that feels good.

5. Despite being in the throws of the TERRIBLE TWOs (did I mention the vodka???), my incredibly clever and handsome son makes me feel good...every week.

Hope your Friday feels as good as mine!!!

March Madness: Terrible Twos

2010-03-04T08:38:00.004-06:00

Grant and I are in the process of writing our wills and it's a good thing we are. Because I don't know if I'm going to survive the toddler years with my son.

The Terrible Twos might be the death of me. In the very least it will drive me to drink. More.

I a.d.o.r.e. our son. I think he is the coolest kid I have ever known or will know. He is wicked smart, dang funny and full of LIFE. And impossibly cute, to boot. But there is a reason why God made toddlers cute. It's a defense mechanism for them. Kinda like the puffer fish.

Now, if only God made teenagers cute....

But I digress.

The whining, the crying, the tantrums! And that's just ME! ;)

I won't go into the details because he is doing normal toddler stuff: testing his limits, pushing our buttons and generally being a pain in the ass. Ha. Our daycare provider (a.k.a. Saint Sharon) tells us she does a lot of deep breathing techniques when Miles throws one of his fits. She says it has gotten worse lately, but assures us that it will get better. Oh, I hope she is right. Otherwise we are going to get booted out of yet another daycare. *sigh*

It will pass, as all things do. Everything with kids is a phase. He will get over it, and so will I.

And in the meantime I get through it with patience and deep breathing.

And vodka.

[more about vodka in tomorrow's post]

March Madness: Let's Talk About Sex

2010-03-03T09:55:00.005-06:00

It's day 3 of March Madness and already I have run out of things to write about. Not really, but it FEELS like that.

So, I ask my right-hand man (crude joke, sorry) what I should write about.

His response?

"Sex."

Raise your hand if you are surprised by this very typical male response. Nope, not surprising at all.

"Sex. It's always sex." he says.

There is a great quote from Good Will Hunting (Minnie Driver says it): "Men are shameless. If you're not thinking with your wiener, then you're acting directly on its behalf."

True. True. True.

By the way, G is no different than any other husband out there so this should not be a "OMG she is OVERSHARING" type of thing at all. Every man is the same. I have never ever met one who is different. Ever.

Then my wonderful hubby goes on to say that he can come up with something better for me to write about, although there really is nothing better than sex. "Everything starts with sex and then develops from there. But it's a starting point," he says.

Lovely.

So, here I am. Writing about sex. Just like you wanted, honey.

As punishment for thinking exclusively with his Johnson, my husband will write a "guest post" later on in March Madness. I wonder what he will write about... ;)

March Madness: The one where I nearly die

2010-03-02T09:54:00.004-06:00

I was almost murdered in the shower this morning.

Okay, so I'm being overly dramatic. But I got your attention.

I swear to Jesus, Mary and Joseph that I heard someone trying to break into the house while I was in the shower this morning. I was in the house alone (Grant had already taken Miles to daycare at this point in the morning). A few seconds after stepping in I heard a BANG BANG BANG.

I let out a tiny little yelp. I mean, it was a loud, clear BANGing. It spooked me.

A couple seconds went by. Nothing.

Then I heard it again. BANG BANG BANG. This time I jumped.

It was definitely someone trying to break in, I thought. I am going to get murdered in the shower. And of course it's my only wish that I don't die naked. That would be embarrassing.

So, I did what any self-defending female would do: I grabbed a pair of scissors, threw on a towel and prepared to meet my attacker. I mean, I took a one-hour self-defense course 10 years ago so I'm totally prepared, right?

In the meantime I am coming up with a million alternate and more plausible scenarios of what it could be: the neighbor stopping by for a cup of sugar? Jehovah Witnesses, perhaps? No, it was definitely someone who wanted to kill me because of course that makes total sense.

So, I am walking around the house in my best stealth, ninja-like way, peeking around corners and out of windows.

I see...nothing.

I hear...nothing.

So I make sure the doors are locked. Whew! Close one. I was almost murdered in the shower, Psycho-style.

Now that I have dripped water all over the house and checked to make sure every room does not contain my murderer I head back to the shower.

The second I get back in the shower...you guessed it...BANG BANG BANG.

WTF!!! It sounds like it is coming from inside the house. It cannot be a neighbor, it is not my imagination, and it's not a ghost. I don't think.

So, I turn off the shower again, and grab my towel and scissors again, and creep back out of the bathroom...again.

At this point I think I am just being paranoid. And I think I'm right. Because I again find nothing. There isn't even a soul outside the house. Not a car or neighbor in sight. Crap, I am losing my friggin' mind.

I wish I could say that I figured out where the banging was coming from. But I don't have a clue. It's a mystery.

I conclude two things from this: 1) Maybe we should get a dog. Ok, maybe not. I'm a cat person. and 2) I need to stop watching CSI. It's screwing with my head.

March Madness: Day 1

2010-03-01T07:31:00.001-06:00

What the HELL have I gotten myself into here?? I had to open my big mouth and be all, "I'm going to blog every single day for a month"--GAH! Damn.

So, what to write about....

I got nothin'. See ya'll later!

Just kidding, of course. I'm not going to quit before I've even started. I'm a blog loser but not that much of a blog loser.

I have gone back to read my blog theology and my first few posts to see if I can get my head back in the game. The thing that strikes me about blogging is that (and I mention this in my very first post) it's soooo narcissistic. So much of what we do these days is. Facebook. Twitter. Blogs. It's all electronic narcissism. But here's the catch: I'm okay with that. And if you are reading this blog I bet you are, too. If you are on FB, Twitter, or have a blog (or even just read blogs) you are a part of this culture...like it or not.

If you know me IRL (ummm, that means in real life, just FYI. Oh, and FYI means for your information. LOL! Oh, and LOL means...nevermind...) you know that I'm not all that vain. Except about my feet. I think I have pretty feet. No really, let me get a pedicure and then I'll take a picture. You'll see ;) Anyway, I just don't think I'm all that and a bag of chips. In fact, as is evidenced by the complete lack of self-confidence I have about my blogging abilities, I am downright hard on myself most of the time. We all are, aren't we? The people that I know who are the most cocky, shall we say, are also the most insecure. Think about it. It's totally true.

