A Week in Bullets

Howdy, y'all! (Can you guess I'm from the South?) I've been MIA for the most part the past week. No particular reason aside from a little writer's block and a general lack of anything substantial to write about. I'm sitting here in my kitchen feeling particularly productive. I washed the dishes that **surprisingly** didn't get done by J after I left for the movies last night and finally got around to folding the clothes and towels I washed LAST weekend. I might even knock out some of the other things from last weekend's to-do list. We'll see :)

Since it's not been a particularly busy week and I don't feel like devoting a lot of time to any particular thing, I'm going to do a run down of the past week in bullet form. (I am a HUGE list maker, so this is right up my alley.)

• I have, what I think, is poison ivy. On my face. It's not all that bad, but there's nothing like a red rash put right out there for the world to see to make you feel just peachy. And uber-ugly. I blame the dogs, because I'm an indoor girl who hasn't been near the stuff (since I'm highly allergic). I probably touched them or cuddled with them and got it off of their fur. That's what I get for being lovey.
• I had the world's worst pulled neck for half of the week. Probably from the ridiculous amounts of sneezing I did during an allergy attack last week. All better now.
  
• I nearly had to pay 220 freaking dollars for allergy medicine! The allergist changed my subscriptions, and the insurance company wasn't wanting to pay up. Apparently they didn't think it was necessary. The doctor took care of that one for me, because I think I'd die without them.
  
• Livy said her first 3-syllable word: telephone. She'd been saying phone for quite awhile but Thursday I said telephone when it rang and she picked up on it and started saying it, too. Awesome. :)
• I must be careful to watch what I say in front of said Livers, because she is particularly good at repeating words clearly and that could bode badly for me in the future.
• I watched Weezer's new video for their new song Pork and Beans approximately 2000 times. #1, it is awesome. It contains a lot of YouTube stars in it. You MUST go check it out. (I will try to embed it below.) And #2, Livers LOVES the song. She asks me to play it over and over again. That and the Charlie Bit My Finger video from YouTube.
• Livers learned to say "thank you" well (as in, you finally can tell what she's saying) AND in a socially appropriate way.
  
• Livers played in the sprinkler for the first time ever. She loved it.
• I watched the season finale of LOST. It has only been two days and I am absolutely JONESING for January to roll around and Season 5 to start. I think I'll do a Thursday 13 about it this week.
• I saw Sex and the City. I really liked it, even though the critics railed it. I went with a neighbor of mine who has a kid Livers age. Like me, she doesn't get out much (and her husband hates going to movies) so it was a really nice break.
• We switched BACK to cable because the trees decided that we weren't allowed to have satellite. We have a hard full of huge oaks, and we didn't want to cut them down for the sake of a clearer view. With the LOST finale on this week I wanted to make for darn sure we had reliable TV.
  

I'm sure other things happened this week, but I can't remember them. Hopefully next week is a fun, productive one. Here are a few things that will happen and a few that might.

• Livers has a doctor's appointment for her UTI. We have to see if the antibiotics worked. They seemed to, smelling as her diapers don't stink.
• I will actually make one scrapbook page. I will, I will, I will.
• I will participate in my first Tackle It Tuesday. While putting away towels I realized just how messy my bathroom's linen closet was. Not the towels, those are neatly folded and stacked by color, but all of the other bathroom things. It's OUT OF CONTROL.
• We will make beach plans.
• A movie with my baby brother.
• Livers and I will go to the park. And maybe buy a baby pool and sprinkler so we can start playing outside in the driveway on the hot days that are going to be coming really soon.
• I will take my new sewing machine out of the box and learn to use it. This is a big question mark.
• The electrician will come install our porch fan so J and I can start hanging out on the porch at night after Livers goes to bed.
• I will be less selfish.

I hope that everyone had a good week, has a good weekend, and has a great week to come!

I will leave you with some Weezer. :)

The State of the Livers...

...is good. Her antibiotics must be working, because she has been fine with her UTI. Which, strangely, she really seemed to have been in the first place. The only indicator to me that something was wrong was the stench smelled round the world. Needless to say, we're happy campers!

