DIVA domain

The Bargain

2012-01-22T23:20:00.001-06:00

One day I drug Bradley with me to Walmart. A trip to the store for me is never quick as I am prone to get distracted and generally only move at one speed. As we were leaving, Bradley spotted the alcove of arcade games and asked to ride the merry go round. Feeling nostalgic from my childhood days of riding the rides at and in a good mood after making it out of Walmart in one piece with a three year old, I generously conceded and headed over to the game area.

Imagine my surprise when I saw the price tag for one merry go round ride: one whole dollar! No way was I paying a dollar for a measly kiddie ride. Now I love my son but that was not a wise use of my finances. Quickly I scanned the little machines with toys in them and I pointed to a row of machines on top. "you can pick anything from up here," I instructed benevolently.

So for half the cost of a ride on the merry go round, Bradley selected a purple ninja toy. "That's a bargain," I exclaimed. To my amusement, Bradley has taken to calling his 50 cent slot machine toy his "bargain."

Fresh sugar

2012-01-18T09:00:00.000-06:00

It's been quite a while since I've done any product reviews, and now here I am playing catch up with the blog, with another product to rave about that I simply cannot get enough of. It's the Fresh Sugar Tinted Lip Treatment. I have the Rose, and Laura has it in the Plum shade. We both have agreed it's a product we can't live without.

I'm not really sure what to classify it as- it doesn't give your lips a gloss, so much as it adds a hint of color with SPF protection, and smooth hydration. It goes on really creamy, and has an amazing citrus-y scent. The packing also feels really weighty in your hand, as opposed to some lightweight plastic Chapstick, so I think subconsciously, the heavier weighted product makes you feel like you're getting more bang for your buck.

My sister and I each got them in our stockings for Christmas 2010, and here is a picture of what my beloved lip product looks like, circa January 2012:

The product is totally worn down, and even the print on the packaging has worn off from so much use. A few days after this picture was taken, I finally had to toss the empty stick in the trash, and what a bittersweet moment that was.

As much as I used to be a total makeup whore, I am a recovering addict, trying not to buy products and use what's in my seemingly-never-ending arsenal of cosmetics. However, how often does one really finish an entire lip gloss? I mean, it takes forever, and in this case, a little over a year, so that should tell you how much I love this product, that I could use it up entirely in a year's time, and that I am prepared to purchase a replacement for it soon. They are pricey at $22.50 a pop at Sephora, but to me, worth the luxury expense.

Product Review: Sally Hansen Salon Effects

2012-01-17T21:15:00.000-06:00

Sally Hansen Salon Effects are a fun way to get a unique and long-lasting manicure. They are nail polish sticker strips that you smooth on, peel the edges away, and the end result is a really fun mani.

My sister bought these for me on a whim when we were shopping together at Target before Christmas. One box is $7, and I wasn't willing to splurge, but she insisted and got them for me as a stocking stuffer. I was instructed to pick out a design that was fun and something I would never be able to do myself with regular nail polish, so I
selected a silver/black argyle print.

For someone with smaller/shorter nails, I have read reviews where people can get by with 2 applications in one box. My nails are such that I was only able to get one manicure out of the box. The product claims the polish will last for up to ten days, and I have found that to be true. I wore the polish for 15 or 16 days, and though the tips chipped probably around Day 10 or 12, the chipping isn't very noticeable (maybe because my chosen nail effects were a pattern so it's less noticeable) so I was able to stretch out the manicure.

The downside is that it took me about an hour to apply the strips one night, and that one package costs as much as an average-priced bottle of nail polish. The polish is also industrial strength and took me at least 9 cotton balls soaked in nail polish remover to remove the product.

The upside is that you get a unique manicure (available patterns include cool metalics, animal prints, and
geometric designs) without the cost of a professional manicure, and it lasts about 2 weeks. There's no waiting on drying time, and I have received tons of compliments on my nails since using this innovative product. I'm sure that if you wore them enough, you would become more speedy in applying them, too.

So there you go. That's my non-expert 2 cents. I'd love to hear from you if you've used these yourself.

Post-Christmas, Cannelton Style

2012-01-10T22:29:00.000-06:00

Will the blogging ever get caught up? Who the heck knows. But in the meantime, we celebrated a belated Christmas with mom's side of the family this past weekend. All of the kids had a gift exchange, the Indiana fans humored us Kentucky fans and let us watch our SEC opener, and we had food and drinks galore, topped off with pizza from the Iron Gate. The mild weather allowed the guys to hang out outside by the fire pit at night, the kids to play downstairs and the women - where else- congregating in the kitchen!

Gang of Three

Just the 21 of us!

Laura & Dad snoozing through the end of the UK game

Braedon and Nicole are the Amanda and Ryan of this generation

Cousins

George and Eric talking politics or movies... probably politics!

The 2 Addies in their matching dresses. I had a little photo session with them! Here, they were instructed to show me their model faces:

"Angry faces!"

"Happy Faces"

A beautiful clear night, full moon, and plenty of guy talk

The get together was a cacophony of sounds, with kids running up and down the stairs, boisterous stories being told, humorous memories reminisced, sports, politics, and movies, and everything in between discussed, and as with any modern family, at any given moment, someone was updating Facebook or generally playing with their phone. Breakfast Sunday morning was satisfyingly yummy with a breakfast casserole, hash brown casserole, and five cinnamon rolls. There's always a funny food story, somehow. Thanks Lisa & Jerry for hosting the locusts.

3G thesis

2012-01-08T12:20:00.001-06:00

Right before Christmas I joined the smart phone world and bought myself the grand daddy of all smart phones, the iPhone 4s. I had never bought a phone before, always taking whatever free basic phone my carrier offered, so to leap into the world of 3G has been quite the life-changing event.

I can now check Facebook or blog on my lunch break if I want to. In fact, I am writing this post from the back seat of the car. I check the weather as I'm getting ready for work on the morning, and set reminders to my to- do list all day long as I think of tasks.

Maybe not coincidentally, though, since I have world wide web at at my finger tips at all times I have found myself shying away from the computer at night, hence I've done nothing with all the pictures and video taken from Christmas , and I haven't updated the blog in weeks.

At any rate, I'm satisfied with my purchase and long for the day when I can type expertly on the touch screen without all the typos and mis-capitalized words!

Brentwood Busts

2011-12-24T07:57:00.000-06:00

Here's your public service blog for any local readers.

The "live nativity" that Brenthaven Christian Church on Franklin Road is not what you might think, and definitely not worth your time. I told Bradley we would get to see live animals with baby Jesus, counting on some cows and sheep, and hoping for a donkey and a camel. What we got instead was a group of well- meaning church members dressed in Nikes and shepherds' robes, telling the story of the birth of Jesus in three stations, with wooden stand up animals, a fake fire pit for the shepherds, and a baby doll lying in a kid's crib as the manger. "Where are the real animals?" Bradley asked. "I don't know," I answered, thinking that perhaps at the final manger scene there would be the live farm animals. Alas, it was not to be.

Some of the participants didn't even have their lines memorized, and the whole presentation lasted about 15 or 20 minutes. I expected more out of a church in Brentwood. So if any locals know of any live nativities that might be a little more realistic, I'm all ears.

The second Brentwood bust is the upscale Mexican restaurant Sopapilla's. We went there last night for the first time to get together with some friends for Christmas, and while the food was excellent (albeit spicy) for the adults, this is NOT a kid-friendly restaurant. The kid's bean & cheese burrito I ordered for Bradley was so spicy it brought him to tears, and after trying it myself, I can see why. I pointed this out to the server at the end of the meal and told him that this was in no way acceptable for a child's menu item, and he remarked that another family had complained recently that the rice was too spicy, but that it must have been the beans after all. This place needs to get with the program and alter their recipes if they are even going to bother to offer a children's menu.

Pickle Things You Never See

2011-12-16T22:42:00.001-06:00

My brother-in-law George wrote a paper a few years ago for college wherein he slightly elaborated our family's St. Nick's Day traditions. According to him, we ate Pa's homemade cinnamon rolls, put up the tree while listening to Christmas carols, received our stockings, found the pickle on the Christmas tree, sipped hot cocoa by the fire, and watched Christmas Vacation that evening. Hey, it was a great paper!

B with his ginormous stocking

George & Bradley with their Superman Pez

Dad with his kazoo from the Franklin Main Street toy store

While our St. Nick's Day was not quite that eventful, we still managed to pack it full. After a long day of work, we congregated for dinner of mom's round steak, mashed potatoes, and sides. After dinner we opened our stockings, and then George, Laura, and I hunted for the pickle on the tree. This was the first year George has gotten in on the pickle action, so it was only fair that he should walk away with the itunes gift card prize for finding the pickle.

One of my favorite books as a kid was "Pickle Things," and one of the lines of the book reads, "Pickle things you never see like pickles on a Christmas tree." I have this book out for B and it's one of the ones he can "read" from memory. Obviously, the writers of this book were not German though, as they must not have had hidden a pickle ornament on their Christmas trees.

Full from dinner, and sampling treats from our stockings, we did what the Bradleys always do; we stuffed ourselves full by eating dessert of course!

Kids' Christmas Concert

2011-12-14T23:31:00.007-06:00

Tonight was Bradley's first-ever choir concert, and yes, I was way excited. He's been attending BBC's KidLife program on Wednesday nights while I'm in choir rehearsal, and tonight was the fruit of a semester's worth of labor. The 3-through- kindergarten kids performed 5 Christmas songs tonight. It was a battle to even get out the door since the chosen attire for Bradley did not include comfy pants and t-shirts. Our video we took was horrible, so the still shots will have to do.

This picture was taken during their practice- it's the closest he got to paying attention and participating all night.

For their performance, the kids wore party hats, in honor of Jesus' birthday. Bradley used his as a toy/prop the entire time he was up front, most of the time, donning the unicorn look!

... or using it as a megaphone... though he's not the only one!

Where's Bradley? Can you spot him sitting on the steps? (the Only child sitting on the steps, I might add!)

I'm at a loss of what to do now. I promised him an orange hat and gloves (his favorite color) if he sang "loud and proud," but since he didn't really do that, should I still reward him for just participating? I mean, he did sing, it was just into and behind his party hat! And anyways, I am proud of him for his performance tonight no matter what. I look forward to many, many more of these concerts down the road.

Jolly Old Saint Nicholas

2011-12-13T22:38:00.000-06:00

I don't like the Santa at Cool Springs Galleria, and I hate having to pay an arm and a leg for those pictures, so I resolved to find a free photo op this year for Bradley. Look no further than mom & dad's neighborhood "Cookies with Santa" event this past weekend. It was held at the clubhouse and was a BYOC event (bring your own cookies) while little cups of milk were provided. There were also holiday-themed crafts, a guy making balloon animals, and of course, Santa Claus.

Just like the past two years, this was our first attempt at a picture with Santa:

And then after some cookies, a baloon laser gun, and making a candy cane ornament, we tried for round 2. Bradley wanted to know where Santa's sleigh was, so we figured that a second attempt at a good picture with Santa would give B a chance to ask the Big Guy his pressing question.

Much better! Now these are photos I can live with, plus they were FREE.

And THIS is my money shot. It fits perfectly with the song lyric of Jolly Old Saint Nicholas- "whisper what you'll bring to me, tell me if you can."

Oh yeah, and Santa's answer about the sleigh? He left it at Walmart, he said!

Baking Day

2011-12-12T22:21:00.002-06:00

After a brief hiatus from blogging, I've got plenty to post. First up: Baking Day.

On Saturday, mom, Laura & I spent ALL DAY in the kitchen making all kinds of Christmas cookies. Every time mom lamented about how long she personally had been in the kitchen... 8 a.m., 7, 6:30 a.m., the time got earlier and earlier. She has a flair for the dramatic- I don't know where on earth I get it from.

Here's me and B modeling our matching Elf aprons from St. Nick

Rolling out sugar cookies with Grandma B

Laura & I rolling out the Oreo truffles. (Thank you Emily Borders- we still make these every year thanks to you!)

