Thursday, June 30, 2011

Patrick Swayze & Gift Cards



These two things may seem totally unrelated to you. Maybe they are but I'm going to make them relate. I am feeling a bit gipped on both counts and I'm missing both. Let me explain.


Last night I played the last dvd from the "North and South" series with Patrick Swayze. I was all excited for one last good round of '80s inspired post-civil war costumes and the drama-rama of the whole show. Then in the first scene, Orie Main is killed. I couldn't believe it. And it wasn't even Patrick. I paused the movie, went online and learned that this last part was filmed in the '90s, almost 10 years later and no Swayze. Sadness. And funny enough, all the actors have aged 10 years like they should in 10 years but the story is a continuation like it was a few months later. And we're worried about aging in our modern times. Those poor civil war folks.

Anyway, so I'm still watching it but we're missing one of the main characters, Orie Main. It's okay, I'll be alright. Sniff.

Another change is that one of Orie's cousins characters has changed actors as well. But this was a welcome surprise. If you've seen 'Friday Night Lights' and liked Coach Taylor... well, this is a 17 years younger coach taylor. I recognized him when he started yelling at his soldiers like he yells at his football players now. Same voice. Hilarious.

Now the giftcards. I had a whole slew of them in my wallet so I brought them all to the computer and started checking balances. One has $0.19 on it. Pretty sweet huh. I was all excited to hit Starbucks or Cruisin Coffee or Fred Meyer with all this found money... nope. On the positive, my wallet has a bit more room now.

So there you have it. No Patrick Swayze. No gift card money.

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

A Day to Forget

Or a day to remember... the one I don't want to do over again.

I know we all have hard days and we all have things that go wrong. I don't want to be the proverbial whiner but yesterday was a HARD day. It was so lame on so many levels, I don't even know where to begin.

Maybe in the morning...

So my dear husband has started a new job. It's an amazing job and full of potential for him. It's also high stress for the time being and requires a lot of hours away from home. And I've been testy about it. I knew it was going to be this way for about 1-2 months but it's still hard. So we had a not-so-lovely conversation as he was walking out the door, which we never do. It was so out of character for us that it ruined my morning. Like, totally ruined it. His too. (this makes me feel glad though... haha! At least we both didn't like it!!)

After that, I went to look at carpet for one of our rentals because Lowes was being completely useless in getting the carpet guy to set up an appointment with us. Local, local, local. Much better! I went to The Color Pot and they had a guy out to measure the same day and everything was looking up until we realized the carpet I'd picked (end of a roll) was 2 yards short for what we needed. But I think we've figured out a solution. But still.

On a happier note, my dearly beloved sister-in-law is expecting and has been looking all over craigslist land between my city and hers for a changing table that she can gussy up for her little girl. She found one here for such a great price so I also checked this out yesterday. It was perfect so I paid for it and left the table until I could bring our truck as it was much too big for my car. The seller was irritated that I wasn't taking it right away. Happy, happy.

This was all in the morning. Then Hudson napped. So did I.

When I woke up, I went online and randomly did some very basic searches on the domain name for the website my friend and I are about to launch. I don't know why I did this today but I'm sure glad now that I did. And not. I realized our name could cause some major legal issues. Don't ask me how we missed this earlier. But we have to change our domain name now... our perfect name, our brand. Gag me with a spoon. Like, seriously nauseous. And stressed. Because we've put so much work into our website and our logo and, and, and... now we have to make some changes that are kinda big. And you know when you bond with an idea? Well, we have to break-up now and it sucks.

The rest of my day was a mix of searching for about 6 hours for a new domain name that rocked as much as the one we now have to NOT use. Oh, and getting stuck in the driveway when I picked up the change table. I left serious ruts in their gravel... almost had Luke put our sleeping baby in the car to come and push my truck out. Sorry people for scarring your driveway. Again, they were irritated with me. YAY!

