my first blogoversary...

blogoversary... what a strange word...

it's been 365 days since i really got in to this blog thing... 222 posts... i'm rather proud of this number given that i'm gone so many nights on the road... but then i mastered the art of mobile blogging so watch out #2!

it all started with my first nephew...

but my favorite posts this year were...

oprah rant and friends...
wormies...
back yard adventures...
7 year old wisdom...
paying someone else to live my life...
the pants...
poprs...
a day in my life...

and in honor of my blogoversary i think i will give away a prize...

a little something something from the something store...
it was fun last time... just leave me a comment and your entered... nothing more needed...
open til the end of the year ;)

thousdand words...

makes all the snow worth while

He is the master of his own sledding...

seattle nutcracker

Far Mor started the tradition... and B loves it...

this year we decided to take my parents along as well since neither one of them had seen the nutcracker before...



my favorite part...he loved getting dressed up...

this is B with his contest entry... he didn't win but at least this year we found his entry on the wall (there are hundreds!)

driving in a winter wonderland...

super nanny couldn't come to work today because of the more than foot of snow we now have... there was no way i could handle another day of them cooped up so i did what any sane mother would do... i drove them to her... the roads weren't too bad...



and it meant i got to see the starbucks snow man at the drive in... notice his eyes are coffee beans...




and i got to enjoy the mounds of snow in the middle of intersections that northwesterners seem to think are normal even when they plow the streets...



now back to the business of solving the worlds promotional opportunities...

will we ever go back to school???

got the call tonight at dinner... no school tomorrow... see you in the new year...
are they kidding... it's like a crazy christmas present from the school district to the kids... day 3 no school after 2 days of late start before 2 weeks off... this also mean we'll be in school til July...

it does make for some great night time snow walks...

arctic blast 2008

I love the weather men and the news... they acted as if the sky is falling when weather "may" be coming our way...

Friday we were expecting snow... never came... but it got colder and Saturday night the flakes came and by morning there were 4 inches on the ground... still not a blizzard but fun regardless...

as for the arctic blast... according to my atomic weather station it is 18 outside... and in case you forgot i live in the Pacific Northwest... it isn't supposed to be this cold... 2 hour school delay... more snow on wednesday... and B will be out of school from the 22nd to the 5th... please... he must go to school this week and release some energy...

do my cold weather blog friends have ideas for keeping active boys from driving me insane!!!

a day in my life

4 am... C crawls in to our bed and starts talking non stop

5 am... C falls asleep between me and super hubby... too tired to move him

7 am... get up to start the day

7:05 am... walk down the hall to find cat barf/diarrhea/who knows...

7:10 am... get out spot bot...

7:15 am... work phone starts ringing....

7:20 am... B announces he doesn't feel good

8:05 am... B still complaining... i tell him to go lay down

8:45 am... B is running up and down the halls

8:46 am... Tell B he is going to school

8:59 am... C bites me in the stomach... the part without elasticity after 2 10 + lb babies

9:00 am... super nanny arrives and i get to go to work

10:30 am... leave for work stuff

12:30 pm... B comes home from school (half day) in and out of bathroom with upset tummy

12:35 pm... super nanny notices that one of the gerbils is dead and the other one has been eating it...YUCK!!!

1:57 pm... return home from work stuff

1:58 pm... super hubby calls to say he won't be home by 2

2:15 pm... super nanny goes home

2:16 pm... B boots (throws up) all over my bedroom floor because he couldn't make it to toilet

what is your elf name

i love all things elf...so how could i resist...

Your Elf Name Is: Booty Snowballer

Son of a nutcracker!

What's Your Elf Name?

~Anything is good and useful if it's made of chocolate~

one of my first bloggie friends... Veggie Mom sent me this "sweet" award... very apporopriate since I so love chocolate and it came at the right time of the month ;)

The Octamom Award , like All Things Involving Chocolate, came to be in a Silly, but Sweet, way. It was designed by Debi, who blogs at Who Says Eight Is Enough? The award was created in honor of Octamom, who takes her Own Sweet Time about getting things done.

