Best Shot Monday - Miracles

As seems to be my theme lately, my best shot from the last week is one that has less to do with the composition and a lot more to do with the subject.

This is Lauren, all bundled up and enjoying a visit from a horse. But what makes it so special to me is that she was there at all. Lauren has cancer, and the prognosis isn't great. I remember hearing the news and (having a healthcare background) knowing what it all meant - and it didn't mean anything good. And when I looked at her, I thought of all the things that she'd miss - turning 30, growing old, the magic of a million every day moments. The news came in July, and I was prepared for a quick battle that didn't end well - because she didn't just need treatment, she needed a miracle.

But now, six months later, she's still here and fighting every day. And when I looked at her today, it was a little easier to imagine her growing old, and to see the celebration that might be had on her 30th birthday. I was also reminded that, while the every day moments that happen now aren't the ones that anyone ever imagines or hopes for, they are still filled with a special magic all their own. And sometimes they also happen to be filled with miracles.

May 2008 be a year filled with friends, loved ones, laughter, magic, and miracles! Happy New Year!

For more best shots, don't forget to head to Tracey's!

100 Things About Me, Part 3

Click here for Part 1 of the list, and here for part 2.

21. I am creative, but not artistic. I think that there is a very large difference between the two.

22. When everyone says that it doesn’t matter what other people think, I just stay quiet…because inside my head I am silently screaming “Yes it does! It matters a lot what other people think!” It might not matter to anyone else, but it matters to me.

23. I am crazy organized…and I love it.

24. Sometimes I am a little over zealous and I try to make other people organized like me. This isn’t very nice of me.

25. I didn’t decide to go back to school and not be a nurse because I hate nursing. I think that nursing is wonderful, it just isn’t what I want for me.

26. My sisters are each very much like my parents. I sometimes secretly wonder if they had other kids after me because they knew that I wasn’t like them and they wanted kids who were.

27. I realize that #26 sounds crazy. But it’s still true.

28. I completely lack the ability to say no. I am a yes girl.

29. I love candles. Having candles makes me feel happy, because it is a nice little thing that I do just for me – I think that they are pretty to look at, and I love ones that smell good.

30. I love to vacuum.

Off the Naughty List

We all know that Santa is a major list maker (which I can respect, because I also make a lot of lists) - one list for the nice and one list for the naughty. It would never surprise me to be on the naughty list, but this year I was CLEARLY on the good girl list...because look at all the great treats I got!




A stone, hand painted sign with the Gaelic 'welcome' on it. What, you mean that you aren't surprised to find that I am Irish? Please, tell me - was it the freckles, the bright green eyes, or the red hair that gave it away?!




HUGE and fluffy bath sheets to replace my boring, old, and regular sized towels.




A sudoku game (although I am not sudoku crazy like most people) that looks like it could be maddening enough to make me completely insane fun to work on. I also got several other games, but I think you get the idea.



Cookbooks! I love to cook...




And I Kitchenaid Mixer! I am highly excited about this, because it will make baking things so much more fun easier!

My big gift from the boys is a gorgeous diamond and sapphire ring, but I had to have it sized, so you'll just have to wait to see that bit of beauty...but trust me, it's worth waiting for!

100 Things About Me, Part 2

It's Theme Thursday at Stacy's, but since I haven't had time to load all of the pictures (and there are HUNDREDS!) from my camera to my computer, I'm going to have to skip this week.

So instead here are a few more things about me that I'm sure you're just thrilled to find out...

The first portion of the list can be found here.


11. I am a total TV junkie.

12. I love Tivo – and I remember what I did without it. But I am quite sure that the discovery of Tivo has contributed to fact #5.

13. Going back to school was one of the scariest decisions I ever made. Before I decided to go back, I only mentioned it to one person. Even after I went back, it took me a while to tell people.

14. Going back to school has been harder and better than I thought it would be. Sometimes the work sucks, but I actually like to learn. This makes me a nerd.

15. I have an insane memory – especially for details. Names, birthdays, hobbies, places, favorites, or anything else that seems completely random is stuck forever in my brain.