Thursday 13 - 13 Places I Want to Go Before I Die

I love to travel. If I had tons of money, that is one of the first things that I'd want to do with it (aside from the stereotypical pay off debt, buy a swank house, take care of my family, give to charity, yadda yadda yadda). That being said, here are 13 (of the many) places I want to visit before I die. Some are repeats, and there is no order, just dreams.

1. Australia
2. Japan
3. Israel
4. New York City (again)
5. Hawai'i (again, but maybe a new island, like Kauai; and the Big Island again--it was spectacular!)
6. Mt. Everest
7. Drive the California coast
8. English Isles (all parts: England, Scotland, Ireland)
9. Italy
10. Alaska
11. Iceland
12. India
13. Walk the Great Wall of China
    

Menu Plan Monday - May 26 (Belated)

I'm a little late getting up my menu plan this week. How's that for organization? I'll chalk it up to a pulled muscle in my neck. It's been keeping me down, literally, the past few days. Anyway, here we go.

Monday: Pasta marinara (aka, Ragu); Garlic and Cajun shrimp
Tuesday: Risotto with edamame, lemon zest, and tarragon
Wednesday: Stir fry beef and peppers with fried rice
Thursday: Tamatar Aloo with Basmati rice
Friday: eat out
Saturday: Indian fried chicken, basmati rice, broccoli and cheese
Sunday: Cheesy rice and beans

LIVERS UPDATE...AGAIN

She did have a UTI, and she started antibiotics this morning. Hopefully this will make her feel better real soon and she won't have anymore problems.

Thursday 13 - Soundtrack of My Life

I've had the idea for this post for awhile, but I've not had the time to really devote to it until I forced myself to today.

I love music. I play it all the time, and can't usually be in the car without it. I'm trying to instill a love of this in my daughter as well, and I think I'm doing a good job, as her two favorite songs are not kiddie centered (Three Dog Night's "Shambala" and the Kaiser Chiefs' "Ruby"; we have to listen to them incessantly). I was sitting back thinking a few weeks ago about the songs that I like. Not necessarily because they are the world's greatest, but because hearing them conjures up memories of long drives, people I love (or used to), momentous occasions, times of the year, or childhood. I decided to make a list of 13 songs that, if I had one, would be on my Soundtrack of My Life. There are definitely other songs that I could put on this list if I had the time to think about, but these are the ones that really jumped out of me in the 20 minutes I spent compiling the list.

So here it is, the Soundtrack of My Life (in close to chronological order):

1. Lionel Richie - "Dancing on the Ceiling", "All Night Long": I don't much remember the first LR song, but I was told that it was my absolute FAVORITE song when I was 4, but I can't NOT here the second one and think about art classes when I was 8 and weekend trips to Columbia to visit my grandparents.
   
2. Steam - "Na na na na, Hey hey hey": J made fun of me for listing this song, but I have strong memories of it. My dad had it on a cassette tape (remember those?) of various songs he recorded off of the radio (remember doing THAT?), and at Christmas, while decorating the tree, he would put that in and we'd dance around the house like happy monkeys.
   
3. k.d. lang - "Constant Craving": This song is my "fall" song. I remember hearing it when I was 8 or 9, and it must have been some time in October. EVERY TIME I hear it now I get an image of me standing in a neighbor's large, treeless backyard looking over their chain-link fence just taking in the late evening blue sky dotted with a few wispy clouds and basking in the cool air that signaled the beginning of fall. I particularly love to play this song in fall because it gets me in the mood for the time of year.
   
4. Smashing Pumpkins - "Today": This is a total 8th grade song. I was finally moving away from the crappy Mariah Carey/Paula Abdul days of late elementary school and REALLY starting to listen to good music. Hearing this song gives me specific memories of traveling to Winston-Salem, NC, with my grandparents to, get this, visit Odoul's and a cigarette factory. I guess that was their ideal of culture. It was cool, though. (I must have listened to this song at least 10 times, constantly rewinding the cassette on my Walkman.)
   
5. Seal - "Prayer for the Dying", "Kiss from a Rose": I LOVE me some Seal, even to this day. (Heidi Klum is one lucky lady.) I used to listen to the first song at night when I was going to sleep (along with the rest of the album). I always found it so beautiful. The second song is SOOOOO a 9th grade dance song. Everyone would get so excited and look for the nearest person to dance with. I specifically remember all the girls trying to dance with "the new guy" Nate. We all fawned over him, and the guys hated him because he got all of the attention. It also reminds me of the Batman Forever soundtrack and my first celebrity crush, Val Kilmer.
   