Look at this mess! These are all our supplies.

Chef Laura making George's grandmother's spice cookie recipe.

Spice cookies and peanut butter cookies

A sampling of the finished product: painted sugar cookies, spice cookies, peanut butter cookies, chocolate caramels, lemon bars, chocolate chip cookie bars, 7 layer cookies, pecan tartlets, Grandma Huber's sugar cookies (these were made last week), iced sugar cookies, Oreo truffles. (not pictured: chocolate covered pretzels. We ran out of time before my choir concert and didn't make that many so I couldn't bear to part with any of them!).

This plate went to my coworkers today and was gone in bout 15 minutes. Another tray is going to daycare tomorrow, where, after doing the same thing last year, some of the ladies there have asked mom and me for an entire year when we're going to bake again! They are going to be so excited, I think.

I know I personally started in the kitchen around 9 a.m. on Saturday, and after my choir concert, I was back in the kitchen cleaning up til almost 10:30 p.m. on Saturday night. It was well worth it though. I'm a good sous chef if I do say so myself. And you know what they say: the family that bakes together ~~stays~~ gets fat together!

Name that Soprano

2011-12-02T14:28:00.001-06:00

Whilst decorating the Christmas tree this week in our monogrammed Santa hats, and listening to the Traditional Christmas music station through our cable provider, a grandiose Christmas carol orchestration, sung by my musical idol, Julie Andrews, came on the TV. We asked Bradley to go listen and tell us who was singing. This was primarily done to distract him while we hung ornaments, since his short attention span cared nothing for hanging ornaments, and more towards innately scouting out the breakable ornaments from the boxes and playing with them. Imagine how my heart swelled with pride when B shouted "Mary Poppins!" a few seconds later. I scooped him up and covered his cheeks with kisses, so elated was I that he could recognize her soprano timbre, especially after not having watched that movie in a long, long time.

He also thought the "I'm Gettin' Nuttin' For Christmas" child's singing voice was Annie, which I found amusingly accurate.

*I hope you've enjoyed reading the (almost) daily blog posts during the NaBloPoMo. Now I can relax a little more at night and make more time for reading The Omnivore's Dilemma without the self-inflicted pressure of blogging every day. I know that several other readers of this blog have read this book too, so I can't wait to finish it and discuss it with you!

Fancy Schmancy Fountain Drinks

2011-11-29T22:55:00.000-06:00

A recent trip to Firehouse Subs outside of Birmingham resulted in Laura and I enjoying the most satisfying fountain drink ever. After this trip, Laura & I couldn't stop gushing at how cool the high tech touch screen fountain drink machine was.

Approaching the drink machine, I wasn't even certain how to work the thing! They had a sign posted next to the machine that I read aloud dutifully, probably causing the other restaurant patrons to really think we were some country bumpkins. How sad is it that we had to go to Alabama to see the Coca-Cola Freestyle? (That's what it's called so says Wikipedia.) Do these machines exist in Nashville? If so, I've never seen one.

Here's how it works: you push your cup in for the ice, and then touch the screen to select one of 120 different kinds of drink combinations! Laura got a Dr. Pepper, but then that opened up into an entirely new menu where there were diet options, cherry, raspberry, vanilla- even orange flavored Dr. Pepper if you so chose. She opted for the cherry vanilla Dr. Pepper. I pushed the button to get a Coke, and selected a cherry Coke Zero from my myriad of choices.

Yeah, I know. As I re-read what I wrote I realize it sounds like I really am a country bumpkin, fascinated by the big fancy drink machine. What can I say? I'm easily amused.

The Elf & the pink tree on the shelf

2011-11-28T23:03:00.000-06:00

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, and it isn't even December yet! Today's obligatory blog post is brought to you by the new Christmas decorations that are gracing the Bradley household. Last year I was too bummed out to even think about decorating, and seeing as how most of my stuff is still in boxes, Mom surprised me with a new 4 foot tall tree that I got to decorate as my pink tree this year. I think it looks beautiful, and I smile every time I look at it.

This is my craft fair find- a knock off- and personalized- Elf on the Shelf. Way cheaper than the $30 to $40 I would have paid. This little guy will get moved from spot to spot and report back to Santa daily whether Bradley's been naughty or nice. The personable (Not!) lady at the craft's fair even left room to add other kids names, if Lord willing, Bradley were ever to have those brothers and sisters he's always talking about!
The Elf needs a name, though. Any brilliant ideas readers?

Longest drive ever

2011-11-27T21:12:00.000-06:00

After the longest weekend ever, today I had the longest day/drive ever. Dad and I left the house at 8:30 a.m., and 12 hours later, at 8:30 p.m. we finally made it back home, with Bradley in-tow.

Highlights from today included:

Rain nonstop, literally
Heaviest traffic I have ever driven in for a length of time
Seeing downtown Calera, AL for the first time
Seeing downtown Calera, AL for the second time
Enjoying some yummy albeit overpriced pecan ice cream in Clanton, AL
Picking B up much later than anticipated, and getting a much later start back home
Seeing downtown Calera, AL for the third time (I laughed at this... it was too soon for dad to appreciate the irony)
Trying our darndest to catch this T-pain song on the XM radio countdown and missing it by minutes every single time we got in and out of the car
Yes, dad is listening to T-Pain these days
Not one opportunity for cruise control on the drive back
What is up with all the inconsiderate drivers on the road who camp out in the left lane while traffic passes them on the right?!
A short stop in Pelham to see Aunt Peggy, complete with food, funny stories about Uncle Jack, and remembering Lana's comment about wanting to collect something after seeing Aunt Peggy's teapots
Hearing Bradley shout "Mommy" and seeing his ear to ear grin

So... incredibly... thankful to be home.

The longest weekend ever

2011-11-26T22:07:00.000-06:00

This has felt like an eternity of a weekend. Usually that'd be a good thing, but since I haven't seen Bradley since Wednesday, I am doing cartwheels that I can pick him up tomorrow finally. He seems like he's been having a good time down in Florida, so that has made it easier on me. Plus I have stayed really busy, mainly eating and shopping. The weekend was memorable in many ways, though, so I thought I'd list the highlights so we could remember and laugh as part of our Thanksgiving story heritage:

OMG, folks
Slap 'er down again, Pa
I have a saying: don't open one syrup until you finish the other
It's 5 o'clock in the morning
Dance party in the living room
Zombieland/Elf
The 3 hour Walmart excursion
UK finally beat UT after 26 years
My first vegetarian Turkey Day
Cranium Bluedles

And of course, we had to put Russell & the Mrs. into compromising poses throughout Thanksgiving day and send them to family:

The whipped cream bikini was Laura's idea. I added the touch of cream to Russell's mouth. I did decorate some for Christmas this weekend, but I don't want to give away the farm with one post! Yall come back now, ya hear?
Hope you and your family/friends had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Or as I like to call it...

2011-11-25T11:58:00.002-06:00

Best quote from last week's episode of New Girl:

Nick: We're just gonna watch football, drink beer, and then we're going to Best Buy later for Black Friday.
Winston: Or as I like to call it, Friday.

Unfortunately, I was one of the crazy people that went to Walmart on Thanksgiving night, which turned into a 3 hour adventure that lasted into the wee hours of Black Friday.

Sure, I got some good deals, but that store was such a nightmare cluster at the checkout line that I would never, ever go there again on Thanksgiving night.

That's right, I said never ever. Please remind me of this next year.

Zip Zip

2011-11-23T11:56:00.002-06:00

So as not to turn this blog into a sad-sack virtual therapy site for yours truly, I thought I'd lighten the mood and share a quirky Thanksgiving tradition that has developed over the years between me and my friend Rhonda Lu.

One of our favorite movies is the Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan classic romantic comedy, You've Got Mail. There is a scene in the film where Meg Ryan's character rushes through the "cash only line" in order to avoid Tom Hanks' character. Of course, "she has no cash," so Tom Hanks has to bail her out. Rose, the checker, you will notice, is Dr. Callie Torrez, pre-Grey's Anatomy. Tom Hanks coerces Rose into saying "Happy Thanksgiving," which with her Hispanic accent comes out "Appy Thanksgeeving Back."

Every year Rhonda Lu and I will call/email/Facebook/text this quotable line to one another on Turkey Day. It's like a game to see who remembers first. So Happy Thanksgiving, dear blog readers. Now it's your turn. Say Happy Thanksgiving, back...

Heavy Hearted

2011-11-22T23:08:00.001-06:00

The old heart is heavy tonight, my friends. Tomorrow I'm taking Bradley to spend Thanksgiving with his dad. It will be the first holiday that I'm away from B, and the first time I'll know the feeling of my empty house without him here in it with me. I keep starting and stopping so many other sentences in my head, so instead I think I'll just leave it at that. If you think of us tomorrow, please pray for us. Pray that Bradley has a good weekend, pray for safe travel for all of us each way, and pray that I would rest in the peace that it is God who ultimately protects my child, and not me as a parent, and that He has our lives in His hands.

Such are the realities of divorced families, and living with the consequences of our choices.

Mr. Independent

2011-11-21T16:42:00.001-06:00

Bradley is way more independent these days, able to go potty by himself (with the exception of a little help in the TP department, post-BM), able to get in and out of his booster seat at the table, squirts his own Little Noses in his nose when he's stuffy, takes his plate and cup to the sink when he's done eating, puts his dirty clothes in the hamper at night, and can get himself dressed and undressed. The shirts on and off still trip him up from time to time, but overall, this is a fun age. He is so proud of all the things he is able to do all by himself. It's become a game for us. He will tell me that he can't do something, and when I offer to help, he hurries and performs the task, smiling proudly, as if to show me, "see, I don't really need any help, I was just fooling you!" It's adorable.

I am constantly scurrying around last minute, always running 5 or 10 minutes late and gathering our items to leave the house at the 11th hour. Bradley being able to go potty while I'm finding his shoes is a big help. Sometimes though, I can get frustrated that I'm running late, and will do things for him to save time. I'll put his shoes on for him, for example, because I can do it so much faster than he can. This is something I am trying to work on, though. It's more important that he is able to (and allowed to) do things for himself than it is for me to be out the door a nanosecond sooner.

New 'Do

2011-11-19T11:36:00.000-06:00

If you'll scroll back to last weekend, you'll notice my long, heavey, scraggly hair. It was time for a change. Thanks to the lovely Melanie at Studio FX I am now bouncier, and healthier!

I still hate my bangs, though. They are the bane of my existence.

Must See TV

2011-11-17T23:08:00.000-06:00

Until basketball season really gets rolling and UK repeatedly claims the prized ESPN Super Tuesday slot, Tuesday is my big TV watching night. I make time for sports, and a few select shows, and Glee, Parenthood, and New Girl, all happen to fall on Tuesday night. (Thank goodness for DVR and on demand!)

Glee is in its third season, and while it started out strong, I feel like it's gotten weaker and weaker each season. Though this week's episode was a lot of fun and back to the "old Glee" style, if things don't pick up, I'll be saying arrivederci!

Parenthood makes me laugh and cry every week, and I can't help but notice the striking similarities between my life and Sarah's, although I hope I'm not as annoying as her character is!

The surprise favorite of the year though is New Girl staring Zooey Deschanel. I laugh out loud every week, and feel like the show is just starting to hit its stride now that the characters have been established.

A Triumvirate of Terms

2011-11-16T13:58:00.001-06:00

I consider myself a self-proclaimed Grammarphile, and both a lover/hater of the English language. Yesterday was a day chock-full of words that inspired strong reactions from me, both in the positive and negative sense. Twice I came across the word "specificity," and upon reading it aloud in my head I determined the first time it crossed my path that it was decidedly a favorite word of mine. When I came across it the second time in the same day but in an entirely different setting, it was like déjà vu all over again. Specificity reared it marvelous head first in an online sports article, and once in a letter I was preparing for work. While these two venues seem completely different, I rationalize that it was two different attorneys who penned the "specificities" and thus, perhaps, it's just your run-of-the-mill legalese.

