A Whole New World

A long, long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, I was a senior in college. And I had the most amazing roommates of all time. I didn't appreciate them at the time, but oh wow, do I miss them now.

And boy, did we make memories that year. About half way through the first semester we got a new roommate who was absolutely the destruction to our perfect little bubble world. Words can't adequately describe Bethany. She was eccentric, flighty, nurturing, artistic, and kinda kooky. She was the type of person who takes some time to get used to. She had the innate ability to drive you to insanity and then make you laugh until you cried.

She was like a hurricane. She would come running into our room babbling under her breath and in seconds turn around and run back out, her long, sandy blond hair streaming behind her. She was classic hippy-chic. Long, flowy skirts - comfy tops - sandals. Unless she had to dress up. I.e., formals. Oh, how Bethany hated formals.
For her last one, she ran in from work, threw on a glittery headband and black jacket and ran back out. (see below)


But she loved to show off....


I remember one night she came in and told us she would like to start a new room tradition - bed time stories. I can't for the life of me remember the name of the book, but the charming tale she read us was about 2 sisters who were thought to have poisoned their entire family. Nice, right? But we loved it. Every night at 10 pm, we would all be in bed patiently waiting for Bethany to start reading.

And she was obsessed with giraffe's. OBSESSED. She had a stuffed giraffe, from her boyfriend, whose name was Giusseppi. At some point in the semester, we roommates - kind as we were - decided it would be a great idea to steal the giraffe and hold it hostage in order to get Bethany to clean up after herself. Oh.my.gosh. She freaked out on us. It still makes me laugh.



Poor Giusseppi....

You may wonder what on earth made me think of Bethany after all these years.
My answer? Glee.

Bethany always had show tunes playing. ALWAYS. Despite her craziness, she was nothing if not cultured. And she rubbed off on us. Thanks, Bethany!

By the end of the semester, we had all traded in our country or pop music for the soundtrack of Les Mis, Into the Woods, or Phantom. We had traded our Justin Timberlake for Josh Groban and our Brittany Spears for Sarah Brightman. She was chaotic and crazy and rarely cared what she looked like, but she exposed us to things that, without her, the 3 of us would never have experienced.

Bethany, if you are out there, thanks so much and sorry for stealing Giusseppi! By the way, do YOU have any idea what the name of that book was?

Well, it finally happened….

Today, while reading one of my favorite blogs, PW, I did something I have been swearing I wouldn’t do for months…. I started reading one of the blogs posted in PW’s Home and Garden section. Which led me to another and then another, and then another.

For those of you who know me well, you know it is inevitable that I would end up reading blogs about decorating.

What’s surprising is that I, lover of all things colorful, of all things bright and bold, now want to repaint every room in my house a stark white.

What can I say.

But I won’t. I like my “box of crayons”—the affectionate term that Techy has given our home—too much.

I do have a reawakened desire for those gorgeous butcher block counter tops, though.

Poor Techy.

I told him that I was done redecorating for a while after that whole 3 week bathroom makeover.

Ehh, fish gotta swim….

NOTE: **Warning**

Clicking the links above may lead to blog addiction such as mine, which may, in turn, be harmful to your husband’s sanity.

Otherwise, enjoy….

Pool Partaaaaaaaaay!

When we were planning our vacation, I was extremely concerned about the amount of time I would be able to spend out in the sun – rightfully so. Little Man is only 5 months old, and most sunscreens recommend not using on a child younger than 6 months. Therefore we had to be under shade the whole time. How would we ever be able to enjoy the pool?

Thankfully, someone thought about that.



Here's another angle of the pool. The kids loved how it sloped down deeper and deeper. They could just sit down and play in the water.



Cinnamon beach has these little cabanas sprinkled all around their pools.

Not to mention the vast amount of Umbrellas….

The pool pictured above was by far our favorite. The end you see in the photo was the deep end and had 2 very large steps, which I assume were made just for me since I love to be in the water, but am not a fan of splashing around. Thanks, Cinnamon Beach Resort! You guys are awesome.

This was the other pool.



Techy loved it because swim lanes were clearly marked for the swimming enthusiasts. I loved it because during the late afternoon, the “grotto” shaded half the pool and we could take the kiddo’s (even the little ones) for a swim.

Not to mention all the little cabana’s around this pool. Perfect for a little shade.

