Twelve words for 2011

january: settling

february: snowy

march: hopeful

april: heartbroken

may: miracle

june: blissful

july: unexpected

august: family

september: official

october: eternal

november: thankful

december: farewell-ing

Buongiorno! Aloha! Guten Tag!

I am a curious person by nature...so it should come as no surprise that I wanna know who is out there reading my crazy rants.  So...time for all you quiet followers, blog stalkers, shadow dwellers...and heck, even all my long-time friends to come out and say hello!   Leave a comment...tell me your name, how you found my blog, and what your favorite Christmas treat is.  

And to bribe you I'll share one of my favorite hilarious photos with you:

 Help! Help! My mommy won't stop taking pictures of me!!

Seriously...makes my laugh out loud EVERY time I see it...oh man.  Tears are accompanying this laughter tonight...TEARS I tell you! 

Dear parents of the world:

I feel like I have a little more clout now that I can be counted among you.  And that I have not committed the following offense.  I have one SIMPLE request:

STOP GIVING

YOUR KIDS

STUPID NAMES!

Seriously.  

I get the whole "wanna be unique" thing...you don't want your little darling to be one of six John's in his kindergarten class.  But you don't want him to be scarred for life with a name that is just plain cruel.   You don't want him to go to Disney World and have them not be able to put his name on a set of ears because NO ONE ELSE BUT YOU can spell, let alone pronounce it. 

My most recent head-scratchers:

Breauxdee  

(pronounced Brody...oh, and the kid was a boy.  He's gonna be a stripper)

Harvmit  

(totally no clue on this one...)

Mere 

(pronounced Mary)

If you want to hear more about bad baby names (and to check if your kid's name makes the list) go check out Bad Baby Names.  To see their Guide to Bad Baby Names you can go HERE. 

Do you have any bad baby names you want to add?  Please do... I love a good chuckle.  

I feel I must make a disclaimer that if you choose to name your poor child something wacko, it doesn't mean your kid isn't cute.  And let's hope they are...because a horrible name is gonna make their life hard enough as it is.

New mantra

I've seen this quote floating around the interwebs the last few weeks and I loved it...but it just wasn't purple enough.  So I made me a "holly" version.  

I just may print it big and put it on my bathroom mirror so I can see it everyday. 

Twelve words for 2010

january: frustrated

february: hoping

march: excited

april: humbled

may: touristy

june: preparing

july: stressing

august: heartbroken

september: busy

october: planning

november: packing

december: moving

Anxious curiosity

The 17th is getting close again...I wonder if this will be the year.  I hope so.

Confused??  READ THIS.

New Look

Got antsy for a wee bit of change today and I can't redesign our apartment so I changed my blog.  I love the little upside down owl.  I just want to tickle his cute little owl armpits. 

I am not a freak.

Seuss

Happy Birthday Dr Seuss!

I have always loved Dr Seuss. In high school I could recite How The Grinch Stole Christmas in its entirety...I can still make my way through most of it with only a few helps. Whenever I see Dr Seuss books I can't resist picking one up to read...we already have quite a few collected for when we have kids. About a month ago I actually read a couple to Winston. Ya, I'm a crazy cat lady...so sue me.

One of my favorites that I like to pull out every now and then is Oh! The Places You'll Go! My mom gave me a copy for my High School graduation. I love its honesty. (Along with that always charming Seuss writing!) I was going to post my favorite little section...but I couldn't narrow it down. So here it is. If you haven't read it, I would heartily recommend at least borrowing this one from the library...the illustrations are excellent.

Without further ado...


Oh! The Places You'll Go!
by Dr Seuss

Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You’re off to Great Places!
You’re off and away!

You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself any direction you choose.
You’re on your own. And you know what you know.
And YOU are the guy who’ll decide where to go.

You’ll look up and down streets. Look’em over with care.
About some you will say, “I don’t choose to go there.”
With your head full of brains and your shoes full of feet,
you’re too smart to go down a not-so-good street.

And you may not find any you’ll want to go down.
In that case, of course, you’ll head straight out of town.
It’s opener there in the wide open air.

Out there things can happen and frequently do
to people as brainy and footsy as you.

And when things start to happen, don’t worry. Don’t stew.
Just go right along. You’ll start happening too.

Oh! The Places You’ll Go!

You’ll be on your way up!
You’ll be seeing great sights!
You’ll join the high fliers who soar to high heights.

You won’t lag behind, because you’ll have the speed.
You’ll pass the whole gang and you’ll soon take the lead.
Wherever you fly, you’ll be best of the best.
Wherever you go, you will top all the rest.

Except when you don’t.
Because, sometimes, you won’t.

I’m sorry to say so but, sadly, it’s true
that Bang-ups and Hang-ups can happen to you.

You can get all hung up in a prickle-ly perch.
And your gang will fly on. You’ll be left in a Lurch.

You’ll come down from the Lurch with an unpleasant bump.
And the chances are, then, that you’ll be in a Slump.

