A Bonnie Life!

New blog

2011-08-15T12:12:00.000-07:00

I haven't been around here much lately. But guess what! You can find me HERE!

www.ohdinner.com is my new venture with my friend Danielle that will be open for business as of this Friday (August 19th). We'll be blogging from there for awhile. I may be back here once we get the swing of things on the business end but for now.... let's just put a big "PAUSE" on abonnielife. I'll still be tweeting my brains out on Twitter - @abonnielife so if you're looking for some nonsense, check me out there!

Birthday Week!

2011-07-27T21:55:00.000-07:00

My birthday is tomorrow. Since tomorrow is only hours away, it's almost, almost my birthday!! I love my birthday.

This year, I love my birthday a lot! This year, my husband informed me on Sunday night that I would be having my birthday all week long. At this point, I must remind you to read my post about HIS birthday... and how he always raises the bar for mine. He's done it again! He has been responsible for all the cooking, I have been sleeping in every morning while he gets up with our son, and he's taken care of bath/bedtime every evening too! It's been like a mini-vacation. Not once have I wished I could take a nap this week... that's one for the record books. On top of all this, here's what has happened so far this week...

Monday: We had Mahi Mahi fish tacos with a special sauce he made. Then he had a movie for us to watch and gave me a footrub! That's a GOOD man! ha!

Tuesday: He had pre-marinated short ribs and we had that along with mashed potatoes and veggies for dinner. After dinner, he announced that he was "at my service" until 9pm to do anything around the house that I wanted done. You'd be surprised at how fast I came up with a list! Pictures hung, a/c installed, towel hooks installed, garage tidied... it was the BEST!!!!

Wednesday: Dear husband tells me in the morning to have a diaper bag packed for the little by 4:30pm. So I wonder, what could we be doing today? He arrives home from work at 4pm and tells me that he's taking Hudson for a run and then to get pizza while Frythe (best massage therapist in the world!!) comes to our house and I get a massage. I swoon. Love my man. And then he times dinner perfectly that I'm literally just done my massage when he walks in the door with pizza from a really yummy place in town! And movie again, while we eat blizzards!

Thursday: I'm not so sure what will happen for this day as it's my birthday. I don't have any hints or clues. I do know he'll be working all day but then maybe we'll do something at night? Or maybe not. I have no clue. I love it but I don't. I like to figure it out so I've been obnoxious with questions. No hints.

I'll let you know when I find out!

A Bad History with Golf

2011-07-20T16:27:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time, I was dating Luke, who is now my husband. One day, we were planning our next full day together since we lived in different countries... well, really only a 40 minute drive so it's not THAT big of a deal. But we didn't see each other every single day or even every other day being that we were both students and working as well. Anyways, we decided that we would go golfing on our big day together and then have a little bbq on the beach at Semiahmoo to watch the sunset. Sounds like a great day right!

I arrived at his house and we started out at Homestead Golf & Country Club to warm up at the driving range. "Warm up" is a relative term since I had only 1 other experience on a golf course in middle school which involved me throwing my golf ball more than I actually hit it. It's something I don't really want to talk about. So, we get out there and I line up my first ball, feeling hopeful. I swing. Miss. I swing again. Miss. What happens next? Yup, miss again. It was really frustrating. I kept missing while some show-off next to me was hitting balls over 300 yards every time. In fact, every person there was hitting their balls WAAAAAAAY into the distance, except for me. I got mad, attempted another swing, jammed my wrist, started crying and this became the WORST beginning to the day that Luke would propose to me. Of course, I had not a clue.

It's a mild understatement to say that Luke was worried. This day was supposed to be perfect. He had it all planned. After the driving range, our plan was to head to a small golf course in Everson that was $10/person and doesn't exist anymore. I hoped things would get better once we started to play. They had to. Well, they didn't. By the 4th hole I was pissed. Mad is too gentle for how I was feeling. By the 7th hole, I was crying with sunglasses on. Needless to say, Hole #7 was my last for the day. I walked the rest of the course and Luke pretended to not be panicking that this day was spiraling downwards fast.

Little note: When I was younger, I took myself WAY too seriously, was very hard on myself and hated not doing everything perfect the 1st time. Sometimes I still fall into that rut but I've learned to laugh at myself and do it often. It's made life much easier!

Well, long story shorter, the day did get better. We bought food for the beach, had a great little bbq, he proposed, I said yes and we're coming up on 9 years married this August. So even if your proposal day is not working out well, your marriage still might be okay.

My only real regret about the day was what I was wearing (I dressed for playing golf, being on the beach after sunset, etc), zero make-up and bad hair after being outside and angry all afternoon. Our family and close friends all showed up to celebrate on the beach after Luke proposed. Everyone was dressed so nicely since they had some notice of our engagement party. I, on the other hand, looked not so nice. I cringe when I see the photos. I'm not making this up... my brothers laugh when they see the photos. But even though I say all that, I truly cherish the entire day and every single detail of it. The bad golfing, the tears, the great food, beautiful ring, bad outfit. All of it. And the amazing man that asked me to marry him. He's the best part of this whole story!

I will say though, he was pretty confident to invite everyone to the beach BEFORE he asked me. What if I'd said no?

Selling Cars

2011-07-16T13:36:00.000-07:00

We are selling our car... again. It's not the first time it's been up for sale. This time, it's priced to sell.

Historically, we have a terrible record of buying and selling... emotional buys that we cannot afford, cars with problems, big losses on trade-ins, etc. Does anyone else have this problem? So our decision to sell the car gives me some butterflies and not the romantic kind. More like the nervous, maybe we should keep it kind. This car has been very good to us and gets awesome gas mileage. However, we do own it outright and if we sell both our vehicles, we can get a really great deal on the SUV we are hoping to buy and a little commuter car for my honey and bank a bunch of cash.

And to be honest, although this is a nice looking, happy car it wasn't really a "love" car for me. We got this because we had an aging car that had all sorts of BIG issues (aka, $$$) and a trade got us out of that problem. While I say that I've never loved this car, it's grown on me big time. I like the way it looks, it's great to drive and it's been problem-free. The biggest reason to sell it is that Luke is selling his truck and we need something that can fit bigger things... so it's an SUV for me. We've got our eye on a few that still have great gas mileage. Soooooo.... that's all.

It's not a funny kind of day today, if you haven't noticed. Just a busy one so I'll finish this blog, get to work and maybe I'll have something funnier to say tomorrow. :-) Oh! I will tell you about the golf mishaps that I mentioned the other day. It's kind of sad/funny/wowbonnie so hopefully you'll check it out.

The Sweet Life

2011-07-15T13:21:00.000-07:00

Well, it's Friday. A busy one for our house so this is a short and sweet little post. Pardon the crumbo picture quality... cell phone. (even though it's 8 mega-pixels, it never looks quite as good as my camera. But it's what I had.)

I just thought I'd share Hudson's first tastes of Strawberry Shortcake. With heaps of whipped cream.

He stuffed his face full of it until the plate was clean, then attempted to lick the plate. It was a proud moment for both of his parents. It's funny how simple things like seeing your child enjoy something good can make life a little sweeter.

Happy Friday!

Golf, Profanities and other fun things

2011-07-13T14:56:00.000-07:00

Last Friday was my husband's birthday. I had this surprise day planned for him with all sorts of activities that he loves! Each step of the day was revealed in an envelope with some but not all the information just to keep him guessing.

When our little guy woke up, I informed him that I would be in charge of all diapers for the day and to go back to sleep. No argument from him! Then I woke him at 7:30am (yes, this is sleeping in!) and gave him his first envelope. Basically, you have 50 minutes to get ready because we are leaving at exactly 8:20am and driving to a mystery destination for breakfast. He was ready at 8:20am. So prompt, my honey is.

He figured out about 1 block from his Mom's house that we were heading there for breakfast. The next envelope contained instructions to look in the trunk of our car and a promise from me to NOT get too frustrated. (this is a LONG story and I will post tomorrow all about it!) He found his golf clubs in the car and said he'd kinda guessed that when he read my promise. So we headed off, sans Hudson, to a 9-hole golf course that Luke likes to play at and had ourselves a good game.

Luke didn't get the ball in from WAY over there. Sorry to throw you under the bus, hon...

This was at our 2nd hole. I was feeling the good form. Actually, I learned it was bad form... but whatever. I was trying hard and behaving quite well for being out in public.

This didn't last long. I can't help but misbehave in places where you're supposed to be good.

I didn't point this at anyone though. It was mostly for shock effect.

Basically, we had a GREAT time! I learned that I'm not anywhere near a pro at golf. Not even a semi-pro. We actually agreed that my official title would be "quarter-amateur" which is a little disappointing for me but I did hit a 63 on 9 holes, not counting the hits I didn't count because of our "special" rules. Basically, I suck.

The rest of the day included lunch from Avenue Bread (YUM!!!), a massage for Luke while I prepared for his birthday party and then a party with great friends and family, more food that an elephant could eat and a heated croquet tournament. And yes, tempers were lost. In a good way...

So that's that. There actually aren't any profanities or other things in this post. It's mostly about golf. And Luke's birthday, which was awesome! I just figured you'd be more likely to read it if I had a naughty title. Sorry.

P.S. The reason for my GREAT efforts every year on Luke's birthday is that my own birthday is 20 days later and when I raise the bar high, he always goes a little bit farther for mine! Happy Birthday to me! ;-)

P.P.S. What was the best surprise you've ever had for your birthday?

Act Your Age

2011-07-12T13:42:00.000-07:00

This is just a short post today. I'm busy figuring out some PayPal issues for the fabled website that I keep talking about. Yes, it does exist and yes, it will be something you can see someday. Soooomedaaaaay, over the rainbow... dah, dah, daaaaaaaaaah...

Anyway, I picked up our mail today and there was this big envelope for me with "Act Your Age" across the front of it. "Welcome to the one magazine for women who love to act their age." I figured that something might be wrong right away when I opened it up and read from the editor... "I have a confession to make... I still feel like I'm 25." Okay, pause.

I know that most people still feel like they're 25... my Great Grandma said she still felt 25 at 80... but I'm not that far away from 25. I'm 30. Well, actually almost 31... in 16 days. So with this said, I think that MORE magazine might have their mailing list wrong or may have made me a different age than I am. And when I say all this, please don't read what I'm NOT saying. I am not saying that being older is bad. When I am in my 40s, 50s and 60s, I plan to rock my age, have a great time and savor every single moment of those years. But I want to savor the years I am in right now. Like the ones where you can still remember specific events from your 25th year. lol.

So what magazine should I be reading? I don't know. What do you read if you're a Mom and somewhere after 25 and before 40? I don't have the 18 year old body of the magazines I used to read. My belly is still figuring out where to put all the extra stretch that it experienced over a year ago. But I also have yet to experience the "newfound freedom" of my kids leaving the nest. I don't want to rush on to that either. So what do I read? Home decorating magazines, Parenting magazines. Maybe a fashion magazine or People every now and again but that's about it. MORE magazine even gave me a free subscription a couple of years ago and I couldn't figure out what anything in it was about... I couldn't really relate to much in it.

So DEAR MORE magazine: stop sending me stuff.

Signed,
Give me 10 years and we'll talk again.

Your junk... My treasure

2011-07-11T14:00:00.000-07:00

I have recently taken up the garage-sale torch this summer. Just for a couple of weekends now but it's been really fun figuring out where to go, leaving the house early and searching for treasures.

Mostly, there's just lots of junk and sometimes I marvel at what some people pay real money for to take home... pure junk. But I learned today that maybe the things that I fall in love with might just be junk to someone else. A friend of my Mom's from Canada stopped by today to pick up something she'd had mailed to my house (no shipping to Canada from Amazon) and she noticed the new pieces of furniture I'd purchased over the past couple of weeks. The dining room and entry are now mostly redecorated except for a couple of accents and pictures. I was feeling really happy about it all...

And then she asked me if I liked the table I had moved from another area in my home. This table was $25 and I consider it a "steal"... I think it's pretty and funky and fun. So of course, my answer was yes. Her response was this: "Well, I think that is the most ugly thing I have ever seen in my life." Awkward silence.

You know when you have that shocked moment after someone says something you didn't ever expect? Well, I had that moment. Ever heard of a filter? And I was most surprised because this friend of my Mom's is a dear, sweet woman and quite nice to talk to. She just hates all my furniture. (insert laugh here) Her friend was also along and she suggested that I paint all the things I've purchased recently. I like to paint furniture and maybe I will someday but it will be because I want to change colors, not because there's something terribly wrong with these things. So I changed the subject and sent them on their way.

And then I called Suz (aka, friend, hubby step-mom) to ask if my taste was terrible. She said it's an age thing... Sometimes older people (not, ALL) around 65 or older just don't dig this style (and it's fine if you don't!) and not to worry. So I will introduce you to my happy new treasures and not worry if you're gagging and laughing because I like them!

This is my entry. The chairs were $2 each. The dresser was $10. I used to have a big black clock in that corner but it's in our dining room now. The brown frame was a throw-away from an old tenant of ours and I'm going to staple in burlap or brown linen and make it a frame for 2 black and whites on the wall behind.

The toolbox was $1. It's waiting for some little pots of flowers.

Little tarnished silver dish: $2. Love.

The little table: $25 It's perfection to me.

And here's the ugliest thing on the planet. My table. We've been together for almost 8 years now.

So I know I've just shown you pictures of all sorts of older things. My whole house is not like this. I've got modern thrown in and contemporary staples too. I just like some old thrown in for charm and whatever else. And hopefully, when I get to go hunting for treasures again, you will not like the things I want and leave them for me to find!

But apparently, furniture is banned from any future trips, according to my husband. I beg to differ.

Where from... Writing about...

2011-07-09T13:47:00.000-07:00

I was looking at the stats from my blog and since most of the people I know live in the USA or Canada, with the exception of a few in other parts of the world, I was really surprised to see some people checking out my blog from all corners of the globe. So fun to have you reading! I'm sorry if my blog is odd and rambling at times... it's like my personality in words. Odd and rambling.

I'm just curious if anyone who's reading has a blog as well. Where are you from? What do you write about? I'd love to check out your blogs and do some posts featuring some of you. That's all for today.

Oh, and we celebrated the love of my life's birthday yesterday... too busy to post yesterday so... Happy Birthday Luke. I love you and I'm so glad that we're living life together. There's nobody I'd rather do the journey with. xo.

Birthday Frenzy... and Fox Pee

2011-07-07T09:42:00.000-07:00

So, weird title, yes? Well, nevermind you and keep reading.

Luke's cousin or my cousin-in-law Jodi, who also happens to be a really great blogger that you should probably read (www.jodimichelle.com) posted a comment on my gardening blog. She had some sage wisdom about rabbits and how to make them stay away from the garden. Apparently, fox pee works magic. So random... but not really.

Foxes are predators. Bunnies do not like predators. Huh.

My brain, of course, then wonders how I get fox pee? Do I get a pet fox and take him out for his dailies out in the garden? Is there such a thing as a fox pee farm? Sorry... Ha! Actually, you can buy boxes of pee powder. The wonders of modern technology. You can actually get pee from coyote, mountain lions, bobcat and bobcat, if you ever need some kind of predator scent. Lovely. So I'm going to get myself some of this magical powder and see if I get a single leaf of lettuce. It's maddening.

Moving right along...

It's my husband Luke's birthday tomorrow. He's going to be all of 29 years old. Such a young soul. I have a big day planned for him but I can't say anything about it until after his big day since he reads this blog. But he does know we're having a little bbq tomorrow and I have a TON of food to make. Potato salad, Quinoa salad and Pioneer Woman's pasta salad plus an ice cream cake that is kind of an experiment.

I want to do a 7 layer cake with cake pop mix for the cakey part. I googled whether cake pops taste good frozen and people said yes, but I'm going to go buy a cake pop from Starbucks today and pop it into the freezer and try it out for myself. If it's good, I'll go ahead with my plan. Cake pop mix, vanilla ice cream, fudge topping, chocolate cookies, chocolate ice cream, cake pop mix and then frosting... all in a lasagna pan so it can be nice and thick! YUM!

These are cake pops:

If you want to try making them, go to www.bakerella.com

So now that it's 9:34am and I am still in old bleach spotted sweatpants, I need to end this and get something a little less ghetto to wear and head to the store. Lots of food to buy, lots of cooking today. And lots of fun tomorrow!

GASP, changes.

2011-07-06T15:22:00.000-07:00

Wow. It's amazing how little I know. About a lot of stuff.

But especially about websites and design and what makes people want to want your stuff. Today I learned just how much I don't know. I'm like an overdrawn bank account... a negative balance.

Thankfully, this is not the end of the story though! My husband Luke happens to work with someone who is a nationally recognized expert in all things social/websites/marketing and he sat down with me today to give some feedback on the website my friend and I are building. Don't ask me how we got this lucky but now we know we've got to make some changes.

Layout changes, learning changes, changes, changes, changes. Pardon the ramble.

Basically, you get the picture. Changes. I was overwhelmed for a bit but after processing it all, I'm so ready to run with it. I'm super motivated to learn whatever I need to in order to make our project as success. For some, change is really hard but I kinda like change and having to adapt and be challenged.

So I'm going to wipe the big "duh" off my forehead and get to work. Hopefully we'll have something really great to show off sometime in the near future.