Thanks again Cinnamon Beach Resort. You made my week great!

I know you miss us…we miss you too!

If only Seth and Amy were here to help me with this one…

We need to have a serious discussion…Seriously….

Ok, boys and girls, how many of us know that you have to be careful putting stuff in your eyes? And how old were you when you learned that?

So can any of you tell me why this is acceptable?!

I mean, really. REALLY?

Alcohol in your EYE BALL????

REALLY?

How desperate do you have to be to pour alcohol in your eye ball? And what? Vodka shots aren’t fast enough for you? I am not a drinker, but according to my friends who do drink, it doesn’t really take THAT long. I mean REALLY.

And how about this.

COME ON, FLIGHT ATTENDANTS!

How rushed are you to get off that plane that you completely missed the lady snoring in row 21E? REALLY?

All I’m asking for is a little common sense, people.

Is that too much to ask?

I mean REALLY.

Sea shells, sea shells by the sea shore

I love the beach. I love the feel of the sand between my toes and waves crashing around me. And I have been to a couple beaches in my lifetime.

Daytona, FL

For most of my childhood we vacationed at Daytona Beach, where the beaches are flat and compact. There are practically no hills or dunes to speak of in Daytona and very limited wildlife. Usually, you will only see turtles in Daytona.

Hatteras, NC.

I don’t remember much about Hatteras – we were pretty young. But here’s what I do remember. THERE IS NOTHING TO DO BUT FISH. I remember there being A LOT of dunes and very little “beach”. When we stayed at Hatteras, there was no pool. Therefore, Hatteras did not make the cut for me.

Pensacola, FL

Then there was college…. The 4 years, we LIVED at the beach. Pensacola, Florida, baby. White sand beaches and clear blue water. That was when I learned to enjoy swimming in the ocean. It was never uncommon to see dolphins swimming just off the coast in Pensacola either. Ahh...to be back....

Gulf Shores, AL

My junior year of college, my parents introduced us to Alabama beaches. Talk about spoiled. Best beaches in America. They are practically deserted compared to everywhere else we have been. Still the gorgeous white sands and clear blue waters but half the people and half the price. I am in love.

Coney Island, NY

Interesting beach. Very difficult to get to but the boardwalk and local attractions are great. Parking is a bear and ridiculously expensive. But the beach is not bad. The water is dirty and it is crowded, but really not as bad as I was expecting.

Santa Monica, CA.

We went in December, so it wasn’t like we were actually playing in the sand. But we did take a walk on the beach. And I am not a fan. The water is cold the sand is dirty, and from what I hear, the beach is crowded. Not a fan at all.

Atlantic City, NJ.

Dirty, Crowded. But there are a ton of awesome attractions. Much like Delaware beaches, very difficult to get to and even harder to find a place to park yourself.

Turks and Caicos.

Aqua water, white sand beaches. On the upside, I would swim in these waters any day of the week. On the downside, some of the beaches are a bit rocky, so laying out on the beaches isn’t the easiest thing ever.

Half Moon Cay, Bahamas.



This one was so good, it deserved 2 pics!
We went to 3 different locations in the Bahamas. Each beach was different, all gorgeous in their own right. However, the nicest beach I have EVER been to was located at in the Bahamas. Half Moon Cay – the Carnival/Princess owned island. The sand was so powder fine it was like baby powder. The water was so clear it was like a pool. If there were some way for me to go back and camp my butt on that island forever, I totally would.

FINALLY,
Cinnamon Beach, Palm Coast, FL.

Of all the beaches I have been to, I have never seen a beach quite like the one we spent all of last week at. The dunes are massive. I know now why it is called Palm Coast, FL. This is what covers the dunes.



Miles and miles of massive brush palms. The beach itself is covered with tiny crushed shells. At first glance, one would think they would be uncomfortable to walk on, however, that is not the case at all. They are actually smooth and soft underfoot. As you get closer to the water, the top layer is all sand, but dig down about an inch and there are your layers and layers of crushed shells. After our years at gulf beaches and our most recent trip to the Caribbean, we were a little disappointed at first.

By the end of the week, I was in love with the beaches in Palm Coast. They are completely different, completely unique from any other beach I have ever been to. The shells you can find are gorgeous. The sound of the waves brushing the shelled shore, is reminiscent of a rain maker. All things considered, I would give the beach an B+, possibly an A- with the added bonus of the pools and accomodations.(And let's not forget the gym!)