And Why Chocolate, the Nectar of the Gods? Because Chocolate Makes the Heart Grow Fonder! Because of this indelible and irrefutable fact, and just to be a Sweetie Pie, I wish this Chocolate Bling Upon the Heads of All Who Have Blinged Me Before. If you've received this one already, don't fret...Re-Gifting is allowed!

Kristen @ Loving our Simple life (especially after that Dell thing you deserve it...

And even though this Chunk o' Change involves Chocolate, there are a few rules from the Gifter that the Giftee must follow:

1. You must eat a Piece of Chocolate in honor of accepting The Octamom Award.
2. You must, um…..Eat Yet Another Piece of Chocolate when you put The Award on your blog.
3. You must visit Debi B. (who designed the award) by clicking Here. Debi Needs to Know that You Care...especially about Chocolate!
4. Try to go by and see the other Giftees...That's What Linky Love Is For!
5. Don't forget to display This Pretty on your blog!
6. Feel free to add or subtract from the rules as suits your fancy…except the Chocolate Requirements...Those are Mandatory!
7. And, but of course, if you're reading this post & feel like you need a little Chocolate in your life, please Give Yourself The Octamom Award, with our blessing!

*** i've had this for a while and forgot all about it...

flexible spending

i was a VERY poor planner this year with my flexible spending account... I have over $900 left to spend in less than 30 days on health care items... naturally we head to Costco to buy glasses for super hubby and a spare pair for B... $549 down... off to target to get a year's worth of supplies...

thanksgiving round up

a great day!!!

I'm not old enough for a heart attack..

we are at the ER... super hubby has been having chest pains for a week and this morning it started to radiate in to his arm...he wanted to go chop down our xmas tree first but I forced him to the ER as you can tell from the pictures he is annoyed to even be here because he's "fine"... so far the doc says it is unlikely he is having a heart attack but we are having "tests" just to be sure...



and in case you are wondering... it was his idea to mobile blog :-)

Sometimes you feel like a nut, Sometimes you don't

So Amy Amy Bo Bamey tagged me for the Motherload Meme. And i think motherload is an understatement...

Rule 1. List the first ten people who have commented on one of your blog posts.

i picked - the more i remember the more i cry because it seemed like 9 is my magic comment number but this one had 16...

1. The Mom
2. Amy Amy Bo Bamey
3. Insane Mama
4. Kristen
5. Adcock Circus
6. C and C Mommy
7. pb&j in a bowl
8. Shannon
9. anti-supermom
10. Briana

Rule 2. The meme questions: 10 Blogs, 15 Questions.

What is your favorite post from #3's blog? a great story about buying bras with her mom when she was a teenager.... i cried i was laughing so hard... and i would have linked it up except she has gone in to blogger witness protection...

Has #10 taken any pictures that have moved you? this was my first trip there... so i'd have to say it was certainly the photo of the cattle running thru downtown Dallas from her office window...

Does #6 reply to comments on their blog? yes she does

Which part of Blogland is #2 from? California

If you could give one piece of advice to #7 what would it be? keep that pink xmas tree until if falls apart...

Have you ever tried something from #9's blog?

Has #1 blogged something that inspired you? just about everything she posts inspires me...

How often do you comment on #4's blog? almost every time i visit... she's a fave!!!

Do you wait excitedly for #8 to post? i read her regularly, but i'm not sure excited is the right word...

How did #5's blog change your life? she certified my belief that i only want two kids...

Do you know any of your 10 bloggers in person? nope

Do any of your 10 know each other? not that i know of.

Out of the 10, which updates more frequently? They all update pretty frequently, that is why my google reader is full!

Which of the 10 keep you laughing? Amy and Jen are the one's that make me laugh the most... especially Amy and her videos...

Which of the 10 made you cry (good or bad) tears? i can't come up with one... except that insane mama post about the bra shopping... that came pretty close.

So If I posted about your blog, it is your turn! Play on unless you were tagged already by Amy :)

sock friends

I got this email from Boden (a family favorite) it looked like just a coupon... but upon further inspection i discovered that they had this great idea for sock friends...


