Thursdays Theme - Pretty

Once again, it seems like Thursday is well on its way to being over before I can get my post up. Oh well. This Thursday's theme is pretty...so here's my pretty girl...




And in other news, the brief updates from this neck of the woods:

*The boys are off visiting their grandparents in Michigan. I hardly know what to do since I can do crazy things like go to the bathroom without an audience. Luckily they'll be back soon.

*I've spent HOURS on Organic Chemistry. It all sounds suspiciously like blah, blah, blah - reaction - blah, blah, blah. Two weeks of the semester down, only 18 more to go.

*I'm going out of town for the weekend to a wedding and I have done approximately nothing to prepare for the impending departure. Way to plan, I say, way to plan.

Best Shot Monday

Better late than never, they always say....

Here's my best shot from this week -- Bennett has apparently decided that he is ready for school. The fact that the bag weighs more than he does? No problem - that's why it comes with that nifty handle at the top for dragging!







Check out more best shots over here!

Sunday List #22

Five (of the many) Tivo Season Passes I Have:



1. Profiler

2. Medium

3. Shark

4. My House Is Worth What?

5. Oprah



I have about a million (ok, actually slightly less than that) season passes, but these are some of the ones that play shows I haven't already seen at the moment.

Tag! You're It!

I have no idea where I initially got this. But who doesn't love a good meme every once and a while?!

1. You wake up in the morning. What time is it probably?
5:00 AM. I consider this somewhat of an illness.

2. You get yourself some breakfast. What do you make?
Am I making something for the kids too, or just me? If it's just me, I will have a Diet Coke and probably leftovers - Chinese leftovers are my favorite (weird I know). If I'm making something for the kids, probably pancakes or eggs. Or cereal if it's starting out as one of those days...

3. Someone calls you on the phone. Who do you want it to be?
Anyone that I like I would be more than happy to talk to. I'm easy to please.

4. You turn on the TV for a bit. What channel do you put it on?
In the morning I always have on the news. Because I'm nerdy like that. If it isn't the morning and I am actually going to (gasp!) sit down and watch something I will catch up on the umpteen things I have on Tivo.

5. You have some time to kill before you leave. What do you do?
I catch up on my email or blog reading.

6. You go and have a shower. How long does it take you?
That depends - am I in a hurry? I can take a 5 minute shower if I'm pressed for time. If I'm not rushing, it's usually closer to 10 - 15 minutes.

7. You decide to get yourself ready for your day. How long does it take?
Again, am I in a hurry? If I need to, I can be ready to walk out the door in 10 minutes. But if I'm not in a hurry, it's usually closer to 30.

8. You put on some makeup. What do you put on?
I wear MAC makeup. And I love it.

9. You’re ready to leave. What do you take out with you?
Depends on where I'm going! But on a normal morning I have my purse, a Diet Coke, the diaper bag, my gym back, and my backpack with whatever I am (hoping) to get accomplished.

10. How long does it take you to get to work?
About 15 minutes.

11. What is the first thing you do when you get to work?
Kiss the boys.

12. Do you take part in office gossip/water cooler talk?
Well Garrett is the only one who can talk, but he's not quite old enough to understand gossip. And Bennett doesn't talk yet, so he's out too. Which is too bad, I adore gossip.

13. Anything particularly annoying about each work day?
Some days are better than others, but nothing particularly annoying about each and every day.

14. What’s the best part of the day?
There are lots of great parts of the day. But the napping hours are among my favorite, for obvious reasons!

15. Do you usually leave on time or stay late?
I think I leave late almost every day!

16. The boss calls to tell you that don’t have to work, and you’re free for a whole day. What do you do?
While I would want to do a million things, I would probably study. Because I'm nerdy like that.

17. With whom would you want to spend the day?
Oh there are tons of people I would want to spend the day with. But at the moment I am a bit cranky, and I think that spending a day on my own sounds like a lovely little treat.

18. You go to the store to get some snackage, but it turns out you can only buy one thing there. What do you buy?
Diet Coke. I absolutely can't live without it.

19. You’re walking down the street and you find a magic lamp that grants you 3 wishes. What do you wish for?
Endless money (because who wouldn't want that!), an acceptance letter to medical school, and the ability to freeze time (like Evie did on Out of This World -- please tell me I'm not the only one who remembers this show!).

