Snow Day 1/30/2010

So for those of you in snowy climates you may be saying "Pish Tosh!"...but we're non-snow getting beach dwellers and this is a blustery big deal. We're loving it...just so long as it doesn't make a habit around here.

Have You Ever...

...Had some news that you were dying to share but felt like if you did you would be jinxing the outcome?

I feel like I'm going to have a stinkin' stroke, that's how excited I am. But I can't tell anyone. Well, it's not that I can't - it's like I said, I might jinx it. And it's not some super secretive secret because the people involved know. So does my mom....because I had to tell someone and telling your mom doesn't count in the jinxing department. Does it? Please, please, please with sugar on top tell me it doesn't.

And I really want to tell you right now too. But I better not. AAAAH! See what I mean?

I feel like by this time next Friday I can safely spill the beans. But that's like an eternity plus 2 light years away. Or 7 full days. Same diff.

Why can't I get my mind off of it and focus on other things? I swear it's like I have Headline News going on in my noggin - the kind that they cancel regularly scheduled programs for, with limited commercial interruption, and I actually NEED some commercial interruptions to distract me.

And if my heart pounds any harder? It's gonna look like my boobs are pulsating or training for the Olympics. (Anyone for boob-sledding?)

I am possibly even more excited than Hillary Clinton:

Thousand(s!) Word Thursday

The middle kid. The forgotten Jan Brady of the bunch...yeah right! Forgotten my Aunt Fanny!

This kid is hilarious. He plays with the little kids, stays cool with his peers, and digs family game night with the old folks. And by old folks I mean us and the aunts & uncles.

He's hard to beat with the comebacks & one liners...his timing is impeccable, expressions fabulous, and delivers it dry as a bone.

But I'm not biased or anything.

My Wordless Wednesday...

...is chock FULL of words, cause' it's all about my new book.

Well, really it's an old'ish book that I ordered from my bookclub back in 2008 (probably available in paperback by now) and never got around to reading.

I spotted it on my bedroom bookshelf last night.

Or maybe it spotted me? And was all, "Hey, you in the pink lipstick flannel pj's - you ever gonna read me? I'm worth it you know. Not trying to brag, just sayin' you bought me for a reason and I don't think it was to gather dust. Speaking of dust, could you maybe get that layer on tops of my pages?"

Either way, we have found each other again and I am loving it.
(Pretty sure Glinda The Good Witch book mark is diggin' it too.)

Don't take my word for it, HERE's what Barnes & Noble has to say.

Post It Note Tuesday

I'm hopping on the Post It Note wagon! You can place all blame firmly on Blaze & Crochet, she inspired me.
Also, clicking here will give you the low down:


Let's get back to me now, shall we?

An Answered Prayer

Have you ever been so worried about something that the only thing you could do was pray?

That was me last night.

I'll be honest with you and admit that I don't always pray on purpose everyday.

But last night I sure did....I prayed myself to sleep and had some crazy, vivid dreams. The kind that have you feeling worn out even after several hours of sleep.

When I woke up I said another quick prayer, but with less fervency because I figured I'd given it over and now I needed to have faith that I was heard. Try as I might, I cannot control everything and giving myself permission to let go is not always easy. (Even if I AM the Mama!)

This morning, not long after my feet hit the floor, my prayer was answered.

And now? I literally feel a weight lifted. I've heard people say that before, but really and truly, I feel lighter.

That's all...just had to share.

Shaken, Not Stirred

Just when I got the hang of my Go-Girl (not really) there's another naughty and much more twisted infomercial in town. I can't lie to you, it's captivating and mezmerizing me. But since I'm a little off my game this morning (having hot tea instead of coffee...I love you coffee, come back!) I'm going to let Ellen and Queen Latifah show you what I mean....

THE SHAKE WEIGHT!





And there you have it.

1 Month, 1 Week, and 1 Day

From the day Gran died to the day Bobby (Gran's mother) died. She passed away with a broken heart on Friday, January 8th. She would have turned 93 yesterday.

We were trying to move her here, to Virginia, with us....I thought for sure that if she could come to live with us, with my boys, that she would hang on forever. Logically, I know that's not true. And logically I know that she lived a long, full, adventuresome life....but I don't want to be logical right now. I miss her terribly.

REST IN PEACE

"Bobby"

Edith Carlisle Bridge

January 10, 1917 ~ January 8, 2010

Dishrags Don't Have To Be Ugly

I didn't really make any "New Year's Resolutions" per say, but I did resolve to spend more time crocheting. For me, the simple act of unwinding a ball of yarn while hooking it into a whole other thing is satisfying, gratifying, and de-stress-ifying... 