My Not-So-Little Problem

2011-07-05T09:17:00.000-07:00

Gardening has always been something I want to be good at. "Want to be" being the operative here. Our flowers are looking okay this year so I'm just going to sit back and chill out about that. However, I did plant another veggie garden this year, in the hopes of doing it the right way. We got the right soil, I ordered organic veggie starts and set up a good watering system so they didn't die from my apparent lack of motivation to drag the hose across the yard. I even set up an alarm on my phone to remind me to water the garden. So we planted. And waited...

Things were starting to grow really well for a bit and then one day, I went to check on my little project and... all the lettuce was nibbled... down to stubs. I was kinda mad. Then about 2 days later, the peas and green beans were all eaten down to about 4 inches from the ground. I was SO mad at this point... what could possibly be eating my veggies?

And two days ago, I checked again and all 4 bell pepper plants have been eating completely. Gone. Blood pressure check... pissed. Before the bell pepper demolition, someone had suggested birds since they like to nibble lettuce and beans so I bought netting. But obviously a bird isn't going to snarf down 4 entire plants in 1 night. I wasn't sure who could be doing this.

Until this morning.

The hose was not connected because we'd mowed the lawn yesterday so I went to hook it back up and noticed a very health, very well-fed bunny rabbit trying to hustle out of our yard as I was walking towards the garden. So now we know it's a bunny. He or she bunny was CHUNKY. I'm assuming my plants have been quite delicious since we will never know ourselves at this point.

So what do we do??? Kill the bunny? Trap the bunny? How do you keep one of those things out of your yard?? I'll be googling. I don't think I could kill it. "Furry, fuzzy, cute" ... all words that don't really work well for me in the same sentence as "kill".

So that's the problem for today. What do we do with the adorable bunny who's eating my garden?

We Got One!!

2011-07-03T17:08:00.000-07:00

It's filling up with water as I type this!! The only thing is... if you come over, those people will not be there swimming. Sorry if this is disappointing for you.

Patrick Swayze & Gift Cards

2011-06-30T09:08:00.000-07:00

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.

A Day to Forget

2011-06-29T08:58:00.000-07:00

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. ;-)

Baby Technology

2011-06-27T08:53:00.000-07:00

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!

Higher Maintenance

2011-06-24T09:05:00.000-07:00

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!

Roots

2011-06-23T09:15:00.000-07:00

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!

De-luscious!

2011-06-20T17:36:00.000-07:00

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...

2011-06-20T14:16:00.001-07:00

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!

New Year's Resolutions

2011-01-12T14:35:00.000-08:00

Who made some? I didn't. I don't know why, I just didn't.

I usually do make some kind of resolution for the new year but this year, my goals are the same as last year. Get out of credit card debt and have more fun. All the other stuff can wait. Getting in shape never really happens no matter how "resolute" I feel on New Years so it's better to save myself the disappointment. Wise woman. Yes, I know.

Anyway, all I wanted to say in this post is this: My friend Diane made the best New Year's Resolution of ALL TIME and I wanted to share it with you. She's committed to baking a cake a week for the next year. 52 cakes. And she's going to eat them. With help of course!

You can follow her blog about her adventures in baking at cakebakingmama.blogspot.com. And then bake and eat along! We'll all get rounder together!

Happy baking!

Well, hello there winter, ice and general freezing my knickers weather!

2010-11-23T09:07:00.000-08:00

I haven't blogged in a bit but I just looked at my last post and it was all about the winter we're supposed to be getting this year. As in, the winter we're already experiencing today. It's FREEZING!!!!!! Really chilly and windy just to add a bit of excitement... ?

It's just cold.

And to top off the joys of really cold weather, I'm sort of stuck at home. As I've mentioned many times before, our house is on a steep hill and my husband forgot to drive his truck down before the snow/ice became an issue so he's driving my car to work. Thus, I am stuck. However, I don't really imagine myself carrying Hudson up and down my driveway in this weather anyway. So we're at home. And we're warm so I'm glad!

A positive of my predicament is that my house is VERY tidy right now! No little piles to be seen, laundry all done and I actually think I'm going to do something "fun" today. (fun in quotations because this is relative and the fact that I'm stuck really limits what I can actually do for fun. ha ha!) Maybe bake with loads of butter or watch a movie while Hudson naps this afternoon. We'll see. I wish I had a good book right now... I'd be reading all day. Oh well.

In other news, I just watched a 17 minute Youtube video interview with Prince William and the future Mrs. Kate Middleton. I don't know how much you really care about this and in the grand scheme, I don't care TOO much but it's kind of fun to see them get engaged. Since I'm Canadian, I was raised with some awareness of the British royal family... and I had the Princess Diana paper doll set... yeah, I know, big deal!! ;-) I was a big fan of the wedding dress with poofy sleeves for my paper princess. And that blue gown that matched her saphire ring. And then my brothers wrecked it all. At least I imagine they did because it's not in my life anymore and I can't imagine that I would've voluntarily gotten rid of this stuff.

So I'm going to plan on watching the wedding on April 29th because it'll be on tv and it'll be beautiful, I'm sure! But I must say that I'm really glad that I'm married to a really regular guy with a totally non-public life... who wants to be scrutinized that much?? Not I. Nope. And for those of you who know me well, I'm sure if I had a "public" life, I'd say something terrible that'd be criticized for generations so it's just better this way.

It's something we can all be thankful for. (roll of the eyes... yes, you may as well!)

Okay, enough ramble. I'm thinking banana bread with chocolate chips to start of this day off right. Then maybe a spoonful of Nutella to keep my spirits up before moving onto some kind of cookie.

A Winter Weather Preview

2010-11-11T12:46:00.001-08:00

(Or just a prediction from other people.)

Check this out!

Hmmmmm.

I've read a few different resources regarding this prediction and they're all saying it. Below normal temperatures for the Pacific Northwest.

Have you seen my drive-way? Have you seen my dog?

Both are reasons for me to tremble in my boots. Because my drive-way is a "blue" ski run and my dog is a wimp.

Even more concerning, I have this baby... you know, the one born last March? When it's snowy or icy or even threatening either of these conditions, we park at the bottom of the driveway. The thought of climbing up and down with Hudson sounds so perfectly awful to me... I can imagine a lot of "at home" days where we slowly go crazy from cabin fever and I succumb to the television. And food.

After I typed that, I got a craving for brownies. I think I'm gonna go make some!

Such a Lovely Book

2010-11-08T09:40:00.000-08:00

Before Hudson was born I received this wonderful book from my friend Sarah. It was such a thoughtful gift and made me cry the first time (and many times since...) I read it. It's called "You are My Miracle" and is so sweet plus it has the best illustrations. Who loves good drawings in kid's books? Me!!!

Here's the cover of the book. Beautiful.

See those little animals? They're on every page!!

The story is sweet... sigh.

After Hudson was born, I would read this to him and sob. Over and over again.

Because although ALL children truly are a miracle... Hudson really sort of was and because of this, I love this story for special reasons.

So thanks Sarah for being so thoughtful to buy this book for us before Hudson was even on the horizon. It will always be my favorite, no matter what other books I love over the years.

Uncle Steve!

2010-11-07T12:40:00.000-08:00

Before I start writing about Uncle Steve, I have to say I was playing around with blog settings and it's just messed up right now. Sorry. And for the life of me, I cannot get my photos any bigger than they are which is really, REALLY annoying.

Okay, here I go!

My brother Steve has been gone since September 12 to the other side of the pond... aka: Europe. He went for a semester of Art History to build his portfolio to get into a Graduate program in Architecture. Blah, blah, blah. Yes, I'm jealous. Yes, I'm sure it was amazing. Yes, he bought me something. Okay, I don't know if that last statement is true yet... but it'd better be true.

Something FABULOUS. Tres chic. EUROTRASH awesome. YES!

Pardon my momentary lapse in decorum. Ahem. Let's continue.

So Steve has returned to his ultra lame and drab un-european art history educated family and we're going to my mom's house for dinner today to see him. (disclaimer: I took 4 classes in art history, we've all been to europe at some point but not for as long as him... just saying...) Anyway, I'm excited! He hasn't seen Hudson since the crawling and the baby-shouting and the eating solids and a whole of other other things have happened! I know it'll be great to re-unite Uncle to Nephew today!

And my mom is making her chocolate custard pie which is amazing. And totally non-fat, zero calorie. You wish. Okay, I wish...

So with that, I need to go. Time to grab passports, shoes, baby and go!

Have a nice day!

What to do...

2010-11-05T11:37:00.001-07:00

I'm in this kind of weird spot today.

Well, first of all, I'm on day 5.5 of feeling like a bucket full of poop so it's a miracle I'm even on the computer. I think the fact that I've been holed up inside my house for days is excuse enough to want to blog... to feel like I'm actually communicating with the "outside" world. So I'm listening to Anthony Skinner, playing peek-a-boo with my little guy and blogging. For now, at least.

It's amazing how much cold/flu season totally isolates Moms. We stay home to keep our sicknesses away from our friends and their kids and in the process, we lose the very vital and valuable time to socialize and "normalize" away from the never-ending lists of "to dos" in our homes. I think on this Friday, 3 of my friends or their kids are sick and at home. Good times abound.

This has nothing to do with what I was planning to blog about.

Here's what I was really going to blog about: Christmas.

It's November 5th. I know some of you are already dragging out the rubbermaid containers of Christmas junk/treasures and getting into HOLIDAY MODE! I always wait until after Thanksgiving for a couple of reasons.

1. Thanksgiving is such a great holiday in and of itself and I don't want to take away from it with all the focus on the holidays that come after it. And this holiday is pretty novel for me still, since I've only moved the USA in 2002 and thus, began to celebrate "American" Thanksgiving. In case you didn't know, Canadians have a Thanksgiving in October. (My husband strongly recommends marrying a Canadian to cash in on another turkey dinner each year... ha!) And I love Thanksgiving for the fact that it's really a totally non-materialistic holiday. The entire celebration is focused on food, which is one of the BEST parts of life. Is it not?

2. Because of my Canadian roots, in my family we never considered it really "appropriate" to decorate for Christmas until December 1st. I'm sure that's changed for a lot of people but growing up, people waited. December was the beginning of that season, with the advent calendar to count down with us! And in our family, we always had a fresh tree so getting it too early would just mean a dried out fire hazard by Christmas morning. So, because I live in the states now where it's much more acceptable for me to decorate earlier than December 1st, I start the day after Thanksgiving! YAY!

So with this in mind, I'm looking forward to Christmas but I'm waiting until after Thanksgiving to drag out my (11??) boxes of Christmas decor. Or rather, Luke will drag them out while rolling his eyes and exclaiming about how ridiculous it is that we have all of this stuff. But he quickly stops complaining when our home is all festive and beautifully decorated... which is usually days later, as it takes me some time. Probably weeks later, now that Hudson is in our home!

Anyway, Christmas has some interesting implications for our family this year. Some special, and some... not so special. The most exciting this is that it's Hudson's first Christmas! I am so excited to see his face when we light and decorate our tree! He's so observant so I'm sure it'll be great fun!!

The less exciting part will be that we're really dedicated to getting out of debt, even during the Christmas season, which means... we're not really doing gifts. Or maybe not a lot... I think? Luke and I haven't talked about it yet. But it's just the way it is this year. Purely by choice so it's not completely depressing but still... I have a big list of things I would love to buy for Luke and Hudson this year.

But whatever. Life is good, regardless of "stuff" and focusing on relationship during the holidays is meaningful enough for me this year! However, I do LOVE giving good things to people that I LOVE so if you're doing the gift thing, have fun!!!! Give them with joy! Give, give, give!!! But also, give love and thankfulness and thoughtfulness, and time and yummy baked treats and hugs and kisses and romance (just to one person... lol) and deep heart things too! And those are probably the things we'll be giving a lot more of this year! And I'm okay with that! Because next year we'll not owe a cent to anyone except our dear mortgage company (ha ha!) and I will be fully embracing my shopping list! With both hands and probably even a big kiss!

I'll probably blog a lot about the holidays during the holidays... if you like, read! Here are a few photos from Christmas 3 years ago in our home. I'll post other years on other days.

Oh, how I love a lighted tree!

I decorated our tree mainly in red and black. It changes every year...

This ornament was a gift from Luke's mom when we were engaged because we were "counting down the days/hours/minutes" until our wedding day!

In case you were wondering, Grandiflora in Lynden is THE BEST PLACE EVER to buy Christmas tree ornaments. I buy a few new ones every year. They're just gorgeous! Happy Friday.

Important Light Update

2010-10-28T13:30:00.000-07:00

Well, I guess maybe it's not that important.

Last night the lights worked! The sun was out and shining all day long and we had lights! But today it's cloudy again. It was nice while it lasted.

:-)

Where I Live.

2010-10-27T12:15:00.000-07:00

Our house is situated on a hill and our driveway is like a "blue" rated ski slope. It's steep to back down in a car. Or walk up. Pregnant. Let's forget I ever mentioned that. Anyway, it's steep.

The previous owners had installed these lights in the yard down the driveway to make it easier to see when backing down. But because it is so difficult to do if you're not used to it, those lights ended up getting demolished by cars wandering into our garden on the way down. (funny story, my friend who ran over the first light actually tried to correct her car and ran over a second one. And they are LOUD when they crack into a hundred pieces...) Anyway, the lights were also electric so once the first light was broken, the entire line stopped working. Needless to say, our driveway has been VERY dark for about awhile.

Right after my son was born, Costco had this great deal on some solar powered lights so I carried my new 10 day young baby and my poor postpartum body to Costco to take advantage of the coupon. They were out of the lights that day. I tried to be polite in the middle of my hormonal roller coaster and sleep deprived self. Rain check please!

This is sorta what they look like...

Costco finally got a new shipment in and I picked up 2 boxes, which is enough to light our driveway and keep a few extras just in case we have another car/crushed lights mishap. These beautiful new lights stayed up on the shelf in our garage just until a couple of weeks ago. But they are now up. I was really excited about these lights and they look great!

The first night, they went on beautifully and I practically wanted to get in my car just to back down with the lights shining next to my car. I didn't though. I just looked out the window a hundred times.

Now, one thing I didn't consider is this: I live in the Northwest. We don't necessarily get lot of this:

This happens to be the sun. It looks hot. Temperature hot, not hot hot, in case you were wondering.

Where I live is a lot more like this:

Cloudy and rainy, sometimes just cloudy, not rainy.

I say all of this because I have noticed that as October has been progressing, the lights have stopped lighting up. At first it was a few that didn't turn on and then about 95% of them and last night... zip. Totally dark. So, I think that the lack of light is affecting my lights. Or, the neighbor's kids turned off all the switches... I will get back to you on this. But I'm pretty sure it's the sunshine.

I'm gonna test it tonight though because wonder of ALL wonders, it's sunny today. Blue sky, few clouds and I can just feel it... the lights are excited. And they should be. Tonight they will be able to do their job and I will be glad to see them light my driveway once again. Unless it's a prank. Then I'll be pissed.

And with that, have a happy day!

The tree that was and other stories

2010-10-26T12:44:00.001-07:00

This will be short and sweet. Or maybe just short! ha! Or maybe not.

1. We hired a tree service to come and trim all of our trees. They trimmed all of our trees. Except for the one they cut down and chipped and took away. But they're planting a new one. The only thing that bugs me about this is that you really can't "replace" a tree that was 8 years old. It doesn't really work. Other than that, I'm not seething about this anymore.

2. The other day, I went to the dentist and they froze my entire mouth just to clean my teeth. Thank-you Jesus! ha! Sometime in the last couple of years, something has happened to my teeth and they've become super, extremely sensitive. One touch of that metal scraper thingy (I think it's a scaler... I like my name better) and I will go through the roof. So my mouth was totally frozen. And it stayed that way almost all day. Lovely.

3. Today we were out of coffee and I finally picked some up around noon. Practically an emergency. I went back to bed this morning because I was so sluggy from the lack of sweet, pure caffeine in my body. And I bought a coffee at a drive-thru Woods Coffee (love!) and then re-stocked my home stash.

4. At Trader Joes today this girl with 2 adorable kids (1 was really a NEW baby) asked me about Hudson and we started to talk. She was really nice. As I was walking away, I thought... I should invite her to the play group I'm going to tomorrow. And then I didn't. I kept walking. Lame huh. I'm like this double personality of shy and not shy. Oh well.

5. I'm sure you're riveted by my blog today.

6. On this Tuesday: I will make Lentil Soup, fold laundry, plan my music for Sunday, maybe make some egg salad for lunch this week (thanks Delayne and Angie for the inspiration, bahahaaaaa), eat, and maybe some other things. Oh, send out rent increase letters to our tenants... it sounds cruel but we haven't increased rent in 2 years so really, it isn't. I need to call the tree people back so they can buy us a new tree. And other stuff. Yes, my life is awesome. That was sarcastic but I really do like my life. It's good.

Okay, that's enough. Enough typing for me and enough reading for you. I don't know how much the average person can handle of my ramblings but my inner rambling sensory gland says that I am about at the limit.

Except for a couple of random photos of Hudson on the move...

Look at his fuzzy hair. I can't get enough of it!

Or that face! Even in a blurry shot!

Have a nice day!

