Sturgmom, In General

Summer Funnin'

2011-06-30T07:38:00.000-07:00

I cried "uncle" today, begging tearfully for summer fun to grant me a day off. Between all the days we've been away (planned and unplanned), plus my self-appointed job as Official Children's Summer Social Director (the pay is terrible- sometimes it even COSTS money out of my own pocket), I'm tired. My eyes are literally burning from the tired. Or it could be from the Central Texas pollen count, but it sounds more dramatic if I blame it on being tired.

And speaking of burning, Y'ALL. It's desert hot here. We're considering developing some kind of asbestos clothing to prevent us from walking outside and catching fire from the heat. I think the risk of spontaneous combustion would be greater than the risk of mesothelioma. Seriously.

Anyway, today's plan, Operation Everyone Just Be Quiet, went pretty well. I spent most of the morning on the couch pretending to fold laundry. Can it be called "pretending" if no one is really watching? Or caring? Basically, I sat on the couch surrounded by piles of laundry that needed to be folded and put away and every few minutes I tore my eyes away from the Today Show or the internet and thought, "I should fold this laundry." It was very effective.

I also successfully threatened the boys that they would have to do extra chores if they got too rowdy. To support my fake laundry-folding initiative and to maintain some peace, they were strictly instructed to either watch TV or read books.

Listen, I'm all for kids completing chores simply because they are a part of a family and everyone is expected to pitch in regularly with no expectation of reward, but what's good parenting without sending some mixed messages to kids every once in awhile? For today, quiet and rest reigned supreme over intentional parenting. Don't judge.

Missy was at school all day because we have to pay for part-time care during the summer in order to save her full-time spot for fall. And if we have to pay for it, she might as well go. She likes being with her friends anyway and I have 33% less arguing at home when she's there, so win-win!

I have no plans for tomorrow either, but I'm pretty sure I've ridden the Quiet Train as far as it will go. But if it gets any hotter outide, I may have to demand a raise.

I'm still kickin'. And so is she.

2011-06-10T11:14:00.000-07:00

Am I the only one who finds that the longer I put off doing something, the more difficult it is to figure how to approach the "doing" of it when I finally make up my mind to do it once again?

Maybe I should have just thrown in the towel on this blogging stuff, but I still find myself writing blog posts in my head even after all these months of never typing a single word on this blog. Usually, I have enough self-discipline to just shut down those writing thoughts altogether, knowing that there are too many other things competing with my time and energy.

But then there's today. And while I don't need a forklift to haul in all the money I make "authoring" ye olde blog (which is 0 dollars and 0 cents, by the way), I AM a proud mother who shamelessly uses her blog to show off her children's accomplishments.

Like my daughter's first recital.

and

You are welcome.

Everything would have worked out if it weren't for those meddling kids

2010-11-01T06:33:00.000-07:00

The next time I plan to host my daughter's birthday party the day before Halloween, someone just shoot me and put me out of my candy coated misery.

Or how about this- the next time I plan to host my daughter's birthday party the day before Halloween, and I stay up until 3 AM making all the decorations and food for the party the night before that, someone just shoot me and put me out of my hot-glue-and-powdered-sugar coated misery.

Why yes, I'm exhausted today. Why do you ask?

Needless to say, I bit off a little bit more than I could chew in the Fun Department over the weekend.

When I got home from work on Friday, we dressed the littles in their costumes and headed over to a fall festival held at a local church, where we saw some of the most adorable costumes I have ever laid eyes on. And that's saying something, because my babies have been all kinds of adorable over the years in their Halloween finest.

A few of my favorites at the festival were a Snoopy and Woodstock pair and another teeny girl dressed like Raggedy Ann. I wish I had photographic evidence, but taking pictures of children with whom you have no verifiable relationship is generally frowned upon. So you'll have to take my word for it.

When we got home Friday evening, I started preparing all the food and decorations for Missy's birthday party on Saturday. Since the party was the day before Halloween, and because I love finding excuses for my children to wear their costumes more than once per season (it makes me feel like I get my money's worth), we were throwing a Halloween-themed birthday party for her.

And since I'm Mrs. Procrastinator Extraordinaire, the only items crossed off my To-Do checklist prior to Friday was "Research Ideas" and "Gather Supplies."

In other words, I knew I was in for a loooooong night.

For the next 6 hours (9:00 PM -3:00 AM) I made vampire bats, mummies, ghosts, witches' shoes, spiders, spider hatchlings. I had tons of help from J, who never complained, even when I sent him to The Store because I was in a panic for fishing wire. He drew faces and folded paper and taped bats together. I couldn't have done everything without his involunteerism.

(By the way, I warn you never to begin a craft that calls for fishing wire AKA invisible string. It's IMPOSSIBLE to tie invisible string. IMPOSSIBLE, I SAY.)

I turned string cheese into monster fingers, which meant literally CARVING out the knuckle joints. I also cut out approximately 6,274 bat/cat/pumpkin shapes out of flour tortillas for chips. We only own 1 cookie sheet, but everything was such a blur by the time I got around to baking these, that I can't even begin to hazard a guess how long it took me to finish them.

What I can tell you is how many times I was afraid the smoke detectors were going to go off in the middle of the night: Two.

Come to find out, I don't think we have smoke detectors.

After a short 4 hour nap, I got up "early" and make the hot dog mummies, the bones (that ended up looking like dog treats, so not very Halloween-y), and the icing for the cake.

Jason is the resident cake decorator and I think he hit another homerun with this one:

Because this post is already too long and uninteresting, I'll spare you all the party details except to say it was a success! After lunch and a real nap, I spent the rest of my day in my pjs watching sports on TV.

It's like I don't even know myself anymore.

But the Rangers were (are) playing in the World Series while my beloved Baylor bears were playing the University of Texas in a nationally televised game.

The BU/UT match-up originally garnered national TV time because of how great UT was supposed to be, but as the season evolved, people were starting to take notice of Baylor! I'm thrilled to report that the bears laid some smack down, holding UT to only 1 touchdown (and a whole bunch of field goals). Baylor even came from behind to win the game.

And I thought I would cry happy tears. ECSTATIC tears!

Sunday was a great day of worship, rest, and a fun night of trick-or-treating. We hit up a few houses as a family, but as more trick-or-treaters flooded the sidewalks, J stayed home to pass out candy while I supervised the kids door-to-door.

When we exhausted our candy-laden resources, we headed home and grilled hot dogs outside while we welcomed more treaters. Cade declared it the best Halloween ever. It makes me SO happy knowing we're creating happy family memories together.

Even if we are just meddling kids.

My Piper

2010-10-24T22:26:00.001-07:00

How did it happen so quickly? When did this little 7 lb. 4 oz. peanut

with these tiny feet

and these teensy hands

turn into such a big little girl?

My sassy silly sweetie. The precious little missy who I believe understood every word I spoke to her when she was just a tiny infant. The girly twirly angel who loves mayonnaisse on bread (no meat) and never has enough play phones or purses. Daddy's princess who can never wear enough pink and idolizes her big brothers.

My heart.

Happy birthday Piper T! I love you!

I gambled and lost

2010-10-24T07:00:00.000-07:00

The chance of rain on Saturday was 50%. The chance of my alma mater moving forward with the LARGEST HOMECOMING PARADE IN HISTORY was 100%. The chance that three littles would be crushed if we didn't attend...well, I didn't even want to gamble with that one. Especially since Micah pronounced his undying love for Baylor Homecoming just the day before.

But Jason was out of town (See how carefully I guarded that secret by not posting until he returned? But he's home now. And he packs heat, so back off!), so it was just going to be the children and me.

Me. With three children. One of whom inevitably has to go to the bathroom, but none of whom I can trust to go alone. In a crowded outdoor area. Where you cannot leave your spot for ANY REASON WHATSOEVER or risk it being invaded by sugar-crazed children desperate to sacrifice life and limb for an oversized Tootsie Roll or a 2-pack of SweetTarts because their parents likely graduated from this universit.........

So you understand my predicament.

Whether it was lack of sleep (I tend not to sleep well when Jason isn't home. And by "not sleep well", I mean stay up with all the lights on until my eyes refuse to remain open a single millisecond longer) or a full-on attack of allergy symptoms that caused me to lose my mind, we'll never know. But I packed a container of cinnamon rolls, 3 thermoses full of drinks, 2 Nintendo DSs to pass the time, 1 camp chair for mamaw because my backside can't take the concrete, 1 Diet Pepsi for fuel, and a partridge in a pair tree, loaded up the van and we moved to Beverly.

And I thought, "If it starts raining, we'll just leave."

I believe the phrase you are looking for is, "Famous last words."

Since my brilliant rain plan was "just leave," I didn't see the use in packing any jackets. Or even an umbrella.

It turns out that there's a 0% chance of being able to "just leave" when you're on the opposite side of the parade route from where you parked your grocery-getter. And you're surrounded by thousands of spectators, not to mention that the other side of the parade route is about 10 families deep. And you have 3 littles, a large bag, and a camp chair in tow. No matter how spectacular the parade floats, we definitely would have been the bigger spectacle.

My stories are soooo predictable.

We reached our usual spot on campus about 8:00. The parade started in downtown at 8:30, but wasn't expected to reach campus until close to 9:00 (thus, the reason for the DSs). The skies were still cloudy, but the rain appeared to be holding off. As though God himself looked down upon our little celebration and held back the rain.

Then the swing dancers on campus of a Baptist University must have really ticked him off because it wasn't long before I felt a few sprinkles.

"It's only sprinkling," I thought wishfully.

And then it began to rain in earnest. But in the spirit of Homecoming, brotherhood, and all that jazz, the nice couple behind me moved forward just enough to cover me with their oversized golf umbrella. So I will forgive the husband for being Overly Obvious Commentary Man.

(Dude, we all have the same parade program as you. And we graduated from a fairly scholarly university, so I'm pretty sure our reading skills allow us to comprehend the written line-up. But if we can't follow the line-up, each entry/float is clearly labeled, so there's little opportunity for suspense. Thanks for your assistance, though.)

Piper made friends with the prepared-like-a-girl-scout college freshman (I know she was a freshman by the singular fact that she had no idea from which direction the parade would be coming) sitting next to us and promptly situated herself squarely in the unsuspecting girl's lap under the protection of the girl's umbrella.

The good news is I have a new babysitter.

The boys alternated between squeezing under our portion of borrowed rain cover and diving for subpar candy.

Thankfully the rain didn't last long. I'm guessing the swing dancers came to the end of the parade route.

My pants legs were a little damp, but in the end none of us were any worse for the wear. I wish that we had been able to go to the game, since Baylor won and is now bowl-eligible for the first time in 15 years!

Despite the rain and my rare form of genius, it was a great weekend for sports! The Rangers are going to the World Series! The Bears are eligible to play in a bowl game! The Hogs won (that's for you, mom)!

Here's hoping your week (and mine too!) is also full of wins! And well-laid plans. And dry pants legs.

I'm back with more of nothing

2010-10-18T17:44:00.000-07:00

When Jason and I lived in a (much) smaller town, we used to visit our local "Super" Store. If we hit The Store on the wrong evening (usually Sundays), they often would be out of entire sections of food. Like bread. Or milk.

You know, the "extras."

We had some words to describe The Store and "super" was never one of them.

It probably goes without saying (but my writing is so phenomenal that I'm going to say it) that we often threw up our hands and wondered why we even bothered shopping there.

Well. It turns out that writing a blog is a lot like that. Seems that if you don't write often, you don't get much activity. No content = no visitors.

Fascinating. Who knew?

I don't consider myself a writer and I have no real ambition for my blog. I don't want a book deal or a big advertising account. Two things I do know: 1) I love reading great blogs and 2) I love it when people read mine.

Unfortunately sometimes I just don't have the words to put together to uphold any kind of commitment. But dang if I don't know where to start when I am ready to reenter the fray because so many things have happened. Which leads to feelings of being overwhelmed which then causes me to avoid blogging some more. Thus, a vicious cycle of blog avoidance ensues.

This same cycle often applies to housework and laundry.

I have some issues.

But today I'm ready to break the cycle, even though I still don't know where to start. Do I wrap up our summer that officially ended for me over 2 months ago? Do I throw the end of summer out the proverbial window and recap all our back to school shenanigans, including a story about the time I almost broke down into tears in the school supply aisle of The Store? Or do I synthesize all of it into bite-sized stories until I've caught up to present day?

Since a goldfish's memory is slightly better than mine, the latter is not going to happen. I guess I'll just start fresh from here. And when I count on this blog to help me reflect on the best times and favorite memories from 2010, August through October will pretty much be a blur.

Which is totally appropriate because I think September and October bought some funky Five Finger Shoes and challenged one another to some sort of sprint to see which month could fly by faster.

I'm keeping score and October is winning.

Church Notes

2010-08-10T12:00:00.000-07:00

Due in part to his status as the eldest child and in part to his superior level of responsibility (superiority is relative when compared to a 6 year old space cadet and a 3 year old diva), Micah has earned the privilege to sit on the front pew of the sanctuary next to Jason each Sunday morning during worship, meaning he sits alone once J gets up to preach. Recently, Micah has begun recording copious notes while listening to his father's sermons.

Clearly, he learned that skill from me.

Tonight, I stumbled upon his filing system for his notes while cleaning out his chest of drawers. Each page was carefully folded into 16ths and thoughtlessly tossed into a giant heap in the top drawer next to some misplaced gloves, unmatched socks, and sundry odds and ends.

Another skill he gleaned from my superb organizational ability.

Because we can all use some Biblical edification, I share his truths with you.

"Jesus Christ sees you everywere. do't run away from Jesus christ"

"God is faithfull and he will do wut he says. he will not do you roung."

"no one is pirfict. only god is good."

"hope in Jesus christ and keep doing the right thing."

"walk in faith and Love and you will go to Heaven and see Jesus Christ our Lord."

"do't worship a thing. worship god. only worship god. worship the Lord god Jesus christ."

"When Jesus Christ is not Doing waut you want it is good. another page says somting abot this."

"ask god to forgive you" (This particular note is addressed "to India." I suppose he feels the entire country needs to be called into repentance?)

"do't run away from God Jesus Christ. worship him. If you do't you will die so worship him. do't worship things."

"Jesus over looked our sin and layed down his life so we will be safe."

"the person who Loves his brother will live."

"Jesus will turn bad into good."

"Jesus Christ is good. god is a good god. Lison to him and it will be good.

Amen.

Summer is going to kill me

2010-07-07T20:26:00.000-07:00

Please remind me tomorrow, when I wake up and can't move a muscle to get out of bed, that the cause of my temporary disability is due to all the "fun" that was had at the water park today.

The children had FUN. I had "fun," mainly because there were 68 stairs up to the platform that housed the starting point of the 2 water slides. And because we climbed up that set of stairs approximately 184 times, only to be deposited right back down where we started.

My math skills may be rusty, but my mental calculations tell me that 68 x 184 = 2,476,423 steps (when you take into consideration that the amount of effort it took to climb those steps increased exponentially with each subsequent trip).

My quads say that number feels just about right.

Linky Love 07.06.10

2010-07-06T16:09:00.000-07:00

If you're looking for a fun thing to do with your kiddos this summer, this 30 minute jam recipe from Sandy at Reluctant Entertainer will fit the bill. We made this today (although I don't think I used the right kind of pectin, so we have some delightful strawberry syrup) and the kids loved it! It's so easy, despite my own stupidity.

In light of our own recent celebrations of freedom, please do not forget that slavery is still alive and thriving, even in our own "free" country. You can find out more about the tragedy of human trafficking here. You can also support businesses like Sari Bari whose mission is to help women rescued from slavery make a living wage.

Finally my newest blog discovery is Style Your Life. She has great outfit ideas and most of them are so affordable!

Enjoy!

Independence

2010-07-05T14:45:00.000-07:00

When we lived in a different town Fourth of July was quickly becoming my second favorite holiday, just behind Christmas. Since we moved to a town where most of the people we know are students who don't profess to consider our city "home" July 4th has been a wee bit lackluster. This year being no exception.

We worshiped at church in the morning followed by our monthly fellowship meal with the congregation. My contribution to lunch was the traditional 4th of July meal of pizza casserole, minus the pepperonis which, although purchased just yesterday, had already gone bad.

After church, Jason and his buddy went fishing while the children and I took a nap and then I tried (unsuccessfully) to convince them that inside voices are a Good Thing when you are playing INSIDE. My ulterior motive was to keep the noise level down to an appropriate decibel so that I could watch the Criminal Minds marathon I DVR-ed on A&E without turning the TV up so loud that it drew their attention.

We had leftovers for dinner, and when J got home we set out to watch the fireworks. When we got to our usual spot (and by "usual" I mean the same place we watched them last year) at the parking garage and were saddened to discover that the police were not allowing cars to actually PARK on the top. This was Kink #1 in ~~our plan for World Domination~~ Operation Watch Fireworks.

Our familial operations often take on Top Secret Titles. Our code is hard to crack.

Because we were planning to use the truck bed in lieu of lawn chairs, and we had no lawn chairs, we chose the most comfortable-looking patch o' concrete and settled in. Actually, I settled in, Jason stood up, and the little ones took great pleasure in chasing and stomping crickets.

Don't feel sorry for the crickets. They totally had it coming.

Once the fireworks got started, J and I discovered Kink #2 in Operation Watch Fireworks. If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook, you know that we seated ourselves in front of Over-Enthusiastic Fireworks Commentary Man. OEFCM commented on 89% of the fireworks displayed throughout the 15 minute spectacular.

"Ooooh, that was a green one!"

"Wow, that one was sparkly."

"That one was 3-D!"

(Sidenote: I'm not sure what type of alternate dimension this guy occupied, but pretty much my whole life is in 3-D. Including 100% of the fireworks I've ever had the privilege of viewing.)

"Cool, that one was red and purple."

"Look, that one had a star in it!"

And so on.

I might not have minded so much if he had actually had fresh pyrotechnic material to share. Rather, he just stated the obvious.

Micah declared each firework the new "record-breaker," but I could never get a straight answer from him regarding the standard by which he rated each one.

So the day wasn't fantastic. Please don't mistake my whining about our painfully ordinary day for lack of gratitude for those who sacrificed their lives for the freedom we enjoy every day by God's grace alone. I'm thankful for our independence and for those who protect it daily. Happy (belated) Fourth of July, everyone.

I wish I'd been there

2010-07-03T19:38:00.000-07:00

Y'all. J and I have friends who attend this church! How cool is this?

I wonder how long it took those young 'uns to realize WHO that was? Hilarious!

It's Summer...What else can I say?

2010-07-02T18:54:00.000-07:00

My nigh-to-one-month bloggy silence was not a planned hiatus, and it's been an interesting change. Not that I haven't started writing approximately 73 various blog posts in my head, but summer has put a significant halt to all activities not related directly to my children and/or my household.

If I'm being honest, I'll admit that the idea of making loads of cash by blogging is appealing on the surface, but it's times like these that make me SO THANKFUL my little no-name blog with its ones of readers is under zero pressure to churn out posts on any sort of "regular basis." Unless by "regular basis" you mean "whenever the heck I feel like it, GAH!"

(By the way, it is FAR beyond my comprehension how bloggers with below-school-age children can make any time for blogging EVER. Much less multiple times per day. You have my utmost respect, because clearly you must never sleep.)

Lately, if I haven't been alternating between loads of washing clothes and loads of washing dishes, I've been walking a fine line between keeping my children busy enough that they can't argue with one another and not keeping them so busy that they're exhausted and start arguing with one another.

As if.

In a nutshell, the last 4ish weeks have found me in a sunscreen-applying, pool-swimming, library-enjoying, cable-fixing, bathtub-repairing, pool-swimming, birthday-party-planning, errand-running, cake-baking, birthday-party-executing, sugar-coma-recovering, shelf-painting, craft-space-organizing, gift-buying, birthday-party-attending, closet-cleaning, suitcase-packing, conference-attending, friend-visiting, pool-swimming, pre-teen-camping, pool-swimming, book-reading, crappy-food-eating, weight-gaining, internet-connection-desiring, suitcase-unpacking, TV-watching frenzy.

FRENZY!

While that's not an exhaustive list, my activities have decidedly NOT included twitter-following or blog-reading. My most sincere apologies to my blog/twitter buddies. I understand if you never wish to cast your eyes upon my blog again.

I'm trying to catch up, but 4 weeks is like 10 years in the virtual community. I may have to declare Google Reader bankruptcy and click the dreaded "mark all as read" to get a necessary fresh start.

Speaking of fresh, I have clean laundry to fold and put away. Catch you in a few. More weeks, that is.

Bcause I don't have much to say right now

2010-06-07T16:35:00.000-07:00

**The following is basically a reprint of an email I sent to a friend. She encouraged me to post it here, and since I don't have anything else to talk about right now, I thought this might be beneficial to someone. At least more beneficial than my usual drivel about nothing. I've seen a few posts about Swagbucks recently, and thought I'd give you a bit of a different perspective.**

Swagbucks.com is a search engine, like Google or Yahoo. The major difference is that when you search using the swagbucks website, you earn, well, swagbucks. These SBs, once accrued, can be traded in for various merchandise, with the most popular items being gift cards to places like Amazon or iTunes.

I spent a LOT of time thinking swagbucks were a waste of time, but I've slowly come around to the idea that it can work for me, if not to the extent that it works for bloggers with more readership (not that you have to be a blogger to use SBs, but I'll get to that in a minute). There are bloggers that I read who claim to have bought ALL their Christmas presents with SBs. I probably won't get to that point, but $30-$40 in Amazon gift cards is nice enough to make it worth it, in my opinion.

Once you've signed up for SBs, there are 3 things you need to do EVERY DAY to get 3 SBs. It might not sound like much, but 3X365= 1095, so it's worth it in the long run. 900 SBs gets you $10 at Amazon, which is basically a free book or CD, so why not? Here's what you do:

1) Install the toolbar. I almost always get 1 SB each morning just for opening my browser b/c I have the toolbar installed.

2) Under "Ways to Earn" on the SB homepage, go to the daily poll. You answer the daily poll and get 1 SB.

3) Under "Ways to Earn" on the SB homepage, go to "Special Offers." You can click on the link on the right that says something about "no obligation offers" and skip through all of those. No personally identifiable information is required, so just click "skip" on all of them and you get 1 SB at the end. Sometimes there are 6 or 7 and sometimes there's only 1 or 2, but just click away until you get to the end. You'll get 1 SB.

A few other tricks/tips I've learned:

1) You'll usually get SBs when you search in the AM, then again in the PM. I get 7-10 SBs when I win, sometimes higher (14-15). This morning I got 8 on my 2nd search. However, I probably won't get anymore until later today. It's generally a few hours before I'll get anymore from searching. I always use SB as my default search engine just for the possibility that I'll get some SBs, but I usually only get them in the AM, once in the afternoon, and once in the evening.

2) I've found that going to "page 2" of my search results often nets me SBs. If I search and don't get SBs the first time, I ALWAYS click to the 2nd page of search results and often get them then. I've also found that if I click a link from the SB search results and then click "back" to get back to the search results, I will get SBs.

3) I frequently check a blog called we-love-swag-bucks.com and they often post when a swag code is released. Follow them on Twitter, b/c they generally (but not always) tweet when they post a blog, too. But I still check their blog several times a day. Sometimes there will be codes on the SB Facebook page or on Twitter, and WLSBs posts to let you know so you don't have to try and follow SB all over the social media sites. I also check the "swidget" on my own blog b/c sometimes there will be swag codes available that WLSBs doesn't catch or post about. I always try to get the swag codes (at least one, sometimes 2 or 3 per day). I've heard that if you sign up for the SB email newsletter, you will get a code when it comes, but I haven't received a SB newsletter in my inbox yet (I think they come monthly?).

4) IF you get referrals (people who sign up for SBs under you) you get however many SBs they get, one for one, up to 1000. This is where having a large blog readership comes in handy. I think this is the most profitable, yet most difficult, way to get SBs. If you have a ton of readers and you post about SBs, you can include a link for ppl to click to sign up under you and when they start searching and winning, you win, too. I am of the opinion that those who win hundreds or thousands of dollars of merchandise/GCs are those who get tons of referrals. So far, I have 2 referrals (one is my mom) and neither one of them has won a single SB yet, so that's not exactly working out for me.

5) You can also win SBs by purchasing through their links (kind of like ebates, if you are familiar with that). Obviously, though, it can take awhile to get those credited to your account (30 days, maybe?) b/c I bought some stuff on iTunes through SB a couple of weeks ago and I still haven't rec'd credit. So we'll see about that...

6) One drawback is that the search engine isn't that great. You have to be careful what you click b/c there are usually 4-5 "sponsored by" links that come up as legitimate search results. You always have to look at the url before you click the result to see if it says "sponsored by" b/c those usually aren't what you are looking for. Sometimes I revert to google after I've tried SB, which adds time to your search, but it's negligible. I always search SB first, ALWAYS, and sometimes I make up searches to win SBs. OK, I USUALLY make up searches if I think it's a time when I can win SBs.

The moral of this epic tale, is that, not counting referrals, it can be worth it over time to use SBs. I've tried to be faithful to using it (having the toolbar installed helps tremendously) and, since I'm a huge nerd and started keeping track of how many I get each day, I discovered I average about 30 SBs daily.

Yes, it takes a few extra minutes (seconds, really, but those seconds definitely turn into minutes), and the search engine doesn't yield perfectly accurate results, but slow and steady wins the race. Or at least wins the Amazon GCs.

**This post contains referral links for Swagbucks.**

A few final AI thoughts

2010-05-26T20:21:00.000-07:00

Yo, yo, yo, Dude. Listen, listen. Tonight's AI finale was some good lookin' out, Dawg. Good lookin' out.

Listen, listen, yo, much like Randy Jackson, I don't have any new words to describe Crystal's and Lee's performances on Tuesday night. But it doesn't feel right to just leave things hanging out there, so I put together a few final comments regarding the finale in list format (but in no particular order):

1) Pants on the Ground made me SO HAPPY. Maybe my second favorite part of the entire show.

2) Boy, was I ever relieved when Janet Jackson's performance was over. I was so worried she was going to throw out her back or fall and break her hip that I couldn't relax and enjoy "Nasty," which was, sadly, one of my favorite songs in elementary school. What were my parents thinking?

3) How awesome is Christina Aguilera? Apparently too awesome to sing more than 3 notes with the peon AI contestants. But her "awesomeness" is not going to stop me from downloading "Fighter" this weekend to add to my workout playlist.

