Mission accomplished!

I feel a little like Dora!!!  I did it - I set my goal and I did it!!  30 posts in 30 days!  Yay me!!!

So, what did I really accomplish here? 

1.  As a new blogger, I really did not have the habit of sitting down and blogging every day - now, I will admit, it has kind of worked its way into my routine after I get the girls down to bed at night.

2.  It helped me learn more about what kind of blogger I am.  I don't think I will ever have one of those blogs that becomes a "go to" gotta read like Snarky Mommy or Love that Max are for me, but it is a good place to record my musings and share them with the Cyberworld, for whatever that is worth. (Hey, I know I have at least a handful of regular readers.  My people - I love you!!!

3.  It taught me what I am not - one of those hang it all out there and everyone's opinions be damned.  I have lots of off-limit topics that I don't discuss here.  I don't curse on here for the most part, because while I don't seem to have any issue with popping off with a word or phrase of the four-letter persuasion when in a close gorup of friends, I tend to automatically not write the same words that I sometimes say.  Who knew???

4.  I met a goal!  Nuff said - big or small - an achieved goal is always a rush for me! 

Where do I go from here?  I am not sure.  I really don't know if I will continue with the Post Every Day Or Else approach I have followed for the past month.  Maybe I will, maybe I won't. But I do think that I will be a more regular post than I was.  And at least for me, that is enough. 

52:52 Challenge, continued...

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote this post.  Since then, I had read three more books, bringing my total for the year so far up to 55.  They are:

52:53 - Bed of Roses - Nora Roberts

52:54 - Dead Until Dark - Charlaine Harris

52:55 - Living Dead in Dallas - Charlaine Harris

I am halfway through Club Dead - Book 3 of the Sookie Stackhouse novels - they are great.  Quick reads, funny and engaging. Since I only started Book 1 Monday, that should tell you something!

What the girls ate for lunch #12 and 13 w/e 11/13 and 11/20

This is 2 weeks worth of lunches - well, really 1 week and 1 lonely day during Thanksgiving week.  Anyway, here we go:

Monday - Savannah had a slice of banana bread, cut in half, some "cutie" wedges, a slice of ham and vanilla yogurt.  Tara had a slice of ham, wheat thins, "cutie" wedges and banana slices and vanilla yogurt.

Tuesday - Tara asked to "buy" today instead of Wednesday, so it is only Savannah - hot dog and mozzerella chunks, "cutie" wedges, orange bell pepper chunks, wheat things and a chocolate covered ritz cracker.

Wednesday - Tara only - yogurt, pretzel goldfish, blueberries and grape tomatos sliced in half.

Thursday - Tara had pasta and broccoli with cheese sauce, baby carrots and blueberries.  Savannah had a strong cheese, mini pretzels, an organic fruit strip, baby carrots and ranch dressing and "cutie" wedges.

Monday - wheat thins, mini pepperonis, mozzerella cheese chunks, red bell pepper slices and strawberries (with some blueberries for Tara).

Enjoy!  I hope everyone had as great a Thanksgiving as we did!  Now on to Christmas!!!

Around the world in 80 days...

Well, around Memphis is 12 hours, anyway.

I am zonked so you don't get much tonight - I'm sorry!

We were up at 4 a.m. to go to Walmart.

Then, after dropping the girls off at Kid Station, me and my mom headed to Kohls, then Toys 'R Us,  and Target.  Took a break for lunch and a mimosa at Olive Garden, then off to the mall for round 2.

We hit Sears, Dilliards, JC Penney's and Macy's. 

I am worn out - my feet are killing me and I can't hardly string 2 coherent thoughts together.

My favorite way to spend the day after Thanksgiving!!!!

Turkey Day!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!  This will be a quick post because I have to get in bed early so that I can get us at the crack of dawn for Black Friday shopping.  Anyway, here are some pictures of the day:

Charles shaking the cream to make butter - was supposed to be an activity for the girls...the novelty wore off in about 5 minutes.

Is it ready YET?????

FINALLY!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Savannah wanted to eat the turkey "bone".

Tara said  "I love turkey day!"

The wishbone - About 10 seconds after I took this picture, Savannah was in tears becuase she didn't get the big piece!

Happy Thanksgiving Eve

So, today I was off and my mom is here, so we used the day to menu plan, grocery shop and prep for tomorrow.

We made caramel sauce from scratch for the caramel-whipped sweet potatoes. Well, actually, we made it twice because we, ahem... over browned it the first time - we were going for "amber" colored and ended up with nearly black. So, yeah, that batch went in the trash. The second batch turned out beautifully and yummy!

