Sitting here thinking, with visuals

I have now missed Lost 2 weeks in a row. Last night I caught the very last 6 minutes, which basically gave me enough to go on, but I totally wanted to see last week's about Locke, and didn't, and we didn't tape it. Guess I'll be looking for it on iTunes or abc.com later. So I'm grateful for the Inter-web. But ticked at the television execs. 10:00 pm is not prime-time, you guys. 10:00 pm is bed-time.

They're finishing up the last of our new siding. Our house is all glorious and neat. No more rotted boards here! Now if I could just clear the yellow pollen off, the place would be lovely. Check out the allergy-fiesta:
Doesn't it just make you want to sneeze?! Ge-ross. I see people trying to wash their cars and I say to myself, "WHO do you think YOU are?"


Some other things on display at my house currently (get to know us!):


Construction-zone fodder. Pardon our Progress! AJ loves that there are ladders and tools lying around everywhere. And he loves The Men. He wants to find them and TALK to them after school every day. "Where Mister Alan?" he asks.



Dora the Bore-a. I mean, Explorah. I've just about memorized The Chocolate Tree episode. Definitely ready to move past this favorite. (Is it next week yet?)



Mr and Mrs. Kitchen Chicken, who lived at my Grandmother's house for so many years, and have been handed down to me (by request). I love them! (Please disregard DH's drill, with which we haven't yet installed the hold-backs for our new curtains. And I'm in no hurry for some reason. Sigh. We're such procrastinators.)



My newest little additions! That's Basil, Cilantro, Chive, and Parsley, germinating. They're a Ch-ch-ch-chia! product! Ha! I don't think the kitchen decor suffers any more than usual by adding these trendy Ziplocs to the mix. Note to self, turn the Texas tile right-side-up. (It fell over during the hammering-storm outside yesterday.)

I feel like I have a lot to do in the next few weeks. Did I mention there's an audition coming up Saturday, in my performance chorus? For a solo (Vivaldi's Gloria: Laudamus Te) that I really really wanted. I say "wanted," and not "want," because my heart's kinda not in it the last few days. I think I could conceivably GET this one, but... I don't know. Maybe the fact that Hubby won't be at the concert (it's the same night as a wedding we're invited to) is contributing. But it's not so much that, it's just one less thing I'd have to stress about. PMS maybe? Who knows. I may or may not try out.

Then there's Easter. I have not put out a single decorative bunny 'though I whined about ribbons yesterday. Maybe I need to do that. Maybe it will perk up my mood. I think we're traveling to Savannah for the holiday. Will be nice to take an extra day off and let AJ get spoiled by his grandparents.

Y'know what I really hate?

• The Yahoo! mail beta. It is so slllloooooowwwwwwwww and jumpy!! The old interface was butt-ugly, but at least it didn't feel like an e-ternity before I could see my e-mail. It was why I preferred Yahoo! mail to Comcast and Hotmail, both of which I have accounts for. I could totally send that "I've changed my email" message that everyone hates to get, telling my friends and family to switch me, thus becoming the pain in their ass for the 3 minutes it takes to open Address Book/Copy/Paste. (It really is a pain, isn't it?) But I didn't do that. Yahoo! I loved you! I stuck by you! But you're a poseur and I've decided I don't like you anymore.
  
• My inability to shop properly. I've mentioned this affliction before. My Mom knew, when I was a teen, that I could only go for a few hours before I was cranky and bored with it. And now, what with being in charge of my own money and all, I like it even less because it means PARTING with said money. Boo. I was in Old Navy recently, however, and I think if I could go in there once a week, and buy one item, I could have a pretty decent wardrobe lined up here by at least Beach Week. Except the thought of spending ALL that money (NOT! Old Navy's the cheapest of the cheap for heavens' sake!) gives me the shivers. Boo. I am so annoying. (Even when I have $260 in my pocket. That's right -- hubby said "Take it, it's yours." So now I've gotta muster up the courage to Spend It.)
  
• The complete lack of a Michael's or a Hobby Lobby or a dang JoAnn Fabrics around my office or my home. I mean, a girl's gotta get her craft stuff, peeps. EASTER IS COMING!!! I can't tell you how frustrating it is for me to not have ONE INCH of pastel grosgrain ribbon anywhere in my house, and no way to get it except on a Saturday with a 20-minute commute attached. On Saturday! (Why do I need grosgrain? I don't know. To wrap eggs with. To decorate. I just NEEEEEEED it. Shut up.)

I'm a little grumpy.

Yard sale take

I got in a tad bit of trouble for my comment about the Rusty Wallace print. We were moving the last of the stuff up to the garage Thursday night, and hubby lifted it up and said, "You know? Maybe I'm going to KEEP this print... I mean, it's AUTOGRAPHED. And I do really LIKE this frame." Heh. He got me there. I was all SORRYs and IT'S NOT THAT BADs, and he said it was okay, but if I EVER made fun of his Bill Elliott print... ! (Guess he DOES read the ol' blog!) But all's well that ends well -- someone gave him $10 for it. :) We made about $260 total which felt like a pretty good deal for other people hauling away our junk. It was a yard sale fiesta -- my next-door and across-the-street neighbors joined in, so we were shouting across the yards: "I can't believe you just sold a TOILET!" and "My Halogen lamp's in better condition than yours, nyah!" It was actually sorta fun.