Then in a rush of cleaning before bed, I forgot that the plate on the counter was full of raw chicken juice. It splashed ALL OVER THE KITCHEN. All over... the floor, the counters, cabinets, Hudson's open toy drawer, Luke's cell phone... ugh. I don't know about you but not much grosses me out more than chicken juice. By this time, I was talking like a pirate and not sorry about it. My poor husband. I love him for loving me. Despite the salmonella bacteria on his phone that he regularly holds against his face. Ha! We did clean it with a q-tip but yucky still!!

So that was my day. Maybe a tame day for some of you but for me... high stress, hide under a rock kind of day. So I would like to forget it ever happened and make today a good day! Today is paying for the carpet day (this can be good or bad, depending on how I look at it! ha!!), clean the house day, website meeting day, straighten my hair day. And North & South tonight. This is another post altogether. But just to give you a little teaser... Patrick Swayze, 80's hair, The South, Civil War. Oh yes!

I'm going to end my blog post with this thought because it usually makes most people I know happy.

Patrick Swazye. ;-)

Monday, June 27, 2011

Baby Technology




Being that it's 2011, we have a computer. I don't really know how we'd function on many levels without one these days. I pay bills, check email, live on Facebook and Twitter plus all the blogs I love to read. Any random question I have... Google it! Remember those encyclopedia sets people used to have? Google is my encyclopedia! Yesterday, I discovered that something was eating all of my peas in the garden so I went online and I now know that it's some kind of bird and went to Lowes and purchased some netting. Case closed. Thank-you Google!

Anyway, this post really isn't about Google. It's about Hudson, my little guy. He's growing up, seeing Mama and Daddy at the computer doing all sorts of random things and he assumes that if we're using it, he must be able to as well. Yesterday it was quiet (usually means something is UP!) so I peaked around the corner and sweet little Hudbud was clicking away with the mouse with one hand while the other one furiously typed on the keyboard. Cute but not really. Because all these windows were popping up. He was updating our network connections, getting ready to scan something and a bunch of other stuff. Agh!!!! But it's natural for him to want to use the computer because he sees us using it everyday.

So, I have this plan! I am going to buy him his very own baby laptop. I found one that's a bit mature for him but it's got all the typing buttons so he can feel like he's using the computer without wrecking ours! I like these ones!

I like this one. The mouse is a "must have" for Hudson.

I think I might like this one a little bit better but I did hear that Vtech isn't as durable as Leap Frog. But it's got a little screen so it might still be a better option for us. We'll see!

Well, that's all for now. Time to wake up the baby and head out on errands. Happy Day!

Friday, June 24, 2011

Higher Maintenance


Well, I cut my hair.

The basic style is still the same but I did go for the bangs. I'm glad I made the decision to cut them but waking up this morning... I already know it's going to be more work. But since I already have to blow dry and flat iron my hair every time I wash it already, what's a couple more minutes? I should have posted a photo of my hair yesterday... then you'd see what happens if I don't do all this. Frizz city.

Don't you marvel at people who have a natural wave to their hair? I do. The kind of hair where you can glop something into it when it's wet and it'll dry looking so right? If I do that, I have one big shwoop on the right side of my head and a couple of rebellious bunches at the back. It never looks good. This isn't just my opinion either. I have asked (note: ASKED) for very honest feedback from my husband and he's thoroughly agreed. Ha!

Anyway, here's a just home from the salon photo of front and side.

Ever so slight angle.

And bangs. Pardon the lame photo... long day!

One last comment though. I took about 4 photos of the front view of my bangs and I look like a completely different person in each photo. Huh. Hence the reason I usually avoid photos... I can't count on looking remotely normal in most of them. You may disagree but again, I've asked hubby Luke for an honest opinion and he's agreed again!

Anyway, go cut your hair. Do something different. It's just hair and if you don't love LOVE it, it'll grow out eventually. Just wear a hat in the meantime! But you might just LOOOOOVE it! It's worth a shot!

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Roots


I love roots. Tree roots, if I may clarify. They are so fascinating. When you see a tall tree reaching high into the sky, it's easy to forget that there are roots that probably reach at least the same distance into the ground. These roots hold the tree firmly on the earth, feed and nourish its branches and help the tree to product fruit. It's amazing. And they're just really pretty. I love this photo.