6. Wallflowers - "One Headlight": Hearing this song automatically transports me back to my sophomore year of high school: the first guy I kissed--and who broke my heart, drives with friends, sitting in my room relaxing and thinking.
   
7. Foo Fighters - "Everlong": One of the greatest rock songs of the 90s, if not ever, I VERY SPECIFICALLY remember that this was the song that was playing when I heard that Princess Diana had died. Aside from that morbid image, it reminds me of 11th grade, brooding, the second guy who broke my heart, and driving with friends.
   
8. Dave Matthews Band - "Dancing Nancies": It was my senior year of high school and I was DEEP into some DMB. This is such a happy song for me. It reminds me of a guy a used to date--one of the few who broke my heart but I still am friends with; I even went to his wedding--of hanging out senior year, and of just relaxing and listening to music. I did that a lot.
   
9. R.E.M. - "Leave": It sucks that I have a problem listening to R.E.M. now because of one person who's won't get the validation of being named, but this was MY song when I was in 11th/12th grade. It is so powerful and raw. On late nights studying I would just sprawl out on the floor, close my eyes, and get lost in this song for a few minutes (7:17, to be exact). It is an EXCELLENT driving song; it will take you over.
   
10. Radiohead - "Street Spirit (fade out)": I always loved to just lay still and let this song fill my brain. I specifically remember getting big into Radiohead the summer before college. I was at the beach and would sit on the back porch, rocking for hours in the hammock, listening to this song. It is so beautiful yet mournful.
    
11. Superdrag - "Art of Dying": I first heard this song in Asheville, NC, a few months after J and I started dated. We were coming back from Belle Chere, a local festival, and I was hooked. Whenever I hear it I think of driving back and forth to Ohio, where he's from, and all the memories associated with those travels.
    
12. Claire and Bain Maple Yum Yums: I guarantee no one reading this will have heard of them, which is a crying shame. They were a local band out of Athens, GA, who I discovered when I worked at the Coffee House the summer before my junior year of college. They were a boyfriend/girlfriend duo with a beautiful, folky sound, and they played some of the coolest instruments...like a saw and a washboard. My husband and I got to know each other listening to them play at the Coffee House, and they meant so much to us that we actually played one of their songs as our first dance at our wedding (called "Closer to Me"). Also, when they were in town for a gig at the Coffee House one night my junior year, I invited them to play on my radio show that I had at my college's radio station. It was awesome! By far the best show I ever did. They even crashed on my futon at my on-campus apartment that night. They may have broken up (their relationship and the band) and moved on, but their music still stirs my heart and puts a smile on my face.
    
13. Three Dog Night - "Shambala": At first this reminded me of an episode of LOST, but now I will never hear this song again and not think of my daughter. It was the first song she ever sang and the first real one she liked.

HONORABLE MENTION(S):

• Velvet Underground - "Venus in Furs": I will withhold the reasoning, but I can't help not think of it hearing this song.
• Boyz II Men - Cooleyhighharmony: This for years in my childhood was my drive-to-the-beach soundtrack. I would only put in in when we were halfway so I could build the excitement of almost being there, and for whatever reason it always seemed to be storming while I was listening to it.
  

Double Tag!

I've noticed recently that every blogger and her mother was getting tagged and was wondering just what exactly this whole tagging thing was, and then today I got tagged...twice! Thanks for making me feel special, Tiaras and Tantrums and Mama's Losin' It! I'll combine your tags into one post:

The Rules:
~ Each player answers the questions about themselves.
~ At the end of the post, the player(me) tags other people and posts their name, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they've been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

What was I doing 10 years ago?
May 1998...I was a junior in high school (I'm young, peeps), so I probably was just counting down the days until school was out. I was a super huge nerd, so I can definitely tell you I was being studious and not out partying like it was almost 1999.