16. This is not to say that on some occasions I am not a total space case. Because sometimes I am a TOTAL space case.

17. I am a little afraid that there aren’t 100 things about me period – interesting or otherwise.

18. Adventures In Babysitting is one of my favorite movies. I have to watch it if I see that it is on TV.

19. I love buying gifts for people.

20. I also love wrapping gifts. With bows…the perfect wrapping job is not complete without a bow.

Best Shot Monday - Santa Surprises

While this is not a technically great shot (or even a technically mediocre shot if you want to be picky), it is still one of my favorites. We celebrated Christmas with the boys early, and since they aren't old enough to even know what a calendar is it was easy to tell them that Christmas Eve was Saturday night and that Christmas was Sunday.

This was the look on Garrett's face when he realized that Santa really did come while he was sleeping:





I think that Christmas filled with the excitement of toddlers might be one of my very favorite things...

****
I can't believe I forgot to add this....
Don't forget to go and check out everyone else's Best Shots at Tracey's!

100 Things About Me, Part 1

I have finally gotten around to making my '100 Things About Me' List and I am sure that you are all just dying to read it. But because I am clever, and because I don't know if I will need something for another post later, you only get part of the list.

So here we go - the first 10.

1. I am allergic to pineapple. Weird, I know. And I don’t mean allergic “it makes my mouth feel funny” – I mean “if you give me something with pineapple juice, please have the epi pen ready” allergic.

2. I am an oldest child – my sisters are 2 years and 4 years younger than me.

3. Because he only had daughters, my dad would probably do almost anything for a grandson.

4. I enjoy spending time with my extended family. Well, with my dad’s side anyway. My mother’s side has a few people who make me want to move to Siberia get a new family give me endless opportunities to practice being kind and patient.

5. I am the happiest person that I know.

6. Sometimes it takes work to be happy.

7. I think that sometimes it takes work to be happy is a very important lesson. It is also sometimes a hard thing to learn.

8. I don’t like to be cold (and I am cold all the time) but I love snow. I think it is the most peaceful thing on earth.

9. I know things without being told. I don’t know how – I just do.

10. Me knowing things without being told can sometimes be rather unnerving to other people. Sometimes to me too.

Theme Thursday - Window

Stacy is now heading up the Theme Thursday parade, and the first theme is Window.

Don't forget to see what everyone else came up with for Theme Thursday!

Hard

Being a toddler, it is not unsual for Garrett to whine and fuss when he doesn't get to do something. And my general response is "Life is hard."

And it is.

I just neglet to mention to him that it never really gets any easier.

Best Shot Monday - Chicago

These are my parents in front of the jelly bean (or whatever it really is) sculpture at Millineum Park - the city is actually a reflection in the sculpture.

Don't forget, for more Best Shots, head over to Tracey's!

Maybe I Should Have Gotten A Parrot...

Spending day after day with a toddler is a very useful experience. It teaches you that time can stand still while said toddler inspects every pebble on the sidewalk to appreciate the little things in life. It also teaches you that the napping hours ARE in fact the most important of the day. And also that sometimes a balanced meal simply means shoving something in a mouth - regardless of who's mouth or what that something might be.

Spending all day with a toddler is also a very useful way to discover if you have any phrases that you perhaps use way too often on occasion. Because of Garrett, I now know that I:

*Say "oh my goodness" to a lot of things, usually accompanied by shaking my head back and forth.

*"What the heck"...which was said repeatedly by him while opening his birthday presents.

*Use the phrase "holy mackeral" when I am surprised by something. Which is a bit of a surprise itself - I don't even know what a mackeral really is...I think it's tuna maybe?

*I tend to say "not today" rather than just 'no' when he asks to go somewhere or do something. Although 'not today' doesn't work quite as well when I ask if he could please finish his breakfast sometime this year. When I ask that, "not today" is not really the answer that I am going for.

I could have probably spent all day with a parrot and been just as well off (ok, not really) some days...they can be trained to talk, and they also tend to have a much smaller vocabulary than three year olds.

Margaritas....yum!

Last night I had my very last (hopefully!) Organic Chemistry exam. Which, to be fair, was harder than heck. But I sort of knew it was going to be, so at least I wasn't surprised. But the taking of the test wasn't the part I was looking forward to.

It was the margaritas afterwards!

Because there are few things that I enjoy more than a margarita three margaritas!