So, at least for the month of March, I have decided to shelve my insecurities. After all, my first words on this blog were, "This blog is a work of love. It's my love child, of sorts. It's purely for me. For the love of ME." Not narcissism...therapy, exploration, fun.

In short: Life is short. Blog.

:-)

March Madness

2010-02-25T13:39:00.001-06:00

Go big or go home.

I've heard that more than once in the past few weeks while watching the Olympics. I suppose it makes sense that "go big or go home" should be the mantra of Olympic athletes. If you get to the Olympics you are clearly at the top of your game and you have put yourself on the line for a goal. Pretty sure there are no half-assed Olympians. They GO BIG. Or they just go home.

I'm feeling convicted by that message these days, and here's why: I am feeling like a half-assed blogger. A fraud. A wannabe. Whatever you want to call it. I am feeling like a blog loser. This blog was supposed to be about honesty. It was supposed to be a place to write down anything and everything. It was going to be a place to explore some things I am working through in my life. But it has turned out to be NONE of those things.

Do you remember my first post? My blog theology is turning out to be more than I can live up to.

I love to blog, I love to write. So what's the big deal?? The big deal is that I feel blocked and just plain scared to put myself out there. There are SO MANY things that I could blog about. Despite what this blog may portray I do have a fairly interesting life. I have interesting stories. Funny friends. Etc... I have things to say. But I can't find my focus, I can't find my voice. I am scared to write about work for fear someone will take it the wrong way and I will get fired. I am timid to write boldly and honestly about many things because...well...I don't know why. I just can't. I could write about parenting all the live long day but this blog is supposed to be about the OTHER things in life. Parenting, yes. But the other things, too.

I don't know what I'm so worried about because I only have like 5 devoted readers anyway!! lol ;)

The posts that I HAVE written on here are truly authentic, they were things that were on my mind, or things I wanted to write about and from my heart. I don't feel like a fraud in that way at all. So I don't feel like I have necessarily let YOU down (my 5 readers) but I do feel like I have let myself down. Does that make sense?

My other blog (The Chronicles of Miles) is totally different because I know exactly what I want from that: a scrapbook of our lives with our son. Done. But this blog....it's more intangible. More eclectic. So, I'm never sure what direction to move with it. And then there's the whole idea of my two blogs conflicting--on The Chronicles of Miles I might post a happy, smiley picture of my son and then over here on All of the Above I might have a post about how I am really struggling with whatever the issue of the moment is with him...and then I feel inauthentic. Both accounts are correct and honest and true. But to the outside person it looks like I am playing Jekyll and Hyde. It's a conundrum. The blogs serve two very separate purposes, but I don't want The Chronicles of Miles to be the happy blog and All of the Above to be the bitchy blog. You know?

At this point you are thinking, "Dude, if you can't write then just DON'T. It shouldn't be this hard. You are over thinking it." You are right. Totally. Forcing a blog because I think I should do it is NOT a good idea. But I do want to do it. I just have to get my focus, get clear about what I want this blog to be....and GO BIG. Or shut up.

So, here's my plan. I am going to blog every single day in March. I'm going to call it March Madness because I think it will drive me insane ;) I am just going to see where this takes me. At the end of March if I don't think I have found my mo-jo then this blog will be yet another one of the millions out there that are abandoned. Or, I will sell it to the highest bidder. Just kidding.

I have no clue what I am going to write about. I hope it will come to me. I am just going to write for ME and hope that whatever comes out is fairly readable.

Will I go big? We shall see...

13, because there are no bones in ice cream

2010-02-23T07:32:00.006-06:00

A glimpse into the kinds of conversations I have with my husband.

Anne: If mosquitoes didn't have wings would bats eat other kinds of bugs?

Grant: If a canoe was rolling down a hill and lost a wheel how many pancakes would it take to cover a doghouse?

Anne: What? [laughing]

Grant: 13, because there are no bones in ice cream.

Anne: [laughing harder]

Grant: What the hell? Why are you asking about wingless mosquitoes?

Anne: [still laughing] I was just reading an article about people who are genetically altering female mosquitoes so they don't have wings.

Grant: Well, then they would just bite your toes.

Anne: [more laughing]

Grant: Or, they would do it tick-style and climb up into your hairy parts and bite you where it counts.

Anne: [tears, gasping for air] Maybe they should just let the poor little mosquitoes have wings.

Grant: Yep.

Follow Up on Adoption Questions

2010-02-22T11:37:00.011-06:00

Following up from the last post, here is a thoughtful question from a reader/friend who is considering adoption as a way to expand her family:

There's a transracial family at our daycare and I'm quite sure the littlest boy is adopted. I'd love to strike up a conversation with his mom sometime (our older kids are friends), but I don't want to accidentally say anything offensive. How do you bring it up? What's inappropriate? What's warm and welcoming?

That is such a GREAT question. I never want to give people the impression that they can't ask any questions at all, just not stupid, invasive ones that have to do with money. ;)

Although I am super happy to talk numbers with people who are in the adoption process and have serious questions. But if it's my 2nd cousin once removed who is just being nosy I am not into it.

Anyhoo...

I always like it when people approach me with a "I hope you don't mind me asking, but I was wondering if your child was adopted? The reason I ask is because we are thinking about adoption and would love to chat with you about your experience." Even if you left out the "we are thinking about adoption" part it is still a nice way to approach someone. But it's always good to give a follow-up reason as to why you are asking. I once had someone approach me and say that she loves seeing transracial families because she comes from one herself. Making a personal connection to the reason for your inquiry is always a good idea. But that being said, I am never offended if people just come up and ask me if he's adopted then then just say "cool" ;) That has happened a couple of times!

I am happy to talk to sincere people who want to know more about adoption because I am proud of our adoptive family, proud of our transracial family and am frankly just a happy camper when I can talk about how we came to be a family!