We may look like the product of tireless and elaborate craftsmanship, but we're actually pretty easy to make. Follow these simple instructions and before you know it you'll have a gang of Sock Friends where before you had merely a clutch of sorry, single old socks.

clic here for instructions...

laughing is such good medicine...

last friday we went out with our "pizza night" friends... it seems silly that i refer to them that way because they have become just GREAT friends...

however... everyone else seems to know them this way from conversations since it started as a Friday Night Pizza thing and it just sort of stuck... (ramble...)

anyway... we decided that this pizza night was going to be a grown-up night... they invited us to a wine tasting at Woodinville Wine Cellars... Yummy....

and then on to Purple Cafe in Woodinville... where we enjoyed more wine... food and a whole LOT of LAUGHING...

i forgot how great it felt to laugh from the belly with good friends... i need to do that more often... even beter was how annoyed the snooty people around us seemed to be that we were laughing and enjoying ourselves...

not obnoxious drunk... not even buzzed... just good old fashion fun!!!

thousand word thursday...

it is so much fun to look back at this day in pictures... in 2003 on this day we had our first snow of the season... and yes... that is early since in seattle we ususally only get snow a few times a year!!!

i have got to meet this woman...

my brother might get an unexpected visit some day real soon so i can have a IRL moment of my own.... i mentioned i on Friday... then today i did this muffin test she showed me and guess what??? we are the same... although i'm not so sure about this snob comment... lately i've been feeling a lot like a snob...

What Kind of Muffin Are You?
You Are a Lemon Poppy Seed Muffin

You are smart, sophisticated, and savvy.You love taking risks, and you are the first to know about new trends.You are curious about the world and tend to have many interests.You also are very talented. It sometimes seems like you are good at everything.You are very social and inclusive. You'll be friends with anyone.Even though you're very cultured, you're not a snob.

sharing the love

last week i got this totally awesome award....

and i asked what you thought it meant...

i think the best answer came from Elaine A. @ The Miss Elaine-ous Life...

"it means that even though we may be very FAR apart geographically, blogging brings us all closer together"

and with that being said i decided i wanted to pass this with NO RULES... and to those who have shown me so many interesting things around the country and the world...

anti-supermom - A Real Anti-Supermom

Elaine A. - The Miss Elaine-ous Life

Shannon - Welcome to The Nut House!

Jen - Cheaper than Therapy

Debbie - blog around the world

Danielle - Life with the Hewitt Family

amy - life of Nguyener

Krystyn - really, are you serious?

do with it as you like ladies...but know that it is rare and comes from my heart...

i'm going international...

I have this new person in my life... Amy... we are connected in many ways and yet we have never met... she is my brother's neighbor... she has stayed in my parents house... her kids are friends with my nieces... we appear to have a lot in common...

she was tricked in to visiting my blog from facebook ~ her first love... now she is hooked on this blog thing... she's got a new look... she's got a new name... and she's even taken on the challenge of 30 posts in 30 days... she is hooked... there is no going back for amy... and i hope some day real soon i get to meet her...

so what does this have to do with going international??? she gave me this award...


and it is by far the most bizarre i have ever seen.... according to Amy... she thought that it said "This blog invests and accredits in proximity", but she turned to an online translator because it didn't make any sense... and learned it is a colloquialism that translates into "This Blog believes in proximity?" still no idea what that has to do with anything... i'm thinking since it has crossed over to north america we can give it some new meaning... what i'm not sure... any idea???

so leave me some comment love about what you think it means... and be sure to stop by and visit amy and give her some love to while you are in the mood....

thousand word thursday

Taken on this same same day last year... B celebrating with his "star of the day" plate after getting all his spelling words plus the 2nd grade and challenge words right on his test... he got McD's as a bonus for the challenge words...

I also love that this is before he lost his 2 front teeth but on the verge of falling out...

it reminds me that i need to get this plate back in circulation... it's good for the dinner table mood...

little boys are just like big ones...

it is the time... the time when the kids get sick...
B was home for 2 days last week with a nasty cough... C has had it for 2 weeks...
but today he woke up with a high fever and the whine...
he is just laying in bed whining about how much he hurts... he's not even 3 yet!!!

people watching

i'm at this cool place with my friend Sarah and our kids...
tot spot cafe... amazing idea....every town needs one of these places...

