Yay! I get to go to work!

Literally, that was my thought this morning.

After 5 christmases and two days with no nap for Alaina, I'm ready for some nice solid structured days.

Of course, tomorrow its back to the airport to drop off my sister plus the day off for New Years . . .but at least we will remain at home for the duration of the week.

Christmas was a wonderful time with family all around and several lessons learned. . .

1) bring an extra laundry basket to tote gifts home in, you WILL bring home more than you brought.

2) I really am not fond of big dogs.

3) Missing nap time on day one of break sets the tone for the rest of vacation for the little one and me.

4) Never forget that when your siblings have spouses, your time schedules will never mesh nicely ever again.

5) Having all four of your grandmother's around at out age is a rare thing that one must enjoy . . . but remember that each one very desperately wants to see you for the holidays, so get used to the idea of dissapointing 90-year-old ladies.

6) Even if you only put clothes on your list, you will never get them, at least not the ones you want.

7) My in-laws will never get any gifts off of the list that I send them . . .unless we have already received said gifts from members of my immediate family. (3 duplicate gifts!)

8) I have no place in my mother-in-laws kitchen. She has ruled the house by herself for so long, I can do pretty much nothing to help or help myself. So next year, I'm packing my own stash of snacks to sneak into the house.

Christmas Letters

So we received a few Christmas cards and letter from friends, but nothing big this year. I'm always excited to see everyone's pictures of their families and how they've grown.

I was reading a blog the other day about someone's pet peeve's for Christmas cards. To sum up it basically said if you aren't going to include a picture or family update/letter . . why do you bother? Apparently a signature with "Happy Holidays" isn't cutting the mustard anymore. You can send the cards with just the signature to me, I won't complain, but I have one pet peeve about Christmas Letters . . .

The resume style letter.

Do you know what I'm talking about? Its the letter that just as well be written in a bulleted list with all the family stats at the top because its almost as impersonal as a resume.

Child 1 participated in list A-F this year in school and received awards G-I for their efforts,
Child 2 participated in list J-M this year and received awards . . . . .

You get the idea.
I'm not complaining about what they put in the letter, but about how they present it. At least tell me which club they enjoy the most or the fact that they were benched for most of the volleyball season, but made the winning dig to help get them to finals!Give me something to smile about! I made Jeff laugh as I read one letter in a snootie voice just to illustrate how "structured" I felt it was.

But to complete my holiday, I am simply waiting for the Christmas letter from the best writter of all.

Papa!

Be prepared for the Dangler X-Mas letter! In fact, I may even blog it with the permission of the author! (The co-author/wife will do as well!) These are the kinds of years that make me a little antsy about what went into the letter because Papa didn't call for "ideas" about what we've done . . . which means my siblings and I provided him with enough unforgettable fodder throughout the year so he didn't need to strech his imagination for the 'good stuff.'

What will make the x-mas letter cut?
Papa Elvis and Mommy Marilyn?
Potty Training?
Trips to Colorado?
Trips to Florida?
The ever rotating car cycle of life for our family?
New jobs?

There is just too much to choose from! I have no idea how Papa narrows it down!

But I do know a few things that should make the cut next year . . . and may appear in my own "not-as-awesome-as-Papa's" letter.
- The 10 year high school reunion for me which is also Papa's 40 year reunion!
- Baby number 2
- Potty training and anything that Alaina does silly (everything)

Anyway, I had better not start counting chicks before they hatch.

Big Blog for a Big Weekend . .

I had a pretty good weekend. . .

It started off wonderful beyond belief when I got a call at work from a friend saying she was in town from California and wondered if I would meet her and another friend for lunch. First I cried because I was so happy to hear from her. Second, I giggled because there nothing I love more than getting together with good friends over lunch and third, well, I cried some more because hormones took over my body this weekend.

For the rest of the weekend I finished getting all of our Christmas presents and wrapping all of them, I have a few left that I got boxed, but they are Alaina's Santa, presents, so I wanted to surprise her with the Disney Princess wrapping paper I bought to wrap them in. (They are actually in decorative boxes, but what's the fun of opening presents if you don't get to rip the wrapping paper at her age?
And I should note that our presents from Santa this year are from a real live "Santa." One of Jeff's coworkers offered to drop off some of her daughter's old toys and dress up clothes which I never get my hopes up about because did we grow up with dad's leisure suit as a dress up item sis? Anyway, I was almost in tears when I saw six store purchased Barbie dresses, most with matching slippers and one of which is either a wedding dress or snow princess gown. I was stunned . . . so I cried some more. She'll get some for x-mas this year and some for her birthday, just to share the wealth.

But the biggest success and "oops" was potty training. On Sunday I asked Alaina if she wanted to wear training pants or a pull up and she chose the training pants. I then persuaded her with little more than a small promise of a treat to use the toilet . . .with success! I was so excited, the treat became a small cone from Runza at the Mall. We had a small accident at the mall because mommy lost track of time, but hey, two steps forward, one step back is fine with me!

Of course then there was the incident when we got home. I had daddy take Alaina in to try to use the potty, and soon heard some crying and daddy calling "Mommy! Come here!" Alaina had 'fallen in' for the first time.
Poor thing.
She was mostly scared, but we changed into comfy footed pjs with a pull up and gave lots of hugs and kisses to help. This little incident did nothing to help Alaina's desire to use the big toilet, because now there was the threat of falling in.

Enter the Chocolate Pomander!

Last weekend with the Christmas baking extravaganza, Mom and I made chocolate pomanders, which were mostly consumed by my coworkers on company food day, but I had about 7 left. Alaina came into the living room carrying the small container of Pomanders after her nap on Sunday asking if she could have one. I told her we were saving them for when she went to the bathroom on the toilet to which I got this reply.

"But I did go to the bathroom!"

"I know you did, Alaina," I replied, "and you got ice cream for that time. These are for the next time you go to the bathroom on the toilet."

"Oh . . . Mommy I want to go potty!"

And she did.

Wow. So much excitement for a standard bodily function has never been witnessed in our house before. Alaina and I were dancing in the living room, and of course Alaina's mouth was full of her celebration Pomander.

It was a great end to a successful weekend.

My latest crushes.

Last night Jeff informed me that he doesn't like when I talk about things saying that I am "Madly in Love with _______"


I guess that I never dreamed that he would be offended by that phrase. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't this a phrase that girls seem to grow up spouting as soon as we discover obsessions? Whether true or not, I have always used that phrase to describe my latest obsessions, be it boys, bands or broadcasters.




Broadcasters?



Oh yes. Broadcasters. This is who I informed Jeff that I was "Madly in Love" with last night.

David Gergen.

He is usually on Anderson Cooper 360 on CNN every evening and I love listening to him. He has this wonderful soft spoken way that he talks about politics. He never really condemns anyone on the show, just talks about what could have been a rough choice that someone made.

So far I've agreed with everything I've ever heard him say, or at least, he speaks in such an intelligent manner, that its hard to want to scream at his image "No, you idiot!" like I seem to want to do with some of the other contacts on air who seem to always condemn everything or 'pussy foot' around the issues.

And lets not forget the main show host himself. Anderson Cooper. I have a friend who professed her love for Anderson to me earlier this year, but I hadn't jumped on the bandwagon yet.

But as you can see from the caption on the photo below, We are not alone.

Seriously, I fell head first into my TiVomance with these two during the election. That and the awesome interactive map they had that you just touch and "magic happens." But the map has dissappeared after the election, so I'm only left with my two "Newsies."

(Now that makes me think of the old Disney Musical "Newsies" in which I first discovered Christian Bale and my Movie Romance with him, but that's a different story all together.)

Oh Sis, you can laugh and make fun of me, but these two men have contributed to me becoming a news junkie. Which all in all is a pretty good addiction and I'm kind of enjoying being on top of all the political issues right now.

Carnivour Holiday Meal!

Today is food day at work. And I love food days at work because I get to have a plate of food about every hour that looks like this-

Do you see any cookies or sweets? NOPE! Nothing but Meat!!! Yay!!

