Thursday Thirteen #16

Whoo-eeee! It's a special manniversary addition of the Thursday Thirteen in the O'Sullivan household! This weekend will mark our second wonderful year of marriage, so here it is:

13 Reasons the Second Year Was Better Than the First!

1. I am no longer embarrassed about the sound my nose makes when I blow my nose in the morning.

2. I am completely 100% immune to ESPN and pretty much any sporting event in which I am not a fan of the teams. It can be playing at any decibel in the background and I can effectively block it out. Like I am right now as Miami plays UNC, the team with the lame, corny, extremely feminine baby blue uniforms. Who has baby blue uniforms?

3. Which leads me to the following: I actually know what a first down is (I couldn't figure out for the life of me why they kept trying for a first down. Why didn't it turn into a second and a third!) Also I just learned what a "safety" is. I'm darned proud. Oh, and one time, I yelled "off sides!" and was right!

4. We fight sooo much nicer now. That first year was a doozy.

5. I am no longer offended if he moves to the couch in the middle of the night. I know that it means he's snoring too badly, has gas, or acid reflux.

6. And that doesn't gross me out or turn me off, either!

7. I got to see him as a husband, but now I get to see what he's like as a daddy, and it's so much better than I ever dreamed. That makes me love him even more.

8. He's my best friend, favorite tv buddy, drinking buddy, dancing buddy, and makeout buddy. But not shopping buddy. He gets cold sweats when we step foot into almost any store.

9. I know that if he's snippy or grumpy, I shouldn't read anything into it. It isn't about me. He probably needs a sandwich.

10. He knows that "fine" is not ok as an answer to the question, "How do I look?"

11. Last week, he was reaching for his keys in his backpack after a soccer game in front of all the guys and Oops! Out fell some tampons and my lipstick. He called it "our" lipstick, when retelling the story. aww.

12. We no longer need the lavish birthday, Christmas, Valentine presents that come with the boyfriend/girlfriend/fiance/newlywed relationship.

13. Instead, we make spending time together a priority, like our "date nights" on Friday. And for our anniversary: no presents. This weekend, we're going to the beach where we had our reception 2 years ago, having a nice dinner, sleeping in, and topping it off with the Super Bowl. That sounds about right.

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

A good deed noticed!

My cousin, her son and all the rest of the first graders have officially sent off the packages to the "Old Man's" unit in Iraq. What a great story! Here's the write-up.

'Valentines for Marines'
First-graders send love to the troops
By Brian Saxton THE NEWS-TIMES

NEW FAIRFIELD -- Shannon Broderick tidied up her brother's room and the kitchen and earned herself $6.75. Sean King cleaned his room and the downstairs of his family's home and was rewarded with $39. Ethan Kamps helped vacuum his home and picked up $6.
The three 6-year-olds and the remaining 197 first-graders at Consolidated School earned $1,200 this month by doing household chores to help pay for a Valentine's Day project supporting U.S. Marines in Iraq.
"It makes me feel good to be able to help them," Ethan said Tuesday as the children packed Valentine's Day cards and care packages to send to the troops.
Ethan's mother, Robyn, helped spearhead the project after reading a Web blog kept by her cousin Anna Hancock of Washington, D.C., whose husband is serving with the Marines in Iraq.
Cpl. Hancock is based with 200 other Marines in Iraq, helping to train Iraqi soldiers.
"Anna keeps the blog to let everyone know how he is," Kamps said. "When I read one day that his favorite mail comes from a 4-year-old niece, I thought I'd tell my son's class about it."
A room mother at the school, 40-year-old Kamps said the idea of supporting Hancock's unit quickly won approval.
"We decided to call it 'Valentines for Marines' and it just blossomed from there," Kamps said. "Writing and creating the cards was good exercise for the children and nice for the soldiers. The kids have done a wonderful job. They should be very proud of themselves."
Along with the cards came the idea of sending care packages.
"We turned it into a class project," said first-grade teacher Roseann Vicare. "Everyone became really excited."
To earn the money needed to buy the contents of the packages, it was decided the children should do chores at home.
"The response was amazing," said Vicare. "In the end the children raised $1,200."
Other support came from outside the school. The New Fairfield Lions Club donated $200 and two parents each gave $250 to help pay for the shipping.
Knowing the best gifts would be nonperishable items, Vicare and Kamps bought coffee, soup, crackers, games, Frisbees and playing cards. They even included copies of area newspapers, among them The News-Times.
"It was everyday stuff, things to remind them of home," Kamps said.
The packages also included coloring books and crayons, as well as soccer balls and old uniforms from the New Fairfield Soccer Club, for distribution to a school close to where the Marines are stationed.
Kamps hopes the Marines will use the disposable cameras they are mailing to take pictures of themselves opening the packages and them return them to the class.
Vicare believes the project has had an academic impact on the children, as well as making a humanitarian statement.
"They're only 6 years old and have such a small view of the world. I think this gives them a global appreciation of what's going on outside their classrooms," Vicare said.
"The soldiers have been there so long, we also don't want them to think we've forgotten them."
Each handmade Valentine's Day card, written and signed by one of the children, also contained a heart-shaped key ring they made.
Most cards echoed the sentiments expressed by students Ryne Cleary.
"Dear Marine -- Happy Valentine's Day," Ryne wrote. "Thank you for keeping us safe. I love you. Please be safe."