Monitored Play Area is stocked with top quality toys and hosted activities,
while moms... and dads can hang out around outside the play area drinking coffee, reading magazines, surfing the net (blogging) or just enjoying a moment where someone else is playing with your kids.

the people watching is great... and the conversations to be overheard are even better...

overheard... Microsoft dad talking with another mom...

dad - i got a new car (motions to new BMW outside the window)

mom - nice

dad - yeah... i wanted a Jetta but i was told that was a girl car

me - screaming in my head... yeah right...you really wanted a Jetta but had to SETTLE for a BMW...if only i had your problems :)

thousand word thursday

I am still trying to figure out what the deal is with my hair in this photo circa 1987

** i've just remembered what the deal is with my hair... i wore my bangs in my face, but for prom my mom told me they needed to be out of my face... hence the HUGE hair!!!

Look a likes...

"C" loves the movie cars... I've seen it 100 times at least as a result... thank goodness i like it... His favorite character is Tow Mader...

he loves it so much that he asked super hubby to carve his pumpkin to look like Mader...

and now even his brother looks like Mader....

remember the preppy handbook....

it was my bible in 1983... i'm not sure i did such a great job of interpretation... but for a Michigan girl i think i did pretty good with the resources i had...

one of my brothers found this picture when we were all home for my grandmother's service... it's a classic from a trip we took across the country in 1983...

I've gotten a lot of mileage out of this picture on facebook in the last 2 weeks... so naturally i figured it was worth a spot on the blog...

#1 question is what are you standing next to? it's a dinosaur bone... we were at dinosaur national park in UT...

I would love to get my hands the preppy handbook today... but my parents have long since let theirs go... at least i have this picture... and the laughs i got from this far out weigh the missing book...

homemade costumes

there is a reason mom's don't make kids costumes anymore... it takes way too long... and it's a pain in the ass... I broke 3 sewing machine needles in the process of making this beauty...



Taken with cell phone so sorry the quality is crap...

My top account was having an event that required dressing up and the theme was quick turn... naturally working for BIC... i had to be a pen ( a Clic Stic) ... available in 24 hours :)

I'm VERY proud of it... but i'll think twice before doing this again...

happy halloween...

little C refused to wear a costume so we stayed home to pass out candy... but his big brother hit the streets with his friends and came home with some LOOT!!!

PS - this isn't my house... i barely got my pumpkins out :)

my view...

so over the weekend i posted this... the view from my mom's kitchen window...

then i got a comment from my new friend Amy over at the bitchin wive club... who happens to be my brother's neighbor and good friend... that i should put out a tag to have everyone post a picture out their front door...or back.. and link it back to me...

i cheated because it's too late to take a photo so i picked one i took this time last year... snowing...
it's my first Mr Linky so don't leave me hangin'

it's time for fragments...

I figure that this may be the best way for me to get back in the swing of things...

i got home yesterday... took the o'dark hundred flight (aka 6 am) which meant i was up at 3:30... read finally decided to just get up because i couldn't sleep... there was some crazy storm with wind and rain... gusts up to 50... i didn't even think my plane would leave...

at the airport all was good... left on time... connection good... good seats... good seat mates...

at SeaTac my boys were waiting... what a treat because it is usually me driving myself home... big hugs happy faces... stop for lunch...

this is where the fun begins...

super hubby - your car wouldn't start this morning...
me - why...
super hubby - no idea...
me - we'll deal with that after the game...
super hubby - one other thing... the router at home is not working so we have no phone or internet... (we use vonage for our phone)
me - are you kidding me...
super hubby - no, but i'll figure something out...