20. You meet a man who says he will give you your dream job, what is it?
A physician.

21. You can choose any concert of any singer/band in the world; whose do you go to?
Gosh, I don't know. I like a lot of different things, and I don't know that I have an absolute favorite.

22. You get home and there’s a check for $50,000 in the mail for you. On what would you spend it?
Probably put it in the bank. Because I'm nerdy like that. But I might go on a little bit of a shopping spree. And I'd get a pedicure.

23. You get to bring back anyone from the dead, famous or not. Who would it be?
My grandmother.

24. You get to interview your favorite celebrity. Who is it, and what would you ask him/her?
Again, I don't know that I have one absolute favorite. But my current obsession is Matt Damon, because he is yummy. But I wouldn't be able to ask him anything, I would be too busy concentrating on not drooling.

25. You get to see into the future but you can only find out one thing about your future life. What would you want to find out?
If I'll get into medical school. And maybe some other stuff...

26. At the end of your perfect day, you go on a perfect date; describe it.
A dinner that I don't have to cook and wine. And I won't have to keep reminding whoever I'm with not to throw things on the floor. I'm very easy to please!

************
I won't tag anyone, but come on -- you know that you all want to join in the fun!

The LOOK

Everyone knows a LOOK when they get one. We all used to get them as kids, and some of us might still get them as adults. Not that I would know anything about that...

But I am pleased to announce that I am the new master of the LOOK. I stopped a hysterical scream from a 15 month old dead in its tracks. At a restaurant. That's right, I officially rule.

And those of you who might be inclined to disagree with me have obviously never been on the receiving end of disapproving glares from strangers when children are involved. Because if you had been, then you would agree that I rule.

Of course 30 minutes later Garrett jumped down the stairs, fell backwards and hit his head and commenced his own yelling and crying. But hey - today I am the master of the LOOK, not the master of preventing toddler disasters. Maybe that will be tomorrow's project...

Yo Gabba Gabba

All is now right with the world, because Yo Gabba Gabba is now on Nick Jr daily. They have been playing commercials all summer, and every time it's on Garrett lets out peels of laughter. But watching the same clip over and over was getting old (for him and for me) and so it was with great joy that we watched the first episode yesterday morning.





He LOVED it. And I thought that it had a fairly nice message - eat foods that are good for you, pick up after yourself. And there were bright colors and music and dancing...all the makings of great kids television. But it reminded me just a little of what a bad acid trip might be like...

I don't know that you can get the full effect from just the opening, but it gives the general idea. So what does everyone else think about Yo Gabba Gabba?

I'm not going to lie....the party in my tummy song was my favorite...

Best Shot Monday

On Friday we went to Paradise Park. The kids had a great time (I thought that it was just ok, but it's always good to try new things). One of Garrett's favorite parts was the part where you could paint your own face...




And the proud final result:





Check out more Best Shots here!

Sunday List #21

1. School started again this week. I almost didn't make it to any of my classes, since I thought I had class on completely the wrong days. Just in case you wondered, this is NOT the best way to start off the semester. But after that things were a little better.

2. I went to the eyeball doctor because I needed more contacts and I thought that my vision was getting worse. On the list of things that you don't want to hear when the doctor walks in is "WHAT is wrong with your eyes?!" This is a sign that things are not so good. And what is wrong with my eyes, you ask? They are warped and I have severe corneal edema. In case you were not clear...this is not good. But with any luck it will get better if I keep my contacts out for a month. Hopefully...

3. One of my classes is a Calculus class. I have previously taken calculus, so I was feeling alright about it. Until I read the syllabus that said they recommend taking all calculus classes consecutively if possible, with no more than a semester or so off in between. So I'm thinking that the 17 semesters or so in between my calculus classes might be a problem...ya think?!

4. Starting a new semester is one of my very favorite things to do. Namely because it involves school supplies and organization -- two of my FAVORITE things. That's right, I'm that nerdy. But you already knew that, didn't you...

5. The movie I am currently watching? My Super Ex-Girlfriend. In case you wondered, it's not that great. But it's dumb enough to be a little chuckle worthy, at least for five or ten minutes.

Randomness Part 3

For your Friday pleasure, a complete random assortment of things...