We baked the sweet potatoes, mixed the dough for the potato rolls and put it in the fridge to do its first rise, made the corn bread for the dressing, chopped up the onion and celery for the dressing, and made my mom's fabulous coca-cola chocolate cake!

So, tomorrow morning, I will be up bright and early to prep the turkey - 16 pounds of it!!! Once I get it in the oven, we will finish the rolls, make the dressing (Paula Deen's recipe!), make the whipped sweet potatos, make mashed potatos, prepare the "giblet" crazy, make the grean beans almondine and do the marinated asparagus - oh, and the 5-cup fruit salad. Whew! Hungry yet???

Enjoyed having the girls here all day - they played pretty good all day and did not want to go to sleep tonight - having too much fun!!! They are excited about Thanksgiving and when my mom asked Tara what she was thankful for, Tara said she was thankful for Christmas! Savannah is thankful for her birthday, which is next weekend on the 6th.

I will leave you with a little ode to Thanksgiving courtesy of Adam Sandler:

Once a Princess...

Following is the St. Jude spot on The Today Show this morning.  This one really touched me - she is 3 and so is Tara.  And they both have that princess thing going that I talked about here.  So, it is one of those stories that expecially affects me.

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I got to take Tara to ballet tonight - she loves being a ballerina. I hope that someday, this little girl's mother gets to do the same thing.

Tonight I give thanks for Tara and her larger than life personality and the joy with which she just "is."

I love you, Tara!!!

Brick Wall

Yep - been staring at the sceen a good 10 minutes. Just not that motivated tonight for some reason.  I have no clue.  I am letting you down, my loyal public.  I have failed you. 

So, for a few minutes at least, I will grace you with some general ramblings for the sole and specific purpose of having a blog post today.  Cop out.  For sure.  Ask me if I care...

My mom and step-dad are coming to town tomorrow for Grandparents Day at St. Marys.  Savannah's Senior K class has a program and Savannah is so excited.  After that, they are coming to campus for lunch with me.  I am hoping that there will be time for them to take a tour of the hospital while they are here.  I really want them to see it. 

Speaking of the hospital.  Today was the kickoff of Thanks & Giving on The Today Show.  You can see the spot here:

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I dare you to watch it and not cry. (If you are reading this on FaceBook, you will have to hop on over to my actual blog to see the spot.)  Boy, it really makes you think - I cannot imagine watching one of my girls go through something like that.  Everytime I see a patient, it always goes through my mind that he or she is someone's son or daughter.  And they were just going about thier life when BAM - they walk into a nightmare. 

Hmmmm....I really did not intend this to turn into a public service announcement.  But, I am grateful with all my being that there is a place like St. Jude for families dealing with that nightmare.  This is the time of year to be grateful and to give thanks for all the blessings in your life.  I know I am. 

What do you know?  I had something to say after all...

Rant...I am so over Jacob/Taylor L...

If I hear one more person ooh and ahh over his chest, I am going to gag!  Seriously, people - you need to get out more.  He is a good lookin' kid, no doubt - but have you never seen Brad Pitt? http://static.open.salon.com/files/brad-pitt1256828090.jpg

And this one...  http://www.pages.drexel.edu/~jfs48/images/BradPitt2.jpg.

Eric Dane? http://highcaliber.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/ericdane-7141591.jpg

Men, people!!!  Now that's what I'm talkin' about!!!

Plus, Taylor Lautner's biggest role prior to Twilight was as Shark Boy in Sharkboy and Lava Girl.  http://madisonharris.com/images/sharkboy_lavagirl.jpg  And, y'all - that picture is from about 2005.

Honestly, I can't tell if all the hype is over Jacob or Taylor.  If it is Jacob - Jacob's role is Bella's life is only ever secondary.  He knew that - much as he didn't like it.  She never led him on to think otherwise.  Plus, y'all - it is a book/movie - it is not like they were ever able to actually make different decisions.  And for those who call Bella a "player" or a "tramp" for leaning on Jacob while Edward was gone - get real?  Have you never relied on a friend to get you though a bad time - she was never anything but honest with him.

As for Taylor - he is a good lookin' kid.  But so are lots of people - I have seen better - and you know you have too - well, maybe not you, you little giggle-girl sitting behind me in the theatre, but anyone over the age of 21 has.  When all is said and done, while I can admire the physique - he is just not my type. 