Goodness, madness and spandex

There's so much going on in all my friends' lives right now and I am in a dry spell. Them: house buying, house selling, condo searching, baby having. Me: nothin'! I guess that's good because if I had something going on too, I wouldn't be able to share in all of their lives nearly as much as I am able to right now. I log on to blog and I literally have nothing. No creativity, no nothing. But I do have an update on my dear friend who had her baby earlier this week at 30 weeks. Oh. My. Gosh! is he beautiful! With lots and lots and lots of hair. He is small, but so beautiful, and breathing on his own and completely lovely. He seems to be doing really well and so is mom! Thank God! It is one of the scariest things in life to know that you're about to have your baby and it's not time yet. I can't even explain it in words and I hate that it's something that she and millions of other moms have to go through. He will be spending a couple weeks in the NICU, which is always a tough road to go down no matter how long. But I am thankful that I am able to share my own experience with her. And I am also amazed at how much helping someone else in this process is helping me to continue my own healing from my baby's prematurity. I feel like I should just "get over it" already, but it's just something that sticks with you and I guess I'm not sure I'll ever quite get over it. I still remember almost every hour of the two weeks following my boy's birth (including being such a crying mess at the hospital that my mom sent the priest to my room-which now I can smile about because that's my mom!) and I am pretty sure it will stay that way. Anyway, please continue to keep her and all other preemies and their mommies in your thoughts. They so need all the prayers and strength they can get while they wait for their babies to get big and healthy enough to go home. Especially because in most cases, no one knows why a baby is born prematurely and there's no way to ever know. And that's such a hard fact to live with because it just makes you feel so helpless and ashamed and you want to blame yourself. Sigh.
(end soap box)
(begin comic relief)
Gosh it's hard to type about a serious topic when you're watching a VH1 special with Matthew McCaughnehey vs. Lance Armstrong and they're talking about spandex. I think a gentleman being interviewed just said "put Lance in some spandex and it's like looking at a peach that's always ripe." I don't know what to say about that. I told you about my lack of creativity. And just for the record. My husband and I are doing that thing again, where I am on a laptop on one side of the room, and he is on a laptop on the other side of the room and we look like the true all-american couple. It's so lame! I'm blogging. He's playing poker (with fake money I hope). I guess it could be worse. We could be messaging each other.

That Cry

There's just something about that cry that I'll never ever get used to. The one when something is really wrong, like after getting a shot. It's piercing and it goes right through me and breaks my heart. Every time. Poops had his 9 month checkup this morning which as usual went well right up until the end. Nakey baby playing with paper on the table, very happy. Nakey baby playing with his book, squeals in delight. Nakey baby playing peekaboo, nakey baby happy. Nurse comes in. Sticks nakey baby. Nakey baby screams. Nakey baby goes to the very nurse who gave him a shot for comfort. Nakey baby hates mommy, and appears to know full well who brought him to get pointy, evil needle in leg. Nakey baby gets dressed. Appears to forget about evil needle. Loves mommy again.

Please Pray

Dear God,
One of my dearest friends needs your help today. She went into labor last night at 30 weeks. Please comfort her because I know she's scared. Please hold her hand and let her know it will be okay. I pray to you for her health and the health of their baby. I pray that they may spend as little time in the hospital as possible, and be home as a family together soon. Please surround them and their caregivers with your love and strength today and always.
In your name, I pray.
Amen.

I love this.

I love when something starts out as a small idea and it just catches on like wildfire. This is my feel good post of the weekend.

A huge group of first graders in New Fairfield, Connecticut led by my cousins and their 6 year old son, have written valentines and raised a thousand dollars for supplies like instant coffee and dvd's and cd's and all sorts of other stuff for my brother-in-law in Iraq and all of the Marines of the 1/6. That's about 200 soldiers! It started out as one class writing the Marines valentines, but it turned into a huge project involving the entire first grade. They're also donating soccer balls and uniforms to Iraqi children! And my favorite part is (and isn't this the cutest!), the kids are also sending the soldiers compasses, to help them find their way home. I get teary-eyed just typing that. It's amazing what one small idea will turn into. They already have ideas for St. Patricks Day!

Here's my other favorite story of the day. At Christmastime, my sister bought a couple bottles of "Jarhead Red" wine as Christmas presents for some of our relatives, but on her way home from DC, US Air confiscated and threw them out, and would not allow her to check them. Stinkers! She blogged about it here. But someone from Jarhead Red who actually reads her blog about her husband's deployment, saw the post, and the grower replaced them all! So here's the happy result:

Thanks Jarhead Red! Thanks for putting that smile on my sister's face. It's gestures like these, words and gifts from a child and a community, and a kind hand from a thoughtful company, that help the soldiers and their wives and families stay strong through their deployments. Just remembering that our troops are over there for us, no matter what view you may have on the war itself. The support, the thankfulness and the true loveliness in peoples' hearts is so refreshing to me. I am sure that the "Old Man" is going to be one happy Marine, knowing so many people are thinking about him and his little old lady.

Another Day at the Office

Here's how I can tell that I am a stay at home mom and I am ok with this and I don't miss the office. I'm cleaning up, moving from room to room swiftly, on a mission, trying to get it all done before "Grandma" comes over so I can go to the gym. Poops is playing on the living room floor so everything I do in another room has to be at lightning speed. So, here I am, zooming around the house, putting away shoes, putting away dishes, putting dirty clothes away, and I pass by my bed and my cat hears me coming and she raises her head as if to say "hello" and we make eye contact. Then I find myself nod as I walk past and say "good morning, Putty". Just like at the office when I pass someone in the hall on the way to deliver a script to an anchor or head to the control room or get some coffee in the breakroom. I even had that comfy, rosey feeling you get after saying hello to a co-worker in the hall. It was odd. Turns out, I guess this is my "office". Apparently I just have different co-workers.

Thursday Thirteen #15

I can't believe I forgot my Thursday Thirteen this week! Wah! So here's my lame list of:

13 random oddities or non-oddities, whatever:

1. A store in Washington, D.C. was selling jelly shoes (scroll down for picture). I have already stated my views on the whole sweater with a belt thing and I feel the same about jelly shoes. Didn't we leave all this back in the 80's? Did I not get enough blisters from jelly shoes back then when the little thingies would rip at the toe? Why are these a good idea again? Who is doing this to us?