Would I go back? In a heartbeat! Would I swim in the ocean – probably not – not a big fan of the murkiness of the Atlantic, but I would play in the sand and enjoy the solitude any day of the week. Man, I wish that day was today!

Trimming more than waistlines

Most of you know about our adorable, wonderful, amazingly intelligent pet, Gizmo.

Poor Gizmo.

Gizmo is a cockapoo. As such, he is a hypoallergenic dog. YAY!!!!

Gizmo is also curly – like me. What can I say, curls are on my mind today.

The upside to a hypoallergenic dog like Gizmo is that he doesn’t shed in the traditional, leaving hair wherever he goes – all over your sofa, sweater, and blankets – manner.

The downside to a hypoallergenic dog like Gizmo is that he has to be groomed every so often. Or else, random scary things happen. I.e., he and I start sporting the same do.

It’s very scary.

I don’t know if I mentioned it or not, but last week we went on vacation. And then we came home.

And somehow Gizmo’s hair grew about 4 inches and his nails grew about 6. No seriously. He looks like something from Twilight, or rather, New Moon, or even better, Eclipse. Anyway, it’s pretty scary.

Techy told me to get him an appointment at the groomers for him. (By the way, we have a phenomenal groomer, just over the state line at a place called Groovy Grooming. If you ever need a groomer, I highly recommend them! They are so good with him!)

But here’s the thing…I am always so embarrassed because we tend to go a long time between grooming – it isn’t cheap. (Let’s put it this way, I pay more for Gizmo’s haircuts than I do for my own!) I always end up wishing there were some way for me to pre-groom him at home.

And then I start wishing that I had one of these.



Remember those? I have begged Techy to let me buy a Flowbee for Giz…. Geez, it would make my life so much easier. If anyone knows anyone who has one, let me know asap! I would LOVE to have one. Then I could groom Gizmo and Techy!. Not that either of them would let me…Gizmo hates the Pedi Paws that I bought for him, they both aren’t really friendly with the vacuum cleaner, and they are both terrified of anything that makes more noise than they do.

Let’s hear it for the curls

In between random posts about vacation, I need to vent about other things.

First of all, my hair.



See this photo?

I worked on my hair for a while. All I wanted was normal hair – something like this…



That was my cute hair

But instead, thanks to beach weather humidity, within a matter of minutes, I looked like a mop.

That’s fine and all, but no one takes a curly-headed adult woman seriously. Don’t believe me? Just look at her.



You really take her seriously, right? Right….

My one goal for vacation was to have really nice family photos. But those curls…. Every stinking shot….

I am envious of people who get hair styles. If I were to get a hair style no one would notice… my hair would end up curling up and the style would end up looking completely ridiculous.

On the upside, fixing my hair doesn’t usually take much time. Long enough to add some gel, curl the bangs, and spray it down.

Don’t be jealous, I only do it because to do anything else would take me hours. I used to try to straighten my hair in college…please. It took an hour and a half. And I had to check the weather channel before I could do it, because if there was more than 40% humidity, there was no use. I would be a mop top by noon.

Lucky for me this guy, really digs the curls.

Sweating that gym!

Some judge a vacation resort by the price, some judge it by the accomodations, some judge resort spot by the pools (Techy), and some judge it by the amount of things to do on the resort. Me, I judge vacation resorts by the gym. I realize this sounds a bit ridiculous, but my theory goes something like this: Most places don’t provide access to a gym at all, much less a fully stocked gym. Therefore, the nicer the gym, the nicer the resort. And can I just say, the gym at Cinnamon Beach is not just nice, it is luxurious. Since I am pretty sure that Techy did not set foot inside the gym one time last week (he was in charge of all photography) I don’t think we got one picture of the gym. But here’s a pic that I pulled off the website.



Trust me, when I say, it was wonderful! It was spotlessly clean, it was cool, and it was quiet! I relished the opportunity to learn how to use new equipment when no one else is around. It was great. If only I could afford to have access to that kind of equipment all the time. If only….

Welcome Home, Pappa Smurf

So……. I am back………. Vacation is O-V-E-R……….. I am in mourning.