I think I just read the Twilight series from an entirely different place than a lot of people.  To me, it was only ever Edward - Bella said as much herself.  I never considered for a second that she would ever be with anyone but Edward - so I guess to my mind, Jacob was only ever secondary.  Bella needed him - I don't think she would have survived Edward's absence without him, but she loves him as a friend - end of story. 

So, no - I will NEVER swing over to "Team Jacob" EVER!!!! 

I like my guys to sparkle.  So, go on...bite me, Edward!

Savannah Saturday

Yesterday was the Thansksging class party in Savannah's senior kindergarten class.  They called it a Thanksgiving feast and let me assure you they were right!/  When I got there, they were taking turns at the different "cooking" stations:  cornbread, fruit salad and pumpkin pies.  There was also mashed potatos, cranberries and, of course, turkey and dressing.  They were all so cute with the seriousness with which they approached thier assigned tasks. 

Then, when everything was ready, we sent them outside to play for a few minutes while we set up the "dining room" by making one long "dining table" out of ther class tables.  We set the table, fixed thier plates and then called them back inside.  How cute was it when they all came back in wearing thier Pilgram bonnets! 

They sat down to thier meal, said thier blessing and then dug in!  Yum!  They had the best time and I have to say, so did I!  And, thankfully, there were plenty of leftovers to feed the parents!!!

Me and my princess...

Making her own pumpkin pie.

Move over, Rachael Ray!

Making cornbread takes concentration...

Channeling her inner Pilgram.

Watching the "blessing" was the best part!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Things I learned as a Mama #4

It is possible to have a full pantry, a full refrigerator and a full freezer and STILL have nothing to eat.

Cinderella on trial

Interesting article in the New York Times from Decemeber 2006 - What's Wrong with Cinderella by Peggy Orstein.

I don't know why this article bugs me, but it does.  We love all things Princess around our house - heck, to me that is one of the great things about having girls - I get to indulge my inner "princess."  Isn't that the point?

Maybe it makes me feel defensive or criticized - like we are raising the girls in some way that is going to be harmful to their self-worth as they grow up. 

But, I think we are raising our girls with great values.  Yeah, it is fun to be a Princess - but in our house, Princesses are strong and brave and figure out who to solve thier own problems.  The point is that I don't think "girly" and "princess" have to equal weak or helpless.   Savannah and Tara both love the whole "princess" thing, including Tinkerbelle - who is really a fairy, but whatever.  They love the Barbie movies and all of those princess stories include a female lead that is good and kind.  She may not always start out strong and brave, but she finds that in herself by the end of the movie.

They love tutus and ribbons and glitter and magic wands.  And I love that about them. 

They believe in fairy tales.   I wouldn't trade that for anything.

You oughta know...

1.  I detest Sarah Palin.

2. I struggle to balance being green with the convenience of disposible items.

3.  I don't spank my kids, but I will admit to the occasional swat on the bottom - which I always regret...

4.  I don't see anything wrong with having an adult beverage in the presence of my kids. In moderation, of course.

5.  I voted for Obama.

6.  I don't regret my vote.

7.  I think whiteknot.org is a great organization.

8.  I used to have really lousy self esteem.

9.  I think it is disgusting the way they "airbrush" photos these days - no wonder girls have an unattainable idea of beauty these days.

10.  Even though I am a lawyer, I detest conflict.  It makes me uncomfortable and I will go out of my way to avoid it.

Not sure what brought this on, but most of it comes from articles I have read recently - things I am mulling around in the back of my mind.  Some of them may become future blog topics, so this is a way for me to get them out there.  This is my blog and these are my opinions.  Feel free to share your own thoughts, but I didn't put this out there for debate, so if your comment is about how wrong I am about anything, please don't bother posting it here.  If you don't agree with something, that's fine, but go write about it in your own blog - I'd love to read it.

Tara Tuesday

Tara's turn:

What do you want to say, Tara?

I LOVE PHINEAS AND FERB.  I LIKE IF I HAD A BABY HER NAME WOULD BE SAVANNAH GRACE.

Awww...you would name her after your sister?

WHAT DID YOU NAME ME WHEN I WAS A BABY?

You  know your name.  I named you Tara Faith.  What else do you want to say?

IF I HAD A BABY I WOULD NAME HER SALLY WITH A BOTTLE. 

Anything else?

YEAH, I MEAN YES, MOMMY.  UMMM...I WANNA SAY IF I HAD ONE LITTLE DOGGY I WOULD NAME HER TWO DAISYS.

Is that enough for today?