Ice, Illness, and Snow Days

It was a good thing that I didn't have finals during NaBloPoMo, since I never would have made it. I haven't gotten kidnapped or wandered away and gotten lost, but I have been very busy avoiding studying. And I am very pleased to report that I have an extra few days to do so - yesterday I got a snow day!

And just in case you wondered, you're never to old to enjoy be excited about a snow day!

Please note the potential filled sentence above. Because you know what can ruin a snow day? A puking toddler. Who cries. And whines. And feels like it is his personal job to make sure you are warm by demanding to be held all ding dang day. And is clingy. Then, when you are cooped up in the house ALL day due to weather with said sick child (and other child who was not mentioned only because you weren't quite sure he was actually present since he was running in circles at a speed that made him only a blur), you start to consider that perhaps you might be just as well off poking yourself in the eye repeatedly. You also begin to see the attraction of being commited to a mental institution.

But we survived. And the ice storm was nothing compared to what they were expecting. Which is fine with me - it delayed my organic chemistry final (which is over two semesters worth of information from the hardest classes I have ever taken, what's up with that?!) and has now left us, hopefully so as not to ruin my impending trip to Chicago this weekend to see my sister. And the ice was nice, because I love the look of ice covered trees...

Best Shot Monday - The Pets

Finals means that I should really be spending every spare waking moment putting off avoiding studying. So all you get for BSM is the lovely animals. But be sure to check out everyone else's best shots over at Tracey's!

Santa

I'm not sure when the last time that you had your picture taken with Santa was, but I am willing to bet that it wasn't yesterday....

And I feel like I sort of got the shaft - I didn't even get to sit on his lap and tell him what I wanted! Instead I spent the time assuring Bennett that Santa was not going to chop him up and eat him for dinner that Santa was a nice man who brings happiness. And presents! And while you can see that he is no longer screaming, he still isn't to sure that there aren't mosters waiting to pop out of that big round belly. After all, it did shake like a bowl full of jelly...

Quick, Find Me A Soapbox

Yesterday was gym class day - which both the kids and I adore. We had to switch to Tuesdays from Fridays because the only thing that Garrett was doing in the Friday class was learning how to make me insane...there were too many kids for him to pay attention to anything other than running around in circles.

But I digress...

In the Friday class there was a somewhat annoying woman who wouldn't stop talking. And trying to listen to her was not on my top priorities list, as I was paying attention attempting to pay attention to both Garrett in class making sure he didn't injure any other children while running around in cirlces, and Bennett who was standing up on a chair also watching his brother run around in circles. And this woman would. not. stop. talking. I thought that she would get the hint, as my only answers to her were 'hmmm' and 'oh' but alas, this was not the case. But we were switchng days, so I was not too worried.

Lucky me, she was only doing a make up on Friday...and Tuesday is her regular class day. And since there were a lot less people for me to use to hide behind the class is significantly smaller on Tuesdays, I was stuck. And this week was a real treat, because she decided to tell me her birth story. That's right, her birth story. Which started out like this:

"He (the third child) was my home birth." At which point I told her that I used to work in OB, thus subtly implying that I was not pro-home birth in any way, shape or form. I was attempting to be kind and not find the nearest soapbox to jump on and then freak out explain to her why I was not keen on the whole home birth idea. But being that this woman wouldn't notice much unless she was driven over by a mack truck, she continued.

"He (the third child) was my home birth. The other two were c-sections." At this point it was good that I didn't have a soapbox, because the only thing I would have done is club her over the head with it. My mouth litereally hung open and I was rendered speechless. I then closed my mouth with some significant effort and said a quick prayer in thanksgiving for miracles.

There are a lot of people who believe in things such as home birth - I, however, am not one of them. Maybe it's because I am paranoid at what 'might' happen, or maybe it's just because I acutally know what 'might' and does happen...and have had to be a part of the aftermath of a homebirth gone wrong, which remains one of the worst days that I ever had as a nurse.

It took everything I had not to scream in horror when she told me that she had two c-sections and then a home birth. It took even more not to jump up on the nearest soapbox and tell her what a nut she was. I can generally follow the 'to each their own' idea, except for on certain topics - and she hit on probably one of the biggest ones that I have. So hide the soapboxes...the semester still has several weeks left.