Against My Better Judgement

2010-10-06T22:37:00.000-07:00

To complete the sentence above... against my better judgement, I'm typing this sentence right now instead of going to bed. It's 10:37pm. Baby is fed, house is clean, my teeth are not brushed but it's coming, I promise.

I had a quick email to shoot off before heading upstairs and I remembered this blog. The place I'm supposed to be writing stuff regularly. Well, "supposed to" as in, I want to do it. I don't really even have anything to say right now. I could tell you about my horrible trip to the dentist today. But I want to write and WRITE about that so it's going to have to wait. I could write about my newly founded cleaning schedule for my house. But that's really a side of my life I'd rather not go into... the crazy, nerdy, boring side.

Yup. Nope.

Nothing to talk about.

So I will head upstairs as previously planned and go to sleep. Tomorrow's a big day. Lots of baking to get done and planning to do for a baby shower on Saturday morning!

Good Night!

Puh

2010-10-04T10:04:00.000-07:00

Little pet peeve for a Monday morning.

Who hates electrical cords, camera cords, computer cords... all of this connecting stuff that collects. We have A LOT of cords at our house. And no matter how often I organize, wind up and tape or just plain hide them, they end up coming out of their little hovels and cluttering up my life.

Even wound up, this looks messy.

And here's my big bag of homeless cords in the closet.

We can't seem to get rid of them because they do have a home somewhere and what if we "need" one of these someday???? Yes, I know, valid question. I don't have any answers. Sorry.

But I don't think technology is leaving our lives anytime soon and "cordless" only goes so far so I guess I just have to deal with this. Life is so hard.

I'm out of words for now. Time to wash the floor. Yes, I know, so awesome!

Jack Johnson - The bliss of it all!

2010-10-02T09:11:00.000-07:00

Last night Luke and I went to the Jack Johnson concert in Vancouver at Roger's Arena (formerly GM Place). Let's just say it was EPIC!!!!

Zee Avi played first.

She was great and quite the voice... but I was about ready for her to stop playing when she did. It was good but not what we came to listen to.

Then up was a band called G Love.

Their music was cool, their lead's voice was not my style at all. AT ALL! And by the time they were done, I was like... Enough already! And where's Jack?

We had to wait (gasp!) for the stage crew to switch out all the instruments, reconfigure the stage, etc. (side note: I always wonder the pressure the guitar tuner must feel to make sure he does his job right. There's nothing worse than an out of tune guitar and there's a guy that's in charge of making sure this doesn't happen and runs in and out with new ones for the musicians. I wonder if he or she has nightmares of an angry musician starting to play out of tune... probably not.)

Eventually they were ready to play. Pandemonium! Sold out! And yes, we're WAY up there!

And it was beautiful. They could've played all night. It was SO good. I guess it's extra special to me to hear really super, duper good musicians play because I'm a musician and I have so much appreciation for what it takes to be THAT good but I think it was just so good last night that it would've been amazing had I only played the pots and pans as a toddler.

What I liked about last night in point form:

Jack Johnson is really BETTER live and his albums are already so great! It's lame when a band is a total disappointment in concert. Then you know the real artist is the producer.
Jack, the person, is obviously in love with his wife and kids, made pretty clear in his music and the stories he told. That always adds to my appreciation of the music... knowing that the guy singing is also just a good guy. Jerks can be good too but they're also just jerks. You know?
The upright piano was an AMAZING piano. It was cool!
Zack Gill, who played it, was cooler! He could play that thing like... well, I don't know what but it was so awesome! Blues off the charts! And he could sing. That deserves another point.
The piano player could SING. He harmonized mostly with Jack but there was with one song where he just dished up some serious vocals. It was a meal in, and of itself. It was one of my favorite parts of the whole concert!
The stage was really basic, big curved screen behind... nothing to take away from the musicians.
The bass player was extremely good, nothing sloppy, very layed back. Cool.
The guy sitting next to me... he had an odd habit of shouting out f-bombs with all sorts of interesting twists to them. I finally laughed out loud, it was so ludicrous and he apologized to me. I just told him it was fine and that he sounded like he had tourette's syndrome. Ha!
The drummer was totally the opposite of what you always get at a concert. He didn't do a single showy number or anything. He was very steady. He also had good posture. I'm fairly sure he's a really nice person. He had that look. And his name was Adam. Even God liked that name for his human. ;-)
We danced silly and had a great time!
Earl, the guy who scanned my ticket at the door was very nice! He was probably in his 70's, was very nice and had sympathy when I forgot my glasses in the car. Policy is that once you're in, you're in. No leaving. But he re-entered my ticket into the system so I could go to my car. Thanks Earl! I was able to see individual people on the stage because of you.

I must say though, it was my first time being away from Hudson for more than a few hours. And we were not just away from him in time but also distance. That was weird to me but my mom and her husband Jan watched him, had a great time and offered to watch him again soon!

The best part of this whole night was having a REALLY good date night with Luke. I love him! We have so much fun together and this time was no exception. We stopped at Tim Hortons to grab dinner on the go plus 6 donuts. And yes, we ate them all. We talked and pre-funk'd to Jack's music in the car. We bought over-priced snacks and gave our own reviews of the bands before the headliner. We danced. We laughed and then danced some more. And then we went to pick up Hudson and that was just as sweet as the entire night.

Thanks Jack Johnson for coming to Vancouver and giving us the chance to go out and have a really good time!

Books - contrast

2010-10-01T12:05:00.001-07:00

I've read a couple of books in the past month and I figured, why not tell you about them!

1. Promises To Keep by Jane Green

This book started out okay. I was at least drawn in to turn the page and see what happens next. The characters were good and well thought out. The problem for me was that I hit this point where I knew exactly what was going to happen. I was reading in bed, turned to Luke and said... "blank is going to happen and here's why." The author built her case way too clearly and it just got too predictable for me. I was so irritated with this that by the time I was supposed to feel emotion for certain events, I just wasn't there. So, overall, not a bad book, but not the best book either. If you've got a limited amount of time to read, pass.

2. With Friends Like These by Sally Koslow

Yes, yes, yes!!! I haven't read a book in awhile that really kept me guessing and wanting to turn the page. I found myself reading for Hudson's entire nap while my house lay in shambles around me. The book had 4 distinct characters who are friends and really goes into the intricacies of friendship. I loved the characters and was so thankful that I couldn't identify with the problems they all faced. It was SUCH a good book.

And just when I'd like to type more, my boy is waking from his nap so I gotta go. But #2 was by far the better book!

Coupons

2010-09-29T12:39:00.000-07:00

We bought the Entertainment Book last year and I realized that it's about to expire and there's plenty of good coupons still in it. I obviously can't use them all before November 1 so here's what I got. FB me or leave a message here if you want any of these.

Bowling: 2 for 1

20th century bowl

Park Bowl

Mt Baker Lanes

Golf: 2 for 1

Homestead Farms

Sudden Valley

North Bellingham

Food:

Neiner Neiner Weiner 2 for 1

Dairy Queen (various 2 for 1)

Baskin Robbins (various 2 for 1)

Orange Julius (various 2 for 1)

Big Foot Java (2 for 1)

Cruisin' Coffee (2 for 1)

Bostons (various)

Dominos (various)

Cold Stone Creamery (various)

Arby's (various)

McDonalds (various)

Clothes/Services:

Petsmart ($10 off groom/train/board)

Aeropostale ($10 off $50 purchase)

Hollywood Video (2 for 1)

Blockbuster (2 for 1)

Lane Bryant ($10 off $50 purchase)

True Value (20% off purchase <$100)

Sherwin Williams (various)

Little Conversations

2010-09-29T09:58:00.000-07:00

As Hudson has been growing and developing his little (or big, whichever you prefer) personality, I've been laughing more and more! He is just so surprising to me... it's wonderful to watch him express how he feels about life. And yesterday holds one of my favorite Hudson moments EVER so far.

Just so you have some background, this is Hudson with his friend Teagan. I met Teagan's Mom, Hailey in birth class and we swam together a few times a week in the last miserable months of pregnancy. So these two have been acquainted for quite a long time... practically their whole lives! Anyway, so we walk together now that the little bubs are on the outside!

For the most part, it's just been those two minding their sweet business in their own strollers, napping or looking around as we walked over the past months. But yesterday something new and so cute happened!!!

Hailey and I were talking and holding our babies and all of a sudden we noticed that they were having their own little conversation. They noticed each other! And they were relating... I can't even begin to do justice to this with words. It was so amazing, hilarious, precious, lovely, sweet, funny... pick a good word and yes, it was that too! Teagan did a little cough and Hudson burst into giggles... apparently this is funny. Then they'd get so excited and both look away shyly. Hudson hasn't really been around other babies his age other than Teagan so this is brand new and WONDERFUL! I loved every second of it!

Needless to say, I can't wait for them to play together again. I'm sure I'll be blathering about it again on my blog!

Short Stories

2010-09-28T11:34:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time... Oh, nevermind. Let's just start with this.

1. Hudson is moving like a little locomotive around my house now. Today I pulled out my outlet covers and hid as many cords and wires as I could. Deeter added some additional charm to his routine to attract Hudson his way. Let's just say it's working. And I need to give Deeter a bath.

2. My house is in decline. Or rather, it's not very clean. I don't mind messy because that's an easy fix. People can understand that or forgive it. But dirty is... it's just dirty. This is a problem for 2 reasons. I don't like a dirty house. I also don't feel like cleaning it. Two problems. I am one of them. And I guess maybe I'm the other one too. I do make part of the mess. But so does Luke. He's a really great one to blame for things like this so I'll be one problem. He can be the other one. That's more like it!

3. Did I mention I'm going to see Jack Johnson on Friday night? Oh, yup. I did just the other day. It's just very exciting for me!

4. Who loves fall? Or Autumn or whatever you like to call it? I LOVE FALL!!!! I love the apple orchards and pumpkins and soups and stews and cookies and whatever else sounds super good for fall! Apple crisp! Let's give a shout out to the desserts of fall! Yum! Falling leaves! Sigh. Weather changing, good books, hot drinks and cozy blankets. Sweaters!!! I love sweaters, hence, another reason to love fall. I could go on for another 200-300 words. It might get boring though so I'll stop now.

5. Luke just drove up our driveway so I'm going to end this and eat lunch with him!

Have a nice day.

Focus

2010-09-25T12:47:00.001-07:00

On this Saturday...

It is SO deliciously gorgeous outside. The wind is blowing, the sun is shining and I just finished sitting in the backyard with Hudson for a bit. I could sit out there all day. I might when Hudson is down for another nap!

I ate pumpkin pancakes this morning. They were good.

And despite these really good things and how good life is... Really, it is. I mean that for all of us who live in North America. I'll explain below. Despite all of this, I'm in such a funk today. Like, a really big one. I can usually get myself out of these things but today I'm totally stuck and it's frustrating me. I'm not a nice person to be around right now. Luke has just discovered this. On the phone. I bet he's turning around and heading back to wherever he just was!

Anyway, back to what I was complaining about... I know the key to getting out of this is thankfulness. I think that when you focus on what there is to be thankful for, it's difficult to focus on anything else because to focus means to direct your attention at something. You can't really "focus" on two things at the same time. So thankfulness is a good place to start.

And personally I have so much to be thankful for. But as a population of people, we have SO much to be thankful for. I've been thinking about this a lot lately since we had a guest speaker at our church named Harold Eberle a couple of weeks ago. He spends A LOT of time in Africa and the Middle East and shared with our church about what's going on in those areas of the world. It's sort of like... we know it's bad but we really don't know. Really.

Like, 1 in 6 people sleep on dirt, in the ENTIRE world. No blanket, no mattress. Or... Harold goes into churches where there are SO many widows and orphans due to war, barely surviving... it's completely normal to have large amounts of people missing limbs from war. Whole countries of women who have been ravaged by untold horrors I won't even go into... it's heartbreaking. Did you know that if you live in North America, even if you are the poorest person in this area of the world, you're quite rich compared to 98% of the ENTIRE world. Welfare? Social Security? Food Banks? Not even on the spectrum of most people's existence.

Again, thankfulness.

For safety, for my mattress, my fridge with good food in it. Ha, my fridge. And beyond those very basic things, my husband, my son, my wonderful family and friends... focus, focus, focus.

If you understand cameras and f-stop, when you have your camera set to a low f-stop like f1.8, your point of focus is very small. The lense is only focused on a very small point instead of being open to take in the whole picture. Like this photo below. I think that I get like that when I'm stuck. I focus on one thing so intensely and forget the rest of the picture. It's blurry. Even the good stuff.

The most amazing thing is that as I've been writing this, my focus has been changing and I'm feeling my feet start to move. Away from where I've been sitting today, in a funk and into thankfulness. I am feeling better already. It doesn't change the things I'm frustrated about but it changes my perspective on those things.

Because what is reality really... but perspective.

If you want to hear Harold Eberle's message, go to the website below and play the message titled "Look at the Birds"

http://houseofbread.podbean.com/

The Conflict

2010-09-24T20:53:00.000-07:00

Oh angst.

It's 8:53pm and I really want to be upstairs, taking a bath, starting a new book and I feel this terrible obligation to write a blog post. I have been a lame blogger lately. I even have time these days. But I'll think about writing something and then not. And then think of about 86 different things I could be writing about and then not.

Angst. Blogger angst.

I kind of laugh the guffawing kind when I think of "teenage angst" because we all know what this means and what it looks like but really, I like the word angst too. It has a nice ring to it. Hudson has the baby variety from time to time and I guess we can all get it. Anyway, now that I'm totally off topic... from whatever it is that I'm writing about...

Oh yes, avoiding blogging.

I think today I will write about fruit flies.

If I could invent a product that would instantly KILL all fruit flies within a 20 foot radius, I would. But I'm not really an inventor. I'm more like the brains behind the inventor. I come up with the problem for an inventor to fix. Like killing all the fruit flies in my kitchen. They will even be gone for a couple of days and then I put a SINGLE banana on the counter and they come out in droves. I guess I could just claim it's talent but really this is getting ridiculous. I can't take it anymore.

In other news...

We're going to see Jack Johnson in concert in Vancouver on October 1st. YAY! I haven't been to a BIG concert in a few years (like 20K+ ppl)... guess what the last one was? You'll never guess. Il Divo. Yup, those Italian guys that sing sappy love songs with a live orchestra. I took my Mom! It was actually a really great show and totally entertaining... all these 50-60 year old women swooning and screaming for these tall, dark, handsome men. My mom and I laughed and laughed. I think she was secretly swooning as well but I'm pretty confident she'd never admit it.

Just in case you were wondering what would make all those Moms/Grandmas get all screaming like it's the Backstreet Boys. This is it folks.

Anyway, back to Jack Johnson. It's going to be great! It'll be a really good reason to get dressed up, put some make-up on and go on a good, long date with Luke. And then we'll sing along with thousands of other people we don't know to Jack's music. His concerts apparently turn into sing-a-longs. I like it already! I bought these tickets for Luke's first ever Father's Day and it was probably the best gift I've bought him in years... just because Jack is his favorite musician. Ever. He knows all the lyrics.

And that's it for tonight. Time to go start a good (hopefully) book and look forward to a great weekend with my guys. And maybe I'll blog again. Because after the first paragraph, which feels like pulling teeth to me, I'm actually enjoying myself.

:-)

Cut short

2010-09-16T13:11:00.000-07:00

I was going to blog today. And continue every day or almost. But Hudson is crying upstairs and I don't know if I have it in me to blog while I listen to him struggle to fall back to sleep.

So this will count for my blog.

I know, it's so informative and exciting.

But at least I can only move up from here.

Oh, and the reason for the long absence: vacation. But I'm back now.

Little Problem Solvers

2010-08-28T09:16:00.000-07:00

I need to recharge my camera battery. I realize this blog is lacking in photos... sorry about that.

That's the problem. Solved. Ha ha! Just kidding.

I was thinking this morning about how babies are the most amazing problem solvers compared to adults. Literally ever single day, Hudson does something new. Nobody is teaching him these things. He just keeps trying to use his body and learns a new sound or movement every single day. I can't help but be impressed.

Before Hudson was born, I was reading this book called "Prenatal Parenting" by Frederick Wirth and it was really interesting. Some of the book was kind of boring and I didn't finish it but all the facts about how amazing babies really are was so great! Luke was trying to read his own book but I kept interrupting him with my "awesome facts" and he started getting a little bit irritated. I can't really blame him. I was pretty pumped, probably a little over-enthusiastic! And I hate it when he does that while I'm reading.

Hmph.

Did you know that what a baby experiences during the birth experience is so traumatic that it would probably kill an adult? But because babies are so resilient, they can go through the extremely difficult experience of being born and within about 30 seconds are totally and completely recovered and staring with awe at their mothers. When I read this, I was still pregnant and felt kind of bad for Hudson but I think it's probably a really good thing because a baby gets their first opportunity to work through a difficult process and see that they can do it... they can weather a storm and that there is joy on the other side of it.

Here's another one. Did you know that babies come out of the womb more intelligent that adults? They have the most amazing ability to problem solve that we lose as we get older. Obviously we can still solve problems but babies have double the amount of brain cells when they are born compared to a 10 year old child. There is so much potential just waiting to happen in their brains and as they get older, whatever isn't used supports the old saying... "you don't use it, you lose it."

