So my friend Shelly has a post up about what to do with all of her M&M Mini's containers ... and I have the same dilemma ... I have a ton of them and they are great little containers and I don't want to throw them away ... I was hoping to come up with a project to use them all but that hasn't happened ... but I have thought of several different cute things I could do with them ... since I can no longer use them to hold pills in my purse cause Curly Top knows M&M's come in them and she does love playing in my purse ...
1. They are the perfect size to hold several crayons in my purse without breaking them so we always have something to color with
2. They hold several baby wipes to keep them in my purse when I don't have the diaper bag with me and they stay wet so they are perfect for quick clean-ups
3. Cutely decorated they could make a perfect Tooth Holder for the Tooth Fairy
4. They hold my headphones and headphone splitter quite well
5. Needles for my needle work - closes tightly and keeps them all in one place
6. I have one in my suitcase and purse now with some spare buttons, needles and string and safety pins and my eyeglass repair kit cause I always seem to need one of those items when I don't have them
7. I don't need quarters for the laundry mat anymore but it does hold an entire roll
8. I've also found it holds lots of valuable stuff that on a necklace could come in handy - so that might be my project ... it does fit my all time favorite lip balm, Lypsil, perfectly ... there could be a time I want to wear it around my neck ... I doubt it but you never know!!
Granted I am still looking for a fun project for them ... but nothing is coming to me ... and my purse looks like I am a candy junky ... which might not be entirely false but I don't carry that much around with me ...
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Such A Trip
So back when my best friend and I were kids she dated this guy Mike ... he is from France ... had a heavy French accent ... and they dated for years and years ... I was pretty sure they would eventually get married ... just seemed like they should but it didn't happen and she and I went off to college at the University of Kansas ...
I always thought it would still happen ... so much so that we made a drunk bet one night ... even wrote it out in chicken scratch and had witnesses sign it ... that if she married Mike one day she would owe me a pitcher of beer (in college that was like currency to me) ... I still have that little pink piece of paper too ...
She eventually married someone else ... and divorced him 10 years later ... for the last 2 years she has been going through the divorce grieving process ... during that time she read a book about getting yourself back ... one of the things it talks about is letting go of old anger ... writing letters to let it all out ... which she has been doing ... she wasn't sure if she was going to send them but writing them helped her a lot ... she is sounding more and more like herself everyday ...
The letter to Mike she decided to mail to his mom's address in France ... she half believed it would come back ... it has been 20 years ... neither of our parents live in the same house they did 20 years ago ...
On my way to work this morning my phone rang ... it half startled me cause I can't even remember the last time it rang in the morning ... I saw it was Kris (who is in Vegas mind you so it is really early there) and I picked it up saying, "What the hell are you doing up this early?" ... she screeched, "Guess who called me?" ... and I just knew it ... I screamed, "MIKE" ... "YESSSSS ... can you believe it??" ...
They didn't get to talk ... both times he called he left a voicemail message ... and cause she never checks her voicemail at home (we are seriously two peas in a pod - I never check mine either) she didn't get the messages for a couple of days ...
She filled me in on the messages and said he left an email address but his accent is just so thick and he said he hadn't spoken English in so long that he was having trouble ... she asked if when I got to work could I listen to her voice mail and get his email address for her ...
Well let me tell you ... hearing that voice quickly zipped me back to the 80's ... I would recognize it anywhere ... it was just a trip ... when Kris and I were going to Orange Coast College our freshman year he was always hanging out ... waiting for her to get out of class he and I would sit around and talk ... and it was like being in 1988 all over again ...
I got his address and she called me back on her way to work ... she asked if I would send him an email letting him know her email address and cell phone and the time difference and all that since she doesn't have access to personal email at work ...
It is all just a trip ... his messages were so sweet to her ... she was beside herself giddy thinking that after 20 years they are going to talk again ... he is still living in France ... and he thinks about her often ...
I am just so proud and excited that she is doing all this stuff for herself ... I have known her 25 years ... and she is sounding the best she has ever sounded ... (except maybe in our Summer of Sizzle which lasted from ages 20 to 24 where all we did was have more fun than 2 people should be allowed to have in one lifetime) ... but all kidding aside ... I am just beyond happy for all that is happening for her ... and love her more than life!!
I always thought it would still happen ... so much so that we made a drunk bet one night ... even wrote it out in chicken scratch and had witnesses sign it ... that if she married Mike one day she would owe me a pitcher of beer (in college that was like currency to me) ... I still have that little pink piece of paper too ...
She eventually married someone else ... and divorced him 10 years later ... for the last 2 years she has been going through the divorce grieving process ... during that time she read a book about getting yourself back ... one of the things it talks about is letting go of old anger ... writing letters to let it all out ... which she has been doing ... she wasn't sure if she was going to send them but writing them helped her a lot ... she is sounding more and more like herself everyday ...
The letter to Mike she decided to mail to his mom's address in France ... she half believed it would come back ... it has been 20 years ... neither of our parents live in the same house they did 20 years ago ...
On my way to work this morning my phone rang ... it half startled me cause I can't even remember the last time it rang in the morning ... I saw it was Kris (who is in Vegas mind you so it is really early there) and I picked it up saying, "What the hell are you doing up this early?" ... she screeched, "Guess who called me?" ... and I just knew it ... I screamed, "MIKE" ... "YESSSSS ... can you believe it??" ...