4) My favorite part of the night? All of the former idols (minus David Cook... where was he??) singing together, plus a few former contestants joining in the celebration. I surprised myself by recalling more than a few names of those contestants.

5) Was it just me, or did Kelly Clarkson look like she'd have rather been cleaning a truckstop bathroom than singing up there on that stage?

6) Again, was it just me or did anyone else think of Justin Timberlake and Jimmy Fallon on SNL doing "The Barry Gibb Talk Show" when Siobahn and whoever else was singing with The Brothers Gibb?

7) I was pleased to see Bret Michaels "taking it easy" after his brain hemorrhage and possible stroke.

8) LEE FTW!!!!!

9) I just don't know if I'll watch next season without Simon. AI will not be AI without Simon Cowell. Oh, who am I kidding? I'm sure I'll give it a shot, but I'll be thinking about Simon the whole time.

10) I really wish I had a tenth thing to say to make my list a nice round number, but I don't

Sturgmom, OUT.

What did you think?

I can hear summer calling my name

2010-05-25T21:09:00.000-07:00

And it's sounds a lot like Satan beckoning from the pit of hell.

Don't get me wrong.

I love having unending days off with my children, and spending the hours breaking up fights, putting disobedient children in time-out, reminding them to stop tattling and be sure to use their inside voices, listening to all the whining and complaining that we can't stay at the pool for 5 more minutes b/c it's so hot outside that mama is about to spontaneously combust, and the smell of singed flesh and hair would be enough to send everyone else running home, so why put strangers through that kind of cruel and unusual punishment because IT IS SUMMER AND SUMMER IS ALL ABOUT HAVING FUN, DANG IT.

Oh, I'm only kidding. A little.

I really do love being off for the summer. Since I have to work (for financial reasons. As in, my husband is a student and a pastor. As in, the 2 most underpaid jobs in existence (and yes, being a student is a job. A job you pay dearly for, unfortunately)), at least it's in a field that gives me a (measly) 7 weeks off each year.

Granted, those are unpaid weeks, but since my 10 month paycheck is divided into 12 monthly installments, at least it feels like a paid vacation.

And, granted, those 7 weeks off are during the time of year so thick with Texas heat and humidity that you think longingly on the day (or two) that you needed a coat AND scarf last winter and a lone tear rolls down your cheek.

But other than that, it's fabulous!

I have big plans for my family this summer. I'm declaring it the summer of boredom busters and I've got a variety of activities on the docket.

However, before the fun, I have 2 weeks of work after the boys' last day of school. I asked my mom if she would be willing to come to our house for a couple of weeks to take care of them. She made a counter-offer and suggested they go to her house during that time.

Meaning Jason and I will be 100% childless for 11 full days.

After accepting her offer, I'm still not sure whether to execute a toe-touch out of excitement or cry myself to sleep while my pillow soaks up my salty tears.

They have a plethora of activities on their social calendar while they're up there. Riding horses, going to the zoo, swimming, Jump Zone, and so on. And I'm sure I can come up with 1,001 projects that will be approximately 127% easier to complete without 3 extra helpers.

Or I might just end up sitting on the couch, shell-shocked by the peace and quiet and nothingness.

Come to think of it, that doesn't sound half bad.

AI Recap: Top 3

2010-05-18T20:37:00.000-07:00

I'm struggling with formulating some original thoughts regarding AI and, to be honest, I've got nothing.

And the title of "Recap" is a misnomer, and has been since the beginning. I should call it random reviews.

So, I'm taking the lazy way out and moving forward with a bulleted list.

Actually, there will be no bullets. The only "bullets" I own are those in a stick shape made of glue that melts. More accurately, this list is numbered.

1) I was sorry that I didn't recognize more of the songs from last night. I'm sure they were well-sung, but I wouldn't know because I was familiar with only 1/2 of them: Daughters, Come to My Window (of which I'm not a fan), and Hallelujah.

2) Crystal is the most consistent contestant, but she's not the most watchable.

3) Casey is the most watchable, but probably the least consistent.

4) Regardless of #2 and #3, I like Lee the best. And I have the text votes to prove it.

5) When did the AI text voting police start monitoring phone numbers for time zones? I got a text last night at 10:00 CST informing me "Voting is currently closed for your time zone." WHAT?!?! In all fairness, I suppose my 2 hours was up, but when did the Powers That Be start caring? Because, that message? Never saw it before and my text voting practices have not varied.

6) How beautiful was Lee's performance of "Hallelujah"? I was surprised that I liked it as well as I did because Jason Castro's performance is one of my favorite AI performances of all time. I didn't think Lee could top it.

He did.

You know what? I'd love to see Casey and Lee as the Top 2. But I'm pretty sure it will be Crystal and Lee. I hate to see Casey go, but someone has to, right?

In which I channel the magical powers of Martha Stewart

2010-05-18T08:13:00.000-07:00

(Just so you know, before you waste your time reading only to be disappointed in the end, this post is worthless without pictures.

And I don't have any pictures.

Yet, I type on. Leaving me to wonder at my newfound heights of mediocrity.)

A few weeks (or, as I prefer to remember it, days) ago, Cade came home from kindergarten with a script for his class play, in which he'll make his stage debut as Squirrel #2 in the wildly popular adaptation of "TheThree Little Kitten Who Lost Their Mittens."

No, you're not the only one who doesn't remember nameless squirrels making an appearance in the literary version of the tale. These kindergarten teachers are playing fast and loose with their artistic license. Something about wanting ALL the children to have a speaking part.

Attached to the back of the script was a list of "easy" costume ideas. Because everyone has the makings of a rodent costume lying around their house. All you need is a brown shirt and some brown pants! How simple is that?

A lot less simple than it sounds. Because unless you have the time (and the inclination) to scour a thrift store multiple times a week, plain brown shirts and plain brown pants are not something you can go pull off the rack at the local discount store in MAY. When everything is turquoise and purple and yellow and green and summery-colored. And pants? They've been off the shelves since February in this warm-weather state.

What our store did have, though, was gray shirts. And what our home closet did have was gray shorts. And since I'm pretty sure I've totally seen a gray squirrel at some time in my life, Squirrel #2 graciously agreed to be gray.

However, the tail still stumped me. And Jason, who's job it was to implement any tail idea I could envision. I'm the brains behind the project.

And by brains, I mean the one who just talks about being so stressed out because how am I supposed to make a squirrel's tail, anyway, when the only idea I had included some kind of fake fur fabric that doesn't exist at any of our local craft or discount stores and now it's Sunday night and the costume is due at school TOMORROW for dress rehearsal and I'm all out of ideas!

Jason's the man who makes it happen. And he's usually a big part of the brains as well. He listens to my hare-brained ideas, comes up with one that's actually do-able, and brings it to fruition.

My plan for the tail ended in the craft section when I couldn't find the necessary supplies. Jason decided to wander around the store for inspiration. He considered a pool noodle. We looked at feather dusters.

Then, I saw this

Only it was gray. And it was a dog bed. And I knew it would be PERFECT for a squirrel costume.
Once we got home, I cut the padded rim off and held a flawless tail in my hands. The bottom "mattress" part became a furry squirrelly belly that I hot glued to a t-shirt.

I can't sew, but I do have mad hot glueing skillz. Who needs needles, threads and stitches when you have melted glue and a gun?

Jason fashioned the tail MacGyver-style, using some plastic cable ties and a few well-placed stitches. He actually took home economics in high school.

If only I'd known back then that dance team and show choir wouldn't get me through elementary school with my own offspring, things might have turned out so differently.

My original plan was to sew the tail to the back of Cade's gray shirt, but instead I fell back on my trusty hot-glueing skills. Because it was getting late and I was tired and impatient.

Hot glue = instant gratification.

At the end of the day, I was more than pleased with the final product. I can't wait to show you the finished version in this tale of the tail.

But you'll have to wait until Friday.

****UPDATE*** Today is the dress rehearsal for "The Three Little Kittens Who Lost Their Mittens" so Squirrel #2 was required to wear his costume to school. Therefore, I have the opportunity to flaunt my subpar photography techniques. I'm only limited by the fact that I don't know my shutter speed from my aperture. And that I use a phone to take 95% of my pictures. Other than that, they're the essence of art.

Linky Love 05/13/10

2010-05-14T19:37:00.000-07:00

We're getting off to a great weekend here in the House of Sturg! Our dear friends are visiting from out of town and we're planning a big cookout for tomorrow evening. Delicious food and delightful friends promise to be the stars of the next 2 days!

Because I'm feeling so happy, I want you to feel inspired as well. Here are a few things from around the web that you NEED to know about. Don't go another day without clicking these links!

Kristen from We Are That Family is hosting an adoption blog carnival. Families with plans for adoption are linking up their blogs and fundraisers, and that's where YOU come in. Please go visit the links, spend time in prayer for the families and prayerfully consider making purchases from the adoption fundraisers. One of my favorites is Hope Suds. "Do laundry. Save Orphans."

Angie Smith's book I Will Carry You: The Sacred Dance of Grief and Joy is available as a free ebook download through Barnes and Noble. If you have an iPhone, you can even download a Barnes and Noble reader for FREE.

If you're on Twitter, can you please read this piece of advice from Anne Jackson? And follow it? Thanks! It's a few months old, but still COMPLETELY relevant.

Finally, I plan to make this gluten-free, egg-free dessert for our guests tomorrow. I'm pretty sure it will inspire me to get back of the elliptical machine STAT.

Y'all have a lovely weekend!

AI Recap: Top 4

2010-05-12T08:10:00.000-07:00

Is it terribly indicative of the lameness of my life that my LAST post was an AI (non)recap? Or maybe it means that my life is so full of meaningful ventures that I simply do not have time to chronicle the sum of it.

You'll never know.

I'm still hanging in there for each episode of AI, even though my fondness for Glee is quickly surpassing my affinity for AI. I'd almost rather fast forward through the AI performances just to see Sue Sylvester mocks Mr. Shu's overuse of hair products while Finn and Rachel bust out a power duet.

Speaking of duets (I'm the master of the segue), how 'bout those duets on AI last night? INCREDIBLE! I love the song Falling Slowly a million times over and I loved the Crystal/Lee version a million times over. Casey and Mike rocked the harmony on that Bryan Adams song, although it was painfully obvious that Casey is the superior guitarist. But, this isn't a guitar talent show.

The individual performances were strange choices, I thought, but I enjoyed the show overall.

Lee: He makes singing appear effortless, but he was "pitchy" last night. I think "Kiss From a Rose" must be one of THE most difficult songs to sing of all time, so considering that, I thought he did well. But he is sort of Kris Allen redux.

Mike: When I think of popular songs from movies, the one that comes to mind (after "My Heart Will Go On") is that Michael Jackson song from Free Willy. Yes. If I could sing any song from any movie, Free Willy would be right up there in my top 2000. I thought Mike's vocals were good, but it was a bit theatrical for my preference. And obscure.

Casey: I liked Casey's version of Mrs. Robinson, even if the "banter" from the judges shot my Comfort-O-Meter into the red/danger zone.

Crystal: I don't really have anything else to say about Crystal that I haven't already said 35 times. She was good, as always. I'm not as convinced as I once was that she will win, but she doesn't have anything to worry about regarding a recording contract. Good for her and her feathery hairpieces.

I spent the time I was watching Glee texting votes for Lee and Casey 2 or 400 times. I love the simplicity of the "vote" text on the iPhone. Paste, send, paste, send, lather rinse repeat.

Who's going home tonight? No idea.

I predict Mike or Casey, and I'm hoping for Mike. Not because I don't think he's great. I've just wanted Crystal, Casey and Lee to be Top 3 all along.

But everyone know the real top 3 are Rachel, Finn, and Puck. Awesomeness.

AI Recap: Top I Didn't Really Pay Much Attention

2010-05-05T06:46:00.000-07:00

There are 5 contestants left this season of Ameican Idol and as much as I want to care, I'm actually finding it more and more difficult each week to muster the energy to press the play button on my remote control.

Last night's viewing was made more problematic since, in true Sturgmom fashion, I was frantically mod podging clipboards and binder clips at the last minute so my children were not traumatized today by their mom's non-effort leading to their lack of participation in the Teacher Appreciation Week Wednesday theme of "office supplies."

They turned out pretty cute, despite my paralyzation getting started due to the fact that I couldn't find my corner punch. And the sideways bows, which I added this morning when the boys were on their way out the door. Bow-tying skills elude me. As well as photography skills. And recapping skills.

But I've never let my inadequacies hold me back, as evidenced by this post:

Aaron: Aaron was singing while I was tearing the house apart looking for my corner punch, and I have to be honest- I didn't even consider pushing pause on the DVR. I bet I know what happened, though. Aaron stood in one place with his legs spread apart awkwardly for the entire performance. He sang it decently, albeit without an ounce of stage presence or personality. The judges praised him profusely.

Casey: Casey was singing while I was sitting on the floor completely debilitated by my corner punch deficiency. But I listened to Casey with one ear and he wasn't that great, unfortunately. Frank Sinatra is clearly not his genre. Since it's unexpected that he will ever have another occasion requiring him to perform such a song, I feel bad for him that the Sinatra theme was chosen so close to the end of the season.

Lee, Michael, Crystal: I spent the time during these performances measuring, cutting, trimming, glueing, and hair-pulling (my own). As far as I could tell, all the performances were all decent. I think Michael actually stepped it up a bit, and Crystal needs to stop having "conversations" with (AKA talking back to) the judges, otherwise I will dub her Talkbacky McGee. I always love Lee.

Harry Connick Jr. made a great mentor, although the styles of his arrangements weren't what I would call "relevant" or "current." But what do I know really?

I'm afraid Casey will be going home tonight, even if I think it should be Aaron. I was too preoccupied last night to cast any votes, so I'm just going to have to hope Lee stays in the competition by the sheer force of my will.

One day I'll look back on this and laugh

2010-05-02T15:48:00.001-07:00

While Jason was out fishing this afternoon, I thought it would be lovely to take the children on a walk to the creek near our house to feed the ducks.

We were gone less than 30 minutes.

When we got home, my feet looked like this:

and my lone remaining shoe looked like this:

There must be humor somewhere in the situation. I'll let you know when I find it.

Until then, can someone please just assure me that Mary Jane-style Crocs really aren't in style anymore anyway?

Free stuff! Don't miss it!!

2010-05-01T18:20:00.001-07:00

I would be completely remiss if I didn't tell you that you can go here and download a FREE copy of PAGE CXVI's Hymns album.

Jason and I had the privilege of worshiping with and getting to know this band back in October, and let me tell you, they are the Real Deal. And to celebrate the release of their 2nd Hymns album, they're offering the first one for FREE!!

Don't waste any time downloading this because I'm not sure how much longer it will be available. GO NOW!

AI Recap: Top 6

2010-04-28T07:10:00.000-07:00

Please raise your hand if you had no idea what Randy Jackson meant when he used the term "wheelhouse" on American Idol on two separate occasions last night.

Please raise your hand if Shania Twain night wasn't as bad as you expected it to be, despite Ellen's overuse of the Twain/train joke.

That's what I thought.

The girls and I were pleasantly surprised by the quality of performances last night, considering that the contestants had songs like "Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under," and perhaps the most cliche' song of all time, "From This Moment On," which I totally expected Aaron Kelly to sing, after his nod to Space Jam last week, from which to choose.

I thought it was a pretty decent show last night. People are dogging on this year's contestants being boring and forgettable, but I think it's at least better than whatever season Taylor Hicks and Katherine McPhee were the last two contestants standing. Can anyone name any other contestant that stands out from that season WITHOUT GOOGLING?

(edited to add: I'm amending the above statement because I did google it, and Season 5 was the year of Chris Daughtry, Kellie Pickler, and Elliot Yamin. Instead, I'll wager that Season 2 stands out as The Most Boring AI Season Ever, with Season 5 receiving the honor of the Most Anti-Climactic Finale Ever.)

That's what I thought.

So, my take on last night's performances:

Lee: He really is the dark horse of Season 9 (I cannot decide whether "season" should be capitalized or not, so please forgive the discrepancies where sometimes I think it's important enough for a big letter and sometimes I don't). He's pulled a Kris Allen and come from being "that guy" to being one of the top contenders. I think his performance of The Boxer last week will go down as one of my all-time favorite Idol performances. I'm just so happy for him!

Casey: I thought this was a strong performance by Casey, but I disagreed with the judges that it was his BEST. My favorite performance from him this season was back when he did that Journey song (was it Journey? Man, it was so good, I can't even remember...) or when he did Jealous Guy on Lennon/McCartney night. I don't think he'll win, but I also don't think he's going to have any trouble getting some sort of recording deal.

Aaron: What do the judges see in him? Besides good vocals, he is SO NOT the whole package. I think not-as-good vocals with stage presence and star quality go farther than stellar vocals alone with awkward teen angst. I'm kind of tired of the judges kissing up to him every week.

Michael: I thought his performance was good, but my friend Katie said she felt like he was acting out the words. THEN SIMON SAID THE SAME THING, so she must have been right. It was good, but I wasn't riveted to the TV, like I was when Lee performed.

Siobahn: Wow, Siobahn's outfit was like Laura Ashley meets Harley Davidson. It was 128 different kinds of weird, kind of like her performance. Regardless of how much the judges loved her, I don't think she had the energy to pull off the kind of performance she attempted last night. And the way she enunciated each word dragged the tempo of the whole song down. Which further proves my point, in my own mind at least, that Siobahn is an energy-sucker. I hope she goes home really soon.

Crystal: I liked the bluegrass feel of her performance, even though it seemed a little cutesy for her. But I think she went a little out of her comfort zone, tried something fun, and it worked. It wasn't THE MOST AWESOME AI PERFORMANCE EVER, but it was good enough to keep her in.

My Top 3 are:
Lee
Crystal
Casey

By process of elimination, my bottom 3 are:
Michael
Aaron
Siobahn

I'd like to see Siobahn go, but I predict that it will actually be Mike.

And speaking of THE MOST AWESOME AI PERFORMANCE EVER, I have 3 that I really love (in no particular order):

Clay Aiken- Solitaire

David Cook- Billie Jean (For some reason, I remember him playing the guitar for this one. Clearly, I'm wrong.)

And Jason Castro- Hallelujah

Dude, Season 7 might be my favorite season ever...

What are your most memorable/favorite AI performances?

Housekeeping...You want mint for pillow?

2010-04-27T10:48:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, I was all, "I'm on a roll with this blogging bidness! Look how I'm uncharacteristically posting every week day!"

And then the fire burned out.

Back to sporadically unscheduled programming.

I do have a few matters of semi-importance to take care of today:

1) The WINNER of the Family Life Organizer and Planner is comment #2, Christy! Christy, if you're reading this, email me and we'll work out the details. Congratulations!

And thanks to everyone who left me a comment and/or tweeted about my giveaway. I really appreciate it.

2) I never go anywhere without mascara (or lipgloss, but that's a mundane tale for another day when you think things ). Yet, I'm a self-proclaimed waterproof mascara hater because it NEVER COMES OFF and I hate that stale clumpy eyelash feeling first thing in the morning.

Unfortunately, Texas summers are so hot you think your skin is going to melt right off your bones. And I'm a sweater. Not as in "the garment," but as in "one who." Therefore, I've decided to give the waterproof mascara another shot. My L'Oreal Voluminous mascara just can't withstand the sweat. Or the pool water. Please suggest a fabulous waterproof mascara that will hold up beautifully, no matter if I'm swimming or dehydrating.

3) I'm hoping that AI will be interesting enough tonight that I will find the drive to recap it for tomorrow. Last week's draft post never saw the light of publish because I found that it was reading pretty much like every other recap I've written this season: Lee- great, Crystal- great, Siobahn- wierd, Aaron- awkward, Casey- cover band good, Big Mike- good, but not good enough to win. And so forth.

And a piece of AI joy has been stolen from me since I went to the "lady doctor" (as Jason loves to call it) yesterday and he told me I need to lose 20 lbs. Which means kicking the Tuesday night Oreo habit with my girls. Oh, but you can bet we'll still be armchair judging with the best of them.

Have a great day!

In which I use Haiku to retell the events of the day

2010-04-15T18:42:00.000-07:00

Another work day,
But my body aches a bit.
Ibuprofen? Three.

Coffee doesn't help.
I still feel really sleepy
I only took some...

Light bulb in my brain!
I check the meds container.
It's Advil PM.

Fighting sleep at work.
All I want is a long nap.
Eyelids feel heavy.

Consciously trying
To act normal, but think my
Speech might be slurring.

Is this how drunk peo-
Ple feel when they try to act
Sober? I guess yes.

Workout at the Y.
Still have to make some dinner
And get kids in bed.

Ev'ryone's asleep.
I think I'll take a hot soak
In my clean bathtub.

What's that trickling sound?
Just bathwater leaking out
From under the tub.

So much for my bath.
Instead I wipe the water.
It soaks four towels.

I probably should
Go to bed really early
And forget this day.

AI Recap: Top 9 Part 2

2010-04-14T06:21:00.001-07:00

I started this post last night, but was pretty exhausted by the time my oreo buddies went home, so I didn't put the finishing touches on it. Then, today, I was at a training all day. I had a few minuted at home for lunch, but napping took priority over blogging. Now, here it is, the 11th hour, and I'm pushing to get this done before the results show tonight, so I cannot be held responsible for grammatical, punctuational, or factual errors within the post.

**************

Was it just me or did anyone else start to think that Ryan should have just said, "THIS...is the ADAM LAMBERT show!"

Because, really? Adam got more air time than a commercial pilot last night. Adam and his ones of years of experience. Adam, with his 300 days track record. All that expertise was just overwhelming, that's what it was.

I hope they have Justin Bieber next week.

I wonder if the AI contestants this year feel like they're getting ripped off in the mentor category this year.

Anyway, the performances:

Crystal- I felt a little like I was at a gospel show at Branson, but I like gospel shows because I'm 75. So I thought it was good, as usual, if not memorable.

Andrew- Brass sections and back up singers have become Andrew's MO, and it's not working for him. And it's good that Adam told him to change the song up b/c Adam's rendition of Ring of Fire was so successful. THe best I can say about Andrew's performance was at least it was short.

Tim- Adam called it pretty, but I don't know that we'd use that word in reference to an Elvis tune. I'm not gonna lie, I watched "Turban's" performance a couple of times. It was so good! And I think Ellen said liked it because she was drunk. I liked it completely sober.

Lee- The level of raspy in his voice last night wowed me.

Can someone please shut Kara down?

Aaron- I have 5 words for Aaron's performance: cruise ship karaoke wedding singer. I'm bet he sure had fun. Simon was right on when he said it was like a high school show.

Adam-Lambert-I-Mean-Siobahn- This girl really cannot take advice or constructive criticism. And she SHOULDN'T TALK TO THE JUDGES!

Michael- While I thought it sounded just like everything else he's done every week, I liked the acoustic version. I could picture him singing that song on some kind of telethon or charity concert.

Katie- At the risk of sounding like Randy Jackson, I must say this was just a'ight for me. The vocals were good, but it was nothing special. Except that she's SIXTEEN!

Casey- Loved the ponytail, loved watching him perform, but I won't remember the song or the perfromance this time next year.

I think the Bottom 3 will be:
Andrew
Aaron
Katie

With Aaron and Andrew going home.

SITS Spring Fling 2010

2010-04-13T00:00:00.000-07:00

**Update**

I am an idiot.

Last year for SF, there was a Mr. Linky for prizes being given away at various blogs. So I thought I needed a giveaway this year. However, this year's SF is considerably different.

And I'm the last to figure it out.

I thought about deleting this post entirely, but figured since a few people subscribe in Reader, it wouldn't do any good.

If you still want my lame homemade coasters, feel free to leave me a comment. Otherwise, please pretend as though this post never existed, and let's never mention it again. Thank you for your cooperation.

Carry on.
----------------------------------------------

Welcome to everyone who is stopping by from the SITS Spring Fling!

And if you're NOT stopping by from the SITS Spring Fling, rest assured that I have not lost my mind (yet). Let me introduce you to SITS: It's a community of women (and a secure man or two) dedicated to supporting one another by leaving LOTS of blog comments.

Go check them out (after you finish reading THIS post, of course)!

Yesterday (Monday) morning I checked Twitter and saw that someone commented on how they couldn't wait for SITS Spring Fling. And I about went into cardiac arrest right then and there thinking that I had COMPLETELY forgotten about Spring Fling and did it start Monday? Oh please don't let it be Monday! Because if it's Monday, I was nowhere near prepared!

I probably need to pop a Xanax or five to loosen my tightly wound string.

So I was relieved when I clicked over to the SITS website and discovered I had a few more hours to prepare my post, since SF was actually scheduled to start on today (Tuesday).

Now you might be thinking that since I had some unexpected extra time for preparation, that this will be a really stellar blog post.

But that will be a NEGATIVE, GHOSTRIDER. So don't get your hopes up.

I'm still churning out the same sporadic mediocrity! Only this time I'm adding a giveaway!

Is there anything that can't be made more palatable with free stuff?

My giveaway for the Spring Fling is 2 sets of decorative, handmade, one-of-a-kind stone coasters (4 to a set)! That means there will be 2 winners!

(That description sounds a little like the actual stone tiles are handmade. They're not. Since I'm not a stone welder or whatever you call someone who makes things out of stone. I just decorate them to look pretty.)

Pictures forthcoming (because I understand that a pictureless giveaway practically renders the entire undertaking useless, but I only promise inadequacy. ) I pinky swear!

To enter, simply leave me a comment. I'd love for you to follow me, but I feel bad making it a condition of the giveaway. But a SINCEREST THANK YOU to those of you who do!

Be sure to head over to Tip Junkie and enter to win some other great prizes!

Happy spring, everyone!

In Memoriam

2010-04-12T06:23:00.001-07:00

Today is an extra special Monday because I have a guest blogger! LynnAnn is not only a friend and former college roommate, but also the author of a hilarious blog called Rules. She is also a budding photographer and I envy her mad interweb skillz because she has apparently mastered Tumblr, while I cannot figure it out to save my life. About her blog, she says, "There are rules for living here. Some people just don't know them yet. That's what I'm here for."

I hope you enjoy what she has to say today!

(I may or may not have made comments in italics.)

******************************

I've had a pretty rough day.

My aunt died and I had to find out about it from facebook. Well, not my real aunt. The lady who played my aunt on television. I'm so thankful to Amanda for providing me a place to let out my feelings as I feel weird about talking about my family on my own blog.