Later in the day, I came across the word "Moisten." It's no secret I abhor the word "moist," so I tried "moisten" on for size. As it rolled around in my head, I pondered, "hmm, another version of the same word I detest. Do I hate this one as well? ... Yep." So I will not be "moistening" anything. Some acceptable synonyms if you need to use them are wet, moisturize, dampen (or lick, if we're talking about stamps) but moisten is absolutely not okay in my book.

The third word that crossed my path yesterday was in another sports article - perhaps in the same one penning specificity? I can't recall - I read a lot of sports articles yesterday. The phrase that caught my attention was "the cloak of anonymity." Now if that isn't fun to say, then I don't know what is.

Anonymity: what I should strive for after bearing my soul about my feelings towards the English language, lest my friends and family think I have some serious issues!

2011-11-15T09:32:00.001-06:00

With the next presidential election less than a year away, the Republican nomination is still up for grabs, and all you people can come up with is THIS guy??!! (No need to watch the whole thing- the first minute will suffice.)

The Republicans might as well have Her as the candidate:

Or better yet, why not bring back former Tennessee governor candidate, Basil Marceaux??

No worries here, says the bleeding heart liberal!

iLessons & iLaughs

2011-11-14T22:01:00.000-06:00

My mom's phone died, so she recently upgraded to the iPhone. Aside from the obvious necessaries, like how to answer a phone call (which is still a work in progress, by the way), she spent a nice chunk of our ladies' night learning new apps (a pointless funny ap that makes you have a helium voice & a coupon app called GeoQpons) and tricks, like tapping the home button twice to bring up a menu of all aps running at the bottom of the screen, and closing the ones you aren't using to save the battery life, from my aunts and cousins, who are already iPhone-savvy.

I am keenly interested in watching and learning, too, because I am counting down the days til I can purchase my own iPhone (December 27th!), so I spent part of the car trip to Evansville playing with mom's new ~~toy~~ phone.

Back story: every year mom attends Christmas Village, a huge crafts fair where tons of vendors come to sell their wares. She sees some of the same vendors every year, including a bakery based in Haubstadt, Indiana. They ran out of the rolls she always gets, so I was trying to google Haubstadt on the iPhone on our way to Evansville to see how close it is. Turns out, it's really close.

I anounced to mom that I had found Haubstadt on the map, and I further exclaimed that I had found the bakery on the map (mind you, I had no idea the name of the place)- "how cool is this? I found the bakery- it's the um, Little Haubstadt Bakery!" I laughed, thinking that would blow my cover. "Really?" A gullible mom answered. I definitely gave her a hard time about that one.

Shenanigan's

2011-11-13T21:36:00.002-06:00

We went to Evansville yesterday, hence the lack of blog post, for a small sort of family get-together. There was no real occasion, but we drove up to stay with Michael & Missy, and went out last night for pizza at Turoni's, a local pizzeria and microbrewery. The kids stayed at the house with a babysitter, so we actually all got to have a fun relaxing evening.

Bradley & Addie

We had to take 2 cars from the house, so the guys went on ahead to put our name on the list and get us a table, and the women got the kids settled with the babysitter, and left a few minutes later. It was mom's idea to stop someplace along the way and see how long it took the guys to call asking where we were!

Sisters, mom & Lisa

Good thing we stopped at this place, beccause not too much longer, we got texts saying the wait was an hour and forty-five minutes, so we took our time and let the guys stand around and wait on the table! "Oh yes it's Ladies Night! Oh, what a night!" we sang. The guys didn't believe us when we said that we had stopped at Deerhead's, so we had our server take a picture of us toasting the camera. The guys in turn sent back their own statement via photo, and let's just say they were none too pleased to be standing around in a crowded restaurant while we made our pit stop!

Missy, Whitney, and me

We finally got to Turoni's and all ten of us got seated in this huge booth, where we proceeded to eat, drink and be merry, and the pictures prove it.

Jerry pretending to drink the pitcher

A sign above our table

There's always a Nashville connection!

Mom, Lisa, Dad, and Ryan

Whitney, Missy, Michael, Jerry, Me, and Eric

Oh, and James Franco even made an appearance!

It was a short trip, but so many memories were made in such a short visit. Shenanigan's!

My own Penned Statement

2011-11-11T21:40:00.000-06:00

Jerry Sandusky's autobiography is aptly named... wait for it... Touched.

I swear, you can't make this stuff up.

On a more serious note, I haven't read the grand jury indictment, and I don't think I'm going to, given the purported graphic nature of it, so could someone please explain to me why the former grad assistant (and eye witness to key events) is still allowed to be on the coaching staff for Penn State? Otherwise, it seems like the school has done a good job and wiped out all the head honchos who were part of this ghastly cover-up.

Tidbits

2011-11-10T22:01:00.000-06:00

Tid-bits from the day:

I am sickened and angered by what was allowed to go on at Penn State for so long
The choir concert tonight had a disappointingly small crowd, but man oh man can that black gospel choir SING!
Never ever take a pill that you aren't sure what they are
CMA = Country my @ss
My ears are still ringing from that concert
Looking forward to seeing some family in Indiana this weekend
I'm excited about the potential for starting a new online Bible study in January, and will post more about it soon. I'd love to have some of you ladies join in and have some camaraderie!
Did I say Bradley prefers not to wear pants with buttons/zippers? Make that refuses to wear them as was evident by the 20 minute tantrum this morning
Thank goodness tomorrow is Friday

Mooger Mystery Solved!!!

2011-11-09T08:57:00.001-06:00

A long time ago- probably when Bradley was around 2 years old, he kept talking about Koobar, and it was the longest time before we finally figured out that Koobar was the Gerber cereal bars that he liked. Recently, in the past few weeks, Bradley keeps referring to a Mooger. Nowadays he speaks plainly, so I wasn't sure where the disconnect was, but I certainly didn't know what a Mooger was. Honestly, I discounted it as something he and his friends made up at daycare.

I kept asking B to describe the Mooger, and even had Uncle George bring over his Star Wars pop-up book because B seemed to think he might have seen the Mooger in there. So this weekend we pored through the Star Wars book, but alas, no Mooger. I didn't think any more about it until this morning on our way to day-care, Bradley started talking about the Mooger AGAIN! This time he said that Alex has a Mooger at his house, and that it has teeth. Mildly interested at this new information, I started to think that maybe a Mooger is some kind of exotic house pet.

As luck would have it, Alex and his mom were arriving at daycare at the exact same time, and still talking about the Mooger, Bradley says something about the Mooger to Alex. I took a chance and asked Alex's mom, "Do you know what a Mooger is? Bradley's been talking about it for weeks, and he says Alex has one." "Well, Alex has been known to smuggle toys into daycare." She replies, as Alex brightly confirms that he does indeed have a Mooger, and through a short series of questions and answers, we learn that a Mooger is an action figure from a TV show called Samurai Rangers. "Yeah," Bradley echoes cheerfully, "Samurai Rangers." Clearly, this is not the first time he's heard of the Samurai Rangers.

By this time I am cracking up, and so of course, I get to work and the first thing I do is Google "Mooger Samurai Rangers" and up pops a bevy of action figure photos, and video links to what I can only assume is a popular kids TV show on Nickelodeon that's a spinoff of the original Power Rangers, called "Power Rangers Samurai." As far as I know, Bradley has never even seen the show, but I know one toy I will be hunting down for Christmas this year!

Choir Concert this Thursday Night

2011-11-08T16:38:00.001-06:00

For all you local readers, Brentwood Baptist Church is hosting a free concert this Thursday night, November 10, 2011, at 7:00 p.m. This concert is a benefit to support Men of Valor, a local ministry which is geared toward helping prisoners and their families. The concert is free but with a $5 suggested donation. Our choir is singing, as well as the Mt. Zion Baptist Church choir, and is being touted as an effort to support this local ministry by bringing together the largest white church in the Nashville area with the largest black church in the Nashville area.

If you like great choir music, this will be an event you don't want to miss. I know what you're thinking. We're all so busy. Heck, if I weren't singing in it, I probably wouldn't be going either since I have my own laundry list of excuses about why I couldn't go, but I would be remiss if I didn't tell you a little bit about Men of Valor:

· MOV ministry teaches men how to make real changes so they can begin new lives once they are released.

· Nationally, 67% of men released from prison will return.

· For the men who complete MOV’s 120-day Aftercare/Re-entry program, the recidivism rate is 12%.

Men of Valor’s Family Outreach program supports the families of prisoners.

The number one indicator of a person entering prison is having a father in prison.

These children have a 70% greater probability of going to prison than their peers.

Please come if you can!

Obligatory post: Bridesmaids review

2011-11-07T23:03:00.000-06:00

If you don't have something nice or substantial to say, then don't participate in NaBloPoMo. This is purely a blog post out of obligation. I'm on Day 7 of the NaBloPoMo project. So this is just a quick re-cap of a movie I just watched, Bridesmaids. Short, not so sweet, and to the point:

Man, am I ever glad I didn't waste money and see that in the theater! Spoiler alert for anyone who hasn't seen it yet, but I thought this film would be like the Hangover, but from the female bridal party perspective, but this was nothing of the sort. The previews even lead you to believe that they even have Vegas in common, and, well, they don't. I am not a fan of the female leads, Maya Rudolph and Kristen Wiig, and overall this is a sappy chick flick, masquerading as a comedy, thrown in with a few funny, and mostly mildly-amusing moments. I will say this: vomit is funny. It is also intriguing that Jon Hamm played such a schmuck and then didn't want to be credited in the film for playing this part, and annoying that even the expectations of the all-important wedding dress and (HELLO,) Bridesmaids dresses, are exploited, as they differ from what's on the movie poster. All in all, a bust. People will not be talking about this one like the Hangover.

Also out of obligation tonight, once I started this movie, I had to finish it. There are a few other comedies out on dvd right now that I've waited to see, so fingers crossed that they are better.

Remembering Mark

2011-11-06T20:17:00.001-06:00

Every year when November 6th rolls around, I pause to remember my cousin, Mark. I was 16 on this day fifteen years ago in 1996 on the day that Mark lost his brief, albeit fierce, battle with cancer. Mark had just turned 15. This October, he would have celebrated his 30th birthday. It's hard to fathom how much time has passed and how different things might have been.

Mark's death had a profound effect on my life. I was in my formative teenage years, and just beginning to understand what it meant to follow Christ. I could not reason why God would allow Mark to have been taken unless He had some really important job for Him up in Heaven.

Even now as I am walking with God more deliberately, I still don't fully understand why bad things happen to good people, and I can't wait to get to Heaven, to either ask God as soon as I get there, or else have reached such a state of enlightenment that I won't need to ask.

But every year, on this day, I will remember Mark, and his motto of "No Fear," his smile and his courage through it all, and it strengthens my faith because I refuse to believe that this is all for naught and that there isn't a loving God behind it all.

The end of the Honeybadger Era

2011-11-05T14:43:00.000-05:00

At the start of soccer season, it seemed like a chore getting up and to the soccer field every Saturday morning. I was a little bummed I'd have to miss going to Zumba for a few months, too. But after this morning's last game, as I was saying bye to all the parents and kids I've gotten to know, it will seem weird not having this Saturday morning ritual to attend anymore.

Bradley definitely progressed as the season went on, and I know our playing "keep away" running down the hall with his plush indoor socer ball had something to do with that. Don't misunderstand me, he never did score a goal, and his favorite part of the game is the snack at the end, but that's okay with this mama.

Team Honeybadgers

The self-imposed Goalie

warming up, kicking a goal

Stretching before the game

Coach Lindsey getting B ready for the kick-off

Throwing it in

Goalie!

Action shot

Check out my freckles

The tunnel at the end of each game

Snack time

The little fashionisto

2011-11-04T23:10:00.000-05:00

Keeping with the previous day's theme of fashion, I may not be fashion-forward, but Bradley sure is! Apparently nowadays, all the teenage girls think that pairing boots with shorts is acceptable, and my son does too.