2. It's sweater weather in Florida! Yippee! I miss cold weather.

3. Poops is crawling! Yay!!! Must baby-proof stat! Anyone know how to babyproof a rigid stone fireplace?

4. Why is it that while he's surrounded by a zillion toys, it never fails that he completely ignores them, heads to the edge of the little area rug we have, lifts up the corners, puts the edges in his mouth and licks the bottom of it? No matter how many times you tell him no? Gross.

5. We have a zillion gajillion solicitors in our neighborhood and today I drove around the neighborhood until he got around the corner so he wouldn't see me pull into the driveway.

6. It's so hard to stay on the wagon when my mom makes her delicious short ribs. I must have them.

7. I am in desperate need of a pedicure. You can file that under TMI.

8. I have gotten two migraines in two days and I can't stand it.

9. I don't know what to make for dinner tonight.

10. We have a three-hour long homeowner's association meeting on Saturday afternoon. We are supposed to vote on some stuff. That is the longest meeting I've ever heard of.

11. Egad! I just realized I have to wash my floors and vaccuum if Poops is going to be all over the place!

12. What am I going to make for dinner???

13. My best friend is in town and we're going to tea tomorrow. I love tea and pink and being girly.

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

YAY! YAY! YAY! CRAWLING! YAY!!

I didn't miss it after all! OK, I did miss the initial crawl because he started the second I dropped him off at my mom's house and she called me and I turned around and sped home but I got it on camera, sweet! Here's the video:crawling.avi and it takes a little while to load but eventually it will, i swear!

Getting Carded

I rejoiced when a cashier at Publix recently carded me for wine because as the times become few and farther between I know my "getting-carded-days" are numbered. I think I may have actually thrown my arms up in the air and yelled "Thank You" when she carded me because it had been such a long time. And she, who was at least in her 50's said, "Trust me, you never know which time will be your last. Enjoy it." That was about a month ago. I haven't been carded since. Yet. And at 31, I am scared to DEATH about not ever getting carded again. It's one of the first obvious signs of the fact that I am (shudder) aging! And now I must face this! I have always looked young, and in my youth, (I could kick myself now) I hated that because people would always think me much younger than I was, and older guys wouldn't take me seriously. But getting older, it has been somewhat of a sigh of relief and a crutch, if you will, and it has helped me to continue getting carded in my 30's, which I relish. But there are these times, where, to someone else, there's no question that I am no longer that strapping little fresh-faced 2o-something, like on New Year's Eve, when the four of us "parents" went to the obvious college crowd Irish Pub and the bouncer looks at us while we take our ID's out and just matter-of-factly says, "Put em away, come on in" and doesn't even give our lonely, neglected ID's a thought or a gratuitous glance. When is the last time you got carded? Do you still get carded? When will the last time I get carded be? I fear it is close.

Back In the Saddle

A long weekend over, I am proud to say that my luggage has been emptied and stored and my laundry is already in the dryer. Yippee!! I am only rejoicing in this moment because I usually "live" out of my suitcase until everything has been worn a couple times and cannot be recycled for even one more wear and you can't tell which articles are clean or dirty and the suitcase itself looks like it has thrown up on my floor. Not today, suitcase! For the first time in my life, I have effectively unpacked in a timely manner! Yay, me! So we're back at it, with the lovely, classic, household duties abound, like washing the floors and putting new sheets on the bed and food shopping. Isn't life exciting? I guess that those fun items would be a great topic for "Tackle It Tuesday" but I have vowed to scale back on the number of meme's I partake in, and have widdled the list down to Thursday Thirteen because when I started doing "Wordless Wednesday" and "Tackle It Tuesday" in addition to the Thursday Thirteen, I had learned there was also a "Landscape Sunday" that I actually considered and realized I could actually spend entire days doing memes if I was not careful and because I have such lovely duties and tasks to fulfill my days, Thursday Thirteen would have to be it. Happy Tuesday!

Snow Day-Yes! Crap Movie-No!

Sweet! I came up to DC just in time for snow. Boy do I miss this, the smell of wood burning stoves and dipping in to the Java House for some hot cocoa with our frozen noses, frozen faces and frozen toes. I spoke to my husband in sunny FLA and Poops was wearing his tropical-wear and they were grilling out, the boys watching football all afternoon (cute!). We're leaving at 4 in the morning to head back tomorrow, and holy crap I just realized it's almost 8:30 and I'm not packed and I'm not ready and I typed that at the exact time my mom yelled out with glee, "I'm all packed and I'm all ready!" Hahaha! What a fun-filled productive and simultaneously counterproductive weekend we have had, it was wonderful! My sister and I were rendered useless Saturday after a few too many cocktails Friday night, then we went and saw ten potential condos over the duration of the weekend and we think she found The one, we went to church, went shopping, had brunch, it was so nice just us girls. We had a double-feature-movie-rental extravaganza last night and saw Little Miss Sunshine, which was so cute and funny. But I feel it is my duty to warn you, we also saw "The Last Kiss", has anyone seen this? Zach Braff and "Summer" from the O.C. were in this. We were all excited when we saw it on the shelf because we thought it would be a lovely romantic comedy. NOT SO! It was AWFUL. Especially just the three of us girls watching this away from our husbands. I swear, there was a "worst case scenario" for each one of us and as we're watching it, we're each secretly thinking "What If" in our scared little wife heads and by the end we were exhausted and depressed and mad at our husbands even though they hadn't done anything. It was all about sucky guys, one cheats, another leaves his wife who just had a baby, and a couple in a 30 year marriage breaks up. If you have a relationship you are happy in or treasure even remotely, please don't watch this movie. You will think it is doomed after this. It was the last thing we saw before going to bed and we all had nightmares all night long. Blockbuster: I want my money back! Anyway, I'm missing the boy so much and I'm ready to come home. He has not started crawling to my knowledge yet. And he has reportedly been fussy all day and I would like to think it is because he missed his mommy. Don't I wish!