(we are poaching from our neighbors so i can do my work, i'm not sure it is poaching if they know but thank goodness i don't have to try dial up or hang out Starbucks all day to do my work...)


drive to soccer game... we get slaughtered... i swear there are 7 year olds in this club that play better than high schoolers...

as we are driving home B announces he has to go... he can't wait... can he just pee in a cup in the car...

he's heard a story about my younger brother peeing in a coke can on a road
trip and frankly i think he just wanted to give it a try...

so we let him... i almost vomit from the idea and smell of it all...

home at last... it STINKS... gerbil cage is awful... maybe i will vomit... next thing i know C is running around with no pants on because he had an accident in the middle of the family room, super hubby is trying to charge my car to see if that is the problem... and tells me to call the fleet manager road side assistance... I'm on the phone with them trying to get C to put some clothes on... B to clean up his Lego's which have taken over so he can clean his gerbil cage... but mad because he was in the middle of building the ultimate Lego creation so now he is crying about it... the chaos is not coming out of my fingers the way it felt... you'll have to trust me...

they are sending a tow truck... but wait... now the car starts... i'm still having it towed to the dealership... it's only 8 months old... the battery shouldn't be dead and the lights on the dash should not be flashing...

we are all standing in the driveway watching the tow truck driver hook up to my car... the neighbors are now watching...just watching.. not asking what is going on... i've now decided they think my car is being repo'd... i decide i don't care... i'm exhausted... jet lagged and ready for bed...

it's now morning... and i have no idea what time it really is??? could W have just left it alone... i thought i fixed this all with the electronics... every clock in my house confuses me...

back to reality...

heading home... too bad I can't take the view and my parents with me...

heading home...

*** this is not my cheeriest post...and rambling... but I have to get these things out...

as I was getting on the plane I was wondering why I had picked a window seat... I'm a road warrior and I love my aisle seat... I settled in... tried to watch the movie... read my USA today... my people... turn on the ipod... nothing was working... super hobby and B are sitting way behind me and my mind is spinning...

somehow now that I'm on the plane the tightening in my chest is worse... there are even more tears.... it's like now that I'm on the plane I realize this really is the goodbye...

I decided to open the shade and look out the window... that is when I see the shadow of my plane in the clouds... (i don't know how obvious it is in this photo since i'm doing the mobile blog thing from my phone) I've never seen that before... because I never sit at the window.... I start thinking. about all the things that have happened since my grandma passed on wednesday....

I had not been able to find a ring she gave me for my 18 th b-day... it should have been in my jewelry box but it wasn't... then on thursday there it was where I always thought it was but wasn't... several weeks ago I misplaced the book make way for ducklings... C loves it, and I remember my gma reading it to me... I was ready to buy a new one until last night when I was packing and found it right there by my bed where I had looked a thousand times the last few weeks... my gma always talked about the elves who took things and then brought them back when they were done...

I've decided that she has arranged to have those elves give me a break this week and give me back my stuff... and to help me see things I wouldn't normally see like this cool shadow out my plane window... which lead me to mobile blog to pass the time...
thank you for looking out for me gamma!

just what i needed...

i've been a bit numb this week... not very into story telling... or even feeling creative... but it's Friday so i figured i should make my rounds in blog land since i've been under the covers this week...

that is where i come across this cool tag that Brittany got... i'm sure you know her... she is the one who had twin girls... already has 4 boys... and got rear ended on her way to the doctor and ended up having the babies that day...

anyway... she was tagged to go to the 6th folder in your pictures folder and pick out the 6th picture... and this what i find... silly picture of super hubby on our way to marry our friends... remember when he was the reverend??? thank you for doing this tag so i could get a well deserved laugh...

the more i remember... the more i cry...

Sad day for me... my 90 year old grandmother passed away this morning...
i cried hard at first... couldn't' breath... then it passed... then i read this post from my brother on facebook to our younger cousins who are in college...


Greg Tracy at 11:38am October 15
thinking of you and kate. just don't let any of the great memories die. that's why grandparents are so great. they give us lot and lots of great memories. just wait until you have kids... you'll realize all over again just how important she was.


and the water works started all over again... my grandma was an AMAZING woman... and these are just some of the great things I loved about her...

1. she ate frosting sandwiches


2. she had the softest hands


3. she could craft like no one i knew


4. she had the best stories


5. she inspired me


6. she was a proper Yankee (no not the baseball team)


7. she took great care of me when I needed her


8. I loved to hear her say my name... i'll miss that the most


9. she had the coolest toys to play with when i was a kid


10. she still mowed her own lawn at 75


11. she loved me even though I gave her a cat for her 70th birthday


12. taking a walk with her was like going on an adventure


13. her house was my favorite place to go when i was little


14. her closest were full of magic


15. she was just plain COOL!