.... ... .. . .... ... .. . .... ... .. .

Swistle wanted to create her own meme, and I say, GO HER and her 3rd-trimester self! So ambitious! So forward-thinking! :) Hee. It's about perfume. Name 3 (or however many) perfumes that mean something to you. I think this is ladies' perfumes only, but I am not certain on that. Here are mine:

Tommy Girl - I wore it when DH and I started dating. Pushed the "Pause" button for a couple years, but this Christmas I got a new bottle. It's my favorite, on me.

Cristalle by Chanel - My Sis and I used to be allowed to wear this when we were young. It was really HER first perfume, but I adored it. Haven't seen it in years, I don't even know if it's still being made. But it's young and fresh, and reminds me of sweet innocent childhood.

Jessica McClintock - This one means "Mother" to me. Mom's been wearing it for a long time and even if she changed her perfume and chose a new one (and you can, Mom, feel free), THIS one will always make me think of her. :) Want to play? Go ahead!

A new item for That Topic. Yeah, that one.

(The one that makes moms say what they think, then *duck for cover*.)

I heard something on NPR the other day that made me, personally, feel better about some of my mom-guilt. It was this:

New study shows working moms today spend as much time (or more) with their kids than SAHMs of the '70s.

So me? working mom? Doing as much for and with my kid as my mother, upon whose generous, wonderful example I would love to pattern my own mother-journey.

YAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYY!

Here I was, all pouty and "boo, I don't get to spend enough time with my ittoo bittoo wuzzums, isn't it saaaad?" when it's about the same amount of time (if you'll pardon the generalization) as I was given.

(I mean, I've known AJ was going to turn out fine, but this confirms it This lets me know "I'm OKAY.")

It's true my SAHM wasn't with us 24-7. I don't remember the toddler years, but the summers and holidays? No. We played. She did needlepoint. (I'm kidding, Mom!) But you know what I mean. What the report is saying, is that Moms of the previous generation worked super-hard at keeping house and cooking 3 squares. My generation? Has cut out a lot of that to make room for quality kid-time. Our Moms weren't told by Baby Einstein that they had to "engage" their kids and jump-start their educations with "learning toys" and such from age 3 days. So they maybe didn't.

Not saying our Moms didn't do enough! Just the opposite. And not to glorify fast- or freezer-foods in favor of Quality Time, of course. But it's just the way the world has turned. They didn't even MAKE Lunchables back then. ;) Lucky us, we have them now!

I'll certainly concede that TODAY's at-home moms are spending much more time with their kids than I am with mine. And more time than the '70s SAHMs, too. I'll also add that the last sentence from that article:

"...in general, I would agree that working moms put their children first, their jobs second, and themselves last."

shouldn't use the qualifier "working." All moms rank it that way. Themselves last. It's nature.

But just the fact that I'm doing statistically as well as my own mom did? Oh, you can't know how relieved that makes me feel.

(The NPR story was better than that article above, but you have to have RealPlayer.)

Exclusive Crap for Sale!

All items priced to move

... white Halogen lamp (barbequed fruit flies included, no extra charge!): $5 (you have to say "fi dollah!")

... matching set of yellow pencil-drawn Big Cats (1 cheetah, 1 lion). Brown wood frames. Testament to 1978: $5 for the SET!

... Wilson Tennis racket and black vinyl shoulder-strap case that I thought was OHSOCOOL when I was on the middle school tournament circuit: $2!

... RoomsToGo coffee table and end table in "brushed maple," no scratches (cough): $25 for both!

... Rusty Wallace SIGNED print, with "kick-ass frame" (acc'd to DH) -- not unlike this one, but about 15 years older and dustier. (Bless Hubby's sports-lovin' heart, but this thing is ugly!): $10 (Hey, we live in Georgia, it could happen.)

... Seven Denise Austin VHS tapes (from the poufy bangs and leotards era): quarter apiece

... Good Lordy, the MUGS. and the VASES. Get 'em while they LAST, people: quarter apiece!

... Xbox. Plain, not 360. SO three years ago: $40 (big ticket item)

... oversize Express blouses from 1989 (or so), peg pants, real (not faux) plastic rain slicker, couple of darling 'business suits' -- fashion savvy *not* included: ONE DOLLAH!