The Jelly Shoe Motherload

Can someone tell me when on earth these came back?

Astute Observations #2

Good news: Despite failed attempt at holiday dieting, still only require one seat on Southwest Airlines flight.

High Chair or Exersaucer, Please!

If husband could just keep Poops in the high chair or exersaucer all weekend while I'm gone, that would be great. We were so close to crawling tonight. So. Close. There was still a window for me to see it before I go. But now I am leaving at 8am Friday and the window has closed. He will wake up right before I go and then I am sure he will crawl at 8:01. I am wallowing in self pity. While watching The O.C. Which is completely tanking by the way. If Ryan writes poetry and recites it for Taylor, I will throw up.

Anyway, I've never been away from Poops this long. I haven't flown by myself in two years. This is a big deal for me. I feel like such a different person than I used to be. As a singleton I flew all the time by myself when I lived in NYC and Salt Lake. I flittered and fluttered about. Took trips with friends, drank life in. Made decisions based on how much was left of my paycheck that week. Life was so easy and complicated back then. It's still easy and a little more complicated now, but in a completely different way. A lovely way. I used to get so claustrophobic when people (boyfriends, friends, family) closed in on me and I always needed my space. Now I can't live without them. Any of them. I realize that more now being married, with a baby, with our parents nearby and I can't get enough of them, and I want to eat them all up. Life would just be complete if my sister and my best friend both moved back here. I find myself in such an unfamiliar place. I never thought this would be me. The family girl. But it is now. I love it. My how times change.

Crawling or no crawling, this weekend's gonna be fun! Seeing my sister and my mom and eating tapas and going to the movies and having Sunday brunch and getting our nails done. We're such girls. And flying alone, with my IPod and my book and whatever lovely Starbucks beverage I partake in and my new pink and brown luggage. I've left lists of nap and food schedules. Packed a diaper bag for my husband. This is a big deal for him, too. He hasn't taken Poops out alone once yet, except to the doctor, and that doesn't count! Not sure if I'll get to blog over the weekend but I'll try. Have a good weekend everyone!

Oh, and yes, Ryan wrote the poetry. Barf.

Some Shout-Outs While I'm at it - (Scroll for Thursday 13)

Oh, I added a couple of neato little sidebar thingies that I found while browsing other bloggers' sites and I wanted to give credit where credit is due of course. See that little word thingy on the side? That's really fun, Momma Bee had that one from "Snapshirts". And my little mood finder on the side? That one from the Irish Church Lady. She has a lot of cute little sidebar thingies and a great recap of The Office usually! Thanks lady!

Panic Mode (Scroll down for Thursday Thirteen)

As I sit here watching Poops rolling around on the floor, squealing and chirping and picking up my hair (I know, gross! I don't know why it happens but my hair gets everywhere! Even with my new Dirt Devil Broom Vac on the job!) I am in a complete and utter panic. Poops is literally going to crawl any minute. Any second, really! And I'm going out of town tomorrow! Noooo! He gets the legs under him, scoots just a little, butt up in the air, then falls flat and flaps his arms like he's swimming. I am excited about the near crawling, but he's so close I am afraid I am going to miss it! I am going out of town tomorrow and I just know I am going to miss this huge monumental feat! I am crying inside! I am going to DC to hang out with my sister and I've been looking forward to this trip for a while. Her husband's deployment has just been extended so my trip is timing out well. My mom is already up there and it will be just us girls, and it will be a blast filled with manicures, pedicures, delectible meals and hopefully dancing. But please, Aidan, for the love of everything, please wait for mommy to get back before you crawl! I have left my job to teach you and take care of you and play with you and to make sure I don't miss your milestones! Please wait for me! Or if you must crawl, do it today! Do it right now! I am begging!

Thursday Thirteen #14

Is it me or was there a long streak of crappy tv post-Friends and post-Seinfeld, and now all of a sudden there's a bunch of great tv? Anyway, here's my list:

13 of my All-Time Favoritest TV Shows Ever:

1. Seinfeld. My favorite. I could live on Seinfeld re-runs. Stellllaaaaaaaaaaa!

2. American Idol. Who can't resist the train wreck that are the millions who think they're the next American Idol but can't hit a note and flail their arms about? I love this show! I watch the try-outs then usually develop a lack of interest with the hundreds in Hollywood and start to like it again when there are about 20 left.

3. The Office. I watch this through my open fingers most of the time because I get so embarrassed by Michael's stupidity. This week we're celebrating "Oscar's Mexicanity".

4. Charles in Charge. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this show, but never got into it when it was actually on. I watched all the re-runs, kind of like Seinfeld. Where are they now??

5. Speaking of where are they now... where's my favorite cartoon 7th grader "PepperAnn?" This is the funniest cartoon ever and it's not one of those grown-up cartoons, it's an actual cartoon geared for the youngins with life lessons. It's missing now, and I've found chat rooms full of people wanting the DVD or something to whet they're PepperAnn whistle. Did I say that out loud?

6. Gilmore Girls. If loving Gilmore Girls is wrong, I don't wanna be right!

7. The Today Show. I've tried to not include this, but I'm hooked! I don't feel right if I don't see what the three top stories are, or what my husband and I call the "do do do" (like the music open).

8. The O.C. My favorite over-the-top a-little-too dramatic soap opera involving rich kids. They're canceling this show (shocking I know) but I am actually sad about it (even though admittedly I am sick of the re-use of all the plots i.e. conflict followed by Ryan punching someone.) I hope it finds a home on the CW. I'll still watch it.

9. Psych. USA played a few episodes last year and I was HOOKED! The funniest cop show about a pretend psychic who's really just really really observant, and helps police solve crimes. It starts Friday night again. USA Network, 10pm. Watch it! I swear you'll love it!