I'm still pretty upset about the situation and that's why my grammar is subpar today. Unless Amanda cleaned up my writing (I did, but only a little. For clarity's sake.), in which case props to her for figuring out when and when not to use a comma (I took my best guess. Where's the fun in being right all the time?).

I wasn't allowed to watch Designing Women when I was a kid. At the time I thought it was because it was "inappropriate." Now, I know it's because our family secrets were sold to the writers and nobody wanted me to find out being dysfunctional was so freaking hilarious.

Anthony, who was unfortunately incarcerated (and ambiguously gay although I guess the 80s weren't quite ready for that storyline, although we did once find out that Suzanne doesn't like bisexuals because the rest of us have to choose and so should they) is my Uncle Jr who is both a designer and unfortunately incarcerated.

Mary Jo - My mother Ruth Ann. Double name? Check. Also, she was a single mom who worked 2 and sometimes 3 jobs to make ends meet. And okay, so she never had to slop up fried chicken at a fast food joint wearing a crazy hat because my dad wouldn't send child support but that's just because she got a better job for The Shopper's Guide. Also the hair. My mom spent the entire 80s rocking a geometrically cut perm.

Charlene/Suzzane/Bernice - my grandmother. And I understand they probably didn't think it would be fair to make one person have all the crazy. I mean, it's kind of hard for us to believe my grandmother gets to have all the crazy in our family, but Lord knows the rest of us aren't asking for our share.

My grandmother once got tangled in her living room curtains and had to call the police to help her up. She also would probably sing the song BLACK MAN if we let her (you can read more about LynnAnn's grandmother, Dearie, here).

But as we learned on Designing Women, in the south we're proud of our crazy people. We don't hide them in the attic. We bring 'em right down to the living room and show 'em off.

And most importantly, Julia is my Auntie Carmen who once told a city official, "It's people like you that hell won't be hot enough for."

In real life I'm probably mostly like the Charlene in my grandmother. But I want to be Julia so bad I can taste it. I memorized this clip of Julia berating the current Miss Georgia on her sister's behalf. Honestly, I don't know when I thought I would use it. Possibly at school. My students would respond really well to that sort of in your faceness. It's inspiring though. I'll probably get started on my baton on fire lessons soon.

I know a lot of people are talking about their grief over Dixie Carter's death. But I just want to be clear that, aside from her actual family, I have probably been hit the hardest by this.

Well, except for maybe my Auntie Carmen. I mean, it's got to be kind of freaky when the lady who made you famous on tv kicks it.

Defying Entropy

2010-04-09T20:24:00.000-07:00

Entropy is a fancy scientific word that, at it's most basic form, involves the concept that nature tends to move from order to disorder. It partially explains the infuriating phenomenon that occurs when you find your house trashed 5 minutes after you finished cleaning it top to bottom.

Or maybe I've gotten entropy mixed up with having young children. Which can also be an infuriating phenomenon.

Either way, fighting the natural tendency towards disorder can be an exhausting battle. One look at my valuable collection of paperwork piles lying all over my counters, dining table and desk is enough to make anyone want to toss back a strong drink and take a nap.

EXHAUSTING!

And finding a system that works is even more difficult. So imagine my skepticism when Jason bought me a small gift a couple of months ago.

He admitted that he bought it for me on a whim. It was a good deal and he thought it looked like it was right up my alley.

And he was EXACTLY RIGHT!

The Family Life Organizer (henceforth nicknamed Flo), created by Pam Socolow at Family Facts, is less like a calendar (although it HAS a calendar section) and more like my personal external hard drive. It's like having 500 gigabytes of extra memory, so that my feeble brain space can be freed up to remember even more important things, like the names of my children or what I'm supposed to be fixing for dinner.

Flo is divided into 7 major sections: Calendar, Contacts, Kids, Good Like, Home and Auto, Healthcare, and Finance. And each section has a durable plastic pocket to keep track of any paperwork that needs to be saved.

Each section has tons of space to keep track of ALL the information you could ever imagine needing to run your household smoothly. And even some information you didn't know you needed, but boy, is it ever handy to have at your fingertips!

But the really fun thing about Flo is the unexpected bonuses! For example, you can keep a running list of wines you like or might want to try. There are travel planning worksheets, vehicle repair logs, sheets to record the brand/color paint you use in each room of your house, and almost 300 tiny stickers to use at your discretion on the calendar pages.

The layout is clean and simple, but not too girly/frilly, so your man (or YOU, if you are the man) can use it without having to turn in his (your) man-card. Each page gives you ample space to record the information requested.

Seriously, I never would have even thought of keeping track of some of the stuff within the covers of the binder, but Pam did, and it's helping me to be more organized than I ever have been. Plus, I'm fighting the piles, which pretty much makes me feel like a super hero. Pile Fighter!

And lucky for you, Pam @ Family Facts has graciously agreed to send one (1) Family Life Organizer and Planner to one of my readers!

AW YEAH!!!

I'm going to keep this simple- to enter my giveaway, simply leave me a comment on this post. You can post about it on Twitter for an extra entry, but PLEASE be sure to leave me an ADDITIONAL comment letting me know that you have done so (and please include your Twitter name (handle? ID?). If you tweet, but do not leave another comment, you will only have 1 entry. Thank you ever so much for understanding!

*Edited to add: Giveaway will end on April 16th at 11:59 PM CST

**Also edited to add: I am in no way being compensated for this review. Because I'm so in love with this product, I contacted Ms. Socolow myself and asked her if she would be willing to donate to a giveaway, and she was gracious enough to agree. *

Good luck!

It's the Ultimate Blog Party!

2010-04-08T19:31:00.000-07:00

If you're stopping by Sturgmom, In General from the Ultimate Blog Party,

WELCOME!!

And thanks for stopping by!!

I was fashionably late to the UBP last year, so I've "worked" hard to be more prepared this year. So I'm really ready to party!!

Please click around and get to know me and my blog a bit better. I can even point you in a few random directions:

I'm a semi-crafter, but the amount of project ideas I have catalogued in my head is indirectly proportionate to the amount of time I have to complete them. But that's not really what my blog is all about.

I'm still figuring out my new role as a pastor's wife, and my coping mechanism is to just post funny stories about things my husband does as a rookie pastor. We have three adorable children. But that's not really what my blog is all about, either.

I'm a terrible cook. And I've been known to start accidental kitchen fires. Baking is more my forte (as long as I can use eggs). So this DEFINITELY isn't a food blog.

So what is my blog all about? What's my niche? Nothing. I don't have one.

It's just rambling bits of life and randomness. I do try to use my blog for good and not evil.

I'm like Seinfeld (the TV show, not the actual person) of the bloggy world only without the famous characters and the brilliant, witty writing. And I'm approximately 137% less interesting.

Thanks again for stopping by and reading! Be sure to leave me a comment so I can visit your party, too!

Oh, and I almost forgot a very important announcement...

A GIVEAWAY!!

But I'm seriously overextending my limits of organization and preparedness just by having this post written on time. So writing a giveaway post tonight just flat isn't going to happen.

PLEASE check back soon, though (I'm not trying to be a tease. I'm truly this ill-prepared all the time. I WISH I was organized enough to plan teasers. Except that teaser posts can be incredibly annoying, so maybe I just wish I was organized).

Happy partying!

Please pardon this interruption

2010-04-08T11:45:00.000-07:00

I read about this on Boomama's blog recently.

Anne Jackson is in Eastern Europe and is raising awareness about human trafficking through her blog this week. Click on the button to read about her experiences. Or click this link.

It's shocking.

But be careful.

It will move you.

Hopefully beyond tears and into action.

Once you know, you'll have a responsibility.

To do something.

So click with caution.

And feel free to grab the button here and put it on your own blog/website/social media whathaveyou.

We'll now be returning to our regularly scheduled drivel.

AI Recap: Top 9

2010-04-07T06:25:00.001-07:00

Although I have been watching AI this season, and there are a few contestants that I'm really rooting for, I haven't felt the compulsion to recap like I did last year. So why is today different?

Because I'm trying to be more consistent in my blogging and I don't have much else to say today, so AI Recap it is!

My authenticity is inspiring.

Last night's theme was songs of Lennon/McCartney.

A little soapbox: Week after week, the judges are telling the contestants to be more relevant and more current. While I can agree that many of The Beatles songs are timeless, does that equate to relevant and current?

It's a tough call.

And, AND!!! The contestants are constantly being berated ("berated" may be too strong of a word, but you catch my drift, right?) about changing up classic songs too much or not changing them up enough. And don't even THINK about singing Whitney or Celine unless you ARE Whitney or Celine.

So really, THE BEATLES?!?! THE BEATLES?!?! Arguably THE greatest rock band of all time? REALLY?

I had a feeling going into the evening that no one was going to win. Including the viewers.

*Off my soapbox*

Here are my thoughts about last night (and I might have them out of order of performance because, while I was watching, I thought to myself that I should have taken notes or something to help me remember a few key items, but I was too busy dunking oreos in milk and chatting with some girlfriends who come over to watch, which has become our Tuesday night AI-watching tradition. And when AI ends, working off the 20 lbs. of oreos we put away may become another, less appealing, tradition):

Aaron Kelly: I'm sorry, but I don't get the appeal of this kid. He's good for a 16 yr. old. Unfortunately for him, this show isn't about picking the best 16 yr. old performer. And he's competing against Crystal, and Casey, and Lee, And Big Mike...? All that to say that I thought his performance last night was his worst yet and I'm hoping it was his last.

Katie Stevens: Last night, we got both 16 yr. olds out of the way first. But as much as Aaron's performance was bad, Katie's was great! I agree with the judges (Randy?) that it was her best yet, but she's still a weaker link.

Andrew Garcia: This would have been a much better performance without the brass and the back-up singers. When you consider how to alter modern music to make it more "current" and "relevant" you rarely think, "What current and relevant music today needs is a larger brass section and some Pips." Overall, I thought it was a good performance, but not his best. I'm afraid he's been coasting on likeability and Straight Up for too long. He may be losing steam.

Big Mike: A good performance for him, but nothing that I'll remember next week. Or even today, for that matter (see above statement about oreos). I still like Mike.

Tim Urban: Poor Tim is hanging in there by a very fragile thread. He ends up in the bottom 3 each week only to be just slightly better than the person going home. I don't think he could be any cuter or have a better attitude and his performance last night was good enough that I texted 11 votes for him. I'd like to see Aaron Kelly and Katie Stevens go home first.

Casey James: I was surprised that Casey didn't pick a rock-ier song like Come Together, but mmm, mmm, mmm, mmm, mmm. I love me some Casey. He gets better every week, even though I had no idea that it was going to be possible! It was a great performance. Even if he was wearing a John Travolta/Saturday Night Fever suit. Mmm.

Crystal Bowersox: Is anyone actually still competing with Crystal? She is SO GOOD EVERY.SINGLE.WEEK. If she has any real competition, it might be Casey. So I'm going to call Top 2 right now: Crystal and Casey. You heard it here first folks.

I was really surprised that none of the judges said anything about her forgetting the lyrics, but she recovered so well that I didn't even notice until a friend pointed it out and we re-watched. Thankfully, she didn't let her throw her off and she finished even better than she started. Think I'm mistaken? Watch it again.

Siobahn Magnus: I need to get this off my chest: I do not like Siobahn's voice. I'm not saying that I don't think she's a good singer, because she does have good control and pitch, but I don't like the tonality of it. Thanks for listening.

I was listening to Kidd Kraddick In the Morning on the radio this morning and he said that if he only had 6 months to live, he would have Siobahn come and sing that song for him because then it would seem much much longer. And that about sums up her performance for me too.

Lee Dewyze: Lee is always "that guy" to me, as in, "Who's up next? Oh yeah! That guy!" I LOVE Lee and his growly, gravelly voice, but he's always a little forgettable. With that said, I don't think we'll be forgetting the bagpiper anytime soon, because- RANDOM! And I thought Lee was hysterical when Ryan asked him why he chose a bagpiper and Lee's response was, "Why not?" He had a really good, really fun, totally random performance last night. And he finally smiled which made it even better!

I was pleasantly surprised to find myself thinking that it was one of the best Idol night's so far this season. And the videos of what the contestants think about each other made me so happy!

I have no idea what will happen tonight. But if there's anything you can count on from me, it's an uneducated, unsolicited opinion based on absolutely no foundation whatsoever. Glad I can be of service.

Bottom 3:
Aaron (wishful thinking?)
Tim
Andrew

Going home:
Aaron (again, wishful thinking?)

The post I should have written before I lapsed into a sugar coma

2010-04-06T09:26:00.000-07:00

I would have completed this post sooner, thus rendering it much more timely, if it hadn't been for all the Easter candy I consumed that sent me straight into a downward spiral of laying on the couch reading a book and doing absolutely nothing for the better part of Sunday and Monday evening.

I totally blame the sugar.

We really had a fabulous Easter weekend. It got started on Good Friday, which I'm not theologically well-versed enough to know why it's called "good" since it was the day Jesus was crucified (although I'm sure a cursory Google search could help), but in my personal experience, Good Friday has always been exactly that.

And may I state for the record that I would gladly partake in a longer work day for the benefit of a 3-day weekend every week. GLADLY.

Cade had a friend from school over on Friday afternoon, which caused me a slight bit of trepidation because Jason was going to be away most of the day and an entire day spent as the sole caregiver for just my own 3 children is usually enough to drive me to drink. I thought that adding a 4th child just might be the push I needed to send me straight over the edge.

However, sometimes a padded cell and 3 squares a day sounds really appealing.

But you know what? It turned out to be really fun. Cade's friend couldn't have been more of a sweetheart! And at the last minute, just after J got home, we decided to take all 4 children to see "How to Train Your Dragon." I highly recommend this film, even if it might cause your little boys to obsess about all manner of dragons, dragon-hunting, and viking paraphernalia, courtesy of the themed merchandise conspicuously displayed at The-Store-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.

What? Oh, is that just my kids?

Saturday morning I took Cade to a skating birthday party, where thankfully they had a contraption made of PVC pipe that was similar to a walker, but with wheels to help the novice skaters remain upright. Cade whizzed aroud the rink averaging about 2 1/2 minutes per lap. And no, the skating rink was not unusually large. Cade was sort of like an old man in a nursing home, only on wheels. I was proud of him for giving it a shot, though!

If I recall correctly, and chances are slim that I do, the rest of Saturday was a haze of household stuff and a bunch of nothing.

When we arrived at church Sunday morning, we saw that we had more congregants than a month of Sundays combined (counting the rare fifth Sunday).

That's when we realized that when we were asked previously if, as the pastor's family, we were cool with having an Easter egg hunt "for the kids," the phrase "for the kids" suddenly made a lot more sense. When we joined, I think our young family lowered the average age of our members to about 72, so I wasn't really sure to whom "kids" referred.

Since we had been running just a tad late on Sunday morning, I forgot the Easter eggs that I had prepared for the hunt, but I think the hunt was successful even wthout my measly dozen.

Yes, that scales reads, "3.0 lbs."

I'll let that sink in a moment.

To put it in perspective, the roast we ate for lunch on Easter Sunday (and had leftovers for another meal OR TWO) was 3 lbs.

3 POUNDS of sugar-coated sugar.

It was obscene.

After the church festivities, the boys were invited to play at a friend's house for the afternoon. I dropped the boys off at their house after lunch and tried not to squeal my tires speeding out of our friends' driveway, anticipating the blissful 4 hours ahead of me.

I had a laundry list of accomplishments to complete, which included a taking a nap, reading a book, and sorting the Easter candy, before the clock chimed 6 and I turned back into a pumpkin,
Sorting the candy was Priority Numero Uno because I didn't want any "help" from the boys.

I knew some of the candy was going to have to go straight into the "out box" so I began systematically sorting the loot.

I made 4 piles: good chocolate, non-chocolate, off-brand chocolate, and

my chocolate.

Regarding candy, I can pretty much take it or leave it. Unless it's a salty-sweet peanut butter flavored goodness enveloped in Reese's milk chocolate. Then no piece is beyond my pudgy grasp.
I ended up throwing out slightly over 1 lb of hard candies, off-brand chocolates, and a bunch of these.

Because, what are they anyway? Nastiness in a hard candy shell? Solid sugar blocks covered in dye? Gross.

The children also collected over $5 in change from their eggs, which made them a tidy little profit for using absolutely no skill whatsoever in spotting "hidden" eggs in the grass and tossing them into their respective baskets.

Once I finished sorting the candy, I realized I had let a precious 15 or so minutes get away from me, so I popped two Reese's peanut butter eggs and ~~went into a sugar coma~~ took a nap.

The rest of Sunday involved eating, enjoying friends, and reading a book. And a day just can't get much better than that.

Unless you add in another peanut butter egg or five.

In lieu of a clever title

2010-03-24T07:55:00.000-07:00

It seems that I've been on a bit of an unplanned, unannounced bloggy hiatus. I'm like the TV show you love (or at least watch because there's nothing better on at the moment. Or you're too dang lazy to change the channel when your favorite show is over) that premieres at the most random of times (Glee, anyone?)

And while I'm on the topic of TV, whatever happened to the good ole days when all the new shows started in September, went on a break around the holidays, premiered new episodes sometime in January/February, and went into reruns for the summer? It was predictable and consistent and if I'm nothing if not resistant to change. And why can't anyone pen a letter anymore? Kids these days, with their instant messages and the texts and the emails and code-talking....

OK, moving out of Aunt Linda mode, where was I? Bloggy break... yes. There's really no way to sum up the last month of our lives except to say we've been in Moving Hell.

It's not as though the gunfire we heard almost nightly at our old place didn't soothe us to sleep like a sweet lullaby. Only it didn't.

And it's not like we didn't adore living in an old house with a pier-and-beam foundation that made dropping a napkin on the floor sound like the equivalent of a sonic boom. Except we didn't.

So we spent the better part of March moving all our crap across town. And you never realize just how much crap you have until you have to box it up and move it a few miles down the road. And then you feel like all the random crap you have is suffocating you to to the point where you'd rather just go back to simpler times when a family didn't have to find a box for their 5 pairs of nail clippers, 14 clear glass vases, 1,352 DVDs, and toys with a million tiny pieces of various and sundry tools and weaponry that end up underneath the couch, but the rest of the toys are already boxed up and loaded in the truck so everything that's left on the floor is just going to go into the trash BECAUSE I'M SO TIRED OF DEALING WITH THIS MESS.

Or I could be projecting.

We finally got all of our stuff transferred to a new place, with a few incidental activities thrown into our schedule for additional chaos (because we like to live adventurously). Like a trip to Minneapolis (and my first Jucy Lucy from Matt's Bar). And a trip to Little Rock. And some strep throat. And a weekend visit from friends. And a walk to the creek because the weather was so gorgeous. And a TV day because the weather decided to rain and freeze again. And LOTS of unpacking, organizing, cleaning, purging, and (ashamedly) a teensy bit of losing of the temper.

Our nerves have been frazzled, y'all.

So maybe now things are settling down as we settle in. Or maybe I'm just dealing with it better. Or maybe I've completely stopped caring. Whatever it is, I think my blogging mojo is back. But it could still be packed away in one of those boxes of useless stuff in the garage. I'll have to get back to you on that.

WWWday 02.25.10

2010-02-25T09:10:00.001-08:00

A few items have really spoken to me lately and I'd like nothing better than to share them with you.

(OK, that's not entirely true. I'd like to make it be Friday already more than I'd like to share these links with you, but since that's selfish and impossible, I'm all about the share. I'm giving like that.)

This speaks to my sensibilities:

If you live in the 21st century, use a search engine on a regular basis and enjoy getting free stuff, then you should sign up for SwagBucks. It's the 2nd birthday of SwagBucks, so you earn more bucks by signing up NOW.

(SB is simply a search engine (ala Google, Yahoo, et. al.), but when you search you can earn bucks and your accumulated bucks can be exchanged for some cool stuff, including gift cards to Amazon.com, iTunes, or Starbucks. So join today!!)

This speaks to what a loser I am (Sing along with me- Soy un perdedor. I'm a loser, baby, so why doncha kill me. (I don't really mean that last part, but I am a terrible horrible bloggy loser)):

LynnAnn is the lucky winner or the giveaway I held so long ago that everyone has probably forgotten about it by now. LynnAnn is one of my IRL friends from college who also writes a hilarious blog she calls RULES. Please read it.

These things speak to my heart:

A video over at SheSeeks.org is a good word on anger that really spoke truth and conviction into my life today. If you click nothing else, click on this one.

Another video from the Real Hope for Haiti Rescue Center. So many people in need should not leave us unmoved and apathetic. Please don't be apathetic.

Lessons Learned From a Snow Day

2010-02-23T19:24:00.000-08:00

Alternate Title: Photographic Essay of Texas Family Poorly-Equipped to Handle Literally INCHES of Snow

Snow is such a novelty across much of Texas. Sure, once you get up into the panhandle snow is much more likely, but across North Texas and farther south, snow is about as common as a football bat.

My heritage is Houstonian, so although I recall a dusting here and a dusting there of the white stuff, I'm 99% certain that in my life I've never seen as much snowfall as we received here in Central TX yesterday.

It was beautiful!

And since snow is so rare, I felt like it was the single chance my children might have in THEIR lifetimes to experience ALL the fun things an Northern-dwelling family might experience.

With the exception of sledding. And ice skating, skiing, snowboarding, and really there's an entire host of winter recreational activities that we are even more poorly equipped to handle than simple snowman-building.

In other words, we made snowangels, built snowmen, and had a snowball fight. The end.

There is no other word for my children's snow attire than pitiful. Plain old downright pitiful.

But here are a few of the things I learned from one snow day:

1) When I ask a child to put on a hat and white flakes are falling from the sky, be more specific on what type of hat fulfills the requirement.

In Micah's defense, he didn't have many choices of thermal headgear. But he IS wearing one of his favorite t-shirts under his unzipped coat, so shout out to our friends Justin and Jana, creators of I Choose To Love. Please click over to their site and support their adoption process!

2) Building a snowman is not NEARLY as easy as it looks or sounds, particularly to the inexperienced snowman engineer. The proof is in my screaming quadriceps.

I should probably get moving more.

Once we figured out the rolling technique to build up each snowball for Frosty's tri-bod, we still had to pull out all of the leaves and grass that kept sticking to the snow as it pulled up from the earth below.

And the facial accoutrements do NOT magically adhere to snow.

The eyes were once whole cookies, until they fell off of Frosty's face and shattered on the ground. Then they became sad cookie fragment eyes.

Due to our meager stock of vegetables, the children used an empty bubble container for Frosty's nose. Raisins made the mouth, but each raisin had to be inserted into holes indented individually by fingers protected only by Halloween novelty gloves.

I have no idea what happened to the part of the mouth that appears to be trailing down Frosty's body. Except Piper.

3) When you're 3, there is no better snow fun that marching around the yard leaving foot tracks.

No, she didn't have a single pair of shoes more appropriate for playing in accumulated frozen precipitation. Pitiful.

Yes, she did this for almost the entire time we played outside.

4) In the future, I should always consider that stuffing my flare leg yoga pants into my tall, heeled black leather boots for the sake of keeping my feet dry in the snow might serve it's purpose, but not without serious consequences.

Because I felt like an incredibly ridiculous and embarrassing spectacle when every other person in the neighborhood was also running around outside visiting with one another. The low point was when our across-the-street neighbor came over to introduce herself and her children for the first time. I was never more aware of my bizarre garb than I was at that moment.

There is no photgraphic evidence of my fashion faux pas because I made Jason swear that he would only take pictures of me from the waist up. And he complied because he knows what's good for him.

It was a fun day.

We were a little sad that we didn't have enough clean snow for snow cream. Maybe next time.

When I'll be so old that soft foods will be the only thing I can eat, snow cream will fit the bill.

Parenting Realities

2010-02-23T07:10:00.001-08:00

"Mama, can you lay with me?"

Cade, my 6 yr. old, asks me this question almost nightly. He likes for me to lie down next to him and scratch his back or snuggle up for a few minutes before he drifts off to sleep.

It sounds precious, but most days I have a hard time adopting that positive perspective.

Bedtime in our household is not sweet, peaceful, treasured, and snuggly.

3 1/2 hours of homework, dinner, chores, bathtime, playtime, grumpiness, and whining leaves me completely spent.

The day's events combine to wear my body out and my patience thin.

So when the lights go out at 8:00, to say I'm not always in the best mood may or may not be a huge understatement.

Then there's one more demand. At least it can feel that way.

"Mama, will you lay with me?"

Sigh.

Sometimes it's yes. but more often...

No.

The sink is overflowing with dirty dishes.

The laundry fairy isn't coming to fold Mt. Washmore.

The dog tracked in mud, so the floors are disgusting.

Don't get me started on the bathrooms.

I need to get myself to bed at a reasonable hour if there's any way I'm going to function tomorrow.

Endless.

But those chores will always be there. I know his request won't be, but instead of agreeing I tell myself this in justification:

He'll ask again tomorrow night, so I'm going to say no tonight.

Just one more night.

Simply, there are too many things I need to get done. I need "me" time. Peace. Quiet.

Until last night.

"Mama, can you lay with me?"

Panic.

How many nights has it been since he the last time he asked? Too many to remember. Was it the weekend? Was it sometime last week? Two weeks ago?

I don't know because I was too busy to remember.

Did he stop asking because I always say no? Or because he's growing up?

So I said yes.

Treasured.

One night, he'll make this request for the last time.

And I won't even know it.

I hope I don't say no.

Sacrifice

2010-02-18T07:54:00.001-08:00

**Please forgive me for any incoherent thoughts, incomplete sentences, or improper use of grammar. Or, as I like to call it, my normal writing. I'm typing this with a lack-of-caffeine induced headache.**

I grew up Southern Baptist and Baptists as a denomination don't give much consideration to the church calendar. Oh, there are plenty of potlucks, ice cream socials, and get-togethers on the events calendar, but the liturgical calendar with the seasons of Advent and Lent are not given much air time. So I spent a large portion of my lifetime with the (incorrect) knowledge that only Catholics celebrate Lent.

As an adult, I've come into a greater understanding of the holy seasons, and while I may not fully subscribe to all of the rules and regulations conceived by other denominations/religions for Lent, I believe the overall idea is an appropriate way to prepare one's heart prior to the celebration of Holy Week.

A couple of days ago, my friend Drew tweeted that he is participating in the Forty Days of Water Project, hosted by the Blood:Water Mission. I went to their website and found this information:

"What if water was the only option to sustain us? And what if we had to walk miles to get water - only to have a water source that is contaminated and full of disease?