Five Snacks I Enjoy
any manner of baked goods
roasted red pepper hummus and pita
strawberries with whipped cream
Double Stuff Oreos
chai lattes

Five Things on My To-Do List Today
It's 10:15 at night, so we'll go with tomorrow...
Allergist appointment
minor grocery shopping
fold laundry
unload/reload dishwasher
play with Livers

Things I Would Do If I Were a Billionaire
set my family up for life
travel A LOT with J, Livers, and my parents
build our dream house
life-time supply of crafting supplies (and a giant room to put them in)
save the rest for later needs, wants, billionaire emergencies

Top 5 Things I Couldn't Live Without Under $5
time with Livers and J
chapstick (severely addicted, here)
hand lotion
milk
sleep

Top 5 Things That Stay in Your Purse at All Times
cell phone
nail kit
Sally Hansen Hand and Cuticle cream
chapstick
ticket stubs from every movie J and I have seen together

Top 5 Movies
The English Patient
Last of the Mohicans
Garden State
Coming to America
Dances with Wolves
can I really only list 5???

Top 5 Songs I Could Listen to Over and Over
"Everlong" - Foo Fighters
"All Night Long" - Lionel Richie
"Take a Picture" - Filter
"Constant Craving" - kd lang
"Shambala" - Three Dog Night (I'm forced to listen to this one; it is Livers' favorite; good thing I like it)
seriously, only 5???

Top 5 Baby Names You Love But Won't Use (but maybe will)
Jack
Kate
Sydney
Eva
Ahmi (pronouced "ahh-me")--from Amitola, a Native American word for rainbow; Jeremy would NEVER let me get away with it.

Top 5 People Who Have Influenced Your Life in a Positive Way
my parents
my late grandmother
Jeremy
Jesus

Top 5 Moments That Changed Your Life Forever
meeting my husband
giving birth to Livers
marrying my husband
going to Hawaii
realizing in 10th grade how good I was doing in school and what that could mean

Five Jobs That I've Had
Taco Bell
Clemson University bookstore (twice)
Barista
Lobby Babe (receptionist)
High School Biology teacher

Five of My Bad Habits
biting my lip
picking at my fingers and cuticles
grinding my teeth
procrastinating
speaking before thinking

Top 5 Obsessions You Have Right Now
rainbows
blogging
LOST and LOST-related fan sites
buying craft supplies
Target

Five Places I've Lived
Pickens, SC
Anderson, SC
Clemson, SC
---
---
not so much a world traveler here...

5 Places I Would Like to Go
New York City (again)
Hawaii (again)
Europe (all over)
Australia
Japan

5 (how about 2) People I Would Like to Get to Know Better
Queen Mommy
Apple Joos

6 Random Things
1. I've snow skied once and vow never to again. The friends that took me essentially dropped on the slope without teaching me what to do, and at one point I was going down the hill so fast that I new I'd run into a bunch of people at the bottom, so I tried to crash land off to the side. I didn't see the telephone pole there, and my leg got wrapped around the cable holding it up, flipped me over on my back. Ski patrol took me away.
2. I used to brag about never having speeding tickets and then got two within 6 weeks of each other two years ago.
3. My husband and I honeymooned in Mexico. I've told him numerous times I want to go back to where we stayed just to eat. And he got scratched up bad by a coral reef while we were snorkeling.
4. When my husband asked me to marry him I said words I won't repeat because A) I was a bit drunk, and B) I couldn't believe it was happening because he made such a stink before the trip about how cliche it is to get engaged/married in Hawaii.
5. I converted to Catholicism from floater Christian (non-affiliated), former Pentecostal during the year we were engaged.
6. When my house gets too dirty for me I will sometimes have to stop whatever it is I'm doing/not doing and get it up to my standards or I literally have problems concentrating and functioning.

Man, that felt like a lot! Enjoy readers!

UPDATE - What's That Smell?

Today I had to try to collect a urine sample from a squirmy wormy 16 month old. Not to toot my own horn, but I think I did a jam up job, better than the nurses if I do say so myself (only because my little collector bag didn't fall off). While taking my mom to her hysterectomy check-up I waited to see if Livers would go, and finally we had success. So while my mom waited her turn I bolted across town to the pediatrician. I gave her specimen to the lab tech, who was super nice, and we went to the waiting room to sit (destroy all things not nailed down) for the results. After about ten minutes they said that there was growth in her urine of some sort, and they needed to consult with the doctor to see what to do.