(... my pride: priceless)

Some endings

This weekend we found out that a couple we like is splitting up. That's how they said it, too, "splitting up." Not "divorce," because that word's much too hard to stomach. I've been warned before that the 10-year mark is when you sometimes see your friends' marriages start to break up; these friends had been married about 11 years. Right out of college. We thought they were actually perfect for each other; both talkers, both "refined tastes," (in their own minds, at least), both uninterested in having kids. So it's strange to hear the Mrs. say, "We were good roommates, but never got the marriage right." I took her phone call on the back porch where I could listen without the interruptions of my own happy marriage -- namely, AJ, in his Saturday-morning-excited voice. My mom put it well when she said that, even though it doesn't make me worried or overly sad -- I know they'll get through this just fine, they're 2 strong people -- they were part of mine and Hubby's "anchor to the earth." Jacques and Christina. They just Went Together. They were a fact.

Now comes the weird part of sorting out the friendships. Whom do we stay in touch with? Or, if both, does it have to be me with her (sorority sister), and Hubby with him? Because I actually love talking to Jacques -- he is passionate about cooking and food, he and I share Louisiana & Catholicism in our blood... so that'll be odd if some ties have to be cut. I hope not.

We also heard that another friend, who has battled cancer the last ten years or so, has been taken from the treatment center to her mom's house... and "she's being given pain medication." Two kids involved in that one, so sad. No telling how long she has, but her liver was mentioned, too, so I'm guessing not long. She's remained so strong and faithful throughout the whole thing -- I don't know her too well; her husband and I went to college together -- but... man. There's just nothing to say about it besides It's not fair, and not right and too, too sad.

It makes me, no surprise, appreciate the everyday goodness that is our life. I hate to have to be reminded that each day is precious. Each meal, each laugh, each glance. I hate to be too sentimental because it feels cliche. Maudlin. But there it is. I can't help it.

To counter, we have at least two weddings to attend in the next few months, and at least 2 babies are being born in our circle. I like a good balance.

I want to stick around and tell some funny AJ stories, but I have work that needs doing. He's cracking us up with his, "I rilly need some Spidey cookies, Mama." (Me: "You do? Really?") "...yeah, I lure do." (yesterday at Publix). After that it was a rather long evening -- he had about 4 mini-meltdowns, for various non-reasons. But these are the little trials and treasures we have to be grateful for.

Speaking of treasures: Yard sale this Saturday! Maybe later I'll tell you what we're unloading. Maybe we'll have a laugh. :)

This is my 500th post

I know! Do I EVER do my real work?! ha!

I'm pretty sure all of my secret 2-liners sitting there as "drafts" count toward the total, but I'm not going to count them all up to confirm. I am going to pretend I deserve some sort of glory for this random number and go ahead with ma bad self, reflecting. I could write a haiku, in fact:

five hundred blog posts.
Much ado about nothing,
but oh, my sweet life.

Much "ado" about every golden syllable that's run from AJ's mouth. (Lately: "I tooted.") And every squeeze of emotional juice I can get from the wee hours of the night. And happy sunshine times on the driveway. And good lord, the memes. (...this is getting to be like a "flashback" episode of a sitcom! Annnnnnd now you're changing the channel! Bye!)

I don't know, sometimes, why we all continue doing this. I don't know if my descendants (or even my husband) will ever go back and read every word I've clickety-clicked. But I like doing it. I like when it comes out good. I like when I make myself laugh, and think, "I can sorta be funny, how 'bout that?" I like sharing myself with some of my closest friends and family in real life. I especially like meeting the nice people who come here, not knowing me from Adam, and tell me, not in so many words, that they like me. It's nice to be liked. :) And then I get to read about their kids' golden syllables, and their wee hours, and feel a part of something. Plugged-in. Included.

It's not about a theme, or THE thing that sets me apart from any other mom-blog out there. It's just my journey. My book of days. We sang a (terrible contemporary) hymn the other day at Mass, and it went:

"...let no one walk al-ooooone,
The Journey makes us One."

Cheesy enough to make my chorister skin crawl, but it makes a point. This is about life. It is ups and downs and curves and arrows and dead-ends and hidden pathways, too.

Hello, self... (I do like to imagine I'm talking to myself) ...You are still becoming, my dear. But you're in there. You're living - working - playing - praying - singing - collecting - dorking around - reading - bearing - sharing -- a dandy little life. :) Pretty cool.

New faves

I don't know if anyone's going to be able to talk about each of the bazillion new blawhgs she discovered during the party, but here are 2 of them I keep returning to to which, to whom I keep returning:

Mrs. Flinger, my new bff (...she said! i'm her "new favorite!"*blushing*), curses on her blog like I wish I could. And, not every post. Sometimes she's all, "how the #(?@!-fing heck..." with modest little symbols. But then she'll toss in a well-placed "Mr. Flinger's wang..." and I'm in hysterics. But Ahhh am simpleh too close to Miss Pitty-Pat's Porch and the livin' breathin' Old Sah-outh to say such things, y'all. I am drawn to her writing, for more than her foul language skills.

Marketing Mommy's all full of ideas. And I don't mean "how to get spit-up stain out of the couch." She's got SMART written in big letters across her forehead, I betcha, and a marketing degree to boot. I like her a. lot. Plus, Chicago. Man, I want to go there again and take the hubby.