They didn't get to talk ... both times he called he left a voicemail message ... and cause she never checks her voicemail at home (we are seriously two peas in a pod - I never check mine either) she didn't get the messages for a couple of days ...
She filled me in on the messages and said he left an email address but his accent is just so thick and he said he hadn't spoken English in so long that he was having trouble ... she asked if when I got to work could I listen to her voice mail and get his email address for her ...
Well let me tell you ... hearing that voice quickly zipped me back to the 80's ... I would recognize it anywhere ... it was just a trip ... when Kris and I were going to Orange Coast College our freshman year he was always hanging out ... waiting for her to get out of class he and I would sit around and talk ... and it was like being in 1988 all over again ...
I got his address and she called me back on her way to work ... she asked if I would send him an email letting him know her email address and cell phone and the time difference and all that since she doesn't have access to personal email at work ...
It is all just a trip ... his messages were so sweet to her ... she was beside herself giddy thinking that after 20 years they are going to talk again ... he is still living in France ... and he thinks about her often ...
I am just so proud and excited that she is doing all this stuff for herself ... I have known her 25 years ... and she is sounding the best she has ever sounded ... (except maybe in our Summer of Sizzle which lasted from ages 20 to 24 where all we did was have more fun than 2 people should be allowed to have in one lifetime) ... but all kidding aside ... I am just beyond happy for all that is happening for her ... and love her more than life!!
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Eight
We've been trying to teach Curly Top how to say her name ... but with the letters S and L she has such a hard time ... now she has recognized her name since she was just a couple of months old ... but saying it is a whole other ball game ...
Tonight every time I asked her what her name was she said, "Eight" ... I would tell her that wasn't her name ... she would smile ... I would ask her what her name was and she would look at me and say, "Eight" ... like duhhhhhhh mom ...
I would sound out her name for her and she would mimic me ... then I would say, "What is your name?" ... and she would grin and say, "Eight" ...
Tonight every time I asked her what her name was she said, "Eight" ... I would tell her that wasn't her name ... she would smile ... I would ask her what her name was and she would look at me and say, "Eight" ... like duhhhhhhh mom ...
I would sound out her name for her and she would mimic me ... then I would say, "What is your name?" ... and she would grin and say, "Eight" ...
D's Haircut
D just IMed me and told me that he wanted to go get a haircut but felt he needed to take a photo in so the stylist would know exactly what he wanted ...
I asked if it was online so I could see ...
Here is what he sent me ...
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Flock Of Seaguls"]
[/caption]
I asked if it was online so I could see ...
Here is what he sent me ...
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Flock Of Seaguls"]
[/caption]Man I love getting his IMs during the day!!!
Seeing Everyone
This morning everyone was up when I left for work and it made the morning so nice ... I love getting to see Curly Top for a bit ... makes it a bit harder to leave but easier at the same time ... I get some kisses and a bit of chatter ... I think I am going to encourage it from now on ... I am betting it is good for all of us ... even if it did make me a bit late for work ...
The Executive Summary
I got the following email today:
THE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
I know that some of you don't like to read long drawn out missives... so here's the executive summary.........
Congress Military
John McCain 26 Years 22 Years
Barrack Obama 143 days 0
Summary Concluded !!
=======================
I wasn't sure where the 143 days figure came from, but in googling it I found this quote I thought you would like:
"From the time Barack Obama was sworn in as a United State Senator, to the time he announced he was forming a Presidential exploratory committee, he logged 143 days of experience in the Senate. That's how many days the Senate was actually in session and working. After 143 days of work experience, Obama believed he was ready to be Commander In Chief, Leader of the Free World, and fill the shoes of Abraham Lincoln, FDR, JFK and Ronald Reagan. 143 days. I keep leftovers in my refrigerator longer than that"
THE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
I know that some of you don't like to read long drawn out missives... so here's the executive summary.........
Congress Military
John McCain 26 Years 22 Years
Barrack Obama 143 days 0
Summary Concluded !!
=======================
I wasn't sure where the 143 days figure came from, but in googling it I found this quote I thought you would like:
"From the time Barack Obama was sworn in as a United State Senator, to the time he announced he was forming a Presidential exploratory committee, he logged 143 days of experience in the Senate. That's how many days the Senate was actually in session and working. After 143 days of work experience, Obama believed he was ready to be Commander In Chief, Leader of the Free World, and fill the shoes of Abraham Lincoln, FDR, JFK and Ronald Reagan. 143 days. I keep leftovers in my refrigerator longer than that"
She Impresses Me
Each day I become more and more impressed with Curly Top ... for all different reasons ...
Every day she has new words she says ... it is funny to figure out where she picks them up ... Monday it was jelly ... not sure where she got that one ... but it was cute listening to her use it ...
As I have written before she absolutely loves putting change in the bank ... she will drop whatever she is doing if I call out I have change ... like tonight ... we were in the backyard blowing bubbles but the bugs were really bad and I wanted to go in so I announced I had change for the bank ...
She whipped that bubble wand behind her head and raced to the door ... what impressed me so much was that every other penny she handed to me to put in the bank ... as much as she loves doing it she was willing to share in the fun ... I thought that was just wonderful ... and she smiled as much when I did it as when she did it ...