He has these green mesh shorts that were a hand-me-down from his cousin Garrick that he absolutely loves, and the other morning, he wore the shorts with his pajama top, and Uggs-reminiscent houseshoe boots. Immediatley I cracked up and commented on how trendy he appeared.

If I'd have my druthers, he'd be dressed like THIS all the time!

He has his own opinions on fashion right now, namely that he doesn't want to wear any shirts or pants with buttons or snaps. He prefers plain tshirts and pull-on comfy pants. On the mornings I coerce him into wearing khakis or jeans, he goes straight upstairs the minute he gets home, and changes clothes by himself into his comfy clothes.

Judging my jeggings

2011-11-03T22:16:00.000-05:00

I'm not what one would call fashion forward. "Capri pants?" I scoffed, years ago. "Those'll be here and gone in a year. No way am I wasting money on those!" "Bermuda shorts? No way will this trend catch on," I thought. "Ponchos? What a dumb idea- who wants to wear a sweater without sleeves?" (Okay, so I was at least right on that one.)

I like my classic preppy clothes, thankyouverymuch. But recently, I finally broke down and purchased a pair of jeggings. (jean leggings, for those of you who are even less fashion-aware than I am). But please don't judge me, because I vow to not wear the jeggings with the ubiquitous tall boots, tunic, and wide belt. I recently bought a navy print sheer dress that works great in the warmer months, but in the fall, I needed something on my legs. I wore the dress previously with nude colored peep-toe pumps, which worked great. However, I purchased the jeggings to extend the wear of the dress. If another fashionista has a better idea of what I could have worn, I am open to ideas, as I wallow in shame that I broke down and bought the ridiculously-named garb.

The one item I swear I will not buy are the now-popular, "shooties." (ie. shoes + booties) Dumb, dumb, dumb, fashion people. I cannot "make it work."

Happy birthday to...

2011-11-02T15:36:00.001-05:00

Yes, it happens to be my birthday today, 31 and proud of it, but I also share this day with many other noteworthy characters:

Nelly (37 today... boy, now if THAT doesn't make me feel old as he was in his prime during my college glory days!)
Cookie Monster (42 today)
Dr. Noemi Lugo, my college voice professor
Daniel Boone
Carter Beauford, drummer for the Dave Matthews Band (54 today)
Ricky Martin (The Big 4-0 today)
David Schwimmer (45 today)
Marie Antoinette

I don't believe I see cookies in my future tonight, but perhaps a nice piece (I almost said slice, but I really hate that word) of chocolate cake would satiate my sweet tooth!

NaBloPoMo

2011-11-01T10:27:00.001-05:00

Yes, it's that time of the year once again; the time when I choose to participate in the National Blog Posting Month, and vow to hone my writing skills (I really hate that word- Hone- by the way) by posting every day for the month of November. This will get my creative juices flowing, and will allow me to catch up on some overdue topics and events.

A preview of what's to come, that you won't want to miss*:

Ryan & Whitney's wedding recap
What do Kim Kardashian & Chris Johnson have in common?
Worship Wednesdays
The Not-so-terrible Threesdays
My trendy son
DIVA Convention, baby shower style
My 21st birthday
Sticking it to the man

... and SO much more!

(*Remember, you can always click that little button over here to your right that says "Follow" and enjoy the Divadomain from the comfort of your own email inbox!) ---->

Halloween 2011

2011-10-31T22:18:00.002-05:00

Bradley is "super" proud of his awesome Halloween costume, complete with muscles!

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's....

SuperMom and SuperMan

After reading an article in the paper yesterday about the trick-or-treating in downtown Franklin in the historic district, we decided to give that a try this year. It was phenomenal, and we will be going back. We parked in the lot behind Starbucks at Five Points, and walked a block up to West Main Street, and instantly it felt like we were in a movie. Everything from the the mild weather, clear sky, bright moon, walking the sidewalk-lined streets, shuffling through the leaves up to each historic home was absolutely picturesque. There were trick-or-treaters Everywhere; it was amazing. Houses were decorated, and I mean Seriously decorated, and the herds of people moved slowly down the sidewalk of West Main Street, waiting patiently for their turn to go up to the house.

This house not only had this great display on their front porch, but they offered a really cool haunted house through their garage.

Slowly making our way from house to house

However, THIS house is the one Bradley will be talking about for the next year. They decorated their front yard using a Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland" theme. The lady giving out the candy was the Queen of Hearts. Well B was right in front of her when she decided to let out a festive, in-character cackle, which I happened to snap a picture of... which prompted B to burst out into tears!!! The Queen felt so bad she gave us extra candy, but all B would talk about for the rest of the evening was that he didn't like the Wonderland Queen.

This house was pretty incredible, too. I thought B might be scared of some of the decorations, but he seemed to get that all this "spooky" stuff was just pretend, and just for fun... except for that mean Wonderland Queen! He was paticularly excited to see, and speak to, an adult dressed like Darth Vader.

Trick or treat!

Our Scary jack-o-lanterns

He did all the hard work, and then the adults helped themselves to the spoils! This trick-or-treat thing is a great idea! B got lots of Twix- one of my faves- but no Tootsie Rolls, Grandma B's favorite.

Eating some skulls and bones Sweet Tarts

Showing off his candy

We probably only made it up and back a few blocks on West Main and didn't even venture off to other side streets before Superman was tired and ready to come home. Plus, just minutes before we arivved home, the caped crusader had to pee, so it was great timing. If you ask Bradley if he had fun trick or treating, he will say "no." If you ask "why not?" he will tell you "because of the Mean Wonderland Queen." But deep down, I know he had a good time tonight. Come one, come all with us, to downtown Franklin next year!

National Switch Your Bank Day

2011-10-21T11:22:00.001-05:00

If you are as unhappy with extra fees from your bank as I am with mine (Regions) then I urge you to take action and do something about it. There's even a national movement to switch banks by November 5th that you can read about here: http://moneyland.time.com/2011/10/10/bank-transfer-day-urges-americans-to-leave-big-banks/ and RSVP to the event to switch banks on Facebook!

I just read an article here: http://moneyland.time.com/2011/10/12/how-to-divorce-your-bank-in-5-easy-steps/ that tells you how to go about the process of switching logistically, that can help you simplify the process, and make sure you have your game plan in tact, should you decide to switch banks. I am in the process of switching already, and it certainly is a hassle to transfer money while making sure bills are paid on time, plus getting all the direct deposit set up and accounts linked together.

After my friend Rachel's comment on my blog about PerkStreet, I have decided to give this a try. (Who doesn't want 1 to 2% cash back on every single purchase?!)

So far, PerkStreet is great in that they seem to have tons of local ATMs where you can withdraw cash (perk!), but the downside so far is that I signed up online for an account a week ago but still haven't received my debit card or checks from them, so my account (and the money that I transferred) is just kind of sitting in limbo.

I'll keep you posted on the progress of my switch, but I would encourage anyone who is getting slapped with fees (Citibank, Regions and BOA are the biggies right now) to stick it to the man, and do something about this. Credit Unions are all advertising free, no fee, checking accounts, as well as ING Direct: http://home.ingdirect.com/products/products.asp?s=ElectricOrange, and the one I'm trying (backed by Dave Ramsey, if any of you care to know), PerkStreet: http://www.perkstreet.com/default.aspx

Whistling Dixie (part 2)

2011-10-17T11:52:00.002-05:00

This is an amendment to a post from a few months ago which commented on the abundance of current pop songs with whistling in them. After a road trip this weekend, the driver and other passenger also remarked on this whistling phenomenon, so we added a few newer songs to the previously-compiled list.

The Lazy Song- Bruno Mars

Moves Like Jagger- Maroon Five/Christina Aguilera

Are there any others I'm missing?

Next up, bringing back the sax solo (a la Katy Perry's "Last Friday Night") - gee, I hope that's not a trend!

I passed the test

2011-10-11T12:34:00.001-05:00

I'm still not claiming the "vegetarian" moniker, but I have been eating a vegetarian diet since mid-July. My family thinks I'm weird that I just up and decided to stop eating meat one day. And to be honest, I can't give you some big grandiose diatribe of why I'm doing what I'm doing; it's a lot of little reasons, and still very much an experiment, and yesterday in my little experiment, I passed the ultimate test!

We had dinner at O'Charley's for Aunt Peggy's birthday. O'Charley's, of course, is home to the famous Chicken O'Tenders, the main staple of my diet from childhood through college. After college my metabolism slowed down and I realized that man does not eat on chicken fingers and french fries alone, lest man get fat... so I started to become more health-conscious about what I ate.

This was my first trip to O'Charley's since I started eating vegetarian. That big green and white sign ominously stared me down as I entered the restaurant. I already wanted Chicken O'Tenders so bad and I wasn't even in the place yet!

Before ordering, I ventured a question to our server that I was pretty sure I already knew the answer to after glancing at their menu.

Me: Do you have any vegetarian options on your menu?

Dopey Server: No, I don't think so... do you eat chicken?

Did he really just say that???

I'm not putting Bradley on the vegetarian diet though, so he sat right next to me and got Chicken O'Tenders while I got a spinach salad, and 86'ed the chicken. I'm not gonna lie. When his plate came, I was so tempted to steal one of those chicken pieces. However, the longer I sat there, cutting up bite sized pieces for him with a fork, while straining to cut threw sinuous processed meat, the chicken tenders became less and less appetizing. The fries, however, I did steal on occasion from his plate.

I feel like David, just having beaten my Chicken O'Tender Goliath! If I can conquer a trip to O'Charley's and not give in and eat the Chicken O'Tenders, I can conquer anything.

Peter Piper did not pick a pumpkin today

2011-10-08T23:18:00.002-05:00

It was a busy day for us today: 9 a.m. Honeybadgers game, followed by a quick trip to Target to change clothes, and then we headed to Gentry's Farm in Franklin to pick pumpkins. After a brief stop at home, which was meant to be for a nap time that didn't happen, we left again to go to a family friend's 1st birthday party in Murfreesboro, and by the time we came home, Bradley was sufficiently worn out and ready for bed.

What a difference a week makes, too. Last Saturday, it got in the 30's overnight. Today it was, dare I say, almost too warm to be outside, gorgeous and sunny in the low 80's.

We have been to Gentry's every year since Bradley was a year old, but this year we paid the $6 to go into the activity area of the farm, and I am so glad we did! The activity area was nothing like I was envisioning, and was actually geared more towards preschoolers rather than older kids like I had assumed.

The little log cabin- B loved playing "house" in here

How Tall This Fall

Bradley measured at 37 inches- just over 3 feet tall this year. I hope we can keep coming back every year and take this same picture to see how much he's grown.

A table of pumpkins

Riding the kiddie tractors

As far as farm animals go, we saw sheep, goats, chickens, turkeys, horses, and cows.

Gentry's advertises hayrides, but that's misleading. Really, it's a tractor ride. They have this route down to a science, and it wasn't what I was expecting at all. One big tractor pulls 2 large trailers behind with wooden benches where everyone politely sits one right next to the other. The 6th generation owner of the farm gives you a little bit of history about the place, and away you go. We did get to see cows up close, and Bradley was just tickled to be pulled by a tractor, so I'd say the ride was still a success even though the rest of the historic houses on the tour were more appropriate for the adults.

Papa pushing B on the tire swing

I'm so happy playing with corn

Under one open air barn were rows of troughs with dry corn in them, with funnels, and containers of different shapes and sizes. You wouldn't think pouring corn from a funnel into a plastic bottle was the most fun activity ever invented, but Bradley would have stayed there all day if I'd let him. It was nice and shaded, plus there were bales of straw for the parents to sit on and rest while the kiddos played. I caught sight of some amazing That Ain't Right Inspiration, so hop on over here to see a lady with her back barn door wide open. I also had a conversation with a lady sitting next to me about what the difference is between hay and straw. According to her, hay is what the animals eat, and straw is what they put down on the ground. I'm still not sure what the difference is though.