Crafty Tuesday - Holiday Cards

Believe it or not, I actually enjoy being crafty attempting craftiness. And so it is with lots of excitement that I present the various holiday cards that I made for this year. I even got smart enough this year to keep a list of who gets what, just in case I want to reuse some of the same designs next year!









So there you have it. The pictures aren't the best, so perhaps when I have a moment I will retake them so they look better. But it is the holiday season, so I wouldn't hold your breath for that! Now if I could only get the cards in the mail, we'd be in business!

Best Shot Monday - Christmas Is Coming

For once, my BSM doesn't have people (meaning the boys) in it!

I put up the tree this weekend!

What was your best shot from last week? For some great best shots, head to Tracey's!

The Last Day

It's official - today is the last day of NaBloPoMo. Good grief - I have to say, I'm not sorry it's over! I thought that I posted on a fairly regular basis, but doing it every day for an entire month makes me think that my posts are not nearly as regular as I originally thought. It was hard work!

And because today is the last day and because this week has been a bit rocky and because I need to do a few other things during nap time, I leave you with a bit of linky fun.

Elf Yourself

Free Rice

Bookworm

Enjoy!

Idiocy

Things I have done just today that point to the fact that I am an idiot:

*Overslept and woke up at the time I needed to walk out the door. Never a nice way to wake up.

*Left the house without putting on shoes and instead took shoes with me to put on later. Because apparently I forgot it is almost December and cold outside.

*Took two RIGHT shoes from two different pairs. This makes it significantly harder to actually wear said shoes.

*Lost the GPS and had to empty the entire diaper bag to find it before leaving to go home from lunch. Bonus idiot points because we were trying to leave to go home for nap time...which is sacred and should not be delayed. Also bonus idiot points because without the GPS I would not have been able to find my way home without getting majorly lost.

*Was preparing for my lab final tonight (because my planning skills are so awesome that I am doing in the afternoon of the actual final) and wrote out the procedure (blah blah blah)...for the wrong lab. Thus wasting an entire hour of nap time on worthless homework - double idiot points for wasting precious, sacred napping hours.

Which brings us to right now.
*Writing a post instead of studying for said lab final.

And that is all the idiot things that I have had time to do today. But given that there are still several hours left, I am confident that there is time for the list to get a bit longer. Happy Thursday!

Wanted

Wanted:

The ability to pause time for approximately one day (maybe two) in order to get things done without missing out on other things and thus getting farther behind. Anyone with knowledge of how to make this happen is requested to contact me immediately.

Thanks.

GIfts To Leave Off Your Lists

*King Edward VII had a golf bag that was given to him that was made out of an elephant's penis. Something tells me this is not the ideal gift for the golfer in your life.

*Pills made from the toxic metal antimony were highly esteemed in medieval times as bowl regulators. The pills irritated the intestinal tract, causing diarrhea, and would pass through the body unharmed, so they could be handed down from father to son and mother to daughter as precious family heirlooms. Ew! Ew ew ew ew!

*Pope Pius IX gave Queen Isabel of Spain the embalmed corpse of St. Felix for her birthday. Nothing says Happy Birthday - here's to another great year! quite like the embalmed corpse of a saint.

*The 1897 Sears, Roebuck & Company mail-order catalog offered a selection of hypodermic syringe kits for shooting up heroin. Well it is always nice to give people something that they have a use for...

*Moulay Ismael, the sultan of Morocco, gave samples of his bowel movements to ladies to the court as a mark of special favor. I'm not sure what 'special favor' it was supposed to mark, but I would be fine just being a plain old lady of the court if I could avoid that gift!


So, what was the worst gift you ever received?!

*From 5 People Who Died During Sex by Karl Shaw.

Best Shot Monday - Fall Edition

I have TONS of great pictures from last week, and I am really having a hard time picking which one(s) to use for Best Shot Monday. But because Monday mornings are always crazy busy (especially after a holiday weekend), I guess that I should just pick already.

So here are my candidates for Best Shot Monday:

I love them both and can't bear to pick between the two. But given how many shots I have from the past week, the fact that I just picked two is pretty good!

Don't forget to check out more BSM here!

Imprisonment

I am a horrible person. A seriously horrible person. And this is why:

I went out of town to my parents for Thanksgiving. I left on Wednesday afternoon and returned this evening. I walked in (glad to be home after an extra 2.5 hours in the car) and noticed that Joey the cat was not waiting for us at the front door. Hmmm...this is quite strange indeed, given that Joey thinks that he is a dog.