We just had an interesting experience with the hair stylist at Cost Cutters yesterday. (I know, our first mistake was actually going into Cost Cutters but we're on a budget here, people.) So, Grant was getting his hair cut while Miles and I just hung out and watched. I could hear most of their conversation and her questions went something like this:

"Is he yours?"

"I mean, I just didn't know since ... well, you know. Is he adopted?"

"Where is he from?"

"How long have you had him?"

"Do you keep in touch with his birthparents?"

And on and on. Then she launched into how to take care of his hair, like we haven't been taking care of it for the last 2 years just fine thank-you-very-much. ;)

It wasn't exactly the line of questioning that is the problem, it is the way in which she asked such deeply personal questions (especially about his birthfamily) when we had just met her 2 minutes earlier. And it wasn't because she wanted to adopt (she made that very clear: "I don't even know anyone who has ever been adopted!") or that she had a legit reason to ask us such questions. She was just being nosy and as we have already established I'm just not into nosy people. Grant handled it really well. We have had many conversations, between the two of us, about just how much information we are okay with sharing to the general public. So we always know when to draw the line and where our boundaries are. That's really helpful in these situations--I feel like we are a united front.

Again, it's not that the questions are bad, necessarily. It's that I guess I would never in a million years ask some of these questions to someone I don't know. So I am baffled when people ask us. I DO get the curiosity, like is said in the last post, I really really do. But curiosity is not a license for appropriateness to fly out the window.

People also say odd things about adoption because they assume things they just shouldn't. Another reader/friend brings this up in the comments to my last post. She said she hears this one a lot: "You know what happens after you adopt, don't you? You get PREGNANT!" Believe me, I have gotten that one, too. My reaction is similar to yours, dear friend. Laughter. If I wanted to get pregnant (and I have been--twice) I certainly would not adopt a child to accomplish that task. There are many people in this world who can't fathom the fact that I feel absolutely no need to be biologically related to my children. I just don't. I am not biologically related to my husband and that neither diminishes my love for him nor the ties that bind us as a family. Same goes with my son.

To each their own, I say!

C'mon. This is FUNNY:

Don't Ask

2010-02-19T11:15:00.002-06:00

You know how there are certain questions that are just OFF LIMITS? Like, "How much do you weigh?" or "How much money do you make?" And they say you should never ask a women her age although that is much less of a faux pas in my eyes. Ask me again when I'm 40 and I might think differently about that.

The point is this: there are just certain things that you don't ask anyone. Ever. Right???

Here's another one to add to your list. Write this one down:

How much did your adoption cost?

Oh.my.God.

It's like fingernails on a chalkboard to me. I even had a hard time typing it.

And just why don't you ask such a question?

Because it's none of your damn business.

Oh, and did I mention that it's none of your bleep bleep bleeping business? Yeah, that too.

The rant is over and now the education begins.

Adoptive parents (at least most of the ones that I know) feel like when you ask that kind of question you are cheapening or degrading the way in which our child came into our families. I'm pretty sure I would never ask someone how much their c-section cost or how much they paid the doctor to pull the baby out of your va jay jay. I just wouldn't. Because it doesn't matter, does it?? No. It doesn't. And it doesn't matter how much we paid for the adoption in that same way.

You see, adoptive families already have a mountain to climb when trying to get people to understand that we are like any other family. A little different? Yes. But we love our kids just the same no matter how they come to us. A question like that just serves to draw the wedge between *them* and *us* even further.

And for the love of all that's holy please don't EVER EVER ask that question in front of an adopted child.

The other thing that is inferred in that kind of question is that adoption must be so expensive, how on earth can you afford it? Here's the deal on this one: We paid adoption professionals to help us be united with our child, yes. But in no way, shape or form do we ever think about the money as a sacrifice. It's not that we don't care or think about the costs associated with our adoption but ... it is what it is. It's a means to an end, the end being a child being joined with its forever family. Done.

And although most people want to make a big deal about the costs associated with adoption the truth is that it's not what's on the minds of most adoptive parents. You want to know what is? The paperwork, the homestudy, the social workers, the match process, and SO MUCH MORE. If you want to ask some good questions ask about that stuff! Adoptive parents are preparing for their child just as any other expecting parent would--nesting, shopping, babyproofing, etc... And AFTER the adoption process is over? Asking about how much it cost is such an absurd and irrelevant question there aren't even words. Our child is home with us where they belong! WHO CARES about the rest except for the person asking the stupid question?

And besides that it's none of your beeswax.

I would never associate a dollar amount with your child. Don't do that to mine.

I get the curiosity. I really do. But to ask that question is a huge faux pas.

Want to know how much adoption costs? Google it.

And then come back and talk to me about jumperoos and baby monitors. Because that is what I REALLY want to talk about.

Olympics Feeva!

2010-02-15T13:16:00.005-06:00

Someone take my temperature. I think I have Olympics fever. Or rather, Olympics Feeva!

There is just something about the Olympics. Maybe it's all of the nations coming together and the [fake] unity that picture paints. Maybe it's that I still cry every every time I see a medals ceremony and they play the national anthems. Maybe it's hearing the amazing back stories for all of the athletes and then feeling like you really want them to succeed. Maybe it's the drama that all of the "thrill of victory, agony of defeat" creates. Maybe it's just plain fun rootin' on the home team.

I don't know what it is about the Olympics, but I love it.

Grant was jokingly saying, as we were watching pairs skating last night, that skating is for sissies. Holy cow, is that ever the furthest from the truth! Skating is for incredibly muscular, flexible people who have no fear of being flung 20 feet over cold hard ice. And for people with discipline, which I lack. Their costumes are a bit sissy-ish, I will admit. Did you see the pair that had kind of a "clown" theme going on?? Not cool.

In any case, I am completely in awe of the athletes. They dedicate their ENTIRE lives to one thing and have a singular goal in mind: GOLD. I can't imagine having that kind of focus.

I was trying to think, if I was forced to choose one winter Olympic sport to compete in, which would I choose?