*For all of you who have not yet finished your back-to-school shopping, fear not. You can order a bullet-proof backpack online. That's right -- little Jimmy can head off to the first day of school with his very own version of kevlar. For all of you who can't wait to get your hands on one of these, check here. (And as a side note, I fault no one for wanting to protect their child(ren), I just happen to find the idea a little shocking)

*I realized at 2:00 am that I had class later that day instead of next week. Perhaps because it was 2 in the morning, this caused me to have a major spaz attack. The middle of the night is not the best time to discover important information - just in case you wondered.

*Victoria's Secret is having a major sale. I love Victoria Secret almost as much as I love sales. So I got all kinds of great stuff...on SALE. How can you not love that?!

*I can't believe that summer is over. Not because it isn't still hotter than #($*&$& blazes, but because school is once again in session. Which, let's face it, is a pretty definitive end to summer.

Sunday List #20 - The Late Edition

1. I am aware that this is the first post in an enture week, and thus this means that I suck. But I have a good excuse...ok, well I really don't have an excuse, but I have been crazy busy the last week.

2. My parents and youngest sister came to visit over the weekend. This was somewhat monumental, as I have lived here for 8 years and my family has been here to see me on less than ten occassions. Included in that count was taking me to school for the first time and graduation. Also included was my emergency surgery.

What never merited an occassion was visiting me on ANY major holiday over the four years that I had to work and was thus not able to travel to St. Louis. So I have spent many Christmas and Thanksgivings by myself...don't you know that they couldn't come here...there are LOTS of people to see then. Apparently I am somewhat akin to chopped liver. Not that I am bitter or anything...

3. Since my parents haven't been to see where I live in a while (and my sister had never been) I spent about a gazillion hours last week cleaning and doing all of the little household projects that I had meant to do at some point but hadn't gotten around to. The first thing that my mom said when she walked in? "Hey, nice cob web up in that one corner" Yep, that's right - I could have saved myself hours and hours of work. I would invite you over for a drink to console me, but now I can't have anyone over - for fear of another cobweb showing up.

4. It is August in the midwest and therefore HOTTER than HELL. Not to mention humid. Although I will be the first to admit that it has not been terribly humid the last few days and that no matter what it feels like anywhere else, I am quite sure that St. Louis in August is the most humid place on earth. And everyone knows "it's not the heat, it IS the humidity".

5. I take the MCAT on Tuesday. I haven't studied even a fraction as much as I know I should have. So in addtion to getting nervous about the test, I am a little angry at myself. Not the make-up for a productive study senario. I would be excited for it to be over, to provide a respite for beating myself up about studying more, but my fall classes start on Thursday, so I'm only going to have a day to recover. But I'm trying not to complain...I could have to go to class the day after, after all!

Best Shot Monday

I'm cheating a little, because I have several best shots from this last week. But given that I took a few hundred pictures, narrowing it down to these was pretty good!

These are all from the Henry Doorley Zoo in Omaha:













For more Best Shot Monday pictures, check here!

A testing of patience

It's a good thing that I love my boys, because otherwise I would be inclined to sell one of them to the highest bidder. Or any bidder at all really. Not that I ever really would, but there have been times that the thought has crossed my mind. Two and half can be such a lovely age.

While flipping out about taking the MCAT again, I can't quite seem to bring myself to study. Which is really not going to be very helpful in raising my score. Somehow, I think that actually studying is going to be a very integral part of that. So I had better get crackin'...since the test is in less than two weeks...yikes!

I am officially FINALLY well. I don't even sound like I swallowed a frog anymore! And it only took a month. I ask again, WHO gets a COLD in JULY?! FOR A MONTH?!

I'm leaving for Omaha this afternoon to see friends of mine from high school, which is quite exciting. It will be nice to see them, but a day or two in Omaha is NOT quite what I had in mind the other day when I was whining about wanting a vacation. But oh well - I guess I'll have to take what I can get!

Thursday's Theme: Trip

This Thursday's theme is trip. I haven't been on a trip in what feels like forever but once upon a time I did take more regular vacations....







Grand Canyon, South Rim









Sunset in LaJolla, CA









Rivera Maya, Mexico







Just thinking about it is enough to make me want to pack up and go somewhere! For more trips, check out everyone else's theme Thursday here! Happy Thursday!