I got frustrated at this point, because the doctor said he wanted to cath Livers to make sure that the growth is from her bladder and not external. This made me mad, because I wanted this done yesterday but they wanted to spare her the trauma. Yes, I know that getting a cath done is no fun, but it doesn't take long and she likely won't remember it at her age. If it had been done then, then we would have answers and possibly treatment, if needed. Anyway, we got the cath done, and Livers was an absolute trooper. She got upset (understandably) when it was happening, but almost as soon as they finished she was her normal chipper self. She got even happier when they gave her a bracelet and a small rubber ducky for her trouble.

After just a few minutes the preliminary results were in, and the growth was definitely internal. The nurse and lab tech feel that it is likely a urinary tract infection, but we won't know for sure till tomorrow morning when the culture results are in. If it is a UTI they'll put her on antibiotics for 10 days (and if it's the pink stuff Livers will LOVE it; she guzzles it like liquid candy) and then recath her at the end of treatment AND THEN do a kidney ultrasound to make sure everything is going okay in there. That made me worried, but I'm trying not to think about it until we know either way what is going on. She seems fine--no fever, abnormal crankiness, changes in everyday behavior--so I'm hoping it's nothing big. Send prayers my way for my little Livers...

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

What's That Smell?

That is the question that prompted a visit to the pediatrician today. I don't know what the deal is, but for the past week or so Livers has woken up with some FUUUNKY smelling diapers. Now, I know what a heavy overnight diaper is supposed to smell-look like. I've only changed roughly 500 of them (I did the math). This is different. And being a first time mom, I decided to go with my instincts and take her to see the doc.

Unfortunately, the trip felt wasted. She had no fever; eats/sleeps/pees/poops like normal. She's not had any new food. Nothing is out of the ordinary but for the foul nappies. The doctor tried to get a urine sample without catheterizing her (she said it would be too traumatic--probably so, she's had one before and hated it). They essentially tape this little bag to her wee wee and wait for her to do a onesie. Unfortunately for the doc (and us) we had no luck. It kept coming loose, she kept squirming in it, and she never went. So now I have to try and do this myself and drop off the sample sometime tomorrow. Joy.

At least she was a trooper. She has reached the age where she is scared of the doctor, but today she was cheerful and playful. Must have been the 15 minute nap she had on the way (that incidentally was all she needed till bedtime. Double joy.)

If anyone out there has had any experience with this, I'd LOVE the info, because we're baffled.

There's Something in the Air

I don't know WHAT the deal is, but this allergy season has been the worst for me in my entire life. Seriously. When I got my own insurance a few years ago, the first thing I did was get allergy testing, because I have been suffering my entire life. When they did the scratch test, they found I was highly allergic (4 out of 4) to EVERYTHING the tested for (except feathers). For the past four years my allergies have been manageable with Singulair, and I used to take Nasonex as well but quit to save the money. Things were going peachy until this year. I swear I can't step outside without sending my sinuses into overdrive. I did yard work (the aforementioned light removal), and the rest of the day I paid dearly for it. I thought all was well the next day...until I tried to help my husband install a fan on our back porch and the dust and pollen on the old fan sent me right back to misery. I even started to have problems AGAIN just taking Livers on a walk around the block. I'm actually looking forward to going to my allergist appointment (which I actually rescheduled to get in earlier) so I can see relief. From talking to others it seems I'm not the only one having a particular time with it this year. What is the deal?

Time to go knock back a few Benadryl and hits of Afrin. Sleep glorious sleep. I wish I could let the five foot stack of dishes sit till tomorrow, but I don't feel like scraping Mac-N-Cheese from Livers' tray first thing in the morning.

Peas!

Menu Plan Monday - May 19

Here's what's cookin' this week at Casa de G:

Monday: fend for yourself in the fridge
Tuesday: Papa John's $5.99 carry out special (cheaper than cooking and the whole fam will eat it)
Wednesday: Salmon (recipe TBD), steamed zucchini and squash, pasta sides
Thursday: Mama's Losin' It's fantabulous enchiladas, refried beans
Friday: Thursday leftovers
Saturday: steak, potatoes, butternut squash risotto (if I can find Arborio rice around here)
Sunday: eat out cheap

I Finally Did It, Sports Fans

Today is the 17th of May, and I finally, after six and a half months, took the Christmas lights off of the trees in my front yard. Yes, I apparently am a redneck. (But not as much as the people across the street. Theirs have been up AT LEAST three years...when we moved here.) My husband told me I should go ahead and just leave them up and save myself three hours Thanksgiving weekend, but we desperately need to cut the ivy back from the trees, and without light removal it was impossible (unless we wanted to cut 11 sets of lights). Ahh, what a sense of accomplishment.