You know what I came up with?

Curling.

I'm too much a wimp for any of the other sports. Alas, I will never be an Olympian.

Although, my name next to "5-time Gold Medalist" does have a nice ring to it.

*Oh! And now I have another thing to add to My Someday List: Go to the Olympics. (And by go to the Olympics I do mean as a spectator, as we have already determined I could never make it there of my own athletic prowess. Maybe Miles will be an Olympian?! As long as it's curling, I'm ok with it. Nice, safe, feet on the ground curling.)

Euro II Grow With Me Chair REVIEW

2010-02-11T08:49:00.004-06:00

I have been wanting to do a review of the Euro II Grow With Me Chair for ages, and I am finally getting around to it. I am by no means getting any kickbacks for this review--I just wanted everyone to know about them!

I was first introduced to these awesome chairs by my sister who purchased them for her two boys several years ago. Her boys love them. The seat and the footrest are both adjustable which makes the "Grow With Me" part really true. I think the boys were 3 and 5 when my sister got the chairs for them, and now they are 6 and 8 and they STILL sit in them and love them.

Miles also loves his chair. In fact, the reason we have one is because of his obsession with his cousin's chairs. Every time we went to their house to eat he just HAD to sit in one of their chairs, and would refuse to sit in his highchair. I thought, what better way to get him to be excited to sit at the table! So my parents got us this chair for Christmas (thanks mom and dad!). I love love love not having the huge highchair sitting in our dining room anymore. This chair has the look and feel of a "regular" chair so of course it's much more stylish to have around, and the bonus is that it is appealing to Miles as a "big boy chair".

The chair comes with a plastic seat cushion, which I think could be improved upon, although it is very cleanable. My mom ended up sewing some chair cushions for the boys chairs that are much cuter and more comfortable. But for right now I am happy that I can just wipe the seat down and be done with it. (You can also purchase a backrest and seat cover online.)

If your child still needs a seat belt restraint and tray I would recommend the highchair version.

We chose the cherry color over the lighter natural color because it matched our dining room furniture best. But the one drawback to the darker color is that scratches (or teeth marks in our case) show up really well. The lighter color might be a better choice if your kid will be rough on it. The chair itself, though, is very sturdy. I never worry about Miles tipping it over. In fact, that would be hard to do, so I feel like he is really safe in it.

The best price I found online was $89.95, and if you can find a site with free shipping then BONUS! There are similar chairs out there but they are much more expensive. It's such a great investment for a wonderful chair that you will use every single day for years and years. I would highly recommend it for your kiddos!!!

Check-In with the Resolutions

2010-02-09T09:24:00.001-06:00

1) I am still a blonde but now would like to be blonder. ;) Not like Kate Gosselin ugly blonde extentions crazy, but maybe a few more highlights next time. I enjoy the blonde-ness. (Seriously Kate, stop trying to re-live your youth, quit club hopping in NY and go home to your kids!)

2) I am utterly failing at my Gratitude Journal. There, I said it. That's the truth. Will I get back on the bandwagon? I sincerely hope so! I really have thought about it a lot, and it's the thought that counts, right? Ugh, not in this case. When it comes down to a choice of either getting 5 minutes of extra sleep or writing in my journal, I'm afraid sleep is winning right now. No more excuses!! Must keep writing...

3) The one resolution that is still coming along well, and even better than I expected, is the cash budget. LOVE the cash budget. I would highly, highly recommend it to anyone who is thinking about how to save money or get out of debt. But you need someone to keep you accountable. In my case it's my husband, but it could be anyone. I love the challenge of having a set amount of money to spend in a month, and trying to see how far I can stretch it. And it feels REALLY good knowing that we are in no way overspending. With a cash budget it's impossible to overspend. I'm honestly not sure I will ever go back to swiping my debit card again.

Am I the only one still talking about New Year's Resolutions out there? I feel a little bit like my next door neighbor who just can't seem to let Christmas go...she still lights up her tree (outside) every night. It's February. Live in the now. Grant and I have joked that we are going to go over there and "accidentally" unplug her tree if she doesn't pull the plug herself soon. :-)

But isn't that the whole point of New Year's Resolutions? To be successful at them?? To keep them going as long as possible??? Call me crazy, but I kinda think so.

Born From Our Heart

2010-02-08T12:00:00.007-06:00

I am a brand-new fan of Mr. Ray. He writes songs that both kids AND parents can enjoy (imagine that!). But this song, Born From Our Heart (The Adoption Song) solidified me as a card-carrying member of the Mr. Ray fan club. I think this song hits me so hard not just because it's about adoption, but because of the "angel" imagery he uses. You see, Miles' middle name is Gabriel, and we always think of him as an angel sent from God. Not that he always acts like an angel, he is our angel nonetheless. :-)

This was the back of our birth/adoption announcement after Miles was born:

...hard to believe he is going to be 2 in a little over a month...

Born From Our Heart (The Adoption Song)

You start with hope
The wait can make you cry
Unanswered prayers
Things turn, you wonder why

The road can take you where it wants
Sometimes you have to just let go to hear life's song

It's meant to be
It was written in the stars
For us to see
A little angel to be ours
We're a family
We'll tell you where you came from
But you were born from our heart

Faith lights your path
Then one day lets you in
Inside the dream
Of something never seen

The beauty of your little smile
Each little sound you make
Takes our breath away

It's meant to be
It was written in the stars
For us to see
A little angel to be ours
We're a family
We'll tell you where you came from
But you were born from our heart

How to Add Pages to Your Blogger Blog

2010-02-04T21:00:00.002-06:00

Finally! Blogger is catching up to the needs of their loyal minions. I have been wishing for an easy way to create pages in Blogger for, umm, FOREVER. And now it's finally here!! Thank you, Blogger Gods!!!

I am a Blogger fan, don't get me wrong. I even tried to work with Wordpress, which to be honest I really liked and thought it had many great features that Blogger just can't offer. But you apparently can't teach this old dog new tricks because very soon I was back to Blogger. What can I say? After two years of using Blogger it was just easier to go with what I already knew.