I know you have been dying to hear ALL about it, and let me reassure you that I have been dying to tell you ALL about it.

If you are a regular reader, you probably know that I was stressed about travelling with Little Man. I asked for all the advice I could possibly get, I packed my bags as tightly as I could, I made phone calls, read articles, but nothing could prepare me for how easy it was….

For the record, I am a huge fan of TSA. A lot of people complain about the invasion of privacy they get at the airport, but I would much rather take ridiculous precautions and be safe than not. They were extremely helpful and friendly to us, while checking through our bags and scanning our luggage. They have a special lane for families to alleviate the jam up that can happen from travelling with all the extra stuff that little ones demand.

We arrived at Philly International around 7 am, a little early considering our flight did not leave until 10 am, but our ride had other responsibilities to attend to and we are known for being meticulously early for these types of things. (Remember the time we arrived at the airport 6 hours early, Honey?) After cruising through security, we arrived at our gate around 7:15 am and noticed that there was an earlier flight heading to our destination. With a little coaxing, Techy managed to change our tickets to the earlier flight, and off we went.

The only down side to changing tickets was that we were not able to sit together. I was about 10 rows behind Techy with the baby. A potentially bad situation, considering how nervous I was. But for a first flight with Little Man, we couldn’t have picked a better destination. The flight was packed with kids heading to the wonderful world of Disney. And seated across the aisle from Little Man and I were the most memorable characters of the day. 2 Gentlemen in their late 30’s – obviously single. They were part of a group of 18 heading to Disney. They boarded the flight with their poor, poor mother, who was 2 rows in front of them. They made very loud, very obnoxious, very funny comments to her the whole time… “MOMMY, want some liquor? I do! I want a cocktail!” “MOMMY, look, I found the ONE!” To the lucky, new-found bride-to-be: “Wanna move into my mommy’s basement with me?” The 2 of them made more noise than all the kids combined. And I was worried that Little Man would cause a distraction!

We flew into Orlando, MCO airport. I have to say MCO is the nicest airport I have ever been in…it is beautiful, friendly, comfortable…everything you could ever dream of from an airport.

Our resort was about an hour and 45 minutes away from the airport. And totally worth the drive. We stayed at Cinnamon Beach which is a part of Ocean Hammock Beach Resort. It was gorgeous. It was awesome. It was the nicest place we have ever stayed. The amenities were amazing. The wildlife was breathtaking. The privacy was startling.

I promise to post pictures as soon as Techy finishes editing some of them.
So far, the most of what I have is of us and not of the resort, but in case you were wondering....


LOVE


CUTE & CUTER - I will let you determine which is which.... I can't make my mind up!


DUSK - I hate how curly my hair gets in that humidity!


DUNES - any idea if these palms are indigenous?


SHORE

Now boarding flight 665 to Abu Dhabi

I am lying on the beach as I type this. I am using Techy's Blackberry so this will be brief. I have to tell you how amazing our trip down was. I have to tell you how crazy I was to think that I could have made the trip without my stroller. And I want to thank Graco for making the amazingness a reality. If you are a new mom who travels ever, you will want to take advantage of your amazing travel system. On vacations it becomes a napper, a high chair, a crib, a play pen, and a mobile storage unit. To be honest I have to wonder how I ever went to the beach without it! What normally would have filled 2 giant beach bags easily fit in our stroller and we wheeled it out onto the beach! Aah the luxury of it all. Tomorrow we will test its skill as we head off to Disney. I am not looking forward to it, but that's what I said about the flight. I promise to give the full rundown later, including our flight with cheech and chong!

Sweatin to the Oldies

Have I mentioned that I am leaving for vacation tomorrow? I can’t remember…. I probably didn’t. I don’t really like to talk about that kind of thing.

For the record, I am a nervous wreck. Paralyzed with fear about flying with my baby boy. Oh.my.gosh.

In other news, I tried my hand at running again last night. After several weeks of recovery from the ugly knee incident I had last time, I tried to take it easy on myself. Rather than running for speed or distance, I opted to run what I could. My friend Sarah is a hardcore runner and gave me an idea to try – counting mailboxes. Last night I started my run with 10 mail boxes, walked another 5 (but there is one corner of my neighborhood that doesn’t have a mailbox for approximately .25 mi) and ran another 10, walked 30, and ran the last 10. It was only about a mile. Yes, I am way out of shape. But I managed to shave a few minutes off my time and I had Little Man in the jogging stroller, so I am pretty proud of myself. I didn’t break any records, but anything is better than nothing.