In other news (actually sports related), it is the 17th of May and today I ACTUALLY found myself wishing for football season to start. My husband was looking at old video clips on YouTube of Clemson (go Tigers!) football games, and I couldn't help but look fondly to future tailgates, butt whippings, fried chicken, cold weather, and 80,000 people cheering for the best team in the world. I know I'll be regretting this come September when I don't see my husband for 4 months straight, but it would be kinda nice now.

Happy weekend!

Number 1 on My "Things that Suck" List

Waiting ALL week to watch your favorite show (LOST) only to have your stupid satellite putz out, rendering viewing absolutely IMPOSSIBLE. I was thisclose to driving to my parents' house to watch it there but I could tell, even though J said I could, that he'd be hurt and angry if I actually did. So here I am, 10:15 in the morning, absolutely JONESING for Livers to go to bed tonight so that J and I can watch LOST through ABC's website.

The AGONY! The TORTURE! How will I make it??

* * * *

In other news I could've smacked J silly last night. As I'm sitting in my office at my computer he comes in the room and says, "Ken Watanabe died!" I looked at him in HORROR and said, "WHAT?!?", and just as I'm about to furiously type in People's website for the terrible confirmation, J looks and me and says,"Just kidding! I was just looking at your blog and noticed he was on your laminated list and wanted to give you a rise." If looks could kill, he'd be six feet under.

(This terrible joke was followed by one of his stupidest comments ever--yes, J, I know you're going to read this, and I did say STUPID. He said that if he were attacked by a tiger, he thinks he could win. He'd just try to poke its eyes out. If it works on sharks, why not tigers?)

I'll Take the Compliment

Today Livers was walking around my bathroom while I was getting ready and she headed over to my magazine basket by the toilet. She reaches down to the recent People sitting right on top....



....points to the picture of Mariah Carey, and says "Mama!" while looking at me.

I'll take it. She could've said I looked like Cher or something.

A Conversation with Livers

Livers: Waaaaaaaaaaaah!

Daddy: What do you want Livers?

Livers: Cookie!!

Daddy: No, you can't have a cookie.

Livers: lip rolling, eyes watering, about to cry: Bad girl!

Daddy: You're not a bad girl, you're a good girl! (picks up Livers and gives her kisses)

Livers: Waaah! (calming down)

I'm Crashing the Blog Party!

Hello my blog peeps! I am making a (belated) go at the Blog Party this week. I heard about the one a couple of months back but it was too late for me to participate, and I wanted to try it out and hopefully meet some new people. So without future adieu, here's a little bit about me for any visitors, new or frequent.



1. I am a stay-at-home mom to a 16 month old daughter, Livers. I used to be a Biology teacher, but not as of December 15, 2006. I loved the subject but hated the riff raff that went along with it (both from the students and the state regulations).

2. I've been married to my fantabulous husband Jeremy for three years this June. We've known each other for almost 7 years and been together almost that long. We met at the Coffee House I was working at, not long after he got out of college.

3. I'm from South Carolina and have lived here my entire life. I hope I never have to leave.

4. I LOVE rainbows and have since I was a little girl. I collect things with the pattern and try to make them in various crafty forms.

5. I'm also the mother to two adorable pound puppy sisters, Molly and Lacey. We got them at a local pound after we'd been married for less than a month. They were extremely underweight (13.5 and 12 pounds, respectively) and looked horrible, but they were one of our best decisions ever. They are now a very healthy 25 pounds each and are hilarious and sweet. I hate thinking about life without them someday.



Things I've learned since becoming a mom.... So many, I'm sure, but let me see what I think are the most important.

1. You really need to sleep when baby (or toddler, or child, or teenager--someday) sleeps. There's always time to get stuff done if you make it, but not if you're running ragged.