Choose to make water your only beverage for 40 Days between February 17 - April 3 to help Blood:Water Mission provide clean water for people in Africa who don't have a choice.

By giving up what you'd normally drink in exchange for the water from your tap you can save that money to help build clean water projects for communities in Uganda. You can stay updated on the work you are enabling by reading our blog and Uganda project updates."

As a lover of soft drinks, iced tea, and hot coffee, and as I've had neither in the last 24 hours, I can't tell you what exactly I was thinking when I agreed with myself to participate. Although I know that if you're first thought is, "Oh, this sounds easy!" and you don't already drink water 100% of the time, you may want to think again.

I can also tell you that I have an extreme lack of self-discipline (the evidence of which is too lengthy for this post), and that I'm cautiously looking forward to seeing how the Lord will work in my own heart in the coming 40 days. I know it will be real, but it won't be easy. Change never is.

I've already run into a couple of snags. I don't know that there's a really good system for calculation how much I have "saved," so I'm making it up as I go along. If we eat out, I usually get a drink. For the next 40 days, I'll skip the drink and add that to the total. No brainer.

But how do I categorize milk? Because I eat a lot of cereal. So I decided that milk as a necessary part of a meal (like for cereal at breakfast), doesn't count as a drink. But a large ice cold glass of milk with a side of brownie counts as a drink, so I'll be skipping those. The milk for Lent and the brownie for my waistline.

Finally, our tap water is pretty disgusting. I realize that bottled water isn't environmentally-sound, but it is sound for my body because I appreciate having a functioning liver and kidneys, so I'm not really committing to drinking 100% tap water. I'll still be buying the bottled kind.

I don't "regularly" purchase coffees or other drinks. It's not as if I'm giving up a daily Starbuck's run because I drink my Starbucks fresh-brewed from home. So the rest will be guesswork. If we have guests over for dinner, I'll calculate in the price of a 2 liter. If I feel like stopping by Sonic for a Route 44 during Happy Hour, I'll add that in with as much honestly as I can.

I hope this doesn't seem like I'm tooting my own horn. Rather, my main reason for posting this is to raise awareness of the project and invite you to join me! Or feel free to share in the comments if you participate in Lent or not. We can support one another. And share some Tylenol.

The best salad you will ever eat in your life. And I'm not even kidding.

2010-02-06T20:45:00.000-08:00

I'm not what you'd call a "salad lover." But I'm not a "salad hater"
either. I'm just salad-ambivalent.

To me, salad is what you eat at a restaurant, as opposed to gnawing
off your own arm due to hunger, while waiting for the real food. It's
the costly adult equivalent of the free crackers you request for your
screaming child.

By my definition, salad isn't even particularly healthy- it's lettuce,
cheese, carrots and croutons topped with a fatty salad dressing.
Because if anything moves me from ambivalence to hate, it's fat-free
ranch, which I'm fully convinced is from the devil.

Adam and Eve did not have fat-free ranch before the fall. Of this I'm
certain.

Given my non-feelings toward salad, I was pleasantly surprised
recently when J and I had dinner with friends and ate this "Cornucopia
Salad."

I have no idea why it's called "Cornucopia" because there's no corn in
it. But if cornucopia means "a million fantastic flavors combined in
such a surprising and delightful way that makes salad my most
enthusiastic, yet mundane, obsession ever," then I suppose the name is
appropriate.

Cornucopia Salad

1 large head of leafy green lettuce, chopped
1/2 c. almonds (sliced or slivered)
3 T. sugar
1 granny smith apple, chopped
1 avocado, chopped (but I like it with 2)
1 can mandarin oranges, drained
1/2 c. dried cranberries
3 green onions, chopped
Bleu cheese crumbles (however much you like. Just sprinkle some in
there. Or use feta if you're wanting gluten-free)
1/4 c. bacon crumbles (we use pre-cooked bacon that you just heat in
the microwave, but you could use bacon bits. If you use bacon bits,
then please, for the LOVE, use real bacon pieces. Not those tooth-
breakingly hard imitation bits. Thank you.)

Put almonds and sugar into a small skillet over medium heat. Heat
until sugar melts and almonds are golden brown. Pour sugared almonds
onto foil to cool while you prepare the rest of the salad.

Dressing:
1/2 c. oil
1/2 c. white wine or apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 T. fresh chopped parsley
2 T. sugar

Mix all salad ingredients (including the almonds) with the dressing.
You'll need an extra large bowl. And an extra large plate and extra
large fork to eat it!

Don't judge the ingredient combinations until you've tried it. And if
you think you won't like "fruity" salad, don't be a hater! Give it a
chance.

You'll be moved.

P.S. I'm typing this on my phone to email to my blog through the
wonder of technology. That means 2 things. One, the recipe is coming
from memory, which you would know speaks VOLUMES about my love for
this salad since I've got the memory span of a goldfish. But my
measurements may be a bit off. I dont think they are, but it's not
impossible.

And two, I'm sorry for the wonky post format. Sometimes the wonder of
technology means, "Hm. I wonder how that happened. Because it didn't
look that weird when I sent it." Anyway, my apologies. I'll fix it
when I'm not typing entirely with 2 thumbs on a keyboard slightly
larger than a postage stamp.

P.P.S. I know I'm delinquent in choosing a giveaway winner, but I'll
try to get on it before Monday. Pinkie swear.

My 200th Post!! And a GIVEAWAY!!!

2010-01-31T20:35:00.000-08:00

This giveaway is now closed. Thanks to everyone who entered!

*****************

(If the looks of this blog post title is any indication, I've apparently challenged myself to attempt to use 200 exclamation points within the context of a single post!

I haven't. Because that would be annoying. But this is a Very! Exciting! Time! for me! Thus, the overuse of the dramatic punctuation.)

Back at Christmastime, Jason, his siblings, and his cousins all received a very special gift. Months before, while cleaning out the attic of Jason's grandparents' old house, his mom and aunt discovered hundreds- HUNDREDS- of letters written back when J's grandparents first became pen pals, fell in love, got engaged, and planned their wedding. The written correspondence turned into FOUR BOUND VOLUMES of letters that chronicle a precious piece of their family history. It's a beautiful thing to imagine the sheer joy of going to the mailbox daily and finding love letter upon love letter upon love letter.

Unfortunately, no one writes real pen-to-the-paper letters anymore and usually the best piece of mail I get is a glossy magazine Today, we email and text.

And BLOG.

While I don't anticipate my blog turning into any sort of bound volume set, I do have something that will have one lucky person running to their mailbox in the very near future!

The best part of my 200th post, the thing that makes it SUPER exciting and all exclamation point-worthy, is that I have a fun giveaway courtesy of CSN stores! When I was first contacted by CSN about hosting a giveaway, I didn't realize that CSN is an entire FAMILY of stores. If you can't find it at CSN, it probably doesn't exist.

Because there are over 200 CSN stores (just like I have 200 posts!), I dedicated my own blood, sweat and tears by browsing around their virtual storefronts, narrowing the wares down to a handful of my favorites. It was a tough job, but I took one for the team. And ONE of the items below can be yours!!

Here are a few things that I absolutely LOVED (the pics are a little small, so I included links to the items as well so you can see them a bit easier):

When this wall hook set and I met across the crowded virtual store, it was love at first sight. I love everything about it- the colors, the distressed look, the function. We're meant to be together forever. I just know it.

I need this red lantern. NEED. That is all.

How adorable are these butterfly bottles?! Their little butterfly wings have a little bit of sparkly bling for a feminine touch.

(After I typed that, I realized it sounds kind of like I think butterflies aren't feminine enough on their own. Because what man wouldn't LOVE an office/study decorated with a yellow/black monarch butterfly theme?)

These concrete doves would add the perfect touch of interest to my home decor. If they were mine, I'd use them on my mantel or antique sideboard.

I love these retro-looking set of soap dishes. They would look so fab on the wall in my kitchen.

If you're interested in entering my giveaway and having one of the above pretties (your choice of one item listed in this post) delivered directly to your door, you will have a few opportunities.

(Sidenote: I had a huge debate with myself over whether or not to REQUIRE readers to follow me in order to enter this giveaway. I even posted about my dilemma on Twitter. Some said it was acceptable, others said it was annoying. I've seen it done before and since I find it a teensy weensy bit off-putting, I'm just leaving it as an option for extra entries. I would love love LOVE to have more followers. But I also want them to be readers who really enjoy hanging out here, not those forced to follow for the giveaway alone. Now that I've devoted WAY to much effort to overthinking that, which of the world's ills should I solve next?)

To Enter:

1) Leave me a comment telling me which of the above items you'd absolutely love to have: 1 entry.

2) Tweet about the giveaway including a link back to this blog. Please leave separate comment including the link to your tweet: 2 entries.

3) Blog about the giveaway including a link back to this blog. Please leave a separate comment including the link to your post: 3 entries.

4) Become a follower of my blog. Please leave a separate comment letting me know that you are following (subscribing in a reader is acceptable): 4 entries.

The Logistics:

*No duplicate comments, please

*I will select a winner at random and notify the winner by email.

*If you win, please get back to me regarding your prize within 48 hours or another winner will be chosen.

Good luck!!

World Wide Webday 01.28.10

2010-01-28T15:39:00.000-08:00

Name change alert! The "internationally" acclaimed bloggy feature here on SIG, World Wide Web Wednesday, is officially changing to World Wide Webday.

The name might be so cheesy that you can actually feel your arteries clogging, but committing to only posting links on Wednesday was too restrictive for me. I want to be able to post links I love whenever I good and well feel like it, dadgummit, regardless what day of the week it is.

My original intent was that WWWW might become a wildly popular weekly blog carnival, but neither one of my readers was interested in participating.

With the blog carnival idea in the crapper, and with other bloggers already using blog titles like "Linky Love," "Links I Love," etc. I obsessed for 45 whole seconds over something original and came up with "Webday."

It may be proof that I don't perform well under self-imposed, arbitrary pressure.

Moving on...

With so much current emphasis on helping the people of Haiti, I think it's timely to bring into focus some other really cool ways people can get involved in helping people in poverty all over the world.

(To clarify, I'm not trying to take the focus off Haiti or diminish their need in any way at all. Please, continue to give and support the efforts there! The after-effects of that devastation will be felt for years. Let's not get complacent and near-sighted simply because the need is no longer right in front of our noses.)

(Several of these links are courtesy of my friend Lee Ann, who I wish would start her blog up again. Hint, hint, Lee Ann. I am not directly affiliated with any of these organizations, nor am I getting any sort of compensation or incentive for posting. Seriously, I have a handful of readers. These people do not know I exist.)

Tiny Rockstar has the CUTEST line of baby and kid tees/onesies. Their mission? Buy a shirt, feed an orphan for a month. I recently placed an order for 2 shirts for the boys, but I haven't received them yet. The online designs, though, are awesome! You have to buy clothes for your children anyway... Why not shop through Tiny Rockstar?

147 Million Orphans is doing amazing things to help orphans worldwide. They've also created a line of gear to raise funds for orphans in Haiti. Please check them out and BUY SOMETHING!

You might be thinking that some of these items are more expensive than what you would normally pay for a similar item. Maybe that your money would go "farther" somewhere else where you can buy a $6 t-shirt or a $10 necklace. However, I think if we all changed our mindsets from quanitiy to quality and agreed to buy less stuff (really, who can't get by with less?) our money would go actually go farther by furthering His kingdom!

Finally, if you do not have any desire whatsoever to be moved into action to help orphans and those in extreme poverty, if you are perfectly content in your own life and have no propensity to change, DO NOT click the link to Katie's blog!

Consider yourself warned. It WILL change your life.

I found Katie's blog from We Are THAT Family a few weeks ago. Then I spent the ~~better part of my work day~~ several hours poring over her blog, soaking up her story, moved to tears and desiring to DO something that will make a difference. I don't know what that is yet, but I bet you will feel the same after reading.

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress..." James 1:27

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This is post #199! In celebration of 200 posts, the big giveaway will be MONDAY!! It will be super fun, so stay tuned!!!

Works for Me Wednesday 01.27.10

2010-01-26T19:06:00.000-08:00

I hesitate to participate in "Works for Me Wednesday" because none of what "works for me" is particularly domestic, ingenious, or original in nature.

What works for me? "Cooking" a frozen pizza after a long day at work because Jason won't be home to whip up a healthy hearty meal.

What works for me? Piling all our clean laundry on our old recliner in the den, digging through it when I need something, and waiting patiently for it all to fold itself.

What works for me? Making about 95% of my children's lunches from prepackaged foods so that all I have to do during the morning madness is throw it into a lunch box, zip it up, and go.

What works for me? Turning up the radio in the minivan to deafening volume when the boys start arguing with one another in the backseat.

What works for me? Neglecting to wash off my make-up each night before I fall into a coma because every sleeping second counts.

(OK, that one actually doesn't work for me, as evidenced by my adult acne. But Proactiv works! Any Proactiv reps out there who want to send me a free skin care set in exchange for a glowing (no pun intended) review, I'm your woman! I know you have Jessica Simpson and all, but who pays attention to infomercials? Blogging is where it's at. Try me.)

Attempting to be a good wife, mommy, professional, friend, blogger, hostess, and housekeeper means that I spend a lot of time juggling, multi-tasking, scheduling, anticipating, and generally feeling like a grand failure at all of it.

So what else works for me? Giving myself permission to say "no" without guilt when I already feel overcommitted just by my daily life's demands.

What works for me? Giving myself permission to let some things go and relax, even when the dishes aren't clean, the floors aren't swept, the bathrooms aren't spotless, and the sheets need laundering.

What works for me? Trusting in Matthew 11:28 that says, "Come to me all who labor and are heavy-laden and I will give you rest."

What works for me? Believing in II Corinthians 12:9, "But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me."

I desperately need the Lord's grace and rest. It really does work for me.

For more WFMW tips and posts, head over to We are THAT Family and see what others are saying works for them!

(I'm hitting the publish button on this a tad early according to Central Standard Time, but it's Wednesday somewhere, right? )

*******************

This is post #198! Only 1 more post, then a PAR-TAY! In celebration of 200 posts, I have a giveaway planned! It will be super fun, so stay tuned. I'm a terribly sporadic poster, so I can't promise an exact DATE, so just keep checking back. But I promise not to keep you waiting long.

X-Games, here we come!

2010-01-25T06:00:00.000-08:00

Since our family increased the children's attendance in our new congregation by 150%, I feel blessed that we had the foresight to get the boys involved in the Awana program at another local church.

(Sidenote: Is it ever appropriate to refer to it as Awanas? As in, "The boys have Awanas tonight?" Or is "Awanas" the Christian equivalent of "Wal Marts"? Does the term refer only to the club in general or to the clubbers also, so then the plural would be correct? Like, "All the Awanas meet in this room." Things that keep me awake at night...)

If you aren't familiar with Awana (Awanas?), the focus is on scripture memory, and the clubbers get points for learning their material each week. In addition, they get points for good habits like wearing their uniform, checking in punctually each week at club, and participating in various theme nights throughout the club season. At the end of each semester, the clubbers get to cash in all their accrued points for Awana bucks to spend in the Awana "store."

With this being our first Awana experience, I had no idea what type of items the boys might potentially have the opportunity to "buy," but in my mind I pictured endless tables stocked with a variety of plastic-y trinkets, not unlike the Cheap Crap Bar at Chuck E. Cheese.

So it's understandable why I LAUGHED OUT LOUD when I picked up Micah from his classroom and saw that he was the proud owner of one of these:

(It's a skateboard. Tragically, Micah's doesn't say "Holy" on it, although I totally wish it did, because as much as the idea of my least coordinated child on a skateboard makes me chuckle, THIS board flat out CRACKS ME UP! It certainly gives new meaning to the phrase "Holy Roller.")

(Sorry, I couldn't resist.)

Anyway, Micah tucked his new treasure under his arm and confidently headed to the car as cool as if he was the next Tony Hawk headed out to the X Games.

I bet Tony bought his first skateboard with Awana bucks, too.

The next day after school, he begged me to allow him to try out his new set of wheels. But first! He had to get dressed like a skater.

Apparently, these days skaters are into white tees and sunglasses ala The Fonz, layered with clearance Gymboree fleece.

And before you go reporting me to Child Protective Services for allowing my child on the Wheels of Death without proper equipment, rest assured that this picture fully captures the speed at which he was rolling along. Which means slightly faster than a dead snail.

He wanted to stay on the driveway, mainly because it's gently sloped downward, so he had to put very little effort into maintaining forward motion.

His best trick was facing his body one direction and turning his head the other direction to look at the camera. Without losing his balance while at a complete standstill. So I'm pretty sure he'll be landing the 900 any day now.

(Yes, I'll admit I had to google "skateboard tricks" to get that one.)

If this new skateboarding ambition goes anywhere, I just hope Micah gets his name on a boys' clothing line at Kohl's.

****************

If my Blogger dashboard is not leading me astray, this will be my 197th post! Which means post Numero 200 is 3 mediocre posts away (I kill at math AND Spanish). In celebration of 200 posts, I have a giveaway planned! It will be super fun, so stay tuned. I'm a terribly sporadic poster, so I can't promise an exact DATE, so just keep checking back. But I promise not to keep you waiting long.

Egg-Free baking, I will beat you yet!

2010-01-16T19:14:00.000-08:00

Missy had an appointment with a new allergist a few weeks ago. It wasn't a new allergist because we were disappointed with her original one. In fact, I thought he was quite fabulous. I'm just not a fan of driving from Central TX to North Dallas for appointments because we moved.

It's, how do you say.... inconvenient.

So boring story short, the new doctor told us Missy's still allergic to eggs. Blah.

Now it's been two years and innumerable disastrous recipes since we found out about her allergy, and I'm finally honing my (limited) skills in the kitchen with regards to egg-free baking.

(By the way, there is a huge market for a GOOD egg-free baking cookbook. Emphasis on GOOD.)

My best egg-substitute tip? Mixing 1 tbsp. cornstarch and 1 tbsp. water = 1 egg

None of the other funky concoctions which require odd measurements of water, oil, and something-else-I-can't-remember have worked. And since unflavored gelatin is not one of my pantry staples, I've spent countless minutes google-ing the mess out of "egg substitutions in baking." The cornstarch trick was the one that finally stuck (lame pun fully intended. Sadly.).

I hope someone benefits from my very scientific research.

The most challenging meal for avoiding eggs is breakfast. And dinner if you count the number of days in a month when I decide breakfast-for-dinner is the easiest option. Pancakes, waffles, french toast, quiche, casseroles...it's all out the window. Thankfully, one of my cursory google searches took me directly to a FABULOUS egg-free pancake recipe!

Egg-Free Pancakes

1 cup Plain Flour
1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
2 teaspoons Baking Powder
1/4 teaspoon Salt
2 Tablespoons Sugar
1 cup milk
1.5 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

Sift flour and baking soda/powder and salt.

Add sugar and whisk together

Add Vanilla and Oil and half the milk. Whisk together.

Gradually add the rest of the milk until thick pouring consistency.

Heat griddle/skillet - needs to be reasonably hot. Use oil/cooking spray before each pancake - they do stick otherwise. Pour about 1/4 c. of the mixture onto the griddle (the pancakes work best if they are on the small side).

Credit for the recipe goes to Must Follow Recipes. I can SO relate.

This recipe could also be tweaked to make it dairy-free by substituting the milk for soy milk or whatever type of non-dairy milk you prefer (that's how the author of the blog where I found the recipe does it. But no dairy allergies here, so we make sure we drink up our daily recommended allowance of hormones! And sometimes we even add ~~artificial chemicals~~ chocolate syrup to it.)

It's also helpful if you really know your pan and how it heats. And at what temperature you should cook your pancakes. Otherwise they might end up blackened. Which doesn't really equate to authentic cajun breakfast cooking. It just means burnt.

But that isn't the recipe's fault- it's more about operator error, about which I have myriad knowledge.

Just ask my kids.

Prayer of St. Francis

2010-01-15T07:05:00.000-08:00

As I continue to think about and pray for Haiti, I can't imagine NOT being moved to action. These are REAL individuals with REAL lives and souls. Please do not be complacent in your thinking and in your heart as if "they" are some nebulous abstract concept.

INDIVIDUALS are injured.

INDIVIDUALS are broken.

INDIVIDUALS are hungry and exposed.

It could be you. It could be your child. Or your mother. Or your friend.

Please, just do something.

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace;
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.
Amen.

World Wide Web Wednesday 01.13.10: Help Haiti

2010-01-13T18:09:00.000-08:00

The devastation in Haiti right now is unfathomable. I don't have any words to express how profoundly grieved I am regarding this tragedy, mostly because my mind cannot comprehend the level of poverty in that country, then to have it ravaged by the a natural disaster... simply unimaginable.

However, while it seems that we are powerless in our warm homes with our full bellies, I think there are plenty of opportunities to offer aid to Haiti. And many of them are simple and take only a few seconds.

Thanks to technology, you can text "Haiti" to 90999 to donate $10 to the Red Cross or you can text "disaster" to 90999 to donate $10 to Compassion's disaster relief program. You can also donate to Compassion's Disaster Relief Fund by clicking the link.

You can also buy a cool Help Haiti T-Shirt and 100% of the profits go directly towards Haiti relief.

The Pioneer Woman is hosting a mixer giveaway and for every comment received on this post, she is donating $0.10 to Haiti recovery efforts. YOU get the chance to win a sweet mixer, and SHE donates to Haiti. How can you NOT comment?

**UPDATES**

Check out Living with Lindsay's blog to find out how to purchase a beautiful necklace from The Rusted Chain and a portion of the proceeds will go to Compassion.

The Pioneer Woman is doing another giveaway- $500 to the charity of your choice (as long as it is geared towards the Haiti efforts) plus $0.10 for every comment on this post.

Hope for Haiti is a website where each dollar you donate enters you into a raffle for some great prizes! Money collected will be donated to Red Cross or Compassion (This site is sponsored by several legitimate well-established businesses, including The SITS girls, so rest assured it isn't a scam.)

DesignHer Momma is donating $1 to Compassion for every comment left on this post.

KellysKorner is asking people who have ALREADY donated to comment on her blog and she is donating $1 for each comment (up to $1000) to Compassion.

Savory Sweet Life is donation $1 (up to $1000) for every comment left on this post.

Finally, PRAY, PRAY, PRAY. This disaster did not take God by surprise. He is still on his throne and he listens to the pleas of his people.

*This list is a work in progress and I'll update as I come across other opportunities. If you know of any other ways to support the relief efforts, please let me know and I'll add a link!

New Year, New Church

2010-01-11T08:13:00.000-08:00

A friend of mine called me on Saturday and asked me how J and I spent our New Year's Eve. My initial thought was, "Why is she asking me about something that happened ages ago?" until my brain kicked into gear, joined me in the present time and I realized that it had actually only been about a week since the beginning of 2010!

It makes me feel really cliched about time flying and everything.

Our year has truly gotten off to a great start. As a matter of fact, the biggest news I've overlooked sharing on the ole blawg is that J started pastoring a small church in the area.

The church is not quite as, um...progressive as we have imagined his first pastorate might be, considering that our young family of five lowers the average age of the attending members to approximately 75, but we are falling in love with the people there.

The interview process for J was quite rigorous and consisted of the church's "assistant director" asking J if he'd like to come preach on a permanent basis on Sunday mornings, and if he would, then did he think he could also throw in Wednesday nights as well?

You betcha! And so it was.

January 11 was our second official Sunday to be Pastor and Wife (Or third if you count the first real Sunday, but I don't because services were cancelled due to the church's heater running out of butane. In winter. In record-setting cold temps. It was much too brutal for the elderly.).

But this past Sunday will forever go down in the books as the day Jason made his Rookie Pastor Mistake #1.

(Hey, I'm only trying to edify the body here and help anyone from making a similar mistake in the future.)

(And I love you, Jason! Even though I'm blogging about you! I blog because I love! I think you're doing a fabulous job at this pastor thing!)

So keep this in mind:

If you're new to leading a congregation and someone tells you that one of your shut-in/homebound members is turning 90 that week, BEFORE you encourage your people to send cards and notes of encouragement to said member, you might want to check to make sure that member is not comatose.

Bless J's heart. He meant well. J just wanted this sheep in his flock to feel loved on a monumental day. It just never crossed his radar to think to ask if the guy was conscious and responsive.

They informed him after the service (Once again, information that could have been brought to my attention YESTERDAY! (name that movie)). After J had made a huge deal out of sending the guy notes, including that J HIMSELF was going to go straight home and pen a few uplifting words.

Turns out, that's not going to be necessary.

I'm sure we'll make a million more faux--... (I don't know the plural of faux pas- faux pass?) Whatever. Mistakes. WE'LL MAKE THEM.

It's going to be a hilarious year.

What I won't say

2010-01-06T06:23:00.000-08:00

What I'd really like to complain about is how this morning completely fell apart. I was rocking along until about 7:15 and then everything went downhill. FAST.

Much like Chevy Chase around the 2:00 mark:

I'd like to complain that I poured the last cup of liquid energy (AKA coffee) into my cup and ruined it with Splenda-sweetened creamer. I drank it anyway, nasty aftertaste and all, because I don't know how to use Jason's newfangled coffee-/espresso-/cappuccino-making Machine of the Future.

I'd like to complain that when it was time to get Missy dressed this morning, I could find ZERO shoes for her. ZERO. Not even a mismatched pair. Because Missy plays with them and rarely puts them back in her shoe basket. So I sent her to the sitter's house in slippers.

I'd really like to complain that Micah's school snack bucket was broken and on his way to our van today, the entire bucket fell apart and a dozen apples went rolling down our driveway. It took all 4 of us to round them up while Micah fretted about bruised and dirty fruit.

And finally, I'd like to complain that one of my tires was low and when I went to air it up, Jason had left the hose and the filler-upper attachment unattached. Since I couldn't figure out how to get it back together myself, I had to call him at work and then freeze my tail off while airing up my tire.

But I won't complain about any of that because complaining is generally fruitless. Complaining isn't going to change the events of my morning even a smidgen.

What I would NOT like to tell you is how I handled minor adversities, slight hiccups in an otherwise normal morning routine. But it was like a child who throws tantrums, that's how. I got angry. I lashed out. It was ugly.

When I had the chance to cool down, I felt guilty and ashamed.

So instead of complaining, I'll tell you that it's days like these that I'm thankful.

Thankful that my children forgive, quickly and unconditonally.