Except for the crackers, but they are for the dried beef dip!

Typically in the a.m., the table is full of cookies and more beef jerky and sausages that you can shake a stick at. And I love me some meats! I usually never even get to the cookies.

Its like the first few days after Dad had brought home the venison from the butcher. You could gleefully snitch as much jerky as you wanted because there was so much, you could barely tell any was gone!

That was truly the best part about dad going deer hunting . . .all the meat that came after.

Yum. How on earth do vegetarians give up all the yumminess of beef, turkey, venison, and chicken? I'll hopefully never have to find out.

so I'll sit here, enjoying all of my jerky and such, and drinking my cider courtesy of the one associate that brings the cider mix packets every year.

God bless us everyone!

Company Gift

One month countdown to baby check . . .

I had an appointment yesterday with my midwife . . .

and the high point was getting scolded for not having my tree up yet. Of course she confessed that she didn't have hers up either but was truly horrified when I said maybe we wouldn't put it up this year . . .

So I've slotted tomorrow for the decorating day. Now all I have to do is tell the spouse to carry all the boxes down tonight while I'm at the part-time job.

Does everyone else have theirs up already?

Today was the company gift day at work . . . and I've liked the company gifts for the last two years, I received a two pack of soft sided coolers and Jeff has adopted the smaller one because it fits a six pack of beer for him and one bottle for me inside, and last year I received a hiking style duffle which means it has more pockets and handles that any human being would ever need unless you hiked across the outback.

But this year might just be my favorite. What is it you ask . . .well, I'd tell you, but I'll wait until I get home to downloand the pics to post for an official wordless wednesday posting.

I'm so excited! Who knew that a simply company gift could be so rewarding? ; )

Final Countdown . . .

10 days until Christmas!!!

And how is your shopping going?

This was a big weekend for our house to catch up on a lot of things and some big lessons learned:
1) After three hours of unpleasantries betwixt my spouse and I . . . the christmas cards are in the passenger seat of the new van waiting to be dropped off over lunch.

Lesson Learned: Actual pictures are WAY to expensive to get for Christmas cards. Next year I'll pick out 4 -5 shots of kids and family to make color copiers on the copy machine like Mom and Dad do. . . although the letter will be no where near the level of dad.

2) Mom and I did Christmas baking on Saturday and made a good dent in the pre-holiday baking. During the entire session, she kept saying, "Why didn't we start doing this years ago?" Which my mind translated into "This is much better than trying to do this the day before Christmas Eve at 3 in the morning!"

Lesson Learned: Next year, we need to make a weekend out of it and get the shopping done friday night before. The shopping/softening/plan of attack process should get refined by about year three I hope.

Oh, and we won't plan on cooking indoors all day on the nicest day of December either because . . .

3) I completed MOST of the family christmas shopping on Sunday. this is a tough year for us, with just having bought a new vehicle and shelling out a lot of cash for the other one to be up and running, so I tried to stick to a very strict budget this year . . . which led to a few discussions (not quite heated . . .but a bit intense for us) with the spouse about why spending ten extra dollars on one person was a mortal sin. Oh and by the way, I was the winner and the ten dollars was NOT spent.

Lesson Learned: When we sit down to look at finances for next year . . which we most definitely will with a baby on the way, we are budgeting for gifts for birthdays and Christmas next year.

But the weekend was a pretty good time overall. Alaina had a lot of fun singing along with the Chrsitmas station on the radio yesterday, bursting into song with and occasional "SNOW!" "GLOW," or "CHRISTMAS!" sung at the top of her lungs. She usually joined in with any word at the end of the line that was sung for more that four seconds. It was so darn cute I wish I had it on tape, but she clammed up whenever we got near.

However, we did try going with training pants all weekend, with a few painful parts. I probably didn't approach this right, but after the third time she walked up to inform me that she was poopy and I needed to change her diaper, I informed her that she was wearing panties, and you don't change panties because you don't poop in them.

Alaina stared at me as if I had gone mad.

I said underwear isn't for changing. So you have to go to the bathroom in the toilet. She said, "No! Change my diaper!" So I said again that she wasn't wearing a diaper she was wearing underwear and underwear isn't for pooping and peeing in.

She started to pout quite prettily at this point, so I said I was sad that she didn't want to go to the bathroom in the toilet like big girls because I just know that she is a big girl and can do it. Which I got a resounding "Yes I can!" for so we hugged and went to take off her underwear and take a bath.

I told her next weekend is a no diaper weekend again, which she seemed pretty open too, so we'll see what happens.

I suppose I did that kind of backwards, but I know that she does well with the toilet at daycare so I'm a little frustrated that she refuses to try at home. Its just flat out time to encourage the switch to big girl undies.

Does anyone have a tip on a sticker chart or candy reward system?

"If you weren't pregnant . . ."

is the most horrible phrase uttered by a physician.

"If you weren't pregnant, I could give you a strong antibiotic for that, but instead here are some horse pills . . . take 4 of them a day for ten days."

"There would be a one day pill you could take for that if you weren't pregnant. But instead, here's a prescription for two pills a day and a topical cream for that . . . which you should use for 7-10 days."

Maybe the next worse phrase is . . . and you might want to avoid having sex for a while.

Don't they realize I've got at least four weeks of that coming after I have the baby?!?

Shame on them . . .

10:30 p.m. run to the store last night - Papa would be so proud

Home Sick

Yay me . . . .

I was feeling less than perky after working for 4 1/2 hours to close the store on black friday. But I just chalked it up to being in a car for two hours before being on my feet for 5 hours.

However, by mid-day Saturday it was apparent that I was flat out sick.

I don't know what's worse.

Being sick on a holiday weekend or being sick at your in-laws.

Don't get me wrong I like my in-laws. But it is hard to be nice when you feel so icky and all you want is to heat up a bowl of soup or a cup of tea in the microwave . . .

but they don't have a microwave.
I only wish I were kidding.

By yesterday the sinus pressure and icky sicky throat feeling started which in my world only means one thing . .

Sinus infection.

So I sucked it up and went to the doctor because I have no idea what I can and can't so with a sinus infection while pregnant and was subjected to a novice lecture on sinus infections, their causes, and why doctors like to wait until several days have passed before they treat you for one.

All of which I've know since I was 14. But that's okay, I'm breaking in a new doctor. . . he'll learn.

Post Turkey tiredness

Turkey and pregnancy do not make for a very merry me.

I had a great time with family today . . .
at least the time that I was mentally accounted for. . .

At one point my aunt was sitting across the table and asked me a question (and it wasn't loud or anything in the room) and my brain didn't even register anything until I heard my mom say . . . "Sorry, she's check out."

Geez.

And then I just get word vomit. . . .

Did I really just say that? Nuts!!

Of course the highlight of my evening was the discussion on breastfeeding. I don't think I've ever heard my Grandma talk about something so personal . . but she just jumped headfirst in the conversation sharing her two bits.

Go Grandma!!

It was a tired lot that slowly departed our house. But a merry lot of adults, children and pets.

And share the news with whomever you meet over the next six months. I'm not the kind of person to care. My only desired it to tell the siblings, parents and grandparents myself.

Mission accomplished. Package due to arrive June 5, 2009.

Just two weeks after the ten year high school reunion, officially making me "the fat one."

Just Kidding

Happy U.S.A. Turkey Day!!!

Wordless Wednesday

Coming soon to our household. . . 06-05-09 (But don't spread the word until we can announce tomorrow at Thanksgiving! After tomorrow, talk all you want!)

Coming soon . . .

Alright cousins/any other random readers,
Tomorrow there will be a fun, new Worldless Wednesday post for all to see. But there is one catch. You must take a 36 hour vow of silence about it. . .seriously, after you see the post, you will understand, but I'm counting on your cooperation.

- Me

Memories I would have lost . .

Here are a few of the pics from the old camera . . .
Alaina's first haircut.