YES, I WILL DO ONE MORE THING.  UMMM...TWO MORE THINGS ACTUALLY.  IF I HAVE A PIG AND I WAS GOTTA LITTLE CAR AND UMMM...AND I WAS THINKING IF I STOP DOING THAT I WOULD GET ANOTHER PET AND IT WOULD BE A PET DOGGY AND IF I DIDN'T HAVE A PET, I WOULD BUY ONE THAT LOOKS LIKE THAT THING THAT TIES AROUND.

Ummm...okay...

AND I WANT TO SAY, AND THATS MY ONE THING.  BYE, BYE, EVERYONE AND I WISH THAT I HAD A CARE BEAR AND IT WAS BROWN AND WHITE.

Yeah, that's Tara for you!  Gotta love her!

What the girls ate for lunch #12 - w/e 11/13/09

Monday - mini pepperonis, pretzel goldfish, sliced strawberries and orange bell pepper strips.

Tuesday - french toast strips and syrup, sliced strawberries, for Savannah sliced cucumbers, for Tara sliced orange bell pepper strips and for both, a mini rice crispie treat.  (Thanks for Tara for help with the staging. :-) )

Thursday - For Savannah - a cereal bar, an organic fruit strip, grape tomatoes, wheat things and apple slices.  For Tara, cajun rice with black beans and corn, sliced grape tomatoes, ritz crackers and apple slices.

Friday - ham slices, sliced strawberries, sliced cucumbers and baby potatoes with parmasean cheese.

Things I learned as a Mama #4

With some starch and a steam iron, you can make an old five dollar bill look crisp and new...

New stop on the Tooth Fairy route...

Yep - that's my princess showing off her pearly white and that gap-toothed grin!  She was so excited, she was like a wiggley puppy!!!  That tooth has been loose for a long time and this past week, it was REALLY loose.  By the weekend, it was literally dangling in her mouth.  Tonight I got her to let me see if I could pop it out and it came out just like that - I didn't even have to tug. That silver hippo was a baby gift from Savannah's Granny Ethel - my grandmother.  When she first realized that she had a loose tooth, she insisted on getting down from the top shelf of her bookcase where it has been since even before she was born.  Hippo has been waiting by her nightstand for this night for weeks!!!

So, the tooth fairy will have a stop at our house tonight.  I hear the going rate for a tooth these days is $5.00???

Savannah Saturday

The girls are always so interested in what I am writing on the blog about them so I decided to turn the floor over to Savannah today for the first ever Savannah Saturday:

What do you want to say to everyone, Savannah?

HI.  MY NAME IS SAVANNAH.  I AM A BIG SISTER. I HAVE A LITTLE SISTER THAT BOTHERS ME AND I AM FIVE.

Tell me something about Tara.

I DID!  I LOVE PHINEAS AND FERB!  AND TARA LIKES OLIVIA.  AND THEN SHE LIKES PHINEAS AND FERB.

Do you have something that you are about to lose?

A TOOTH!

Really?!?

YES, REALLY!  OKAY, I KNOW...AND MY FAVORITE CHARACTER OF WIZARD OF OZ IS TOTO!!! AND IF I HAD A BABY I WOULD NAME IT LILY.AND MY FOVORITE SINGERS ARE MILEY AND TAYLOR SWIFT.

Anything else?

YES.  UMMMMM...MY FAVORITE ANIMAL IS A WILD CAT.  THE END.

So there you go.  Savannah's first message to the world.  Great things are coming, people...

In under the wire...

I was getting ready for bed when I realized that I had not done a post for today.  Ha!  But here I am with 59 minutes to spare!!!

Not for lack of good intentions - it has been a really long day!  Up at 5:30 - get dressed, get the princesses dressed and off we go to school and work.  I spent my lunch hour with Savannah reading to her class.  Then meetings at work in the afternoon. 

After work, I headed over to The Red Fish Gallery where I have some of my hair clippies for sale.  They were having an open house Friday evening and I needed to drop off some cards.  Then, I went to the pet store to pick up dog food for the canine royalty that so graciously lets us share space with them  Amazing what I can find to buy in a pet store when all I really needed was dog good!  I have no idea when I seem to think our dogs needed two MORE types of doggy treats, but I assure you, they do.


So, by then it is 6:00 and I am off to join my mom at a jewelry party she is presenting.  She sells Premiere Jewelry and it is gorgeous stuff.  Of course, I found a bracelet that I just HAD to have.

I finally got home about 9:30 and found the two princesses and thier exhausted daddy all asleep in our bed!  Poor Prince Charming - those girls keep him hopping when he is being Mr. Mom!!!