Bradley with Grandma & Grandpa B

Bradley & Mommy

The quintessential Gentry's pictures on the truck- I have to get them every year!

Bradley's favorite part of the farm when I asked him was all the slides, and there were several.

Not scared to sit in the tree this year

showing off his baby pumpkin

Our last activity at Gentry's for the afternoon was to head out to the pumpkin patch and pick our own pumpkin. Last year, the Tennessee heat ruined the pumpkin crops, so there were none to be had. This year, we came too early. Even though Gentry's baited the field with orange pumpkins placed artfully by the edges of the rows, all the pumpkins still on the vine were green. I took Bradley by the hand and lead him dutifully into the middle of the pumpkin patch, cautiously watching every place my foot touched. The serpentine vines covering the ground only served to fuel my fears that we would catch sight of a snake, and be stuck out in the middle of a field! Bradley, I said calmly, now if Mommy tells you to run, you Run Now, okay? Luckily there were no reptiles seen on this venture. But if there had been, man, I was ready!

Our Peter Piper who did not pick a pumpkin

So alas, my dreams of picking our own pumpkin today were shattered. Oh well. It was fun to look, and hands down, the activity section of the farm was well worth the $6. It was a great way to spend this beautiful fall day.

Show me the Money!

2011-10-07T22:46:00.003-05:00

Some financial advice needed, here, particularly if you're local. I bank with Regions, and recently, I am now being charged $4.00 a month to use my debit card. I'm sorry, but I don't want to pay the bank money, so I can spend money. I called Regions about this a few weeks ago and they tried to placate me by telling me it's only 24
cents a day, and I responded, "yes, but it's $4 a month, and that adds up!" From what limited reading I've done on the subject, it sounds like most of the major banks are already charging this fee, or will be soon.

My temporary solution has been to use my credit card soley, and then pay it off as quickly as I make charges, but this is really a hassle, plus it takes several days for the payments to clear, which is annoying.

So I'm wondering if there are any financially savvy readers out there who know a way around paying this type of fee, or if you bank with another financial institution that isn't charging the monthly debit card fee.

A store story

2011-10-06T22:37:00.000-05:00

Fall is here. The countdown to Halloween is on, and Bradley is going to be Superman for Halloween this year. He couldn't be more proud to put on that costume! And it's not the cheapie-cheap kind either- this one has real "muscles" on it aka it's 3 times as expensive. I didn't care how much I paid for the costume the moment I saw him try it on when we got home, and his face lit up!

On that note, Bradley went on a nap strike last Sunday afternoon, so I took him with me to run some errands (getting the costume was one of them), and I warned myself before we left that taking an over-tired preschooler on a multiple store shopping excursion was possibly a recipe for disaster, so I prioritized and ran the important errands first. You know what? We had an absolute blast! Or at least I did, anyways. Sure, it took me longer to get through the stores because he stops to look (and touch) everything, but to quote one of our favorite bedtime books, Llama Llama Mad at Mama, "I think shopping's boring too, but at least I'm here with you."

I'll tell you another thing- shopping with a child is automatic spend-control! You can't browse too long in the purse section of TJ Maxx before being urged to move on to something else. Having Bradley with me kept me on track, preventing me from shopping for items that weren't on our list!

He was well-behaved, and he only knocked down one display at the Gap! Yeah, I ventured in there because I had a coupon, but decided quickly that this was not a good idea, nor was it a priority today.
Knock down a sign and make a racket? Time to go- see? That's automatic spend-control! I think I'm onto something here, and I'll be taking Bradley with me on ~~all~~ some of my shopping trips from now on! (Hey, a girl's gotta fall into the Gap flying solo every now and then...)

DZ mini reunion

2011-10-03T22:50:00.002-05:00

They say your college friends are the ones you keep forever, and I wholeheartedly agree.

Three of my sorority sisters, Amanda, Colleen, and Stephanie, drove down from Kentucky on Saturday to spend the night, and we had a fun evening out together. We reminisced and laughed about old stories. We caught up on each others' lives, and the lives of our fellow Delta Zetas (reporting what we had seen and heard through Facebook, of course) and even started to moan and groan about our newfound aches and pains as a result of getting older! While sitting around the kitchen table talking, we actually had to Google what was in a Jaeger Bomb was because there was a dispute about what constituted one! You know you're getting old when... :) Another "senior" moment occurred at Drakes where we went to eat, when two of us asked our server if they could split a Red Bull. The server kind of cocked her head to the side and said, "you mean, just a Red Bull, with no alcohol added in?" Yep, you got it!

It was a late dinner out, but an early night in for us that started at Drakes, and ended with us falling asleep on the couch watching Saturday Night Live! What we did and where we went didn't matter. It was the company that made all the difference. You could say the Delta Zeta lamps are still burning bright and true for us.

Eat More Gator

2011-09-26T22:11:00.000-05:00

I decided to delay Bradley's bed time on Saturday night and allow him to climb in bed with me and watch part of the Kentucky Florida ~~game~~ massacre. Upon looking at the Gators' helmets, Bradley asked me why they had Chic-Fil-A on their heads! It took me a split second to catch on to what he was seeing:

I have no idea how he knows what Chic-Fil-A's logo looks like by memory, but his comment cracked me up!

He wasn't really into watching the game (me neither, Bradley) so he kept asking me to turn back to "the hurricane." There was a show on the weather channel about Hurricane Katrina. A preschooler who's fascinated by hurricanes? Yep, he's my kid, alright.

A tale of two trees

2011-09-25T21:06:00.001-05:00

I found this picture of a tree. How would you describe it? Green- leafy- alive? Now what if I told you it was an apple tree? What good is a barren apple tree? What use is a tree bread to bear bruit that for whatever reason, doesn't?

I have pondered this question a lot lately in relation to my faith.

There are a ton of verses in the Bible that mention our faith in relation to bearing fruit. Sure, the ultimate goal for us is to accept Christ as our savior, and in doing that, we become truly alive. We are born into a new life that even death cannot take away, but once we reach that point, are we really living, or are we just green trees? Sure, we may weather the seasons, and get our nutrients, and even grow some... but what if the purpose for which we were created was never fulfilled? Christ may be our savior, but is He our Lord? And if not, does that really matter? I mean, our salvation is already assured, right?

When we become a Christian, we accept Jesus as our savior, but to allow Him to be Lord (master) of our lives, means we have to have a deeper relationship with Him; we have to nuture that relationship, feed it, prune it, and in other words, we have to bear fruit.

If we don't bear fruit, we are living a shadow of a life. And I for one am tired of being a living, albeit barren, apple tree. I'm ready to fulfill my destiny which God had in mind when He created me. And I'll know when I get there. Galatians is pretty clear of the signs:

But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Shown at the right is the exact same apple tree. I've got a ways to go. I've already got a savior. Now I need a Lord ... and maybe some apple pie a la mode.

Bathing in the Bible

2011-09-21T21:02:00.001-05:00

While reading Bradley stories from his children's Bible tonight, we got to the story of Jesus' baptism. Is it Big Jesus' bath time, he asked?

Blogging from work

2011-09-20T11:41:00.003-05:00

This is a test. It is only a test.

I'm trying this new Blogger gadget that will hopefully allow me to blog via email from work (or anywhere else, for that matter) by sending an email. Yes, I know, "Welcome to the 21st century, Mr. Banks." This technology's been available, but I don't have smart phone, and blogging sites are blocked at work. I could accomplish a whole lot more on my lunch hour if they'd unblock those sites... I'd also probably waste a lot more time at work.

So here goes my test... aaaannnnd, SEND!

The crazy Honeybadgers

2011-09-19T23:14:00.000-05:00

Two Saturdays ago marked the first soccer game of the season. Bradley's team is the delightfully inapproriately-named Honeybadgers! I re-watched the notorious viral video on YouTube again, and came up with a few G-rated Honeybadger quotes-turned-captions to go with a few pictures:

"The Honeybadgers just run all over the place"

"Oh the honeybadgers are just Ca-Razy!"

"Honeybadgers don't care- they just takes what they wants"

"Oooh look they're chasing things!"

According to Randall, the Honeybadger is the most fearless animal in all the animal kingdom according to the Guiness Book of World Records, and the most fearless team in all of 3 and 4 year old YMCA soccer, I posture.

Looking at the world through rose-colored corneas

2011-09-15T22:50:00.000-05:00

Getting pink eye as a senior in high school after making out with a hot trumpet player? Totally worth it.

Getting pink eye from who-knows-where as an adult, missing two days of work, and being out a lot of money from multiple prescriptions, over-the-counter drugs, and walk-in clinic visits? Mmmm, not so much.

I couldn't even enjoy my days off and go anywhere because a) I didn't know if I was contagious, and b) I was afraid people would start throwing garlic at me because I had vampire-red eyes.

Tomorrow will make a week that I've been plagued by the pink eye. At least I am back to work and functioning for the most part.

I stand my by declaration that pink eye is the only thing on this planet that I detest.

First soccer practice

2011-09-03T21:31:00.000-05:00

So here we are finally... day one of what I anticipate the rest of my life looking like- embracing the role of soccer mom, taking B to practices and games for his various sporting activities! While it's true, I love sports, I of course will let him explore as many different activities as possible and allow him to choose things that interest him.

About a month ago, I was clueless as to what a 3 year old playing soccer would entail. I thought Bradley could wear tennis shoes. Now I am educated and a few dollars poorer, as I have sought the advice from the other trailblazing soccer moms who've come before me, and we are now the proud owners of:

a size 3 soccer ball (does the size of the ball purposely coordinate with the age of the players? I have no idea.)
shin guards (to be worn UNDER the socks- don't laugh- I had to ask!)
long soccer socks. B now has a favorite color- orange, so he chose bright orange socks. I decided his desire to have his favorite color socks far outweighed my hesitance that orange wouldn't really "go" with much.
Soccer cleats, size 8. Most kids soccer cleats I found start at size 10. After a long search we found these, and now I'll be taking them back and hopefully getting a size 9. After complaining about them during practice today, B played the last few minutes sans cleats.

But how adorable is he, all ready to go to his first soccer practice today?

Practice wasn't a total fail, but it certainly wasn't what I'd envisioned either. My cautious child is going to take a while to warm up to these new people, and this new routine. While Coach Lindsay introduced herself to the boys, and did some basic drills and instruction, B stood hesitantly by my side. Here, the team is doing jumping jacks while Bradley watched from afar.

Not interested...

We're getting closer...

He was hot. He was tired. He wanted to go. All these excuses I dismissed. No way were we giving up after 5 minutes! I finally had to put the camera down and walk B over to where everyone was and do my best to encourage him to participate, which he finally did (in his socks there at the end)! So it ended on a high note. I really do think he'll like playing soccer, but after seeing how this first practice went today, I can only imagine what chaos the first game next Saturday will ensue!

Our after-practice thoughts (and no, he's not sunburned, his face just gets that pink from being hot.)

The shoe sagas aka What the Heel?

2011-08-24T21:48:00.000-05:00

At the recomendation of a friend at work, I took some shoes to Tony, the shoe repair guy in the Arcade. One pair needed some new heels, and the other were my beloved snakeskin heels that I have had forever, but the soles were really worn out on them. I figured it would be a wiser investment to fix the shoes I already had than to go buy new ones.

I knew I was in for an interesting experience when I dropped off the shoes when through his very thick accent, a smiling Tony told me my shoes would be ready "one of these days." "Okay," I said, a little unsure at what I was getting myself into.

Fast forward a few days. I pick the shoes up. Fast forward again. I wear the snakeskin heels to church.

I made it through one hour of Sunday school in my newly-repaired shoes when all of a sudden, while walking into church, the top of my shoe completely detached from the bottom! These are heels, people. There is no faking it. Either the shoe is in tact, or it is unwearable. And so, with no other option, I sat through church with my broken "recently fixed" shoe, and walked out of church barefoot.