A few more steps showed completely full food and water dishes. Another bad sign, as Joey is a 19 lb cat who does NOT miss meals.

And then I heard it. A little meow. FROM THE CLOSED CLOSET DOOR.

That's right, I am a horrible person because I left my cat locked in a closet for 4 days (completely by accident) without any food or water. Not to mention that the closet was completely stocked with christmas gifts and didn't even have room for him to turn around!

I nearly died, I felt so guilty. I actually still feel guilty...how do you make something like that up to a cat?

Luckily Joey the cat seems to be fine - he's eating and running around and even climbed up on my lap - so apparently isn't holding a grudge. But I still feel like a horrible person. Eek!

Listening In

At Thankgiving lunch (we do lunch with my mom's side of the family and then the traditional dinner with my dad's side):

Aunt 1: "My book club and I have been talking. We want to buy a cow."

My Mom: "Oh! I just got a catalouge in the mail the other day for that. Do you want a cow, or would you rather have a goat?"

Aunt 1: "I'm not sure - we'll have to see. Maybe both..."

Please keep in mind that my aunt is a high school teacher and my mother is a retired special ed kindergarten teacher. Neither of which are professions that normally deal with ordering goats or cows out of a catalouge.

Oh the things that you can overhear...

***********************

Surprise party planning is reaching the zero hour - 11 hours and counting. So far they actually don't know - which is amazing since we were around a bunch of big mouths for Thanksgiving...

Please cross your fingers that I am there for the party - there is a distinct possibility that I might lose my mind before then...

Black Friday

I gleefully reported my completed holiday shopping last week.

Why then, you ask, was I up at before the crack of dawn to join in the black friday festivities?

SALES!

In case you have forgotten I am a sucker for a good deal. But fear not, I am in no danger of becoming a hoarder. I am much to fond of organization and cleanliness for that. But I was in need of a new laptop, for fear that I might shrivel up and die of old age lose my patience before I could get much accomplished with the one that I have been using.

Which is how I ended up with this. Which has already cut IN HALF the amount of time it takes me to do things like check my email and write posts. And I managed to shop and be home by 7 am. More impressively, I didn't pour myself a drink to recover from the crowd shock when I got home.

And I have to say, a laptop for almost 50% off? TOTALLY worth the 20 minutes I spent standing in line!

Hope that you're all enjoying your post-Thanksgiving Friday!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

I hope that your holiday is filled with things to be thankful for!

Snow!

We have our first snow of the year -- hooray! Clearly I am a child who never outgrew the love of snow.

Although in this case by 'snow' I really mean a bit of white stuff blowing around in the air. Which unfortunately made my 4 hour drive to my parents significantly longer. Which was a major bummer.

Hope that everyone has safe travels!!

Not a Good Idea

You know what isn't a good idea?

Planning a surprise party in a city that you don't live in over a holiday weekend when you also have finals and med school applications to do AND then volunteering to take someone else's dog to the kennel before you leave town in the morning, after you take your own pets to the vet AND get an oil changed and your headlight fixed.

You know, just in case anyone you know might have thought that any of those things were actually a good idea.

I'm just sayin'...

Best Shot Monday - An Apple A Day

As always, check out more best shots over at Tracey's!

Sunday List #32 - By The Numbers

5 - Number of cases of beer that I purchased for my parent's surprise anniversary party next weekend. Number of bottles of wine? 18. Number I expect to consume myself? 2...or more.



4 - Number of Christmas card designs that I am sending out this year. Number of hours spent making said cards so far? A LOT.



3 - Number of children in my family which are orchestrating my parent's surprise anniversary party next weekend. Or as I have started to call it, the party of the year. Paris Hilton, eat your heart out.



2 - Time on the clock when I crawled into bed last night.



1 - Number of surprises that I misplaced and have now found. If this surprise is for you, and you know who you are, you should be excited. You should also cross your fingers that you get your surprise before I misplace it again...

All Done!

I am officially done with my Christmas shopping. That's right - I'm ALL DONE!

Please, don't hate me because I'm ahead of schedule with my shopping.

If you're going to hate me then it should be because I got almost everything on SALE!