I love you Grandma... you will be missed!!!

if you are patient good things come...

I love watching these awards move around bloggy land... i wait patiently to see who will pass it to me and today was my lucky day! Amy Amy Bo Bamey from Life of Nguyener (Win-ner) shared some love today.... thank you!!!

so as always you have to do something to get these because nothing is "just because" these days...

NAME 6 THINGS THAT MAKE YOU HAPPY....

1. peanut butter and chocolate
2. when my kids can't stop laughing
3. the stock market going up almost 1000 points in one day
4. super hubby's face when he is at the tiller of our sail boat PB&J
5. visiting with friends
6. Pizza Night with the Neighbors

then pass it on to 6 others...

1. a new place of discovered... Babbling Brooks
2. Shannon at the nut house
3. C&C mommy @ C&C world
4. Annie @ Cookies Chaos and Conversation
5. Pixie @ the good, the bad, and the ugly
6. Danielle @ Life of the Hewitt Family

scout duty...

I got to bring b to his cub scout meeting tonight... and with mobile blog I couldn't help but want to share.... these boys are talking about the cute girls in school... they are in second grade ... is this normal?

Mail Goggles...

i love the stories you can find in the newspaper... especially on Sundays... this Sunday our paper was VERY thin... but there was this great piece about Mail Goggles... we need something like this for cell phones to prevent drunk dialing...

SEATTLE (AP) — Here's the scenario: It's Friday night, and what began as an innocent happy-hour margarita morphed into a few pitchers. After all, those tacos were salty.

Bidding friends adieu, you jump in a cab, head home and decide a quick e-mail check is in order. And there it is: a message from your ex. Or your boss. Or that friend you're secretly mad at.

If you're the kind of person who types tipsy and regrets it in the morning, Google's "Mail Goggles," a new test-phase feature in the free Gmail service, might save you some angst.

The Goggles can kick in late at night on weekends. The feature requires you to solve a few easy math problems in short order before hitting "send." If your logical thinking skills are intact, Google is betting you're sober enough to work out the repercussions of sending that screed you just drafted.

And if you can't multiply two times five, you'll probably thank Google in the morning.

To activate Goggles, Gmail users should click the "Settings" link at the top of a Gmail page, then go to the "Labs" section.

you've got the wrong Marla...

I got this in the mail today... that's right a "personal" letter from the alaskan... i've said it before... i try to keep this stuff to myself but sometimes i just can't help it...

Dear Mrs. Palin

sorry but you've got the wrong girl...as much as i appreciater your "personal" thanks i have never supported your party and have never provided what you call "unstinting generosity"... did you choose that word to show us your vocabulary is bigger than W?

please remove me from your mailing list... i get enough junk mail to have my own recylcling center as it is...

regards,

The "other" Marla

Putting “panic” in perspective...

Chief Investment Strategist Corner October 8, 2008
by James Swanson, CFA

6 facts to help dispel the fear

1. In January of 1970, a bear market started that lasted until May of that year. The market
during that time fell 35.4%. In May, a bull market began that lasted until January 1973
and brought a 124% gain in stock values.

2. In April 1981, another bear market commenced that lasted nearly a year and brought a
24.7% decline. Then, in March of 1982, the market began to rise and continued doing
so until June 1983, bringing an overall gain of 71.7%.

3. July 1990 brought a downward market that lasted three months, until October 1990,
at which point equity prices had fallen 22.4%. Then, in the same month, a new, now
legendary, bull market took hold and lasted nearly eight years, until July 1998, delivering
a 330.7% gain for the market.

4. Dating back to 1975, 8 of the last 15 bull markets have started in the autumn months
of September, October, and November.

5. Since 1957 there have been 15 bear markets, as measured from peak to trough, and on
average they have lasted 10 months and brought an average decline of 29.4%.

6. The duration and degree of these bear markets were significantly less than the duration
and magnitude of bull markets. During the same period, there were also 15 bull markets,
which lasted, on average, 30 months and brought average gains of 112.5%.

another Swap!

Shannon at the Nut House sent me an awesome box yesterday in my latest swap with Sunshine and Lemonade...