The next day I took both shoes back to the shoe shop, only to find that- curses!- they closed at 3:30, and it was 3:31 according to my phone. So the NEXT business day, I hesitantly brought my shoes back to a smiling Tony. Once I explained my predicament, he was no longer smiling. I couldn't understand him entirely, but what I gathered was that he was not claiming responsibility for the broken shoe. He begrudingly took only the broken shoe, and told me it wasn't his fault, but that he would fix it just this once.

I tried to be as polite as I could have been, but really, I have had these shoes for maybe 6 years, and I've never had a pair of shoes break on me, and this one just happened to come apart after he ripped out the insole and applied a new one. Coincidence? I think not.

Fast forward a few days (I was too chicken to go in there the very next day, for fear that he would take it as a presumption on my part that it was be ready that quickly). I pick up my heel from a none-too-pleased Tony. Fast forward again.

I decide to wear my snakeskin heels to work. And THIS time, I will not be made a fool. I will bring a spare pair of shoes with me just in case...

Good thing I did, because you guessed it, about halfway through my morning, the OTHER shoe came apart! Now I was 100% sure my shoe repair man had somehow compromised the integrity of my formerly well-made, long-lasting shoes! Tony was definitely not happy to see me, and although I had prepared myself for fireworks, and he was much more subdued this time.

A few days later (yep, I waited again... too scared to face the man 2 days in a row!). This time, I took a posse with me. On our way back from lunch, 4 of us from work went into the shoe repair shop. One guy, a regular, chatted up Tony for a few minutes before he looked over and gave me a dirty look once he recognized me. He gave me my shoe which I quickly stashed in my purse, and motioned for the others to get out of there now! It was beyond awkward. But at least now I had both of my fixed-broken-fixed-again-heels.

Now I'm at a crossroads. Was this all for naught? Can I ever wear these heels again without having to pack a back-up pair? What if I let down my guard after wearing them for a few times, and don't have any extra on me, and the glue breaks down, and my shoes come apart again?! So as of now, I haven't worn them again, meaning that perhaps instead of saving money by having them fixed, I actually wasted it. What the heel?

Showering Rhonda Lu

2011-08-23T21:42:00.000-05:00

Now that baby Austin is due to arrive any day now, I figured it was about time to get this blog posed about Rhonda Lu's baby shower which I co-hosted waaayyy back in June! The BBC parlor was the spot for our gathering this June Sunday afternoon. I pushed our other 2 hosts for a brightly colored shower theme, bypassing the blase pale blue that's all over baby shower supplies. Happily, the other hostesses were on board. Costco did the super-cute and very delicious cupcakes. I fought with those hanging tissue paper flowers forever, and next time, if there is ever a next time, I will buy more tissue paper and wire 2 of what you see together to make more of a paper flower globe, which is what I was going for, but didn't really achieve this go-round. We decorated the food table with baby Austin's ultrasound pictures, and photos of Rhonda and Joe when they were babies (get it, for the photographer couple?!)

The lime sherbet punch was a hit! Thanks, George's mom, for the recipe. The diaper cake shown on the gifts table, I made TWICE... once at my house, and once in the church parlor after dropping it on the way into the church, with diapers spilling All Over the BBC parking lot!!! I was a hot, panicked mess by the time things got under way! Pictured above is Rhonda Lu with all 3 hostesses.
For our activity, we made personalized bibs for baby Austin. Lisa models her creation:

For the games, we played a celebrity baby guessing game with name tags that was a good icebreaker, and fun for our pop-culture-lovin' mom to be. While Rhonda opened her presents, we played a Baby Bingo game, and we also played the Play-doh baby game where each guest had to create what they thought baby Austin was going to look like out of Play-doh.

Far left is the winner, little Austin with his frisbee golf disc, just like his old man! Far right is Austin posing in a Blue Steele Zoolander face! Here, Rhonda is laughing as she tries to pick the winner.

To create a little ambiance and background noise, I updated the "baby mix" that I used for my own baby shower. It's such an eclectic mix, but every song has the word "baby" in the title. I had to skip past Jay-Z's I'm a Hustler Baby when that one came on because it was the un-edited version and we were in the church! Whoops!

Serious Brown ponders her Baby Bingo card

Instead of cards, we asked each guest give Austin a signed baby book to begin his collection.

Rhonda holds up the adorable personalized burp clothes with Austin's initials on it- ARH. Right after I snapped this photo I came to the realization that Austin's initials were very pirate-esque. ARRRRRRGH, I shouted, to the laughter of everyone there.

Me and my dear friends, Queen MAB and hot mom-to-be, Rhonda Lu

Little Austin, we loved showering you and your mom with lots of love and gifts, and we can't wait to meet you soon!

Not guilty

2011-08-21T22:57:00.001-05:00

You may not judge me, but that's okay, because I judge me enough for the both of us.

I carry around with me a tremendous amount of guilt for working outside the home and leaving Bradley at daycare every weekday. The pangs of guilt hit me every single morning when I drop him off, and every afternoon when I rush in to see him. But as a single parent, I just don't have that luxury of staying home with him anymore.

I walk in embarrassment and shame of being a divorced, single parent. When I meet someone new, and it comes up in conversation that I have a 3 year old son, I instinctively hide my left hand, especially at church, lest they find out I have a kid, but (gasp!) I'm not married. Why? There are enough divorced people in the world that I'm sure people don't bat an eye at my bare left hand, but for some reason, I can feel the blood rushing to my cheeks as I have that uncomfortable conversation in my head where I assume I know what this new acquaintance must be thinking.

For over a year I have been judging myself harshly for these two offenses, and there are many more counts I have against myself as well.

So that's why something Mike said this morning in church really struck a chord with me. He summoned up the image of a courtroom, when he remarked to a friend years ago how he always felt like he was on trial in his head, constantly beating himself up for his failures. God was there, sitting as the almighty judge, and there was the prosecutor, exposing every sin in accurate, truthful detail to the judge. This friend of Mike's reminded him that it was unconstitutional to be on trial with no representation, and that he in fact, did have a defender sitting at his table. That defender is Jesus, and he intercedes with God on our behalf.

It was such a refreshing reminder, because I too have Jesus sitting at my table, and you do too, if you allow Him to. I wish I understood why it was so easy to preach God's grace to others, but being unable to accept that free gift myself. I guess I just need to remember that for all those crimes I commit, someone greater than I, with the authority to do so, has already served the sentence, bailed me out, paid the price- whatever metaphor you want to use, and my record has been expunged in the eyes of the judge. I have been declared "not guilty." Who am I to argue with that?

It's not easy bein' Green

2011-08-17T22:34:00.000-05:00

I wish had some grandiose epiphany anecdote to explain my recent adoption of the vegetarian diet, but I don't. Really, it's been a long time coming, ever since I read Skinny Bitch a few years ago, and since I've slowly but surely been paying closer attention to what I put in my body. I also have this weird abhorrence for eating food that looks like the animal from whence it came that has gotten worse the older I get, so my enjoyment of meat has been dwindling for several years. About a month ago I finally decided I would take the plunge and see what all the fuss was about with a vegetarian diet. Here are a few things I have noticed so far:

1. Bonus number one, I am eating way more fruits and vegetables. I mean, you have to replace the meat with something, right?

2. My taste buds have changed, and since I've made a conscious effort to eat more fruits and veggies, a pleasant bonus is that I have discovered some new fruits and vegetables that I didn't used to care for, I tried again, and realized suddenly that I now like them. (Cucumbers and Blueberries are two)

3. I am also eating less carbs (read: no bread for the non-existent sandwiches), so this is also a plus, but as a result of eating less carbs, I am also getting hungrier sooner. Let's face it, a salad just does not stick to the ole ribs for long!

4. Just being honest- how many overweight vegetarians do you know? I have put back on some weight in the last year, and I want to get back into my skinny jeans, and I figured this new eating regime might help jump-start that.

5. This is something I'm passionate about: Childhood obesity is a growing epidemic in this country, and kids form their eating habits for the rest of their lives in their early years (read: Bradley's age). So if I model good eating habits for him now, and he is exposed to good-for-him foods now before he has any idea what Coca-Cola is, he's way more likely to continue those healthy eating habits into adulthood.

6. Eating more healthy is a trend that tends to be circular. If I eat healthy foods during the day, I'm less likely to binge on junk food. I don't crave it as much, or if I do, I'm able to keep the cravings in check by eating only small portions of whatever it is, or else I remind myself how well I've eaten today, and that I don't want to blow it.

7. One negative is that I have noticed a HUGE DROP in my energy level. Not enough protein or iron? I started iron supplements a week ago, so now I'm waiting to see if I notice a difference. I cannot keep going to bed at 9 o'clock. Something's gotta give.

So now the question of the hour: What the heck am I supposed to bring for lunch every day? This has been one of my biggest challenges so far. (Well, that, and trying to wrap my head around the fact that if I keep this up, I might never eat my beloved chicken fingers ever again). My fall-back has always been turkey sandwiches, but now 2 slices of bread with mustard and cheese and no turkey is just not an appealing lunch choice.

At any rate, I have been surprised to learn of so many closet fellow vegetarians coming out of the wood works to support me in my endeavor and offer up recipe ideas. To those who have suggested I try quinoa... I'm a weenie, and I've been too scared to try it, but I promise I will!

2011 Williamson County Fair

2011-08-09T22:34:00.002-05:00

Sunday, we took advantage of senior day, and went to the Williamson County Fair.

The "Seniors"

It was extremely hot, so we alternated doing indoor and outdoor activities. Indoors, we looked at, and got to pet some of the animals. One man let us pet his prize chicken. "What's his name?" I asked encouragingly, as Bradley pet the bird. The man hesitated, looking at me, and then answered, "Buffalo Wild Wings!" This would not be the first time I asked a stupefied male the name of his accompanying animal. Minutes earlier, I paid $5.00 to let Bradley have a pony ride. Really, I felt sorry for the ponies. They're hitched together and only get to walk around in a circle under a tent. Bradley and I walked up to a sweet looking pony, but for some reason, Bradley did not want to ride. I tried to ease him into the situation, talking to him, and letting him pet the pony. "What's her name?" I asked the Hispanic man who took our money. All I got in return was a blank stare, and a glance over to another carnie. Ahh. No habla Englais. Okey dokey. Even after making up a name for the pony ("Lady") and offering to stand right next to him while he just sat on the horse, Bradley was having nothing to do with it. So the non-English speaking carnie sadly gave us back my 5 bucks, and we walked over to ride the Nemo Ride.

Now Bradley has been talking about the Nemo Ride for days- ever since I started pumping him up about the fair, and showing him This Video from last year, I warned him that we didn't want another repeat incident! I explained that if he didn't want to ride any rides, and if he didn't think they were fun, then he didn't have to ride them!

Luckily, B was a little more into the rides this year. The exceptions were the roller coaster- maybe a bit too brave on my part- and the panda bear ride, which was his last one for the night, and I think he was just exhausted.

Mom and I rode the Tilt-a-Whirl again. Standing in line for the ride, I realized it was us, and a bunch of teenage boys! We didn't care, and the ride operator got a kick out of us. We spun our stomach in knots and screamed with childlike glee.

A repeat shot from last year

A group shot of the six of us

So what does a vegetarian eat at the fair? Well I had a jumbo pretzel and a large lemonade. Not the most complete meal, but really, we were just sort of snacking. Bradley ate a cherry Italian ice, and sported a red mouth the rest of the night!

The kids exhibit was the same as last year, but it's really educational and fun. The kids go from station to station, gathering "fresh produce" and ultimately selling it at the market to buy a treat of their choosing. Pictured left is Bradley getting an egg from the chicken coop, brushing a sheep to collect wool, posing with Mommy in front of the corn, feeding the cow some corn kernels, milking the cow, and proudly displaying his ice cream sandwich, his purchase at the general store.