So I can't help but be really impressed by Hudson's ability to figure out how to use his body. He must be so fascinated with himself. One day, he finds out that his hands are connected to his body and he can actually control their movement. Another day, he realizes he has feet and another, figures out how to get them into his mouth. What fun! One of my favorites so far is the day that he realized his tongue can change the way he manipulates sound. It started with chewing on his tongue and making little noises and ever since he figured that out, he has turned into a chatter box, talking for as long as he is awake as he experiments with the different sounds he can make. Luke always says he can't wait to hear Hudson's thoughts on the world and what he can learn from our little guy. I can't help but feel the same way!

Sorry about the gushing. Back to the whole learning thing. It's fascinating.

I know this has something do with the fact that I see Hudson every single day. My friend's kids were so cool to watch learn all of this too but there's something about being with a child every single day and watching the slow progression and discovery that leads them to learn how to roll over and then crawl, sit and stand and finally, to walk. I never really thought of the process before having Hudson. I knew a baby would learn to roll over but I didn't know that once they did, there would be some stressful moments because they were stuck... it's not automatic to know how to roll onto their back again. Or when they learn to crawl. My friend told me that her young daughter is crawling now and she had some times where she'd freak out because she'd crawled into a corner and didn't know that she could back up to get out of it. So crazy!

I tried to find an answer to how long, on average, it takes an adult to "relearn" to walk but I couldn't really find a good answer. However, my friend Shereen is an occupational therapist (she helps people learn to live life after accidents, etc) and I know from talking to her about this a bit that it takes some time for sure. I also know that it's way more frustrating and difficult for an adult to relearn to walk than it is for a baby to learn for the first time. They are amazing little people.

There's not really a lot else going on in my head right now. Not the most interesting post. It's 9:30am on a Saturday morning, Hudson is already napping, Luke went to work for about an hour and I'm thinking about pumping up our air mattresses to see if they have holes before packing them for our trip next week and I'm also thinking about whether I should put on real clothes today or stay in sweatpants. The big questions of life. I know, you wish you could be doing the same thing. Sometimes I have to pinch myself over how glamorous my life is.

On that note, I'm going to stop typing. I feel like I'm heading in a direction that I don't really want to go this morning.

Happy Saturday.

Vacation

2010-08-24T09:07:00.001-07:00

Vacation - it's a beautiful word. Just breathe it in...

I feel better already!

We're leaving for a real (aka, leaving the house) vacation in a bit here. It's nothing fancy or anything like that but it's a big break from life as usual. I can't WAIT!!! I think it's been a good year and a half (March 2009?) since Luke and I got away for more than a few days. And that... is not healthy in my mind. But then again, maybe my mind is not healthy. I just can't relax and feel like it's 'vacation' at home when I know I should be sorting the mail and folding laundry. And I'm not one of those who can just ignore it. That's like telling the sun not to rise in the morning... impossible.

So, back to why we haven't done anything in awhile: I guess I was pregnant and other minor details like that so it's probably okay but there is truly something about putting life on pause for at least a full week and removing yourself from the routines and stresses and details of everyday life. Yes, diapers will follow me on this trip but Luke will be there so we get to "share" this whole routine for 10 glorious days! What a gift. :-) And... and... and we won't be driving in a car at all during this time so Hudson won't be able to poop in his car seat. I'll explain about that another time.

So, this morning while we were drinking our coffee, we planned out what we wanted to eat during this trip. We're going to be in Montana at Luke's great Uncle's cabin and the nearest fully stocked grocery store is about 1.5 hours away. And we cannot run out of whipping cream for coffee or whatever else I may crave while we are there... how do I foresee what I will want?? There is a small mercantile (yes, it's called that) about 15 minutes away but really? I'd rather not. So we made our plan this morning and I'm excited.

Good food is synonymous with good vacation to me. I guess this can be blamed on my parents... and I thank them! My dad was an airline pilot and since he ate in restaurants and stayed in hotels so often for work, he loathes them and our family trips always included the motorhome and home cooked meals. No restaurants. This was a bit disappointing as a child since I was fully aware that we had airline passes and the world was waiting. And we were camping. However, I have so many good memories of our times together as a family, so Mom... Dad... I forgive you. Actually I don't... at least about vacations because there's nothing to forgive here. We had a great time!

This old beast is where many childhood memories were made. My dad just traded it in 2 months ago... we bought it when I was 9 years old.

The best part of all of these memories is the food. Homemade pies, bbq'd chicken, potato salad... just good food. And lots of snacks that mom bought without us knowing and suddenly we'd be eating red licorice (which we never had at home) or brownies or popsicles. Yum! So, with all of that said, food is important for me on vacation. It makes it extra special!

The only conflict is that I haven't lost a single pound in August and here I'm planning how many boxes of brownies to bring and do we have enough whipped cream for coffee and pancakes? Before you say anything, I'm not worried about the baby weight, it's been coming off steadily and it knows it's unwelcome so I will be taking care of all of it. Just after vacation. But there's something contradictory about wanting to lose weight and dreaming of stuffing my face with swedish fish. But whatever. We all have vices. I like gummy, chewy candy and I haven't eaten any since I was pregnant.

So please raise your glass because I'd like to propose a toast.

To vacation and rest and best of all: eating!!!

What I've Learned So Far?

2010-08-23T09:00:00.000-07:00

Intriguing question. I'm sure you're already hooked and HAVE to read the rest of this blog. Because based on my previous blogging history, I'm full of wisdom. Right? Right. I'm glad we agree.

If you don't agree, close this window now.

Ahem.

And just a warning... this isn't one of my funnier blogs. Sorry.

About a week or so ago I blogged about the 'Financial Peace University' class that we're hosting with a group of people at our house. My friend Amani posted a good question - "What is one of the most significant things you have learned?"

I can't really answer that in one answer. So let's pick my top 3. Is that okay? #3 will be my top one... I can't give it up right away. It takes away the suspense... you know?

1. Relevance: Literally every couple (or single) in the group is in a totally different place. We have a long married couple in their 50's all the way down to a newly married couple in college with no kids and lots of variation in between. And you know what? We're ALL getting tons of good stuff from the class. So I think the first thing I'm getting from the class is that no matter where you're at in life, this stuff is relevant and can make a BIG, HUGE difference in your life.

2. Budgeting: It's amazing how much a GOOD budget can change your marriage. GASP! I'm not exaggerating. We've had a budget for our whole marriage. By budget, according to how we worked it... was a loose categorization of how we thought we might want to spend our money. And then we'd not really follow it. Except I think for a little while in the first few years of our marriage.

We've kind of taken turns doing our money stuff and just sort of let the other one know what we'd done for the month. Not a very good plan since our lives and our futures are really one and the same. We had to do a VERY detailed budget (it's provided) TOGETHER in this class and STICK TO IT. And it's so much easier to do that when you do it together. And you know what? We had our first real money fight. Don't worry though. It was a good thing!

You know how money is considered "the least" in terms of importance in the Bible? Well, it's not the least, like don't thing about it or be responsible or do anything with it. There are 100's of verses about money... so it must actually be important. But what we're figuring out in our relationship is that when there is order in the financial area of our life, Luke and I have so much more emotional and spiritual room to deal with the more important areas of our marriage and relationship. Does that make sense? There is peace in an area that should be "the least" instead of chaos which can make it front and center in our lives.

And we're not the only ones feeling this way. Every married couple in the group will vouch for this. It's awesome! It's actually changed a few marriages BIG TIME!!! I'm including Luke and I in this statement. Weird that a budget can do this, huh! Usually you think... marriage counseling or a marriage retreat. But money is such an intertwining part of our lives and so many of us have no idea how to actually "do" this part of life... you know what I mean?? And every single person in the class had some kind of negative connotation with the word "budget" but now we're all realizing how freeing it is. I know that when I spend the money I'm spending, I'm allowed to spend it. It's not supposed to be going somewhere else. It's a good feeling.

3. Debt: Believe it or not, Luke and I didn't have any debt other than a very small mortgage and a pithy car payment (which was a bad idea) until we'd been married over 3 years. Then we graduated from college, started making money and did what most "adults" do. We borrowed money because we thought we "deserved" the stuff we were buying, we could "afford" the payments, etc. How wrong we were...

And we've been trying to clean up this mess for quite awhile. And we haven't been succeeding.

This class has taught us HOW to clean up our debt mess in a totally simple, but not easy, way. Simple and easy are not the same. It's simple because I can't really get confused on how the process works. It's that simple. But it is SO hard. We've had to change everything that we've been doing in our lives and we're living like we're broke and killing our debt like crazy. Even though we have income every month, we kinda are broke... all that debt puts us in a negative net worth. Huh.

But we're actually making a big dent in our debt and we have such a different view on debt. Dave Ramsey says normal is broke... so who wants to be normal? And you know what? I really don't anymore. And I'm willing to go the distance and do the work to be weird.

And so...

That's just a few things that I've loved about this class. I actually read 'Total Money Makeover' first and I'd recommend that because it's an easy read, really entertaining and kind of gets you on a fast track before the class starts. The class is much more detailed and I've learned so much. Why don't they teach this stuff in high school or college? It's way more relevant than every single thing I learned there... plus, we laugh so hard sometimes over the classes that I'm worried we'll wake up Hudson... so it's fun too!

He never does but isn't it always just the worst when a sleeping baby is woken up by the dog or loud construction or... or... whatever it is... it's just the WORST. And with that, I'm going to go and clean up the mess from last night's group while Hudson is still asleep.

The Fable - My Fable

2010-08-21T11:06:00.000-07:00

As I sat down to write this morning, I knew what I wanted to write about. And the word that came to my mind was a fable. But after looking up a definition of "Fable", I don't know if this is going to happen. According to Wikipedia (which is not considered a reliable source for any formal educational papers... just so you know... but reliable enough for my blog),

A fable is a succinct story, in prose or verse, that features animals, mythical creatures, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature which are anthropomorphized (given human qualities), and that illustrates a moral lesson (a "moral"), which may at the end be expressed explicitly in a pithy maxim.

I'm not sure if this is going be a real fable but here goes.

Once upon a time, in a land close to the Canadian border, it was Friday night. Luke said he would take the baby after I fed him so I could go back to sleep and enjoy a "sleeping in" Saturday. I was excited.

As Saturday morning approached, Hudson woke up REALLY extra early, which barely ever happens. It was 4:50am. So I got out of bed, fed him and popped him straight back to bed, knowing he would go back to sleep. Around 7:30am, Luke woke me up with Hudson in hand. I fed him again to "start" the day and went back to sleep. This is where I don't know what I was doing. I should've asked for a wake-up call.

So I proceeded to fall back asleep. I dreamed of many things. And almost every scene had apple trees in them, full of apples and my angst over asking permission to pick the apples. (there are lots of trees in our neighborhood with apples that nobody picks and I want them. ALL of them. Not just for myself, but to give away. I just hate the thought of good food rotting on the ground... sorry, sidetracked.) I also dreamed of a pinata that I filled with bottles of cheap bubble bath, that somebody put our house on the market without our permission, something about a spaceship and something about quilts that cost $1700 a piece. That's just what I can remember. I know there was more.

And then I woke up...

This was not that refreshed feeling of being rested and "catching up" but more like, WHERE'S THE COFFEE because I feel like a train wreck. And then I looked at the clock. 11am. Oh, that explains the train wreck part.

In my head, "sleeping in" as I imagined it was more like 9am, getting up and eating breakfast and then getting on with my day, feeling all rested and caught up from a crazy week. Now it's almost noon, the day half wasted and that groggy feeling of sleeping way, WAY too long is not going away. So lame. And I have to live with the fact that I had hours of really weird dreams. I'm not going to try and interpret them or I may need to call a counselor.

The End.

Not that calling a counselor is bad. Just to be clear. Been there, done that. Probably doing that again. Sidetracked again!

So the moral of my story is don't sleep in too late. It wastes half the day, you feel a little bit poopy (trying to keep this "family friendly" folks) and you wonder what you can do to remedy the fact that you were so groggy, and don't make fresh coffee but nuke the slightly warm old coffee because the caffeine headache is on your tail. Another terrible activity that I've never partaken in until this very morning. DO NOT DO IT. That's all I can say about that.

So.

I want to make sure that my story fits into a fable's definition. I think it was a "succinct story" and it did feature plants and inanimate objects AND forces of nature... not necessarily human qualities given to them but I'll just ignore that. But there's definitely a moral to the story and I'm not sure what a "pithy maxim" is but I'll look it up right now.

Okay, it's some sort of forceful saying. Here's mine. DO NOT DO IT.

I think I've succeeded. I hope you learned something this morning. I did. n't.

Faux Pas

2010-08-19T09:01:00.000-07:00

So, I'm a dork.

I feel like I should just put that out there first thing because I think it prepares you for a lot of things that I tend to say. But today I'm feeling it.

My friend Diane sent me this super awesome apron for my birthday. It's green and patterned and has a little ruffle and everything. I'm totally gonna use it because I have this bad habit of wiping my kitchen foodie hands all over my clothes while I cook and it just makes a mess. Anyway, so I got this wonderful gift in the mail and I needed to call her and thank her. So I called her this morning.

Guess what time it was?

8:20am.

And after she answered the phone, a little surprised to hear from me, I realized the time. And then I was like, OH MY GOODNESS. I AM SO SORRY! lol. I've been up since 5:50am so by 8am, it feels like the middle of the day. At least she'd been up kinda early too so it wasn't life altering. I think we're still friends. :-)

A couple of weeks ago I did the same thing, calling my mom at 7:30am to ask her a question... actually, I think it was to see if she wanted Deeter (read previous posts). But I quickly hung up when I realized that it was still so early. I don't think she woke up. I hope not. And can you imagine being woken up to be asked if you want someone else's annoying little dog? I'd say no, just out of principle. Even if I wanted to say yes. I'd have to say no.

In my mind, 9am is the best time to start phone calls, unless it's your doctor's office or something like that. They open at 8am and hope you'll call them. It gives the receptionist something to do. At least I'd like to think they're glad to hear from me... (awkward silence).

Well, that's my thought for this morning. Don't call before 9am. I mean, you can call ME before 9am because I'm awake. And totally doing my day already so go for it. I just mean other people and mostly, just me calling other people. I'm really preaching to myself here... I'm part of the problem and I'm trying to not be anymore. :-)

Correction

2010-08-18T11:58:00.001-07:00

So, apparently I was wrong about the Pirate Pak. Please forgive me Pirate Pak. I will order you again soon. Because of the gold coin and ice cream for dessert. Thank-you to my commenter (I don't know who you are... it said 'anonymous') for clarifying for me!

For the love of food

2010-08-18T10:58:00.000-07:00

A couple of things before any words about food.

Deeter's adoption has been finalized but is pending aka, my mom wants to wait until her old Rosie has had enough of this earth. So Deeter will be spending his time split between our house and visits to my Dad's house because he is treated so well there!

My friend Angie had a birthday on July 26th and her present is STILL sitting on my dining room table. In a box. With a Fed/Ex label on it. I know, it's so bad. So I'm going to send it and pretend her birthday was August 26th and that I'm early. I try.

Anyway, now that I've got that out of the way...

Yesterday I brought Hudson to Canada. We met up with my Mom and went to pick up my Grandma to take her out for lunch. We went to a B.C. favorite, White Spot. I never eat there anymore because I don't live anywhere near one. Things have changed since I was younger. It's "prettier" in there and their burgers are not quite as large. Disappointing. But still good! Just not what I remember.

I really wanted to order a Pirate Pak. It's this cardboard ship that comes with fries, burger, drink and a dessert. It used to be a chocolate pudding but now it's some absurdity like cotton candy something or other. What's wrong with kids today? And the parents? I'd demand chocolate pudding. Like, really force the issue. And there used to be a chocolate gold coin, which was my favorite and really emphasized the whole pirate/treasure theme but that's no longer offered. I just found that out online a second ago... so maybe I don't really want the Pirate Pak ever again. The coin sealed the deal for me.

Sidetracked... it happens.

So we take my Grandma (Hudson's Great Grandma) out to eat. She orders a hot turkey sandwich with all the fixings and my Mom is holding Hudson right next to her. My Grandma has always been a slow careful eater but since she is now 89 years old, it's a little bit more pronounced. And with each careful movement of fork to mouth, Hudson was stalking that fork with his eyes. Seriously eyeballing the turkey and stuffing. I'm glad his large motor skills have not developed all the way or Grandma wouldn't have gotten any of her lunch because Hudson was fixin' to grapple that fork out of her hand and tasted his first bites of solid food. Hilarious.

And again this morning, my toast and jam was absolutely mesmerizing to him. Needless to say, I can't wait to give him solids. It's going to be a messy, happy day!

And now I must do something productive. Not that blogging isn't productive, but it doesn't fold my laundry for me.

DISCLAIMER: This is NOT my laundry pile. But I think mine may be bigger. Remember, Jesus said not to judge. Just a reminder.

2 things

2010-08-16T09:36:00.000-07:00

thing 1:

Today is the first day of the Northwest Washington Fair. And we're going! Hudson will see all sorts of animals for the first time ever... so we're kind of excited. He won't remember a lick of this but we will and that makes it worth it to us! And after we spend some time with Hudson and the animals, he is going to Grandma's house to sleep so Luke and I can see the "Demolition Derby."