... ... ... .. .. .. .. . . . . .

We signed up to do the neighborhood yard sale the 24th. Yipes. I've never done one. My parents were not yard sale people. Do I really need to get tables for displaying? I read that somewhere. I know I need to price things, too, and that it can take longer than you'd expect to do that. Ugh. I'm glad and I'm apprehensive all at the same time. But it did spur me to clean out my dresser drawers on Sunday. Got rid of a bunch of t-shirts and sweaters, just because I didn't want them any more. Ha! Take that, warped sense of not-having-enough-money-to-be-fashionable when-really-we-do. I am so weird about clothes. I just don't buy them for fear of spending actual PAPER MONEY. But I need to be better about it. I think some of those shirts were starting to make me look like a cat lady. Or someone from the very back poorly lit cubicle, who, buried in dot-matrix printouts, might scratch her head absently with the blunt tip of a #2 pencil, sniff often, and store paper clips in used styrofoam cups. Truly... faded, horizontal-striped short-sleeved sweaters? That cinch in at the waist? Not meant to mingle with the good looking people.

We went for donuts on Saturday morning

I didn't get online all weekend, and I am not sorry about that. We had the best weekend, just being a family (and me, being a girl -- I went to a bridal shower and drank real wine, and ate cheese straws!) But Dooods! I won a prize from the Ultimate Blog Party; how awesome is that? A very fashionable wavy scarf, and I can't wait to get my little hands on it. Thanks, Stephanie!

I really enjoyed making so many new blog friends. I think the rule is I'm supposed to post about some of them as a wrap-up, so I will work on that. Today, though, there's a lot on my to-do list. Work-wise, as well as home-wise.

We bought curtains this weekend for our living room. SO EXCITING. Something lit a fire under Hubby's tail, because he claimed the "curtains" assignment long ago and then promptly did nothing about it. For 5 years. This weekend he was on a rampage, though. He also cleared out our TV entertainment center/shelf-thingy, bought coordinating new storage baskets for it, and began the daunting task of filing all our 1200+ CDs (heretofore displayed, all bachelor-like) in binders. Such big projects!

So today I need to put the curtains in the dryer (ironing!), Swiffer-dust the new shelves, help with some filing (tonight), and, oh yeah, 1 load laundry + empty the dishwasher. These in addition to the work to-dos, which are plentiful. Some letterhead template coding, some project managing... fun, fun stuff.

Y'all, the weather: Gorgeous. We got tons of Vitamin D yesterday, picking up sycamore balls and putting them in our buckets. (Easy way to get AJ to help with yardwork? Told him with big eyes it was practice for Easter! He would have done it all day long.) The Daylight Savings thing? Was great yesterday -- we burned dinner off by playing soccer in the driveway 'til 8:00. But then of course I couldn't get sleepy 'til 11:30 pee-em, and I'm feeling it now. BTW I TOTALLY flubbed up the Mass on Saturday night, cantoring. The accompanist and I were not together, some itinerant saliva (tmi) made me choke DURING a song, the priest had to turn his mic back on, to right a song which we were doing too fast (he's a wanna-be cantor)... GAH. Makes me want to crawl under the table to think about it. At least I think I was in good voice, but the rhythm screw-ups (and choking) were less than professional. DH said "Hey, sometimes our goalie lets 8 get by him. Ya just have to go out there next time and show 'em." So sweet. Also BTW, I've hurt my knee. Turned it funny, or something. Stoopid aging process. Stoopid 32.

Other than that!! Perfect weekend. Hope yours was, too.

Barney, of all people.

I should NOT have to feel this much gratitude toward everyone's least favorite purple dinosaur. (Although, as many a parent has noted through the years, he's not that bad. His "Clean up" and "Wash Hands" songs are teaching America's kids decent values at least.) But last night he went above and beyond.

See, Comcastic Digital Cable has this wonderous thing called On Demand, meaning AJ can have his Barney fix whenever he wants. Have I told you how he knows which buttons to push, in the correct sequence? And can even look up at the menu and say, "B for Barney," so he knows he's on the right item. (I told him "B for Barney," he didn't just figure that out. But he remembers it.) Pretty impressive right there, and I have to thank the umbrella category of my cable provider before I get down to Barney. My child is learning to read ...the TV menu screen. I'll take it, it's READING. :)

Last night the Barney episode we chose included a song we'd not heard before. A slow one, sung on the astro-turf playground, of course, but this time, it was twilight. (I don't know what these kids' parents were thinking, letting their kids play pretend at the schoolyard at 7:00 pm -- hello, anyone read Little Children?? -- but that's not the point.) Hannah and Linda and Robert and Danny -- and BJ, godhelp his irritating nasal voice -- all joined in to sing, "Listen to the Nighttime," and it was... well... sweet. And since I somehow got caught up in the crickets and fireflies and sat there with AJ, I told him, "It's fun to listen to the nighttime; maybe WE can do that after dinner."