Then when it was dinner time and I was getting the table ready I handed her the forks and napkins and asked her to go set them on the table ... when I walked into the dining room she had put a napkin and a fork at each person's place ... I was in awe ... she had never done it before and we had never gone over it ...
man she is just such an awesome kid ...
Every day she has new words she says ... it is funny to figure out where she picks them up ... Monday it was jelly ... not sure where she got that one ... but it was cute listening to her use it ...
As I have written before she absolutely loves putting change in the bank ... she will drop whatever she is doing if I call out I have change ... like tonight ... we were in the backyard blowing bubbles but the bugs were really bad and I wanted to go in so I announced I had change for the bank ...
She whipped that bubble wand behind her head and raced to the door ... what impressed me so much was that every other penny she handed to me to put in the bank ... as much as she loves doing it she was willing to share in the fun ... I thought that was just wonderful ... and she smiled as much when I did it as when she did it ...
Then when it was dinner time and I was getting the table ready I handed her the forks and napkins and asked her to go set them on the table ... when I walked into the dining room she had put a napkin and a fork at each person's place ... I was in awe ... she had never done it before and we had never gone over it ...
man she is just such an awesome kid ...
Monday, July 28, 2008
Talking in Her Sleep
So Curly Top has a play flip phone that we found the other day while cleaning up ... it has been fantastic for potty training ... when you flip it closed it rings a few moments later ... so while on the potty she gets all these calls from her friends congratulating her on peeing on the potty ... she thinks it is fantastic ... and it is so cute ...
She is under the impression with her play phone and the real one that people can see her ... she constantly holds the phone up for people to see something ... sometimes it is her dancing ... or what is on TV ... or her actually going pee ... even though she can't ever see them she is pretty convinced they can see her ...
Last night she wanted to take the phone to bed ... and I had no problem with that ... she chatted for a while before falling asleep ... a couple of hours later D and I hear her phone ring ... then again ... then again ... then she starts talking and giggling ... I couldn't believe she was up ... it is quite rare these days (although I am jinxing myself now) that she gets up after going to bed ...
We crept up there ... and there is our little Curly Top ... totally asleep ... chatting on the phone ... eyes closed ... quiet little snores in between "hi" and her giggles ... and then she it totally quiet with the phone still to her ear ... and hour later ... still in that same position ...
Now when I was 5 I asked my parents for my own phone and phone number ... they told me I had to wait till I was 10 ... I reminded them every day until my 10th birthday ... with Curly Top I am guessing she will be asking for her own cell phone way earlier than 5 years old ... shoot if she knew there was a possibility of getting her own real phone I wouldn't be surprised if she asked me first thing in the morning ...
She is under the impression with her play phone and the real one that people can see her ... she constantly holds the phone up for people to see something ... sometimes it is her dancing ... or what is on TV ... or her actually going pee ... even though she can't ever see them she is pretty convinced they can see her ...
Last night she wanted to take the phone to bed ... and I had no problem with that ... she chatted for a while before falling asleep ... a couple of hours later D and I hear her phone ring ... then again ... then again ... then she starts talking and giggling ... I couldn't believe she was up ... it is quite rare these days (although I am jinxing myself now) that she gets up after going to bed ...
We crept up there ... and there is our little Curly Top ... totally asleep ... chatting on the phone ... eyes closed ... quiet little snores in between "hi" and her giggles ... and then she it totally quiet with the phone still to her ear ... and hour later ... still in that same position ...
Now when I was 5 I asked my parents for my own phone and phone number ... they told me I had to wait till I was 10 ... I reminded them every day until my 10th birthday ... with Curly Top I am guessing she will be asking for her own cell phone way earlier than 5 years old ... shoot if she knew there was a possibility of getting her own real phone I wouldn't be surprised if she asked me first thing in the morning ...
Garage Sale Time
Well our home has hit the point that it needs to be purged ... and big time ... there is just tooooooo much stuff in our house ... most of it we don't even use ... so it is time for it to go ...
D has never been big on garage sales but he too is sick of our home and is on board ... I told him he could leave it all up to me ... that I would even ask my mom to watch Curly Top that day ... he just needed to give me the stuff he wants to sell and could go do whatever he wanted for the day ...
I was going to shoot for this weekend but I really want to make sure it is successful and we really clean out our house so we are going for August 9th ... and I am quite excited ... while at the same time the idea of all the work is already draining me ...
I went to The Yardsale Queen's website and she has lots of good info ... I'm also going to make kick-ass signs ... I mean I own a huge professional printer why not use it ... she has a link to a company that sells them but I am going to do it on my own ...
Let the purge begin!!!
D has never been big on garage sales but he too is sick of our home and is on board ... I told him he could leave it all up to me ... that I would even ask my mom to watch Curly Top that day ... he just needed to give me the stuff he wants to sell and could go do whatever he wanted for the day ...
I was going to shoot for this weekend but I really want to make sure it is successful and we really clean out our house so we are going for August 9th ... and I am quite excited ... while at the same time the idea of all the work is already draining me ...
I went to The Yardsale Queen's website and she has lots of good info ... I'm also going to make kick-ass signs ... I mean I own a huge professional printer why not use it ... she has a link to a company that sells them but I am going to do it on my own ...
Let the purge begin!!!