Grams on her "farewell tour" with cousin Bill and his wife Zola (rhymes with Lola). If you read this, have fun with that name Subspace. . . ; )

Alaina playing with Mimi and Papa at Uncle Brett's 30th b-day bash.

Sharing window space with Lucy.

Having fun with Mommy . . . .One of the few pictures of Alain and myself at this point.

Would I really have missed these that much? Probably not, but now I won't have the regret of losing them.

Busy Weekend

I've been naughty, not updating my blog very well, but work starting to consume a bit more of my life than I prefer. But there was a bit of excitement in our household this weekend.


We managed to get our family pictures taken, which of course Jeff and I agreed that lil' bit is cute in all of them while we look terribly cheesy. We ordered enough to hand out wallets for a small group of our first year of Christmas cards, and some larger ones for immediate family. I'll post a few of the proofs when i get them in my email.

But the big news is the discovery of a long lost friend.

After many devastating months and finally breaking down to buy a new one to record the momentous occasion of Disney on Ice, Jeff came upon our old camera lying in the basement behind a suitcase in the storage/laundry/Jeff's tool room. There were no pictures past June 19th, but for some reason, the dial was turned to settings (which I never mess with.)

I can only assume that some little fingers found it and tried to bring it down to take a picture of the kitty or was bringing it down to Mommy or Daddy while we were doing laundry.

I'm just excited to have the pictures back. I hadn't down loaded any since December, so I had Grams' "last tour" pics and Brett's 30th b-day in Denver.

And that's about it!

Hail to the Chief!

I am so excited I might puke! I cast my vote bright and early yesterday for PRESIDENT Obama and I'm so excited that he won! My husband and I watched CNN all night last night and Alaina got to enjoy lots of treats in honor of the special occasion! (not to mention because of a heavy dose of parent guilt that we weren't giving her 100% of our attention.)

I cried when he won.

I'm so tired from staying up and watching the coverage, and yet I'm mentally exhilirated!

The staunch republicans in the office are walking around grouching and moaning about war records and one talked about his father in law who lost two fingers at Omaha beach. I'll never understand why after an election, the first thoughts in so many peoples minds is how this will affect the military.

I ready to see who he puts on his cabinet too! He's suppose to name his chief of staff today.

Today!!

But I wish I would have taken today off to celebrate like my husband.

I need sleep!


Update:
Jeff called this morning to share tragic news. Our Obama yard sign was liberated from our yard this morning. I hope that someone who was overjoyed at Obama's win decided that they had to have one in their yard and that it wasn't taken with the intent to detroy.

I hope you find a happy home Mr Yard sign! You served us well through the pre-election period and you were proudly displayed all election day. *sniff, sniff*

Halloween Pics

Here are the pics of myself as Elvis and my friend Denise as Marilyn.


After work, we took little Belle out trick or treating, and yep I pulled it together and made the costume.

We took a break for supper to have pancakes. Belle entertained all of village inn as she chatted it up on her sugar high.


Off to Mimi and Papa's for a ride in the combine.

And on Sunday Belle got to come to church for trunk or treat.

Pic Fix

HFCS

MBG asked a question a while ago about high fructose corn syrup, and yesterday I saw an article about it on Grist.org. Now I'm no expert Sissy, but here's what I gleaned from this. Corn Syrup is no worse that refined sugars. the bad part about it is the product that it is used in. All your everyday overprocessed foods that have a serving size of 7 bites or 5 crumb but come in sacks of 20 lbs.

I do have to say I'm not impressed by the jerk in the comments that said "The AMA acknowledges that obesity rates have soared in recent decades, in sync with the growing use of high fructose corn syrup." Yeah, and there is a correlation with the decline of Pirates in the Carribean and the increase in tropical storms right my fellow pastafarians?

So just so you know, I side with the commercials that have been in tv.
It is okay in moderation.

However, I'll take it any day over aspartame (nasty stuff!)

Alaina's New Room

For the love of soup!

I can't sleep . . .

I can't eat . . .

All I can think about is Aunt Marilyn's homemade chicken noodle soup.


Okay so maybe that's an exageration, I 'm not losing sleep over this . . but it does make it hard to find something that sounds good for meals when I have this craving.

Does anyone have a copy of the recipe? Is it in the Rosedale cookbook, Mimi? I'm seriously desperate here, I must have it! Knowing my luck its a guarded secret that she won't share. Ack!

There is just nowhere that I can think of that serves delicious, tastes like homemade chicken soup around here! Everything has sugar in it or something because the broth and noodles are practically sweet. Sweet I tell you!

They lack that savory, salty goodness that makes homemade soup the perfect comfort food.

And with the thought of a holiday food, comes the thought of Holiday plans . . . Jeff and I hate trying to plan what to do every holiday season, but we aren't yet to that point in life, where we cam make concrete plans.

Or maybe I should say we don't have enough Grandkids on either side to push the matter.

Heck, we can't even remember what we did last year for Thanksgiving.

Mimi? Do you recall? I think we tried to make it to see the Shafers after lunch last year, but Jeff says that was two years ago and that there wasn't a Shafer Thanksgiving last year. Does anyone else remember?

At any rate, we are stuck between a rock and a hard place, because neither of the two other married siblings (cousin in his case) are going to be in attendance to sway the vote. I'm leaning toward the Shafers, but I may delay the decision by waiting to see who confirms attendance with Mimi to see if this is a "big" Shafer year.

That discussion directly links to Christmas plans. The married cousins are going to Brazil for the holiday on Jeff's side which has led to the direct hope that we can get his Grandmother to try to have the holiday on the weekend before (they leave the 27th so they don't want to travel away from home and raise the risk of missing their flight).

That would free us up to attend the Shafer Christmas Eve which my Brother and his wife said they were planning to attend, and my sister as well from Florida. the next question is . . . what are my Brother and his Wife's plans for the day of Christmas and how will that shape the immediate siblings holiday plans? Yikes!!

How does everyone do it these days without going nuts!

Sorry that was a long ramble . . . but I had to get it out there!

Buzzing Brain

I've got a brain full of bees I think. I can't seem to catch and hold onto a thought today because there are just too many buzzing around seeking attention.

- I want to do menu plan Monday today . . . but I don't think I have enough time.

- Jeff is home sick today, and was sick this entire weekend. In fact he felt so bad, he actually went to the doctor, a sign that this wasn't just a run of the mill cold for him! And since he's sucd a great patient I'd rather not have to be home much today.

- I have an IAAP meeting after work today, and since I missed the last one, I'd better go!

- I need to get back to Wal-Mart and return the envelopes I got that aren't the right ones.

- I want to work on my OrgJunkie Round up this week

- I need to buy a zipper to repair a coat for Jeff's cousin in Minnesota that his parents will take back this weekend.

- I need to start working on Alaina's Halloween costume, since she decided to be Belle. (yes I konw you offered to get one from Disney MBG, but since she's not of the age to brag about where it came from, I'll save the shipping charge and just make it for $13. However, if they have wigs for little girls, I'd be all about Alaina trying to wear a brown Belle wig!)

- Laundry and the vacuum are screaming my name again.

Is that enough rambling for now? I think so!

Debate Info

So I really enjoyed watching the debate last night, but there was one piece of information that I felt I needed to look up.

McCain said Obama supported a congressional earmark of "$3 million for an overhead projector at a planetarium in Chicago, Ill. My friends, do we need to spend that kind of money?"

All I could think about was, have you seen the projectors they use in planitariums recently? I mean we aren't talking about those piddly things that I set up with a laptop in conference rooms. Oh, no these are rotating huge beasts that I believe would cost at the minimum 10s of thousands of dollars for a good one. And why buy just a good one? If you've ever used a $100 projector and then had the chance to use a $3,000 projector, you can really see the difference!

So I decided that this was probably not a very good accusation of "wasted" money and went out to see what I could find on the intranet and here is "The Fact" that I found.