10. Best Week Ever. VH1. Hil-ar-ious. A re-cap of the week's news and events on tv and in Hollywood. 11pm Friday nights.

11. Hogan Knows Best. I'm such a sucker! I know! Who doesn't love the antics of these "natural" blondes at home?

12. Everyday Italian. Food Network. I have found so many awesome recipes that are now a part of my staples. Super easy homemade cinnamon buns that rock (used these for some Christmas presents), spiked iced cappuccinos, mini-frittatas are just a couple of them. Try these, you'll love them! Great for Sunday brunch.

13. Heroes. Returning Monday night!!!! Weeeee! I am very passionate about this show for some reason and if you don't watch it, I implore you, find the re-runs on SciFi and watch them and catch up on this show, it's awesome! So excited! It feels like I've been waiting forever!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Crazy T-Shirt-Head

I know, I haven't been on in a few days and this is the best I got. My mind is totally blank.
Yes, I realize this is lame. Put a T-Shirt on the baby's head. I feel like it's still the weekend, really and I am still in that post-weekend fog. We had some friends stay with us from Friday until Monday and today I was running around all day and we had a birthday party to go to tonight, so I feel like I'm stuck in Sunday and have not yet moved forward. My cousin is a cop, (or officer, rather, because I guess the word "cop" is derogatory, did you know that?) so I got him a gift certificate to Dunkin Donuts because cops like donuts, right? Hahaha! I really did. And about halfway to his house, I realized I forgot the card, and from where we were driving to their house there was no Walgreens, CVS, nothing, because they live in kind of a rural (beautiful, but rural) area, so I had to stop at a truck stop along the interstate, which had lots of Florida souvenirs but of course, no cards. So I bought a yellow legal pad and a box of envelopes and I made my own. This is the part where I realized that I have no skills whatsoever in drawing, sketching or any kind of art unfortunately, and the cop car I drew on the front looked like that car from Car 54. And it was all bumpy because I was drawing on the road. Hey, it's the thought, right? Off to bed now.

Stating the Obvious Rule #3

We have wild parrots in Florida. I love it! But note to self: do not stand directly under a tree full of them while trying to take their picture. Because this is what happens.

My Boys

These are my boys. Isn't this what makes it all worth it? Sigh. It just warms my cockles! Living in Florida in January isn't so bad either. I'm having a moment. Talk amongst yourselves.

Dirt Devil Broom Vac

I promised I'd tell you my thoughts on the Dirt Devil Broom Vac and here it is. This is an instance where the commercial totally worked on me. Here's the commercial, and I'm dying of laughter because it was actually on You Tube! HAHAHA! Anyway, I got it for $49.99 at Target, I called ahead for the red one and it was actually the only Broom Vac on the shelf so they held it for me. On the Dirt Devil Web site the vac comes in a bevvy of fun colors. I wasn't sure of the assembly, I guess I expected it to be somewhat elaborate like everything in the Mom World is, requiring multiple screwdrivers and wrong instructions. So I took the box to the couch with me and sat down in front of "You, Me, and Dupree" to begin. I was looking for the assembly instructions and there were none. I was miffed. Turns out you just screw the handle in and "Voila!" It's assembled. So you plug it in to charge, it needs 16-20 hours, and it can sit on the charger forever afterward in between uses. It's a little loud, but not vaccuum loud, so that's ok with me. I used it first around the cat box, which was disgusting. It got EVERYTHING! I used it around the cat dish. Once again, lovely! I am loving this. My long hair that collects on the bathroom floor (gross I know), it got it all. The only thing is that if you don't empty out the dirt dish frequently, it doesn't suck as well. But once you clean it out, it's good to go again. I read a lot of reviews that said it was heavy (no it is not, it's actually quite light), and that it didn't work on large areas (that's not true either, it's not supposed to completely replace a broom). I give this an big old "Christmas Story" A + + +. I can wash my floors then keep them clean with this forever, and as Poops starts getting around more, this will become invaluable. I love it. This wonderful, magical electric broom will soon take its place along my "favorite things" sidebar. FYI: I do not get compensated in any way for any reviews, I just want to pass along my favorite things.

A little while longer

Not minutes after the President's speech this week, my brother-in-law learned he was staying in Iraq just a little while longer. At least two months longer. My sister calls it a "do-over", remember when we were little kids and we could wipe the slate clean by just yelling "do-over!" You can head over to her blog and her post about the extension here. The Marines of the 1/6 are doing wonderful things over there along with all of our servicemen and women. Please continue to keep them and their families awaiting their safe return in your prayers. Love you, Old Man! Stay safe! And old lady, stay strong! We're always here!

Thursday 13-gasp-#13!!!!

It's been a very busy week for me post stomach thing having regained my energy and then some and going on an unplanned massive re-organization blitz, so that's the subject of my very lucky Thursday Thirteen:

13 things I did this week, and by week I mean since last Thursday, because my weeks revolve around Thursday 13:

1. Conquered a stomach virus with, sadly, no weight-loss benefits whatsoever. Pure misery, no food and no weight-loss??? Bugger! Bugger! Bugger!

2. Went to church, with Poops in tow, who was a little angel the whole time. Loved the singing, loved the reading, loved the repetitive standing and sitting. We were in the cry room just in case but I think we're ready for the pew. Or am I flying too close to the sun?

3. Bleached bathroom shower grout to a beautiful, sparkling, white that any mother and mother-in-law would be proud of! Also, made multiple guest bathroom improvements (see below). Although very time consuming, it was very cheap, and the bathroom looks spectacular, if I do say so myself.

4. Redecorated guest bedroom with new duvet, pillows, and hung pictures. Although, we are trying not to put too much work into it should it become, ahem, another nursery at some point in the not-so-distant future, maybe. Or maybe not.