Sunday, July 27, 2008
The Stuff You Don't Want to Have to Think About
So D and I have started the conversation a zillion times since I got pregnant ... should, God Forbid, something happen to he and I what would happen to Curly Top ... you don't want to think about it but as a parent you have to ... and in September we are taking our first trip to a wedding and probably won't be taking her ...
Any time I've thought about it my heart cracks a bit ... I mean I want to see everything in her life ... I want to know everything about her ... I don't want to think about a time I wouldn't be there ...
But of course if we truly have her best interests in mind we had to figure this out ... we know there is no one out there that would raise her the same way we would ... the goal is to find someone who would respect our ideas for her life ... and be someone who lives their life like we do ...
After 2.5 years of discussion ... pros ... cons ... not worrying about what those who aren't the ones would think ... putting everything aside but what is good for Curly Top ... we have finally figured it all out ...
We have someone who will be executor of her estate (it is a joke even using that word ... but that is what it is called) ... and 3 people we have chosen who would love her just the way we would ...
I can't help but cry while writing this ... even though I have 1000% faith in those that we have chosen ... and even though if it came to this I would be gone ... but I know even gone it would break my heart ...
Any time I've thought about it my heart cracks a bit ... I mean I want to see everything in her life ... I want to know everything about her ... I don't want to think about a time I wouldn't be there ...
But of course if we truly have her best interests in mind we had to figure this out ... we know there is no one out there that would raise her the same way we would ... the goal is to find someone who would respect our ideas for her life ... and be someone who lives their life like we do ...
After 2.5 years of discussion ... pros ... cons ... not worrying about what those who aren't the ones would think ... putting everything aside but what is good for Curly Top ... we have finally figured it all out ...
We have someone who will be executor of her estate (it is a joke even using that word ... but that is what it is called) ... and 3 people we have chosen who would love her just the way we would ...
I can't help but cry while writing this ... even though I have 1000% faith in those that we have chosen ... and even though if it came to this I would be gone ... but I know even gone it would break my heart ...
Getting Out
We spent the whole weekend at home and tonight we just needed to get out for a bit ... my parents had invited us to dinner at IHOP but wound up cancelling ... so we decided to go anyway ... we all needed a bit of time out of the house ...
Curly Top picked out her own outfit ... she wanted to wear her Little Capers superhero shirt ... which was adorable ... with a pink skirt and her red shoes ... and her flowered hat ... just adorable ...
Tonight for the first time she used a booster seat at the restaurant instead of a high chair ... and she loved it ... thought she was really big stuff ... and sat there saying hi to anyone who would listen ... I was also so proud of her ... every time our waitress brought something to the table she said thank you without any sort of prodding from me ... she has become so polite ... just melts my heart ...
We stopped at CVS on the way home ... we had a few things to pick up and wanted her to work off some of the sugar she had on her happy face pancakes ... she strutted through that store like the mayor of Tiny Town ... saying hello to everyone ... showing off her cape ... asking me what every item in the store was ... it is amazing that someone so little can make going to CVS like being at Disneyland ... she is just the best ...
And when we got home she was more than happy to get ready for bed ... say, "Night ... see soon" (which is night ... see you soon" ...
There are for sure times I wonder how I was so lucky to get such a happy good kid ... I couldn't have asked for more if I could have pre-ordered her ...
Curly Top picked out her own outfit ... she wanted to wear her Little Capers superhero shirt ... which was adorable ... with a pink skirt and her red shoes ... and her flowered hat ... just adorable ...
Tonight for the first time she used a booster seat at the restaurant instead of a high chair ... and she loved it ... thought she was really big stuff ... and sat there saying hi to anyone who would listen ... I was also so proud of her ... every time our waitress brought something to the table she said thank you without any sort of prodding from me ... she has become so polite ... just melts my heart ...
We stopped at CVS on the way home ... we had a few things to pick up and wanted her to work off some of the sugar she had on her happy face pancakes ... she strutted through that store like the mayor of Tiny Town ... saying hello to everyone ... showing off her cape ... asking me what every item in the store was ... it is amazing that someone so little can make going to CVS like being at Disneyland ... she is just the best ...
And when we got home she was more than happy to get ready for bed ... say, "Night ... see soon" (which is night ... see you soon" ...
There are for sure times I wonder how I was so lucky to get such a happy good kid ... I couldn't have asked for more if I could have pre-ordered her ...
Blurb
So I am working on a photo book of the entire Robert's Family ... it is my mom's side of the family and we have a reunion every year in NC ... I had been doing My Publisher but started looking around to see what other companies make the photo books and came across this awesome site ... Blurb ...
Their prices are so affordable ... they have soft cover books ... they price them by page ... and they give a discount for volume purchases of the same book ... and their square book for 40 pages starts at 12.95 ... I just love it ...
I'm now trying to work on my mom to make the reunion book on this site so I can check them out ... maybe I'll just finally get my act together and make them for Curly Top since I haven't made her a scrapbook ...
Their prices are so affordable ... they have soft cover books ... they price them by page ... and they give a discount for volume purchases of the same book ... and their square book for 40 pages starts at 12.95 ... I just love it ...
I'm now trying to work on my mom to make the reunion book on this site so I can check them out ... maybe I'll just finally get my act together and make them for Curly Top since I haven't made her a scrapbook ...
Si
My daughter has started speaking spanish ... lately any time you ask her a question that requires a yes answer she says, "Si ... yes" ... it is so cute ... I'm not quite sure where she picked it up ... because any of the shows that add some spanish don't usually do yet and no ... it just cracks me up ...
Cat or not to Cat
So the mouse thing has me a bit upset ... I saw one in the backyard last night ... very tiny ... little field one ... then this morning D saw a county pest control in our neighborhood ... there is a huge field at the end of our street ... so we are thinking there is a problem and we aren't the only ones having it ...
So I suggested a cat ... it is like the natural hunter ... D had to be prodded a bit but relented ... as long as we got a kitten and could train it to be an indoor/outdoor kitten ... so no declawing this cat ... on this I had to be prodded ... cause I really only want indoor cats ... but we both have to give a bit ...
So I was looking at the PetSmart adoption site ... they have a whole contract you have to sign and it is $95 to get a cat ... or do we go the Craigslist route and take a free kitten that we don't know if they have had shots or what ... cause there is an all black one listed that has to be picked up today ... but it was a stray and they don't know what it has had ...
I just don't know ... and money is so beyond tight right now that I freak a bit about the cost of a cat ... it has been nice not buying litter and food and vet bills and shots and all that stuff ...
And I called pest control ... it was going to be like $395 to have them come out to do all needed to do to take care of rodents ...
ick ... ick ... ick ...
So I suggested a cat ... it is like the natural hunter ... D had to be prodded a bit but relented ... as long as we got a kitten and could train it to be an indoor/outdoor kitten ... so no declawing this cat ... on this I had to be prodded ... cause I really only want indoor cats ... but we both have to give a bit ...
So I was looking at the PetSmart adoption site ... they have a whole contract you have to sign and it is $95 to get a cat ... or do we go the Craigslist route and take a free kitten that we don't know if they have had shots or what ... cause there is an all black one listed that has to be picked up today ... but it was a stray and they don't know what it has had ...
I just don't know ... and money is so beyond tight right now that I freak a bit about the cost of a cat ... it has been nice not buying litter and food and vet bills and shots and all that stuff ...
And I called pest control ... it was going to be like $395 to have them come out to do all needed to do to take care of rodents ...
ick ... ick ... ick ...
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Crown Making 101
Today was a fabulous Saturday ... Curly Top and I decided she needed a crown ... it needed to be shiny and it needed to have flowers ... luckily being a crafty mama I had all the supplies we needed ...
So we cut out a crown from some card stock ... and then Curly Top used glitter glue to decorate the whole crown ... she loved painting it all over ... and kept asking for more colors and swirling the glitter all over the place ...
The time it took for it to dry was a bit hard ... for both of us ... but we spent our time taking some self portraits which was more fun for me than her ... but fun none the less ...
She couldn't stop jumping around while I put the flowers ... and fitting it around her head so I knew what size to make it had her squealing with absolute delight ... everything about making the crown today melted my heart ... I didn't want a single moment to end ...
Once it was finished she was beyond excited to put it on ... she kept oohhhing and aaahhhhhing about it ... spinning around ... and even smiled for the camera a couple of times ... rare for her ...
And when her granddaddy stopped by she raced to the door to show off her new crown ...
She kept it on the rest of the evening ... we had to leave it sitting on the counter during bath time ... after a quick little "no in tub" argument ... as soon as the hair was combed it was right back on ... and it had to be left up on the bookcase in her room so she could fall asleep looking at it ...
what a fabulous way to spend a Saturday afternoon ... FABULOUS!!!!
So we cut out a crown from some card stock ... and then Curly Top used glitter glue to decorate the whole crown ... she loved painting it all over ... and kept asking for more colors and swirling the glitter all over the place ...
The time it took for it to dry was a bit hard ... for both of us ... but we spent our time taking some self portraits which was more fun for me than her ... but fun none the less ...
She couldn't stop jumping around while I put the flowers ... and fitting it around her head so I knew what size to make it had her squealing with absolute delight ... everything about making the crown today melted my heart ... I didn't want a single moment to end ...
Once it was finished she was beyond excited to put it on ... she kept oohhhing and aaahhhhhing about it ... spinning around ... and even smiled for the camera a couple of times ... rare for her ...
And when her granddaddy stopped by she raced to the door to show off her new crown ...
She kept it on the rest of the evening ... we had to leave it sitting on the counter during bath time ... after a quick little "no in tub" argument ... as soon as the hair was combed it was right back on ... and it had to be left up on the bookcase in her room so she could fall asleep looking at it ...
what a fabulous way to spend a Saturday afternoon ... FABULOUS!!!!
Painting glitter to decorate the crown |
Showing off the glitter she painted on the brads. |
Pure excitement!! |
Pure joy!!! |
Our self portraits |
 |
Look at this beautiful crown!!! |
I'm not too big for my doll's carriage |
It works great for me. |
Isn't this beautiful!! |
Fun with granddaddy. |
Mickey ... Remy ... Speedy
There are many lovable mice out there ...
... I mean I grew up 20 minutes from Disneyland so I always loved Mickey and Minnie ...
Alice In Wonderland was my all time favorite book growning up and I thought The Doormouse was so funny with his Twinkle Twinkle Little Bat poem ... of course the cartoons Mighty Mouse
Tom and Jerry
and Speedy Gonzales
were giggle enducing staples to my childhood ...
... I mean I grew up 20 minutes from Disneyland so I always loved Mickey and Minnie ...
Alice In Wonderland was my all time favorite book growning up and I thought The Doormouse was so funny with his Twinkle Twinkle Little Bat poem ... of course the cartoons Mighty Mouse
Tom and Jerry
and Speedy Gonzales
were giggle enducing staples to my childhood ...
As I child I was in love with Bernard and Bianca from The Rescuers
and it was the first movie Curly Top fell in love with ... and now she and I watch Angelina Ballerina
and last weekend we fell in love with Remy from Rattatoui
and it was the first movie Curly Top fell in love with ... and now she and I watch Angelina Ballerina
and last weekend we fell in love with Remy from Rattatoui
If any of these adorable creatures wanted to visit us I would be all up for it ... I mean ballet lessons from Angelina would send Curly Top into bliss ... I could always go on an adventure with Bernard and Bianca ... and Mighty Mouse could help us with all our heavy projects ... besides who wouldn't want Remy to fix them a gourmet meal ...
But the little one I saw scurry across the kitchen last night was not a welcome visitor ... I thought I saw one the other night but I convinced myself that it was a shadow because I wasn't looking right at him ... but last night it was confirmed ... I was walking toward the kitchen to get some more water ... when the little thing looked right at me and ran under the cabinet ...
I instantly thought, "We need a new cat ... like tomorrow" ... D was out getting milk when it happened and when I proposed the new cat I was shot down immediately ... such a bummer ... cause I am totally sceeved out right now at the fact that it is in here ... and really ... is there ever just one???
Friday, July 25, 2008
The Love of Pennies
When I came home yesterday Curly Top was out playing a bit of golf ... I had to grab the camera quickly because she just looked so cute after going to the zoo with her daddy ...
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After we hung out and of course blew some bubbles I told her I had a surprise for her ...
Putting change in the big coke bottle bank is a big deal for Curly Top ... she loves doing it and every day she asks if I have change when I get home ... yesterday I decided to bring some of the pennies home that are in my bank at work ...
well she acted like she had struck gold ... wore her out so much she had to lay down with daddy for a bit afterwards ... ahhhh the cute moments ... I love them
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Cleaning
So I got to leave work really early today ... but the bummer was I didn't get to just hang out and have fun ... D had already been cleaning for a couple of hours and I spent the next 7 (except for a dinner break) working on cleaning too ...
Now I will say I did actually have a bit of fun working on Curly Tops room ... she helped put stuff away ... helped me move everything out of her room so we could vacuum and mop (there was still a ton of powder from her high jinx the other day) ... she loved pushing the button on the Swiffer mop and helping me push the mop around ... but that was the only fun I had ...
During that time all we got done was our bedroom, Curly Top's ... her bathroom (D had done ours last weekend and it is still looking good) and the family room ... and I am just too tired to do anymore tonight ...
We still have the dining area ... kitchen ... entry way (which is filled with prizes for Rock-n-Tot) ... the guestroom (which is filled with all the stuff for the goodie bags for Rock-n-Tot) and the fireplace room ... which has 1/2 the Rock-n-Tot still in there (I started moving the stuff to the basement several weekends ago but it was just too painful ... the pain in my side was unbearable ... I powered through it for a while cause I felt wimpy and I needed to get it done ... I guess my gallbladder was trying to warn me weeks before I realized it ... )
So I guess tomorrow we gotta power through the rest ... I didn't mention the office and the spare room cause I just don't want to think about those right now ...
I will say the rooms we did do look awesome ... it is too bad we don't have anyone to invite over ... I'm proud of our house right now ...
Now I will say I did actually have a bit of fun working on Curly Tops room ... she helped put stuff away ... helped me move everything out of her room so we could vacuum and mop (there was still a ton of powder from her high jinx the other day) ... she loved pushing the button on the Swiffer mop and helping me push the mop around ... but that was the only fun I had ...
During that time all we got done was our bedroom, Curly Top's ... her bathroom (D had done ours last weekend and it is still looking good) and the family room ... and I am just too tired to do anymore tonight ...
We still have the dining area ... kitchen ... entry way (which is filled with prizes for Rock-n-Tot) ... the guestroom (which is filled with all the stuff for the goodie bags for Rock-n-Tot) and the fireplace room ... which has 1/2 the Rock-n-Tot still in there (I started moving the stuff to the basement several weekends ago but it was just too painful ... the pain in my side was unbearable ... I powered through it for a while cause I felt wimpy and I needed to get it done ... I guess my gallbladder was trying to warn me weeks before I realized it ... )
So I guess tomorrow we gotta power through the rest ... I didn't mention the office and the spare room cause I just don't want to think about those right now ...
I will say the rooms we did do look awesome ... it is too bad we don't have anyone to invite over ... I'm proud of our house right now ...
My Days - Wish vs. Have
How I wish my days went:
WISH:
- Wake up early
- Shower
- Get Curly Top Up
- Have breakfast together
- TV time for Curly Top while I straighten up and be able to do a bit of cleaning each day
- Head out for the day doing errands and going to do fun stuff with Curly Top
- Home to play, get some work done
- Make dinner for my family
- Reading time
- Bath
- Bedtime
- Straighten up from the day
- Do my own stuff that makes me happy
HAVE:
- Wake up really early to a totally disorganized and messy house
- Shower (if I am up early enough)
- Straighten up kitchen
- Make coffee
- Answer emails and take care of stuff for one of my 3 jobs (Office job, D's scheduling, RnT)
- Pack lunch (can't afford to buy lunch)
- Spend somewhere around an hour in beltway traffic getting to work
- Work while still trying to make appointments, take care of paying our bills, figuring out what needs to be done on the weekend cause I am in an office when any public buildings are open (post office, bank etc.)
- Try to connect for a bit with D over chat
- At least one phone call to D and Curly Top so she can at least hear my voice sometime during the 21 hours a day I don't see her
- Squeeze in response emails for jobs for D, along with setting his schedule, making arrangements for Curly Top, billing customers
- Do all the things that are required to run RnT, sneak in phone calls to potential people for events, work on website, search for things to make RnT better, worry about ticket sales, find ways to increase sales yadda yadda yadda
- Make sure I do enough at work to keep my job
- Pack it up and shut down the office
- Get in the car for at least an hour home in beltway traffic (on a good day)
- Half the time stop somewhere to pick up something on the way home ... milk, prescription dropped off earlier, gas ... something to make my time coming home longer
- Arrive home to house I still haven't cleaned
- Get to see a super excited Curly Top
- Head outside for some bubble time and running around the yard
- Take turns in the kitchen with D preparing dinner
- Try and straighted up something so I kid myself into believing I have made an effort
- All sit down to dinner
- Unload dishwasher from the morning and clean up all dinner stuff
- TV and reading time with Curly Top
- Try and get her to clean up some toys
- Bath time
- Bed time
- Log onto computer for more work on D's business, more RnT work, check my actual job email, start making a list of all the things that need to get done before going to bed
- Stay up usually till 1:00 AM working on all sorts of things none of which are my fun projects that I wish I were working on
- Clean up the rest of the toys
- Debate making coffee for the next morning and talk myself out of it cause I am too tired (regret it in the morning when there isn't coffee waiting for me - promise not to do that again but probably will)
Then on the weekends I have to fit in:
- 7 loads of laundry
- 2 hours of putting away laundry
- make up for missing 105 hours with Curly Top during the week
- try and find something for the family to do at least one day during the weekend
- attempt to clean but usually get distracted from what needs to be done so I am back to waking up to a messy and dirty house Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday morning
Truthfully there is so much more but it is tiring me out thinking of it all ... especially being a Friday and getting ready to attempt the weekend stuff ...
How can what I want and what I have be so far away from each other?
WISH:
- Wake up early
- Shower
- Get Curly Top Up
- Have breakfast together
- TV time for Curly Top while I straighten up and be able to do a bit of cleaning each day
- Head out for the day doing errands and going to do fun stuff with Curly Top
- Home to play, get some work done
- Make dinner for my family
- Reading time
- Bath
- Bedtime
- Straighten up from the day
- Do my own stuff that makes me happy
HAVE:
- Wake up really early to a totally disorganized and messy house
- Shower (if I am up early enough)
- Straighten up kitchen
- Make coffee
- Answer emails and take care of stuff for one of my 3 jobs (Office job, D's scheduling, RnT)
- Pack lunch (can't afford to buy lunch)
- Spend somewhere around an hour in beltway traffic getting to work
- Work while still trying to make appointments, take care of paying our bills, figuring out what needs to be done on the weekend cause I am in an office when any public buildings are open (post office, bank etc.)
- Try to connect for a bit with D over chat
- At least one phone call to D and Curly Top so she can at least hear my voice sometime during the 21 hours a day I don't see her
- Squeeze in response emails for jobs for D, along with setting his schedule, making arrangements for Curly Top, billing customers
- Do all the things that are required to run RnT, sneak in phone calls to potential people for events, work on website, search for things to make RnT better, worry about ticket sales, find ways to increase sales yadda yadda yadda
- Make sure I do enough at work to keep my job
- Pack it up and shut down the office
- Get in the car for at least an hour home in beltway traffic (on a good day)
- Half the time stop somewhere to pick up something on the way home ... milk, prescription dropped off earlier, gas ... something to make my time coming home longer
- Arrive home to house I still haven't cleaned
- Get to see a super excited Curly Top
- Head outside for some bubble time and running around the yard
- Take turns in the kitchen with D preparing dinner
- Try and straighted up something so I kid myself into believing I have made an effort
- All sit down to dinner
- Unload dishwasher from the morning and clean up all dinner stuff
- TV and reading time with Curly Top
- Try and get her to clean up some toys
- Bath time
- Bed time
- Log onto computer for more work on D's business, more RnT work, check my actual job email, start making a list of all the things that need to get done before going to bed
- Stay up usually till 1:00 AM working on all sorts of things none of which are my fun projects that I wish I were working on
- Clean up the rest of the toys
- Debate making coffee for the next morning and talk myself out of it cause I am too tired (regret it in the morning when there isn't coffee waiting for me - promise not to do that again but probably will)
Then on the weekends I have to fit in:
- 7 loads of laundry
- 2 hours of putting away laundry
- make up for missing 105 hours with Curly Top during the week
- try and find something for the family to do at least one day during the weekend
- attempt to clean but usually get distracted from what needs to be done so I am back to waking up to a messy and dirty house Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday morning
Truthfully there is so much more but it is tiring me out thinking of it all ... especially being a Friday and getting ready to attempt the weekend stuff ...
How can what I want and what I have be so far away from each other?
Puppy ... Puppy ...
Curly Top says "puppy ... puppy ... " 100 times a day ... mostly it is for the cartoon Kipper ... she is in love with him ... she belly laughs at the cartoon so hard she actually fell off the couch the other day and kept laughing ...
Yesterday all she wanted to watch was Kipper ... and it just wasn't coming on Sprout ... at 8:45 when Caiou (another one she is in love with) was ending I talked her into getting ready for bed ... we had all been laying in bed together watching TV ... as we walked to her bedroom I heard the TV on downstairs and thought to myself I should go turn it off but didn't ...
Finally she was crawling into bed and heard the first 3 notes of the Kipper song and that was it ... she was so inconsolable cause "puppppppy" was on she just had to watch it ... how could I say no ...
We went back into my room to turn it on and the child laughed so hard she couldn't catch her breath ... and was just so so so happy ... she had no problem getting in bed at 9:00 after the show was over ...
As she laid down she said, "puppy ... puppy" and patted her bed ... she just wants a dog so so badly and D and I are not dog people at all ... I am not even sure how her DNA make-up is allowing for the want of a dog ... when both of her parents want nothing to do with dogs ...
But the thought keeps coming back ... it would be like Santa moved in with her if she got a dog ... the world could never be bad if her own little puppy followed her around ...
But then I keep thinking ... a dog ... really ... are we going to have to do this at sometime ... D already has a conniption when neighbors let their dogs poop in our yard without cleaning it up ... I mean he even painted a big sign that says "Clean up after your dog" and it is staked in our front yard ... I can only imagine when he runs over poop with the lawn mower in our backyard ... the shit would hit the fence for sure ...
Yesterday all she wanted to watch was Kipper ... and it just wasn't coming on Sprout ... at 8:45 when Caiou (another one she is in love with) was ending I talked her into getting ready for bed ... we had all been laying in bed together watching TV ... as we walked to her bedroom I heard the TV on downstairs and thought to myself I should go turn it off but didn't ...
Finally she was crawling into bed and heard the first 3 notes of the Kipper song and that was it ... she was so inconsolable cause "puppppppy" was on she just had to watch it ... how could I say no ...
We went back into my room to turn it on and the child laughed so hard she couldn't catch her breath ... and was just so so so happy ... she had no problem getting in bed at 9:00 after the show was over ...
As she laid down she said, "puppy ... puppy" and patted her bed ... she just wants a dog so so badly and D and I are not dog people at all ... I am not even sure how her DNA make-up is allowing for the want of a dog ... when both of her parents want nothing to do with dogs ...
But the thought keeps coming back ... it would be like Santa moved in with her if she got a dog ... the world could never be bad if her own little puppy followed her around ...
But then I keep thinking ... a dog ... really ... are we going to have to do this at sometime ... D already has a conniption when neighbors let their dogs poop in our yard without cleaning it up ... I mean he even painted a big sign that says "Clean up after your dog" and it is staked in our front yard ... I can only imagine when he runs over poop with the lawn mower in our backyard ... the shit would hit the fence for sure ...
Thursday, July 24, 2008
New Cafepress Designs
My CafePress Store
For months and months now I have wanted to work on my cafepress store ... so tonight I actually took an hour and a half for myself and made a whole bunch of new designs ... I haven't uploaded them to the store yet cause it takes hours to set all that up and it is just too late at night ... but I am so excited about the new designs I can't wait to get them in my store ...
I think the last time I worked on my store was like October of last year ... I used to make a good amount of money each month from the store and sales have been quite dull since I haven't done anything to it ...
so woohoo for getting a bit of work started on the store ... I can't wait to upload them now ...
For months and months now I have wanted to work on my cafepress store ... so tonight I actually took an hour and a half for myself and made a whole bunch of new designs ... I haven't uploaded them to the store yet cause it takes hours to set all that up and it is just too late at night ... but I am so excited about the new designs I can't wait to get them in my store ...
I think the last time I worked on my store was like October of last year ... I used to make a good amount of money each month from the store and sales have been quite dull since I haven't done anything to it ...
so woohoo for getting a bit of work started on the store ... I can't wait to upload them now ...
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This Is Why It Sucks Working
Today is one of the days it sucks being a working mom ... it is gorgeous out ... not so hot and humid that you sweat standing still ... we had a great rain last night and lots of cool sunshine today ... hasn't been this nice out in quite sometime ... D and Curly top are heading to the zoo ... Curly Top just called me at work to tell me she was going to see the monkeys and elephants ... the prairie dogs and otters ...
I am soooooo jealous and sad that I am stuck sitting here in my office while they get to be at the zoo today ...
I hate that I have to cram all the fun stuff I can into the 2 days of the weekend ... and the maybe 3 hours we get together at night ...
I want to be packing up and heading to the zoo right now ...
I am soooooo jealous and sad that I am stuck sitting here in my office while they get to be at the zoo today ...
I hate that I have to cram all the fun stuff I can into the 2 days of the weekend ... and the maybe 3 hours we get together at night ...
I want to be packing up and heading to the zoo right now ...
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
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