THE FACTS: McCain's phrase suggests Obama spent $3 million on an old-fashioned piece of office equipment that projects charts and text on a wall screen. In fact, the money was for an overhaul of the theater system that projects images of stars and planets for educational shows at Chicago's Adler Planetarium. When he announced the $3 million earmark last year, Obama said the planetarium's 40-year-old projection system "has begun to fail, leaving the theater dark and groups of school students and other interested museum-goers without this very valuable and exciting learning experience."

The money was slotted for the entire overhaul, which probably included some hefty installation fees and callibration fees and all that jazz.There are a few sites that say this never passed, so the money was never spent. . . but I think that a planetarium is a good place to put money, don't you?

Just goes to show, that you can't trust everything you hear, there are a lot of sites online that you can go to to check out how factual accusations are from the candidates.

Frankly I like Obama's platform for education, energy, taxes and the war. Which are clearly outlined on his website.

McCain shoudl clear up the content on his because it isn't very clear what he believes.

An eventful weekend . . .

So this Wednesday won't quite be wordless but here is a wrap up of the trip to Denver.

Alaina and I headed for Mimi and Papa's house Thursday after work so that we could leave early to go see baby Celie who was born at 3:14 p.m. on Thursday (am I good or what?)

Friday morning we headed straight for the hospital (after a few missed exits and several stops for medicine, jewelry, Starbucks and other essentials ; ).

We all got to hold the baby, including Alaina, who really enjoyed it and even gave the baby an kiss.

We grabbed all you can eat shrimp at Red Lobster (yummy!) and headed back to make sure everything was ready for baby to come home. Alaina had a lot of fun teasing their cat (Rocco was less than cheerful about her attention) and tested out all of Celie's toys to make sure they worked.

I learned that you can find just about anything in Denver on Colorado Blvd or Colfax as I ran errands for the new parents to help them settle in.

I took video of baby coming home, and then turned it into a "Blair Cat Project" movie, as I realized in the excitement that I had let the cat out of the house and he was making a break for it.

The next morning, Alaina and I went with Brett and Lucy the dog for a fun trip to the city park to chase geese.

We headed back to pack up, wished Anige and Brett a bit of a tearful goodbye, and with hardly a stir (and no missed exits) we made it back to Grand Island to eat with Papa and Uncle Scott who took Alaina down to look at the river.

I made it home to find Jeff working hard on the closet shelves. We are so close to being done I can feel it!

And then he mentioned maybe we should just do the office now too . . .

Oh well!

Conversation

Last night I called my sister-in-law to wish her a happy "Your suppose to have that baby today!" day.

A: (small gasp and deep exhale)

K: Are you in labor A?

A: *small giggle* I don't know!

K: Well you've been doing that quite a bit . . .

A: I hope they're not just braxton-hicks.

K: Well, I'd have to say you'll have that baby at 6p.m. tomorrow, well no make it 3 p.m.
3 p.m. to 6 p.m.

A: You think so?

K: One things for sure . . .you're not going to make it another 48 hours.

(her water broke at 3 a.m. this morning and I haven't heard yet that the baby has decided to join us!)

It reminded me of a very similar phone conversation with you Nikki, except then I was clueless and you wouldn't fess up to having contractions because you were afraid they would go away!

So as soon as work is over today, I'm heading home to pack, calling in sick to parttime job, loading up little girl, and heading for Denver to see my first niece.


HOW EXCITING!

Conversation While walking to the car yesterday from the Mall. . .

Me : We're walking down the ramp to the car . . do you see the car Alaina?

A: . . . see the car!

Me: Hi car!

A: hi car!

Me: Did you miss us car?

A: . . . miss us car?

(car lights blink)

A: OH!

Me: See she missed us!

A: Missed us Car!

(carn horn beeps once and lights flash causing Alaina to jump)

Me: Look at how happy she is to see us!

A: I love you car.

(Alaina stops near the front bumper and gives the car a little kiss*)

* - No touching of the lips to a buggy bumper occured in this kiss, it was an air kiss.

Aren't car remotes wonderful things to play with?

Wordless Wednesday - Before and After

Ick

Coming back to work after a break is the pits.

It appears that everything is broken, when in reality its nothing more that usual.

Jeff said last night he would sacrifice his dignity for our daughter and we should dress up as the Incredibles. Now we just have to figure out who Alaina will be . . I vote for Dash and then she can wear the mask for a little bit.

I keep rediscovering how wonderful it is to have a stylist who knows your hair, after the laughter about how uneven my previous haircut was. I ended up with a cute little bob cut with bangs.

I like it!

But that's about it for the morning.

Back to the pile on the desk. . .
Maybe I'll win that big ol' lottery tomorrow and won't have to worry about this anymore

Mommy's Day!

I'm taking the day off from work. At least from the full time job.

I needed a quiet day at home to catch up on laundry and vacuuming. As of now the laundry is done except for the guest sheets, and the vacuuming, well, we'll see what happens.

I've decided to splurge and take myself up to Omaha for a one on one with my favorite stylist Shannon. She listens well and isn't afraid to shoot down any poor ideas I have for my hair. Hopefully it will comeout perfect this time. At any rate, it has to be better. This cut is getting pretty shaggy.

I can feel the pressure for the holiday season beginning. The first pressure is for Alaina's Halloween costume. I've got a couple of fun ideas, and a few from friends. I was hoping to let Alaina pick what she wants to be, which will probably entail taking her to the sewing store and showing her pattern pictures.

My top picks right now are:
-Cinderella and I could be the fairy godmother.
-Stitch or Lilo because we have a stuffed Stitch that she could carry. But I wouldn't really have a costume to wear for this.
- Frog because she likes to hop
- Pony because she likes to gallop

I really like the idea of Cinderella, but I figure maybe the grop or pony because She'll want to be a princess for the next 16 years, so why not go for something different now?

Wait did you hear that? The vacuum just screamed my name. I'd better get moving.

Fun!

First off, sorry for the confusing post yesterday . . . computer issues.

Second, I finally broke down and bought a camera. A nice Sony cybershot with a 4x optical zoom. It is pretty nice a very affordable. The hardest part was picking out the memory chip. I only bought the 1 GB because I've never had more than 100 pictures on my camera at once.

Moving on,
Disney on Ice was fantastic! I was so excited! I giggled everytime I saw Syndrome and his hair that flapped every time he talked! I do have to say I felt a little bit like I'd watched a play on fast forward by the time it was all done, but I think it needed to have speedy dialogue to keep the kids pumped!

We left what we thought was super early, but due to traffic, we were only about 1/2 hour ahead of time . . . We blew 22 dollars on ONE snow cone and ONE bag of cotton candy . . . but we got a cute mask and a Mr. Incredible mug with them.


Alaina pointed out all the characters she knew and we had fun clapping and cheering for Mickey and Minnie, we got a little scared when they started firing cannonballs at Mr Incredible, but otherwise she enjoyed it all.

However, the whole ride home she kept saying,
"I want my crib mommy."

Unlike OM's charges, mine doesn't sleep in the car, she enjoys watching trucks too much.

It was a long, fun day.

The best part was getting to sit right behind OmahaMama and her three charges for the evening! She and I got to chat for a little bit and Jeff and I got to help watch B and her friend K while OM took M for treats and bathroom breaks.

But between you and me

I think that I loved it more than Alaina. ; )

And Happy International Talk like a pirate day!

Gah!!!



I'm so excited! We are going to Disney on Ice tonight! I'm so excited for Alaina to see the Incredibles in person! This is going to be the best!



Yesterday was also the super shoe and purse sale day at Younkrs. I finally realized that I bought mom shoes and a purse last time she was here! So I went last night and returned and then rebought the shoes to save about $12 and then I bought the same purse again with the intention of returning it with the old receipt that mimi has . . .which saves $18 on the purse.

I bought myself three pairs of shoes for $50 and a liz claiborne purse for $6. Cool!

But the big buy today is a camera. Yep I finally gave up looking. I'm so devastated . . .

I bought a sony cybershot . . which gets good reviews and isn't too costly.

Which means time to start posting pics again!!

