Straight Up Awesome

I'm Pretty Sure You Didn't Have To Be There....

"When I grow up I might want to study cats." Kid announces this morning while playing with Tiger.

"In particular male and female cats." She adds.

"Especially males because I find their penises extremely interesting." She clarifies.

"In fact, I find all penises extremely interesting." She concludes.

The Mother Load

Things You Missed

And just because blue is her color (and because she deserves a mention too for surviving a day full of honoring her younger sister...ahh the torture!)...

It's Her Birthday, Yo!

The absolute first thing she did this morning was tear off her PJs and put on something a bit more fitting for the occasion...

Last night, after Baby was in bed, Kid and I worked our decorating magic...
We put streamers and balloons all over the house, starting with Baby's doorway and leading all the way to the table.



We bought this monkey cupcake fabric to top our table and some cute reusable plates and cups for the table.

She seemed to enjoy it...

First gift of the day...


And now we're off to see Tangled!

Oh and this is what happens when you let your 4 year old design their own cake...

It wasn't easy to incorporate the requested angel, bride, roses and Kit Kats... but I did it.

Oh, and it's strawberry cake inside... so... high potential for nasty I'm guessing.

First thing she said when she saw it?...

"Where is the teddy bear?"

I'm sorry, folks, but I pretended not to hear the "teddy bear" request the first time round.

I mean... angel, bride, roses, and Kit Kats posed enough of challenge without the bear.

So I said "Oh...I'm sorry... I'll have to put that on your next cake."

Thankfully, she is easily distracted.

Joy Giveaway Part 3

aka.... At Long Last... SUCCESS!

Things have definitely gotten off to a rocky start with this whole project. I have spent more than a little time questioning my mission and whether or not giving $5 away every week is actually going to accomplish it.

We're supposed to be more joyful.

Not annoyed and slightly pissed off.

Which I 100% was after the first giveaway.

And just frustrated after the 2nd.

Well, you know what they say...

Third time is the charm?

I still had another $5 Target card I had purchased when I gave Mariah Carey hers (or tried to). Kid and I had to go to Target today for some b'day goods for Baby anyway, and I thought no time like the present. But, truth be told, after 2 failed Target missions I was feeling pretty leery about it.

We stopped into Famous Footwear, in the same plaza, since my boots are leaking water now. And it was empty.

And I'm figuring... Famous Footwear girl... you make minimum wage. You are nice and friendly... and there is no one here to tell you you can't keep a gift card. Plus Target is next door... and you can definitely spend this. I'm sure you go over to get your snack at break anyway. (Yes all that was said in my head).

And so, after a failed try of boots, I gave it to her. This time NO envelope. Just the card on it's little card stock where I wrote in the amount and on the To/From lines I just wrote "Happy Happy". I asked her if she could keep it, and she said "Yep!". She was really excited and happy. She thanked us several times. I could tell it totally made her day.

So that was great.

Finally a successful transaction!


I'm still one week behind... but I'm taking care of that tonight.

I've got an idea.

Stay tuned.


Oh and while brushing her teeth, Baby leaned her head into the hallway and yelled...

"Tomorrow's my birthday, Yo!"

Nom De Plume

Yesterday the kids sat down to write out some Christmas Thank You notes.

Baby was getting frustrated trying to write out her name (9 letters is a bit much), so I tried to suggest some shortened variations.

"Do you want to try to write your name "Cha Cha" instead?" I offered.

"No! I want to write my name "Peachy 'Panzee"!" Baby said emphatically.

"Okay... but that isn't going to be any easier." I cautioned.

I stand corrected.

Loot

On Thursdays Kid goes to her electives homeschool program. That leaves Baby and I some awkward time to fill in Ann Arbor. With the weather being what it is... we opted to head to the Mall (a newly discovered adventure to Baby after xmas shopping there). We got a smoothie and she played on the indoor play structure.

But the real lure was jewels...

I discovered this Christmas, while searching for gifts for my three teenaged nieces, that Forever 21 was a dress up loving three year old's Mecca. It took her breath away... all of those diamonds in one place. On hooks low enough to reach, no less.

Fabulous jewels, and bobbles, and hair accessories... for practically NO MONEY.

I mean, ridiculously cheap.

Cheaper than children's jewelry from Target.

And

These are REAL.

See...