What is this Demolition Derby, you ask?

It's total redneck chaotic mess. And so much fun! This is our 3rd year going to celebrate for our anniversary. Not so romantic but totally hilarious and I'd rather laugh my butt off than anything else for our anniversary! We got married during fair week in Lynden and after the wedding, I was watching the video and there was this AWFUL sound in the background. Like, rip-roaring loud noises. So I called my mom to ask what was happening on the video and she was like... "you didn't hear that???" Apparently not. I was too busy freaking out that I was getting married and saying my wedding vows to Luke to NOT HEAR THE TRACTOR PULL happening 4 blocks away.

What was wrong with me? If I wasn't even totally aware during the ceremony, do the vows count? I'm going to go with a yes for this one... ;-)

Obviously I didn't know about "fair week", not being from Lynden and all, when we picked the wedding date. Oops. But anyway, we now go and celebrate the noise and obnoxious entertainment of the fair every year and we'll probably make this our date until the kids want to join us and then we'll have to go out another night together. I have a feeling Hudson wouldn't appreciate the loud engines and crushing metal and flames everywhere at this point. I think it's my mommy instinct kicking in.

thing 2:

I'm about to unleash the beast on my insurance company. They keep messing up my coverage dates and the hospital has billed them 2 times for my ob/gyn care and they keep sending it back, UNPAID. The hospital has a policy to only send 3 times before requiring us to pay. Wee-hhheeee-heeeeellll. I just got a message from the insurance company that some paperwork that was supposed to be fixed is not fixed yet and that means my claim will be denied again. And we're not paying it. I'm just putting this out there. We pay for very good medical insurance. I shouldn't have to pay for this. And I won't. And thus, I'm about to "communicate" VERY CLEARLY with the 1-800 number.

And that's it for now.

Happy Sunday

2010-08-15T12:38:00.000-07:00

Well, I sit here, thinking of what I shall blog about on this super duper HOT Sunday afternoon while I listen to my little boy crying in the monitor. Sundays are always a little bit off with naps because of church in the morning. But I've gotten brave lately and attempted to pretend we're on schedule when we get home and put him to bed.

He doesn't really like it.

And now that he's starting to get more expression (he's mastered the pouty lower lip thing which completely tears me apart), he's really good at telling me he does not approve of this new approach. But I steel my heart and close the door and then he sleeps. And we all breathe a sigh of relief.

So, I know I've ranted plenty of times, probably more than is appropriate about my totally adorable, totally annoying dog, so today I won't. But I will announce that we've made a formal offer of adoption to my mom. Her 2 dogs are aging rapidly, especially Rosie, who we got when I was 14... I'm 30 now. So, she's quite old in dog years. We'll find out in a few days or so if my mom would like to adopt Deeter once Rosie goes to meet her maker. I don't want to be a terrible person and pray that this happens swiftly... in fact, I promise I won't because my mom really loves her. But Deeter will be happier and I won't be yelling at the dog in front of my baby anymore. It's just not nice.

In fact, Deeter calls my mom "grandma hamburger" because he went for a long weekend visit a year ago and enjoyed a small serving of hamburger EVERY SINGLE DAY. I assure you, this doesn't happen at our house. On occasion, I'll give him a few scraps of meat when we're done dinner and it's either his dish or the compost bin. And because of this crazy indulgent weekend with grandma, he goes absolutely berserk when she comes to visit. Every time. He tries to escape and get into her car... like, "get me out of here, Grandma hamburger. Please. This place is not like your house at all." It's actually kind of funny.

But one of these days, I think he will get in her car and he won't be coming back. It makes me really happy for him and for us on the one hand. On the other, I will miss his little personality in our home. And I just can't give him to anyone. I need to know that he will be taken care of VERY well. I would sob if we gave him away and he was being treated badly. He's just too little and cute for that. I'd rather him stay here than be hurt by some other family.

I don't really have much else to say on this subject. That's about it. Yup. And Hudson is still not sleeping. He's half awake, fighting sleep. And we have to be at a bbq very soon so I hope he does sleep or it'll be an interesting afternoon.

The end.

Financial Peace... Who Knew?

2010-08-14T08:10:00.000-07:00

It's funny because Luke and I really thought for a long time that we knew what we were doing with money. Seriously. And then last January, I found this book by Dave Ramsey called "Total Money Makeover" and read it in like... 3 days. Not kidding. Now, one thing to know about me is that I'm not a huge fan of non-fiction. Any non-fiction. I only have so much reading time in my day and I read stories. Period. Well, almost.

So anyway, back to the book. I read it in 3 days. And I was spouting off all the crazy things in there I was reading to Luke and he was getting kinda irritated. Because some of the stuff in there was TOTALLY the opposite of what he learned in college. You know, in his finance degree. But he was curious so he read the book in 4 days. He also isn't a huge non-fiction reader. And then we were in. Totally in. Like, cut your credit cards up, in.

And I'm really excited.

That was back in January and we've paid off so much debt since then, I didn't know it was possible. It hasn't been easy. It's been completely the opposite. But I've learned that more than any outside issue that I could blame for our debt and lack of savings... WE were the problem. It was a tough thing to admit to. I guess Dave's book could also be called "Character 101". Because that's what it feels like to me. It's hard work but I feel like we're building some character in a place we've never had it.

Which brings me to what this blog post is about.

We ordered a 13 week class called "Financial Peace University" and have been running a small test home group at our house for the past several weeks. It's been SO great for everyone who's attending. I'm excited for each of our futures!! But we really, REALLY want so many more people we know to experience this class and the tools it teaches. You go from having an empty tool belt to being fully equipped to win... in 13 weeks. As Dave says, "it's really simple but it's not easy". I agree. Because it's really hard.

And with that said, I've posted a video clip of part of the first class. We're hoping to facilitate a group at Abundant Life Community Church in 2011 and it's open to the community. It's not "churchy". It's practical stuff. Dave does the teaching and then there's small group discussion and (gasp) HOMEWORK!

But I have to say this. If you're single, it empowers you to make good decisions for your future. If you're married, it gets you both on the same page. About money. Seriously. (I know, it's weird right?!?!?) And it's awesome. So I hope you enjoy the clip below and maybe we'll see you at FPU this winter!

Before/After

2010-08-10T09:51:00.000-07:00

Today is a special day for me. I'm getting my hair done. For some of you, this may just be another day in the life of... but for me, today is SPECIAL! Here's why:

1. My roots are rooty

2. I live in a permanent ponytail these days

3. I'm sick of #2

4. #3 makes me feel like I'm in a rut and gives me a bad attitude

5. And finally, it's just time

So Luke is coming home early to work from home and hang out with Hudson while I dash off to the salon where my great stylist, Yangee (who is great, btw) will rescue me from a month of bad hair days.

Here's the sad state of affairs...

It's the proverbial "mom-tail"... I have no problem with ponytails but I don't know if I blow dried and styled my hair more than twice in July. I know, it's bad.

I don't really know what to say.

After:

So this afternoon, I carted myself off to Fairhaven for an appointment with the girl who cuts my hair. I happily sat as a TON of hair got cut off. I'm pretty happy with this style overall, but I think I may call back to get her to angle the back up a bit. I didn't realize until I got home that it hadn't really happened.

And the bangs!!! We went back and forth on these for a few minutes and finally, I committed.

So that's my before/after adventure. And then I stopped for groceries and headed home to feed my baby and eat dinner with Luke. Not exactly glamorous but perfectly happy to me!

And that's probably one of the last times you'll see my face on this blog. I like blogging about my baby, my dog and pretty much everything else except photos of me. ;-)

Social Suicide

2010-08-09T16:38:00.000-07:00

You know those awkward people... the ones that no matter how much you try and "give them the hint" they never get it? Well, I haven't really ever done that to anyone but I've seen it in play and as of today, I am guilty.

Not that I would call my dog a "someone" but really, today he's entered into a new level of insecurity (who knew!). Since we've had the baby he doesn't really exist to me in the same way he used to. Obviously, same with this blog. But I think at least the blog may be making a come back!

Because Deeter knows the extent of his fall from my good graces, he has tried with extra fervor to gain my attention. However, because Hudson is now very aware of the dog, Deeter has decided to bypass me and go straight for the baby. Example: Today, Hudson rolled over for the first time. Deeter saw some play potential there and he's over the top trying to get at Hudson's face for a good lick within about 2.4 seconds. This makes me crazy so I'm practically guarding Hudson with my arms which makes Deeter even more crazy and desperate to be included. And by included, I mean, licking the baby's face. Ain't gonna happen.

Even as I type this, Hudson has fallen asleep on the floor and Deeter is carefully inching his way towards that little face, hoping I won't notice. Which I do. And then he looks at me with trembling glassy eyes. And he knows that eternity is but a wet sloppy lick away. I'm not even really joking...

It's like begging to be shot. Or at least some kennel time.

Really? He sits on Luke's feet every night at dinner.

Attempting to enjoy the baby's stuff. And.... laundry.

This one was actually really funny!

Luke looks like he's enjoying this!

I mean, I guess there's potential for the future here. Just not for now.

So I think that's it for my back to blogging post.

Happy Friday

2010-04-16T10:35:00.001-07:00

It's been awhile since I've posted anything worth reading. And maybe today won't be the exception. I kinda feel like I lost my funny in the last few weeks. Just being so overdue and then having a new baby and all that this means... it just takes a lot out of ya!

But here I sit on this Friday morning and I'm really happy! No more baby blues (which nobody really prepares you for...) and my boy is having a short nap on the big chair in my living room. It's a nice, happy SUNNY friday morning. I couldn't ask for more!

It's a big adjustment to become a parent. I think for the first 2 weeks, I was just in shock and wondering... will my life be like this for the rest of my life? Will I never be able to get out of the house without feeling total stress? Will I ever be able to take a shower without listening to my baby crying? Can I eat breakfast? Ever. Again?

And the answer to all of those is yes.

We've been out running some errands and it's getting easier. The first trip we made was to the bank drive-thru and Hudson screamed all the way there, all during my deposit and then calmed on the way home. That was trip #1. Since then, we've made trips all over and he's getting more and more happy to be in the car!

Another happy thing is getting him on a schedule! It's been a bit nail biting at times to hear him cry and give myself 5 minutes before going to him just to see what he'd do on his own. Well, let me just say that last night I got a full night's sleep. He woke up when he was hungry. And ate a very good breakfast! So I feel amazing this morning!

Now the best part about Friday is that Dad is off on the weekends and we're going to the farmer's market tomorrow unless it's really rainy. I hope it's not because it'll be fun to get outside together... um, as a family! Agh, that makes me happy to say that!! And of course, we'll leave our dog at home. He's another post altogether.

So I'm going to log off now. And eat something before my baby wakes up again and it's bath time! :-)

Spin Cycle

2010-04-12T13:12:00.000-07:00

It's funny how "scheduled" I have become with a new baby. He is down for his long nap right now and I'm sitting here at the computer waiting for the spin cycle to be done on my washer so I can throw it into the dryer, get another load started and then to go have a nap myself! How did this happen?

That's all...

Wow!

2010-04-10T11:39:00.000-07:00

I think this is going to be a month of very short posts. I'm tired and feeling worn out after my first few days with Daddy gone back to work. Thank goodness he's home this weekend! I can hear my boy fussing upstairs while he's getting his bath and I'm just taking a break.

All I can say is wow! Nothing can really prepare you for this experience. A friend said to me that one minute you're pregnant and then the next... you have this baby... that it happens very quickly. And she was right! He's here and he needs a lot of attention. It changes everything.

The good thing is that when I'm feeling really tired and feeling the craziness of life switching gears so fast, all I have to do is look into my son's sweet face and it makes it all okay!

My first 300 babies

2010-04-07T12:44:00.000-07:00

First of all, I just have to say that having a baby is the most life altering experience I've ever had! And I love it! I love being a mommy and I love having a son! Sure, there's plenty of work but also plenty of reward! And I know every mom feels this way about her kids, but my little boy is breath taking!

And now... you're probably wondering why the heck I'm talking about 300 babies when I only have one. It's actually the name of a book written by a Mrs. Hendricks back probably before I was born. She was a post-natal nursemaid who would come to a new mom's home and help with cleaning, cooking and caring for the baby. The book is pretty old fashioned but the concept is great! The author developed a baby schedule that a friend of mine uses with her little girl and it's awesome! Her parent's used it with their 4 kids and know probably about 90 couples who have all used it as well. So basically, lots of success!

And that's why I'm writing on my blog with an 8 day old baby sleeping upstairs. And did I mention that I got about 7 hours of sleep last night? I'm still tired from the learning process of becoming a parent but it really feels good to get some sleep too!!

I just wanted to say a big thank-you to Mrs. Hendricks for developing this schedule and to my friend Carrie for introducing it to me. It's made things just a little bit easier in the middle of all the learning. And yes, it's a lot of learning. And diaper changing. And then changing again!

Did I mention I changed a poopy diaper and then 2 minutes later, I had to do it all over again? Can't say the little buddy was thrilled with this but I can't imagine he would rather be sitting in his own poop for awhile. Tough choice!

Well, it's time for my own nap while the baby is still asleep. Happy... uh, what day is it again? Oh, I think it's Wednesday! :-)

And because I can't help it, here's a photo of proud Daddy with his son!

short and sweet

2010-04-04T19:24:00.000-07:00

I haven't been around because we had a baby! And it's wonderful and time consuming but hopefully soon I will start to write about all things wonderful and post-natal!

What the...

2010-03-30T10:23:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was quite an exciting day.

I had a few signs that I might be headed to the hospital and my friend who's a delivery room nurse basically told me to bring my bags before my doctor appointment just in case. Of course, my bags were not all the way packed which is probably ludicrous because I'm overdue but whatever. Luke had already left for work so I "ran" (loosely termed use of the word) around the house packing and hauled out all of our stuff to the car by myself. And then I quickly HAD to do another load of laundry, slice up some fruit "just in case" and a bunch of other craziness.

And I drove to the doctor's office, all keyed up that today is going to be THE day!

Long story short: it wasn't the day.

However, we did have to go to the hospital for a non-stress test as well as a fluid check. There was a lot of waiting involved in all of this, which I didn't really mind. Our doc appointment was at 11:15am and we didn't actually finish with everything until well after 3pm. But whatever.

So after the baby did a few smooth moves for the heart rate monitor, we were told to wait for someone to take us over to ultrasound. And then a nurse named Ina (She was my favorite. And yes, you may be our nurse when we go back for the birth of our baby. If I have a choice!) came in to let us know our "escort" had arrived. I walk out and there is a WHEELCHAIR waiting for me.

I'm like... "uh, do I actually have to sit in that???"

Apparently so.

Let's just ignore the fact that not only did I walk into this hospital on my own two feet but I also walked 6 miles over the weekend in a crazy attempt to induce labor. I really don't need that chair. But I sat in the chair and was pushed about the distance of 1.5 blocks through the hospital to ultrasound. Wow, I'm so glad they saved me all that walking?!?!? I didn't know what to say. Luke was laughing.

So we had the ultrasound, baby is fine and it's time to go back. The wheelchair is sitting in the room like a big elephant that we just don't want to talk about. And let me be clear on something. If you really do need a wheelchair, then it's a wonderful thing to use. I'm not bashing on that. What's so stupid is the policy that since I'm pregnant, I must need one. Which I don't. So I kinda talked the u/s tech into just walking back with us instead. And she obliged.

And miracle of all miracles, everything was just fine. :-)

Thank-you!

cankles: defined

2010-03-29T09:41:00.001-07:00

Today, I would like to talk about cankles. If you've never heard of this term before, keep reading.

Once upon a time, I had ankles. And they were actually kind of boney ankles. And then I started taking on water like the Titanic and suddenly, like magic... Cankles.

Here are a couple of definitions:

Urban Dictionary: Noun. A sight common among the morbidly obese. The point at which one is so obese that there is no thinning of the leg between the calf and the ankle, which creates a sense of fusion between the two.

Wikipedia: An obese or otherwise swollen ankle that blends into the calf without clear demarcation.

Apparently someone forgot to mention pregnancy in these definitions. Because I have cankles that make my husband laugh. And then feel badly. And then massage my feet and ankles to try and help me out a little bit.

If anyone could help me out with the term for really swollen toes and feet, that would be really great. There must be one out there somewhere. I just don't have time to get around to this research because I have an appointment in a bit. So if you do happen to have some extra time, I'm looking for a definition for feet that look like the marshmallow man from Ghostbusters. You know what I'm talking about!

And have a nice day! :-)

Thursday Thoughts

2010-03-25T10:58:00.001-07:00

I realize I do this a lot. When I am trying to think about what to title my posts, I lean on the day of the week. Sorry about this... sometimes it's just too easy. Like today.

Because today I am still pregnant. And I could type a 1000 word essay right now about why I think I should have this baby out of my belly but it still wouldn't make a difference. So it's "Thursday Thoughts".

So that's my first thought. Still pregnant. And wondering why.