5. Cleaned out office which had become holding place slash refuge for misfit boxes after cleaning of guest room. Let's not kid ourselves, a lot of the cleaning in our house has been the shifting of boxes from the guest room to the office to the garage to the office to the guest room. Must. Stop. Vicious. Cycle.

6. Cleaned out and re-organized baby clothing. No more 3-6 month clothes! Wah!

7. About a million bazillion loads of laundry. I have put away 99% of it right away, but I must admit there is one load begging me, looking up at me with its lonely laundry eyes, longing to join its brothers and sisters in the mothership that is my closet, and I just haven't gotten to it yet.

8. Cabinet containing wine and martini glasses and pilsner mugs moved and redistributed to make room for baby bowls, bottles, cups, fingerfoods, utensils. Sign of the times!

9. Cleaned out redicu-pantry and added a lovely, very useful lazy susan for husband's "beer can chicken" spices. Maybe you've never heard of a beer-can chicken, but I implore you, try it! My husband's has become legendary. I digress.

10. Made reservations for lovely February anniversary weekend at the beach. 2 years! Love ya, babe!

11. Bought a Dirt Devil Broom Vac that is charging right now as we speak and I am so utterly excited to try this thing I am busting, Jerry! I'm busting! I've actually had Ralphie-like Christmas Story daydream visions of the broom turning me into a fantastic wife and mother. I'll let you know if it works or if it's crap. But I will say, the assembly was simply marvelous. I sat down with the thing, ready for anything, and discovered no assembly directions. Turns out, you just stick the handle in, and voila, a fantastic (fingers crossed) magic electronic broom!

12. Re-upholstered two ottoman cubes with a lovely, chenille-type red fabric, so that they might become new, very fashionable homes to the massive amounts of toy buildup in living room.

13. Cleaned out disgusting refrigerator and the sad remnants of 2006. Ready for new, better, healthier and less sticky foods in 2007.

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Organizationfest 2007

I wish I had done this before. Do you have any idea how little money it takes to improve your current bathroom situation? Our guest bathroom was downright embarrassing (sorry family members and friends who have been so nice to not make any mention of this ever!) and I have been scared of it since we moved into our house a year and a half ago. I finally tackled it this week, along with a multitude of organizational feats I am proud to have embarked on and emerged victorious from (hall closet, pantry, guest room, office, bedroom closet, baby's room-apparently got my energy back after my stomach thingy), but my most proud moment came from this grody bathroom. Sigh. I cannot reiterate enough how much I wish we had done this long, long ago. Just a tiny bit of money and we've bought ourselves some time until we can actually do the big stuff (pedestal sink, new floor, new bath, new toilet, etc etc.) Here's what I did: Changed the bathroom seat from its older, 1980's wooden counterpart: $9.99. (Did you know they made wooden toilet seats? Barf.) Grout cleaner for bathroom shower: $4.99 + a little elbow grease. Well ok, a lot of elbow grease, but well worth the investment of time and 5 bucks. New showerhead: $29.99. Those, along with the deletion of the gross scummy shower doors, and the addition of a very cute plain white shower curtain, and a tiny bit of re-caulking (not to mention lots of "where's my caulk" jokes) and get yourself a magazine people, you've got yourself a bathroom that you might actually enjoy spending time in! That was $45 bucks and the result is priceless. Never underestimate the power of good grout cleaner. I'm serious.

Staring down the barrel of mobility

You're just so darned proud of yourself aren't you?? I went in to retrieve Poops from his nap and this is what I walked in to. He hadn't yet sat up by himself so this was a first for him. After that he wouldn't stop doing it. At bedtime after we read and I put him down, I cracked the door to peek at him, and there I see, his big ol' head in front of the little rainforest aquarium thingy on his crib, sitting up, playing with the bird and the monkeys. And an hour later, after our little game of up, down, come on sweetie go sleepies, up down, up down (I should've known better) he finally tired himself out. Didn't want to waste his newfound talent I guess! I don't know whether to gasp or clap, maybe a little of both, but sweet fancy moses, we're staring down the barrel of mobility! To the babyproofing aisle, troops! Arm yourselves!

So, About New Years

I love girlfriends. My best friend, Clairanne, who I've known since 7th grade, was in town for Christmas and she and I and our husbands got New Year's night off, while our parents were watching all our kids for the night. We thought real hard about where we would go(the possibilities were endless!), but we thought so hard that Monday turned into Friday and we still didn't have anything booked so we went with a recommendation of one of her friends and made a reservation at a restaurant at one of our trendier neighborhoods. As soon as we walked up to the restaurant place New Years Eve, I remembered I had been there before. It was the time when I was in my early 20's fresh out of college and still poor with my first job at a tv station at the bottom rung on the ladder and one of my co-workers and I went out for martinis at this place. It's kind of a jazzy, hip martini bar-slash-restaurant. At the time, it was way above us. We already had a few martinis and we wanted an appetizer but remember this is back when we were poor, and we knew that if we had an appetizer we wouldn't have money for a tip. UNLESS we used our laundry quarters for a tip! Sweet! Appetizer, it is. Yes, not one of my grandest moments, but our stomachs were full and we didn't stiff her, so hey!