Long And Short Of It

I'm having another migraine.

This is really starting to affect our quality of life.

The last two days (before the headache) are almost worse than the ensuing head pain (which is incredibly bad).

I just feel like complete shit, physically and emotionally.

Light headed, exhausted, irritable and depressed.

Then it magically lifts and in it's place is a searing, aching, compression in my brain.

Continuous.

And nearly unbearable nausea.

I actually find myself fantasizing about that scene in Grey's Anatomy when Izzy drills into a trapped guys head with a cordless drill.

Really.

And the head pain is actually better than the two days of aura.

So that's kind of saying something.

The headache will last anywhere from 24 to 72 hours.

And this has been happening to me EVERY OTHER WEEK.

Every other freaking week.

For the past 5 months.




The thing I'm thankful for?... that this shit didn't start happening until we moved from Asheville. If this had been going on down there... I'd probably have killed myself.

Or developed a really bad drinking habit.

One or the other.

The Sick Bed

"You do know you can use Kleenexes more than once?" Mrs F says after surveying the scene.

"Oh." replies Kid with a guilty laugh.


But why bother, really, when it makes such a nice fluffy background for this...

Highbrow Lowbrow

Mr F and I have been really enjoying the current Masterpiece Classic miniseries on PBS.

You can watch the first couple of episodes of Downton Abbey HERE.

It really is fantastic.

I mean it.




In other news, I made my first home shopping network purchase.

I never thought I'd see the day.

But due to an inappropriately sexual commercial I was forced to quickly change the channel.

Fate led me to view Debbie Meyer's Green Boxes on HSN.

I debated it for a few minutes, but when I saw the fruit & veggie side by side shot... well... I was sold.

I mean it was AMAZING.

Joy Giveaway Part 2

(lest you think we forgot)

Last Thursday was supposed to be our 2nd giveaway of the year. Unfortunately, I had a raging migraine... so this week we're doubling up.

Today I purchased 2 $5 giftcards to Target (I was there).

Then I immediately handed one over to our cashier. I just had the feeling she was the person.

In fact, I think she may have been the employee I had noticed the 1st week and debated giving it to.

Well, she was very grateful.

But not 30 seconds later I was approached by the floor manager saying that she couldn't except it.

And I could fill out an employee recognition form to send to corporate instead.

Hmm... not exactly what I had had in mind.

Of course I did.

While this is going on there is much hullaballo at the customer service desk about all of this.

It seems they all agree my cashier is VERY DESERVING. One of their best employees.

And so sweet.

The customer service manager said she wouldn't have taken it away.

They pointed out that that is just how great the cashier is... she is too nice to break the rules.

They all wished she just hadn't told anyone; then she could have kept it.

So I said "If I give this back to her, and you aren't looking, will that be alright."

They all agreed.

So I marched back over to her and put it on her register.

I'm not sure she knew what to make of it.

I do hope she keeps it.


(She's the cashier, with her back to us, all the way on the end)

Maybe my next mission will go better?

12:40 PM

Tiger quietly observing the birds (he's been at this all morning)...


Tea for me...
Baby playing in her bath...
Kid at work...

Sweet Pea actually chewing on something she's supposed to...

laundry...again; I had left it in there wet since Saturday. Maybe today I'll remember to put it in the dryer...
Workout shirt... I guess I'm feeling optimistic...

10:30 AM

This is one of the pillows Baby & I made last year in Asheville. This kill was actually devastating to her. She came running & screaming out of the playroom. (Why didn't she just take it away?!... we're still working on that with both girls). Making those pillows was a big deal for her. A very special memory. It made me realize that I need to carve out some more time to sew with her. Plus, now we need another pillow...

9:30 AM

This morning Baby climbed back in bed to play quietly, snuggled up to her sleeping big sister. And it was just about one of the cutest things I've stumbled upon.

It warms my heart to no end, to bear witness to their love and comfortability with each other.

This is why I do what I do.

I Really Am Sorry

It seems like I should have more time for blogging.

But I don't.

I'm having a kind of hard time theses days.

Trying to carve out any personal time... at all.

Everything has a price.

And the move, has been good on many fronts, but not on every front.

I am alone a lot. A LOT.

Mr F's hours are such that he is home MUCH less.

And, he can't really contact me in the day.

So, he can't read the blog, and catch up on what we're doing, as he used to.