And so we did. Just at dusk, we went onto the back deck and listened to... well, mostly nothing, as there didn't seem to be any audible bugs or frogs out. We heard a bird or two, and then some BATS! flew over, and we definitely heard the neighbor's BARKY DOG -- but again, the POINT was that AJ was all whispers and wonder. He sat hugging my neck (because he's a little bit "scary of" being out there in the dark), and asked me quietly "did loo hear dat?" and even DH came out with us... and it was just magic.

So thank you, HIT entertainment, for composing the little song that inspired us. And you too, Barney. I mean it.

E.F. Hutton*? Is that you?

(Party-goers, check-in here.)
........
Several weeks ago, my work-group had a meeting wherein we racked our brains trying to think of any freelance writers we knew who could take on some of the projects we had lined up for the next month. Names were suggested -- people we'd never heard of -- and because we seemed to have no other options available, they were hired. "They'll learn how we do it," we decided. I doodled during that meeting: WRITERWRITERWRITER.

Yesterday, I was invited to write and edit a project "on the side." It's not a big project, not a glamorous one. But it's a writing job. I haven't had one of those since, I don't know... freelance? Since about 2001.

Today, someone else's writing job went awry. I listened as she was admonished for not making a deadline, and as scrambling commenced to recover the project in the quickest, most efficient way. By whatever writer was available.

Today also, appropos of nothing, a friend started chatting at lunch about her other friend, who'd asked her what did it take to be a freelance writer. She basically unloaded a bunch of advice that I might have called her up to ask her, if I was, someday, looking to become a freelance writer. If that was maybe an idea that had crossed my mind. Once or twice. If it's something I thought I might be inclined to do. Or... encouraged to do. (OR CLUBBED OVER THE HEAD FROM HEAVEN.) Or something.


*reference for you youngsters

Dance party!

First, some dancing that took place at my house yesterday.



(One of the many reasons I am loving 2-and-a-half!)

Next, some legendary dancing -- Click here -- because:

• zefrank makes me laugh every time
• his last day of vlogging is fast approaching (sob!)
• this was the video that started it all for him
• Parties are for Dancing!

Enjoy!

Party!

I thought for sure I had missed the Big Party, but it turns out I have until the end of the week. I always missed the big parties in high school. Always. Until I started doing theater All. The. Time, and then I had my OWN parties to attend. At one cast party we watched Logan's Run, which was so surreal and creepy and sort-of more... um, exclusive than any of the other movies you could rent at Blockbuster... well, that was when I knew I had 'arrived.' Or maybe that I had really weird friends.

But anyway, it's blog party time, and I'm supposed to tell you a few things about myself in this, my official party post.

(Am I becoming an outright Slave to the memes and Mister Linkys that exist in the blogosphere? Yes. Yes I am. I will admit, I have had so few ideas for interesting writing in the last couple of months that I ought to just shut down my blog altogether. It's a sad commentary on my "libary of thoughts," an embarrassment to the tagline above. My library is dusty and probably still uses a card catalog with creaky drawers and dull pencils. Ugh. I can't figure out why this is... if I just don't have time? or watch too much TV? or have a bad attitude. Anyway, I apologize. I'll try harder... Someday. But for now I'm just going to blather on with memes and junk-food for the brain.)

Sspeaking of food. One of my favorite kinds of parties is BRUNCH, and I want to share with you the gosh-dang easiest biscuit recipe ever. I made these for my parents on Sunday morning and they were delish:

Jubilant Biscuits
From "Merry Christmas from Georgia" by Michelle Stone.

3 cups Bisquick
3 Tablespoons sugar
1 can (12 oz) beer

Mix dry ingred first. Pour in beer. (You can use lite.) Mix, then fill muffin tins half full. Bake at 400 for 15 minutes. Makes twelve.

These are a crowd pleaser! Serve with butter and jam. I mean, Smart Balance and jam. If this were a real-life party I'd also have mimosas. Or my dad's famous cranberry daquiris. And for those coffee-drinkers like myself, Bailey's. I mean, COFFEE with Bailey's. :)

Okay! Now that you have something to eat:

I am 32. I am a work-outside-the-home Mom, and two days a week a work-from-home Mom, even though AJ goes to daycare on those days, too. He's 2.5 and ADORABLE. Right now, I could simply eat him up with a spoon, he is so delicious. I think I love this age best.

I think I define myself WAY too much by my work status above. But once I became a Mom, I just couldn't define myself any other way. It overwhelmed my sense of self, and still does.

I attended Catholic schools through high school, then Emory University. I stayed in the Atlanta area. I met my husband at work. We knew by the third date that this was It. I had constant butterflies for 2 weeks, even when I wasn't with him, and I couldn't eat when we first started dating. I loved that feeling. :) We've been married almost 6 years.