SO, to the good stuff: How to add pages to your Blogger blog. We're talking about static information on stand alone pages here, people! Functionality! Yeah!!!

It's incredibly easy:

Dashboard--> Edit Posts--> Edit Pages

YEP. That's it. It's not brain surgery.

But it's oh so fun.

By the way, my pages are currently under construction so keep checking back to see what's new!

QUESTION: I just installed Live Writer and I like it. But I'm still getting my feet wet. How many of you use it, and do you like it? What are the advantages of using it over the standard Blogger editing functions? Do tell, do tell.

Eve

2010-02-02T07:41:00.005-06:00

My bookclub just had one of it's most extraordinary nights.

And we have had a lot of amazing ones, so this is saying a lot.

We were so very lucky to have my friend Elissa Elliott, author of Eve: A Novel of the First Woman, join us for our discussion of her book this month. My mother introduced me to Eve and guided me to Elissa, and for that I am so grateful. She very graciously accepted my invitation (about 6 months ago!) and we had been looking forward to this evening with anticipation ever since.

Since Eve is filled with rich images of the Mediterranean, including the food (they apparently ate many, many figs!), we couldn't pass up the opportunity for a Mediterranean-themed dinner to go along with our discussion. Yummy food, pomegranate wine AND champagne and baklava to top it off.

It was heaven.

Speaking of heaven, I wish I could do this incredible book justice with an eloquent book review. But if I am being honest here (and it IS "Let the Truth Be Told Tuesday", right??) I am not insightful enough nor do I have the adequate words to do it the justice that it deserves. I will say that I stand in awe of this work of fiction. It's the hardest thing in the world to tackle a story that is so well-known. Can you imagine? Elissa took Eve, one of history and religion's most recognizable 'characters', and made you think that you are meeting her (and her family) for the very first time. The story she weaves is so believable, so thoroughly researched and so engaging you absolutely forget that you know how the story ends. Her prose is like poetry...it's really beautiful.

I could go on and on about how clear her vision of Eve as a mother is, how shockingly real the relationships are, how she makes you think (really think) about our relationship with the world and other people, how close you feel to knowing what the true nature of our connection to Elohim (God) truly is after reading her words ("Everything ordinary is extraordinary and points to one luminous thing, to a love that has already given its response. You have only to receive it.") ... but I will stop there.

Read this book. It will not be wasted time.

Thank you, Elissa, for your candor and humor and openness and insight and wisdom.

And thank you to my wonderful, precious bookclub. I would be lost without you!!!

Me, Brynn, Elissa, Siri, Karna and Jodi (we were missing Amy, Lorelee and Dawn!)

The Action of Compassion

2010-01-27T21:15:00.009-06:00

My fear in organizing friends and family to make health kits for Haiti was that some would do it out of guilt, or a sense of obligation. And I did have at least one friend admit that guilt is what drove her to get her kids in the car, haul them to Wal-Mart and bring the things for the health kits over to my house on a super cold winter night. I'm glad she was honest with me because I have thought about that a lot. I take no offense whatsoever, and totally agree with her! Guilt is what drives us to do many things. I might feel the exact same way if I were in her shoes.

Then I think about the words of another friend who also gave health kits for Haiti yesterday. Her wise words are ringing in my ears: "We SHOULD feel obligated to help." I guess that hits at the heart of where I'm coming at with all of this. It's not just that I want to help. It's that I NEED to help. I look around and see the abundance that I have...I see the faces of the Haitians who had nothing to begin with and now have even less. And I DO feel guilt. I DO feel obligated. But is that such a bad thing???

I think we all know the answer to that one. Whatever drives us to act can't be a bad thing. Action is the root of compassion, IMHO.

But I digress.....

The health kits for Haiti project was a huge success! We collected over 30 health kits and also a large monetary donation that will be sent to the LWR warehouse in St. Paul very soon. From there the kits will most likely head straight to Haiti. The first health kits shipment (along with layette kits, quilts, etc...) arrived in Haiti on Monday. But so much more is needed! I know that these kits will go to people who desperately need them.

Big hugs to my awesome friends and family for acting on their compassion for the Haitian people. No small act of kindness is ever wasted!!!

I hope that we will not become complacent as times goes on. I don't want to forget, I don't want my support for these people to wain. They will need our help for a long, long time to come.

Health Kits for Haiti

2010-01-22T08:00:00.002-06:00

As I have mentioned in the last couple of posts, the tragedy in Haiti has affected me deeply. It has affected everyone deeply. It’s been hard to watch the devastation in Haiti and not be moved to tears. We all want to do something to help, but feel helpless. I have prayed, donated…but it just doesn’t feel like it’s enough. But we CAN HELP!

Lutheran World Relief is an organization that I trust. They have been responding to disasters around the world for over 65 years. You can learn more about LWR at http://www.lwr.org/. They are always in need of health kits to send to people around the world who need them but now with the situation in Haiti the need is even greater. They have already sent hundreds of kits to Haiti but need more.

I read this blog post from LWR President John Nunes that inspired me to take immediate action: “Our stock of health kits is critically low. With so many homeless and in need, for every health kit we give, there are many more families who need one. Please consider donating health kits to LWR so that we can continue to meet needs in Haiti and around the world.”

I am asking friends and family to make health kits and drop them off at our house next week, and I am hoping for a big response! (I will take pics and be blogging a thank you to all my friends and family who donate next week.) But if YOU would like to help you can also make health kits and send them to LWR. Follow the links above for more instructions! It's SO easy. It's a small thing that we can do for people who have lost everything.

Health Kits for Haiti: Lutheran World Relief
One hand towel, dark color recommended
One washcloth, dark color recommended
One bath-size bar (4 to 5 oz.) of soap, any brand, in its original wrapping
One adult-size toothbrush in its original packaging
One sturdy comb, remove packaging
One metal nail file or nail clippers with file attached, remove packaging (do not substitute cardboard emery boards for the file)
Six Band-Aids® (or similar brand), preferably 1/2" to 3/4"; secure together with a rubber band

Optimism

2010-01-19T07:52:00.002-06:00

I am feeling optimistic today.