So this is where we were for New Years, and as we walked in through the door, with a Donna Summer-like singer belting out some serious classics, and people were already dancing! yes, dancing already! The night was filled with promise. The hostess led us to our table and I stood there in disbelief thinking as I saw the back of her head flittering away...uh.. wait.. wait? THIS is it? This. is where we're sitting. We're literally right exactly directly in front of where the waiters and waitresses pick up all the food. No wall in between, the servers grab the food which could seriously hang directly over our heads while they're piling the dishes on their arms. IN the kitchen. It is a table with giant, wingbacked chairs, that looks like it was thrown together at the last minute and the chairs were pulled out from the back somewhere. When Clairanne's husband began eating his salad, I outbursted laughing because he looked so tiny in that big chair, and the table was so high up, and we felt like we were all at the kids table. Don't get me wrong, big huge comfy chairs usually make everything better for me. And it almost did. It became the novelty of the night and we were sorry we hadn't brought a camera (can you believe that! no record of this at all!) and after two martinis it became kind of funny. Until the real band came on. No dancing. No lovely donna-summer-like tunes. Hmm. How to describe it? A bunch of just over 40ish middle aged white men wanna be rockers stuck in the really bad rock of the 70's? Not the good kind. I like 70's music. One of them wearing a string tie. I can usually suck it up for any type of music. But we were all in agreement that we just couldn't this time. And it was the really obscure stuff that no one knew any of the words to. Actually, maybe I mean no one our age would know the words. But this was sort of the crowd that could deal with that, and I'm not sure what that means, but they weren't young, and they weren't our age, I guess they were older, in a weird sort of way. So we went to an Irish pub nearby, because it was popular and you could hear the crowd from far away, and this was at 10:30 and we thought this might be a good place to spend the new year. As we walked in and saw the very youngish crowd, the bouncer at the door waved us off of showing him our ID's and we knew we weren't really going to particularly fit in here either, but this was it, this was where we would stay. He actually took a look at us and said no, I don't need to see your ID's come on in. This is actually the place we would have been 10 years ago. We were at least 10 years old than everyone in there. A young man passed me and called me ma'am. I am a ma'am now. I had 4 drinks immediately.

But you know, we had our kisses and our hugs and watched the ball drop with the new youth of today, and we were with the people we wanted to be. My best friend, and our best friends. It was nice. But boy were these new year's events laughable, because aren't they all, really? We always make these plans to have the best night ever and it always turns into a airquote -experience-unairquote. Last year, I woke Evan up at midnight to toast our sparkling apple juice because I was pregnant and we stayed home. The year before that we went to Vegas and the milk in the mudslides turned on me before midnight and Anna Nicole Smith was there doing the countdown and Evan thought she was eating a huge celery stalk on stage when it was really a noisemaker. He was actually convinced it was a celery stalk and I had to show him the next day with the pictures that no, she was not eating celery during the countdown. I did one Time's Square new years, worked on the millennium because the world was supposed to collapse and I worked in news, fought with my boyfriend on at least 3 new years occasions, spent it with strangers in a bar in Brooklyn... you know. The string of New Years events are always comical to me in hindsight but as long as I'm with people I love dearly, I know it's going to be a good one. That's what counts, right?

So much to write, so little focus

I don't even know where to start, there is so much that's blogworthy, and I find it easier to play Thursday 13 than to sit down and write all the funny blogables swirling around in my mind. From New Year's Eve to New Year's day and beyond, I have to sit and write it all down. But I've been holed up in my house for the last three days with what I will only call for everyone "something stomach" and it's what I would call "not good." Period. And poor Poops has been playing in his little Dome tent thingy and staring up at me as if to say, "won't you play with me?" And I will try, I will play laughing games and clapping games and singing games, but my stomach will roll over and my head will split and I will quit for a few minutes before he looks at me with those cute puppy eyes and turns his face into a full smile and asks me in his own wordless way, play with me again? And we will do it again. And I will take a break. And the cycle continues. Today I ventured out for some Pepto and I could tell Poops was happy to get some much needed fresh air. But I broke out into cold sweats and had to get us home pretty quickly. Don't worry, I'll end it there. Anyway, I love being a first-time mom and experiencing all the wonderment of the firsts along with the little boy. It's truly amazing to watch him figure out a skill and literally practice it over and over until it is perfected and to see the progress. Every week it is something else. This week, it's his little pincer grasp. He's been eating finger foods for a while, but I usually have to end up giving it to him because he gets frustrated and starts to wail after about 5 little carrot pieces land in his lap. But now he's working on his "strategery" and if he can't get it with the one hand, he swoops in with the other and flails the food into his mouth like a catapult and it's hysterical to watch. And all this playing on the floor hasn't been all terrible for him, he's starting to do the "bounce" on all fours, so he may finally be trying to crawl, and I watched him for about 10 minutes trying to go from belly to sitting upright, and every time he'd almost get there, he'd topple over. Don't even get me started on the clapping! I just love this.

Thursday Thirteen #12

Yes, I know this has been done before but I can't help myself, some of the google searches that have led people to my blog have been pretty funny, so that's mine this week:
13 WEIRD, ODD AND MISC. GOOGLE SEARCHES THAT GOT PEOPLE HERE