2. When your child does something new or special or something that melts your heart, WRITE IT DOWN. You think you'll remember these things, but you won't, and it's wonderful to be able to look back and read what happened and remember it again.

3. Never turn your back on your baby. Or have enough childproofing. Because when they do they'll be on the sofa knocking over your lamp, pulling out DVDs, eating a book (or something worse), hanging off of a drawer like a monkey, or putting their hand in the toilet to grab toilet paper.

4. Always have more clothes, burp cloths, diapers, and wipes than you think you'll need. Because it's when you have none that you're child will be spitting up, peeing, and projectile pooping--at the same time.

5. Never take for granted things like going out to dinner or a movie on a whim or spending time with yourself, friends, or your husband. You don't realize how precious it is until you can't.

P.S. Thanks Mommy Cracked for your post! I wouldn't have known about this if it wasn't for you!

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY - Why We Don't Need a Dishwasher

I promise that I ACTUALLY disinfect the baby's tray after this, but why waste food?

Menu Plan Monday - May 12

I was too busy last week to post (and the in-laws were in town, so the menu was erratic). Hopefully I'm back in the swing of things.

Monday: Sloppy Joes and fries
Tuesday: Sloppy Joes and Mac-N-Cheese
Wednesday: 15-bean soup
Thursday: leftovers from Wed.
Friday: eat out (Chinese)
Saturday: Pizza Subs
Sunday: Cheesy Tortellini Soup

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to everyone! I hope that y'all had a wonderful day spent with family and friends, and that you were pampered all day. We deserve at least one day a year of it, right? I had a very relaxing Mother's Day. My husband let me sleep in till 11. I don't know the last time I GOT to sleep in till 11. It was glorious! I even got an afternoon nap while the baby was taking hers. (I felt like I was in college again. I had had the crazy notion that I would spend all day crafting, but the need for sleep and the constant lack of motivation kept me horizontal most of the day. ) Livers and I had brunch--blueberry pancakes and smoothies. Later in the day I went over to my Mom's house to see her for Mother's Day. She had a relaxing day, too, but she had to since she's recovery from her surgery. All in all it was a very nice day. It makes me wish that it was Mother's Day every day :)

Next week we'll be getting back into some type of normal schedule. We're no longer in manic mode around here since the in-laws left and we've done most of our improvements for now. Hopefully that means I'll be able to catch up on fun things, like actually sitting down to watch TV (when satellite is cooperative), read the huge backlog of magazines I've amassed, and craft (motivation pending).

Anywho, to my 3 readers I hope y'all have a spectacular week!

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY - A Week of Livers

Finally...

...I finished painting the bathroom, and with two days to spare! I would've done it last night, but I was late getting home. I was at the hospital visiting my mom, who had a hysterectomy yesterday. Everything is fine and she's doing great, but I thought I was going to cry when I walked in the room yesterday and saw her in her bed. Especially when she started talking in her loopy, morphine-induced state. It brought back memories of nine years ago when my Nanny was dying with ovarian cancer and she was in and out of sanity thanks to pain meds. I felt so bad for my mom because she was there by herself and seemed so frail. I wish I could've stayed longer to keep her company, but in reality she needed her sleep. When the husband gets home I'm going back to see her, with Krispy Kreme doughnuts :)

But about the bathroom, finally done. I've wanted to repaint it almost since I last did. Yellow is a beautiful color; just not for this space. It now is a calming light gray blue, "Misty Surf" if you will, and it is much more relaxing.

I look forward to next week and the sense of normalcy it will bring. All this work on the house is exhausting, and I just want to sit down, read, watch some TV, and craft. I have a project just sitting there, begging to be worked on, but I've had no time. I also have a bazillion scrapbooking projects to take care of. And...a new sewing machine to learn how to use! (I bought one today while selling my soul to Target. It was on sale...$50 off!!!...and I decided to go ahead and quit pussyfooting around and get it.)