First of all, although I am still stunned by the depth of suffering in Haiti, I feel optimistic for their future. Helen Keller said it best: "The world is full of suffering, it is also full of overcoming it." The power of millions of people coming together for a common cause is a beautiful thing to watch. The prayers, money and support that is flowing is amazing. I am planning a little event to help Haiti, and will talk more about it when plans are more solid.

Then, I am feeling optimistic about my future, my career. There are some good things on the horizon. Remember when I said I feel like I am on the verge of something BIG but I just didn't know what it was?? I think I am starting to figure it out. Maybe. We will see. Stay tuned ;)

I am also feeling optimistic about my ability to keep kicking butt with my New Year's Resolutions. Have you noticed that it only takes a few weeks for people to STOP talking about New Year's Resolutions altogether? The questions end, the blog posts fade away...I am trying my hardest to fight that! I am still doing awesome with my cash budget and I am still working on my gratitude journal. And I am still a blonde. ;)

I hope my optimism stays. I like how it feels.

p.s. Do you heart I Heart Faces?? Well then you need to check out THIS entry! It's amazing!!! (but then again, I might be a little biased...)

Trying to make sense of it all...

2010-01-14T08:37:00.003-06:00

I don't even really know where to begin with this post. My mind is swimming with all of the images from Haiti...and I can't wrap my brain around it all. The suffering, the pain, the children. It's too much to process. I guess I can't even imagine, in my wildest nightmares, what they are going through right now. I heard a report this morning of children sleeping amongst the scores of dead bodies because there is literally no other place to go. They have no help. No hope.

I found myself crying this morning, as I am now, and I wondering what all the suffering is for. What is the purpose? If you believe in God you look to Him for answers. I am still praying for those answers to come.

I see the pictures of the children who have been hurt, killed, orphaned...and I see Miles. I literally see his face everywhere. You can't help but think, "What if that was MY child who was suffering?" The pain of that thought is truly too much. But I see his face because he literally looks like so many of the children in the pictures and video coming out of Haiti. It's inevitable that we should hug our kids a little tighter and thank God that they are safe. But what about the thousands of children right now who aren't safe? What about the kids who are scared and lonely and hungry and cold? Who will hug them??

Of course this has nothing to do with me, my feelings or how we all deal with this internally. It has everything to do with how we respond to it.

We can pray. I believe in the power of prayer. But of course the power of prayer is not in the ones praying it, it is in the ONE who is hearing our prayers.

We can give. Two organizations that I trust and am going to donate to are Lutheran World Relief and the American Red Cross.

Psalm 23
The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters,
he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

2010 GW Fresh Air Act

2010-01-11T20:38:00.003-06:00

Clearly, my husband has too much time on his hands.

I got this from him in an email today (see below), and just had to share it. I think it's rather brilliant and well thought out. I would totally sign this into law if it were a real "Act" and if I were a real elected leader. It is not and I am not, but it's fun to think about anyway.

This all stems from a co-worker of his who goes out for smoke breaks and comes back smelling like she just baked herself in an oven full of cigarettes. He can't stand it. The entire 'campus' they work on is smoke free, and he feels that should also cover not having to smell second-hand stale cigarette smoke every couple of hours. He works in cubicle-land (ever seen the movie Office Space? Um, yeah...) so it's close quarters. If you have too much garlic for lunch I'm afraid your buddy in the cube next to you is going to know about it. It's a fact of life. But I think his argument has some teeth, I really do. Because isn't it true that if you are a smoker you are somehow automatically entitled to take more breaks, therefore work LESS than everyone else? I'm just sayin'...

Of course, this is all in good fun. But there is something SO TRUE about it, too.

2010 GW Fresh Air Act

Sponsor: GW

Submission Date: January 11, 2010

1. Petition:

a. I, GW, hereby declare that smoke breaks shall include a minimum of five (5) minutes spent outside after extinguishing the cigarette.

2. Multiple Smoker Clause:

a. If there are multiple smokers (more than one individual) at a given location, the five minute air-out period must be spent walking or otherwise moving in an area of fresh air. This will eliminate the collection of second hand smoke on clothing and in lungs before returning to work.

3. Productivity adjustment:

a. All non-smokers shall henceforth receive a 6.3% increase in compensation. All smokers shall suffer a 6.3% decrease in compensation. 8 hours worked per day, 2 smoke breaks, 15 minutes per break, .5/8=6.3% of the day wasted outside while the hard-working non-smokers are toiling away to compensate for the deficiencies of the smoker.

b. If a smoker illegally receives the compensation increase dedicated to non-smokers he/she shall pay retribution to the organization for maliciously harming all non-smokers and be tied outside by the pinky toes for the five minutes missed.

4. Punishment:

a. If the air-out period is not properly recognized the accused shall be required to pay a fine of no less than $50 per occurrence to all co-workers affected by the stench. No limit on the number of co-workers. “Affected by the stench” can be defined as simply smelling the smoke when the accused person walks by.

5. Exclusions:

a. If a company installs car wash dryers on the exterior doorway near the smoke break area the five minute air-out period will not be necessary. If the blowers are not working properly or are being serviced for routine maintenance the five minute air-out period will be enforced.

and Grant ;)

Rockin' the Resolutions

2010-01-08T07:39:00.005-06:00

I must say I am kicking @ss at my resolutions. I'm kicking their butt and it feels great. Maybe I shouldn't really gloat yet since we are only 8 days into 2010. I have a looooooong way to go. Ah, heck, I'm gonna go ahead and gloat about my 8 day streak ;)

Here's where I'm at with my afore-mentioned resolutions:

1. I am a blonde again. Yep, got my hair did on NYE day and it was decadently awesome. Oh, except for the moment when my colorist says, "Yeah, the highlights will be perfect for covering all of your gray hair." Yes, ma'am. She actually said that. Little 22 year old punk. ;) She is great but little does she know how much I did NOT want to hear those words from someone who is up close and personal with my locks. Oh well, such if life. BTW, blondes do have more fun ;)

2. Gratitude journal is coming along swimmingly. I am not someone who is good at doing something at the same time every single day (like I suck at taking pills at the same time every day) but somehow this is different. I look forward to writing down the five things that I am most grateful for that day. I already cherish the memories that are written in that book. I have also added a layer to my Operation Attitude of Gratitude: I am going to tell people who end up in my gratitude journal that I am grateful for them. I think it's so important to tell others around us how we feel about them and how special they are to us....before it's too late. So, my friends, expect to hear about my gratitude for YOU.