I got thegirls all tucked in and picked up some around the house, get the dogs and FINALLY got to go relax in the tub!!!

That is when I remembered that I had not done a post today.  Well, now I have. 

Tune in tomorrow for our new regular feature, Savannah Saturday, a double feature that will be combined with Tara Tuesday.

What is Savannah Saturday, you ask?  I will let you know when I figure it out...

Teeth, ears and meltdowns, oh my...

My apoligies in advance for the randomness of this post, but the girls have pretty much been at the forefront of my mind today and I have lots to update.

Tara had a recheck on her ears today.  About three weeks ago, she had a routine hearing screen at school and failed in her right ear.  So, as a first step, I took her in to her pediatrician for an ear check and sure enough, ear infection.  That was an unpleasant blast from the past for us...  Tara had probably half a dozen ear infections before she was a year old; tubes right at a year and continued to have ear infections fairly often after that ...but never enough to consider re-tubing.  Her last ear infection was in May, so we had a pretty good respite over the summer.  So, fast forward to October and now she has another infection.  One round of Suprax later and a week later, no infection, but still fluid in her ears.  So, today, we go in for her recheck and would you believe that now BOTH of her ears have ear infections!!!!   Now, Tara is my little diva and has always leaned to the dramatic, so while, yeah, she has been a cranky britches of late, she is THREE and hey, she is TARA - how was I supposed to know that she had a pretty darn good reason for being cranky!!!  I swear, I am gonna just start giving her a dose of Ibuprophen with her chocolate milk in the morning just to cover our bases!!!  Anyway, now she gets the lovely Augmenten which the pharmacist forgot to flavor, so yeah, getting her to take it is going to be super fun...  Good thing, I am not above the Dr. Pepper bribe and if you don't know what that is, you apparently don't have kids...

Miss Savannah - she is such a sweetie, but boy, that girl can get her back up out of the blue for no apparent reason at all!!!  Since she is such a mellow girl most of the time, not such a big deal, but suddenly this past week, she has been showing that temper in her class at school.  Some of you may already know that we went through a rough patch with her last year, enough so that we sought out counseling for her just to rule out any identifiable issues.  It really helped her and this year has been beautiful.  Well, until this week...  Apparently, she has managed to have at least one meltdown in class each day for the past week.  What the!?!?  When we talk to her about this stuff, she is very candid about her actions and knows exactly what she did and why she should not have done it.  She is contrite and I believe she is sincere when she promises that "tomorrow will be better." 

My sweet, sweet, smart girl - I wish I could see inside her head and see what is going on with her.  Can't do that, but I can see inside her mouth - which I did tonight when I was flossing her teeth.  Would you believe there is a big, ol', gnarly molar about three-quarters of the way in!!!!  OWWWWW!!!!  No wonder she has had a tough week!!!!  Poor thing.  I am not so naive as to think that that tooth coming in is the sole reason for her off behavior this week, but I do think that if I had a big chuck of rock digging through my gum, I might be a bit more on edge than usual. 

Guess I need to make that Ibuprophen for two, huh???

Savannah the Star

In Savannah's senior-K class at school, the girls take turns being Star of the Week.  It is apparently a VERY. BIG. DEAL.  When you are Star of the Week, you get pretty much carte blanche to do whatever you want.  Savannah talks about it ALL. THE. TIME. and cannot wait for it to be her turn to be Star of the Week.  She has been planning since school started. 

When you are SOTW, you get to wear a special STAR attached to your dress.

There is the SOTW Interview session, where the classmates get to ask the SOTW questions.

There is the SOTW snack.  Savannah wants to bring cotton-candy cupcakes that are in a cookbook that we have.

There is the Star Box - where the SOTW brings in her favorite things.  Savannah is planning to bring - among other things - her Teddy and her Piglet.  The Piglet is a stuffed animal from when she was a baby and Teddy - well, Teddy is her teddy bear.

Then there is the SOTW Visit.  The SOTW can have ANYONE she wants come to visit with her class - including pets!  Savannah wants to bring her cousin Mia and also Daisy, our little dog.  Daisy is pretty hyper so I may have to bring out the doggy Xanax for that visit.  She is already planning to bring doggy treats to show off Daisy's tricks and has said she might have some her classmates try to help Daisy do her tricks.

So, this SOTW is a pretty big deal.  Savannah has it all planned out.  She will be all ready when it is her turn...

...IN APRIL...

If you read my blog in my Face Book notes...

You might want to hop on over to lifeintrixieland.blogspot.com to get the full effect.  Some of my posts have video clips embedded and they don't seem to import into Face Book for some reason!!!  I know you want to see all those Christmas movie clips!!!