Thankful that the Lord's mercies aren't just new every morning. They are new every hour, every minute, every second.

Thankful for another heartbeat, another breath, another passing moment of life that affords me the opportunity to change, by His grace alone.

Thankful, without complaint.

Amen.

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Don't forget to check out my other blog how my reading is coming along. If you haven't heard, I'm reading through the ENTIRE Bible in 90 Days! It's like running a marathon but without the feeling of dying. And I don't have to go outside. Or move my legs. Anyway, stop by here and leave me some encouragement. Be sure to subscribe if you want to follow along with my progress and read some of my unscholarly opinions about the daily readings.

This is a test this is only a test.

2010-01-05T12:10:00.001-08:00

My technological capabilities are really being put to the test this
week.

I started another blog in Wordpress (which I LOVE, but it's taking
some time to get used to), I participated in a "tweet-up" last night
(for which I downloaded and decipher TweetDeck), and now I'm blogging
from my iPhone (thanks to Connie (I'll add hyperlink later- still
navigating uncharted techy territory)).

Not too shabby for a girl who didn't get her first email address until
she went to college mumblemumble years ago!

And the interwebs hasn't even imploded yet!

I don't want to get a big head or anything, but I'm pretty sure I'll
be working for Steve Jobs developing the next state of the art
technological advancements before too long.

Once I figure out that email post/hyperlink thing.

A Big Announcement!

2010-01-01T10:04:00.001-08:00

Nope, I'm not pregnant. At least, not by the gracious graciousness of God's grace I'm not pregnant.

Instead, I'm taking up a challenge to read the Bible in 90 days! By March, I'll have a deeper understanding and appreciation for God's word, rather than 20 extra pounds, mad heartburn, swollen ankles, and an aching back.

Although I could totally have those, too. But not because I'm growing a fourth person inside of me.

Let's be clear: There will be NO fourth person.

I'd like to have a place to journal some thoughts I just might have about my reading experience, so rather than use this space, I'm also learning about Wordpress through the new blog I've created over there. Because I can never give myself too many random things to do.

If I stopped imposing haphazard ambitions upon myself, I might actually have to clean house. Or cook. And we all know you do NOT want me cooking.

It's haphazard ambitions for the win!

So while I definitely have plans to continue this blog documenting the fascinating comings and goings of a working mom, a pastoring/student husband and 3 precious little darlings, I'm also going to be over here pretty frequently as I read. And read. And read.

Come join me!

Sayonara 2009

2009-12-31T18:40:00.000-08:00

I've never been very good at introspection and reflection. When you combine my weaknesses in those areas with my complete lack of insight and my terribly deficient memory, well, I guess I should be thankful I have a blog through which I have chronicled my last year with mediocrity and inadequacy.

It's better than nothing, right?

So here are what I consider my Top Ten Blog Moments of 2009.

1) I started the year with a blog name change. However, I never got a cool banner.

2) I talked about American Idol and The Bachelor a lot.

3) In February, we survived some bad weather.

4) I single-handedly solved the problem of how to deal with terrorists. Haven't heard anything from the government yet, though.

5) Here, I rambled a bit. And Missy's room never got painted. Goals- I achieve them!

6) I got to talk to Dave Ramsey on his radio show!

7) The boys played T-ball over the summer while I cursed the myself for such a crappy idea.

8) Jason busted a shop lifter Chuck Norris style. Sort of.

9) Cade had his gorgeous hair lopped off. And I cried.

10) And the culmination of my bloggy existence was meeting The Pioneer Woman in Austin. And then having HER LINK TO MY BLOG FROM HER BLOG. It was truly the highlight of my blogging year.

I'm generally not one for goals and aspirations because I seriously have enough arbitrary internal pressure in my life. But I do have a few improvements I'd like to make to the ole blog, which I plan to outline tomorrow if I can possibly tear myself away from all the cleaning and organizing I plan to do, so stay tuned!

And no, I will not be starting a food blog, so please stop begging.

Happy New Year!!

World Wide Web Wednesday 12.23.09

2009-12-23T10:04:00.000-08:00

In fake honor of our non-existent Latino heritage, it's become tradition in our house to rock Christmas Eve with a full fajita fiesta. Then we dance around with maracas to Jose Feliciano (OK- not really on that last part).

For the last few years, we've (and by "we" I mean Jason) grilled up fajita meat, smashed avocados into oblivion for guacamole and melted American cheese product into the most divine melt-y queso dip ever.

It's totally authentic. Just like the Tex-Mex restaurants do it.

That's why I was really sad when I found out that Jason has to work until 7:00 PM on Thursday, AKA Christmas Eve, this year.

So this year I decided that heating up the grill sometime around 7:30 and waiting roughly an hour to get everything prepared with 3 impatient children SOUNDS pretty much like the best way to extinguish any amount of Christmas cheer I might have left by that time.

Instead, with all the Christmas optimism I could muster, I suggested that it might be fun to have a huge brunch before Jason goes to work and then do finger foods and desserts for the evening. Since that puts me in the kitchen from here until New Year's instead of Jason, he thought it was a great idea!

I spent some time researching and developing a well-rounded menu that includes items from all four food groups: cheese, cream cheese, butter, and sugar. Seriously- I bought 6 blocks of cream cheese and 12 sticks of butter. Come to mama!

In keeping with the spirit of Christmas, I now share them with you. Some of these I've made before and others are new to me.

(And apparently, in my world, most Christmas goodies take the form of a ball. I'm going to leave that one alone.)

Pepperoni Bread (I just took this out of the oven and I suspect it may take a chain saw to slice it. Not sure where I went wrong with a recipe designed FOR KIDS. Oh, maybe it was when I actually thought I could do it.)

Oreo Balls (These are TRIPLE YUM! Except something funky happened with my coating which reminded me how much I HATE WORKING WITH ALMOND BARK).

Cheese Ball (Haven't tried this one yet. But how can you go wrong with cheese, cream cheese, and ranch dressing?)

PW Holiday Bacon Appetizers (I KNOW these will be a success. I've made them three times recently and everyone always goes back for more. With a side of defibrillator.)

Sausage Balls (One of my favorites that I only make around the holidays for some unexplainable reason. They could totally be breakfast, dinner, or a snack! SO versatile.)

Chocolate Chip Cake (One of my all-time favorite desserts. And it's pretty easy except for grating the German chocolate, but I'll probably employ some slave labor in the form of one of my children for that part.)

Mini Cheesy Garlic Popovers (I'll be the first to admit that I probably shouldn't bake a popover when I'm not 100% sure what a popover is. But maybe this way I won't know if it goes exactly WRONG. And they sound easy and I have all the ingredients already, so y'all just pray for me in this endeavor.)

And because nothing says "Happy Holidays" quite like frozen meatballs in a crockpot, we're throwing some of those bad boys in to thaw with some BBQ Sauce. Meatballs will provide a nice balance to all the bread and cheese, don't you agree? Because I'm all about gourmet cuisine. Watch for my food blog coming soon!

Merry Christmas y'all!

"But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."
Luke 2:10-14

Christmas Tour of Homes 2009

2009-12-13T19:12:00.000-08:00

For WEEKS I've known that The Nester was hosting this year's Christmas Tour of Homes. Possibly MONTHS, but I plead the fifth regarding the exact timeline.

So let's all just agree that we are not surprised that I'm scrambling around way past the last minute trying to put together some kind of coherent blog post. Add in some poor photography and I may have taken mediocrity to a whole new level.

This is my first year to participate in the Christmas Tour of Homes. Which means that I have at least one thing in common with the all-too-fabulous Nester because it's her first year to host it! I totally heart the Nester and her decorating inspiration.

In the interest of full disclosure, I was feeling completely uninspired as I began unpacking my Christmas finery a week ago. The internet has SO MANY GREAT IDEAS that, even though it means well, it can still make one feel a teeny weeny bit inadequate in her holiday beautification capabilities.

Or maybe I'm projecting.

However, I just wasn't happy with what I had. So I dug down deep and came up with a touch of creativity and made peace with myself over the fact that it might not be perfect, but we love it. And that's what matters most!

Here's how it turned out:

The inside of our front door is decorated with a gold ribbon to which we affixed paperclips (Klassy) to hold our Christmas cards. Then we use the number of Christmas cards we receive to gauge our level of popularity each year. It's still early, right?

On the wall next to the door hangs this little piece. During the year, I have sets of metal antiquey-looking keys hanging here. So I feel these balls are a little anti-climactic, but acceptable. For now. I promise to do better next year.

The tree! The piece de resistance! You'll never guess which ornaments were placed on the tree by the boys, so I'll give you a hint: It's all the red ones strung across the bottom. It looks really fab all lit up, but something about my mad photog skillz makes it looks kinds pitiful.

I went a little crazy buying Christmas decorations a few years ago and then a year or two after that. Back when berries were all the rage in the Pottery Barn catalog. The problem with going a little crazy trying to recreate the pages of a home design periodical is that they can afford to set the trends each year and you get stuck with a bunch of fake berries that look soooo early 2000s. And you also have our centerpiece.

Our sideboard is home for my Willow Tree Nativity. I really do love this set. The set of candlesticks on the left belonged to my great-aunt. Too bad one of the the pillar candles was broken in the process of knick knack redistribution process by some one who shall remain nameless, but his name rhymes with Fason.

Here's a faraway (technical term) of our mantle. Clearly, we are masters at disguising the pesky extension cords used to power the lighted trees and garland. We may use flourescent pink cords next year. Wrapped in yellow caution tape.

Funny story about the pillars on these candlesticks. Jason and I got engaged 2 weeks after our first date. We got married 6 months later and found out we were pregnant (surprise!) 6 months after that. We don't particularly spend liberal amounts of time making important decisions.

So, no one was more surprised than I when I found myself wandering around Kohl's a week ago with $20 in cold hard Kohl's cash with no idea how to spend it. Seriously. I'm ashamed to admit- I agonized.

I won't bore you with the details of all the items I considered and decided against, but I actually thought about giving up and leaving $20 cold hard Kohl's cash unspent. But I was afraid of turning into a pillar of salt.

Then I saw these nifty candles! They are battery-operated for a "life-like flicker." No flames to remember to extinguish and they do look waxy and irregular. Life-like!

The green sign by the pillars is actually a painted brick. It has our family name on it, but I blurred it out. I probably have enough personally identifiable information on this blog without leading creeps to my front door.

The frame is one of my finer triumphs this season! It used to be a mirrored tray that broke. I used the mirror on the table centerpiece, and just hot-glued the jingle bell to the back of the frame. Cute! And simple!

The Waterford ornaments are from my parents- they bought a dated "My First Christmas" ornament for each of my children when they were born. The crystal is much too heavy to hang on the tree. But even if they were light as feathers, I'd still be terrified of them falling off and breaking into a thousand irreplaceable pieces.

Here's a view of how it all flows together. It's one medium-sized winter wonderland!

Merry Christmas!!

Pioneer Woman in Austin

2009-12-04T07:14:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned yesterday, my friend Mandi and I loaded ourselves into my minivan to head down I-35 to a bookstore in Austin to meet the Pioneer Woman and have our cookbooks signed.

No matter how many times I tried to explain, I decided that it never gets easier, or starts to sound any cooler, to say, "There's this blog I read. On the internet. And the lady who writes it? Well, she also wrote a cookbook. And I'm going to drive 3 1/2-4 hours round trip in order to get her to sign it."

If you haven't tasted the PW kool-aid, you just won't understand.

Mandi packed some snacks for us since we couldn't leave town until shortly after 4:00. Because who has time to stop and eat dinner when rumor has it that Ree/PW's Dallas event lasted until 2:00 AM (as in THE MORNING. Or really, THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT. Or as I like to call it, "The Time Of Day That I Hope I Never Have To Be Awake For Again. Ever.")?

We were desperately hoping beyond hope that 1) no one in Austin knows about Ree/PW beacuse they're too busy being weird or, the more likely scenario, 2) we would get to the event early enough that we would be able to be back on the road for home before midnight.

Another friend, and local Austinite, gave us excellent directions for avoiding the interstate in Austin at rush hour and instead took us around MoPac, assuring us that MoPac would be moving smoothly at that time of evening.

Unfortunately, I was a bit unclear about the exit to MoPac and ended up taking the wrong one. Which ultimately meant that, to head back in the right direction, I had to drive over a freakishly tall bridge.

And I have a phobia of freakishly tall bridges. Gephyrophobia.

But that's a post for another day. Or never.

To the 183S bridge: You blindsided me with your presence, but I conquered you with my perilous 25 mph speed, sweaty palms, and palpitating heart. You kept your end of the bargain by not throwing us over your edge to plummet to our fiery death. So I will uphold my end of the bargain and will never intentionally drive over you again.

We did indeed hit stand-still traffic on MoPac. And do you have any idea how stressful it is for a Type A personality to watch the ETA minutes on her GPS climb and climb and climb and not be able to do anything about it? No? IT'S STRESSFUL.

That GPS feature is simply a technological torture device, taunting me with its smug satellite accuracy.

My Austinite friend might be dead to me today had she not suggested an alternate route which got us moving out of traffic so that we reached our destination approximately 30 minutes before the event was to begin.

When we found the bookstore, we got our wristbands for the signing line and found out we were in the 4th group, which meant there were about 180 people who would be in line ahead of us. Ree/PW was going to come out at about 7:00 for a brief Q&A, then we'd cut to the chase and get the signing thing going.

We all crowded into a space the size of a cracker jack box and waited until about 7:20/30ish. One of the bookstore associates, bless his heart. He split the group down the middle and had us shout "PIONEER" "WOMAN" back and forth, and frankly it was rather embarrassing. I refrained. He called it a "Rock Star" entrance, but I think it was just his feeble attempt at killing time. Because let's be honest. The last time any of us did something like that, it was in 3rd grade.
Ree/PW came down and was just as delightful and charming as she is on her blog. She joked effortlessly and was truly absolutely adorable.

I realize the picture quality from my iPhone is astounding(ly bad). Objects in picture are closer than they appear.

She wrapped up the Q&A about 7:40/7:45ish. And then we all got to stand around and wait for our color to be called for the signing line.

Mandi and I spent the next coupleish of hours browsing the store, chit-chatting with other PW fans, and people-watching. Austin might be the people-watching capital of the universe.

I found that all the waiting was making me particularly thirsty. Or my nagging thirst could have been due partially to the fact that I had a slightly elevated body temperature as a result of wearing 3 layers of clothing because some irrational part of me was afraid we might have been expected to wait in a line located outside. In the elements. The freezing, blustery, downright stinking cold elements.

Black Friday lines have traumatized me and I may never be the same. But as God is my witness, I'll never be cold standing outside in a line again! As God is my witness! {fist held high}

We went to the bookstore cafe and purchased bottled water from a guy who was as bland as toast, then hung around and waited some more. At 9:15ish it was finally our turn to get into the maze of a line and wait. I truly thought the line moved fairly quickly and Mandi and I were taking bets on whether we would be out of the store by 10 or 10:30.

At 9:30 we still had to go

up this set of stairs (yes, that's Ree/PW's oldest "punk" on the left. She was wearing some super cute boots (which I also snapped a picture of, but this post is already getting a little tired, don't ya think?)

up this set of stairs

and across this landing into the room where PW was signing.

While standing in line, we chatted with Marlboro Man for a minute about how bizarre it feels for tens of thousands of strangers to know everything about you, from what time you roll out of bed in the morning to the names of your pets to what kind of sandwich you like best (I bet Jason can't even name MY favorite sandwich). But he agreed they are friendly strangers and said he's enjoying the book tour.

To pass even more time, Mandi and I solved all of the worlds problems, except for the phenomenon of why my purse still felt liked it weighed the same heavy amount when I only had one cookbook in it (mine) as it did when I was carrying 2 books in it (hers and mine).

Finally, after all the waiting, it was my turn! While Ree/PW was signing my book, I babbled on about how my husband does all the cooking (with good reason), but that everything I've made from her cookbook has been delicious (totally original, I KNOW!). And then she said to me...

She said...

I have no idea what she said. Everything started happening at once- my book was signed, she moved on to sign Mandi's book, there was more talking, some vague directions from the bookstore associates, shuffling around into a pose for a picture, thinking about how much I hoped I didn't look like an idiot, a flash and then, "Thank you, girls, for coming out." Next!

And it was over. We didn't even get to discuss our possible shared lineage based on our overwhelming similarities.

Marlboro Man and Ree/PW's brother-in-law (who I recognized from her blog, of course) were passing out t-shirts, which Mandi and I gladly took. We thanked them, bid them goodnight and set out for home. At 10:00!

It felt nice to sit down once we got in the car after All the Standing In Line. And my shoulder was hurting from lugging my crap around all night. Because Mamaw is 90 and doesn't get around quite as well as she used to, so pass that Ben-Gay over here while I find my Dr. Scholl's.

It turned out to be a great night, despite the dicey-ness of the traffic and the bridge. So thanks, Ree/PW for blogging, for cooking, and for photographing, and for being an all-around charming human being!

It's like we're twins separated at birth.

2009-12-02T12:18:00.000-08:00

She takes beautiful pictures and fabulously edits them with her self-developed action sets in Photoshop.

I own a DSLR that I keep on autofocus because I have no idea how to operate it (Manual? What manual?). Or I hand it to Jason to take the pictures. The use of the word Photoshop and the slightest inkling that I would have to operate it makes my head feel like I'm developing an aneurysm.

She creates original mouth-watering recipes and has compiled them all into a best-selling cookbook that you can practically read cover-to-cover.

I catch pans on fire. And burn frozen pizzas. And submerge my hands into boiling marshmallows without thinking first.

She homeschools her 4 beautiful children after getting up before the sun rises to document the sweat and hard work that goes into raising cows and horses on her family's huge expanse of acreage.

I work full-time and come home to a small rent house in a slightly, um, urbanish area. After I pick the children up from school/daycare. It's a good day if I refrain from yelling at the kids in the morning when it's really my fault we're late because I woke up too late.

Her blog posts gets trillions of hits per day (each with terribly witty comments), even if she isn't giving away one of her amazing prizes like a $500 gift card or a fully stocked kitchen. When she hosts an unbelieveable giveaway, she gets zillions of hits.

No one is knocking on my virtual door begging to give away prize packages on my blog because my blog is completely unknown on the interwebs. Do I even exist? Is there such a thing as a blog? (I'm feeling existential.)

She's a thin redheaded former ballerina.

I'm a brunette with a slight "winter" build (in preparation for hibernation) who stomped around on her high school's dance team performing military and pom routines without any formal training.

I'm pretty sure The Pioneer Woman and I couldn't be more dissimilar, but that may be why I love her blog more'n my luggage. Her recipes are accessible (even to me!) and her photography is inspiring. Her writing is random and hilarious.

I'm thrilled to be making the trip down to Austin tonight to meet her and have her sign my copy of her new cookbook. My friend Mandi and I may have to wait in line for hours, but it will be ~~great blog fodder~~ a blog-worthy adventure!

And then I may sleep with her cookbook under my pillow in hopes that some of her fabulousness rubs off on me!

World Wide Web Wednesday 12.02.09

2009-12-02T07:53:00.001-08:00

I grew up in the age of Atari 2600 and the Apple II-E with their 5"x5" floppy disks and KILObytes of memory.

Today I carry tens of thousands more bytes of memory in my purse or pocket on a daily basis.

Back in my senior year in high school when we students were working on a major biographical research project, our teacher herded us into the library and excitedly informed us that the librarian had access to an amazing new invention that allowed us the ability to use a "search engine" on the computer to locate and print articles related to the subject of our research.

One by one we were allowed into the inner sanctum of the library where the lone computer with internet access (probably dial-up) was housed. The LIBRARIAN, not the student, typed the search words into the Yahoo search engine to see what information would magically appear from the nebulous expanse known as the INTERNET.

Today it's no wonder I'm constantly in awe of the inspiration and information out there on the interwebs. And what kind of blogger would I be if I didn't give shout-outs (Shout outs? Props? Whatever the kids are saying these days...) to all the incredible bloggers out there with their astounding creativity?

I'm making these coasters as gifts for friends, teachers, and maybe even family. These directions are slightly different, but the concept is the same. These are super cute, yet INEXPENSIVE gifts. Right up my budgeted-to-the-hilt alley.

I've also made some pillows combining these directions with these directions. I prefer using the canvas drop cloth, and the freezer paper stencil idea works like a charm! I cut the stencils using my Cricut, but you could certainly do it using a craft knife on print outs from the computer.

My recent ardor for gluing, cutting, painting, and papering, means that no inanimate object can escape my scrutinous eye. I'm like the crafting eye of Mordor. Only slightly less evil.

Or I'm eight years old again.

And since our family's eating space has been reassigned to the two bar stools on the kitchen island (you do the math- 2 sdults, 3 children, 2 stools) due to an eruption of crafting supplies, Jason agreed to let me transform our laundry room/storage room into a craft room. Complete with washer and dryer!

In an effort to prepare for the transformation, and in a feeble attempt to organize my supplies, I've recently copied this idea as well as this one.

If I was a more accomplished or effective blogger, I would probably have taken pictures of my handiwork. Lo, I am apathetic.

OK, I'm not really apathetic. I'm just too tired at night when I finish my projects to take pictures, download them, blah blah blah, zzzzzzzzzzz. PAthetic might be a better word.

So here's a huge THANKS to everyone who brings glances of inspiration straight to my Google Reader daily.

Yes I love technology, but not as much as you, you see.
But I still love technology.
Always and Forever.

(I'm linking up to to WFMW because I really do love those coasters that I've made for gifts. And mostly because I think these are adorable!! And now I have a chance to win one!)

Thanksgiving Blazings, I mean, Blessings

2009-12-01T12:25:00.000-08:00

By now, this post is completely irrelevant in the blog world right now. Everyone has moved on to Advent/Christmas/Holiday blogging and I haven't even managed to download my Thanksgiving pictures until today.

Oh, the woes of a working mom... Just wait until this blog starts making me enough cash to replace the income that my masters degree currently secures me. Just you wait...

We did have a nice Thanksgiving, thanks for asking. That is, until my mom's oven caught on fire and the rolls almost didn't get to bake. And how is one expected to complete one's annual Thanksgiving carb loading without a brown-n-serve roll or five (those things are pretty small...)?

Turns out the pan my mom roasted the turkey in had small holes in it (weird) and so some of the turkey grease dripped through onto the heating element. The smoke is created was manageable through the use of fans and open windows, so we thought we were in the clear. Unfortunately, we were wrong.

Not long after we put the rolls in the oven to brown, a small grease fire sparked in the bottom of the oven.

Thankfully my mom had the presence of mind to remove the oven racks and dump baking soda to extinguish the flame while the rest of us yayhoos stood around with our thumbs up our noses.

Unthankfully, I did not have the presence of mind to take a picture of the blaze. I did, however, manage to snap some shots of the fire truck that arrived.

The security system at my parents house called the fire department as soon as the smoke detectors went off. Once they found out there was no need for the services of these men, they tried to stop them before they headed out for our "emergency" but it was too late.

My mom, in true Southern style, offered the fire men a plate of lunch for their time, but they insisted that they had just sat down to their own lunch when they got the call. Murphy's Law, right? They were good sports about the entire incident, though.

My mom insists that this is the first time the we've had an actual fire on Thanksgiving, although we've had several close calls with the marshmallows on top of the sweet potatoes.

I, on the other hand, distinctly remember the marshmallows catching fire one time years ago.

Those innocent white puffs are highly combustible.

I spent the rest of Thanksgiving day strategizing for Black Friday. My mom stayed up to head to Toys R Us with me at midnight, but the line was entirely too long for me to wait for a half-price light saber.

To quote Micah, he wants another one to "complete [his] collection." My time, however, is worth at least the extra 5 spot it's going to cost me for not waiting in line in the middle of the night to purchase Star Wars weaponry.

Jason and I headed to Kohl's at 3:00 AM because they opened at 4. It's at this point that I must retract my statement from last year about Kohl's allowing holds on Wednesday. It seems some Kohl's employees are much more uptight about such things and refuse to allow this practice. It may be regional.

Anyway, Jason sat in the warm car while I froze my appendages off standing in lone for an hour. I couldn't even use my iPhone as a distraction because my fingers were too numb. At about 5 minutes 'til 4, Jason got in line and I reviewed our next play. He was to fetch the camera for Micah while I selected a new scarf for myself. In hopes of making the wait in the Target line more bearable.

Jason and I were the first people to check out at Kohl's, and then we headed to Target. Once again, Jason waited in the car while I stood in line. We got what we needed at Target fairly quickly.

When our total came up, we were a few dollars short of the $100 needed to get the $10 gift card, so Jason threw in a $4.00 bag of beef jerky. Our total still came up short, so he threw in 2 more bags.

The moral of the story is that it's unwise to spend $12 on beef jerky for a $10 gift card. In our defense, we were pretty bleary-eyed thanks to the early hour.

We stopped by TRU after that, but that place was pretty much cleaned out. It was totally fine because we were broke by that time anyway. I still have a couple of gifts to buy online, but I'm happy with our BF success!

Happy Thanksgiving and a Black Friday Flashback

2009-11-26T20:29:00.000-08:00

As I sit here being eternally thankful that my parents' house didn't burn down around us today (despite the oven's best efforts. But that's a blog for another day. With pictures!), and sharpening my elbows in preparation for the execution of my Black Friday shopping strategy (which begins in just under an hour and a half from now), I decided to pull an old blog from the archives to repost. It's a retelling of my adventures from Black Friday 2008. I promise to be back soon with tales of more Black Friday shopping tomfoolery. Lord willing.

********************

Friday, November 28, 2008

I Braved Black Friday Crowds and Lived to Tell the Tale

As everyone knows, today is THE biggest shopping day of the year. And could I even pretend to claim shopping as my spiritual gift if I were unwilling to venture out pre-sunrise on Black Friday? That would be a negative, Ghostrider. So after 3 stops last night to locate a newspaper for the ads, I finally got my hands on the ads and planned my shopping strategy, which began with getting to JC Penney at 4:00 AM. I cannot tell you the last time I saw 4:00 AM willingly. Or if I've EVER seen 4 AM willingly.

The line at JCP was pretty short when I parked at 3:40 AM (WHAT?!?!). So I waited in my locked van (Have I mentioned that, due to my stranger phobia, I rarely, if ever, venture out in the dark alone? Let's just say I've seen 1 too many TV shows where fake crimes have been committed against fictional characters. I'm a little jumpy in the dark. Today was a real breakthrough for me.) until 3:50 and then got in line to wait. To my supreme luck, it began sprinkling. But seriously, due to my bad habit of neglecting to clean out my van of all the extra crap that accumulates over time, I was surprisingly prepared with a waterproof pull-over.