I love hamburgers on the grill, reading a book outside, that out-of-breath feeling after getting in a good workout (though I don't do it enough), falling asleep by the TV, comfy pants, beautiful china and crystal, the morning, choral music AND solos by me (!), cooking, and my family. And so many other things. I am not a photographer, a nag, a social butterfly, or much of a volunteer. I wear my heart on my sleeve, but I censor my blog somewhat. I have another private blog for private thoughts.

I think the idea of blogging to meet people, and this "party," is just cool. It's too bad we don't all have 25 hours a day just to play on the internet. I like this party especially, because I didn't have to clean up the house. :)

Thursday Thirteen #9

13 things I did yesterday

1. Made my own coffee before leaving the house, i.e., programmed the coffee maker the night before. It's been a while since I've done that (Starbuck's gift cards in-hand, thank you Mom)!

2. Dropped AJ off at daycare, and heard him tell me, "Go bye-bye, Mama." As in, the imperative case. Hmph!

3. Exported a whole bunch of data (names/email addresses) and made Excel spreadsheets.

4. Ate a lunch of ham-n-cheese sandwich, baked Lays, a V8, and a 6-oz Diet Coke. And some Wheat Thins.

5. Doodled myself through a somewhat annoying meeting with a red Sharpie.

6. Probably made an ass of myself by loyally agreeing with my manager during the meeting, then rolling my eyes about him afterwards, with my coworkers.

7. Picked up a graphic design magazine from my mailbox, but then didn't even open its plastic wrapper.

8. Played tee-ball for 3 and a half minutes with AJ, when we got home. (I'm trying to teach him to run to "first base" after he hits it. So cute!)

9. Refused to let him have a Scooby-doo fruit snack. But gave in on juice at 5:30pm.

10. Got irritated with hubby because when AJ was playing with his trains, Thomas and Percy were about to crash, and hubby nearly yelled at AJ to try and stop the crash from happening. He was all, "AJ! No, go GET the train... Arrrghhh..." I then raised my voice with hubby to say, "DUDE, THAT is HOW HE LEARNS." It kills me. Hubby thinks that play is better when it's perfect. Clean. Orderly. Play is not about 'perfect.'

11. Apologized later. Half-heartedly.

12. Dispensed Little Noses saline spray. We seem to be having trouble breathing. Stinking weather. Warm, cold, low pressure, high pressure.

13. Started a new book. A light read that I'm not particularly interested in. It's the first of a trilogy, but I read the 3rd about a year ago.

Book Meme

So Melessa is the latest person I've seen with this meme. Since my Mom is racking her brain trying to choose a Destin Book Club book, I thought maybe this list could help jump-start her.

The ones I’ve read (or started to read) are in bold.
The ones I want to read are in italics.
I've left alone the ones that I'm not interested in.

1. The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown)
2. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
3. To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
4. Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell)
5. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (J.R.R. Tolkien)
6. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (J.R.R. Tolkien)
7. The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (J.R.R. Tolkien)
8. Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery)
9. Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)
10. A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)
11. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (J.K. Rowling)
12. Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)
13. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (J.K. Rowling)
14. A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)
15. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)
16. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (J.K. Rowling)
17. Fall on Your Knees (Ann-Marie MacDonald)
18. The Stand (Stephen King)
19. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (J.K. Rowling)
20. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
21. The Hobbit (J.R.R. Tolkien)
22. The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)
23. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
24. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)
25. Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
26. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)
27. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)
28. The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis)
29. East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
30. Tuesdays with Morrie (Mitch Albom)
31. Dune (Frank Herbert)
32. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)
33. Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)
34. 1984 (George Orwell)
35. The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)
36. The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)
37. The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay)
38. I Know This Much is True (Wally Lamb)
39. The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)
40. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)
41. The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel)
42. The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
43. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)
44. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom)
45. Bible
46. Anna Karenina (Leo Tolstoy)
47. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)
48. Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt)
49. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
50. She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb)
51. The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)
52. A Tale of Two Cities (Charles Dickens)
53. Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)
54. Great Expectations (Charles Dickens)
55. The Great Gatsby (Scott Fitzgerald)
56. The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)
57. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (J.K. Rowling)
58. The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)
59. The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)
60. The Time Traveller’s Wife (Audrew Niffenegger)
61. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
62. The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)
63. War and Peace (Tolsoy)
64. Interview With The Vampire (Anne Rice)
65. Fifth Business (Robertson Davies)
66. One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
67. The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants (Ann Brashares)
68. Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
69. Les Miserables (Victor Hugo)
70. The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)
71. Bridget Jones’ Diary (Helen Fielding)
72. Love in the Time of Cholera (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
73. Shogun (James Clavell)
74. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje)
75. The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
76. The Summer Tree (Guy Gavriel Kay)
77. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
78. The World According To Garp (John Irving)
79. The Diviners (Margaret Laurence)
80. Charlotte’s Web (E.B. White)
81. Not Wanted On The Voyage (Timothy Findley)
82. Of Mice And Men (John Steinbeck)
83. Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier)
84. Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind)
85. Emma (Jane Austen)
86. Watership Down (Richard Adams)
87. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
88. The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)
89. Blindness (Jose Saramago)
90. Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)
91. In the Skin of a Lion (Michael Ondaatje)
92. Lord of the Flies (William Golding)
93. The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)
94. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)
95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum)
96. The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)
97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch)
98. A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)
99. The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)
100. Ulysses (James Joyce) -?did I read this in High School? Surely I did...