He's makin' his list...

...checkin' it twice.

Gonna find out who's naughty or nice...

Santa Claus is coming to town!!!!

Christmas is my absolute favorite time of the year.  Always has been!  And now that we have little girls, it is even more fun!

I love everything about it - the songs, the old movies, the smells and sights - seeing Christmas lights - everything!!!

Some of my favorite clips from my favorite movies:

Sisters - from White Christmas (my sister and I used to sing this one... I still know all the words!)



Christmas in Connecticut - my absolute favorite!!!



Holiday Inn - need I say more!!!



Miracle on 34th Street - the 1947 version - the original!!!



My favorite part of this movie is the courtroom scene where the prosecuting attorney objects to the admission of evidence and the judge tells him "Overruled!"

And the film that needs to introduction - Its a Wonderful Life


The whole time I am watching this scene I am going "Would he just kiss her already!!!" 

And most importantly - a reminder of what Christmas is really about, brought to us by that fountain of wisdom, Linus...



Ahhhh, can't wait!!!

What's your favorite Christmas movie?

Rebellion

I have decided I do not like this feeling that I MUST post every single day.  I just feel like my blog is becoming less about posting that that interest me and more about posting something becuase I have to.  I have to many other things in my life that I HAVE to do to add one more thing to the list!  ARGGGGHHHH!!!!

Today was Monday and it was an okay day.  Both girls had a good day at school - Savannah is coming along so great in her reading and Tara, well, Tara just enjoys life - what can I say?  While Savannah worked on homework this evening, Tara did "homework" too - coloring some pictures for the fridge.  Her scibbles are starting to look more like people and things now, so it is so sweet to hear her descibe her work.  Her latest was "Girl dress up as a spider."  And, if you look a moment, you can totally see that!

I have spent most of the evening working on hair clippies and my newest thing - ribbon headbands.  Don't ask me why I spend time making hair accessories - it is just relaxing for me in a way - my own creative outlet, I guess.  I have them in a gift shop downtown and am hoping to have them in another store soon.  Not quitting my day job, but I do get a satisfaction from doing something creative that people are willing to pay money for. 

In other news, going to see Jason Aldean this weekend (YAY!!!) and Thanksgiving is right around the corner.  I have a theory that people fall into 2 catogories - those who shop Black Friday and those who do not.  My mom and I fall into the Those Who Shop catagory!  I can't wait!  I am hoping to get a large part of our Christmas shopping done.   I have picked up a few things here and there for the girls, including a Madame Alexander play doll for each!  Planning to hit up etsy.com for some cute clothes for the dolls - course, Tara's will probably end up naked anyway!!!

So, one more post down.  I guess the thing to decide is whether I keep up my daily posts at least for the duration of November or if I decide to go back to only posting when I want to.  Any thoughts? 

What the girls at for lunch #11 - w/e 11/6

Another week of lunches for you.  Getting right to it!

Monday - rotisserie chicken breast, wheat thins, baby carrots and ranch dressing and sliced strawberries.

Tuesday - pretzels, strawberries, yogurt and a string cheese

Wednesday- spaghetti and sauce with a chicken meatball, a banana for Tara and an apple for Savannah.

Friday - boiled egg "bunny" for Tara and "bear" for Savannah, sliced strawberries, nutri-grain bar and a string cheese.

You may have noticed the absence of veggies in most of the lunches.  Not sure what happened with my shopping, but for some reason I didn't get any red peppers which are the girls favorites and I ran out of carrots early on.  Oh, well - I stocked up this week!  Have a great week everyone!!

Annual De-lurking Day

My friend over at SnarkyMommy has declared today Annual De-lurking Day.  Since I have never been shy to borrow from genius, I think it works fine for this blog too!  So, if you have been reading, please post a comment and let me know! 

I was thinking the other day about all the stuff that goes on in my life that I don't put on my blog.  I don't talk about work except in the most general of terms and I don't talk about things with my Prince Charming.  And like everyone else, I have work issues and married life issues. 

No work because, well, because it is work and I am an attorney and I know better than to talk about it behind its back.

No married stuff (except the good stuff) because there is something in me that feels wrong putting stuff like that here.  I really admire the bloggers out there that can let it all hang out and talk about the good, the bad and the ugly on thier blog.  Everyone's marriage is different - so, everyone has differnt boundries of what to air in the public forum.  For us, though - we keep that type of stuff for a smaller select crowd.  In my case, it is my sister - so if you want to know all my dirty laundry, go find her...