A handful of us at work have started weighing in together on the shipping scale in our warehouse. We are supposed to do it once a week, but it’s been every other week so far. We weighed in this morning and I managed to gain a whole pound since last time. Which is not good, but it isn’t as bad as I had feared.

I am a little nervous about what will happen on vacation, though. I usually gorge myself on food during vacation, but right now I am a little sick of food and money is a little tight. I HAVE to find a way to lose this weight. In the past, I did weight watchers and lost about 40 lbs., but that was in college. A younger body always copes with weight loss better than this older version of me.

How many of you have been watching the Biggest Loser this season? I am totally in love with that show. I am so envious of having a trainer kick your butt for 6-8 hours a day. I have a love-hate thing for Jillian – she doesn’t really seem like someone you would ever envision being friends with. I wonder if she has friends, I mean ones that she doesn’t bully into being her friends….

Anyway, this week Sunshine went home after only losing 2 lbs. I can’t imagine the frustration. It has to be terrifying to know that you still have weight to lose and you can’t lose it when you are working out that much. And now you are going home? What?!? Hello, Big Bad World. This week’s episode also featured Season 3’s winner, Erik Chopin, who gained back 122 lbs after leaving the show. That has to be any contestant’s worst fear! I know it would be mine. Right now, my biggest fear (other than flying with a baby, which makes my fingers tingle and my stomach tie itself in knots) is not losing a good portion of this weight before we get pregnant again. If I gain the same amount of weight I gained with this pregnancy next time, I will qualify to GO ON the Biggest Loser! Oh my stars and heavens! This I CANNOT allow. And yet…I have yet to lose one single pound over the last 6 weeks. Help me! I am being swallowed up by the dark side!

Princess with a capital P

When I was a teenager, my sister was OBSESSED with Prince William. Oh.My.Goodness. Hearthrob! She used to tell everyone that she was going to marry him. We even started calling her Princess Sarah in preparation for the day that she would finally become royalty. She planned what she would do as a princess, where they would travel...the list went on and on. She was absolutely devastated when Princess Di passed away.

To this day, I am still not sure whether or not she seriously thought she was going to marry Prince William, but I can’t really ridicule her, I spent a good portion of my teenage years in love with Bryan White – a country music singer from my youth. I got a good bit closer to my goal than she did to hers. I actually met Bryan White. Of course, I was still in my ugly duckling stage – Gynormous plastic glasses and all. (Have I mentioned how bitter I am about the fact that teenage girls today don’t go through an ugly duckling stage?) And he was in his “I-am-a-country-music-star-I-can-have-any-girl-I-want” phase. But that’s a story for another time. Thankfully, this time I didn’t decide a handstand was the key to getting his attention as I have been known to do.

Back to the point of my story. My sister was in love with Prince William. Planning their wedding and all. The only glitch in her plan was that he didn’t know a thing about her.
She thought and thought and thought about it. Finally, she decided that the best way to make herself famous was to act famous.

Her grand scheme went something like this: after we graduated high school, she would rent (yes, rent, with all the money she earned while working at Kroger, bagging groceries) a tour bus, and then have her name painted on the back of the bus and drive it around the country. The pivotal part of her plan was that I would be planted in the towns she was planning to “tour” and as her bus pulled into town, I would raise awareness by saying things like, “Oh my gosh! SARAH is here! Can you believe it? I can’t believe it! It’s SARAH!” By drawing the attention of all around, I would eventually start riots in the street as she attempted to leave her tour bus, thus ensuring that her name would end up in newspapers across the country.

Can’t imagine why we never carried out that amazing plan of hers…. Maybe because I didn’t feel like going to jail in 250 towns across the country for rioting in the streets.

Sorry, I let you down, sis!

Instead of marrying a prince, she married a police officer. Instead of becoming a princess, she became an accountant. Instead of travelling the world, she had 2 ½ babies (#3 is due in September) who, other than my own, are among the most adorable children on the planet. But trust me, just because she doesn’t have the title, does not mean she isn’t a princess! And honestly, she wouldn’t trade her life for anything – not even Prince William!