What Weekend Warriors We Are

These past few days have been so busy I've hardly had time to sit down and veg out with the TV, let alone blog! With the in-laws coming Friday we've been furiously getting the house prepared, which has left me little time to do more than take a nap while Livers is sleeping (to prepare myself for more work) and quickly read a few blogs here and there. Just a quick run down of what all has been accomplished these past few days (NOTE: husband did part of this; I watched the baby while he worked):

-Put a dresser together for the kitchen to put stuff in and to put TV equipment on
-Cleaned out the garage (still not done; too much junk)
-Hauled about 50000 pounds of cardboard to recycling (I'm a tree hugger; I have to recycle)

NOTE: Recycling place was closed and locked, but the fence doesn't go all the way around. I was not ABOUT to get up in the morning before husband left for work to take it to recycling, so I walked around the fence and dragged all of the cardboard into the recycling bin. Probably illegal, but who cares.

-Bought a bunch of crap from Home Depot for various house projects
-Weedwacked the yard
-Blew leaves
-Trimmed hedges
-Prettied up the screened porch
-Washed the screens in the porch
-Bought flowers for the porch
-Two loads of laundry (because Livers just HAD to poop her pants in the middle of the night, TWICE, which means a reappearance of the diaper rash; poor baby!)
-Random straightening
-Probably other stuff I can't remember

Anything outdoor related was strictly Jeremy's business. I hate yard work. And bugs. Particularly when they combine. (Last year, the one time I decided to do yard work myself, I got bit on the arm by some mysterious spider that made my arm swell and a giant red ring the size of a tennis ball. Been afraid to go out since.)

The weekend did have some fun, though. Friday night we went out with one of our few couple friends to dinner and then hung out with them at their house. We listened to 80's music, which was great (I LOVE me some 80's music!!!) and just chilled. That totally messed up Livers schedule, because we got back way too late and she's been having troubles adjusting since. Hopefully we're back in the groove tonight. We also went to a neighborhood friend's birthday party, which was fun. There wasn't anyone really there her age and we didn't know many people, so that was a bummer (and it was frickin' hot as blazes), but that's ok.

Well, I am off to work again. My next project is to repaint the bathroom. I say repaint, because two years ago I had the bright idea to paint our small bathroom yellow, and lets just say it's quite electric. Going to try to tone it down a little. Hopefully I'll be back in the swing of things soon!!

Mama Loves a Good Excuse to Go to Target

Yesterday I posted that little Livers broke my lamp in the den. We struck out yesterday on our search, much because I was tired. We went to Target looking for a lamp, but our search was abbreviated as we were walking down the Crayola isle (no joke, the arts and crafts isle is basically all the same brand). I started smelling something and looked at Livers, saying, "Dear Lord please don't let that be you." And of course it was. So we high-tailed it to check-out and the changing table. Let's just say I felt REALLY sorry for any customers who came in after I changed THAT diaper.

Well, now that I'm rejuvenated we are about to head BACK out to find a replacement. And to get stuff for our downstairs bedroom and bath. Why? My in-laws are coming to visit next weekend, and my husband wants the place to absolutely sparkle. Some women would get really annoyed when their husband gets on a cleaning/organizing kick, barking orders to "get the old baby gear out of the guest room," "straighten the basement," or "take down the Christmas lights in the front yard that have been up since Thanksgiving," but not me. I finally have a teammate in the Battle Against the Clutter. The in-laws should come every month if this is what it takes to get him motivated :)

So I'm off to Target. Hopefully the bank account won't take too much of a hit. ;)

I do love me some Target....

Another instance of crazy around the world

Video: Babies Thrown Off a Tower in India

Don't get me wrong, I love India and many aspects of its culture, but this is about ridiculous. If anything I think it should bring mortally bad luck. I'd have to bust a cap if anyone did this to my baby.

Never turn your back on baby...

...or she'll climb on the end table and break your lamp.

I went to answer the phone, and Livers was sitting on the sofa watching Sesame Street (or so I thought). She seized the opportunity of my absence to climb onto the end table to get at my "amm" (what she calls lamp), which is one of her favorite things to try and grab. While in the kitchen I heard the loud, unmistakable sound of breaking glass. I quickly ran to the den and Livers was on the table, the lamp was on its side, the glass portion broken (luckily not the bulb, so I can reuse it). Livers looked at me, looked at the lamp, and said "uh oh!".

Uh oh indeed.

The silver lining to my broken lamp is that it gives me an excuse to go to Target later today. I LOVE me some Target. I have the bank statements to prove it.