Is that just me?  Am I approaching this wrong to not talk about the thing that Prince Charming did the other day that made him oh-so-no-charming?  What about y'all?  Any boundries for you?  I'd love to know...

Random thoughts

I cannot take credit for these - I stole...ummmm, borrowed, them from a friend on my mama's forum (thanks, Kristine!!!).  I swear I have had all of these thoughts at least once and some of them made me laugh out loud!!!


1. I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear
your computer history if you die.

2. Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you
realize you're wrong.

3. I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was
younger.

4. There is great need for a sarcasm font.

5. How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?

6. Was learning cursive really necessary?

7. Map Quest really needs to start their directions on #5. I'm pretty
sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.

8. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the
person died.

9. I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.

10.. Bad decisions make good stories.

11. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work
when you know that you just aren't going to do anything productive for the
rest of the day.

12. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after Blue Ray? I
don't want to have to restart my collection...again.

13. I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me
if I want to save any changes to my ten-page research paper that I swear I
did not make any changes to.

14. "Do not machine wash or tumble dry" means I will never wash this --
ever.

15. I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello? Damn
it!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to
voicemail. What'd you do after I didn't answer? Drop the phone and run away?

16. I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.

17. I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.

18. My 4-year old son asked me in the car the other day "Dad what would
happen if you ran over a ninja?" How the hell do I respond to that?

19. I think the freezer deserves a light as well..

20. I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or
Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lites than Kay

Nothing if not predictable...

I just realized that I have 2 blog posts entitled "Seriously" - clearing I overuse that word. 

Other words in my very own repertoire of overuse - "frankly", "fabulous" and "absolutely". 

Maybe I should declare a moratorium.

52:52 Challenge

I am a part of a message board of about 75 women who all had babies in February 2006.  We went through out pregnancies together and remain close friends.  We are there for each other during good times and bad times...and sometimes just for fun times...

Every January, anyone who wants to sets a reading goal for the year.  We call it the 52:52 challenge, but really it can be whatever number you want.  I am an avid reader, so I know that I read well over 52 books in an average year (you can't count the first year of each of my daughter's lives...I am lucky I was able to read the mail...but I digress.

So, this year, I set my goal at 52 and tonight I finished my 52nd book!!!  THis is the first time I ever kept up with all the titles that I read.  I am so excited!!!  Anyway, here they are:

1. Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer


2. Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer

3. Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer (unpublished partial manuscript)

4. The Captive Heart by Bertrice Small

5. Tales of Beedle the Bard by JK Rowling

6. Sweet Life by Mia King

7. The Other Queen by Phillipa Gregory

8. River's End by Nora Roberts

9. The Villa by Nora Roberts

10. The Decadent Duke by Virginia Henley

11. The Accidental Mother by Rowan Coleman

12. Confessions of a Shopaholic - Sophie Kinsella

13. Hidden Riches - Nora Roberts

14. Wanted - Shelly Shepard Gray

15. Coyote's Mate - Lora Leigh

16. Midnight Bayou - Nora Roberts

17. One Day At A Time - Danielle Steele

18. Carnal Innocence by Nora Roberts

19. Three Fates by Nora Roberts

20. The Shadow Queen by Bertrice Small

21. A Love for All Time - Bertrice Small

22. Handle with Care - Jodi Piccoult

23. Peach - Elizabeth Adler

24. Leonie - Elizabeth Adler

25. Doomed Queens - Kris Waldherr

26. Tribute - Nora Roberts

27. Vision in White - Nora Roberts

28. Sooner or Later - Elizabeth Adler

29. Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette - Carolly Erickson

30. The Host - Stephenie Meyer

31. The Associate - John Grisham

32. Marked - PC Cast

33. Betrayed - PC Cast

34. Chosen - PC Cast

35. Untamed - PC Cast

36. The Pact - Jodi Piccoult

37. Once a Princess - Johanna Lindsay

38. You Belong to Me by Johanna Lindsay

39. Gentle Rogue by Johanna Lindsay

40. Mind Over Matter - Nora Roberts

41. Butterfly - Kathryn Harvey

42. The Blessing Stone - Barbara Wood

43. American Wife - Curtis Sittenfield

44. Black Hills - Nora Roberts

45. The Border Lord and the Lady by Betrice Small

46. Hunted - PC Cast

47. Stars - Kathryn Harvey

48. Private Entrance - Kathryn Harvey

49. City of Bones - Cassandra Clare

50. City of Glass - Cassandra Clare

51. Tempted - PC Cast

52.  City of Glass - Cassandra Clare


So, there you go!!!  Yay me!  I still have 2 months to go, so I wonder how many I will finish out the year with?