I got into JCP at 4, and went straight to the toys where I was hoping to score a Batmobile for Cade for the low low price of $15. Too bad it was a remote-controlled vehicle, which was not what I was wanting at all. I browsed the jewelry section briefly, until I noticed a Chester Molester looking fella who seemed to be following me around (paranoid, much? I told you- it's a real problem). So I hightailed it out of JCP and drove to the-store-who-must-not-be-named, where all the great deals started at 5:00.

Apparently, our store-who-must-not-be-named is open 24 hrs. Which means that, rather than everyone waiting in line outside, these same crazies were INSIDE WITH THEIR CARTS clogging up the aisles. It was ridiculous. I could barely get down any of the aisles to figure out where the cheap crap I wanted was located. I was on a mission for the $29 bike and parked my own cart right next to them. I befriended 2 ladies who were shopping together and they shared some Black Friday secrets with me and 1 of them even kept an eye on my cart whilst I mapped out the remainder of my plan of attack. As I was standing in the Crayola aisle examining an art set, a kind lady politely informed me that I had put my top on inside out. Nice. It was one of those longer tops (a friend of mine calls them "shresses"- is it a shirt? a dress? It's a shress!) and I did have a sweater over it, so I don't think it was too obvious. In my defense, I got dressed quickly AND in the dark, so it was an honest mistake, to be sure. I made a mental note to turn it the right way once I was safely back in my locked van.

At 5:00 store-who-must-not-be-named time, someone must have blown a whistle or threw down a flag or something, b/c all of the crazies simultaneously began lunging toward the pallets loaded with merchandise. I quickly got my bike and even scored the Batmobile. I was checked out and loaded back in my van headed to Toys R Us by 5:10. Not too shabby.

By the time I got to TRU, there was no waiting in line. The crazies were inside the store already. Thankfully, my children are not of the age that electronics are the order of the day, so I was able to steer around those crowds and head straight to the Iron Man dress up costume that I think Micah giggle with delight over on Christmas morning. Actually, I had one helpful associate help me locate my item and the poor guy got accosted 4 different times with various questions while trying to point me in the right direction. I hope those employees got holiday pay or a back massage or something extra for helping all the crazies today.

I was out the door of TRU by 5:30, so I scooted on over to Target for the $15 Air Hog helicopter, which is the ONLY thing Micah has asked for this year. Cade, on the other hand, wants one of everything. When I took him to TRU a few weeks ago, his pure unadulterated joy at every item on the shelves (Wrapping paper! Awesome! Transformers! Awesome! That dino thing! Awesome! That unidentifiable toy! Awesome! Literally this is how it went until I threatened to take him home if he didn't stop making me look like the mom who keeps her kid locked in a closet with little to no contact to the outside world.) was endearing and yet disturbing at the same time. Either we need to teach him more about thankfulness and appreciating what you have or this kid needs to get out more.

ANYWAY, when I got to Target, the line was wrapped around the building. Obviously, I missed the memo that Target had some not-to-be-missed deals, b/c I was just there for a flimsy plastic helicopter. I conducted an informal poll of people standing in line near me and the general consensus was that no one was there for any one thing in particular. Except me. By the time I located the Air Hogs, there were only 3 left. I picked up one to look at it and while I was examining it for suitability, the other 2 got snatched up. So I decided to purchase the one I was holding by default.

The checkout lines at Target weren't too intimidating either and I was back in my warm (locked) van by 6:20. My next stop was Kohl's, but I knew I needed some edible reinforcements before I braved the looooong lines that Kohl's is notorious for every day of the week, not to mention Black Friday. To my credit, I went to Kohl's on Wednesday and put the toys I was purchasing on hold. Now, my friends, aren't you glad you've read this diatribe thus far for that little tidbit of info? Yes, it's true. If you do holds on Wednesday, they will still be waiting for you at the customer service counter on Friday. It took no time to get the goods, but it took forever to check out. 20 minutes. By far the longest wait to checkout, hands down. It was 7:30 when I drove away from Kohl's.

I made a couple of other superflous stops on the way home, including a stop in the McD's drive-thru for breakfast for the children. I was home by 8:00 AM on a major shopping high, just 4 short hours after beginning my excursion. Once the kiddos were seated around the table chowing down on their eggs and sausage, I went back to bed.

For the most part, my Christmas shopping is complete!

Google feed questions

2009-11-23T11:24:00.000-08:00

I realized recently that my blog only shows up as a partial feed in Google reader. Is this a completely annoying turn-off for blog readers?

I've had a continuously burning mental struggle considering the merits and drawbacks of partial and full feeds. Which probably means I need to get a real life.

On the one hand, I feel like a partial feed makes my stats more accurate because it pushes my traffic to the actual site so I can see how many people actually read my blog. Or at least navigate to it, even if they did find it by googling "I'm a very humble person t-shirt."

And let's be honest- I'm no Pioneer Woman. If my blog was getting zillions of hits daily, I don't think I would really care about stat-counting anymore. I would just know people were reading. I'd know it by the fact that my blog would have hundreds of comments. Because I'm intuitive like that. But if I get 20ish hits in a day, I'm pretty pumped. 30 or more and I'm ready to break out the good wine. The one you drink from the box.

On the other hand, I prefer to be able to access full feeds through reader which makes me a hypocrite, plain and simple. There are few blogs I find myself interested in enough to click through the partial feed to the original post. I try to leave comment love on all of the smaller blogs I read (which means accessing the original post), but the others, like PW, I just peruse in my reader because I'm lazy.

So, what say you, readers? Both of you. Partial or full feed? Or Choice C, which is "I think you should just shut this whole operation down, stat!"

I have a confession (Alternate title: The Dumbest Reason Not to Blog)

2009-11-17T12:06:00.000-08:00

I haven't blogged in almost a month. Have I been busy? Absolutely. But has a tiny part of me just been avoiding blogging altogether? Absolutely.

See, I have a serious case of blog envy. Serious. Because my blog doesn't have a niche. I've faced this before. I tried to pretend it doesn't bother me. But lately it's been paralyzing to the point of avoiding the blog completely.

I don't have goals for my blog. I never really figured I needed them. I was blogging because I liked it. But somewhere along the way, I realized there's so much more that REAL bloggers do that I don't. I don't have a niche. I can't take pictures worth beans. Based on the number of meals I've burned/overcooked/otherwise rendered inedible ~~lately~~ in my lifetime, there's no need to be tuning in for the debut of my cooking blog. I work full-time, so I'm not writing a homeschool/preschool/mom-blog. I consider myself successful when I access wireless internet on my iPhone without imploding the universe, so I certainly can't add anything to the tech blog scene. Of course, there's nothing like good writing, and this is nothing like good writing. And have you read Boomama and Bigmama? Wit that cannot be matched.

So, what exactly am I doing and why would anybody want to read (besides you, mom)?

I considered participating in NaBloPoMo just to get back on the bandwagon, but seriously, NOVEMBER? That's like saying, "You know what's brilliant? For me to impose completely unnecessary and arbitrary stress into my life really close to the holidays when I'm already thisclose to needing a dose or ten of Prozac in order to manage all the gift-buying, menu-planning, schedule-juggling, budget-drafting, house-decorating, school-partying hoopla that accompanies this quarter of the year!"

So, maybe I'm having a tiny identity crisis. An itsy bitsy pity party. If you want to join me, I'll bring the black balloons and you bring the snacks. You definitely don't want me cooking.

WWW Wednesday 10.28.09

2009-10-28T10:29:00.000-07:00

I came across a real gem today. The ultimate website for a smart arse like me.

Do you know how many times in my entire life, or at least in the last 13-almost-14 years since Google's been available, I've wanted to tell someone, "Your Google is as good as mine!"? Now I can, in an equally condescending, yet more passive-agressive tone:

Let Me Google That For You

Happy Birthday, Piper!

2009-10-25T20:29:00.001-07:00

My precious little love, my ray of sunshine, my pretty princess turned 3 today!

Happy 3rd birthday, baby! I love you!

Recognizing Weirdness

2009-10-15T14:19:00.000-07:00

Today as I was driving the boys home from school, Micah, in a moment of introspection, asked, "Mommy, do you know what's weird about me?"

I had an answer on the tip of my tongue, but in an unusual moment of self-control, I simply asked, "What?"

Micah: "Well, sometimes I say I don't like to eat something but I really do. Like graham crackers. I say I don't like them, but I really do a little bit."

Me: "Why do you say you don't like something if you really do?"

Micah: "I don't know. That's the weird part."

Me: "That's not weird. There has to be a reason why you say you that."

Micah: "I wish I'd never gotten into this.

I know the feeling, buddy. I really do.

I'm such a great blogger that I forgot to title my post before I hit publish. Seriously.

2009-10-12T06:39:00.001-07:00

I know it seems like I've abandoned my blog lately. Probably because I have. I just haven't felt much like blogging, I suppose. I'm actually pretty content to just read the blogs of other people who can do things like "employ sound writing techniques" and "find their blog's niche."

But today I discovered, quite by accident, how to add that cute little signature to the bottom of each of my blog entries. Maybe now I'll have a new reason to ~~live~~ blog.

For fun, I created this:

Because it looks exactly how I sign my name each day with my calligraphy pen.

And by calligraphy pen, I mean whatever writing utensil I can locate in my exact moment of need, including, but not limited to map pencils and crayons. Yes, I have stooped that low. But only because I have children who occasionally render my soundness of mind nonexistent.

And does anyone call them map pencils anymore? Or is "colored pencils" more politically correct and inclusive?

In other news, I have no idea how to conclude this blog post, so I'm just going to hope my cute new signature distracts "all" my "readers" by disguising my complete lack of writing ability.

Kind of like how fancy talking and a little charisma can win you the Nobel Peace Prize.

Yes, I went there.

See, here it is:

And one more time:

Bye now!

DipTacular 2009

2009-09-04T10:52:00.000-07:00

*For some reason, blogger is being very ornery and is choosing erase all the spaces I'm typing between paragraphs. I apologize for the craziness and the unappealing layout of this blog entry. If anyone knows how to help, kindly email me.

**Now there are too many spaces, but when I start looking at the HTML code so I can fix the megabytes in order to correct the RAM settings for the IP address, I get my computer knowledge all confused. Basically I have no idea what I'm talking about and my eyes are starting to glaze over. And my head hurts. I should make dip immediately. Not to be confused with "take up" dip, which is an entirely different (and disgusting) vice. Conclusion: too much space is better than too little, right? Right.

I have been looking forward to a DipTacular blog carnival ever since Boomama posted about it yesterday. So, for literally hours.

I just peeked at her blog to check on the number of participants in the Dip festival today, and MY WORD the blogosphere is enthusiastic about some dip! I'm later than I wanted to be in writing/publishing this post and I'm practically going to be the eleventy billionth link.

Maybe if our current administration planned a big dip party, we might be thatmuch closer to world peace. Because obviously nothing brings people together better than a bunch of melty ingredients combined for the sole purpose of allowing people to substitute a chip for a spoon.

My favorite dip EVER is also the easiest dip EVER. Not original, but delicious. And most importantly, simple.

Spinach Dip

1 c. sour cream

1 c. mayonnaise (NOT Miracle Whip. There's no miracle in Miracle Whip. Just nastiness. And I tried substituting a negative word for "Miracle" and it's very difficult without turning the entire name into some kind of "adult" title when you have "whip" at the end. Moving on...)

1 pkg. chopped spinach (thawed)

1 pkg. vegetable soup mix

Combine all ingredients, chill, and serve!

You can also make this by substituting the mayo with sour cream. Just use 2 c. sour cream and no mayo. I call that the "healthified" version and I swear it tastes the same.

The next recipe has been handed down all the way from Mexico Chiquita (a now defunct Tex-Mex joint) to my aunt to me. If you want quick queso, you cube some Velveeta "cheese," add some milk and a can of Ro-Tel.

If you want some DELICIOUS queso, you make this:

1/2 stick margarine

1 small onion, chopped extremely fine

Cook in microwave until tender

Add:

4 Tbs. flour

2 tsp. paprika

3/4 tsp. chili powder

1/4 tsp. dry mustard

1/2 tsp. cumin

1/4 tsp. garlic salt

1 can Ro-Tel

This is like your basic Ro-Tel dip on steroids.)

Mix until thick.

Add:

1 1/2 c. milk

One pkg. Velveeta (ahhh, there it is!)

Cook in microwave until cheese melts.

Now, I'm off to ~~get some ideas for dinner~~ peruse the rest of the delicious dip recipes!

Overcoming my fear of commitment

2009-08-31T18:30:00.000-07:00

There is a crafter inside of me just screaming to get out, but then I can usually convince that persona that her project will never turn out the way she pictures it in her mind (and I know this from lots of experience) and that's usually enough to shut her up.

And I admit it. I have a HUGE fear of commitment when it comes to designing and COMPLETING craft projects.

This phobia doesn't manifest itself in any other aspect of my life, including my love life. Jason and I met and were engaged 2 weeks later. 6 months after that we became husband and wife.

True story.

But when it comes to redoing a piece of furniture... That's when I get sweaty palms, an irregular heartbeat and have difficulty breathing.

I just can't make the decision. Something about choosing seems so...terminal. I walk into the craft store, good intentions at the ready. But then I get so overwhelmed by All The Choices that all my intentions become the pavement on the road to hell.

That is, until I discovered the fabulousness of Mod Podge. This stuff is foolproof (coming from one who truly knows). It's genius. I'd like to hug the neck of the person who invented it to show my appreciation for their brilliance.

Although, that might just make things too awkward between us. So maybe a thank you note is more appropriate.

Most recently I decided to redo this fine specimen of a table:

I didn't know I had such mad photography skills. Just look at how I captured that layer of dust on the bottom rungs with such clarity.

That table is the last remnant of furniture from Jason's bachelor days. We still had his old couch and oversized chair until we moved last year and decided that split and stained cushions and caved in arms were just not worth the energy and space it would take to haul them.

I was a little sad because that couch had been really good to me during all three of my pregnancies. I was afraid the couch felt a pang of betrayal after all those years of taking care of me.

Then the new stuff was delivered to our new house. And my heart fluttered with euphoria on the inside. Old couch be darned, the new furniture is wonderful!

Anyway, he tried to convince me the table was an antique, but chances are he probably found next to a dumpster at his old apartment complex or something. I never asked for the full story.

I knew the table was going to have to be sanded first, so I armed myself with fine grain sand paper, plopped myself down on the front porch one day (we're Klassy) and got to work. I thought I had done a pretty decent job of "roughing it up" so that I could spray paint it, but when I cleaned it off, the finish looked just as glossy as it had before I started, so I pulled out the big guns: The Power Sander.

Once I power-sanded the table into submission, I spray painted it off-white. The technical shade is called Heirloom White.

I didn't take pictures of any of the in-between steps because I'm lazy like that. And I really wasn't in the mood to give myself a heat stroke by staying outside any longer than I had to.

Boy, I am really dragging this out. So sorry. Could we just get to the point?

Once it was spray painted, I let it dry for about 2 weeks.

I may not be a crafter, but procrastination is practically my spiritual gift.

I was planning to Mod Podge some paper to the top in a pattern that would coordinate with Missy's room, because her room doubles as the guest room and the big bed was in desperate need of a nightstand. Guests need to have a place to put their miscellaneous crap at night.

Long story entirely too long, I cut the paper into the sizes that I needed, rounded the corners with a paper punch and mod-podged all of it to the top of the table.

I was actually quite pleased that my inner crafter did such a fine job.

Please excuse the blue wall. I'm sure it was a lovely coordinating shade for the nursery decor of the people who lived here before us, but it's rather hideous next to Missy's lavender, black and off-white scheme. We purchased the paint for the room about 6 months ago. Along with a paint sprayer that Jason promised me would help get the job done faster. Clearly.

I've been experimenting with Mod Podge on a few other projects. I find it to be incredibly therapeutic. And I'm not even kidding.

Head on over to Mod Podge Mania to see what other awesomeness people are creating with Mod Podge!

7 Quick Takes: 08.28.09

2009-08-28T19:44:00.000-07:00

Because I ~~sometimes~~ usually have difficulty composing slightly-better-than-mediocre posts out of the daily goings on at Sturghaus, and because my brain is so fried from the week that I can't even surf the internets AND watch TV at the same time (My goals. They are lofty.) when I originally saw this blog carnival on my blog friend Kacie's page, I decided to join in. Hang on to your seats, people. You're in for a moderately-paced ride.

~1~

I've had a dull aching discomfort behind my left eye all week, and based on sophisticated diagnostic testing (i.e. Google-ing "pain behind eye") I either have a tumor, multiple sclerosis, glaucoma or hysterical hypochondria. I'm going to try a new pair of contacts tomorrow and hope for the best. It's probably just sinuses. At least, I hope it is.

~2~

This was the first real week of the school year that I've been responsible for getting myself and the children out the door and to their respective drop-offs so that no one is tardy. Including me. While I'm not the model of self-discipline (please keep the gasping to a minimum), I have made it my goal this year to get up early enough to get myself ready before I rouse my little angels. I started strong, but woke up slightly later each day, which meant every morning teetered closer and closer to complete chaos and breakdown. I'll have to do better next week. If anyone has any great morning tips (besides preparing as much as I can the night before), I'd love to hear them. Especially if it will keep the boys on track with the morning expectations, without nonstop nagging on my part.

~3~

I can't WAIT for girls' night tomorrow night! I'm having some friends over for snacks, drinks (probably homemade Sangria, thanks to Lauren's blog), and chick flicks. Maybe we'll even braid each other's hair and play Truth or Dare. But I'm going to draw the line at prank calling the boys down the street. I'm afraid their parents would be most displeased. And we don't need anymore rude neighbors.

~4~

I got "The Call" from Micah's teacher this week. You know, the one requisite "positive" call teachers make in order to build a good relationship with the parents so that when the teacher has to be the bearer of bad news, the parent is more receptive. I was a teacher long enough to know that 76% of education is good PR. So now I feel like I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop.

~5~

I almost had a panic attack today when I THOUGHT I had left my iPhone at my office when I made my Sonic Happy Hour run. How was I going to sit and do NOTHING for LITERALLY MINUTES while I waited for my Vanilla Diet Dr. Pepper to be prepared and delivered? Thankfully it was a false alarm and I was back to my newest app addiction, Flood It, in no time. I'm not even going to reveal the embarrassing number of games I've played, but I've won 36% of them. I'm also addicted to free apps. But I will never admit that I'm such an iPhone nerd that I PAUSE iPhone commercials to check out the cool apps on the TV iPhones. There really is an app for everything.

~6~

I'm completely desperate for new fall TV, but I'm also thankful for the discovery of previously-unwatched -on-my-part shows this summer. Now I'm watching The Rachel Zoe Project (Thanks to Melanie) and reruns of How I Met Your Mother. Not to mention the countless hours of Phineas and Ferb I've enjoyed with the kids. It's seriously the BEST cartoon ever produced. Try it. You WILL like it.

~7~

I never knew how difficult it would be coming up with 7 quick takes until now. Since my memory is 35% better than a goldfish, I may need to make notes for future posts. If I remember.

For more quick-takes, visit Jennifer at Conversion Diary. Write your own quick takes and leave some comment love for others!

The grass isn't always greener. Especially in the middle of a drought.

2009-08-27T21:17:00.001-07:00

(Indeed, this is a picture of our actual lawn. I wish I could say I found it on Google Images, but it's just a benefit of living in Central Texas.)

This summer our little neck of the prairie hasn't seen much rain. There's no strolling barefoot through the grass around here. Because who strolls barefoot through straw? Add to that the fact that the pesky heat index reaches unfathomable heights on a daily basis with no relief in sight and you pretty much have Death Valley conditions out there.

In the interest of full disclosure, Jason and I haven't been too concerned about keeping the grass in our yard watered and growing. Partly because the city requires its citizens to water their yards in the dead of night while we prefer to do more important things like sleep. Plus, if you water your yard, there's the unsavory but required mowing that has to be done on a more regular basis than just once per season (which would be our preference). So we just agree that the brown provides lovely contrast to the color of our house and roll with it.

Mainly, we just don't really care that we aren't going to be winning the Greenest Yard in the Universe award this year. We'll keep the money we would spend in water bills and buy our own trophy.

Our neighbors, on the other hand, are diametrically opposed to our laissez-faire lawn care and maintenance philosophy. They choose to water, fertilize, and mow with a religious fervor to rival the Great Awakening.

Unfortunately, some of their good faith efforts end up crossing the invisible boundary that separates the two yards.

Now, I don't begrudge the people their watering. They have every right to run their water bill through the roof in order to have the greenest yard on the block. Even though the statement their grass makes is that they obviously they don't give a flip about the fact that we are experiencing drought-like conditions. Water shortage, shmater shortage.

And what about the children all across the world who don't even have access to clean water? The neighbors are just throwing that precious commodity away to save their grass. So, who's really being green, huh?

OK, maybe I do begrudge them a little. Especially when I come home and see this:

The left side of the photo is our yard. It's a charming shade of brownish-grayish-dryish. We haven't mowed since I-don't-even-know-when.

The right side is our neighbors' freshly mowed lush green lawn. Made so by the water they stole from the thirsty kids.

The middle? Apparently, it would have taken our neighbors too much time and energy to make one more pass with their mower. It appears they took the liberty to deem the no-man's land in between our respective properties as our yard. But the reason it's overgrown is by no fault of our own. THEY are the ones who have been watering, thereby causing the grass to grow and need mowing. But I suppose they were plum wore out from watering the yard to who exert the force of labor to MOW THE REST OF THE YARD THEY WATERED.

I have one word for this type of petty behavior.

Petty.

This incident comes on the heels of another in which our former neighbors (who built the fence around their backyard so we wouldn't commit the sin of jealousy in our hearts at seeing them frolic in their crystalline in-ground pool while we soaked our feet in a plastic kiddie pool) called the city on us because the grass was too high. At a house in which WE HAVE NOT LIVED FOR OVER ONE YEAR.

We had renters occupying the property for awhile and they kept up the yard. But since they moved out and we've really been trying to sell long distance, we haven't given much thought to the fact that the yard might be getting a bit unruly.

Funny thing, these neighbors were there when we moved out. They knew we hadn't been living there and that the house was vacant. They even went over and took our front porch swing one day after we moved because they said it had really belonged to them and they just loaned it to the previous owners of the house (a fact which, though debatable, is difficult to disprove). Nevermind that we lived there for 5 years with nary a word about the swing.

I suppose I understand they did what they had to do. It would be just too much trouble to give us a call and ask when and/or if we were going to have the place mowed. It's much simpler to just turn people in to the city so they get a weighty fine for lack of proper maintenance.

Who knew grass could be so controversial?

Sometimes less is more...

2009-08-26T20:16:00.001-07:00

Before

During

(Clearly he's broken up about the whole ordeal. And he needs a higher dose of personality.)

After

...And sometimes less is just....well it just is.

The glamorous life of a mom

2009-08-23T16:11:00.000-07:00

There's nothing quite like a full afternoon/evening of plans being thwarted by a virulent stomach bug. Today, my friend an I had an elaborate plan to get our children together for swimming and dinner.

That might not sound elaborate, but when my part involves getting 3 children rested, dressed, and packed for an early evening swim PLUS preparing my part of the dinner, things can spiral out of control very quickly.

We headed out to our friend's house, but when we were about 10 minutes away, she called me and told me her daughter was experiencing severe gastrointestinal distress.

To put it mildly.

We decided that I would go ahead and bring my kiddos for a swim and quick dinner because the chips, carrots and dip I "prepared" for my half of the deal weren't really going to cut it for a well-balanced dinner.

We drove a bit further and just before we reached their house, Piper decided it was her turn to vomit. Because I was ill-prepared to clean breakfast reruns off of her carseat, I continued to my friend's house to at least get some paper towels before we turned around and drove back home. Which was now the inevitable choice.

We had no more walked in the door at home when Cade rushed to the toilet.

Next!

Micah appears to be fine for now. I suspect the germ culprit was something the children picked up while swimming at our local YMCA yesterday. The common denominator between all the illnesses.

Since we've been home I've had to wash Piper's hair 3 times. Currently she's just playing in the bathtub. Mainly because she insisted and I didn't argue because I thought I might save some water in the long run.

I've also made PB&J for the children, which went mostly uneaten except for Micah whose appetite actually seems to increase with every bite he takes. I made myself a BLT, but held the L and the T and added some cheese. Because if anything is going to see me through this evening, copious amounts of fried pork can do the trick. Coupled with a strong drink. And probably lots of chocolate.

Hope everyone else has had a fab weekend! Now I've got to disinfect.

A Pictorial Tribute to The Hair

2009-08-17T19:54:00.000-07:00

Wednesday will be a monumental day here in the House of Sturg. Micah has lived to see 1st grade and Cade starts Kindergarten. Oh glorious day!

It will mark the end of the boys' Summer Justice League Training Camp, which is really just a ruse for the disobedience that is them climbing over, under and on top of the furniture for the sake of improving their super hero powers. My non-stop gentle reminders that "We DON'T CLIMB OR JUMP ON THE FURNITURE," may also cease. We'll all be much happier.

And let's be honest- the boys are no closer to meeting the admission requirements of the Justice League now than they were when summer began. But it's good for children to have realistic aspirations.

Cade is absolutely beside himself with delight over the start of school. He's been asking me daily since May if it's the day for him to begin school. And just this morning he informed me that "tomorrow will be the best day of [his] life!" Bless his heart. I just pray his teachers are ready. May my angels not cause their respective sweet-spirited teachers to lose their religion. At least not on the first day.

So our summer is officially drawing to a close today. Although it's not like the real season of summer is going anywhere soon. This IS Texas, where the only seasons we have are Warm and Hotter then Hell.

Last night J, the boys, and I had the opportunity to Meet the Teacher(s) at the school. On the way home from the school I asked Cade what he thought of his teacher.

"Well, she's beautiful is all I know," he said genuinely.

I think they'll get along just fine.

Unfortunately, just moments before the car ride home, as we were leaving the school, we ran into the Head of School. Innocently, she said to me (regarding Cade), "He's going to be getting a hair cut, right?

Uh, wha-, 'scuse me???