But I am thinking that at some point on our vacation, I may make her don a pair of designer shades and let me follow her around chanting “Oh my gosh! It’s SARAH!” at the top of my lungs and just see what happens.

Not another 6 day hiatus

After taking a few days off to finish my bathroom makeover, I finally had the opportunity to do a workout last night. My girlfriend came over, and we decided to try out Tae Bo since that’s about the only work out video we haven’t tried yet.

Have you ever done Tae Bo? I tried it a few years ago, but I am terribly uncoordinated and stopped after about 15 minutes. Since then I did a couple exercise classes and learned a couple of the moves, so I felt much more confident going into it last night.

Apparently, it’s an hour long workout, but at least 10 minutes is spent warming up and 10 minutes is spent cooling down. I have done a lot of workouts, but 10 minutes warming up and cooling down is a long time. Like, get on with it already!

And then there is Billy, who sweats like a he is in a sauna through the entire workout. I mean, really, they must have him under a heat lamp to film this thing. Don’t get me wrong, the workout was difficult, but even I, who perspires like a pig in heat, didn’t sweat that much. (Partially due to spending a lot of time staring at the tv screen and trying to figure out what on earth he was trying to get me to do rather than actually doing it)


I mean, really, is it just me or does it look like he is sweating while standing still?

And then there is his sidekick – a tiny, perky blonde, who for some unknown reason has a one of those over-ear microphones – probably because she spends the entire video chanting 1,2,3,4… and randomly screaming “Yes!”. I mean, come on, air punching and kicking is not that exciting…. But of course, by the end of the video, I started to think that was part of the work out and might help burn extra calories, so I started screaming along with her.

But the real entertainment comes about halfway through the workout when Billy decides that we, as his students, are now ready for combination punch/kick routines. We suddenly went from punch, punch, kick, kick, knees (which I can handle)to punch-punch, punch-punch, punch-punch-punch, step, step, step, kick, punch-punch-punch. WHOA! Throw a little footwork in and I am suddenly disfunctional!

We obviously were not ready for that kind of combination, and it was that point in the workout, we decided it was time for a dance party, punches, kicks and knees included. It’s a wonder we made it out alive. We looked like drunken, angry moshers.

Like this…


In case you were wondering, that is me with the tatoo. JK, you can't see my mad moshing skills in this pic, but trust me, they are there. Buried deep inside of me.

All things considered, I guess it was an ok workout. My calorie counter says that I burned about 665 calories. However, I don’t think it realizes how much of the time I spent gauking at the tv, trying to understand why Billy Blanks sweats so much. It's just bizarre. Really bizarre.

5 days left….

Only 5 more days until our first vacation as parents. I am terrified. I am horrified. I am more stressed than anyone rightfully should be about their first vacation as parents. FLYING? WITH A BABY? What were we thinking. Ugh. On the upside, he will probably sleep on the plane *hopefully*. Goodness knows I will be on edge the entire time. Heck, I am on edge now. By the way, have you ever tried to call US Airways to find out about their baby traveling policy? Well, don’t. It’s ridiculous

Between now and then I have a list of things to do about a mile long.
NONE of which is working on my bathroom makeover. It’s done! HOLLA! Happy Mother’s Day to ME!!! Others: What did you get for Mother’s Day? Me: A new bathroom. BEAT THAT!

I am pretty psyched about it. It was SOOOOO-ooooooo much work. But well worth it. Now, I wouldn’t say it looks like something in a magazine yet, but….

Soon, very soon. As soon as I get some ting-tings for this vase.



I know all 2 of you readers have been anxiously awaiting the reveal. Sitting on the edge of your seat yet? Well, get there, and then maybe I will post the rest of the pics. Ok, fine, here ya go.




And to think I worked for 3 weeks on that. So glad it's finally done!

In other news, Little Man rolled over for the first time last week. I don’t think he realized he did it, but I freaked. He hasn’t done it since, but he has been moving across the room, get this, ON HIS BACK! When we put him on his playmat, he starts pushing off with his feet and literally can move himself all the way around the playmat. I have never seen anything quite like it. Not to brag, but this weekend, my very strong and very brave little man wrestled with a lion until he got it under control, and then he bit him on the nose, and then the ear, and then he growled at him. Ya know, just a normal day at our house.
And yes, we do keep lions freely roaming our home.