What I loved was that this was more like a round robin because I sent my favorite things to Insane Mama, but I got my favorite things from the Nut House....

so what did I get you ask...

my new favorite thing is the mini bowls from betty crocker... who knew i could have chocolate cake at only 150 calories... thanks Shannon! and we have so much in common... i love to write notes... insane mama got stationary, i love fun facts... and the socks came just in time because barefoot in the house season is over...

the places i've been...

I found this site that lets you map where you've been... looks like i need to spend some time in the south...

want to make your own? click here...

6 things....

thanks to google alerts i found one of my new stalkers... Life as We know it... and she tagged me to tell 6 things about me that you wouldn't already know... she did point out the obvious... i blog so you know a lot... here it goes... i chose the most random things...

1. in high school i chewed tobacco (random i know... not to mention GROSS)
2. my fondest memory of my dad is collecting snowflakes and taking their picture
3. i have twin brothers... one 6'7" and the other is 6'4" (I'm 5'10")
4. i took out a personal ad in '92 and dated one guy for a year and a half
5. i want to run for school board
6. i am over the top nostalgic

facebook....

i love how facebook helps you find obscure things... sort of like blog land...
so my brother has this clever company called Sharendipity... one of the games someone made with it is this one... just plain silly...

click below... and play...

Bombs Over Alaska

Help Sarah Palin protect the United States from Vladimir Putin!
See if you can make it to the bonus round!

wordless wednesday...

the forecast for the next 6 months...

don't forget that we do occasionally have this one...

rain, clouds, possible sun breaks... covers all the bases :)

The Washcloth

I get so many of these emails with stories to pass on... and rarely do I pass them on... last week i had 2 and this one was another not to be kept to myself...

Ladies, this has to be read, laughed at and passed on.

There is not a woman alive who won't crack up over this!
__________________________________

I was due for an appointment with the gynecologist later in the week. Early one morning, I received a call from the doctor's office to tell me that I had been rescheduled for that morning at 9:30 am. I had only just packed everyone off to work and school, and it was already around 8:45am. The trip to his office took about 35 minutes, so I didn't have any time to spare.

As most women do, I like to take a little extra effort over hygiene when making such visits, but this time I wasn't going to be able to make the full effort. So, I rushed upstairs, threw off my pajamas, wet the washcloth that was sitting next to the sink, and gave myself a
quick wash in that area to make sure I was at least presentable. I threw the washcloth in the clothes basket, donned some clothes, hopped in the car and raced to my appointment.


I was in the waiting room for only a few minutes when I was called in. Knowing the procedure, as I'm sure you do, I hopped up on the table, looked over at the other side of the room and pretended that I was in Paris or some other place a million miles away. I
was a little surprised when the doctor said, 'My, we have made an extra effort this morning, haven't we?'

I didn't respond.

After the appointment, I heaved a sigh of relief and went home. The rest of the day was normal .. some shopping, cleaning, cooking.

After school when my 6-year-old daughter was playing, she called out from the bathroom, 'Mommy, where's my washcloth?'

I told her to get another one from the cupboard.

She replied, 'No, I need the one that was here by the sink, it had all my glitter and sparkles saved inside it.'


I'm never going back to that doctor.

Ever.

ever wonder...

Three jobs I have had*
1. Waitress
2. car wash
3. cruise ship dish washer

*Three movies I would watch over and over * ... and have
1. American President
2. Love Actually
3. Cars ... only because C watches it every chance he gets

*Three places I have lived*
1. Romeo, MI
2. Brisol, RI
3. Noblesville, IN


*Three shows that I watch*
1. One tree Hill
2. Mythbusters
3. the jetsons

*Three places I have been*
1. Venice Italy
2. Lego Land
3. St Lucia

* My favorite foods*
1. Mexican
2. Pizza
3. Chocolate

*Three places I'd rather be right now*
1. Lego Land
2. My parents house
3. in bed

*Three things I am looking forward to this year*
1) end of my current sales forecast
2) fall colors
3) Christmas

portland...

my family came down on the train to have a birthday weekend with mom... this was a bonus train near the zoo...

it's my birthday...

So why not... share a favorite photo of me @ age 7....