And when you’re in a Slump, you’re not in for much fun.
Un-slumping yourself is not easily done.

You will come to a place where the streets are not marked.
Some windows are lighted. But mostly they’re darked.
A place you could sprain both your elbow and chin!
Do you dare to stay out? Do you dare to go in?
How much can you lose? How much can you win?

And if you go in, should you turn left or right…
or right-and-three-quarters? Or, maybe, not quite?
Or go around back and sneak in from behind?
Simple it’s not, I’m afraid you will find,

for a mind-maker-upper to make up his mind.

You can get so confused that you’ll start in to race
down long wiggled roads at a break-necking pace
and grind on for miles across weirdish wild space,

headed, I fear, toward a most useless place.

The Waiting Place…for people just waiting.

Waiting for a train to go or a bus to come,
or a plane to go
or the mail to come,
or the rain to go
or the phone to ring,
or the snow to snow
or waiting around for a Yes or No
or waiting for their hair to grow.
Everyone is just waiting.

Waiting for the fish to bite
or waiting for wind to fly a kite
or waiting around for Friday night
or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake
or a pot to boil,
or a Better Break
or a string of pearls,
or a pair of pants
or a wig with curls,
or Another Chance.
Everyone is just waiting.

No! That’s not for you!
Somehow you’ll escape all that waiting and staying.
You’ll find the bright places where Boom Bands are playing.
With banner flip-flapping, once more you’ll ride high!
Ready for anything under the sky.
Ready because you’re that kind of a guy!

Oh, the places you’ll go! There is fun to be done!
There are points to be scored. There are games to be won.
And the magical things you can do with that ball
will make you the winning-est winner of all.
Fame! You’ll be famous as famous can be,
with the whole wide world watching you win on TV.

Except when they don’t.
Because, sometimes, they won’t.

I’m afraid that some times you’ll play lonely games too.
Games you can’t win ‘cause you’ll play against you.

All Alone!
Whether you like it or not,
Alone will be something you’ll be quite a lot.

And when you’re alone,
there’s a very good chance
you’ll meet things that scare you right out of your pants.
There are some, down the road between hither and yon,
that can scare you so much you won’t want to go on.

But on you will go though the weather be foul.
On you will go though your enemies prowl.
On you will go though the Hakken-Kraks howl.
Onward up many a frightening creek,
though your arms may get sore and your sneakers may leak.
On and on you will hike. And I know you’ll hike far
and face up to your problems whatever they are.

You’ll get mixed up, of course, as you already know.
You’ll get mixed up with many strange birds as you go.
So be sure when you step. Step with care and great tact
and remember that Life’s a Great Balancing Act.
Just never forget to be dexterous and deft.
And never mix up your right foot with your left.

And will you succeed?
Yes! You will, indeed!
(98 and ¾ percent guaranteed.)

Kid, you’ll move mountains!

So…be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray
or Mordecai Ale Van Allen O’Shea,
you’re off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So…get on your way!

You can bet we're having Green Eggs & Ham for dinner!

...cause I wanna be like Amanda

(My friend Amanda is so cool...I stole this request from her)

I need you to do something for me. I know, I know...I'm always asking, nagging, begging, etc. Get over it, you wanna help me, I know you do.

I love blogging, and I love being able to blog stalk people without necessarily letting people know I'm there...and if you're like that too, you probably HATE when people do the "We're going private" schpiel. Then you must weigh the pros and cons of coming out of obscurity...and I am always secretly worried they will reject my request to read their special, private blog....alas I digress.

So what is this special thing you're going to do for me? If you have a link on your blog that links to my blog can you make sure our last name isn't included?

That would be just swell. Thanks.

I know if someone tried hard enough they could find where we live, I just don't want any joe schmoe freak head to have our first and last names right at the tip of his greasy, unwashed fingers.

The Midnight Hour

The last week or so I have had a wicked bout of insomnia. I find myself not falling asleep until around 4am. I'm not sure what little goblin is stealing my sleep...I've tried to smoke him out, but he is determined to stay hidden.

Not being able to sleep does have some positives. For instance, the other night I got started on my mega-questionnaire for adoption. I wasn't sleepy so I kept going...and I finished my part! FINISHED. Now I'm just waiting on some documents that are being mailed to us and for Nathan to finish his portion. I also found out that I have some random beeping alarm that goes off at 3:16am. I think it is a stopwatch, but I haven't been able to catch it before it stops beeping...maybe tonight. :)

I have tried several things to placate my little sleep goblin. No caffeine during the day, Ambien, muscle relaxers, Tylenol PM, ambient noise, counting backwards...all to no avail. Yesterday after not falling asleep until 3am I still got up at 8, cleaned the apartment, cooked a big meal, ran errands and still was not tired when bedtime came around. I didn't fall asleep until almost 4 this morning. Any suggestions? I mean, I've always been a night owl, but this is getting ridiculous!