Little elves who steal shoes...

I have lost a pair of shoes. Gorgeous red suede ballet slippers. I bought them, had them shipped to my office, showed them off to a coworker when I received them and…


…that is the last I remember seeing them.

I remember thinking at the end of the day as I was gathering up my purse and briefcase that I needed to get the shoe box, but I cannot for the life of me remember if I actually got it then.

Then I went home and as usual, things are crazy – they always are in the evenings – they don’t call it the witching hour for nothing. It was later that night after I was in bed that I thought about my shoes. I remember thinking that I must have set them down with all my stuff. Then the next morning, I looked and they weren’t there. So, I thought I must have left them at work. Then, when they weren’t in my office, I thought I must have left them in my car.

I swear those things have completely disappeared!!! I honestly don’t believe anyone from work took them – that would just be too random! I have left lots of things in my office over the years and believe it to be completely safe. I wonder if they fell out of my car at some point (if you are a mama, you know how that can happen – between my stuff and the girls' stuff, my car is one big overflowing closet on wheels.)

The whole thing makes absolutely no sense to me.

It was the elves…there is no other explanation for it…

Tuesday quickie...

Post that is.  Get your mind out of the gutter. 

I was going through the house cutting off lights, turning down the fireplace, letting the dog out, getting ready to head off to bed, when I remembered...

Post every day.

Good grief, 3 days in and I almost slipped.

I sort of have an excuse.  Tuesday is "dance" night for the girls.  Tara has ballet and tap and Savannah has gymnastics. We don't get home until almost 8 and by the time I get the girls down for bed it is well past 8:30.  Not my favorite night of the week.

Clearly, I need to plan ahead with a post for Tuesdays.  But for now, you will just have to be content with this little quickie that doesn't really say anything substantive, but hey, it qualifies as a post, so I am good for now.  (Unlike a real quickie which manages to pack a lot of substance into not much time...  Yeah, I went there...)

Seriously?!?!?!

I am about to scream!!!  I read a "vamp" series called House of Night and I just finished the 6th installment (which was released last week).  @^#&@^!*@*@&@*!(!)!_)#(*@(!*!!!!  (That is about every expletive that I can think, but for some reason can't bring myself to write!!!)  I have heard of cliff hangers, but SERIOUSLY!!!!

SPOILER ALERT...



Ok, ok, I know... - it is a book after all - one written for "young adults" a catagory I don't exactly fall into anymoree...  But, whatever - it is a great series and I don't get how a book can move so fast and so slow at the same time.  This installment - Tempted - only covers about 3 days - but it went so fast and so slow at the same time.  I kept waiting for the big crisis and then BAM - worse than the when Dr. Carter and that med student are lying stabbed in the empty hospital room.  Worse than when Meredith realizes it is George who got hit by the bus and I had to spend whole summers waiting to see who would live and who would die. 

I can't believe I have however many months before the bext book comes out!!!!  I can't wait!!!! 

EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.

A few years ago, I learned about National Blog Posting Month - you commit to blog every day for a month - specifically, the month of November - but really you can do it anytime.  I always thought to myself, "Self, that would be a cool thing to do - what a feeling of accomplishment..."  And then I would go on about my business and time would pass until November came around again. 

So, this morning, I realize that it is time for NaBloPoMo again and so, here I am, declaring my intentions.  I am going to commit to blog EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. for the month of November.  Granted, I can't promise you a blog full of humor, wisdom or education, but there will be words on the screen EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. 

One of the issues about me and blogging as been that I always let reading get in the way.  I LOVE to read.  Did I ever tell you that I LOVE to read.  Oh, and by the way, I LOVE TO READ.  Whenever I have a free moment, that is pretty much what I do.  I am doing a 52 in 52 reading challenge on my mom's board and I am on Book 51 and nearly done.  I get obsessed with a good book - I can't focus on anything else (for free time).  Seriously, when I read the Twilight series last Christmas, I pretty much had, "Not tonight dear, I'm reading Twiglight" stamped on my forehead. 

The along with the reading, I have my hair clippie hobby, facebook (duh!!!) and a variety of shows that I Tivo and try to keep caught up on.  Then, there is that learn to knit kit I have that I haven't even started on yet...  So, ummm,  yeah, I guess I haven't ever moved blogging up to the top of the priority list. 

But I am turning over a new leaf.

At least for this month, I am going to blog EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. 

Even if it kills me...