In other news, we watched 'Last Chance Harvey' last night with Dustin Hoffman. He has a nice smile. You can't tell a lot about what actors are really like in person because well, they are acting. But I would like to think that he's really nice. He has a friendly face. On the other hand, I have heard that Chevy Chase is a total turd. Just not a nice man. And he's kind of annoying so I don't really mind that maybe he's a jerk but if Dustin was a jerk, I'd be a little disappointed. Just a little. It's not like I've invested emotionally into his off-screen personality. But the movie was good... a little depressing at first but whatever. It quickly improved.

I really need to get a good list of movies to watch right now. I am literally DONE every single thing in our house (except for one thing I just don't want to get done) and I don't know what to do with my time.

Shopping? For what? Sheets that fit my protruding belly??

Groceries? We have way too much food in our house as it is... because you know, the baby could come at ANY moment.

Visit friends? It's an option. But then I'd have to get out of my pajamas.

And everything else is done. Book keeping, taxes filed, stuff for work all done, house cleaned, paperwork done... I don't even have any tv shows to catch up on.

Do you have any suggestions? Hmmmm?

Oh, I have an idea. I will attempt to give myself a pedicure. Because that will take ALL DAY. I'm not joking. Maybe I will make a video of myself doing a pedicure and then post it on YouTube. I will be famous. Because it will take so freakin' long and it will be so sad.

So maybe not. Maybe I'll just sit and wait. Okay? Okay.

Out.

Short word about "pre-labor"

2010-03-23T15:45:00.001-07:00

So far, I've thought I was going into labor 3 times. And last night I thought this was it FOR SURE. And now I know it was just practice. Again.

With that said, I'm going to take a nap. Because I can. Because I don't have a newborn baby needing me all the time yet.

See... something to be thankful for!

When I'm not "out to here"

2010-03-22T15:23:00.001-07:00

Over the past few months, I've been strictly in maternity clothes. And some sweatpants that still fit from my previously un-pregnant life. As the days of this pregnancy have been slowly drawing to a close, I've started to think about style again. You know, nice clothes that make you feel good?

So today, I'm going to point out just a FEW (trust me, there are many) things that I would love to try on after the baby is born. Obviously not in the first while... I'll be celebrating the move back into early pregnancy clothes first! But eventually, I'll want to try on some new jeans and cute tops that don't billow!

To start, let me introduce you to my new friend Boden. Actually, not really new and not really my friend either but I'd like to think we could be sometime soon! I love Boden's stuff. You can find it at www.bodenusa.com and goodness, did I drool over the catalog this past fall when I knew for a fact that I wouldn't fit into any of it. But that's all about to change!

Unfortunately this sweater is almost out of stock. I won't be owning it.

I'm always a fan of a good cardigan. And the t-shirt too!

Notice. No pregnancy panel. How nice. These may take awhile to be a contender for me.

Cute right?

These are from Gap. I will say that I do have trouble fitting their pants. Either too short or too long but for spring, maybe the too longs with a heel! My feet may just fit into some!!!

I love this t-shirt! It reminds me of my friend Amani but I think I would like to wear it too! After my mommy arms come in. ha ha! You know, all that muscle from lifting a growing boy?

This sweet little number is from piperlime.com. I want it all! Even with flip flops (more my everyday thing in the summer) this outfit will be cute!

See, just a few things... for starters.

I could go on all day. I just popped over to a few websites for about 3.7 seconds and I already found so many things I could just add to my shopping cart and enjoy! I'm sure this is a big comfort to my husband. Right honey? I just need to remind him that if I look good, he looks good. It's just a fact of life. It really is.

And really, the only reason I'd even THINK of buying any of these things is because I care about him. Aren't I selfless? And thoughtful?

I'd like to think so! ;-)

Sew disastrous

2010-03-19T08:55:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I said I was going to make my dog a little bed. Well, I truly did have good intentions of doing this. I sewed the cover almost all the way, had it all measured for the down bedding and then I cut into my old down mattress and within about 2.4 seconds, I realized this was a bad idea.

And then I kept cutting.

Did you know that there are probably about 5 million feathers in a single bed-sized down mattress? I know that now. I did have the common sense (if you can call it that) to drag the thing outside after I saw what a mess this could be and then I kept going. I cut off the size that I needed and tried to stuff the feathers into that spot so they wouldn't get all over everything. This didn't really work so well.

Basically, our front porch looked like I'd plucked about 15 geese. Feathers ALL OVER... and some inside the house all over too. Which was especially lame because my house was totally clean and ready for this baby to arrive. Ugh. Long story short, I decided to NOT use the feather bed and it's outside waiting for Luke to do something with it. I swept most of the feather evidence off the porch but there are still some stuck in the screen and on the porch. Just a subtle reminder of my bad choices.

And then, because I felt that I should keep going, I decided to use an old down pillow insert in the closet instead... I don't know why this didn't occur to me in the first place. But suddenly it did so I kept sewing the cover even though by this time, I was really kinda mad. I got to just about the end and my bobbin ran out of thread. And because I was already so irritated at the mess all over my floors and outside, instead of refilling my bobbin and finishing my project, I threw it away. Just like that. So, my dog is not getting a homemade doggie bed. The one he was enjoying is now on the porch, ready for the garbage and I am freshly reminded why I totally don't love sewing.

But he did get a walk yesterday, barked quite a bit at everything and a stranger actually picked him up at the park so overall, I don't think he minded too much.

The Dog Days of almost spring.

2010-03-18T09:08:00.000-07:00

Today is Doggie Day. Deeter, my little doggie, Day. I am coming to the end of my projects to get done before the BIG DAY.

You know how Taco Bell advertises 2nd dinner and on the Office when Pam was pregnant she would share all those extra meals with Kevin?? First lunch, second lunch, snack and first dinner before work was over? Well, Deeter treats naps like that.

He was let out of his kennel around 8:30am this morning and after slowly stretching out of his kennel (he's an expert at downward facing dog), he moves either towards the heating vent under the sink or like today, to the ray of sunshine coming in through our glass sliding door and collapses onto the floor for his first official nap of the day. After being awake for about 45 seconds.

This is not a joke.

We've never been able to put him on a regular dog schedule. You know, where they wake up, go potty, eat their breakfast and then proceed to chill out? Nope. He doesn't usually "wake up" for the morning until noon or 1pm. Then he's desperate for potty and desperate for some food. And then he goes back to sleep. Preferably in the sun if we've got it.

So on this Thursday, this special Thursday for my dog, I'm making him a special doggie bed. He cannot tolerate regular dog beds or even pillows filled with regular stuffing. He has such little patience for these things that he needs to rip them to shreds and empty them of their stuffing.

As quickly as possible.

Needless to say, we have down-filled pillows in our living room. He enjoys laying on these ones... expensive taste for a dog if you ask me. So he's getting a down-filled bed.

Back when I first went to college, I bought a feather mattress to go on top of the one provided by the housing people at my school and I still have it. It's not been used in many, MANY years and I was wondering what the heck to do with it in my nesting mode. It just seems so wasteful to toss out such a large amount of feathers so I'm going to cut it to size for a good dog bed, make a removable flannel cover (not fleece... he likes to eat fleece too) and then call it good. And then maybe I'll send the insides to the dry cleaner. Maybe.

It's also my dog's day today because I'm fixing a "down substitute" blanket that I REALLY like myself when we watch movies that he happened to figure out wasn't really down at all. He ate 2 holes into it and started to "unstuff" it before I finally caught him. So that needs to get sewn up and then washed. I'm hoping if he has this big bed of his, maybe he'll leave my stuff alone, no pun intended. It's a risk.

And maybe he'll get a walk today. That would pretty much make it his day! He lives for walks. We can't even say the word around here. It's W-A-L-K for now. He hasn't caught on. So maybe he'll get one of those today. But it's really more about me wanting to get my labor started, not about how much he would enjoy a walk. That's secondary.

But we won't talk about that too much more.

Happy Deeter Doggie Day!

Festering

2010-03-17T13:35:00.001-07:00

It's a terrible thing to fester.

I woke up this morning, realized I was still "with child" and wondered if the day would ever come when the baby would decide to make an entrance. Or exit, depending on how I look at this. I realize my due date isn't until Sunday but it's just torture to wait for so many reasons.

It's torture to wait because I know so many people who had their babies early. It's torture to wait because I am SO SLOW and CUMBERSOME and I would love to know what a few pounds less feels like very soon! And lots of other stuff. Like knowing there's a full grown baby in my tummy that I could be holding and loving right this second if he were out... Which I can't wait to do! My house is so "done" and ready and waiting for the baby that I don't really have a lot to do.

Okay, that's a lie.

I have the following left to do:

organize the guest room (but I just don't CARE anymore about this room)
write a thousand thank-you cards
mail a mass mailer at the post office for Luke (ok, I did that... took a break writing this)
Fed/Ex an expense report (did that too!)
maybe sew my dog a doggie bed. I have all the stuff to make it.
and maybe some other stuff. I'm sure I could come

5am

2010-03-16T08:43:00.001-07:00

I woke up this morning and asked my body... why are you still pregnant?

And then I lay there and waited for an answer. Nothing happened. So I went back to sleep.

There will be a day

2010-03-14T12:21:00.001-07:00

As much as I've been so profoundly happy to be pregnant, there will be a day when I'm not pregnant anymore. And I CAN'T WAIT!!! Just the other day I was thinking about all the things I am so excited to do that are literally impossible right now. Or sadly pathetic to attempt. One or the other.

Here's what I'm excited for about not being pregnant anymore:

I will clip my toenails
Putting on shoes will no longer be comical or frustrating and will take a very short amount of time
I can wear the shoes I like, not just the ones that fit
If I drop something on the floor, I can pick it up without wondering if it's really worth the effort
I won't fall onto the toilet anymore
Getting out of bed in the morning won't be an insurmountable task
Sleeping with 5 pillows will be luxury instead of necessity
Coffee. Nothing more to say on this...
The lavender in my front yard can get cleaned up from winter. I actually hate this task every year but I hate it even more that I can't really do it right now.
As much as we learn as children that 'slow and steady wins the race'... I don't really do the whole slow and steady thing. I like to get things done NOW. And I will... someday!
Wear normal clothes that I actually like to wear. Because of my incredible talent to spill things, I have been losing maternity shirts to the "stained forever bin" and I have about 3 left.
Grocery shop without people giving me wide clearance while staring at my belly
Shave my legs. This will be epic
Sit down without my boobs resting on my tummy. I'm wondering if I just delete this one...
Get off the couch unassisted
Walk for however long I want without wondering whether my hip will decide to bail on me
Wear the Costco man socks around the house without moving around gallons of water in my body

This is by no means a complete or completed list. I reserve the right to add to this list at any given time.

A Life List

2010-03-14T11:58:00.000-07:00

This morning Luke and I were reading some of my favorite blogs together and we checked out his cousin Jodi's website (www.jodimichelle.com) and I introduced him to her life list. It's so full of cool stuff that even I'd like to do... specifically the swank dress in NYC/martini order one. Jodi, we should meet up and do this one together. I'd be a totally worthy friend to order drinks with. Just give me some time so I can fit into something other than a tarp.

Side note: I just killed a spider that was hiding on a Costco coupon I cut out the other day. I don't understand WHY they seem to think my house is a good place to be. I'm a spider killer. I show no mercy. And now the coupon is kinda goopy and probably won't be used anymore.

Okay, back to my topic.

Life List.

So now Luke wants to US to do a life list. 50 things each and put them together and see what we are going to be doing. And first thing I think of is this: What if I hate some of his life list things? Do I have to go along with them anyway? Maybe I'll add something like "visit the Barbie Museum" if it exists just because I know he will LOATHE that with all of his heart and I might sort of enjoy it. My sort of enjoyment is worth his loathing.

I asked him about my concern... what if I hate your life list? Or even one thing on it? His reply: well, I just do that all by myself. His example: Maybe I want to live in Mexico for 20 years. I can do that alone and then tell you how it went. Did I mention I love my husband? Did I mention that he's kind of a dork but that I am too so I chose wisely?

And really, I guess we don't have to share all the things on our list but he can't just disappear for 20 years to accomplish one of his. Or even for a month. I would have to hunt him down and then he'd be sorry I found him and that little life list wish would be forever obliterated.

Gone.

Destroyed without hope of resurrection.

Just so you know.

And since we skipped out on church today because it may be our last weekend day ever without children, maybe we'll do this little project. It seems like a nice thing to do on the possible last full day of freedom before we have a little fellow demanding attention from us... that we can't wait to give him! Other than our dog Deeter who is also VERY little and VERY demanding. But we don't really care about him.

Okay, that's all for this Sunday.

So I'm 70+ years old now?

2010-03-13T10:00:00.000-08:00

Okay, so first things first.

I learned to knit. Again.

A few of years ago, when it was SO TRENDY to learn to knit, I taught myself how. With a book from the library. I will boldly say that it's very difficult to learn how to knit with pictures. But I sorta did learn and tried to knit a scarf but it looked so bad that I didn't finish it and that was the end of my trendy knitting.

But then I ended up back in a knitting shop a couple months ago with my Dad's wife. She's learning how to spin and was looking for a wheel. There was this beautiful cotton blanket on display (you know, something you'd pay through the nose for at a home store) and I wanted it. More specifically, I wanted to make it.

So I signed up for a knitting class so I could learn properly and make things that actually look good. And I needed to learn before I have this baby. So I had my class, learned how to knit a baby blanket and now I'm knitting it.

Which leads me to why I'm talking about being 70.

Last night we had to drive to IKEA for some extra furniture for my husband's new office and I brought my knitting along. He gives me this funny look as we're driving and of course, I need t know what's going on behind the look so I asked... 'what's that about'??? He basically said he thought that only people over 70 knitted, and now me.

So I proudly informed him that lots of people knit. I have a friend who crochets and it was even trendy a few years ago. Ahem.

It's not like I sit and home and knit all day. I can snowboard BETTER than my husband. I mountain bike every now and again. I'm pregnant so clearly, I'm not 70. And that's besides the point, there are many cool people who are 70+ years old. I will be there someday and I hope to rock those years!

But I knit now. Below 30.

The end.

OH BABY... room!

2010-03-12T12:15:00.000-08:00

After much deliberation and planning, we finally put together our baby's bedroom! I do have two more things to do still but they won't happen until after the baby is born. One item because of product availability and the other because I am ready to be done for awhile!

So... where to start? How about "In the beginning..."

In the beginning, this room used to be sort of the "drum room" and everything else that didn't have a home dropping ground.

Not really much going on. Notice the '80s mini blinds.

And sadly, Luke's drums that have been sent to the 'Man Shack'

It was kind of an ordeal to get this stuff out of the room because of Luke's broken collar bone and my 3rd trimester fatigue/awkwardness/I don't feel like it-ness. And this is like half-way through January when all the pregnancy emails say we should be packing our bags and the nursery should be just about done. Um... nope.

And it didn't help that I agonized over furniture, etc for quite some time so I was feeling the crunch! Even knowing that the baby doesn't really care about this stuff... well, I CARE! I like rooms that look nice! So it had to be done!

I think Luke felt the intensity too!

A wise friend once told me that I should definitely have a clock in the nursery because it can feel like 5 hours have passed when the baby is crying and really, it's been about 12 minutes so it's good to have a clock/ahem, perspective on hand.

Thank-you IKEA!

Here's our rocking chair! This took quite awhile to find! There is a blank spot on the wall above and I'm going to get one of Luke's totally adorable "when he was little" drawings put onto canvas and hang it here! This is the thing I just don't feel like doing right now. It means digging through Luke's boxes in the garage for the right picture. Maybe another time.

The light fixture we first picked was a BIG mistake. So we went with this little thing. It works!

Here's the shelf that I HAD to have for this baby's room. Someday Hudson will appreciate it! I mean, what child wouldn't just be thrilled with all that storage!

Note another blank wall. There is a shelf that will go here and all those stuffed animals will be moved up... but it's not available until April. And then we'll put some more framed photos on the table.

Here's the dresser/changer. That changer comes off so this will be our boy's dresser for a VERY long time. I love the pictures by Norman Rockwell. Lots of sports. Maybe he will like sports? Maybe not. No pressure. Except for mountain biking... Just kidding.

And my favorite part! The crib! And polka dots! And very luxe curtains, which I must add with pride, were Luke's choice! He's had plenty of input into this room and he's got some good taste! I can't help but smile when I see this. It looks like a happy place to go to sleep and wake up!

Well, there you have it. Baby Hudson's bedroom!

Notable mentions: Thanks to my mom for helping me paint! Thanks to Luke's mom for single-handedly putting together the rocking chair and for helping with the shelf! Luke sat and watched. Something about a broken collar bone or some other lame excuse. But we don't need to go there. Anyway, THANK-YOU!!! And to Ron as well for helping move the drums! And Thanks to my friend Romay for teaching me to make the polka dots! And making a few herself! :-)

Next on my list: write thank-you notes to all the awesome people I know who blessed us with loads of baby things! This may take awhile...

Thanks for reading my blog!

Pregnancy Survival Guide

2010-03-11T11:54:00.001-08:00

Being pregnant for the first time in my life, I didn't really know much of anything going into this. Nobody really tells you what it's going to be like. Even having several friends who've had several babies didn't really prepare me for what these past 9 months would be like.

And now, because I have this whole arsenal of information, I'm going to share with you the MUST HAVES for pregnancy. Well, at least my pregnancy. And you should pay attention because at some point you'll either be pregnant or know someone who is. And they will kiss your feet for sharing this information. If they can bend down... but that's another story.