How's your shopping going?!

Also Heard Today:

Also heard today:

Garrett: "AAAAAAAAAAAA!" (followed by lots of tears and more yelling)

Me: "What's wrong?" (from upstairs, where I was with the dog, so I knew she was not the culprit) "Come upstairs"

Garrett: "AAAAAAAA! I can't walk - there's too much blood!"

Luckily, blood does not send me into a panic in any sort of way, since he was indeed covered in blood.

Me: "What happened?"

Garrett: (in between sobs, of course) "I ran into Bennett's head. With my face."

**********************

And rest assured, the fun doesn't stop with just what you can hear. Today, I walked around the corner to see what the boys were doing, since they were being fairly quiet. Garrett was holding the dog down...and biting her.

Oh, the joys...

Should I Be Worried?

Garrett: "Let's go to the store."

Me: "Why, what do you need from the store?"

Garrett: "A gun. Oh, and a shovel."

Theme Thursday - Giddy

Remember when just getting to run outside was enough to make you giddy?

Be sure to check out everyone else's giddy moments over at Tracey's!

Thankful

Do you know what I am thankful for, right at this very minute?

Television. And PBS.

Because if it weren't for this winning combination, I think that my head might be exploding at this very minute.

And that would just make another mess for me to clean up later.

Tuesday Randomness

• There is actually an article that says that oogling is something that you can't help. It also, drumroll please, said that you were more likely to oogle at someone attractive that someone who is not. Umm, not to point out the obvious, but isn't the point of oogling to be looking at someone attractive?

• Last night I got to go to Found vs. Post Secret, which was really interesting! I enjoy looking at Found Magazine, but I ADORE Post Secret - I just think it's fascinating. If you haven't ever checked it out (and if that's the case, where in the heck have you been?!) then you should. It's worth it - really, it is.

• I just let the boys have cookies before breakfast. While watching a movie. Clearly I am a total sucker today. Oh well...I suppose that my justification will be to make them eat lots of veggies with lunch. That evens it out....right?

• And in case you need an idea for a Halloween costume for next year...Police in Arizona said a man in a black Chrysler sedan pulled up to a Burger King worker on the street late one evening and took the uniform he was wearing at gunpoint. [East Valley Tribune, 9-25-07] Hey, it's just a thought....

Best Shot Monday

I am ELATED to say that I have a new toy. Or, if you prefer, a new pride a joy.



I got a Digital SLR!



I loves me some picture taking, but I had NO IDEA what I was missing out on. Seriously. My point and shoot is great, but it is not even comparable to this baby.



And so for my best shots this week, I present my experiments with my new toy, although I am not sure if I like the color of the black and white better...

Don't forget to check out Tracey's for more best shots!

Sunday List #31 - The Return

It's back, another list of five things about me - completely random and in no particular order, as always...

1. I actually slept in until 8:00 this morning! I know, it must be a sign of the apocolypse or something...

2. I've made a serious dent in my Christmas shopping. I would be happier if I were already done, but let's not get crazy.

3. Having head congestion makes it extremely difficult to work out. Not only difficult, but not very enjoyable either.

4. My sister is coming today - which marks the second time that she has been here in the 8 years that I have lived here. The first was when I graduated from college. Don't worry, she isn't doing anything crazy, like coming to see me - she's coming with a friend to go to a concert. But she said she would have dinner - if, you know, she can fit that into her schedule.

5. I'm watching "There's Something About Mary" which I haven't seen in years. It's still funny, although I don't think it's quite as funny as I remembered...

Can't talk...

Can't talk....it's supposed to be 70 degrees and sunny today -- IN NOVEMBER! This is very exciting, and so I can't talk, because we're off to the zoo!

Hope that you're enjoying a gorgeous Saturday too!

Oracle

So The Oracle of Starbucks (thanks niobe!) says that I am clueless. It also said that I was lame and a stripper, but for now we're focusing on the clueless aspect of this description.



So anyway, I'm clueless. And because I have no problem laughing at myself, I would like to illustrate this for you.



I'm sick, which I do not enjoy. And after the first cold medication buying experience, you would think that I would be all set on the medication front. But you would be wrong. See, I should mention that while I can be a very patient person most of the time, when it comes to feeling like a functional human being I would like that to take place immediately. Or sooner, if possible.