However, trees are not the reason for this post today. I also have a lot in common with this tree. I have roots too. Really horrible, WAY past due roots. And there's where our commonalities stop. My roots are not beautiful, nor do they feed me and made me productive. Mine are a sad sign of my motherhood and my own personal neglect.

Sob, whine, waaaaaaaahhhhhh. Bahahahaha!

Okay, enough pity party. My hair isn't SO bad because my hair stylist is good at blending my "real" color with my highlights but seriously, it's not pretty. It's been about a month past what most would even consider socially acceptable. And the only reason I say all of this is because tonight at 5pm, I am escaping to get my hair cut and colored. And an eyebrow wax. You're welcome, world.

I'll post a picture when it's done if I like it. I'm considering a big daring, live dangerous change. I think I may get some bangs. Like the straight across kind and maybe heavy ones. It's scary because it's not something you can really hide if you loathe the way it looks. I may wimp out or go for something a little less "big change" but then again, I might just do it. I've chopped my hair to a pixie cut from really long and I've tried just about everything in between so I'm no stranger to the no-turning-back haircut.

My only hesitation these days when I think of anything to do with hair is... how long will this take me to style and will it be high maintenance. See, I have this time consuming little boy now and it makes the beautification of Mommy a leetle bit more difficult. So we'll see.

But let's all celebrate together that my hair and that tree will no longer be bobsy twins. Happy Thursday to you!

Monday, June 20, 2011

De-luscious!

I am a sucker for my sweet boy. I hesitate to call him my "baby" boy although I still do every single day... he's just almost not a baby anymore. More a toddler. He toddles. And he runs.

He runs up and down our hallways, around and 'round the kitchen "circle" and basically, I could sit and stare at him all day long, because he's so stinkin' cute. Sorry for the gushy Mama talk here but it's just going to be part of what I write about.

This photo is so great to me for a hundred reasons but mostly, I just like the subject. And the colors... I didn't edit this photo one bit. Somehow it all just worked out perfectly but I've since figured out that Hudson basically looks amazing in any photo taken in our bedroom. He just coordinates really well with the wall color. Ha! Poor son of mine to have me for a Mom. Someday I'm sure these observations will give him a nice reason to eye roll. I shall paint my whole house to coordinate with my children... actually, I won't.

Also, the fact that I'm going to mention that he's cuddling with two of his bears, saying 'oooooh' and giving them big kisses on the nose... these are also reasons he may one day marvel that I am his Mom. Such nerve to mention this on a public blog. Sorry sweet baby boy. If he needs to write a "dear Abby" or maybe a "dear God" kind of letter to vent, I am okay with this. But for now, I'm not going to worry! I'm just going to post this and read it again someday when he's older and sigh a big happy Mommy sigh, remembering his sweet toddler-hood.

Since You're Reading...

I might as well write.

I haven't blogged in forever and ever but I've noticed that people keep coming and reading so maybe I shall write again. I always have something to talk about... probably not very meaningful most of the time but hey, it's my life.

Since my baby is sleeping, today I will blog.

In our neck of the woods, it's cloudy and cloudy and cloudy. It's been this way for much too long. We actually almost broke a record for the most days below 70 degrees in a row for our area. It's been that sad. My garden is laboring to stay alive, the weed are thriving in the rain that is our life and I am not so inspired. I need SUN.

But plenty going on. I'm actually in the process of starting a new website with a friend of mine so there will be more on that soon! My husband quit his job but started a new one too! I walked to Starbucks today with a friend and I will probably read my moldy book as soon as I finish writing.

Moldy book? Well, we did have a small amount of sun one afternoon and I ended up reading in the hammock outside. After awhile, I got up, left my book and forgot about it for days. And on all of those days, it rained. So now there is mold on my book but I'm halfway through it and I'm pushing through. My husband thinks it's gross. He could learn a thing or two about perseverance though, if you want my honest opinion.

So that's all I have for today. Well, not really but I'm running out of nap time for reading. So have a lovely day!