Yay!

I know, I'm silly.



But what's the point of having the discount if you don't use it?



Tonight I'm headed out with Tiff to see "The women" I'm so excited, I'm sure this won't be quite as good as I want it to be, but I loved the original movie, and there was a version that they showed

Shopping!!!

So . .
The family went shopping last night at the mall for a couple of reasons.

1) tomorrow, I get to use a 35% discount on all shoes and handbags at work (Yes!!)

2) Jeff had gift cards to use at Dill*rds and Penneys

3) I needed to go to work and get someone to cover my shift for Thursday

We had a good time, Alaina was a little rebellious for some of the trip, but at her age I figure that's the norm. . .

But Sunday was a fun day!

I worked most of the day, but while I was there we found two boxes of stuff that was clearance and someone forgot to put out on the rack a month ago. So it was now a box of $4.99 shirts. I got to go through it first and pick out my size and brought home 4 really good shirt for $3.99 each.(discount!)

Yes!

And then when I got home, we had the moment of the day . . . Jeff, Alaina and I got to dance!

We played the credits from Shrek 2 and danced out little hearts out to "I need a hero!" It was wonderful!

I've also started really taking advantage of my library card, 10 books already! A couple of them are ones that I'm just rereading for the fun of it, but this is sooooo much better than buying all those books!

It's so much better that I'm thinking about getting rid of some of the books I have at home now and only keeping the best of the best . . . anything else, I can borrow from the library when I want.

Secret Crush?

So I had a dream last night. . .

A very messed up dream.

I was feeling a little achy after the part time job (the DM was coming for a visit so I had to stay and help tidy until almost 10 pm) so I took so Tylenol pm to help me sleep.

But I had forgotten about the latte I drank at 6 pm to charge me up and apparently lattes and Tylenol pm do not mix.

I had one of those strange sci-fi "where did everyone go" / Armageddon / monster / deadly machine / blazing hero dreams.

Which always leave me a little confused the next morning, because to me its like watching the middle of a sci-fi movie and getting really into it, but since you didn't see the beginning you really want to know what happens in the end . . but the satellite goes down!

However the most confusing part was actually the hero

Aaron Eckhart

Okay so he's a good looking actor, but he's never been at the top of my list dreaming of you actors. Sorry but Gerard Butler take the cake for that list followed closely by Christian Bale.

(Which reminds me, I've been meaning to write that fan letter to Gerard thanking him for being so good looking that dreaming of him helped get me through my third trimester.)

Back to Aaron, I'm just not that into his Gaston like dimpled chin and blond surfer looks.

But apparently my subconscious would disagree. I was even shocked enough to mention it to Jeff. I've alway went by the policy to not mention my leading dream boys to my real life leading man but I felt this was an exception I needed to make. He thought maybe it was because we recently saw Batman, but then why didn't I get Christian Bale?


Oh well, the mind is an amazing thing and a good looking man in a dream is a terrible thing to waste!

The moment that made the day

For me's there's usually one moment that set the tone for the day . .
or at least one moment that I wish I could have patterned the day around.

Yesterday ended a little rough with the part time job being a little hectic. It's not often that a manager calls her employees lazy just because we figured out that we can move our mouths and chat as well as fold piles of shirts at the same time.

Oh yes she did say that. But the kicker was she started the statement with a canned phrase that was the equivalent of "please don't take this the wrong way, but . . ."

Right

As if we could take that as anything but insulting.

So me (being the person that I am pointed) out to her that not a single one of the three of us standing their folding had paused in our folding duties during the entire conversation.

I should have started thie statement with "Please don't mistake this for the insubordinate comment that it is intended to be, but . . ."

Hee hee


But ANYWAY

The best moment of the day was when I came downstairs before I went to the part time job.

Does anyone here use L'Oreal's mineral makeup? If you do you know that they have a concealer powder (which I love) that looks like this. =>

Apparently Alaina will be a great beautician someday because when I came downstairs I found Jeff laying down on his back while Alaina was using the brush to apply makeup to him.

Actually she wasn't really applying make-up, she was just using the brush on him.

But she wasn't putting it on his face . . .

My wonderfully imaginative daughter had gotten it into her head that this brush which is flat on the sides was for nail polish. So she was pretending to apply it on Jeff.

More precisely on his toe nails.

Ewwwww!

As I type this I can't stop laughing, because the best part was the fact that my husband was grinning ear to ear as she did this because he thought it was one of her "play makeup" pieces.

I guess after I empty the powder out I know how to recycle the container.


p.s. Alaina used the potty chair at home this morning for Jeff! I guess the factor that needed to change for potty training to be a success was the subtraction of me from the equation!

Go Alaina!

Big walk talk

Yesterday for lunch, I had a meeting with the volunteer committee that assist with the wellness committee.

And if you know me . . .committee/volunteer work is my favorite thing to do at the office.

I love the brainstorming and the excitement that thinking of new ideas seems to bring to a group. We were pumped by the time we left that room!

We talked about the corporate wellness program and we got pretty excited about next year. We have plans for a "Walk the Lewis and Clark trail" challenge and a "Biggest Loser" challenge, someone has planted the idea of having a smoke free campus (BIG Deal for us!) and we are using the Biggest Loser challenge to promote lifestyle changes by exercise and healthy eating. (which we are trying to emphasize doesn't mean you have to go on a no carb, no dairy, no sugars, or NO FUN diet)

And I was excited until when it came time to get this ready to present to the managers that support this team . . . .

it came to me to put it into a presentation and type it up.

sigh.

I really wish this team was a paid position because I'd love to do it full time but . . . Nope.


Oh well, its for the good of the company. Hurrah and all that jazz.

However, for the second day in a row, Alaina came home with a 'certificate' for using the potty again.

YES!!!!

Not quite a failure

So . . . the potty training didn't go as expected.

I had thought that Alaina wasn't using the potty simply because diapers were convenient. .

But I was wrong.

The first day we had wet pants by 11:30 am. No big deal, but when I laid her down for a nap I put a diaper on so that she wouldn't wake up because she was wet.

the day came and went with no potty in the potty chair (and yes mimi, I did try pouring a little warm water on her to jump start the process with no luck.)

The next day, she had a BM in training pants and was so distressed by it that I ended up putting a pull up on her for the rest of the day . . .

I was ready to declare this weekend unsuccessful, but this morning she woke up with a dry diaper and asked to sit on the potty.

She didn't potty in the chair, but the fact that she asked makes me think we are making some good progress!

Put to the test . . .

So before my big mommy story I do have to say I have an interview with "the card store" and BandBWorks tomorrow. We'll see if they look better than Younk*rs.

Yesterday if you have a Younk*rs card you received 20% off of your purchase. So Right after daycare I took Alaina shopping.

Oops, big mistake.

Alaina was bent on doing everything her way yesterday, which meant not staying close to me and ramming the stroller into things.

We had a little talk and decided that we would go home. She decided not to get back in the stroller as suggested by me, so I carried her out the store while I pushed the stroller.

The End. . . .

You mean you don't believe the Idyllic version?

Fair enough.

If someone else would have told the story they might have said it this way.

The little girl stood in the middle of the store and yelled Uh-Uh! at her mother every time the Mother told her she needed to get in the stroller or they would leave, except instead of leaving she gave her about 16 other choices, before she hauled the child up, who by now was wailing and screaming and kicking and carried her back the the elevator.

She wailed all the way out to the car . .
Through the one block drive home . . .
And for the next 45 minutes at least until she finally ran out of steam and decided she needed a drink of milk and to blow her nose.

The moral of the story is

Well there isn't one, but I'm proud of myself for not giving in and letting her win the battle of wits.

Just call me the Sicilian . . . .

AlainaB Training Pants!

They finally posted the schedule for next week for Younkers and guess who got the entire weekend off? That's right me! And without asking!!!

Yaay!

However, this also brings the perfect opportunity for potty training . . .the training pants way!
Alaina just doesn't seem to get the point that having a wet/poopy diaper is an undesirable thing. So I'm going to go all out and put her in training pants this weekend to reinforce the joys of potty training.