It turns out that might have been more of my motivation than I realized.

He used to know, via my posts, some things.

He was still able to be "in on it".

Not so much anymore.

Plus, the homeschooling... which does, in fact, take some time.

And then.... you remember our driveway right?.... super long asphalt?

Well that doesn't shovel itself.

So that's another 2-3 hours a day (counts as exercise right?).

And that time comes out of any small window I had for myself (for blogging, for working out, for Oprah...).

And, yes, we could get it plowed.

But I'm not actually sure that is going to change very much.

(Plus I did ask Mr F to handle that 4 weeks ago.... he bought me a new shovel last weekend...)

Anyway.

On top of that I'm getting these migraines 2x a month.

So, that there, is another 6-7 days a month that I just can barely function.

It's been kinda rough.

So, long story short.

I miss you.

I have not forsaken you.

I'll be back, in whatever way I can, when I can.

I am trying the best I can to keep everything moving in the right direction.

(except maybe me).

And I am trying to figure out in what way(s) I can continue to blog regularly.

But, right now, I just have so many other pressing tasks, that I haven't been able to figure it out.

Hopefully soon, though.

Right after I get Sweet Pea to stop ripping up everything made of cloth and containing a stuffing.

Sometime after that.

Hostage

Baby has taken to wearing this ski scarf over her head when she's in the car... like this... for every trip (the whole way).
I could not stop laughing when I saw her in the rearview mirror the first time (heck... I can't stop laughing now). She looks like she's a POW and we're transporting her to an undisclosed location. Just imagine if you were driving next to us on the highway. Hilarious.




Not that I think real hostage taking is funny.. just my daughter. I'm not making light of war crimes. Just want to be sure that's clear.

Sweet Pea!

Guess who was waiting at the Humane Society after all?


This sweet Cajun girl came up from Baton Rouge on a rescue truck. She is everything we were looking for. Good with cats, good with kids, small, laid back. Only problem?... she's part Bassett Hound... so... she already ran away within 5 minutes of getting home! Caught the scent of a squirrel and took off. Gave us quite a little jolt! She's small... but very strong!... Kid cannot walk her on a leash. Lesson learned. Mr F is setting up a dog run right now, which we bought on our way home... we were prepared for this inevitability. She scored an "A" on all of her temperament test (except coming when called... which she got a "B" for... and again we expected as much). She was shy and scared at the shelter, but even so she never acted out. We took her for a walk and she warmed up quite a bit. Everyone there, and her former foster home in LA, all reported that she was an exceptional dog (and VERY well house broken!). She had passed the cat introduction test with flying colors and the shelter guy said he had 100% confidence that she would not show aggression towards our cat. So, how could we walk away?! I didn't want to risk losing her. Sure, there are more beautiful dogs out there (even at the shelter today) but... getting a laid back dog, that is house broken, good with kids and with cats?! Hello! She's ours. Once home, she is a different dog, tail waggin, toy playing, fun girl... who also likes to lie down in her new bed... a lot. She's very happy. The dog and cat have introduced themselves without so much as a bark (in fact she hasn't made any sounds at all since we met her). They smelled each other's butts and that's about it. We're keeping them separated for the next few days... just to keep everything on the safe side. The cat is sitting on his side of the door trying to open it and get in the dog's space as I write this. I think they'll be fine. Mr F is almost done setting up the run from our back door to a big tree in our yard... this girl will not ever be able to be out without being on a lead... so I'm happy to have this taken care of ASAP! It's actually kind of a good thing she took off like she did... Mr F got motivated to install it pronto... and without that nudge it might have taken a week or month or so.

Contenders

A whole bunch of new dogs are at the Humane Society. I've been waiting for some *smaller* non-puppies to show up.
I just found out that Wednesday is half-price adoption day.
So, check back Thursday to see what I've gotten myself into...

Kelvin
His nose reminds me of Putty's.... what can I say? He's cute. He looks like an old timer and that's endearing. He's only 1.

Sweeny
He is a surrendered family dog given up due to allergies. He is allegedly good with kids. I like his smiley face. He's 2. (P.S. Doesn't he look just like Bob, Mom?)

Sweetpea
She is not small... despite appearances... she's part Basset Hound. But, as her name suggests, she is supposed to be very laid back and sweet natured. She's 1.