So back to the drug store I went, in search of something stronger. And, for those of you that might be wondering, I did go to a different drug store. I didn't want them to know I was getting more cold medicine (not to mention stronger) after only two days. Yes, I have issues, and I actually worry about things like this. Shut up.



So I find what I am looking for and check out. And then spend all day running around with toddlers. This afternoon I decide that I should take some of my new, powerful medication so that I can be feeling great for my Organic Chemistry II Exam. Good plan no? Since Organic Chemistry all by itself makes my head want to explode.



And as all my good plans seem to, this one fell right apart. By the time I sat down to take my test, I thought I might have been slipped something when I wasn't paying attention. It also made me realize that I would never be able to function if I were a meth addict. I'm not looking forward to seeing how I did on this test, since I can hardly remember taking it. And while some of you have been out of school for a while, it shouldn't be hard to recall that this is NOT a good sign.



I continue on, and end up taking a second dose of my new, stronger medicine so that I could perhaps get something done around the house. And after taking this second dose, I happend to look at the box. You know where this is going, right?

That's right. NIGHTTIME Cold Medicine. I'm sure that the sleeping aid in there did wonders for my test score.

Maybe the Oracle of Starbucks was not too far off...

What did the Oracle of Starbucks tell you?

Thursday's Theme - Memory

REMEMBER....what it was like to think that you actually were a superhero?

For the record, I totally realize that this is cheating, but it's going to have to do for now...

For more memories, head over to Tracey's!

Let's See Some ID

Because I was feeling rather pitiful and sorry for myself, after I got out of class last night I went to the drug store to find myself some drugs. After grabbing something that might make me feel more like a normal person, I headed to the check out.



Checkout Kid: "Good Evening"



Me: "Hi" Thinking come on now, let's hurry this up. What can I say, being sick makes me cranky.



Checkout Kid scans the cold medicine.



Checkout Kid: "Are you over 18?"



Me: "?!?!?!?!?!?!?" accompanied by a totally blank stare "Umm...what?"



Checkout Kid: obviously annoyed, my idiocy was keeping him from restocking the shelves after all. "Are you over 18 years old?"



Me: "Oh yes. But thanks for asking!"



That's right, I got CARDED while buying COLD medicine. I've been asked for ID on many occassions - and rarely do I go out for a drink (or many) even now without a request for my ID and some studying of it to assure that I am actually the girl depicted on the ID.



But while buying cold medicine?! That's a new one, even for me...

Brrr!

The change in seasons is now official - I had to turn on the heat yesterday....it's COLD! Although please keep in mind that my internal temperature controller is somewhat broken, since I am almost always cold.

And to welcome the cold weather, I also have a cold. How's that for a nice coincidence?! Yeah, I wasn't that impressed with it myself...

Best Shot Monday - Ta Da!

So this might not be my best shot from the last week, but since I feel like I have shown nothing but Halloween pictures, I wanted to find something else, and this one makes me laugh every time I see it.

We went to the park, and Bennett is big enough to climb up and go down the slide all by himself, a fact that he is EXTREMELY proud of. He demonstrates his pride at the end of every trip down the slide with a great big 'ta da' and a huge grin.

Don't forget, there are more best shots over at Tracey's!

Meme Madness

Someone sent this to me a long while ago, but it's not too unusual for me to average two weeks to return something (oops!). But here it is - my four things meme:

Four jobs I have had in my life:
1 OB RN
2. Student
3. Nanny
4. Little Gym Instructor/Director

Four places I have lived:
1. Overland Park, KS
2. Kansas City, MO
3. St. Louis, MO
4. Arnold, MO

Four places I have been on Vacation:
1. Rivera Maya, Mexico
2. Chicago, IL
3. San Diego, CA
4. Las Vegas, NV

Four of my favorite foods:
1. Italian
2. Mexican
3. Peanut Butter
4. Sweets
*I realize that this is more like 400 foods than four foods, but I was having trouble narrowing it down*

Four places I would rather be right now:
1. Out to breakfast - I'm hungry.
2. In an already clean house (instead of the one waiting for me to do the cleaning)
3. Shopping!
4. Ummmm - I don't know that I would rather be, but I probably should be at the gym right now...