Obviously a Book-Clubber of some sort created this list. I'm disappointed that I've only read 43 of them. Although, I can think of some better choices I'd have put in besides EACH of the LOTR series, and EACH of Harry P. Like, The Borrowers. A Wrinkle in Time. Walden, hELL-oOh.

Sing song

We're beyond thrilled that AJ finally enjoys music. He enjoys it a little too much, to the point that we fear for the safety of his CDs. But we were WEARY of holding him up to reach the alarm clock/CD player every. time. we entered. his room., so recently I put it down on a nightstand for him.

OH THE JOY! He will stay in his room now, while I'm in the kitchen making dinner. Not that I NEED him to do that -- he WANTS to be there, alone if that's what it takes... So he can take CDs out, and put them back in. On "endless loop." He'll just play the first 2-3 notes, to confirm that indeed, that IS the Wiggles, then he opens it up, cracks it out of place, takes hold of the no-touchy part in order to slide the center gently down over his index finger -- you know, so it won't get any "feener-pints" on it, as we've taught him ;) -- and then quickly picks the next one in rotation. He clunks that into the player, scraping it just a bit and making me and DH wince.

I guess our parents worried that we'd yank all the tape out of their cassettes and 8-tracks, leaving it in a trail along the floor. So it's all relative. I pick my battles. And if he wants to listen to CDs, fine by me.

Here are the songs that most often get stuck inside my head:

"It's the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse! Come inside, it's FUN inside."

"JACK and Jill went UP the hill, to FETCH a pail of WAH-TER..."

"Little Mister Roo... don't grow up too fast, too soon...." (makes me cry)

"The wonderful thing about Tiggers, is Tiggers are wonderful things!"

"Look at you Now" (Bear and Treelo, from Bear & the Big Blue House)

"Lights, Camera, ActionWIG-GLES!"

I wish I could post clips but you Mommies should be familiar already. AJ also asks "Did loo bwing loor iPod?" every time we get in the car. Because I have uploaded all of his music to iTunes, in case he destroys the CDs. Because I am smart that way.

Just another night on the town

We didn't go to the hockey game Saturday because why? BECAUSE ATLANTA TRAFFIC SUCKS SO MUCH ASS. (Oh excuse me, was I speaking French just there?) I swear, you leave your house in the suburbs, oh, 2 HOURS before the game starts -- on a Saturday -- and there's still a rush hour. We didn't get even close to downtown 'til 5 minutes before the puck was to drop. AND there was no parking at the Arena. Who the hell scheduled the BMX motorcross, skateboarding whatever convention this weekend? And who the hell decided it'd be a good idea to construct all of Atlanta's major event venues WITHIN 2 BLOCKS of each other??? IDIOTS. ARGH. We went to dinner instead, which was lovely. The stinking Thrashers lost the game anyway, and the restaurant, we learned, is known for its GUACAMOLE, made tableside. So clearly it was all meant to be.

(Stating the obvious:) A glass of wine also helps in these kinds of situations.It's even more fun when it's from somewhere special that you've visited before. Awww.

When we got home (early, surprise!), every DVD that AJ owns and all the corresponding cases lay on the floor of the kitchen. Evidently the babysitter let AJ do whatevertheheck he wanted while we were gone. Which is exactly what babysitters are for, I commend her performance. I really like this girl -- she's on the school's Academic Team. And she drives her own car, bumping her right to the top of my list.

I don't have a witty end to this. It was our Saturday night.

Doing

Everybody seems to be DOING something. I have pregnant friends, friends who are cleaning out their houses, friends who are planning weddings, looking at new houses, friends who are starting blogs, friends who are moving... I just feel stuck. I'm sitting here and not DOING or PLANNING anything. Waiting for something, but I don't know what. I talked to my friend Cantus the other day and she asked, "What's been going on with y'all?" I couldn't think of one single. damn. thing. We work, we come home. We feed the kid, we watch Lost and the Amazing Race. On weekends, we sleep quite a bit. Geezus, that's depressing.

It has a little to do with DH's job. He's kind-of in limbo, waiting for something that 'might' happen, but isn't certain. If it did, it might set off a whole set of THINGS. But he's been waiting for this something for 2 years now. I'm tired of it. Of stewing in this same grey dishwater. The endless loop. It might... oh, not now... oh, maybe in a month... oh, they say it's coming... (where'd it go?)... we'll see. It might.

It makes me want to... go spend a lot of money, just because it's something. And heaven knows I don't need to do that. We ARE planning to have a big old yard sale in the spring... maybe I need to start planning it. Or... and this has been on my to-do list forever, I probably need to schedule the siding replacement for the 2nd half of the house. Ugh. Not to mention getting our entire HVAC system in the house replaced. It's OLD. I'm praying it can withstand another summer (we had a service guy out a year or two ago and he said it might not). But those things are not fun things, or interesting. (Why am I blogging about them?!)