I may sound brave, but inside, I'm trembling. I'm hoping she learns a bit this weekend, because the mess that I envision isn't very appealing. Thinking about the nice new carpet in the bedrooms and hall and the white carpet everywhere else gives me quite the deathly pallor.

But it must be done. The praise and encouragement to sit on the potty chair just isn't sinking in.

But enough about the weekend. I have two other things to bog about today.

Thing One.

How hard can it possibly be to find the wallet I want? They need to have a mix and match line that you can add and subtract pieces from. I have some very specific needs that I would like fulfilled.

1) windowed holder for DL - removable if possible
2) 6-10 credit card holders - and why does everything have to have a punch card or rewards card these days?
3) REMOVABLE checkbook (this is kind of optional because I don't carry it often, but I would if it fit nicely into my current wallet.
4) zippered coin holder INSIDE the wallet
5) I would prefer a zip close wallet over all but I really just want a wallet that closes securely
6) I want it long and skinny because I HATE folding dollar bills.
7) Multiple large side pockets for floating media . . .

I mean how hard should that be to find? ; )

Thing Two

Last night after Alaina's bath, we marched downstairs to pick out our pj's

Which led to a lot of hopping since she picked the frog pajamas.

After she practiced "hopping" into the pants, Alaina was being silly and suddenly turned to face Jeff and I and began doing the most impressive belly roll I had ever seen! You know, like Mike Myers in Wayne's World (for some reason that's the only example I can think of. . .)

Jeff and I struggled not to laugh too hard at her since we were trying to keep our game faces on for bedtime.

But we were failing.

I'm not sure yet, but is this a pretty neat thing for your kid to do?
Do I giggle at her antics, thus encouraging the development of the belly roll . . .

or do I stay straight-faced and try to keep her from seeing how impressed I am by her muscle control?

Holiday? What Holiday?

I had forgotten the thrills of working retail over holidays. . . .

I worked everyday this weekend at my parttime job and am looking forward to having two evenings off. I worked up until the start of the Husker game and then decided I just couldn't sit around watching tv, so a friend who was down from up by South Dakota and I went shopping at SouthPoint.

She mentioned that her husband would be very angry if they started talking politics while we were gone. I was a little surprised that they woudl feel that was because isn't everybody talking politics these days?

That of course led us to have a bit of a heated discussion about politics of course.

She feels it doesn't matter who gets into the white house because all politicians lie.

I stated one of my main reasons to vote was that I felt our soldiers should be brought home and I felt that Obama would be most likely to make it happen . . .

And the feces hit the fan.

I was not so peaceably informed that many of the soldiers who have returned home have said they are doing a lot of good and I shouldn't think that our assistance in the mid-east is worthless.

Okay, please scroll back up at this point and see if I made any negative statement about what our soldiers are doing overseas.

Really? You mean I didn't scream obscenities about war and billions of dollars and rant about the evils of oil?

I've tried to learn the subtle art of polite politics discussion and I have the talk about war down to a science (I hope.) I simply feel that our nation is struggling right now and that it is time to focus more on internal problems, which is hard to do while we are all gazing across the globe, worried for our loved ones safety.

The End. . . .that's all I try to state about the war with someone that I know doesn't share the same political beliefs.

Of course, everything else in our discussion went down hill from there . . . .On to other things.

Alaina spent the weekend with Jeff's parents. I missed her, but it is hard to create an argument to have her stay here while I was working most of the weekend out of the house. She got a lot more play time and fun with Grandma and Grandpa.

But that about sums up the weekend.

Going greener everyday!

Jeff and I are finally recycling big time! We signed up for RecycleLiNK at the Farmer's Market last week. The first four months are only $16 dollars right now while the regular price is $8 a month. We get a large grey recycle container which is emptied once a week.





No sorting





No tiny little blue box





No driving to a center with a trunk full of rattling bottles and cans.





There are a few downsides, they don't take glass (that's okay Jeff will just have to continue to lug his empty beer bottles to the center outside of Alaina's daycare.)

They don't take plastics 4,6, and 7. (Although the guy assured me that if you put a few in, they won't dump them back on our porch at a later date.)








But the best part is you receive incentive points for each pound you recycle to put toward gift cards for local stores. And when I say stores I mean cool places like Hy-Vee, B@th and Body Works, and Bed B@th and Beyond!





I'm not sure how the points convert to $$$ but who cares? Even a little incentive goes a long way!!! If you live in Lincoln you just have to check it out!

http://www.recyclelink.net/





p.s. I don't get any kickbacks for this . . . except for a cleaner tomorrow for Alaina!

Interviewing can be silly . .

So . .

I recently started a part time job . . which is working out but yet isn't really working out. The schedule doesn't come out very early which is hard for me because I'm used to being able to plan ahead now. So I'm looking at a few more options right now. I'm currently at a department store which is cool, but what is even cooler is that I interviewed for VSecret! It was a group interview and I had three thoughts roaming through my head . . .

1) I am not wearing near enough eyeliner to be interviewing with these girls

2) I am not anywhere near tan-orexic enough to be here either

3) I'd better not mention I've got a little girl to all these college freshman or the force of their exhaled breath as they go "AWWWWWWW!" will blow me out of my seat.

Seriously there were probably only two of us over the age of 21 there. Must stated that they were freshmen or sophmores at college. Scary.

But wouldn't it be fun to work there????

The Power of Five

I think I want to do a little personal challenge. I want to be more green, but I just don't have the time, money or resources to go as green as can be. So maybe I can shoot for a chain reaction. I saw some facts listed in a catalogue today and it made me squirm in my seat a little.

Some Things to Consider

• If every American home swapped five incandescent bulb fixtures for Energy Star CFLs, it would keep one trillion pounds of greenhouse gases out of the air.
• Each ton of paper recycled saves 17 trees and 7,000 gallons of water.
• Recycling one glass bottle saves enough energy to light a 100-watt bulb for four hours.
• Shoppers worldwide are using 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags per year. This translates to about 150 bags a year for every person on earth.

I feel a little better when I know that we aren't buying anymore regular bulbs for our house. We are starting to phase them all out for the green type of light bulbs. I recycle my newspapers, but I only get two days a week, so they don't pile up very fast. And I've switched to those neat canvas totes for shopping. I have five at home and I even take them to the mall when I can.

But what about you? I saw the number five pop up quite a bit in my thoughts, so I decided to take on a personal challenge. Could I talk five people into switching to the better bulbs and forgoing their plastic grocery sacks? Can you beat the fact that for every bag I bring back in to Hy-Vee, they give me five cents back? If you think about it . . you get your money back in 20 trips to the store since they are only a dollar a piece. Not to mention the added bonus of not having more plastic bags enter your house!

So are you up to a challenge OM? Nikki? MBG? Mama?

Since I don't think anyone else reads this, I'm going to hit up some friends around town. Get on it people! Think if this as your mini green challenge.

And if you are up for it, tell five more people . . .

I double dog dare you!

A quick note

So many things going through my mind right now . . .

Alaina came home after a week with Grandma and Grandpa B. Truly, that was too long to be without my little one, but since I had a going away party on Thursday night and worked my part time job on Friday, I didn't have a leg to stand on to argue for an early return home.

I tidied up our main floor bathroom a bit this week, but not to the level that I'm willing to display it on Org Junkie. Frankly I can't justify buying lots of containers that I may not use in a year because we are hoping to redo said bathroom. Also with the camera missing in action, I have nothing to display pics with anyway.

I'm about to breakdown and buy a little $100 - $150 camera to use temporarily because I feel my daughter's childhood slipping away. I mean seriously, did people cry at the end of everyday before cameras came around because they couldn't save clips of their lives for infinity? The way I feel right now, you would think so!

I guess that's about all I can squeeze out of my jumbled thoughts right now . . .

One more for the day . . .