One more thing before I go, yesterday was my first Mother’s Day as a participant in the holiday. Poor Techy tried so hard to make it special, but when your house is destroyed due to a bathroom makeover and your baby is eating the free roaming lions in your home, it’s a little difficult to relax. I don’t remember if I posted about my birthday/mother’s day gift, but Techy really outdid himself this year.



It’s awesome. I love it. I hug it when I sleep at night. I knew you would ask.

K! Bye!

Reader, Reader on my wall...

How many blogs do you read and/or follow? How many would you like to follow? And how irritating is it that you have to wait for bloated backgrounds and/or ads to load when really you just want to read the post. Not to mention your entire favorites list is taken up by the blogs you read? This was my life some 3 weeks ago.

Since then, my life has changed. For the better. I think I am in love. Cue the randomly drifting flower petals and birds singing.

Welcome, Google Reader.

Please tell me you use Google Reader…. I am pretty sure I am the last person on the planet to discover the magic of Google Reader, but it is my new fave. At first, I was completely overwhelmed by it, but when I realized that I could click “Add a subscription” and read anything I want to, I was hooked. Ahh, the sheer magic of Google mixed with my love of blogs. It doesn’t get much better than this.

I am still new at it. I haven’t learned all the in’s and out’s, but lemme tell you. If you haven’t tried it, just check it out.

Tell me if you don’t love it.

I love the fact that it notifies me when there is a new post to read. I love that all of my blogs are in one place and I get to catch up every morning, and I adore the fact that there isn’t all the junk cluttering it up. It is neat and orderly. Just the way I wish my family room could be.

A girl can dream, can’t she?

Look away, look away, look away, Dixieland

Do you remember your most embarrassing moment of all time?

I am sure I have had about a million of them, but one continually sticks out in my mind.

And since I was more than willing to throw Techy under the bus earlier this week with my posting about his artistic abilities, I figure it’s time to suffer some of my own humiliation. Or rather, relive it.

For the record, if bodily functions freak you out, you should stop reading now and move on to another of my posts. Or even better, move on to your own post and let me read about your most embarrassing moment.

Believe me when I say that embarrassment is something that I should be a pro at by now.
But I am not. After all these years, I have still not learned how to handle embarrassment with grace. But that’s just me.

It happened when I was 12, maybe 13. Absolutely the most painful age for embarrassing moments. At the time, I was chubby, had the largest blue rimmed glasses you could find and extremely awkward. The ugly duckling stage was full swing for me.

An aside: why do teenagers these days not experience the ugly duckling stage that plagued me and my friends? It’s so unfair! They are all adorable and pretty and totally miss a pivotal character building phase…. Sorry, that’s the bitterness talking.

Back to the saga.

Ok, so I was approximately 13, chubby, dorky, and extremely awkward. Oh and boy crazy. To top it off, my family were reenactors. We used to do Civil War Reenacting. I know, right? My childhood was like “Sweet Home Alabama”. I spent a good portion of my childhood dressed in petticoats, sitting next to a camp fire, reliving drama of the 1860’s and telling everyone I knew that “the South WILL rise again”.

At this particular reenactment, there happened to be a boy that I very much had a crush on. He and his brother were new recruits and I thought he was absolutely adorable. Chances are he DID NOT think the same thing of me.

Reenactments were always blisteringly hot and this particular event happened to be held at a resort (only in the south would a resort host a Civil War Reenactment) which also boasted of a large public pool. All participants were welcomed to relax in the pool during their stay. So we did.

As luck would have it, the object of my affections joined us. I was elated. Cloud 9 does not even come close. I donned my cutest swimsuit and bounded into the pool as fast I as could.

I was thrilled to be in a pool. My sister and I had perfected our water skills, including but not limited to diving, flipping underwater, handstands, swimming like a mermaid, etc. And everyone knows that when you are 12 years old, the one way to capture a boy’s attention is to show off in the pool by doing 12 underwater flips without coming up for air or having the straightest underwater handstand.

After contemplating my skills and which would be best suited to impress the dude, I opted for a handstand. Clearly he would be impressed with my pointy toes and my straight, if short and stubby, legs.