Of course I desperately want to replace the cabinets in my kitchen, and have my master bath redone -- seriously, I should take pictures to show you JUST how ugly they are. My mother-in-law is getting new cabinets this week, actually. DOING.

Yesterday I gathered up all my tax stuff, so there's one thing. And, we did go to Chuck E. Cheese last weekend. I can't get excited about any of it, though. We have hockey tickets Saturday, AND a willing and available babysitter. Do I care? Not really. What's with me? I'm not depressed, I'm just... bored.

Thursday Thirteen #8 - Lent edition

I can't help it. I'm addicted to the Thursday Thirteen. And then I find out today this is the LAST Edition! Waaa.

Thirteen Great Things about Lent A small display of my faith tradition today. I realized the other night at Mass, I feel guilty and 'unworthy' a lot: Catholicism still works! Hee. I'm joking. Anyway, I guess I'm "giving up" Starbucks this year, just for tradition of giving up something. But there's more to Lent than that. Here are some of my favorite things. 13. Ya can't have Fat Tuesday without Ash Wednesday, and Fat Tuesday is pretty darn fun! We used to go to New Orleans when I was a kid. 12. Praying Lent by Creighton U. I think I've used it for 3 years now to help me with the *prayer* part of the season. 11. The Thursday between Ash Wednesday and that first Friday -- you get to eat whatever you want, no restrictions. It's somehow a "relief" that you get this one day in between. 10. Going through the OCIA program in Lent is very meaningful; I got to do it as a sponsor for a dear friend who was being confirmed one year 9. Friday Fish Fry! All over America. We should go to our parish one this year. 8. Also: peanut butter and jelly, anyone? YUM. 7. Stations of the Cross on Fridays of my childhood 6. Running into other people with ashes on their heads on Ash Wednesday. (At my college there was an interdenominational Ash Wednesday service; so lots of people were showing their Jesus-spirit on those days!) 5. Seeing boxes of Matzoh and Passover foods on display in the grocery store. A special little bond with our Jewish ancestors and friends. At least that's how I think of it. 4. Speaking of the Seder, in my (Catholic) elementary school we had a whole-school Passover Meal every year. Picture "dinner tables" in the school gym, lights dimmed, candles. It was mysterious and interesting, and we read the stories and ate PARSLEY (bitter herb). :) 3. The good feeling you get if you go to after you go to Confession. 2. We don't have to sing the gosh-dang Haugen MASS OF CREATION for six whole weeks! HALLELU….. I mean, oops. GLORY TO GOD for that! (No Celtic Alleluia, either!) 1. Learning that Lent isn't supposed to be an entire 6 weeks of misery, but a time to deepen your relationship with Christ and prepare for his most Blessed Passion and Resurrection Day (grown-up Lent! I'm still trying to get there)...

Sun and Sand

I bought this votive candle yesterday (I know. I BOUGHT something. Frivolous!) -- it was called "Sun and Sand." Through the cellophane it smelled, hmm... fresh and... inoffensive, so compared to "Peach-Cranberry Pie" (too spicy) and "Ultra Vanilla Frosting Sugar," (possibly too sweet) it was a go... $1.79 wouldn't change my register total too much, since I was buying 3 throw pillows to replace the ones that recently smelled like puke. All about positive smells, yesterday's errand.

Anyway I got this candle home and unwrapped it, and y'know what it actually smells like? Y'know what its creators PURPOSEFULLY made it smell like? SPF 45. No kidding, it smells like steamy, lotion-y kids, and the inside of my beach bag. They probably tossed a bit of chlorine in there just to be sure they got it right. It's no "fresh air, zen-your-mind" beach fragrance like I thought -- it's the REAL smell. The 21st-century don't-get-skin-cancer smell. The where-is-my-kid-I-only-see-4-heads-above-water, and "has it been more than 60 minutes heneedsmoreBullfrog" smell. I wonder what they gave the guy who came up with it, after they slapped his back with hearty congrats over at the Yankee Candle factory? Maybe a day off... with a bottle of Coppertone, wink wink.

It's making me think about our beach vacation, which I was already dreaming about. June will be here in, let's see... 4 short months. Now, I wouldn't want to mention dieting, because Linda said that kind of talk on a blog is just beyond lame. (I trust Linda on this. She is very much to be trusted.) So I'll spare you. But yesterday I ate a vitamin-rich salad and a Whole Grain Lean Pocket for lunch. All I'm sayin'.

* * * * * * * * *
And now, from the I-Am-My-Mother's-Daughter News desk: I've ditched Fat-free creamer in favor of (skim) milk, warmed in the microwave, for my morning coffee. It's so much better. Simpler, more natural. Real Cafe au Lait. Thanks, Mom. :)