So today, while lounging next to my sleeping hubbo (who has to go back to work tonight, sigh...), I grabbed a ball of cotton & decided to make some new dish scrubbies. Following an old potholder pattern from memory, I conjured up this lil' dress/slash/dishrag. If I were the type to dress up my bottles of Dawn (which I'm not) this would look cute (to very few people) except that it would need a neck hole. And I draw the line at dressing my soap. Here she sits in a cup & saucer that I washed just to try her out...useful little thing, isn't she?

Happy Hooking Kids!

PS: Thats not a ring at the top, I just wound a few strands around my fingers & SC'd over it...that way I can hang it from the soap dispenser on my sink & it won't dry stinky.

Saddle Up Kids, Let's Take Stroll....

...right down memory lane...

It was Spring 2006 and we were settling happily into our rented townhouse by the beach. It wasn't the house we'd dreamed of buying here in Virginia, but we'd arrived in the dead of winter and after 2 months of living with the sibling-in-laws my husband (rightfully) feared that I would go Lizzie Borden if he didn't get me out of there, pronto. Not that my husbands family is bad, just, well - you move 3000 miles away & go live with people you barely know for 2 months and report back and then we'll talk, ok?


So anyways, back to settling happily into our rented townhouse by the beach...


I loved it! Sure, it was smaller than what we were used to, but I've mentioned "by the beach" twice now because, um, it's by the beach and what's not to love about that? Way better than a big backyard, hands down.


As I set about to make this little place our own, it became apparent that using too much of my same decor & chatchkies from "back home" was making us all a little homesick. I placed my favorites, stored the rest, and went shopping! at  Dillards Walmart and Nordstroms Target and Pier One and Kirklands. (Kirklands, in case you don't know, is like the Holy Land of all things home decor at supah-affordable prices.) I bought towels and dishes and curtains, oh my!  It was euphoric.


But the kids needed a little sumpin-sumpin, and I'm not talking 6-foot beach towels, no matter how cute. They needed a critter. Sure, we had big-fat-mean-cat Uma who came with us from California, but they needed something else.


A fish! Yeah, fish are cool, low-key, won't pee on the floor and just so happen to be on sale at Walmart. My dudes picked out a very colorful beta with bright reds & blue & quickly dubbed him Superman. I bought one of those big plant vases and pretty baubles for the bottom for him to live in, but no plant. The ones they had were a tad on the Little Shop of Horrors side and I figured better no plant than an ugly plant. Right?


Superman proved to be very cool and he clearly loved us very much. Any time I, I mean, the boys would press their noses to the vase he would get all flashy with those fins & show off.


"Mom, are you ever going to get a plant for Superman?", AJ asked a couple weeks later.


To be honest, I sort of like him "sans plant" - but AJ proceeded to lecture me about how beta fish like to play & sleep among the roots and how we were basically forcing him to live unsheltered and how he had no place to poop in private and pretty much making me feel like a neglectful fish owner. Was I really forcing Superman to hold in bowel movements until lights out so he could "go" unwatched? Did I really just ask myself that question? (Note to self: pick up a good book.)


The next morning I bought a plant: a beautiful but small peace lily that looked perfect in the fish vase.


And that afternoon...Superman died.


Yes, I killed - nay, murdered - Superman with a peace lily. Who knew they were freaking poisonous? Like kryptonite? Ok, besides you, who else knew? I just thought they were pretty, and it was springtime, very nearly Easter, it seemed appropriate at the time, ok? Get off my case.


I flew back to Walmart for a Superman replacement before the kids got home, you know, like any desperate Mom would do.


Except...they didn't have any in red & blue. Naturally. (At which point I probably cussed out loud.)

So I went to the pet store...where they didn't have any either. (At which point I definitely cussed out loud.)
******


Max was the first to notice: "What the heck?....MOM! Superman is a goldfish!" he hollered in amazement.


"Dude, that's not Superman," AJ glared at me.


"Sure it is, he's just Clark Kent right now." And then I walked away. Because I? Am an evil genius like that.


The end.

Oh One-Oh One, One Oh!

 Hello 2010, I'm so happy to meet you! I have to say, we've gotten of to a fairly beautiful start - beginning with a big, fat kiss on the lips from hubbo!

And then there is the whole Wii thing, where I am (finally!!) a mere 30 years of age.

Fitnessly speaking, of course: