Friday, March 26, 2010

Tumbleweeds

Let me introduce you to Sandy. 

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Sandy is our sweet Pembroke Welsh Corgi.  She is the second Corgi I have owned so I knew what I was getting into.  Specifically, hair.  Lots and lots of hair.  So much hair that frequency of vacuuming does not cut down on the dog hair tumbleweeds that drift through my house.  Enter the defurminator.

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The defurminator is a shedding tool.  We live in southeast NC so we don't have to worry about pulling out too much of her undercoat.  She is left with more than enough hair, but the defurminator cuts down on the hair that breaks loose in the house.  It is a process that we have to do every week.

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Sandy fortunately tolerates the whole process very well.  She actually enjoys it for the first few minutes.
Then she tries to run away!

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At the end of the day we are left with a happy dog!

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and hairy pants!
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Thursday, March 25, 2010

Signs of Spring

We all have little things that make us feel like spring is really here.  It might be flowers blooming, warming temperatures, seasonal allergies, or something completely different.  One of my favorite signs of spring is the annual plant sale at our local arboretum.  The Master Gardener program has an enormous plant sale with a large variety of plants.  There are some good deals to be found and the plants are high quality.  The picture below is a small sampling of what I will be planting this weekend!




As you look as these plants, I ask you to pay respects because at least 50% of them will not make it.  I am a notorious plant killer.  Everything my parents touch grows, but I did not inherit that gene.  My husband is learning to grow more plants and therefore is beginning to save them from my curse.  What is your favorite, hard to kill plant?  Does it grow in the southeast?  Let me know, I would love to lose my plant killer rep!

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Pack Rats, Procrastinators and Comic Books

I've said it before and I'll say it again.  I come from a long line of pack rats.  We are good at it.  We can justify why we NEED to keep things.  You never know when you might NEED that whatchamacallit.  Problem is, if we need the whatchamacallit, we probably wouldn't be able to find it, and would go out and buy a new and improved whatchamacallit, then we would need to save the old whatchamacallit because they don't make them like that anymore.  (I wasn't kidding when I said I was good at this) 
So I am a pack rat and a procrastinator.  I have gotten my house in better shape, but my guest room and my garage are haunting me.  Molly Gold, of www.gomominc.com would cry if she saw these rooms.  I know that I need to work on them, but then the procrastinator kicks in.  Do you want to know the best way to procrastinate dealing with your junk?  Deal with another person's junk!!!  Yesterday, instead of taking care of my own house, I went to help at my parents' house.  I am going to help them finish sorting through all of my late Grandmother's things.  It is a monumental task because she saved EVERYTHING!  I found bank statements from 1950.  1950. not a typo friends.  
Which leads me to my great discovery! COMIC BOOKS!  I found some amazing comic books from the 1940's and 1950's.  Incredible stuff, from Red Ryder to Vault of Horror!  Frankly, the covers of the Vault of Horror comics were pretty scary!  Today, between other computer activities I am checking to see if these comic books are worth anything.   My parents have agreed to sell them if they are! Hallelujah! Progress!  Even if they are only worth $5.00 it's better than putting them in recycling!  So I am making a dent at their house, now if I can motivate myself in my own house!  Any great ideas?


Monday, March 22, 2010

Monday Mingle!



Big thanks to Jennifer at www.eightyMPHmom.com because I have been LOVING the Monday Mingle!  She hosts every Monday and puts up three questions for everyone to answer.  If you decide to Mingle, be sure to go to her site to link up, and check out all the other great people Mingling!

Monday Mingle 3/22/10 from Amy Hodges on Vimeo.

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Milestones

Egads.  Today, I am the mother of a teenager.  The handsome devil below is now THIRTEEN YEARS OLD!!!!  How in the heck does that happen?  He, of course, would be mortified to know I had posted this picture, but since he doesn't check in at the ole blog I think I am safe.  Not to mention the fact that he is now taller than me with brown locks, therefore unrecognizable today.  One part of my heart hates to see him grow up and away, but that's the deal.  I am proud of who he is becoming and enjoy how our relationship is different now that he's growing up.  And I am glad that he still wants his mom to make his favorite cake for his birthday. (Do we ever grow out of that?) So I am off to bake, Coca Cola cake anyone?

Monday, March 15, 2010

Yay, Monday Mingle Time!




This is my second week taking part in the Monday Mingle Vlog series with Jennifer of www.eightymphmom.com This has been a lot of fun and I have found some great new blogs to follow!  Right now, Jennifer has a "Leap into Spring" event going on at her website, be sure to check it out.  Jennifer hosts the Mingle every Monday and asks people 3 questions to answer on video.  My responses are below!
Hooray, I think I got it to work on Vimeo, let me know if it's funky!!
I hope you are all having a great start to your week.  Tomorrow I am heading to Raleigh, NC for the Smart Mom Solutions Road Show.  I will be reporting all the goings on so be sure to check back! 





Sunday, March 14, 2010

Sunday Funday

Ok, sort of funday.  I have been under the weather for a while now.  It seems like I just get rid of one thing when another one pounces.  I am finally starting to feel better, and it's spring, which makes me want to tackle a whole bunch of projects.  We have had a much longer run of cold weather here than usual.  The forsythia bushes in my yard have just started blooming and I think it's the latest they have ever bloomed.  I was seriously thinking I had seasonal affective disorder because I hadn't seen the sun in so long.  Now that the sun has come out I feel energized.  We were able to be outside today and walk and ride bikes.  I could have stayed outside all day because it's nicer outside than inside. 
All of this leads me to organization.  I blogged a long time ago about wanting to get my house in better order.  Has it happened? Nope.  It would be very easy to give up right now.  I could pretend I never wrote the first blog entry because it is waaayyy down the page.  It does feel like I am in a battle I just can't win.  BUT!  I am not going to let this defeat me.  I have to be able to do this, if not for myself then for my family.  I don't want my kids to grow up thinking the amount of clutter in our home is okay.  It isn't dangerously dirty, no one would be calling Child Services.  It's hygienic but cluttered.  This week I am going to try to do 30 minutes every day.  Hopefully I will do more, but at least 30 minutes.  I'll post again about this on Friday and let you know.  If you have any great ideas or suggestions about organizing please leave them in the comments!!

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Wordless Wednesday

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Top Ten Tuesday

I have been having a very hard time knowing what to write, which is why I am participating in so many round-ups right now. (well, that, and this is fun!)  A couple of weeks ago my day to day life changed again.  For the past three years I have been working part time for a local toy store.  It was a great part time job to have.  I was informed that I was being moved off the schedule and onto the on-call list.  There are a lot of things that I would love to say, but A.) that wouldn't be fair, and B.) that isn't what I want my blog to be about.  I firmly believe that I need to put as much good into the world as I can.  I'm not saying I'm not going to vent, but I don't think this is the place for that.  I've struggled about what to write because I want to choose good things to focus on.  This weekend while in bed with a cold and a fever(having a major pity party for myself), I was watching Bridget Jones Diary on television.   There is a pivotal moment when Bridget gives up on Hugh Grant and tries to break bad habits and lists what she chooses in life(one of the first things she chooses is vodka~shout out to vodka mom!)

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So with thanks to Amanda of www.ohamanda.com who hosts Top Ten Tuesdays, here is my top ten of what I choose:

1. I choose God, my family, and then work.
2. I choose to put as much love into the world as I can
3. I choose to laugh so much that my sides ache
4. I choose to cry until there is nothing left
5. I choose to encourage my children to love who they are
6. I choose to be as healthy as I can, no matter what the scale says
7. I choose to play, even when it makes me thoroughly uncool
8. I choose television (I can't lie)
9. I choose music
10. I choose to dance. 

So that's my top ten for today.  If you want to play along, go to Amanda's site and link up!

Monday, March 8, 2010

Monday Mingle

 
This week I am taking part in the Monday Mingle Vlog series with Jennifer of www.eightymphmom.com
Jennifer hosts the Mingle every Monday and asks people 3 questions to answer on video.  My responses are below!

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Truthful Tuesday

Confessions from a Working Mom
I love the question posed this week on Truthful Tuesdays at Confessions from a Working Mom.  How did you tell DH (or your family) you were pregnant?  How did they know this was a great story?  We had been married for 6 months when someone asked us the fateful question, "Have you thought about when you want to have kids?" Not even if, WHEN we wanted to have kids.  WHEN.  My response was the same as it had been since we had gotten married, we wanted to be married at least two years before we talked about kids.  This time, when I gave my response, my husband looked at me and said "Shouldn't you be saying we are going to talk about it in a year and a half, we have been married for 6 months now."  I shushed him right up and went back to my two year stand by answer.
Fast forward a month.  I was 4 hours away helping with the leadership track at a youth event.  I was going to be there for 2 weeks and he was going to come up when he could.  I was EXHAUSTED.  You always stay up way too late at these things, so that wasn't too surprising.  A friend joined me midway through and we were up late one night and she was griping that she was feeling bloated because she was late, and she wanted to just start already.  I did a little mental math and realized that I was late too.  I didn't say anything to anyone because I was sure it was nothing.  The next day at my very first chance I ran to the drug store and bought a pregnancy test.  (a box of two actually) I hoofed it up the million stairs to my room and proceeded to do the test.  I know, I know, you are supposed to do it first thing in the morning, I had two tests on purpose.  I am not exactly patient so I looked at the test after about 30 seconds instead of the required two minutes.  Two pink lines.  What the heck? TWO PINK LINES? is that pregnant or not pregnant, HOLY CRAP, that's pregnant!!!
Remember, my husband is 4 hours away.  He wasn't supposed to come up for 2 more days and I did not see how I was going to last, even though I couldn't bring myself to tell him on the phone.  Then the unexpected happened.  In July a hurricane was threatening the coast.  We usually only get those threats in August and September.  Work was cancelled for him so he was coming up early.  This is the only time in my life I have been glad to live in a hurricane prone area.  He spent the next day battening down the hatches then drove up very late to be with me.  I had 2 very good friends I had confided in and we were discussing how to tell him.  I was terrified.  We had both said we wanted kids, but hadn't really discussed the nitty gritty of it all.  We came up with 2 ways for me to tell him.  First, Coca Cola was doing their Red Hot Summer promotion so we pried the top out of a bottle cap and custom made one that said we had won a baby, and second, my friends drew an elaborate tattoo on my belly that said "Baby" and pointed to my belly button.
My husband, who had worked his rear end off all day, and driven all night, got in around 2am.  He sweetly tried to sneak in quietly.  I sat up and turned on every light, blinking madly trying to be awake and not scare him.  He thought I had lost my mind.  I gave him the Coke and said "Look, we won something!"  He reluctantly took the bottle and looked at the cap.  He looked at me.  I showed him the tattoo.  He passed out.  No, kidding.  It took his brain a few minutes to catch up, and then he was wonderful.  We spent several days shell shocked, but then he said the very best thing.  He said that he was glad it happened that way because it would've been hard to know when the "right time" was.  He was exactly right.
So what's your story??