3. I haven't really mentioned this as a resolution on the blog, per se, but I did mention that we had our finances on the brain. A read of Total Money Makeover has led to another REALLY IMPORTANT resolution: getting out of debt. Not to go into too much detail but we aren't in deep financial debt...we are just not in a place that we feel comfortable with. So it has to change. We don't use credit cards at all so that is one things that we don't need to worry about. But, for some rather obvious reasons, we have made some life choices (good choices!!) that have left us in a little bit of a hole that we need to dig out of. Step one of our total money makeover was to put a significant amount of money into a savings account. DONE. Step two was to go to a CASH budget. This is the one that I was totally and completely dreading. My debit card and I have a special relationship and did not want to part with it. ;) But part with it I have. We have allotted ourselves a certain amount of cash per month (after all bills are paid) and when it's gone...it's GONE. Here's the surprising thing: That which I thought was going to be super hard and restrictive has turned out to be freeing and easy!! I love the challenge of having the cash in pocket but I also have the power to NOT spend it. I have done really really well so far. It's amazing how much dough you drop on little things here and there that all add up--a coffee here, a lunch there. It all adds up. Now that we are doing the cash budget I really have to think ahead. Like I said, it's somehow so freeing. Just like He-Man: I HAVE THE POWER! Ha. I will keep you posted on how I'm doing as the weeks roll on. Oh, and a great side effect of the cash budget is less eating out which equals less calories which equals less weight which is equals less Anne which equals more happiness ;)

I have some other goals for the new year, like meal planning and parenting stuff, but for now I am happy with my progress on the others.

I have loved reading about all of your resolutions on your blogs. Keep it up!

Books Are Friends That Never Fail

2010-01-06T10:06:00.001-06:00

I have always been a reader. I grew up on Berenstain Bears and Dr. Seuss (I am especially fond of Seuss--see his quote in my header). I remember reading books like Shel Silverstein's Where the Sidewalk Ends over and over again until I had those poems memorized. I remember devouring Sweet Valley High books like they were my last meal. I recall reading The Catcher in the Rye in high school and being utterly amazed by it. Night by Elie Wiesel changed my entire perspective on the world and opened my eyes in powerful ways. In college I got addicted to reading about Kay Scarpetta's adventures in Patricia Cornwell's thriller series. Books have always been a part of my life. I have always loved the escapism involved in reading books. Maybe that's why I am a movie lover, too. Books and movies and transport you to another place ... whenever, wherever.

OH, and this post about books would not be complete without a tribute to my beloved Twilight series. No, Stephanie Meyer is not William Shakespeare. She is not even William Faulkner. But her books RIVETED me. I have read the entire series. Twice. I have seen the first movie like a million times. And now that I have seen New Moon I am changing my status to TEAM JACOB. Yes, he's 17. But have you SEEN him?? Yowsa.

And now that I have lost the respect of half my readers I shall go on...

I joined a book club right after Miles was born. How nuts is that?? How I ever had the time to read (on a schedule) during that particular moment in our lives is beyond me. I vaguely remember not watching a whole lot of TV and stealing time to read a page or two before I fell into a coma at night. Well, a two hour coma before my newborn woke me up again. But a coma nonetheless. It was during that sleep-deprived "what-the-hell-do-I-do-with-this-7-pound-dictator" time that books saved my life. Yes, I will say it again: Books saved my life.

I don't want to be overly dramatic about this because books didn't literally save my life but they did save it in a more figurative way. Looking back I think I needed to take that mental break every day (or in the middle of the night). All moms need to practice self-care and give themselves a break. I think this was one way I took care of myself, had a little "me" time. If you are my friend IRL, you have probably heard me say more than one time that the newborn stage was NOT my favorite. I truly didn't enjoy it. I know, it's sad that I didn't enjoy it. But there's the truth. I didn't. I have enjoyed every other stage since then. But I had no idea how much my life was going to change when our little bundle of joy came into our lives. And he came fast. Most parents have about 9 months or so to prepare. We had 2 days. I was in a permanent state of shock for several months. Books came to my rescue. They took me back to equilibrium faster anything else could.

"Books are friends that never fail." Dr. William Mayo

And then there is my wonderful bookclub. You can't manufacture this kind of chemistry that we have. It just WORKS. We just click. We don't always agree on everything but our conversations are priceless. What amazing women. The bookclub became a little oasis of calmness and centeredness for me. I felt like an adult when I went to bookclub, and still do. During those first few difficult months when I was trying my hardest to get my bearings it was a God-sent miracle. Here's the baby, honey, see ya after bookclub! Ah, sweet freedom. I took a shower, put on makeup and actually did my hair. It was fabulous. I have learned so much from books, and I learn even more from the smart women that populate our bookclub. Sometimes things come along in our lives just at the right time. Funny how that works.

And the BEST part about bookclub? The wine. ;)

By the way, here are my favorites, so far, from bookclub:

Gang of One

Eat, Pray, Love

Water for Elephants

Three Cups of Tea

The Year of Living Biblically

Peace Like a River

Marley and Me (book way better than the movie, IMHO)

Lottery

Maybe that is why I spend so much time reading to Miles. It's so important to me, and I want him to love reading just as much as I do. The first time he brought me a book and climbed up on my lap was one of the best moments of motherhood so far. I hope he always keeps that childish enthusiasm for books. Books are life!