Another indoor activity we stumbled upon, while looking for the Native American exhibit, that ended up being a bust, was this animated clown show. She was corny, and not at all scary as some clowns often are. She asked for volunteers, and to my shock, Bradley raised his hand to come up and participate. Even more hilarious was that minutes after walking to the front, he remained in the "volunteer" position with his hand in the air! It was precious. Two teams of kids unrolled toilet paper rolls as fast as they could while the audience cheered them on.

An evening treat of cotton candy amidst the lights of the midway

After our tickets ran out, we sat and listened to a mediocre bluegrass band play several songs. How can anyone now enjoy live bluegrass music, I wonder? It's a toe-tapping warm fuzzy of stringed instruments, and tight harmonies.

Next year, we plan on going later so we can stay for the fireworks. Our last ride of the evening was a speedy Gator ride back to our car, thanks to the volunteers driving guests to and from the parking lots.

Once home, Bradley proudly displayed his fair prizes. He won 2 of the animals, picking up ducks, and popping balloons with darts, and Laura won him the snake playing a different game. The snake he has named "Ott" which is what he names every single toy these days. The others he named, Orange Dog, and Pig. Very original, right?

After a long sweaty evening at the fair, the end of the night showers were a refreshing treat.

Locust invasion

2011-07-31T22:33:00.001-05:00

What better way to suffer through the summer heat than to sit by the pool? So that's what we did last weekend up in Indiana with the Huber/Harris clan. My papa Huber used to say ~~fondly~~ curmudgeonly that the locusts were invading (aka in swarms) whenever our whole family would converge upon his house. My cousin Ryan's fiance Whitney's shower was on Sunday, so on Saturday, the "locusts" headed north, and we took advantage of Lisa's pool.

While on the car ride up, Buzz Lightyear decided to break it down for us:

We stopped in Hawesville, Kentucky to see Russell, Vicky, and their 2 guinea pigs, Bert & Ernie before crossing over into Indiana. We also raided Russell's garden and came home with some fresh veggies. Russell made the joke that it was a good thing he'd worn his "good" wife beater for the picture!

I had my heart set on a relaxing day by the pool, but with Bradley's new found enthusiasm for the water, he didn't so much want to stay in the shallow end of the pool! It didn't help that he was watching his older cousins run and jump off the diving board, either. Can you believe this is the same kid who wouldn't let me turn the sprinklers on the slip-and-slide on at the beginning of this summer?!

The gang: Michael, Mom, and Lisa

The Huber-Harris-Bradleys

Thanks, Michael-Missy for bringing that ginormous container of cheese balls! B really loved them.

Jerry doing the famous "Harold Malone" dance

Bradley with Addison, Braedon, & Garrick

Whitney's shower was held at the K of C on Sunday, and it was such a success that we had to leave and head back to Tennessee before she even opened her presents. This weekend was somewhat of a challenge for me since I had just started my vegetarian diet. Sunday, we made a Tasty Freeze run for lunch- a local burger joint up there, and I had to politely decline, even though a hamburger was sounding really good. At the shower I almost reached for one of the meatballs that Lisa had made, but then I remembered my new eating regimen, and had to pass them up. It's not that I will stick with the veggie diet forever perhaps, but I couldn't cheat once or twice on the first week and really say I was committed to trying this.

"Knights of Columbus, that hurt!"

While the girls went to the shower, the guys took the kids to see the fire trucks since my cousins and uncle are on the volunteer fire department. I don't have the pictures for this venture yet (ahem, Michael!) but I can confirm that the loud noises startled Bradley and he cried! Oh well.

My favorite quote of the weekend came from my cousin Garrick. Another sibling told on him for having my aunt's iPhone.

"But I wanted to play Angry Birds," he whined.

"Well you know better- you're supposed to ask before you take my phone." His response?

"But you always say no!" Made sense to me!

We had a great weekend. Good times were had. Jerry sent us home with a stockpile of veggies from his garden too (it was a great week to turn vegetarian with all the free fresh produce I was given!) And the wedding is just a month away- now all I have to do is find some wedding music to sing!

All up in the Mustard

2011-07-27T12:00:00.000-05:00

That's right. I'm all up in the mustard, and I can't catch up! So here is my catch-all summer blog with some pictures to document the events that will never get talked about otherwise:

During our trip to Lawrenceburg at the end of May, I sprang for a Coke in a glass bottle at Argo's family's fruit market. It's amazing to me how much better the beverage tastes in a bottle!

A Coke & a smile

Buzz Lightyear and "Woody" watching tv together one morning... and yep, Bradley has the same, sleepy wonky eyes as I do before he fully wakes up :)

This kid could have run around and played at the play place, but all he wanted to do was sit on Ronald McDonald's lap. I've had to rescue Bradley from the tops of indoor play spaces on more than one occasion, so if all he wants to do is chat up RM, I'm fine with that.

I took Bradley to my work picnic, a Sounds game, at the beginning of June. We watched none of the game. He talked to a few of the baseball players, had me chasing him all over the stadium, and picked out this foam finger from the gift shop.

Proof that we were actually there, even though we saw no baseball game!

Did I mention it's been blazing hot this summer? To cool off, Bradley plays in his slip-and-slide.

My porcelain-skinned smiling boy

Ah yes, the classic "Roar!!!!!"

The Touch-A-Truck event at Pinkerton Park in Franklin. Bradley enjoyed seeing the semi truck, and climbing into the fire truck. He did not enjoy the garbage truck that honked its horn and made loud noises. Actually, to be honest, he cried. I thought boys were supposed to like trucks- what the heck??

Eating the Fruit By the Foot that Aunt Missy sent home with him. B was asleep on the way home, and the second we woke up when pulling in the driveway, Bradley asked if he could have his FBTF that he knew she had sent back for him! Bradley, of course, had never had FBTF, and so he tried to put the entire thing in his mouth, wrapper and all, when we were in Evansville. He also consumed massive quantities of cheese balls. Thanks, M&M for remembering how much he enjoyed the cheese balls last summer, and for personally making it your quest to introduce him to every junk food known to man :)

Throwing his new football, a belated birthday present from M&M. He's also wearing the adorable T-shirt I got for Bradley on Etsy for his birthday party.

Getting braver with the water on the slip-and-slide. Seriously- when we began our S&S adventures this summer, I could only have the water spraying up about 2 inches. For the most part, Bradley is an extremely cautious child. It takes him a while to warm up to new things, and while it can be a little off-putting at times, I'm praying that cautious nature continues through the teenage years.

Finally, I was able to convince him that getting wet is fun! Yay, we finally like the slip & slide!

More to come... and one of these days, I'll get back to blogging on a regular basis.

But I really love technology

2011-07-26T23:31:00.000-05:00

Why am I still up past 11 o'clock on a "school night?" It's because this dadgum technology is too convoluted for my simple brain to figure out.

I currently am the proud owner of 2 Gmail accounts, 1 Yahoo account, 2 YouTube accounts, 2 Google accounts, Picasa, Reader, and probably some more Google related accounts that I'm probably forgetting. And so I have been painstakingly trying to merge them all into one nice happy account tonight, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen. Oh, and I've also been trying to uninstall and reinstall a printer so I can scan some pictures on another computer. And I'm typing this from my old Mac, which is so defunct that it won't connect wirelessly, so it has to be directly connected to a modem.

I also did download a new song from Amazon tonight- Good Life by One Republic. It's one of my current favorite whistle songs, and was free with a credit I had.

I do so heart technology (she says dripping with sarcasm).

On a side note, I am considering making the leap from Yahoo to Gmail permanently, but I'm not convinced it's going to make my life any easier if I can't link up all my current accounts. Any whiz kids want to weigh in on this?

Whistle While You Work (and Sing)

2011-07-22T22:34:00.000-05:00

I've noticed an astonishing number of songs with catchy whistle hooks as of late. I'm not sure how or why this trend has taken hold, but just today I heard 3 of these on the radio, and I'm sure there are more.

Home- Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros
Tighten Up- The Black Keys
Foster The People- Pumped Up Kicks
Good Life- One Republic

Then of course, there are these classic whistling ditties:

Sittin' On The Dock Of The Bay – Otis Redding
Wind Of Change – The Scorpions
Don't Worry Be Happy – Bobby McFerrin
Walk Like An Egyptian – The Bangles

I guess Frauline Maria and the Seven Dwarfs had the right idea. Whistling does make ones work go by faster, and more cheerfully. Has anyone else noticed this trend? What other songs am I missing?

Follow That Diva!

2011-07-18T22:43:00.000-05:00

I've added this nifty box to the right, as you will notice, where you can save yourself the trouble of checking to see whether I've added a new blog to read, and you can now Subscribe and get blogs sent right to the comfort of your inbox. Nifty, huh? The box is labeled, Follow that Diva, so go on and follow. Be that lemming over the edge of the cliff. You know you want to...

Thirty, Flirty & Thriving

2011-07-15T22:27:00.002-05:00

A couple of my favorite gal pals turned 30 this past spring, and they also happen to be some of the best party planners I know. These fabulous ladies threw themselves the most amazing 30th birthday parties, and I'm just glad I got to celebrate with them, especially considering I was vomiting with food poisoning on the night I was supposed to celebrate my ~~30th~~ 21st birthday!

Miss Mary Anna Brown, aka Queen MAB turned 30 on April 12th. That weekend, she hosted a group of friends by booking us a hotel suite in Midtown. We noshed on appetizers and wine while we got all dolled up, and then had an excellent dinner at Sunset Grille. After dinner we frequented a few bars including the Tavern, and Broadway Brewhouse (mmmm, Bushwackers!). If only the tattoo parlor had been open just a wee bit later, someone might have got a new piercing that night! It was funny trying to explain to the cabbie who took us home why we were from Nashville but staying in a hotel. He was a different ethnic background, and so I feel some of it was just lost in translation! You would think that was the end of the night, but wait, there's more! Our hostess with the mostess thought of everything. We put on our jammies, and MA opened her gifts, then we capped off the evening with champagne and cupcakes.

the birthday celebrating night-owls

Former roommate Stephanie turned 30 on May 21st. Steph planned a spectacular visit to Nashvegas to celebrate her big birthday. She came into town on a Friday afternoon where she picked me up, and we drove south to Lawrenceburg, Tennessee to spend the night with Argo. I made Steph an awesome mix cd, titled "Steph & Da: the UK years" with all of our favorite songs from college, so we jammed to that with the convertible top down on our drive. I was fascinated to learn that the horrible cicadas that plagued Middle Tennessee at this time did not inhabit Lawrenceburg, and so we were able to enjoy a festive cookout at the house that night with several new friends.

A funny street sign in Lawrenceburg- the corner of First and First

The Nexus of the Universe (you fellow Seinfeld fans will love this.)

Me, Steph & Argo with our "mascot," Dozier

On Saturday we drove downtown to yet another Nashville hotel to celebrate Steph's birthday. Likewise, this birthday hostess provided beverages for us to sip as we got dressed and ready before the limo picked us up. That's right, a limo. We had champagne during our ride around Nashville until it was time to make our dinner reservation at Sambuca.

Here's to being "thirty, flirty, & thriving"

"29 Until Further Notice"

Steph had these amazing cocktail napkins for us

One of the funniest things I thought about our dinner at Sambuca was that every single one of us ordered a pizza (except for Steph who got some kind of sea bass- not the mutated kind, though). I wondered why we bothered to go to a swanky restaurant if all we wanted was pizza! The live band sang happy birthday to Steph, and we obligingly sang along, much to the dissatisfaction of the other diners, I'm sure.

The former Sugar Shack Girls reunite

After dinner, we hit The Big Bang piano bar, and then Paradise Park on the LoBro strip. (I love how two different weekends going out in Nashville can be two totally different scenes.) As much fun as the evening was, I was ready to call it a night, and ready to see my little guy the next day.

These two ladies are as smart and witty as they come. I guess that's why they were wise to befriend yours truly. We sassy ladies tend to move in packs, you know. MA and Steph are each well-versed in planning spectacular shindigs, and so I am thankful to have taken part in two amazing weekends celebrating their fabulosity.