Cade has long-ish hair. Amazing, gorgeous, and TOTALLY AWESOME long-ish hair. It's part of him and his personality. And I'm very particular about cutting it because most people don't have the skills it takes to style it properly. He's received the "Lloyd Christmas" look one too many times for me to let just anyone take the scissors to his locks.

But now, Cade's hair and the previously-unbeknownst-to-me school regulations are at irreconcilable odds. If he's going to go to school at the institution to which we've already paid a boatload of money, his hair cannot touch his collar, can be no longer than the middle of his ears, and must be above his eyebrows.

When I heard this news, I rent my garment, shaved my head and fell to the ground. The Lord gives and the Lord takes away, right?

I can't think about it. I can't even consider it. I'm not sure I can even call and make The Appointment, much less actually drive him there, put him in the seat and WATCH as his gorgeous hair is stripped away.

The date for the shearing is yet to be determined. For the first time, I'm actually quite grateful that our regular stylist is generally booked weeks in advance. But inevitably the day will come. And after that day, all I will have left of his hair will be in pictures.

Thus, the following tribute. To Cade. And his beautiful hair.

Please pause for a moment of silence.

Amen.

There is no chin behind Chuck Norris’ beard. There is only another fist.

2009-08-10T21:09:00.000-07:00

My husband is a hero today. Not unlike Chuck Norris, except without the mad martial arts skills. And the TV show. And all the tough Norris jokes.

So pretty much the only similarity is the reddish beard.

J's latest Chuck-Norris-super-feat was busting a dude who was shoplifting magazines out of a local bookstore.

Let's all pretend that the offender was NOT wheelchair-bound, shall we? Yes, he was actually stacking magazines on the seat of his chair, sitting on them and then smuggling them out of the store.

You have to give the guy props for style.

And Jason didn't round-house kick the guy in the face either. J just chased him out of the store and managed to get his license plate number. Then he left the rest up to our fishing buddies, the local authorities.

In honor of J's heroism and bravery, I post the following video. One of my favorite SNL Digital Shorts of all time- it makes me so happy! Kind of like my own hero. Love you, baby!

On the lookout for smokies in plain brown wrappers

2009-08-09T20:59:00.000-07:00

(Name that movie. Hint: It's obscure.)

When Jason and I moved last year, we didn't relocate with the notion that our new city would be crime-free. But we also did not imagine that we would have to call the local PD so frequently that we're starting to consider ourselves fishing/shopping buddies with Our City's Finest.

Late one evening a couple of weeks ago, J and I heard helicopters circling. At first I thought it was possibly CareFlight, but by concentrating on the sound pattern of the chopper(s), and the fact that we could hear them flying for several minutes, indicating that if it WAS INDEED CareFlight, the intended recipient of Care had quite possibly passed on, it didn't take up too long to realize they were circling our area. So I called the police station to get the scoop.

(Make no mistake. This was not the first, second, or third call I've made to Our City's Finest in the last 12 months.)

The phone screener informed me that we most certainly were not in an impromptu war zone. But there had been an "incident earlier" and if we needed to know anything further, an officer would come to our door. In other words I was on a need-to-know basis and apparently I didn't need to know.

When I hung up the phone I felt like I was on an SNL episode of "REALLY?!?! With Seth and Amy."

REALLY?!?! The incident was "earlier" and they were still flying helicopters? REALLY? An officer is going to come to my door? REALLY? Because wouldn't it be more efficient for them to be out, I don't know...chasing the bad guys?!?!

Not 30 minutes later we saw flashlights (yes, plural) shining in the back of our house. Wanting to avoid the helpful phone screener, I went straight for the big guns...911. This time they told me that they had reports of a suspicious vehicle in the area.

REALLY?!?! A suspicious vehicle? And they think it's in MY backyard?!? Whatever happened to just running the plates and finding out who the vehicle belongs to and running the plates? Wouldn't that be easier than scaring the mess out of me when I'm ALREADY A LITTLE ON EDGE FROM THE HELICOPTERS?

J and I pretty much didn't sleep that evening with what we imagined to be a maniacal murderer on the loose, possibly hiding in our bushes. When the next day dawned, we kept a lookout in all the media outlets to get more information on our local terrorist. But there was NADA. Not a single word.

So fast forward to Saturday. I woke up with the knowledge that the contents of our pantry was paltry. I had no milk, no bread, and no cereal.

Basically, that means that I had no fixings for breakfast.

My plan was to take the children to enjoy a ~~nutritious~~ breakfast at McD's and then head to do some grocery shopping at The Store.

As I was loading them into their carseats through the passenger side door, I noticed the driver's side window looked oddly mottled in the corner of it. When I looked closer, I realized I was not looking at the window at all, but the SHATTERED REMAINS of the glass that once protected the insides of my vehicle from outside elements AND THIEVES.

Major fail.

Glass shards covered the driver's seat as well as the ground under the window. Exposed wires hung loosely where our stereo/DVD combo once existed.

Our Garmin GPS was also stolen, meaning that until we can afford to purchase a new one I may as well embrace the feeling of pretty much never knowing how to find my way out of a paper bag. My marriage may not survive.

I ushered the kiddos back inside where I fed them a hearty breakfast of chocolate chip cookies (graham crackers for Piper) and coke.

I wish I was kidding.

But I REALLY needed them to just be happy and BE QUIET so that I could regain some semblance of a normal thought process to figure out the next steps. I decided to call Jason, the police, and the insurance company, in that order.

When the friendly officer made it to the house, he took my statement and offered no platitudes that the thief might be apprehended and our things located and returned.

Because I can't stand missing out on a good story, I tried questioning him about the "incident" and the "vehicle" from previous week, but he told me he had no knowledge of the situation. Whether he was playing dumb or being completely truthful, I'll never know.

But I wisely let it drop.

I did make an off-hand comment that our neighborhood seems to be keeping them busy lately, and he casually responded that it's the entire town that's keeping them busy.

OH THAT'S JUST GREAT. I WILL SLEEP SO MUCH BETTER KNOWING THAT CRIME IS RUNNING RAMPANT AND IS COMPLETELY OUT OF CONTROL BECAUSE APPARENTLY THE POLICE CAN'T DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT AND NOW I MAY NEVER SLEEP AGAIN.

(I know that sentence is awkward. Consider it stream of consciousness. It doesn't always make sense. Thanks.)

For the time being we've decided the best we can do is to be diligent about setting our security system each evening before bed.

By "security system" I mean that we're letting our previously-kenneled-at-night miniature dachsund roam free about the house whilst we sleep because she will surely bark and awaken us should any stranger make the mistake of even looking in our home's direction.

She also frequently barks at the cat who lives on our porch, so that may wake us, too, but we aren't really sleeping well anyway, so what's the difference?

She also barks at absolutely nothing, so I fully expect to be jolted out of a dead sleep into an immediate panic at least once per night for no reason, but have I mentioned I'M NOT SLEEPING?

Let me just say, burglar beware of our attack dog. Oh, and Jason's rifle. What can I say? It helps me sleep.

World Wide Web Wednesday 07.29.09

2009-07-29T10:27:00.000-07:00

Still here, still not much time for blogging. I'm on the downhill side of my own summer, meaning that I will be returning to work in approximately 4 days, 18 hours, and 20-some-odd minutes (by the time I post this).

But whose counting?

Anyway, for WWWW, I just had to post a video. I know this video has already gone viral so everyone has already seen it, but I think these people would be so fun to have as friends. Judging solely on their dance skills and complete lack of inhibition, I can say they look like like they have a total blast!

Happy Wednesday!

World Wide Web Wednesday 07.15.09

2009-07-15T15:02:00.000-07:00

Jason and I are having an incredible time ministering to high school seniors at Super Summer this week. These students are being led in amazing times of worship and are falling deeper in love with Jesus this week.

In that same vein, I have a couple of links that will help you fall deeper in love with the Savior.

For the entire month of July, you can go here to download a copy of Francis Chan's book, Crazy Love. I've listened to about 3/4 of this book so far and let me tell you, it will rock your world! It's not necessarily profound or new, but it's an amazing reminder of the awesomeness God.

You can also go here to download a free copy of Phil Wickham's CD "Singalong." It's a live recording, but the lyrics are beautifully worshipful.

Enjoy!

Seven

2009-06-29T11:28:00.000-07:00

*I'm horribly tardy in completing/posting this. Obviously, since Micah's birthday was 6/28 and it's now over a week later. Blame it on life, blame it on the heat, blame it on my straight up lack of motivation to do much of anything lately. It doesn't really matter. I just want to honor my precious eldest, so better late than never, right?

My oldest baby turned 7 recently. SEVEN!!! As in, he's been alive for 70% of a decade! It's surreal, that's what it is. I can still remember the day of his birth so clearly.

The names of all the visitors who came to see us on his big day...

The names of the nurses who aided in his delivery...

The way he weighed a teensy 6 lbs. 8 oz...

The way Jason passed out cold when I got my epidural...

(I'll let that one sink in a minute. It was special. And it was a lesson LEARNED.)

I keep threatening to put bricks on Micah's head to keep him from getting any bigger. I might try it if I thought there was the slightest chance it would work.

Unfortunately, we were so busy with family birthday bidness yesterday (I actually started working on this post 6/29) that I didn't get to post and tell everyone how amazingly exceptional this guy is. So I'm going to do it now. Because he is truly amazing.

Micah is one of the smartest children I know. And I don't say that because he's mine. I say it because I know a lot of children.

His brain is always thinking, and even though he can be a little random at times (I wonder where he gets that quality? I need to clean out the fridge. So where was I?) he asks questions and comes up with ideas that are far beyond his years.

Like the idea that, when he grows up, he's going to open a restaurant for people who aren't hungry and don't want to eat. That way they have a place to go and hang out and they don't have to pay anything.

Because who wants to just stay home?

Folks, that strain of brilliance can only be explained by good genetics.

His heart is tender towards the things of God and it's the most amazing thing to see Jesus working in his life. Our prayer is that the Lord will continue the great work that He has begun in him throughout Micah's 8th year and into eternity.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go bawl my eyes out over how much he's grown while you enjoy a mini-shrine to his precious life.

And he's only going to cost "one million dollars (evil laughing)."

Always playing when he's supposed to be sleeping.

Becoming a big brother the 2nd time around

The last day of kindergarten with Saint Morris, I mean Mrs. Morris.

(Seriously, if anyone reading this knows how I can nominate someone for sainthood, please contact me because if anyone deserves canonization, it's this lady. Or maybe all kindergarten teachers could be the first canonized group of saints known for their miracles of teaching small children with unwavering patience and gentleness in the face of untied shoes, bodily fluids, and endless random questioning.)

I love you, Micah!

It's like playing ball in hell

2009-06-18T22:30:00.000-07:00

I suppose there was something in the spring air, back when it was 30 degrees COOLER, that caused me to lose my mind and sign the boys up for summer t-ball. I cannot tell you what I was thinking. Except that I WASN'T.

The boys had their first practice on Monday, and if you follow me on Twitter, you might have noticed that the only word to properly describe it was "fiasco." It had nothing to do with ten inexperienced 4-6 year olds wielding aluminum "swords," and everything to do with the complete lack of organization on the coach's part (who showed up about 40 min. late) and the fact that we all PAID for the pleasure of standing around on a field with no shade in 100 degree 100% humid weather. Even the "breeze" felt similar to when you open your preheated oven and get slapped in the face with the winds of hell.

Here are the boys with their pal, Leah Aren't they all just brimming with delight? This picture? Was the theme of the entire evening.

Last night's practice was the second of three practices before the inaugural game on Tuesday. We were informed on Monday night that we have the distinct honor of being the only team who will be squeezing in 3 practices in prior to game day.

You know, because small children really need the extra practice for a game where no one keeps score, everyone bats, and there's no declared winner.

I will admit that the practice went slightly better than Monday's. The coach was only 10 minutes late.

The children ran the bases a couple of dozen times to get the "hang" of basically running in a misshapen circle and practiced throwing and catching. I use the terms "throwing" and "catching" extremely loosely. Overall, the boys seemed to enjoy themselves a teensy bit more.

Unless "enjoyment" is measured by the amount of whining about the heat or their individual levels of thirst which apparently reached deathly proportions. Then they didn't enjoy themselves at all.

I'm telling you, our anticipation and excitement over the coming season is palpable. We absolutely can't WAIT...for it to end.

No, I haven't died of heatstroke. Yet.

2009-06-18T08:42:00.000-07:00

I'm finding it very difficult to carve out time for blogging now that I'm no longer staring at a computer screen all day. Most of my energy right now is being spent trying not to combust in the oppressive Texas heat. That leaves very little brain power for producing coherent sentences. Much less slightly (with significant emphasis on slightly) clever or witty ones.

I can't say that we've been particularly busy because the last 4 days have primarily consisted of swimming, lunch, nap, and then whatever it is we do in the evening. Which is to say nothing.

I've also managed to finish 2 books (Time Traveler's Wife (HIGHLY recommend) and Wicked (kind of "meh")).

But with this week practically being in the books (no pun intended), that leaves me with only 6 weeks in which to swim all we can, get in our summer reading hours, finish "Wind in the Willows" for Micah's summer reading, take a trip to the beach and a attend a couple of youth events in which we are involved annually. And mostly importantly, trying to stay moderately cool.

All that means I won't be around the blog much. So if you don't hear from me, please don't lose sleep worrying that I've somehow shriveled up and died from dehydration, heat stroke, 3rd degree sunburns or melodrama. And feel free to follow me on Twitter for more "regular" mini-updates.

YAY SUMMER!

World Wide Web Wednesday 06.10.09

2009-06-10T09:18:00.000-07:00

Welcome to everyone's favorite feature: WWWW!

By "everyone" I mean I have no idea if anyone ever actually checks out my links or not. Not fishing here, just sayin'.

I haven't posted any links for a couple of weeks which might lead you to believe that I've been saving the awesomeness for some super duper internet extravaganza! You couldn't be more wrong. But do hang on to your hats, because today's theme is SHOCKERS!

The first NEWSFLASH: Crunchberries are NOT real berries. Dang you, Cap'n Crunch! I actually feel a little embarassed for this woman. Obviously she doesn't have enough shame to feel it herself.

Finally the most often-asked, most speculated about, never answered (until now): Yes. Yes he is. I can almost hear the collective gasping from All the Shock.

Finally, I got this one from the savviest internet surfer I know, KPG. There are 50 movie titles hidden in this "painting." I think I found 6.

(OK, so the last one isn't shocking, but it is a glorious waste of time. 2 out of 3 isn't bad. Or maybe it's really 0 out of 3, because honestly...is any of this surprising?)

My Bachelorette Non-Recap

2009-06-08T19:50:00.000-07:00

Where did last night's episode of The Bachelorette leave us? Bored and completely let-down from the faux drama over the dude with the supposed girlfriend back home.

I can't really blame Wes for coming on the show even if he has a girlfriend. According to him. they say that love don't come easy, so he's got to pursue all potential avenues of potential love interest, right? Whatev.

After last night's episode, if you don't love Kiptyn, you must not be breathing. Although 1) his name lends itself to being mispelled 99.9% of the time AND 2) his name lends itself to an unfortunate nickname (Kip. No offense to any Kips who are or are not reading this blog), he seemed the most natural on his date with Jillian. I think he's definitely a frontrunner.

On the 2-on-1 date: Could the baseball guy Mike/Mark have been any more over the top with All the Cheese? While the pizza guy Mike/Mark just played it cool and aloof. I think I would choose pizza over baseball, too. Because I'm pretty sure that was the sole basis of Jillian's decision.

And finally, what Jillian needs is some lessons in how to be a mom. I just kept thinking that if I were Jillian and I wanted to know who had a girlfriend, I would have just laid down the law- NO roses until SOMEONE fesses up. Period. And then I would have waited them out just like I have waited out my own children in a battle of the wills. It's not a power struggle I would recommend for all situations, but desperate times and all that jazz...

If you want a real recap click here. Or go here for the inside scoop.

To summarize my thoughts on this season so far? Yawn.

One more kid story

2009-06-03T08:48:00.000-07:00

Do my kid stories bore you? Do both of my 2 readers click away as soon as they find out the current blog is more ramblings about my little angels? Are they the most banal and mundane topics of anything I've ever posted in my blog? I do wonder if the stories are only funny because I know my children, their mannerisms, their faces, and their intonation. So some of the funny may get lost in translation.

I really try to only post the things that happen that I think are truly hilarious. Usually that means it's stories that make Jason laugh. Because, while he's a comedian, I know something is really funny when HE cracks up about it. This is one of those stories (I think).

A little background: Cade, our middle, has longish hair. And, yes, his gender is routinely called into question by strangers. I also call them JERKS. I often find myself referring to him as "Buddy," "Son," or "Dude" when in public to, you know, GIVE PEOPLE A CLUE.

We also have a daughter. After having 2 boys, I willingly choose to GIRL HER UP. She wears lots of hairbows, and she LOVES shoes and jewelry. You can often find her peering into her closet proclaiming, "I want PINK!"

Cade, on the other hand, is ALL BOY. He wears colors including (but not limited to) navy, orange, brown, gray, and khaki. He wears athletic-style shoes that are typically black or blue.

When you put them side-by-side, WHAT DO PEOPLE THINK I'M TRYING TO DO TO MY OLDER "DAUGHTER?"

The general public is in trememdous need of a lesson in using context clues.

Last night we took them to the park to run off some energy before bath and bed. On the way home from the park, Cade was telling us about a new little "friend" he had played with at the park. A little girl.

He said, "She kept calling me a girl and wouldn't believe me that I was a boy, so I sat down on the sidewalk and took off...

...MY FLIP FLOP...

...to show her it was a boy shoe."

His flip flops are black with a flame graphic on the bottom. They are, indeed, boy shoes.

And I was completely relieved that his shoe was the only thing that occured to him to use a proof of his masculinity.

What little boys talk about

2009-06-02T12:17:00.001-07:00

One of my favorite things in the entire world is to listen to my little boys have a conversation with one another. As long as there is no whining, yelling, fussing, made-up words, cartoonish voices or name-calling.

Which means these conversations come around only slightly more often than the mythical unicorns (I just can NOT let that go. It may be THE funniest thing I've ever heard come out of a person's mouth).

The other night we were waiting in the car for something I can't recall b/c it was completely inconsequential and unrelated to this story and they were negotiating their personal cool-factors. Here's what I heard.

Cade (the optimist): How 'bout we BOTH be the coolest?

Micah (the pragmatist): That's impossible Cade.

C: How about if I'm New York coolest and you're Waco coolest?

(We've never been to NYC, but I think Micah realized that he was definitely getting the short end of the cool stick.)

M: Cade, how 'bout you're Canada coolest?

Oh SNAP! Micah threw down the literal interpretation of "cool." More like "frigid." Which then kind of negates his figurative coolness. Turning a figurative argument literal is a cool-breaker.

Unfortunately (or fortunately, since this little contest was spiraling downward into a geography bee) they got distracted and never settled who has the most "it-factor." Let's just say that, while I love them both equally, Micah's got the brains (he would have killed in the geography bee) and Cade's got the cool. Together, they'll rule the land of the mythical unicorns.

I always refer to myself as a wolf because most people follow and stay in line where I'm always looking for that mythical unicorn

2009-06-01T20:33:00.000-07:00

Oh my word, tonight's episode of The Bachelorette was a HOT mess. There was so much talk of wolves and sheep and unicorns that I could hardly keep the metaphors straight. I never did get the part about the unicorn, but that's probably for the best.

No recaps here, just my measly $0.02.

1) Firstly, WHY is no one talking about the fact that ED is a dead ringer for Jeffrey Dean Morgan? Seriously, people! They could be brothers. And since "Jilli" knows what Ed will look like when he grows up, well, YUM!

2) Could Wes be any more cliche' with his kuntry sangin'?

3) Some of those boys were looking a bit worse for the wear at the Most Dramatic Rose Ceremony Ever. Someone really should have advised them to go a bit easier on the adult beverages.

My mom is in town and actually watched tonight's episode with me. As I was filling her in on all the dudes, I found that I didn't have much good to say about any of them. The majority of them are pretty much goobers in my book. And the fact that she only sent 3 of them home tonight means that the gooberishness is going to drag on for an ever-lovin' eternity.

Maybe next week, Jillian will buy a clue, fire them all, and start over with a new batch (no pun intended, although I'm thinking myself quite clever at the moment. Or nerdy fits, too.). Cheers!

World Wide Web Wednesday 05.27.09

2009-05-27T13:06:00.000-07:00

Just a few links to aid you in wasting time as you hang around the blogosphere. You can thank me later.

Monetary gifts are always accepted.

If you haven't visited this site, please do. It will make your day. Hopefully you won't find your own image there.

Props to my AWESOME FRIEND Mandi for finding the Man Law commercials for me. Just goes to show that "there is no charge for awesomeness. Or attractiveness." (Name that movie).

Finally, please keep my friend Amy in your prayers.

Reality TV doesn't take a holiday

2009-05-26T07:53:00.000-07:00

Why yes, we had a lovely holiday weekend. How about you? J.'s last day at one of his 2 jobs was Friday evening, so I was home alone with our little angels. Since Friday night is Family Movie Night 'round these parts, the boys watched The Tale of Despereaux while I halfway paid attention, but mostly surfed the internet and spent a lot of time not writing blogs.

I'm in a writing funk. It must be the heat. Because in Texas in the summer, you blame everything on the heat. Fire ants popping up in your yard? It's the heat. Gained a little weight? Totally the heat. Rearended someone on the highway? Well, it's just so dang HOT!

We had some friends over for dinner on Saturday night. This couple has a little girl in Micah's kindergarten class, so we've all just started hanging out together in the last couple of months. I would consider them fairly new friends, so I was a bit resistant to agree to Jason's suggestion that we watch Marley and Me while they were over. Ugly crying in front of acquaintances is not high on my list of How to Make a Good Impression.

Sunday brought a fun game that I like to call Frantically Clean the House Before My Precious Mother-In-Law Arrives Because Even Though She Would Never Criticize My Housekeeping Abilities, She Happens to be a Housekeeping Maven.

The title may be a little lengthy for purposes of copyrighting.

Monday, the children and I enjoyed hanging out with my mother-in-law, visiting daddy at his new job, running errands, and napping.

Since pretty much all of my favorite TV shows have already aired their season finales, the fact that I was reminded by someone's Facebook status that the 2nd episode of The Bachelorette was premiering in the evening felt particularly seredipitous. So, thank you to all Facebook status updaters (especially LynnAnn). Except for those of you who post spoilers or results of reality TV shows. Curses to you, instead. That goes completely against FB code.

Speaking of code, that Dave on The Bachelorette was pretty serious about his Man Code. But I think he's just been watching too many beer commercials (to which I really wanted to link, but a cursory Google and Youtube search turned up NADA).

I'm not going to offer full recaps of The Bachelorette for a couple of reasons:
1) There are way funnier recaps out there than mine
2) After only 2 episodes, I'm finding this season to be a bit on the dry side. Kind of boring.

Maybe there are just too many men in the mix for me to care too much right now, but the producers et. el. are going to have to significantly up their editing game to create the fabricated look of drama to keep me interested.

I'm SORE-ry for not recapping, but I will reserve the right to post some completely random thoughts a-BOTE the show's wicked PRO-gress. My thoughts right now are that the viewing audience is discovering Jillian is a terrible judge of character.

As if last season's hot tub hijinx with Bachelor Jason didn't clue us in to that morsel. And that's all I have to say about that.

I'm Blog-Famous!

2009-05-22T07:01:00.001-07:00

While "famous" might be a teensy weensy bit of a stretch, I did have the opportunity to write my First Ever Guest Post on my IRL friend LynnAnn's blog.

LynnAnn and I went to college together and we were even roommates for a short time just before we graduated an undisclosed number of years ago. Even if I told you how many years ago it was, you wouldn't believe me because we were such prodigies that we graduated college at 18. Making us both still incredibly young. And beautiful. And despite the fact that she actually had to put up with me and my living habits, she still speaks to me. Which says volumes about the kindness in her heart.

I blame LynnAnn for my former addiction to the most awesome television show ever produced, The Practice. There may or may not have been an Intervention when they pulled the plug on that show. And it may or may not have been material good enough for A&E.

Her blog is HI-larious. Some of my favorite posts are the ones she authors periodically called "rules." She gives some pretty sound advice for those in the general public lacking any inclination toward common sense. You can find some of my favorites here, here, and here. Oh, and here and here.

There are tons more rules and gobs more funny over at LynnAnn's blog, so stop by there and give her some love. And read my post there while you're at it. 'Kaythanks.

C'Mon Kris, C'Mon Kris, C'Mon Kris- Alternate Title: AI Recap THE FINALS!

2009-05-19T18:34:00.000-07:00

Please don't expect any sort of unbiased journalism from this blog this evening. As if there was such a thing anyway. Maybe in the land of unicorns and leprechauns, but not actually, you know, ON EARTH.

I make no bones about the fact that I'm totally rooting for Kris. I may actually fast-forward through all of Adam's numbers and just make stuff up. Just sayin'.

First things first, I LOVE Paula's dress.

But WHAT did she do to her hair? Was it darker? Shorter? Unwashed?

Ryan tells us that Kris is so brilliant he chose to go 2nd. Because that also means he performs LAST. Looks, talent, AND brains. Total package.

Ryan also wants us to set our DVRs "appropriately" tomorrow. I think he means "accordingly." Although I don't want any inappropriate DVR settings here in the Stughaus, to be sure.

So here we go!

Round 1:

Adam- Repeating Mad World. The first 32 seconds of this performance were my favorite of all of Adam's performances of the season. Because the fog, lights and camera angles? They hid his face. He's just so affected.

I've said it million times. The dude can sing. I just don't care for the theatrics.

Randy loved it. Kara driveled on and on and I didn't listen. Paula is proud. Simon said it was overtheatrical. Really? THIS performance? Out of all his performances? I'm smelling a rat already.

Kris- I have no words. I loved it. There was no making "eyes" at the camera. Just Kris and the music.

Randy said it was one of his best performances ever. Even Kara-the-Adam-Lover liked it, but I fast-forwarded through her 10 minute soliloquy. Paula was awake and feeling the "spirit." I think it's in her glass. Simon liked it too.

Round 1 belongs to...KRIS!

Round 2:

Adam- I was really digging Adam's suit. Was it silver? Gray? No matter. He rocked it with the turquoise tie. And I mean that. No sarcasm. Seriously.

He's got great vocal control and I was going to compliment the first half of the song, but the screechy, screamy, middle and end ruined it for me. So sorry, Adam.