Speaking of books, I have an announcement to make!

Drumroll please!

Stay tuned in the next couple of weeks for my very first GIVEAWAY! I will be giving away a SIGNED copy of the best parenting book ever written. And it's one you've probably never heard of. Curious? Check back for more details soon!

I can't even come up with a title for this post

2010-01-05T13:43:00.003-06:00

I got nothin'.

I am having a huge mental block and cannot write anything to save my life. I can't even compose a status update on FB, that's how empty my brain is.

No idea where this is coming from but I hope the mental constipation ends soon. I need a laxative for my brain.

Yep...........nothin'.

Help.

NYE: Toddler Style

2009-12-31T20:56:00.004-06:00

Ring around the rosie,

A pocket full of posies,

Ashes! Ashes!

We all fall down!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Pulling Up

2009-12-29T09:30:00.003-06:00

"I like living. I have sometimes been wildly, despairingly, acutely miserable, racked with sorrow, but through it all I still know quite certainly that just to be alive is a grand thing."
~Agatha Christie

Step 1: Take a shower.

Step 2: Make an appointment for a cut and color. (I did say I wanted to be a blonde again, right?)

Step 3: Throw disappointments out the window. All of them. Especially the disappointments about people. I am not perfect, and neither is anyone else.

Step 4: Breathe.

A Christmas Sob Story

2009-12-27T09:50:00.003-06:00

I think I'm in HELL.

Those of you who read my other blog might have read this recent post. It was all about how excited I was for Christmas, how it's my favorite time of year, how it's so magical through the eyes of a child.

Yeah.

We picked up Miles from daycare on Wednesday (Christmas Eve Eve) only to learn that 3 kids were out sick with the stomach flu.

Crap.

One hour later Miles threw up.

Crap.

Christmas Eve Day he seemed fine. We all seemed ok, except that I was getting a nasty cold (that Miles already had). I thought we were in the clear.

Christmas Eve: I felt fine at church, then somewhere in the 10 minute drive to my parents' house for Christmas dinner I started to feel really sick. I hardly ate anything (which I was grateful for later). Halfway through the gift opening I waived the white flag. I knew I was not well, so we went home.

To make a long story short, I spent more time hugging porcelain than hugging my family members this Christmas and I am NOT ok with that.

Christmas Day was even more fun because Grant hopped on the stomach flu train. He called my mom and she immediately came over and whisked Miles away. THANK GOD. We were both so weak and sick...it was not pretty.

And to top it all off I also have this raging cold with the super bad cough, sinus pain and all. And Miles has decided to be a HUGE pill today and basically cry and scream about everything. EVERYTHING. My parents said he was an angel for them: he never once cried or whined about anything, slept 12 hours straight, took a 3 1/2 hour nap, was happy and playing so nice the entire time. Then he comes home to us and is a totally different kid: he hits us, throw his toys, cries about everything and wakes up crying at 5:30 a.m. WTF.

Now my entire extended family is sick. My nephews, my aunt, my mom...and the rest are to follow.

Merry Christmas to us.

I am not going to start my gratitude journal until this is all over. As you can tell, I am a little bitter about all of this. Christmas cannot be recreated because my parents are snowbirds and are supposed to leave for Arizona tomorrow or Tuesday. Or whenever they are well enough to travel.

Generally I would not be so negative about all of this. I would just say such is life and roll with it. Being sick happens. But it ruined our Christmas. And because of that I am just so so so sad. Yes, this too shall pass. It could be worse. Blah blah blah. I know, I know. But for right now I am allowing myself to mourn this magical holiday that didn't happen for us.

You really learn who your friends are when you are having a rough time of it. The notes and emails from friends who were checking in with us these past few days have been really wonderful. Somehow just knowing there were good thoughts coming our way helped us tremendously. AND this has made me appreciate, once again, what a wonderful family we have. My parents didn't even think twice about helping us out, even though they knew they were exposing themselves to possible illness. That's love, I tell ya.

The next post will hopefully be much less Debbie Downer and way more Pollyanna Sunshine. Here's hoping...

My Favorite Christmas Movies

2009-12-22T14:00:00.013-06:00

What are your favorites???

Let the Truth Be Told, On Tuesday

2009-12-22T10:18:00.001-06:00

Truth? For Today?

Today I feel frumpy. And dumpy. And lumpy.

I wish I would get carded once in a while but all my gray hair gives me away, I think. Or is it that haggard, tired look that I wear most days that does it?

What I wouldn't give to be called "Miss" at the grocery store again. Just once. "Ma'am" sounds so.dang.old.

New Year's Resolution #152: Get my @ss to the gym.

And I want to be a blonde again. I really do think they have more fun ;)

How's that for some Christmas spirit?? ha.

Let the Gratitude Begin

2009-12-19T10:20:00.004-06:00

It's here! It's beautiful. I love it.

(And, wow, was that ever fast, Elissa!)

I Won! And I'm So Grateful I Did.

2009-12-17T10:18:00.002-06:00

I won something. Yep, I actually WON something. Happy day!

My new friend Elissa Elliott (talented author, captivating blogger, adoptive mom) had a little giveaway on her blog for two Gratitude Journals. And I am the lucky winner of one of those journals! Talk about gratitude!!! What a wonderful gift. Thank you, Elissa. I am grateful for you.

You will be hearing more about Elissa on All of the Above because, as I mentioned, she is a fabulous author. Her book is called Eve (coming out in paperback Dec. 29!) and she has graciously agreed to come to our February bookclub to talk about it! Again, SO grateful. It is sure to be a great discussion and I am really looking forward to it. I am in the middle of her book am loving it. Novelists have a gift that I certainly don't possess: a good novelist like Elissa can transport you to a different time and place...fully, completely. She does it with ease. I won't give my full book report here yet, but stay tuned!

Here is a New Year's Resolution: I resolve to write down 5 things that I am grateful for every day in my new journal. The first will be gratitude for the journal itself. Truly the gift that will keep on giving.

Anyone else want to start a gratitude journal with me?