And there was also the 'tag four people' portion, but I got rid of that...if you want to play, then join in and consider yourself tagged!

You're Welcome

My Gift To You

Like I said, you're welcome.

Funky Mama

Yesterday we went to Wonderscope, which I lovingly refer to as the happiest place on earth. Garrett (and Bennett if he could talk) would most certainly go there every day. And, if I were not opposed to doing the same thing over and over and over again until I completely lost my mind, would probably let them. Because even I have to admit, Wonderscope is a great time.

It is a children's 'museum' of sorts that has several different rooms that kids can pretend to be things (like in one room they have a grocery store, a bank, and a pizza shop) or they can learn different things (they have two rooms filled with golf balls and all sorts of different tracts, where they have all these physics laws posted near them - which I suspect mostly serve to remind the adults the things that they tried so hard to forget from their schooling days).

In addition to loving Wonderscope, one of the things that we also adore is Funky Mama. She is not only hilarious and fantastic with the kids, she has music that doesn't make me want to drive over a cliff after hearing it for the umpteenth time. So the fact that yesterday they had a Funky Mama concert at Wonderscope was like a little slice of heaven. For all of us.

And not only did she have a concert at Wonderscope, but Garrett got to play an instrument with her. I thought he might explode he was so pleased with himself. He got to play the clave. Which means that he got to go up and bang two sticks together. But he raised his hand, and then when asked, told her his name, and then stayed up and banged his sticks...I mean played his instrument.

See?



And, because it was such a special day - the day that Garrett acted like a REAL PERSON when someone was talking to him - we have a video too!

It Starts....

...either NaBloPoMo or the perpetual sugar rush following Halloween and lasting until all the candy is gone - take your pick!

OR you can start the offical count down to Christmas - 55 days and counting. I'm quite sure that several stations have started Christmas music as of this morning. Yikes!

I am, as always, TOTALLY excited about Christmas...but before that can get into full swing it is of course time to oh and ah over everyone's Halloween pictures. And I would certainly not want to disappoint...

I would like everyone to note that I made this pumpkin...with the assistance of a three year old. Please take a moment to guess how many times I said 'No! Put that down!' regarding sharp objects while carving the pumpkin.

If your number was anything smaller than 4,562 then you're way underestimating.

Happy Halloween!

I adore holidays - that should come as no surprise. I love the decorating, the celebrating, the whole thing. I won't go so far as to say that Halloween is my favorite holiday, but I still enjoy it quite a bit.

And so I offer you a montage of Halloween - mostly from long ago. Although I do not have access to pictures from every year (because most are at my parents house several hours away), I did manage to find a few gems...

Like my very first Halloween - I was an angel. Obviously my true nature was clear, even from a young age.

You might think that I was crying because I wasn't excited about the holiday. You would be wrong - I was really crying because I was coming to the realization that my parents were incredibly dorky.

If you realized that you came from that, you would probably be crying too.

And while I am obviously always an angel, I don't always dress as one.

Sometimes I'm an artist.

Or Snow White.

Yes, I realize that I was the ugliest child ever. Don't remind me.

Apparently being the ugliest child ever didn't scar me too terribly, as I have been known to dress as a Disney Princess on more recent occasions.

And although I am sure that you are quite distressed that you have missed my full Halloween history, perhaps it will be something to look forward to next year. And I will also leave you with a shining example of why I am forced to spoil my pets the majority of the year. Because on certain occasions I can be totally cruel to them.

Can you tell how excited he is to be dressed as a pumpkin?

And my personal favorite - the Halloweenies!

Happy Halloween!

Best Shot Monday

It's Best Shot Monday time again!

And once again, I have two. Because although I think the first one is better, far be it from me to show pictures of one boy and not the other. They enjoy looking at themselves, so missing from the page would surely be a terrible tragedy.

Please ignore the drill...when you are a three year old boy it is apparently very important not to go ANYWHERE without a 'gun'. In case you need to get some bad guys for the police. I guess you never can be too careful...

The weather has turned much more fall like in the last week or so, but it's still (at least for the most part) nice enough to get out and enjoy the sunshine. This was actually a cloudy day, but if we didn't get the dog out of the house to run around, she was going to make us all nuts. So we headed to the dog park...

Don't forget to see everyone else's best shots here!