1. Males Dressed Up In Tights. I forgot I actually wrote about men in tights. I'm not quite sure why someone was searching for "males dressed up in tights" but to each their own. I am not to judge. Or as Jerry Seinfeld might say: "not that there's anything wrong with that."
2. Poopy Art Sprinkles. I'm not sure what to say about this one.
3. Margaret Thatcher Underwear. I believe Margaret Thatcher was mentioned in one of my previous Thursday 13's used as a Mike Myers reference: Margaret Thatcher naked on a cold day Margaret Thatcher naked on a cold day!
4. Lamosil. Another Thursday 13! on things I can live without, like those gross Lamosil commercials. Coincidentally I haven't seen these on in a while. Knock on wood.
5. Send Jude Law a Happy Birthday and Happy New Year. Hmm. Were they trying to send Jude Law a greeting? Or send a greeting with Jude Law on it? Anyway, I suspect they got here through my movie review on The Holiday, and I must say Jude Law was simply scrumptious in that movie and I am not a huge Jude Law fan.
6. New Mom Haircut. I haven't actually gotten one of these yet but as it's starting to take me a good 1/2 hour to dry my long hair I'm seriously considering it. But I guess the person searching for mom haircuts got here because of the time I accidentally, to my dismay, tried on "mom jeans".
7. Suggested playlists for labor maternity. I wish I could get in touch with this person! I had two of them, one of them with yoga music and one of them with total rock-out music. I figured I'd be in one mood or the other, and I went with yoga and it was wonderful. The other one made me nauseous. But I'd give her my playlists if I could!
8. Crazy Aunt Flow. Hahaha! This one cracks me up. I wrote about "aunt flow" in my 100 things about myself. It can probably be filed under the TMI category.
9. Decoupage. Not once, but twice! I guess it's not that funny. But decoupage is one of my favorite words. Mainly because it can be used to describe lots of different things. A decoupage, if you will!
10. Mom Jeans You Tube. Ah, the mom jeans post again. I suspect they were trying to get the SNL clip of Mom Jeans, which is hilarious! You can click on it to watch.
11. Baby Jack Baby. Possibly looking for something from the Incredibles? I'm not sure. Anyway, Poops dressed up as Baby Jack Jack for a superheroes birthday party. I use "dressed up" loosely, it was a tiny mask.
12. OK I'm cheating on the last two because I don't quite have 13 searches for mine, but when I lost my keys and was completely torn up about it (I think I had thrown them out) I googled "Where are my keys?" hoping to find the answer and you wouldn't believe how many funny articles and/or blogs I found. Anyway, google didn't offer me any answers as to where my keys were, which I had hoped that maybe the planets would align and send me a sign through google but they didn't, and I shelled out a couple hundred dollars to have the keys re-digitized. Thanks a lot, google!
13. Last one belongs to my sister at http://www.oldmanhancock.blogspot.com who google searched "diced ham" yesterday to find a picture of it for a post and it cracked me up when she told me she found tons of pictures of it and here is the picture she used:

You can google anything! Isn't it magical?

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

I'm It!

OK! I've been tagged by Robin so here goes, sorry it took me so long! 5 things you may not know about me although after reading hers which are very humorous, I am not sure I can come up with 5 things that aren't totally lame but I'll try:

1. I hate raisins. HATE them. But I LOVE Raisinettes, and Raisin Bran, which I have found, doubles as a great dinner. I don't know why raisins are acceptable to me in these forms, because the thought of raisins actually makes me want to barf.
2. My favorite sport ever is baseball and I've played it since I was really young and was very often the only girl on all-boys' teams in little league. I tried out for the boys Junior Varsity baseball team in 9th grade. My boyfriend who was a senior broke up with me. Jerk.
3. I have a huge fear of public speaking. Even among small groups in a meeting. Or saying grace. Wherever eyes are on me and everything stops and I hear the sound of my own voice. It's actually quite odd because I am usually the "outgoing" one in the group. But when I'm put on the spot in a group, I picture what people might be seeing or thinking while listening to me, and I become acutely aware of my own voice, then I blank and freak out. I took a performance class once in college and I had to "act out" a poem, "Dancing on the Grave of a Son of a Bitch" which was a really great and animated poem, I remember a lot of it still. But halfway through my performance, I became aware of the "eyes" on me and got lost and stopped. My teacher told me to keep going, even improvise if I wanted to, and instead, I fled! I fled the class! I got a C which was very generous. I still can't believe I left. I think about that all the time. I think about doing toastmasters one day. Did you know they have some classes at 7:45 am??
4. I get scared really easily. I used to think it was just because I was really jumpy. It probably is partly that, but a bigger part of it is that while I'm doing something, I tend to block everything out and be completely in my own world. I could be putting on my makeup and Evan will come into the room and be walking the whole way so that I should be able to see him coming in the mirror, but I'll only see him at the last minute and jump a mile. I'll be thinking about some conversation I had or what I should wear or when I should do this or that. He'll talk to me outside the shower without warning and scare the crap out of me. He now resorts to yelling "husbands are moving!" as he walks around the house so he can warn me of his whereabouts. It has actually gotten so bad that my towel upon my head has even scared me...I saw a part of it in my periphery and jumped and it turned out to be part of the towel.
5. I dream in plots. Not all the time, but a lot of it. I once saw a commercial I think it was for a Volkswagon that asked "do you dream in color?" and I thought, that's really interesting, and tried to remember that after one of my dreams and yes, I do. I used to write short stories from my dreams in college. I dreamt once that a plane I was on crashed, I even remember where I was sitting on the plane, which seat and everything. The pilot had to crash-land our plane on a winding mountain road and we were safe, but at the last minute the pilot had a change of heart and drove us right off the side! So the next thing I know, I'm walking up to a big burnt out spot on a field where there are flowers and memorials and there is a media trailer nearby where all of my co-workers who were covering the story were congregating. And I went into the trailer, but no one could see me and I realized it was because I was dead. Shortly after, I figured out that someone could see me IF they wanted to, and if they happened to be looking in my direction but both of those things had to happen at the same time or it wouldn't work. And I learned that my job as a dead person was to try and get that to work, so that I could tell the world that the plane crash wasn't a horrible accident. That it was pilot suicide. And then I would get to go to heaven. It's probably been a good 8 years since I dreamt that and I still remember every detail. Anyway those are my 5 things! I'm tagging Connie and Anna Mary! You're it!

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

The new year is always a time of reflection for me mostly because I cannot believe -whoosh!- an entire year has passed and it just went so fast! Every year at the beginning I sit here and think, I wonder what will happen this year. And then I look back and think, holy crap, I never saw that coming! So here's to a happy and healthy 2007 for all of us. May nothing take us completely by surprise (in a bad way of course, good surprises are always welcomed!) May we make good choices and rebound happily from the bad. May we love, play, dance, hug, kiss, pray, laugh, and cry as hard as we can. And may we never have to watch two males in yellow miner outfits pair skating on the Today Show ever again.

CHEERS! HAPPY 2007!