I had thought that needed to be recorded. It is in response to Omaha Mama's blogging about her house being not as clean as she thinks it should be and not staying absolutely true to her schedule.

Growing up, Mama was big on routines, she cleaned like clock work, snacks and meals were always on schedule, and the laundry was always done.

Then when we were old enought she went back to school to work on herself and the rest of us let the immaculate condition of the house slide into oblivion.

But when I look back at the time after Mom went back to school and I hit hight school, do I think about cluttered counters and laundry piles?

Nope.

The stories I told my coworkers last night as we hung out were about my great parents, whom everyone voluteered to chaparone the dances because they were so cool they would disco with up and they would tease everyone by doing "pencil" tests during slow dances.

And how even the troubled kids (in a previously life they were called Bad Boys) would stop on my mother's porch, apologize, and turn the tshirt they were wearing insideout because it has cuss words or a dirty message written on the front. They knew she didn't like them in her house and they all respected my parents.

I tell the stories about how we didn't get the latest and greatest game stations growing up, but we knew how to play a great game of make believe and our friends enjoyed that more that the latest Nintendo game.

But when I want to make them laugh I tell the Saturday Night story . . .

I sat at home at 9 pm on a Saturday. I just wanted to sit at home and read my new book. But Mom had other ideas. She stopped down at my room a few times to mention that I should go out and meet some friends or go into the coffee shop (my usual hangout). I didn't want to but she finally pushed me enough that I got up and headed for the door. She stopped me in a bit of a panic because I was about to go out wearing one of my brothers old flannel shirts, jeans, sneakers and a ball cap. She said I shoud at least put earrings on . . . and maybe a little makeup and fix my hair. So I told her nevermind, I'd just stay home - this was said in the snotty tone that children perfect the day they turn 13. She pretty much begged so I conceeded to the point that I put on make up and fluffed my hair a bit (I was not putting in earrings!) And when I went to leave, she told me to be home by midnight. Now the problem with that is, it takes about 30 minutes to get to town from our house, and 30 minutes to get home of course. By the time we got to this point, it was 10:30 pm, giving me about 30 minutes to "hang out." I can't actually remember if I went out or not that night . . . but it was the start of a beautiful tradition with my mother.

Typically when I go home, before I leave the house, I turn to my mother and hold out my hand, kind of in a "TA-DA" kind of gesture. At this point she will mention if I need a little more blush, or a belt (I don't usually get that one anymore) or some jewelry. Now to be honest, this habit of ours has fallen a bit to the wayside, but it was around long enough for my husband to comment, because he noticed the big "TA-DA" move one time when we were leaving to go visit some friends in town. I said, "Sometimes its just easier to play along."

Frankly I think Mom and I were just stuck in a rut. After I got married she even confessed that she was just trying to help me look pretty for a boy. Which didn't explain the fact that by that time I was already seriously invovled with Jeff.

I love you, Mom and all the quirks that come with being your daughter.

And p.s. Why didn't Stacey ever get the royal treatment? I must have looked truly hopeless to you. : )

B@tm@n

So we went to see the new movie and while I have heard "best movie ever" from may sources, I'm not sure.

Don't get me wrong I loved it, but I have the hardest time picking the best movie ever. I think that I would have to say "Princess Bride" but that's more from a personal standpoint.
"Shaw$hank Redemption" is one of my favorites as well.

But for sure it was the best caped crusader movie. The way the plot is woven together is just stunning! And I could wax poetic about Heath's performance as the Joker forever. That man had some skill. And I'm not talking from a sentimental place in my heart.

I judge all movies by if I am "sucked into" the world of the movie. Did I see the characters on the screen? Or did I simply see a bunch of actors trying to be someone else. I never saw Heath on the screen. I only saw the Joker. Even when I tried to be a sentimental sap and think about the shame it was to lose him, the character would do something horrific, and I'd only see the Joker again.

But the person I'm most impressed by is Bale. I have loved Bale ever since Newsies came out when I was in elementary school. Oh, he was so cute!!! But he has come a long way from playing a dancing paper boy. I can't believe how well he pulls off the playboy Wayne personality and give the Bat the intimidating creepiness that the costume deserves.

And the voice he uses for the bat! I just get chills its so creepy!

Batman was never meant to be a sexy character. Except in a raw elemental way.

But enough about the movie. I need to get back to the list.

My top movies
(not in order, because truly, it depends on the day)
1. The Usual $uspects
2. Prin-cess Bride
3. The D@rk Knight
4. Pride and Prejudice
5. Hot Fuzz

Frankly, that's all I have so far. These are the movies, that I could watch over and over again, because there are so many levels to watch in them. Every time you watch, there is something else to see. Does that make any sense?
I love to watch Pride and Prejudice to watch the background characters. Especially when they are 'just missing each other in the ballroom scene.' And to catch the secret glances that pass between the hero and heroine.

Dreaming of you . . .

I need to start writing down my dreams . . . .

because I think I'm going crazy! Monday 8:25 p.m. sitting at my new job doing computer training. Someone stand in the doorway looking at the overstock, and as she leaves, shuts the light out on me.

I must have made a sound, she laughs, apologizes and switches the light back on. I am sitting there doing register training when suddenly I realize.

I've been here before!

I swear, I'm either nuts or have the craziest thought/memory wiring in my brain, because shortly after what I call the "stuffed pig incident" at this very store. I dreamed I worked there.

And this was just what happened in the dream!

I swear this has happened twice before, so in an effort to prove myself sane, I'm going to actually start that stupid dream diary that I've been meaning to start forever. Because honestly, one of these times I'm going to prove that I'm not making this crud up!

Finally! She blogged!

Yes I did see I was tagged by you, OM!

Yes Sisi I'm going to blog it!

Here is it, my life in ten bullets, or at least the last fifteen years, lets get a visual to start, okay?

1. I was one of two people, the other being my sister, who chose (maternally forced) to walk for a graduation in a school building that was no longer a high school . . .and created a memory that I will never forget because of said force, I MEAN CHOICE!!! ; )

2. I made and lost some friends along the way, but the good ones are still around and were promoted to family members a long time ago . . .

3. I didn't work as hard as I should have, but I managed to graduate from college with a degree, and met some pretty amazing people along the way.

4. While journeying through college, I found two things, my love of sewing, which I find many clever ways to share with everyone. . .

5. And my husband, who I skipped sorority recruitment to hear play his guitar, and found out months later that he sold me his cd's both for the price of one. (you flirt!)

6. Together, we have one beautiful child. And she amazes me everyday . . and much to my parent's delight, seems to be all the best qualities of my siblings and my husband all rolled into one. (Check it out! Her and me, isn't it scary?)

7. Family begins to take a higher priority in life the further they move . . . only two of the four left in state, and it is heartbreaking to think that we aren't all a phone call and 2 hours driving time away.

8. We bought a house the 70s threw up in and we are getting closer to having our own bedroom, we are still sharing the basement with the adorable toddler.

9. I work at a local insurance place, setting up the technical devices for the techies . . .wait, wasn't my degree in English? I still can't figure that one out . . .

10. And The most interesting part of my life, is the discovery that one can have more than one soulmate. I don't know how else to explain being a twin. You grow up having to share everything, which when people thought it sounded cool I would always say, "Imagine that you have twice as much stuff . . but you have to share all of it with someone everyday." So, I get to have two soulmates, but unfortunately they have to share me. Somedays, it was maddening, somedays it was bliss. But no matter what, I couldn't imagine life without either one!

And I'm not tagging anyone! This is fun to do, but its pretty much a chain letter so I can't forward it on principle! (However, I'll blog them, so feel free to keep sending them to me to perish!)

Loser

I'm a loser.

No, not like a loser loser. But a loser of things.
I misplace things, I shift piles around, I drop stuff and don't notice.

But I don't lose big important things.

Until now.

I am sick with the fact that I cannot find our camera. I just know I had it for my sister in law's shower. I swear I took a picture of Papa trying on his Elvis suit to see how it fit. But do you think I can find the sucker? Nope.