More 4th of July Fun

2011-07-11T21:39:00.000-05:00

The weekend of the 4th we went to visit Michael, Missy, Braedon, Garrick, and Addison in Evansville, Indiana. This was our sort of family get-together for the 4th of July. It was basically a relaxing time of sitting out in the backyard and watching the kids run around, listening to music, and doing what our family does best- talk and laugh. We had a family water balloon toss game, which Braedon and I won. The kids swam in the pool, jumped on the trampoline, had a fierce water baloon fight and ran around together from morning til night.

Bradley & Addie in the baby pool

Mike & Mike trying to figure out the pool filter

Garrick models the latest fashion of wearing your socks with your swimtrunks

Braedon was such a good sport by letting the little ones throw water baloons at him. He then unmercifully threw them at his younger brother Garrick and brought him to tears!

Cousins in the pool

Our 4th of July Funfetti cupcakes that Bradley helped me decorate

Cupcake time

Stupid me, I cut off Addison's face in the picture, but it was still a really cute one of her and Bradley

Since Bradley could not get enough Cheeeeeese balls at Michael & Missy's house last summer, they made sure to have a huge container of them for him this time too. Bradley was obsessed with them! The proof is in his orange mouth and fingers! When jumping into the pool, Bradley was yelling "Cheeseball!"

"Um, I think you mean 'cannonball,' Bradley," we told him.

watching the fireworks out front

Braedon reads a Toy Story book to Ginger, Garrick, Bradley & Addison

Sunday morning Braedon practiced his pitching with Uncle Mike. We affectionately call Braedon "Justin Bieber" because he has been mistaken for the popstar many times with his shaggy hair!

Uncle Mike the pitching coach

Made in the shade

Family picture on the front porch

Thanks Michael, Michael-Missy (Bradley's name for Missy), and kids! We had such a fun time, and can't wait to get together again!

A City Girl's 4th of July Lament

2011-07-07T22:11:00.003-05:00

Two things you should know about me:

I am a city girl at heart and

I like to be up front and center, in the middle of everything.

So when we decided to check out Franklin's fireworks for the first time, I tried to make sure we were going to be where the action was. Apparently the fireworks are set off from behind Franklin High School, and some internet research pointed towards Harlinsdale park as the spot to watch the festivities. A city park in Franklin sounded like a good place to watch fireworks to me.

Imagine my shock when we pull into a gravel road on a farm. Next imagine my horror when I open my door and step out into grass so tall it swallows my ankles. So this is Franklin's idea of a park, is it?

What's crazy to me is that cars were pouring in by the dozens to line up in rows, with parking attendants organizing the whole thing. We might have come here by mistake, but there were plenty of other people who knew what they were getting into and came here on purpose! Where was the park? We were in a cow pasture! Where were the playground and the manicured lawns? Off in the distance was a barn with a silo, and right above it, we overheard, was where the fireworks would be. So now I'm in a field, and not anywhere close to where the fireworks would be! Sorry, but part of the thrill of fireworks is the loud booms. We were so far off that I might as well have stayed at home and watched them through the trees.

Thankfully we brought plenty of bug spray, so we loaded up. Good thing too, because there were flying insects swarming, and the second I started to spread out Clifford, the Big Red Blanket, I saw a ginormous spider scurrying through the grass with a bulbous egg sack on its back. Minutes later I caught sight of another spider on Clifford. That was enough to give me the heeby jeebies, and I was done with the cow pasture! I was wearing flip flops, and I wanted nothing to do with the creatures lurking in that tall grass. Mom feels the same way I do about the country, so we made the best of it, and climbed into the safety of the back of the SUV to watch the fireworks.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Well this picture says exactly what I was feeling.

I was also misinformed that the fireworks would have coordinating music on one of the local a.m. channels. This too, turned out to be wrong information. I guess I'm spoiled by Nashville's fireworks that draws a hundred thousand people, has live music, and are shot off right downtown on the river. It's one of the top ten fireworks displays in the nation. And instead, I'm in a cow pasture watching explosions so far off in the distance over a barn, that I could clap my hands and make more noise than the these fireworks. I think we're not in Nashville anymore, Toto.

The fireworks lasted about a half an hour, and Bradley enjoyed them. He kept calling the multi-colored ones, "the Christmas tree ones," and this he repeated over and over. I watched the flying bugs out of the corner of my eye to make sure none of them invaded our vehicle. I just could not relax!

I thought Bradley's running commentary was so amusing that I took some video footage of the fireworks with him chattering in the background.

If you want to park in a field, and watch the fireworks in near silence, hop in your cars and be home in ten minutes, then the Franklin fireworks are for you. Not me though. I want lots of people, and deafening explosions among the backdrop of the River, the Titans stadium, and the downtown skyline. I want my neck to ache from craning it upwards, and I want fallen ash to float down on me. I want to hear the Nashville Symphony play the Stars & Stripes forever while the booms and bright lights fill the sky. You can put the city girl in the country, but you can't put the country in the city girl. Next year, I'll fight the crowds in Nashville, thankyouverymuch.

BTM: The Beach

2011-07-06T22:15:00.001-05:00

Aside from the ho-hum post on our beach trip, with all the gorgeous ocean shots, and pictures of yours truly as a bronzed beach goddess, and a rundown of our food, here's the stuff that's truly entertaining and blogworthy!

The frozen drink selection at Bamboo Willies:

Steph and I chose the Williewacker. It was a lot more fun to say and order than to drink. The frozen concoction was very average.

Outside of our namesake store, Sandy Bottoms, there were these great stand-ups for picture taking. Here, Laura and I ride the dolphins...

and Steph does her best Daryl Hannah impression!

On our way to and from Pensacola Beach we drove through part of the National Seashore- an area of the beach dedicated to preserving the natural wildlife. There was a 15 mph speed limit enforced during one stretch of the road to protect the nesting shorebirds. We followed a car on our way home one night that must have really cared about those shorebirds because he was going way too slow. Fr some reason the shorebirds popped up in all sorts of conversations this week. You'd be surprised to discover just how relevant those nesting shorebirds can be to all things beachy.

Now here's real sisterly love right there. Laura's rear end and thighs were burned, and I volunteered to rub aloe on for her. If you're thinking this picture just "ain't right," you should have seen the angle of the other 2 shots Steph took because they were far less appropriate than this!

Blue Steele makes an appearance. I mustered up my best model face to try on a hair bow that Steph eventually bought to wear to a horse racing event she's attending.

A photo in our condo of the owners- or at least one of them.

I'm not sure who the lady is with our condo owner.

The street names on Navarre beach are named after states, and they're in alphabetical order. It makes finding your street a piece of cake, unless, of course, you can't remember the alphabet. We had some kind of discrepancy like this, which prompted Stephanie to ask aloud if we knew the song "Fifty Nifty." Did we know it? Please! Laura and I proceeded to sing the tune in its entirety, which made for an amusing ride home.

The Sandy Bottom Girls and the beach monkey

A drink on the menu at the Beach Monkey Grill- I have a feeling this was supposed to be a "rajun cajun" martini. I noticed just now too that "pepper" is misspelled as well. I would be willing to bet this restaurant won't be in business long. Any place who's that careless with their menu has got bigger fish to fry. Pun intended.

Speaking of fish, our server that night, Brandon, admitted to us that he just found out that tuna is actually a kind of fish. Is Jessica Simpson still single? Because if so, I think we've found her soul mate!

UK Alums pose with a picture of their flag at Helenbacks

Having fun at the Navarre Pier

Look what we caught!

Stop.

Pier Rat

Since we didn't end up fishing, Stephanie asked a fisherman who was finishing up his lunch if she could take a picture holding his fishing pole. Forgive me, but the innuendos of Steph getting to hold a black man's rod that day were too much!

Strange decor at the East Bay Crab House. What is it about Santa Claus that says seafood to you?

Or how about cheap looking picture of Jesus? Doesn't this image make you want to eat crab legs?

A photo from our cheesy beach photo session- "look over there," we seem to be saying.

We printed off a good picture of Laura and me, and then scoured a few souvenir shops searching for a classy beach frame... at least that's what I wanted. Laura, on the other hand, found a frame of a shark, with its jaws open. In the shark's open mouth was the opening for the picture. I had found a frame covered in sea shells. Since it was just the 2 of us, and we both had our own ideas of what our dad would appreciate more, I suggested we settle our frame debate rock-paper-scissor style. Best 2 out of 3. It came down to the last round. A shark frame now adorns our dad's dresser.

Our condo included these two prints of Hurricanes Dennis and Ivan. "Hurricane Bradley" could not have been more ecstatic. There was even a dvd of a local new channel's footage of Hurricane Ivan. I might have actually made Laura watch the dvd with me.

The condo was decorated in a martini theme. Laura takes a sip from the martini lamp.

The Pumper coozie makes an appearance on the beach!

One night Stephanie decided on a whim that 888 were her lucky numbers, and so we rushed into the gas station to buy a lottery ticket. The gas station attendant thought we were crazy, and flirted with Steph. For some reason, Florida doesn't have a "pick 3" so Steph settled instead for a scratch off one, and a Powerball ticket. I am still waiting for my third of her winnings.

What did we crazy girls get into down in Florida? We played rousing games of Old Maid and Uno! It had been so long since any of us had played Old Maid that we actually had to read the directions on how to play first. This particular deck of cards had characters on each card. We were each dubbed to represent one of the characters. I was Birdwatcher Beulah. Don't ask me why. Stephanie was Minnie Bucks, because she was looking to strike it rich from her lottery winnings. Laura wound up with the Old Maid, which was ironic since she was the only married one of the three of us, and she's the youngest!

And finally, I present to you as promised, drunk old people dancing. If my camera battery hadn't been dying, I would have filmed longer, but as it is, this 48 seconds is worth your time.

So those are some of the fun and funny moments of the trip. I am finally done with the beach blogs!

3 year stats

2011-07-04T15:13:00.001-05:00

Now that Bradley's been three for almost a month, I figured it was time to catch up and post on his 3 year check-up! We LOVE our pediatrician Dr. Gordon Davis, and Nurse Karen. And it seems we have been there enough that when they call Bradley's name to go back, he runs down the hall and gets on the scale without being asked! He also has favorite books in the doctor waiting room. So here are the 3 year stats and an update on Bradley:

All tests run were normal
No shots needed at this check-up
Strep test was negative (I asked them to do a re-check on this because I thought Bradley might be a carrier for strep since he's had it several times this year- negative result means he's not a carrier)
Weight: 34.5 pounds (78% percentile)
Height 36.8 inches (34% percentile)- hence we have a short, stocky boy
Dr. Davis always marvels at how socially advanced Bradley is, and told me that he will be the kind of kid to make friends easily and be a natural leader- what parent doesn't love to hear this?
Not to worry about the picky eating, but continue to give him a daily multi-vitamin
Praise him for the successful pottying attempts and give him small rewards, and not to criticize the accidents or failed attempts
Not to worry about the short attention span or the temper-tantrums
Favorite foods at 3 years: cinnamon raisin toast, chicken fingers, yougurt, turkey, goldfish, ice cream sandwiches, suckers
Least favorite food: any vegetable
Favorite show to watch on TV: Tom & Jerry
Favorite movie: Sleeping Beauty
Favorite books: Goldilocks & the Three Bears, Buzby the Misbehavin' Bee, the volcano chapter of a book on animals and nature.
Favorite toy: None. He likes to be entertained, and play chase, although he will throw a football, kick a soccer ball back and forth, or hit a baseball for a few precious minutes before moving on to his next activity

I have heard other parents say that behavior-wise, three is worse than two so we are bracing ourselves, but I am happy to report that Bradley is now potty trained! Praise the Lord, I do not have to buy another box of diapers ever again! Instead, he got to pick out some new big boy undies this week- he could choose between Cars and Superheros, so he chose the Superheros.