1. Swimming: Do it. I am a literal water storage tank right now and swimming has basically allowed me to NOT turn into a total living nightmare for everyone around me.

2. The IKEA shoe horn: You can actually get your shoes on.

3. Chair massager: It's saved my husband's life many times.

4. Memory foam topper: Ours is 3 inches thick and I have not had one bad night of sleep since we bought it. Again, saved my husband's life many times.

5. Running shoes: I don't know what it is but basically, my feet are swollen all the time and when I tie my shoes tight, it keeps my feet from falling apart. (little side note on this... my sister-in-law commented that my style has changed since I've been pregnant. Let's be clear on this... I don't have any style right now. After the end of November, my "cute" clothes just didn't work anymore. And when you feel large, you don't feel cute in anything so I'm not wearing running shoes a lot. And besides, my nice tall boots just don't fit unless I have a few "helpers" to get them on)

6. A good sense of humor: People just say weird things to you when you're pregnant. And sometimes, it's just not funny. Better to smile and nod if this happens to you.

That's it for today. I was all inspired about what I was going to write earlier today but now I just want to get my stuff done and have this baby. Maybe today? We'll see.

Cheeky Cheeky.

2010-03-05T09:08:00.000-08:00

When I first started blogging, I was determined to use photos to help make my posts more interesting. Because I like to take pictures and I figured... you'd probably like to see some pictures.

And then I got pregnant. And my camera suddenly felt heavy and burdensome.

So no pictures for awhile. Just a little while longer.

All I really had on my mind this morning is this one single solitary thought to share with you...

I love my little dog's cheeks. They are very nice. And soft. I could eat them... not really but you know what I mean. And wouldn't a photo just really help make this post seem a little bit more fun? A cheeky photo? Again, I apologize.

Happy Friday!

Cravings

2010-03-04T10:26:00.001-08:00

Cravings during pregnancy is a very strange bird. A weird and wonderful thing. And probably a little bit disturbing.

Prior to pregnancy, I could describe a craving as something that maybe struck my mind as sounding kinda yummy and maybe I should do something about it. A craving during those very long 9 months is more like... if I don't get my hands on this food in about 3.7 seconds, I'm going to go crazy. And I mean CRAZY. No joke. Ask Luke.

And the weirdest thing I've learned about these cravings is that they evolve. I have not craved a single food item the entire time I've been pregnant. In fact, during the 1st trimester, I kept waiting for a craving. I finally discovered the first one sometime during peach season. And did I ever eat peaches! In fact, I canned 50 lbs of them as well... you know, just in case. I didn't want to run out during the winter months. But sometime around October, that craving kinda died. And I have jars and jars of peaches to eat still. They are still tasty but it's not like I'm going to keel over and die to open a jar anymore.

And then there was the 2% milk thing. That's lasted the longest I think... we were at a friend's house for dinner and she offered a few different beverages and kind of last minute was like... oh and we have milk too. And for someone who NEVER, EVER likes milk to drink, I though... maybe I should have some milk. Well, I drank 4 glasses of milk DESPERATELY and QUICKLY. And since that fateful day, I don't know how much money we've spent on the stuff. It's like a drug. I have to have it. And if we're out, it's an emergency. Again, ask Luke.

So, today I thought it would be fun to look back on my many cravings because they seem to be slowing down a bit. I'm not as desperate to have whatever it is that I'm craving. I'm getting to the end of this whole party. But here's the list...

1. Peaches

2. 2% Milk (preferably Northwest Farms 2% organic from Fred Meyer. It just tastes the best out of all of them... and we've tried them all.)

3. Orange Juice with at least 4 ice cubes and a little bit of water and a STRAW. Very important.

Funny... while I'm typing about my cravings, the baby is moving around plenty! He obviously likes these foods too!

Moving on.

4. Oreo blizzards from Dairy Queen. This one only lasted a little while.

5. Cheeseburgers. Particularly the Bonzai Burger from Red Robin and the Boomer Burger from a local drive-in.

6. Tums. Just kidding.

7. Grapes, oranges... generally fruit. I ate a lot. I could eat a whole batch of grapes, bananas and oranges from Costco on my own in one week. No apologies.

And I think that's about it. Unless I'm forgetting something. Oh, I am! My latest one for the last few days has been strawberry smoothies... Strawberries, ice, milk and soy yogurt. SO good!

Oh, and I've also been craving Root Beer and Pepsi these last few weeks. I haven't given in to this one very often but when I do.... :-)

And I really think that's it now. Unless I'm forgetting something. Really, another topic altogether. Forgetfulness aka Pregnancy Brain. I think I'll just end this now.

Sunshine at my house

2010-03-04T10:13:00.001-08:00

In my part of the world, a sunny day is priceless before late spring. And here I sit, squinting my eyes because of the bright light that is pouring into my home. And I love it!

And I just realized I'd rather be enjoying the sun than sitting here blogging. Sorry.

Gone Swimming

2010-03-02T09:56:00.001-08:00

Today is Tuesday. And it's not just any regular Tuesday if you live in my world. Today is the day I go swimming at the pool. Well, one of the days at least. Normally, I meet my friend who is also expecting a baby and we deep water run and talk for an hour. Because it would be boring to do this alone with nobody to talk to...

And as of today, I'm officially on my own. With nobody to talk to.

Because... there is a baby in the process of being born RIGHT NOW!!! Probably more than that all over the world but in my world, there is one coming right now! I'm very excited!

But I'm also swimming alone. For at least a couple more weeks.

With all of this said, I just wanted you to feel sorry for me. Just go ahead and feel it. How sad that Bonnie has to swim alone with nobody to talk to. Very sad.

But then feel happy. Because I'm still going to go swimming and that's a good thing!

k... bye!

And I'm the first to admit that maybe I'm a total moron. :-)

Happy Friday

2010-02-26T12:32:00.000-08:00

On this Friday...

I am happy for the Korean girl who won her gold medal. Dang, she is quite the skater! Obviously.

I am happy that my dog only barked about 70 times today instead of 100. By noon.

I am happy that it's windy outside because I'm really warm right now.

I am happy that it's the weekend. Almost.

And I am happy that I have really only about 3 weeks left (approximately) until I can say I'm a Mommy and expecting anymore! Can anybody give me an AMEN to not peeing 25 times per day!

And that's all for today folks!

HAPPY FRIDAY!

A 2010 project

2010-02-25T20:18:00.000-08:00

Sometime in January, I stumbled across Dave Ramsey and his book 'Total Money Makeover'. And for some strange reason, I ordered it online from Amazon and then read it in less than 4 days. This may not sound so amazing to you but if you know me, I have a terrible time reading anything non-fiction. I can probably count on one hand the amount of non-fiction books I've read from start to finish in my ENTIRE life. And a book about money? Sounds like a good time... ha!

I've started quite a few books on a variety of topics with strong intentions of learning and then finishing them. However, somewhere along the way, I get distracted by a really good story and end up forgetting all about whatever it was that originally drew me to the non-fiction book in the first place. It's just bad news with me and books that are supposed to make me learn something. To read this book on money in 4 days was quite an accomplishment. So much so, that my husband decided maybe he should read it too.

And once we had both finished the book, we made some MAJOR changes in our lives.

We cut up our credit cards.

Don't believe me?

Here's proof.

And then I had an emotional breakdown. You try cutting up credit cards with a commitment to not use them ever again. Right before having a baby... and nothing purchased for the baby yet.

Needless to say, it was really crazy but after I got over myself, I was really excited! Luke and I have gotten really committed to getting totally out of debt, including our mortgage. This may sound like a crazy thing to even aspire to but we got onto it right away. Here's what we've done so far...

1. We've sold some stuff in our house.

2. We've sold our stocks, which weren't necessarily an amazing amount BUT made a small dent.

3. We've cut our budget amount in half for food and fun and all of that. (NOT fun but worth it)

And then we started paying stuff off! It's kind of addicting! And it's working... we are kicking some major butt and I can say with confidence that aside from our mortgage, we'll be totally out of debt by the end of the year. Including cars. And student loans. Yup. There, I said it! It's a big project but I know we can do it.

So... with all this said, does anyone want to join us? Had somebody asked me this question before I read Dave's book, I would've laughed and rolled my eyes. But you really can do it. It's doable. Really. And I must admit that after I read this book, I wanted to buy it for everyone... everywhere... but Luke made a good point. If you really want this badly enough, you will want to buy the book yourself.

Good point.

Juice for thought

2010-02-22T10:21:00.000-08:00

On this sunny Monday morning, I just have to say that I love orange juice. A lot. I think the baby does too because it's been one of my biggest pregnancy cravings. This month alone, I think I've gone through 5 cartons (thank heavens for Costco!) of the stuff.

And this morning... I ran out after barely half a glass.

This is serious stuff people.

But I do happen to have a few frozen ones in the freezer so I just have to move this slow body out to the garage, open the freezer, get out a new container, defrost it and then have a little bit more. Just a little bit. And maybe an extra little bit for good luck.

Doesn't that sound like a lot of work? It's just a lot of steps for some juice. But there's no arguing with the baby so I've just got to do it.

Maybe I'll live to tell about it tomorrow. Or the next day.

How many does it take...

2010-02-21T17:58:00.000-08:00

How many people does it take to clean 3 bathrooms in 2 hours? Under normal circumstances, I would guess probably less than one whole singular person. But today, it took a 36 week pregnant me and my recovering-from-a-broken-collar-bone husband 2 whole hours to clean everything from top to bottom.

2 hours.

Literally.

And I must confess that this is the reason why I haven't cleaned the bathrooms in a VERY long time. I just knew that if I attempted to do it all on my own, I would probably never recover from the depressing fact that I didn't finish. You'd find me collapsed on the floor in utter despair.

And in this whole "getting ready for the baby" thing, the bathrooms have been weighing heavily on me. It just felt like I couldn't accomplish smaller tasks around the house until the bathrooms were done. I know this is kind of a silly way to feel about things but it's just the way my brain works. And I DO realize that the bathrooms will not STAY clean until after the baby is born but I did accomplish something very, VERY important during the cleaning today.

I convinced my husband that we should hire a cleaner to clean our entire house from top to bottom before the baby arrives.

Yes, I know. I'm smart!

Because I don't think he wants to help me do it all again.

It was a good maneuver for a Sunday afternoon. But really, I do need to say a big "thank-you" to Luke for being my bathroom cleaning partner today. It really just made my week, in advance. That's a happy thing!

And tomorrow, we're going to hang the curtains and the picture frames in the baby room. Yes... I think we might just get all those 'to do' things done before the new love of our life arrives! I know he'll completely make all of our little efforts and preparations seem silly and meaningless next to his sweet self but for now, it keeps me sane and feeling like I just might make it!

Nearing the end??

2010-02-16T17:39:00.000-08:00

I'm writing this post at 35 weeks, 2 days.

I am tired and wishing I was near the end. In some ways I really am close to the end but truthfully, I didn't start to feel tired of all this until about 2 weeks ago so another 5-6 weeks sounds like an awful long time to be "done".

And I'm cranky now.

I think that makes Luke feel like it's a long way to being done too.

But at least it's not another 12 weeks. That's something to be thankful for on this very tiresome day. That's something that has always helped me... finding something I can be thankful for, no matter what the situation. And tonight I'm thankful that my husband is making me dinner. And obviously a thousand other things but right now... that's a very happy thing. Not cooking.

And that's all for today. :-)

Happy Day After Valentine's Day

2010-02-15T10:23:00.000-08:00

On this February 15th, I feel the deep need to wish you a Happy Day After Valentine's Day! It's an actual day on the calendar. I promise you this. It may not be very obvious but it IS there.

And since I was kinda pregnant and tired yesterday, I didn't get near a computer once all day. However, this morning I logged into my facebook and caught up on all the updates from my nearest and dearest and also my farthest and acquaintanced. (is that a word? probably not...) And of course, plenty of Valentine's Day happiness posts were listed.

Lots of flowers and fancy dinners and romantic movies and creative dates. Even a husband who scrubbed the kitchen floors and organized the baby room for his expecting wife. You know what I got?

Nothing.

And you might think that I post this as a complaint. I really don't. A long, long time ago in a land far away... well, about 10 miles from here, my soon-t0-be boyfriend and then husband made his opinions known on Valentine's Day. Not a fan.

And then we proceeded to date and I proceeded to get roses and chocolates and all sorts of treats every Valentine's Day. Obviously I was just so fabulous that he decided to forgo his reasons for disliking the 14th of February. Obviously.

And then we got married.

And then we were sharing our money.

And I didn't really care so much about getting flowers on a day that he was "expected" to give them to me.

So we stopped doing Valentine's Day.

Yesterday morning, I woke up to my husband wishing me a Happy Valentine's Day... I'd forgotten. And then he made his annual little quip about how romantic it is that St. Valentine was imprisoned, beaten, stoned and beheaded. And I laughed. I think I encourage the annual speech because of this. He just thinks he's so funny because I laugh often at the things he says...

And then we got ready for the day. That was my Valentine's Day.

Now you may think this is totally the lamest thing IN THE WORLD but here's my logic. I would rather receive flowers or chocolate or a card on any other day of the year. Not because of my husband's gruesome facts about the 14th's patron saint. Nope. It's more because it's expected to get something on Valentine's Day. I would rather be going about my life on let's say... April 12th and be surprised by a bouquet of my favorite flowers. Or have a little love note arrive on January 2nd. I like the surprise. And I like that he didn't need a reminder or obligation to be romantic and thoughtful.

I don't say all this to minimize the romantic bliss that you may or may not have experienced yesterday. A lot of my favorite people really like the day. And I'm glad. I like seeing the people I care about feeling all warm and fuzzy and loved.

But this blog is called 'A Bonnie Life'... it's just what happened yesterday.

And now I must go. Eating and a shower and a trip to Costco await.

Happy Day After Valentine's Day!

In case you were wondering....

2010-02-12T11:41:00.001-08:00

I've been fairly absent recently with my blog. I hate it. But to be honest, I've just been pregnant and tired lately. And my fingers are swollen with prego carpal tunnel. Thank-you water retention.

All excuses, I know but the thought of actually sitting down at the computer and thinking of something to write about... no wait. I can think of plenty of things to write about but actually loading my photos, posting them and THEN writing about them has seemed like a chore.

Sad for us all. ha!

But I'm here today.

I went swimming this morning and a very nice lady in the change room asked me how my pregnancy was going. I said it as going well but I was ready for it to be over! And then she said... well, you must only have about 2 weeks left right? WRONG!!! Over 5 weeks left lady. Yes, my belly is large but leave me alone.

Just in case you ever get into a conversation with an expecting chick, don't "guestimate" how much longer she has before the baby arrives. It's just cruel.

But I've over it now. Obviously.

On a happier note, tomorrow is another baby shower and I'm VERY excited about it! This was is being hosted by one of my close friends at her house and it's a church shower so there will be lots of great women there! I will take pictures of the loot and post it here at a later date.

Well, maybe. I say that a lot. I do take the pictures and then I don't post them. So maybe I'll post them! :-)

Have a happy Friday!

Super Bowl Sunday

2010-02-07T06:26:00.001-08:00

I feel like I should be wishing you all a "Happy Super Bowl Sunday". In our house, the Super Bowl is like the 2nd most important holiday of the year. After Christmas. At least to my husband.

It seems for every other holiday, I'm busy preparing and cleaning and cooking for a party or visitors or some other fun thing. However, this special Sunday that comes only once a year is more my husband's baby. He invited people. He cleaned the house. He baked cookies and prepared nacho meat last night. Yes cookies. My husband likes to bake. And he made a good batch last night!

Usually, I'm excited for the game but sadly, this year I'm not. I just don't care about the teams playing... but if I have to choose, I'll vote for the Colts. As playoffs were winding down to the final week, I thought it would be great to have the Viking's veteran QB Brett Favre play against the Jets rookie QB Mark Sanchez. That was my vote. It didn't happen at all. Neither team. And now I'm forced to watch a game that doesn't really get me riled up at all. Not even a little bit.

I couldn't sleep past 5:20am which is so unusual for me and here I sit at 6:31am on Super Bowl Sunday. The living room has plenty of extra seating set up for all the people coming to our house this afternoon. And all I can think about is that I'm going to need a nap at some point today... how do you sleep with all those extra people cheering and the tv louder that we normally have it and all that food sitting on the table... BEGGING me to stay awhile?

It's just one of those things. But it does come just once a year so I'm going to make the most of it. And maybe I'll take a quick nap before the game if I can... maybe.

Happy Friday

2010-01-29T10:03:00.000-08:00

On this Friday, I just wanted to say Happy Friday! Not much more to say.

Oh, except I'm still pregnant and growing. Which is a good thing. ;-)

Here's an updated belly shot at 32.5 weeks exactly.

Good Morning Sunshine

2010-01-28T09:36:00.001-08:00

So... this morning, I had a hard time getting out of bed. It must've been because I woke up about 1200 times last night from heartburn... dang butternut squash ravioli. It was just too good and I ate it all. And my tummy was protesting.

Fast forward to this morning and my 45 minute descent from my mattress to the floor and I felt like I was making progress. You see, I was going to go downstairs, get some much needed orange juice and then get ready for my day. The plan for the morning included going to visit my friend Danie and possibly go for a walk which my dog desperately needs.