I called the SIL and her parents have checked the house, I have basically torn my car and house apart looking for it, I even called my sister to see if I left it in the rental car she had.

No dice.

I'm just so frustrated because I lose little frustration things . . . Where did that pen go? I just had that shopping list! The biggest and baddest thing I've ever lost is my social security card, but $14 and a trip to a fancy office building will get you a new one of those.

I'm about to cry just thinking about it . . . so I'd better stop that for a while.

My last little shred of hope is that I did actually bring it to the 4th of July, and then left it at Mimi's house. I'm also still hoping maybe Alaina found it and tucked it somewhere. We'll see if it turns up.

Peanut Butter

2nd blog today . .

What is it about some things that you have to have the brand name? There are a few things that I am snobby about when it comes to brand names,

- Eileen's cookies are the best cookies in the world (other than those made by grandmothers)
- When cooking anything requiring soup, it must be Campbells nothing else tastes quite as good

And my most recent discovery is Peanut Butter. I am a peanut butter snob.
It started at Mimi and Papa's house.

I was craving something to eat and I saw a jar of Natural Smuckers Peanut Butter.

It tasted okay.

So when I got home to my house I was craving more peanut butter, so I grabbed the first jar of peanut butter and spread it on bread.

munch munch munch . . .

EEEWWWWW!

What is this???? Gross!! Generic Brand Peanut Butter.

I ate the whole piece of nastiness dispite the revolting taste and looked in the cupboard again.

Hey another jar! Peter Pan? Who bought this? Oh, well I'll try it ..


crunch crunch crunch (I toasted the bread this time)

Still tastes a bit funny. . . .

Two days later I spot Another Jar of Peanut Butter hiding in the back of the pantry. This time I strike gold! Creamy, peanutty JIF!

Crunch crunch crunch . . . and this one is just right!

Since the 4th of July, I have eaten 14 pieces of peanut butter toast ( 2 of which were actually part of a peanut butter and banana sandwich . . . thank you, thank you very much)

And I'm still hungry for more!! But only JIF will calm the nutty monster within!

Anybody want a peanut?

What we learn today . . .

Does anyone remember that Laura Engall Wilder had to memorize the last half of our nations history for her semester project? Do you think that there are many people this day and age who can remember even the names of all of the presidents?

My husband, who was home schooled is appalled at what I learned in history classes during my public school education. "What do you mean you don't know much about the assasination at Serajevo? How can you not be able to give me a general outline of the Versaille Treaty?"

And heaven forbid I ask him to explain something from a historical war.



Holy (pause for emphasis) cow.



Now I'm not saying that our public education system is a bad thing, but, then again, I am. Can they take a little fo the blame for our lack of desire to seek more knowledge about history? I love history, and while I may not be able to give you dates, names and figures, I have enough knowledge to not flounder by saying silly things like the pilgrims were the first travelers who arrived at North America and that Native American tribes stayed in nice little tracts of land called reservations.



Our kids these days instead fill their heads with the names of every character known to man on TV, they know the cheater codes for all their games and what buttons to push to make their interactive puppy chase its own tail. Is this bad? I would love to say that we should start making cartoons about historical events, but they've tried that and given us such wonderful movies as Pocahontas and . . . . well maybe that was it.



What can we do to get our kids more involved with history? I hope I can instill in my daughter the thought that history is cool and she should learn as much about it as she can.



And when she wins Jeopardy, I hope she shares her winnings.

Not quite Wordless Wednesday

Costume pattern on sale $1

White polyester $27

Wig $13

Seeing royalty raised from the dead . . . . . priceless

And Marilyn was there too . . . . (guess who?)

Permanent mistake . . .

Yesterday I took a quick trip to the store leaving Jeff and Alaina home to their own devices.

And when I came home it was to see that while I had been out, our little artist had created a masterpiece for us.

On the couch . . .

and the end table . . .

the phone and tv remote . . .

and several of her toys . . .

and herself

Using a black sharpie.

Oh and did I mention the white carpet too?

Jeff is still mystified how she managed to do so much damage, when she was walking in and out of the kitchen babbling to him as he did the dishes the whole time I was gone.

However I get to share the blame because the rogue marker was apparently left in reachable view by yours truly last week. We managed to clean it completely off all of the surfaces except the carpet.

That particulary tough spot has a date with me and a bleach pen at a later date.

Lesson learned . . . my daughter does not look cute with two black dots on her lips and scribbled on hands.

Had to be done.

They were screaming at me.

There they sat under my desk, yelling as loud as can be . . . Fix Me!

So I did.

I finally yanked off my black pumps and took a sharpie to the nicks and scratches that couldn't be ignored. I am no fashion plate and I am rather proud of that fact.
I have worn the same pair of shoes everyday for two years. I don't like having to trudge through snow in high heels and walk through puddles, and if I want to take a quick couple of laps around the building for a little exercise, I don't want to do in in pumps.

So there they sit, every evening, every weekend. Alone.

But to make this fashion crime even worse, no shoe polish will ever touch these babies, Nope! Not even a swipe with one of those handy shine sponges. They get sharpie marker touch-ups.

So does this make me thrifty? Or just cheap?

Is there even a difference?

Need a nap . . .

I'm feeling very tired . . .

I'm not getting any less sleep, but I'm having trouble shaking that tired look. My pep has gone into hibernation, and I'm not sure how to get it out.

Meanwhile, there is still the big fourth of July sewing project to get finished, I've put it off long enough, Elvis needs his pizazz and he needs it now.

And then, maybe, Marilyn can come too.

I enjoyed reading OM's blog about making new friends. Its hard for the mommies of the world, because we know what its like to be busy and have a friend call to hang out when you just don't have the time. No one want to have to tell their good friends they can't hang out.

OM, maybe if you and I meet half way, we could have coffee in Gretna sometime and walk the outlet malls? ; )

Stacey's coming home!

Yay!
Stacey will be back in NE tonight and I'm excited to see her. She'll be back for the big (relative term) 4th of July parade for Trumbull, which should be a lot of fun!!

Brett and Angie are also back for a short trip, and there is a babyshower for them. Thank goodness for registries because there are so many baby things to pick from these days how can you decide what to get?

I guess that's about it for me, but I wanted to blog so that you know I'm here!

The to do list . . .

Here is a list I needed to get recorded

Things I would love to finish this summer . . .

- Alaina's photo album
- Make Alaina a little apron to wear during craft time
- Finish my scrapbook for our honeymoon (married in 05, yikes!!!)
- Pick out bulbs to plant in the fall
- Get at least 10 chapters for a book written
- look into (if not start) going back to school
- Get all mo donations cleaned out of the house
- Finish Uncle Scott's birthday present
- Finish My photo albums
- Have all of the addresses for our ten year class reunion put together
- Be working out at least three times a week (cardio or yoga)
- Have an idea down on paper for our bathroom remodel (next summer?)
- Have an idea book started for a kitchen and master bedroom (upstairs) remodel
- Finally get my haircut JUST RIGHT!

And that's about it for now.

My beloved Pride

What is it about Pride and Prejudice (with Kera Knightley) that makes me love it so much?

Is it that the heroine is nothing short of boyish in figure and a has a tomboyish attitude to boot that makes me love Elizabeth so much?

Is it that fact that Mr. Darcy can say "I love you . . . most ardently" to her and you can feel the desperate passion in the statement or the moment after Lizzie cuts his proposal down in honor of her family that he finds lacking and they each glance towards the others lips with longing and lean in slightly before Mr Darcy quickly retreats? (I love that moment!!!)

The only thing that I dislike about the movie, is the length of the scene in which Mr Darcy walks across the field toward Lizzie to again propose and be accepted?

I must admit that this movie almost makes me love Donald Sutherland more that Keifer because of his outstanding performance as a father. (Almost mind you!)

Its on again, and Jeff is rolling his eyes as a sneak in to watch it when he doesn't need me to help hang dry wall.

I can't help it, I love Jane Austin on film.