Dixie

(You have no idea the amount of internal arm twisting it took to actually post that picture with my overly dusty steering column)

On the way home from bookgroup last night Dixie hit a big milestone. (Oh, and I wasn't driving when I snapped this pic...what kind of driver do you think I am??!?) Yep, that says 100,000.
She has seen a lot of pavement:

Moved from Utah to Virginia
Virginia to Rhode Island and back to Virginia for Thanksgiving
Moved from Virginia to Rhode Island
Moved from Rhode Island to Utah
Moved from Utah to Illinois

Sometimes I find myself lusting after a newer, shinier, quieter vehicle. But then I remember all the good times we've had riding around in this little lady. Plus, she has been paid off for several years...MAJOR bonus.

Well Dixie, here's to another 100,000!

Deal or No Deal??

I learned that Deal or No Deal is having a casting call near my house in a couple weeks. I really want to go because we need some money so we can pay off debt and buy us a kid. BUT I am one of those people who obsesses about things and I don't want to spend the nest two weeks obsessing about it and get my hopes all up and then have them dashed...

So, should I go for it?? If I do, do you have any advice?

Tag, I'm it

I have been tagged multiple times...so here it goes:

Five things you may not know about me:

ONE - I like to play in the hot melted wax of a candle. I am not sure when this started, but I like to stick my fingers in the melted wax and make 'finger casts' then peel them off and have little Madam Tussaud's replicas of my own fingers...

TWO - I have enough shoes that I could wear a different pair everyday and not wear the same pair in month. Crazy I know, and the crazier part is I would buy a new pair everyday if I could afford it :)

THREE - I steal cups from football games. Well, I guess it's not stealing because they are just left there - and I always make Nathan go grab them... You know the cups I'm talking about, the big 32oz cups they serve the concession sodas in at football and basketball games. They are excellent cups for ice water in the summer - they work well for 'water scoops' when we bathe the cats and dog - we keep one in the dog food bin to scoop food...they are the perfect cups and if the stadium clean-up crews are just going to throw them away they might as well be taken home and put to good use!

FOUR - I talk to myself - a lot. There is a constantly running dialog between myself and ... myself. And it is not in my mind either, it is out loud. I get weird looks from people all the time because it isn't normal for someone to be walking down the isles of the grocery store having a conversation with themselves...

FIVE - I am addicted to blogs - I read them all the time. Family - friends - celebrity gossip ones...you name it, I read it. I recently stumbled upon a blog of a classmate from high school - and I have been 'secretly' reading it for weeks. And she has links to other people I haven't seen since then and I read their blogs too...I wasn't really friends with any of them...they were the 'popular' kids and I was a band geek - so I guess its a way to spy on the lives I was never allowed to be a part of.

I am going to tag: Kara, Ryann, Kim, Kristin and Mikelle (if you don't have a blog, leave yours in my comments)

Just in case you ever wondered...

what Nathan and I would look like as Simpson's characters...




You can go to THIS site and 'Simpson-ize' yourself...pretty fun!

Getting to know you...er, I mean me

1. What time do you get up on your day off? You're supposed to get day's off!?

2. If you could eat lunch with one person, who would it be? Any of my friends from Newport

3. Gold or silver? White Gold

4. What was the last film you saw at the theater? World Trade Center

5. Favorite TV show? Seinfled...hands down

6. What do you have for breakfast? Slice of homemade bread slathered with butter and Nutela

7. What is your middle name? Dawn

8. Beach, city or country? Beach

9. Favorite ice cream? Hmmm, the frozen kind??

10. Favorite color? Green and Pink, and maybe Red....possibly Purple

11. What kind of car do you drive? Dixie the Dodge Neon

12. Favorite sandwich? Spicy Chicken Grilled Pizza Sandwich from Gold's

13. What characteristic do you despise? Arrogance

14. If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go? Newport

15. What color is your bathroom? Golden Beige-ish

16. Favorite brand of clothing? GAP

17. Where would you like to retire? Beach...anywhere on the beach

18. Favorite day of the week? Wednesday - no school and work not til 1pm :)

19. What did you do for your last birthday? Flew back to RI (I flew to suprise my family for Christmas which also happens to be my birthday)

20. Where were you born? St. Ben's Hospital

21. What fabric detergent do you use? Tide with Febreeze

22. Coke or Pepsi? Diet Coke

23. Shoe size? 8.5

24. Do you have any pets? Winston the cat and Besta the dog....do husbands count??

Spiders in my cereal

I don't know why but I always have a hard time eating cereal out of a box that has already been opened...a lot of the time if I pour a bowl I won't be able to get through it - why you ask?? Because I have this long-time fear that spiders are in my cereal... I have never actually had a spider in my cereal - at least that I can remember, so I'm not sure why the fear exists...

In fact, just talking about it creeps me out enough that I am picking the sugar-covered raisins out of my bowl and going to throw the flakes (a.k.a. spider hiding huts) away, yet again.

Mod Squad

I have been playing around with my new Mac and I took this pretty wicked picture with Photo Booth...and I wanted to share...



I think I should get it blown up HUGE and hang it in my scrapbook room...whaddaya think?