And then I hear a truck.

At first, I think it must be the mysterious truck that has arrived twice at my neighbor's house in the past couple of weeks, removing things from their house... that's a whole other post so I won't get into it. But then it stops. By my driveway. And I panic.

Could this be the furniture delivery people that are supposed to come today between 3-5pm? Could they possibly be totally early, surprising me in my huge pregnant belly t-shirt, scary hair and smudged eye make-up from the night before? Somebody gets out of the drivers side, with a clipboard and starts to walk up my driveway.

I burst into action... this isn't so impressive if you can imagine 32.5 weeks of baby belly looming. Running upstairs, grabbing jeans, a huge sweatshirt and tying my hair up, I come running down just as Deeter is faithfully announcing a visitor at our doorstep.

They delivered another dresser, removed the original one (dented) and now they are gone.

Furniture is delivered, I am writing this blog and Deeter is in his kennel because he couldn't control his behavior around the delivery guys. I still have yet to check the dresser for any dings or dents but I just don't have time nor do I feel like it. I just want to finish my orange juice in peace and get on with my day.

The end.

Quickbooks and other oddities

2010-01-27T11:16:00.000-08:00

On this particular Wednesday...

Quickbooks: How does an entire month of a year go missing? And how am I showing a profit for 2009 when I KNOW FOR A FACT that we lost money last year? This is a big question. Last year I took a class on Quickbooks and now I'm seeing the folly of my first year's attempts. 2010 will be a much better year but geez... this little problem will be a doozie to figure out.

Dogs: Since I now know that my dog's barking problem is almost completely our fault, I feel responsible to fix it. Unfortunately, one of the major needs in my doggie's life is a 45 "brisk" walk every single day. And double unfortunately, my feet hurt SO much these days that 45 minutes of anything at a single time on my feet doesn't sound so fun. Honey? Want to take our dog for a walk?? I'll stick with swimming...

Orange Juice: Question - how come I LOVE orange juice since I've gotten pregnant and guzzle it every single morning with a little bit of water, several ice cubes and a straw (this is all very important) and almost feel euphoric from the taste but oranges don't really make me feel the same way?

Neighbors: I think our neighbors have moved out of their house because they are never there anymore, the dogs never go outside anymore and they did move plenty of furniture recently. However, the house is not for sale. Do I go peek in the window? Is that creepy? Maybe?

Recycling: Since my husband has broken his collar bone and our driveway is extremely steep, we have been building quite the collection of recycling in our garage... He can't get it to the curb for pick-up. So you may see a large, pregnant chick unloading a truck load of recycling at the garbage dump (calm down... in the recycle area) in the next few days. This is a public notice.

Lastly, how do you get rid of the laundry pile without actually having to "do" the laundry? Mom? Mooooommmmmm? Probably not. Sigh.

Practice makes... Character?

2010-01-26T17:09:00.000-08:00

I think that sometimes life really can be a full on sucker face of lemons and other times, it just isn't. And I'm not bringing this up to complain but lately, it seems like we have a big lemon tree in our backyard.

And really, that could be a bad thing but it hasn't. Basically, I've been getting very good at turning lemons into lemonade. In every single poopy thing, I've tried to ask myself what could I possibly learn from this or how could I take this ick and turn it into something great? To be honest, it hasn't always worked out exactly how I would want my lemonade to taste but it's always better than a big pucker face.

Obviously some things are going very well for us... having a baby (finally) and living in a very blessed country, food every single day (gasp!) etc, etc... I am thankful. So thankful. Every single day I am thankful.

But some things have just been difficult and time consuming and frustrating. And I figure since life is about learning to be totally alive to the fullest no matter what's going on around you, this is quite the opportunity for some good old fashioned practice!

Practice having a good outlook and practice being positive when things are frustrating. Because as I'm sure you've all heard growing up... practice makes perfect. At least that's what I heard over and over again... piano lessons. Ugh. Practice, practice, practice.

And you know what? I didn't get it perfect, even when I practiced 2 hours every single day. But I did get something else. I got a little bit more character with every try. And I figure, even if I don't get this whole life thing down totally straight with practice, at least I can count on some character, right?

Little Getaway

2010-01-20T16:48:00.000-08:00

NOTE: I wrote this last week and forgot to post it. I guess I can't tell you about our trip until you know I went on one...

As you probably already know, I'm cookin' a handsome little fellow in my tummy. Yes, right now, as I type this. Crazy huh!

And since my due date is getting closer and closer, I have about 11 days left on the calendar during which I can travel on a plane. So this weekend, I'm headed to San Diego with my hubby for one last little getaway before Hudson enters our world and changes it forever!!

Which I can't wait for! Of course!!!

So we fly right out of Bellingham (LOVE this!!) direct to San Diego. Easy right? However, I'm seriously hoping we can get some assistance with boarding. Who's going to get our bags into the overhead bins? Not me. And not Luke. We make a pretty pathetic couple right now. Ha!

We don't really have any plans for once we arrive. The only thing I really need is to walk on the beach and be away from all the "to do" items of our life. No cell phones, no email, no work, no cooking, no house to clean, no dog to let out potty, the list is endless.

And suddenly I've run out of things to say. That just sounds too good!!

Oh right, and then we'll come home to regular life again. And then we'll have a baby!

The Bachelor

2010-01-20T16:40:00.000-08:00

One word... wow.

I am in awe of the drama on this season. Some of those girls are total head cases. I honestly could hand out business cards to a counsellor on the show. Drama. Drama. Drama. But isn't that why we watch it? Entertainment because of other people's drama... I will admit, this season I have spent a considerable amount of time laughing. OUT LOUD. By myself!

And I am writing this while I'm watching episode 3 on my computer. It's just too much. Michelle is the most drama/head case/weird/creepy person that's ever, EVER been on this series. Ever. And there are others but basically, she was the best one yet.

The Bachelor is... um... well, I just don't know what else to say. I am speechless.

And that's why I love the Bachelor. :0)

And probably why my husband loves that I love it. Speechless.

Just as Deeter is in this picture... Either that or thinking 'why do they hate me so much?' And yes, the balloon is tied around his neck.

Blogging: Basically talking to yourself

2010-01-19T09:12:00.001-08:00

I don't really know why I blog.

I don't write about anything really meaningful and I don't write about any particular topic. I just write. About whatever is spewing out of my mind when I decide to hunker down at the computer and write something. And it's usually about my life. So it's probably not very deep.

So why do I blog? An eternal question? I don't know. But I think that maybe it has to do with talking, which apparently I'm very good at (according to my husband) and I do like to write.

And writing for me is either going to be in a journal or on a computer. And the journal thing doesn't happen too often and to be honest, it's just not really public material that's in my journal. And you thank me for this profusely, I'm sure.

And as I keep typing, I realize that my thoughts have totally faded to nothing and I don't have any conclusion as to why I blog. Well, let's just try for finishing's sake and say good-bye.

I like to talk. I like to type. I like to talk.

The end.

Ears

2010-01-18T21:52:00.000-08:00

There was a time when Deeter's ears got bigger and then turned up. And stayed up.

I have to admit that we were a little bit worried because he looked like a 4 legged bat. But now when I look back on this little fellow, I kinda miss the ears... it added character.

And look at those little feet... they are just SO tidy!

A moment this morning...

2010-01-18T12:14:00.000-08:00

I just had an epiphany this morning... like, it JUST hit me.

We're having a baby. A real human being is about to be moving out of my belly and into our home. Like... in 9 weeks. Well... according to the whole "due date" thing which I know is quite inaccurate but still. 9 weeks.

About 2.3 minutes ago I was standing in my kitchen, drinking a chocolate (MMmmmm) protein shake and flipping through a baby book that my friend lent to me and it just hit me. I am reading these books now because in just over 2 months, I will have to know something about a baby. Like how to swaddle him and change his diaper and possibly be the "all knowing mommy" that children think their moms are at the beginning.

Well, let's just get that on the table right now. I don't know very much about this. The truth is out. It's going to be a hit and miss thing. But I'm more than willing to learn and I'm sure this little fellow in my tummy is more than willing to work with me!

Anyway, I just had this urgent moment of OMG, I have to blog about this. I have to tell someone. And even if I'm the only someone who reads this blog, then that counts for something right?

Right?

Hello? Helloooooooo?

Oh, I'm still here. Well, that's a relief.

Happy Monday!

On a serious note or less funny note... whatever

2010-01-16T21:24:00.000-08:00

I like to write about nonsense on this blog. Or my life. Whichever you choose to call it.

And because it's my blog and my life, today I am going to blog for a second about a book I'm reading. It's about to change EVERYTHING in our home. For the better. Ready?

I'm reading "Total Money Makeover" by Dave Ramsey and basically it's depressing to know that we have some work to do but refreshing to know that we're on the right track and exciting to know that we can make a big difference in our money life in the next year. I'm pumped. And full of adrenaline. And commitment.

If you haven't read this book, you should. Chances are that you too will fit into the category of people he is talking to. And if you don't, you rock! Really you do! And I plan to be one of the rocking ones in the future! And this isn't just a boring old money book. I've read half the book in less than a few days and I can't get enough of it. And I don't read non-fiction. Probably almost never... or ever. I think my last book was about 2 years ago and I didn't really finish it.

So here's to finishing non-fiction books and actually doing something with the information in them. And here's to an amazing change in our life that will require sacrifice now but is totally worth the work!

Do this and you'll be arrested

2010-01-13T12:38:00.000-08:00

I was just plowing around online (plowing explanation: I am much larger than I was 7 months ago... I don't do anything gracefully anymore) and I found this random little fact about the city I live in.

It is illegal for a woman to take more than 3 steps backwards while dancing.

Did you know this? I was completely unaware. But now I am SO glad that I have this information in my pocket. Next time I notice this kind of unruly behavior, I'm going to call the police.

And just because it's today:

Did you know that most toilets flush in E flat?

I can't believe I'm admitting this...

2010-01-13T12:32:00.000-08:00

Tell me if I'm totally dysfunctional.

I hear the UPS driver stop by my house while I'm upstairs. I hear my dog start barking like he gets paid per bark so that tells me someone is coming up my driveway. And then the barking stops. This means that whomever was at my door is now gone.

With all of this rich data, I can conclude that there is something at my door. And I walk right past the door (because I'm pregnant and forget oh so easily) and walk to my computer. Once at the computer, I read a few blogs, check my email and then remember that something was delivered to my door about 5 minutes ago.

Proceed to check my inbox for shipping confirmations. I find one! And I click on it to see if possibly it was the car seat we ordered that has been delivered. Well, lo and behold, the package is showing a location of "FRNT DR".

I guess I could've just walked to the door and checked...

Keeping it all together

2010-01-12T17:49:00.001-08:00

Just a few things on this:

It's just not going to happen. Unless I get a nap in at some point today.

Okay, maybe just one thing.

Have a nice day!

The Pool

2010-01-12T17:36:00.000-08:00

At least a couple of times a week now, I swim at the local aquatic center where I live. Usually in the mornings and because of that hour in the day, most of the people there are either seniors or mommies with kids. And a few others.

But more specifically, the diving pool where I... you'll love this... deep water run (ahem) is usually filled with older women. And that doesn't really matter much to me because they are all lovely and of course, one day I will also be apart of that age group (and I HOPE THAT SOMEONE THINKS I'M ALSO LOVELY AT THAT AGE...) but for the sake of this post, just hold on.

A few weeks ago, after a swim, I had this random thought and tweeted it. Without thinking. And then I thought about it afterwards. And I wonder.

Here it is:

Well, I can't find it. But it went something along the lines of wondering exactly how many people actually pee in the pool. And I think of this for a couple of reasons.

I am pregnant. And every single day, my bladder gets a little bit more squished. And the last week or so I have totally noticed that when I'm swimming, it's an awful relief when I'm done my hour of strenuous deep water running (ahem) and I can race to the bathroom. And for the record, I DO NOT pee in the pool.

But being pregnant has learned me a couple of things. (lame grammar and English but who cares!) Kegels are a pregnant girls best friend. But they are also really good for all women and even men. So don't roll your eyes at me for evening mentioning these things on my blog. And I read something recently that incontinence in older women is mainly a lack of kegel exercise in all the years before this problem starts.

So again... I go back to my main population in the deep water pool. I wonder exactly how many of those ladies did their kegels??

Enough said.

Tonight's the Night!

2010-01-12T17:23:00.000-08:00

Well... I guess that depends upon what you think I mean when I say that...

It's not really that exciting of a night if you're anyone but me. Or my baby's Daddy. Sorry, I can't help but laugh every time I say that. It's just so cheeseball. But I thrive on cheese so I will probably say it again at some point.

But ANYWAY, tonight is the NIGHT for painting!!! With my baby's Daddy. lol.

Okay, I'll stop.

We're painting the baby's room tonight. Although it's already 5:30pm and I just don't know how far we'll actually get. We have ambitious ideas and then tend to fall off the wagon of ambition onto the couch. But the furniture comes on Thursday and I don't really feel like getting paint on furniture. And since we all know about the current state of broken-husband, I won't go into why I don't want to paint later. Paint now, furniture in. The end.

And because I'm such a careful, planned out blogger, I just ran upstairs and took a couple of poorly lit pictures for your viewing pleasure of what the little fellow's room currently looks like. Because I care and I know you really want to see how badly it looks in there.

Please note: those circa 1986 blue mini blinds do not have a future in this room.

Nor does Daddy's drum set.

I think that's it for now. Maybe if I'm feeling on top of it and get enough sleep over the next few days, I'll post something else after we're finished painting. Or maybe you can savor these photos until we're totally done decorating and do some befores and afters. I like.

Not breathing the paint fumes (it's low/eco VOC so stay calm), I'm out!

A tale of my absence.

2010-01-11T17:02:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm sorry to say that I've not been totally in the blogging spirit these last days. This is partly due to the fact that life has been pretty crazy since Christmas. People visiting from out of town, food to eat, mess to clean, New Year's Eve party, New Year's day recoup, and possibly a husband + a broken collar bone can also come into this lack of blogging excuse. And a baby on the way who is growing and making his mama tired all over again. But let’s go back to the collarbone thingamajig…

Yep, he broke his collar bone. Here's how it happened:

Yes... a little blurry. BUT, it's captured on camera. And while this was all happening, I was sleeping. And I woke up to the sound of a truck driving up our driveway and I thought... 'yay, he's home and now we can go to Seattle, stop at MAC make-up and then go to IKEA to buy our baby's bookshelf. Happy New Year's Day!!!'

And then he walked in. Covered in dirt, looking really sad and announcing that he'd hurt his shoulder. It took about 3 suggestions before he actually decided that going to a walk-in clinic would be a good idea. He was still planning on our trip to Seattle. And good thing we didn't go. I would've had a big baby to care for as well as the little one growing in my tummy. And a broken collar bone plus a floating little piece in there just for fun. FUN!!!

And there you have it. The story of my lack of blogging activity. And I really do want to blog. I just haven't. And I will try to be more faithful in my posts. I will... I WILL.

And now it's time to think of something to eat for dinner. Because... food is just what I'm in the mood for right about now! I think I am in the mood for it a lot but that's just life.

One day at a time

2009-12-30T11:10:00.001-08:00

Yesterday I got one of my weekly emails from some pregnancy related website telling me what to expect for this week in my life. I'm 28 weeks pregnant. Well, I guess today... more like 28.5 weeks along. And yes, that does mean something to an expecting woman.

So back to that email... It mentioned that this week would be a good time to start packing my bag for the hospital and making sure that I have everything I will need. Now let's talk about that. There's a lot of stuff that goes into that bag. And I don't have a single thing yet. I'm so behind...

I just ordered our baby's bedding 2 days ago and there's still a drum set sitting in the middle of our baby's future bedroom along with a couch and shelf we need to sell and a bunch of random "misc household items" that have no home. And really, that's all we have done so far. So how am I supposed to think about packing for the hospital? It's just a bunch more stuff I have to buy that I haven't even thought of yet.

So for now... maybe some rubbermaid containers and maybe a couple of listings on Craigslist. And plenty to do before we actually can say we are "ready".

Okay, I'm hungry and this computer is doing nothing to satisfy my belly.

A Monday Morning Wish (maybe a few)

2009-12-28T09:49:00.001-08:00

On this Monday morning I am wishing for...

getting everything done today BEFORE I get all lazy and slow.
some hopeful news from a family member.
that 'Big Boy Nichols' makes it safely to his home... we were fish-sitting this weekend.

Not really a lot to ask for on this particular Monday morning.

And just a little thought... wondering about New Year's Resolutions. I don't know about them. I've seen some fairly basic ones and then some very ambitious ones too. And I'm not sure I can pull off either one. I'll get SUPER dedicated for about 4 minutes and then I totally forget what I was even resolving to do. So here's what I'm going to do.

Nothing.

And just have a really good 2010. Because even if I did feel ambitious and made a lovely list of things for the year... there is a baby on the way and chances are he'll just overtake any of my chances of doing any of those things. Okay, maybe one resolution because it'll be easy to accomplish.

My resolution is this: to have a baby this year and learn a lot about being a mommy. And diaper changing. And probably some sleepless nights.

What is your big 2010 resolution?