Randy thought it was unbelievable. I didn't listen to Kara because cutting her out cuts the show down to 20 minutes. Paula jumped up and did a toe touch because she loved it so much. Simon said Adam's back in the game. I'm glad someone thought so.

Kris- Acoustic Kris, which I love.It's times like these when I pretend that the AI instrumentalists like to play for Kris better than Adam. They just look like they're having a good clean jammin' time. I don't think this song showed off an completely unbelievable side of Kris, but it was a solid performance.

Randy said it wasn't "big" enough. Even though KRIS DIDN'T PICK IT. Kara blabbered. Paula liked it. Simon thought it was a friendly jam session. I think that's kind of what I was trying to say. So I'll leave it at that.

Round 2...KRIS!

Round 3:

Adam- At first I thought he was wearing snakeskin leggings. Then I saw they were acid washed skinny jeans, Ew, either way. So it was another cheesy song about terrain and weather and how it relates to achieving your dream. Yawn. Actually I thought Adam's voice sounded kind of weak and tired during this song.

Randy thought it was pitchy. Kara acted like she was giving an acceptance speech. Paula's vocabulary reached its limit. Simon believed Adam is a worldwide star.

Kris- His voice is so much more pleasant. I think he missed some notes, though. And nice shot of the teleprompter. After 7 seasons of corny "achieve your dreams" tunes, are the words really that different?

Randy started with telling Kris he should be proud of himself. Did Kara speak? My ears can no longer hear her. Paula used the words amazing and compelling. Simon liked the first song best, but said that Kris deserves to be in the finals.

Round 3...KRIS!

When the season got started, I didn't even remember that a guy named Kris Allen auditioned. Then, when he was in the top 12, I thought he'd never last because he hadn't received as much exposure through editing. But here he was in the finals! And I'm totally voting for him tonight. And, hypothetically, if my sister who lives in Little Rock happens to have lunch in Conway tomorrow and if that place has Kris Allen shirts, she may hypothetically be buying one for me.

Off to vote!

It's been a day of ups and downs

2009-05-19T16:46:00.000-07:00

By the end of this post, I hope my ones of readers can truly grasp the enormity of the fact that a series of events from my afternoon have just rescued all of you from being subjected to The Most Boring Blog Post Ever.

And, after reading this, when you find yourself asking how my semi-regular blithering about the goings-on of my life could possibly be more insipid and you're begging to regain those wasted 38 seconds of your life, just take my word for it.

It can. And I'm sorry, but you can't.

If you follow me on Twitter, then you are already aware of my rise to radio talk show stardom. It started last night when my husband asked, "What would Dave Ramsey say?" And my reply was, "I'll ask him tomorrow." So at 2:42 PM CST I got through to his phone screener.

She listened to half my story, cut me off and told me she would put me on the air, but warned me to be brief and to the point.

Obviously, she doesn't read my blog.

At approximately 3:10, I got to speak to The One, The Only, Dave Ramsey. If you aren't a Dave Ramsey follower, shame on you. And what are you waiting for?

If you subscribe to his podcast, I'm Amanda In Dallas, near the top of the 3rd hour from today. Only, I don't really live in Dallas. I just listen on the Dallas affiliate. And at some point during our heart-to-heart, Dave gets confused and thinks I called from California.

I don't like to gloat, but let's just say Dave was on my side of the discussion that started the whole "I'm going to call Dave" situation.

However, a few hours later, the circumstances surrounding my phone call to Dave, who is my new BFF by the way, became moot when our realtor called and said a buyer accepted our counter-offer on the house!

Which, for sellers whose home has been on the market for 11 months AND who are facing the prospect of paying mortgage AND rent because our renters are moving soon, this was the most fabulous news we could have received today.

Except for being the recipients of an unexpected windfall. That would have topped the contract on the house.

My mom (who isn't superstitious. Just a little stitious) says things happen in threes, so I was definitely expecting some other form of awesomeness to present itself to me this evening.

But then I left to go to the store and forgot that I was wearing black crocs with my work clothes. I put them on when I got home because they were way more comfy than the heels I wore all day. Not only did they not match my outfit, my pants cuff dragged the ground.

I decided it was really not going to be a problem because I was just going to The Store and figured I would fit in just fine in my work clothes with ridiculously casual shoes.

Plus, I was buying Totinos. To celebrate.

[Sidenote: There was a time when a college student would not have to starve because no matter what happened, she could always scrape up enough change to equal just under a buck to purchase a Totinos. Which makes a rather filling meal for under a buck. Or she could halve it with a friend for only fiftyish cents each. Totinos have gone up $o.14 since my own college days. And I bet college students everywhere are starving because of it. Where do the manufacturers think that extra $0.14 is going to come from when the couch cushion wells run dry?]

I got home and popped our nutritious dinner into the oven. Then I managed to let the crust burn. If there's anything worse than Totino's, it's Totino's with burned crust.

As a special reward/comfort to myself, this evening I fully intend to ~~curl up with a Warm Delight and catch up on the 2 hour premiere of The Bachelorette followed by tonight's final AI performances~~ clean my house. It's in a bit of disarray since J. and I have been enjoying mini-marathons of Medium the last couple of evenings.

Oh, who am I kidding? I'm totally watching TV. The house will still be here tomorrow, in all it's filthy glory. My DVR, on the other hand, tends to revolt when it gets too full of unwatched TV shows.

And the last thing I need is a revolting DVR.

World Wide Web Wednesday 05.13.09

2009-05-13T08:14:00.000-07:00

Today's WWWW feature is focusing on a celebration of art and creativity hosted by Three Bay B Chicks, I'm Living Proof that God Has a Sense of Humor, and Domestically Challenged.

We Heart Art gives you the chance to not only showcase your artwork or creative projects, but also your kid's handiwork.

I stumbled upon this event at quite a timely...time.

Just recently my little angels have been begging, on their hands and knees with hands folded and fingers interlaced, voices crying out to the heavens, that I might lend an ear and grant their most humble request.

For Play-Doh.

I don't inherently have anything against Play-Doh.

Unless you count all the little Play-Doh bits that end up permanently adhering themselves to the hardwood floor. Or how its salty flavor is often too tempting for a toddler to resist. Or how it's impossible to fully clean the Play-Doh out of the little crevices of the Fun Factory and then the hardened pieces get all mixed in with the fresh stuff the next time it's used. Or how the thought of mixing the Play-Doh colors together is enough to set my inner Kate Gosselin loose.

But other than that, I think it's a wonderful creative outlet for little ones that not only allows them the opportunity to stretch their minds and imaginations, but also improves fine motor strength with all the rolling, shaping, pulling, pinching, cutting, etc.

Unless you're like me as a child and the only ideas you could wonder to create were snakes and pancakes. Or cookies.

Long story longer, I foud myself at Target last Saturday where I dropped $4 on 8 cans of Play-Doh. My children thought they had won the kiddie lottery. And not only have I quieted my inner-Kate over the color mixing (although I do try to keep it to a minimum), but I've rediscovered my sanity.

Because, you know what? Play-Doh keeps them busy for over 30 minutes! For 30 or so fairly peaceful minutes, I can work on my own projects with nary a peep from 3 highly satisfied customers.

In honor of my newfound best friend, Play-Doh, and the We Heart Art collaborative project, I bring you evidence of what a wild and crazy Saturday night brought to the Sturghaus (we aren't German, I just like the way that looks when spelled out).

It's a bird. Specifically, Cade's bird. He copied it from the back of the Play-Doh box, but I give him major props for trying it.

Unfortunately, Micah's sculpting abilities haven't broadened past pancakes and cookies yet, but that kid can draw like nobody's business. He has recreated most of Van Gogh's paintings using crayons as his preferred medium.

If I knew how to work our scanner, I'd prove it to you.

Please be sure to check out the blogs above and feel free to join in the Mr. Linky party if you have artwork of your own or something created by your children that you'd like to display. I'm fairly certain that most of the blogs will have much more creative ideas than mine of how to get your children involved in and excited about art.

AI Recap: Top 3

2009-05-12T18:26:00.000-07:00

So the final 3 on AI this year are freaky Adam, cutie Kris, and raspy Danny. And, although I've threatened, I have yet to even fix my finger to dial in a vote. But the voting winds are a-blowin' tonight!

Tonight, for the sake of continuity, I'm blogging in the order of performances.

Round 1:

Danny (Dance Little Sister): Paula picked his song and I've never heard of it. I didn't recognize it and I have no idea if he "made it his own" or not. I thought he sang it well, but maybe overdid it a bit?

My biggest issue with this performance? Danny's boots. Clearly he is not reading my blog nor taking my well-considered advice.

Kara said that he has a "money spot." I wish I had a "money spot." Then my husband wouldn't have to work 2 jobs while he's going to seminary. Cue Debbie Downer horns. Paula thought it was "really good." Her choice of words is poetic. Simon didn't like the sax. Pardon me for a minute, but, WHAT THE HECK DOES THAT HAVE TO DO WITH HIS SINGING?

Kris (Apologize): OK, can I just say YAY HE PLAYED THE PIANO!!!! Could I love Kris any more than I already do? I'm pretty sure...no. He nailed the falsetto. It's really hard to critique him because 1) I know zilch about the music business beyond my own personal tastes and 2) I LOVE HIM SO MUCH. And I totally don't care what the judges think, Kris was a million times better than Danny.

Before I move on, I need to get something off my chest. Note to people in the audience: SIT DOWN AND STOP CLAPPING during slow songs. Also, STOP THE "HANDS IN THE AIR, WAVE 'EM LIKE YOU DON"T CARE."

Sorry, I'm a little bit on edge this evening.

After Kris was a new Mac commercial. The entertainment gods are smiling on me tonight. Trying to tell me to take a step back from the edge.

Adam (One): So Simon chose U2 for Adam. Haven't we had enough of the wrecking of the legendary songs with the Ring of Fire Debacle?

A situation of which we must NEVER SPEAK AGAIN.

At first he really toned it down and made it more ballad-y and less rock-y. But then, BAM! WHOA! He pulled the ole bait and switch trick! He reeled me in and then started with the funky faces. I bet Adam is an ugly cry-er.

I must admit, I physically flinched at one point when his tongue came out farther than it normally does. Then, did he seriously have the cojones to suggest the viewing audience should rewind it back to get a better listen to the lyrics?

Dude, Adam, I own that U2 CD. I can read the lyrics on the insert. Or, I can look them up on the internet. I can do a number of things. And be certain that, should I ever have a U2 lyrical emergency, I WILL do ANY number of things BEFORE I rewatch your performance. Thanks, though. But there's no need to give myself nightmares about your tongue anymore than I already have.

To wrap up Round 1: Adam did the best at "making it his own." Kris demonstrated the best musical ability with a solid performance. Danny was Danny.

And I got ANOTHER new Mac commercial! Woo hoo!!

Round 2:

Danny (You Are So Beautiful: How did I miss that he was from Mill-ee-wah-kay until just now? I thought it was beautiful. I wasn't really surprised that he was singing it well, so I spent the rest of his performance looking for the Wayne's World clip I linked above.

Kris (Heartless): While I LOVED the arrangement one million times over, I don't think the vocals were incredible. On the other hand, Kanye sings it with an autotuner, so I'm pretty sure Kris outsang him.

This performance was reminiscent of David Cook from last year and I'm totally into that style, so I'm going to vote for him double more times than I planned to before. Randy said he was "current" and then Kara used the word "kudos." Is that ironic? If Kris made any mistakes tonight, it was the sparkly shirt.

Adam (Crying): I didn't pay much attention to this performance b/c I was too busy voting for Kris. Take THAT, Adam-Lambert-who-sang-the-song-just-like-Aerosmith-but-no-one-said-anything-about-it. Double standard? I think so.

I can't wait for tomorrow night!! Now if you'll excuse me, I only have 10 more minutes to vote for Kris.

"Not Me!" Monday 05.11.09

2009-05-11T13:11:00.001-07:00

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

**********************

I just realized that it's been almost 2 months since my last "Not Me!" Monday post. NMM took a little hiatus when little Stellan was in the hospital, but his heart condition seems to be well-controlled now. Praise God for answered prayers!

Now, on to ME!

*I did NOT allow my 2 sons to drop trow and go potty discreetly near a tree in the park. Even though there was nowhere else to go, I certainly loaded up all 3 children and took them home to use the restroom properly, of course! I would NEVER let them "water" a tree in that manner. No way!

*I did NOT sweep and mop around a children's book that was misplaced on my kitchen floor. I would never be too lazy to bend over, pick up the book and put it back on its shelf in the boys' room. Not me!

*I did NOT completely massacre my bloggy friend Connie's salmon recipe and then take the kids out for ice cream afterwards even though they didn't eat much dinner. Even if I had, it would have totally been my prerogative since dinner hypothetically might have been sucktacular, but I would NEVER let my children have ice cream without providing them a complete nutritious meal beforehand. (Sidenote: This truly does look like a fabulous recipe and I'm going to have Jason do it up right for us really soon. My hypothetical lack of cooking skills have nothing to do with the deliciousness Connie has presented.)

*I did NOT have a complete lapse in good judgment and allow Missy to put on my tinted lip gloss all by herself while I was driving the car. And afterwards she absolutely could NOT have passed for a Collette Reardon lookalike.

So, what has everyone else NOT been doing lately?

How much mileage can I get out of Mother's Day?

2009-05-08T19:20:00.000-07:00

Even though Mother's Day isn't until Sunday (you didn't forget, did you?) we've already started celebrating in the House of Sturg.

Jason had all 3 children at home today, since Micah's school is often closed on the most random of days. He took all 3 children to run errands this morning, the brave man, and invited me to a lunch date with the 4 of them.

I questioned his motives, because I don't think his plan was purely to spend time with me. Rather, I think it was because he needed the 30 minutes of moral support after flying solo with the ~~wild animals~~ little angels all morning. But he brought me a Mother's Day cookie cake, so I quickly forgave his trespasses.

Cookie cake has a way of righting all the wrongs in the world. It may be the secret to world peace.

This evening has abounded with Mother's Day surprises. Jason called while he was at work to give Micah some top secret instructions. I asked Micah about it and apparently he was supposed to hide my lovely Mother's Day card with the pink rose in the middle of it somewhere in the living room.

Maybe Jase forgot to tell Micah that the details of the mission should have been kept completely under wraps. Or, the more likely possibility, Micah just has a really big mouth.

Besides the card, Micah is convinced I need a "deep pressure" (his words) massage and has taken to karate chopping my back anytime I stop moving for more than 5 seconds.

The boys worked on putting together a play for me, which quickly deteriorated into some kind of interpretive dance reminiscent of the African Anteater Mating Ritual only they used their playsilks as props.

I'm not sure whether it was delightful or disturbing. And I reserve the right to withhold judgment forever.

It's actually been a very pleasant ending to a crazy busy week. I just wonder how long I can milk the whole Mother's Day gimmick...

AI Recap: Top 4

2009-05-05T19:17:00.000-07:00

AI is getting down to the wire now, with only 4 contestants left. 2 of which I would love to see win and the other 2 I really couldn't care less about.

Tonight's mentor is Slash. Which is totally rockin'. Bad pun fully intended. My friend KP called this theme few weeks ago. Actually she was just wishing they'd give Adam a chance to get it all out of his system. So, props to KP! Wishes do come true.

And tonight's big twist is DUETS!! I love duets! I love to sing duets, too, but only in the shower.

Buh dum bum.

We were also informed that all of the contestants were spared near death experiences when a sign above the stage began to collapse, so they were not allowed to do a complete run-through. Which makes me wonder if anyone bothered telling Danny that tonight was the real deal and not practice. Because the boots he had on looked like he'd been out doing some nasty hard labor in the fields.

Maybe that's just how the kids are wearing them these days. Fiddlesticks.

Adam: He was up first and informed us that he was going to kill it. And I hoped that "it" didn't mean live chickens. The dude can sing. But the faces! Oh my, the ooooggeey faces.

Kara's wearing her kickin' hair extensions again tonight. She had them on 2 weeks ago, too. I had hoped the length of her hair was not any indication of the length of her speeches. Unfortunately, it was not to be.

Allison: Allison had extensions too! I wonder if Slash was wearing extensions since that also seems to be part of the theme... Alison is not my favorite contestant of all-time. Or even of this season. But she ROCKED the stage tonight. Awesome performance. Paula thought Al could play Janis Joplin in a movie. Because allison is a ringer for Janis Joplin. Except she looks nothing like her. And then Ali gave us the AI Kiss of Death: Backtalking the judges. Good-bye Al.

Oh goody! Next was a Danny/Kris duet! Danny doesn't seem to have the "swagger" (if I had a dime for everytime someone has used the word swagger on this show this season, I'd probably have a dollar by now) to make it as a rocker. Kris carried the mic around again, like last week, only it was more appropriate for this genre. Of the top 4, let's just say this duet made me very happy.

Kris: He is obviously good at quick backstage changes. Way to go, Kris! And he sang the first song I recognized. What does that say about me? That I would suck at AI Rocker Night. I don't think Kris really took Slash's advice to be more animated during his performance, but that's the only negative thing I have to say. Great vocals AND I didn't have to feel completely uncomfortable when I watched his face (Ahem... Adam).

Danny: His practice with Slash scared me. And the end of the performance scared me. This was not Go-go-Gokey's night. It doesn't diminish the fact that he can sing, but his genre is more blues and rasp, less scream. But hey, country wasn't Adam's genre, but when he butchered Johnny Cash he still made it through. So I believe there is still hope for Danny to make in the Top 3.

Alison and Adam duet: MUCH more entertaining than Kris and Danny. But clearly the rock and roll scales were unfairly balanced in their favor. The Double A duet was a bit more stacked towards the rock genre than the pairing of the 2 more soulful artists.

All in all, it was an interesting show this evening. I was surprised how well Kris pulled it off. I think Danny didn't do so well, but I think he has enough of a following to pull through one more week. I'd like to see Adam or Allison gone, but I think it's going to be a tight race.

World Wide Web Wednesday 04.29.09...that isn't

2009-04-29T12:56:00.001-07:00

While I would LOVE to amaze and astound all 5 of you with my idea of what constitutes The Best of the Internets This Week, the only places I've visited have been limited to VRBO.com and TripAdvisor.com in preparation for our trip to Gulf Shores this summer.

And I've spent about 62 of the last 48 hours researching condos to rent. The math doesn't add up, but that's the price you pay for research. Or something like that.

Instead of cool links, I'll share with you a little tidbit of self-discovery that's been brought to light by All The Research. Because if the countless hours I've spent mindlessly ascertaining the differences between Condos 1 through 2000 can't promote a little soul-searching and introspection, what can?

The big confession? Apparently I'm a commitment-phobe.

Take, for instance, my search for the perfect condo for super cheap. And I only have to sort through hundreds of dozens of units that all start to look the same after awhile, comparing location, amenities, and number/sizes of beds. But I'm so afraid I'll choose the bedbug infested, mildew ridden one that I can't stop researching and digging to make sure I'm getting the best deal out there.

Take, for instance, this rugged specimen of a table:

I'm no photographer, but my camera settings managed to catch the layer of dust on the rungs underneath beautifully. Petrified dust aside (can dust petrify?), I have lofty plans to paint it and mod podge some decorative paper to the top so it will match Piper's room decor.

But when I went into the local craft store for decorative paper, my head nearly exploded from all the choices! The paper choices were approximately equal to the number of condos at Gulf Shores. Which is to say, a million.

Besides picking paper, I have to paint the thing. Do I paint it cream to match the paper? Do I paint in lavender and chance it blending in with the wall? Do I paint it black even though the paperIchosedoesn'thaveanyblackbutit
willstillcoordinatewitheverythingelse....???!!!!

The stress is palpable.

And it's entirely possible that I may be too high strung.

AI: Top 5

2009-04-28T18:28:00.000-07:00

In the words of Paula Abdul, I'm going to keep this short.

And I'm going to repeat adjectives for emphasis. Stellar adjectives that are stellarly stellar stellar stellar.

Tonight's theme? Rat Pack.

Bless Kris's heart. He gently reminds us that all the members of the Rat Pack have passed away.

So AI gave us the next best thing... Jamie Foxx??

In a brief brainstorming session about the length of time that it takes for us to fast forward through the commercials, Jason and I came up with roughly 148 people who might have made better "Rat Pack" style mentors than Jamie Foxx. Roughly. But Jamie did play Sammy Davis Jr. on In Living Color. Who else can claim that? So maybe he is the most qualified after all.

I will admit that it seems like he was a fine mentor, using all his classically trained skills.

Now to the performances.

Kris: First of all, I LOVE THIS SONG! OK, it's a bit awkward how he's carrying that mic around weirdly like he's rocking it out when he's really crooning. But overall, I loved the crooning. Beautiful performance!

And I think Paula got her lips injected this week. Or her face is channeling Goldie Hawn.

Allison: I thought the beginning was a little weak as she tried to tone down some of her power, but it definitely picked up in the middle. I don't think she really "got" the song though. That's what's missing with Al. Do you think she minds if I call her Al? She's a great singer, but she can't really channel the emotion that comes through experience. The judges loved it, though.

Matt: He's doing something weird with his mouth and his words ala Jessica Simpson style. Other than that, and besides the fact that I like Matt better with an instrument (but I like any musician better with an instrument. It makes them more musical), I thought he did a nice job.

Danny: I can totally see him winning. 'Nuff said. And if he doesn't win, he'll certainly get a recording contract that will win him a Dove award or 20.

Adam: Well, I think AI might need a new mic after tonight. Doesn't Adam know we're having a swing flu outbreak and he needs to keep his mouth particles to himself? And I thought he was really bringing the theatrics tonight. Really?!?! Adam?!?! Theatrical?!?!? Huh.

I think Matt or Allison is going home. So if you'll excuse me, I've got to go vote for Kris (because I love him) and Matt (because I want him to stick around).

Truth can be funnier than fiction

2009-04-24T17:03:00.000-07:00

Sometimes blogs write themselves. Sometimes I don't even have to add any embellishment (not that I would do that) for a story to be just plain funny. Sort of like what happened to me today.

I received a text today from an unknown number. The conversation went ~~something~~ exactly like this:

Random Stranger: Susan?

Me: Nope

Random Stranger: Crap...sorry.

Me: No problem.

Random Stranger: It is if I don't find Susan!

For once I almost typed "LOL" and actually MEANT it.

Bizarre Foods

2009-04-23T10:38:00.000-07:00

Jason LOVES to watch Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern on the Travel Channel. Unfortunately, even listening to Mr. Zimmern simply describe the foods he's eating makes me want to lose my lunch.

No offense, Mr. Zimmern. I'm sure you're a lovely person. You certainly have taste buds of steel. But I'm not sure if I admire you or if I am disgusted by you.

And I may be onto a new weight loss plan! Just watch Bizarre Foods and never have an appetite to eat again! Patent pending.

Even though Jason could be considered a foodie, I have a more...ahem...discriminating palate.

I blame my mom (love you, mom!). The only veggies we had to eat growing up were potatoes, green beans, peas, or corn. And I'm pretty sure 3 out of the 4 don't technically qualify as vegetables.

I'm sure my mom would defend her choices by insisting that my sister and I refused to try new things even if she fixed it, thus creating a vicious cycle of pickiness, but this blog isn't about her defense (still love you mom!).

So back to me, food stuffs like artichokes, capers, spinach never crossed the threshold of my lips until I went to college and my roommates cooked with all of it. They were FAYN-CEE roomies.

Considering my food discrimination tendencies, it shouldn't have surprised me when Micah infomed Jason that he doesn't like sandwiches.

The most innocuous food ever invented in all mankind.

His reasoning was that he likes bread, and he likes meat, but he doesn't like meat and bread together.

And thus we submitted further DNA to determine exactly TO WHOM these children belong.

I was surprised, however, when he came home from a field trip to our local wetlands with the following information.

"Mommy, can we eat dinner at the wetlands?"

My initial thought was that putting a concession stand in a watery habitat seemed a little counterintuitive. You know, with all the nature and earthiness of it all. Carbonated HFCS and bags of processed chemicals flavored like fried potatoes was a bit dichotomous in my estimation. When I asked Micah what was on the menu, he replied, "Cattails."

"As in the plant?"

"Yeah. The guy told us that you can eat cattails, but only some of them. Some are poisonous. He even let us taste them! Can we go back to the wetlands and eat more cattails?"

"Sweetie, I wouldn't know the difference between the good ones and the poisonous ones," trying to reason with him. AS IF WE WOULD EAT THEM EVEN IF I DID KNOW THE DIFFERENCE.

What I wanted to say was that I was (am) completely unable to come up with any reason why I would EVER eat a cattail. Unless I needed a brain transplant and Andrew Zimmern was the only available donor.

The conversation quickly turned into the kind of downward spiral that conversations with 6 year olds often do when said child thinks he is offering perfectly reasonable explanations for why one's family should go vegetarian in a glorified man-made swamp. And ended with, "No, because I said so." In my most intelligent-sounding adult tone.

The next morning, before the boys ate breakfast, I had to clean my breakfast counter. Because I'm so efficient like that. I used my homemade solution of vinegar scented with peppermint oil, and when Micah came in he said, "It smells like mint in here."

We sometimes call him Captain Obvious.

Then he continued, "You know, we ate mint at the wetlands."

WHAT?!?! Let me get this straight, son: You're acceptable selection of foods is pretty limited to PB&J, macaroni and cheese, and assorted fruits. But when you go on a school field trip, you'll eat any manner of strange plant offered to you by a strange man.

Does that about sum it up?

It's quite possible that Jason and I need to take a trip out to the wetlands ourselves, not only to shake this miracle worker's hand, but also to offer him a position cooking in our kitchen.

World Wide Web Wednesday 04.22.09

2009-04-22T14:00:00.000-07:00

Happy Earth Day, everyone! In honor of Earth Day, I wish my links had something to do with Earth. But not all wishes can come true. I've come to grips with that. Won't you?

My first link today is this great article about why we all love Susan Boyle. If you don't know who Susan Boyle is, may I ask why you hate humanity so much? (Thanks for the link Craig.)

Totally worth your 200 seconds:
100 Best Movie Lines in 200 Seconds (Thanks, KPG!)

And finally, the reason why I purchased whole wheat flour AND bread flour for the first time last night... I'm totally making these rolls tonight! I was going to make them last night, but the excitement of the flour purchase left me with nothing but a desire to sit on the couch and watch AI. My motivation is a fragile flower.