Before I could change my mind, I called to my sister to “Watch this!”, of course trying to get his attention. As soon as I was sure I had commanded the attention of all around me, I dove in and flipped my legs into the air. No sooner had my legs cleared the water than I felt a strange sensation. A horrifying sensation.

The moment my rear end hit the air, my rear cleared some air.

I was horrified. I was mortified. I almost cried.

I recovered as gracefully as possible. I swam away and splashed a lot and made a lot of “pfffffft” noises with my mouth to try to act like I had made the noise with my mouth.

Oh my gosh…. Embarrassing moments crack me up. The saddest part, I never saw that boy after that weekend. But it’s probably for the best. You can’t recover from that kind of first impression.

Rubber Duckie, you're the one...

This morning was different. This morning was hysterical. Remembering this morning makes me smile.

You may ask why…or you may not. Regardless, I am going to tell you.

This morning, as I was rushing to get myself and Little Man ready to head out the door, I went to say goodbye to my hubby. He was still in the shower. When I walked in to the bathroom, I heard splashing, A LOT of splashing. So I did what any normal wife would do, I peeked in the shower to see what my husband could be doing to create that much splashing in a shower – with no tub….

To ensure your imagination does not get carried away I will just tell you what I saw. My 30 year old husband was collecting water from the shower in one hand and throwing it on the wall, while quickly hanging a wash cloth on the wet wall with the other hand. Like a window cling. Apparently, this was a skill that he had perfected as a kid. And now, my 30 year old, technologically minded husband was recreating his washcloth artwork on my shower wall.



All I could do was laugh.

A few weeks ago, he dragged out a box of home videos. Unbeknownst to the little 10 year old version of Techy, his mother had captured a moment after one of his showers when the entire shower wall was covered with at least 10 different wash cloths. Apparently, that was all the inspiration necessary to awaken the artistic urge to recreate his masterpieces.

Ah, Boys….

Peter Piper picked a Peck of pickled peppers

Something appalling has been happening at my house. Ok, so more than one appalling thing has been going on at my house. Forget the dust bunnies growing viciously in my corners and the mountain of supplies multiplying in my hallway due to my bathroom makeover. And let’s not even talk about Techy’s crankiness due to the lack of relaxation that has been in his weekends.

I know you must be wondering what could be worse than all that….

One word:

RIDICULE!!!

ME!!!!

Ok, so that was 2 words.

I am being highly ridiculed by the ever sweet, ever caring, never stressed (hahahahaha) Techy.

It all started last week when all I could think about was my weight, the need for lots of veggies in my diet, and the lack of moolah in my wallet and time in my day to pick up fresh veggies consistently. And then it occurred to me…if I had a garden, I could have fresh veggies all summer long. And if I worked hard enough, I might even be able to can some of them for the fall/winter months.

And then I brought it up to Techy, who knows everything about everything, and loves to tell people all the things he knows. He grew up with a huge garden and he loved the idea. Before I knew what was going on, he was chattering about what we could plant and when we could plant it. Oh the excitement. And then he reminded me of a few things. Techy, who I love with all my heart, can be a real buzz kill at times….

“We don’t have space for a garden…where do you think you are going to put a garden?” Strike One. Luckily, I have thought Aaaaaaa Lot about this. I had a place set aside already. One point me!

“We have rabbits” Strike Two. I have no argument for this one. All I can think of is Peter Rabbit…. Maybe I need a briar patch around my garden…. Wait, was that Peter Rabbit or…. Oh who cares. No points me!

“Gardens are a lot of work” Strike Three. Like a blow to my ego. As if I don’t know that gardens are a lot of work. But I thought I was ready for it. Maybe not ready today, but by the middle of next month when it’s time to work on the garden, I will be. All of my other projects will be put to the side until fall. (right…) But then Techy was kind enough to remind me of that baby thing we have now…. Ehh, oh well. Again, no good argument. No points me!

And thereby, my dreams of fresh, home grown veggies went up in smoke. I can be a real pushover. No fight left in me. The rabbit argument really threw me. I don’t know anything about keeping rabbits away from veggies.

At least he can’t take my tomatoes away from me. They are already planted in a hanging basket on my back porch. Here’s hoping I get at least a few of those this year. I want to have at least one home grown veggie (fruit, whatever) to savor. If my luck serves me, the birds will probably steal those before I even have a chance!