NART!

Hello again. It's been too long. too long. Hello again

2008-10-27T12:16:00.002-05:00

Hi. Not going to bore you with empty promises to update more.. Just going to update.

A list. Because I'm a woman and a mom and lists are the only way that I can organize my thoughts anymore.

1. Harper is growing like a weed. She's 9.5 months, just started to get her first tooth and is getting into everything.

2. I'm still doing The Mommy Movement. I'm enjoying it a great deal. Had class this morning and it felt good to be active.

3. Started a food journal to look into what's going into my body. I'm counting calories, recording thoughts, and thinking about what I'm eating.

4. Rob got me a Nike+ Sportband for our anniversary so I'm able to see how many calories my workouts are burning.

5. I'm discovering that tech-wear for working out is expensive.

6. I just bought my first pair of rollerblades. Wrong time of year to fall in love with this activity, but I'm going to try to get back out there a few more times before it is too cold.

7. Harper just dumped her entire snackball full of puffs out on the floor. Fun!

8. Buying baby clothes is way more fun that buying adult clothing. Little outfits for little prices.

9. I'm currently addicted to Doctor Who. We watch a couple episodes each night on DVD.

10. I just finished knitting my first sweater for Harper. It's the first thing I've knitted that wasn't flat. It isn't perfect, but I'm still proud.

Another random update entry accomplished!

this is a test for kim!

2008-08-28T16:02:00.001-05:00

Watching the numbers get bigger...

2008-06-25T22:52:00.002-05:00

There is nothing scarier than the first time your child has a fever. How do I know this? Because it is 10:53pm and Harper has a fever. She hasn't been herself today, and tonight the numbers on the thermometer crept up and up before our very eyes.

There are a million things that could be causing this little body to be burning up. The tamest is teething. The worst is probably some undiscovered disease caused by breathing air in a new grocery store. (Did I mention we went to the opening of the new Whole Foods today?)

I have learned many things as a parent in these few months. Tonight I learned that watching your baby suffer because of a fever is very scary... and that the difference between vomit and spit-up is a.) the smell and b.) the horrid convulsions that go with throwing up. Watching your infant throw up is second on the scary scale for the evening.

I have been absent from blogging lately, but have been here reading. It's hard to write daily or even weekly when you have a very curious little girl. She isn't content just to sit. She wants to explore and touch everything.. and promptly put it in her mouth.

As I mentioned above, today was the grand opening of a new Whole Foods. This made me very happy as this one is HUGE and closer to my house. This means that shopping there on a regular basis is a reality. Harper will be eating organically and I will be making the majority of her baby food for her. The nearby Whole Foods will make that much easier. Today I purchased some avocados, black beans, and garbanzo beans for myself and mangoes, peaches, misc babyfood for Harper. I am purchasing the organic (Earth's Best) baby food that I don't think I could make myself. This means peas and pears. Peas because I hate them and pears because they are the ninjas of the fruit world when it comes to ripening. They always seem to go from under ripe to over ripe under my care. No stopping at just right in between.

On my way home from Whole Foods today, I started to experience aura. This, to put it simply, completely sucked. I raced home as quickly as I could and started to treat. My mom came over and watched Harper while I took a heavily medicated nap.

Today was an exciting day. Not the type of excitement I'd like, but eventful to say the least. I'm hoping that Harper has a good night and is fairly comfortable. Even better would be if her fever would break and she would be better from here on out. If this is all caused by teething, then we can expect to go through this another 20 or so more times. FUN!

An Executive List for an Executive Transvestite

2008-05-30T12:05:00.002-05:00

1. It is Eddie Izzard Day!
2. There is a cute, squirmy infant strapped to my chest.
3. I'm listening to the Blast! Soundtrack. Love Simple Gifts and Appalachian Spring.
4. DMB is 8 days away.
5. Bestie Kim is awesome and moving to England. I am both excited and sad about this.
6. Rob is kicking ass on Operation: Rip All CDs owned.
7. Kiddo hasn't been sleeping 100% lately. I'm thinking it's either teething or a growth spurt/mental development time. Co-Sleeping has been the only thing that has been working.
8. I don't know what I'm going to wear to Eddie Izzard tonight.
9. Staying at home is awesome. I love it.
10. Picking strawberries on Tuesday. Looking forward to it very much.
11. This list goes all the way up to 11.

Where am I? Why am I here?

2008-04-29T22:00:00.003-05:00

Hi. Remember me? I sure as hell hardly remember you, ol' blog. What have you been doing while I have been away?

Nothing?

You're lazy.

I have been raising a wonderful little girl. She's sleeping 10 hours a night and growing like a weed. She smiles and laughs and grabs for toys and daddy's face. She doesn't fuss much and when she does, she's fairly easy to calm down.

I've been doing quite a bit of reading. I've been sucked (har-dee-har-har) into Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter books. I'm on book 6, and there are about 16 books. I'm averaging one book every 2 days. I'll be done in no time.

I'm starting to cook almost every night. We plan our meals for two weeks out and actually make them happen! I bake on Sundays, meaning that we have fresh whole wheat bread at our house currently. There will be more goodies and experimentations as the weeks fly by. I hope to post about some of them.

Along with the current cooking, I'm going to begin exploring some vegan recipes. No, we're not going all vegan in this household, and I have a freezer full of meat to prove it. (Sorry, Liz.) I am looking for new ways to incorporate veggies into our meals. Vegan cooking tends to be more creative, so I'm looking into it.

Spring is here, so I'm starting to plant, and as per usual, failing at it. I'm hoping to buy fruits and veggies while they are in season this year and do some canning and freezing. I want to make my own baby food for Harper and I'd like to use the most flavorful fruits and veggies if possible... even if that means freezing. The flavor is still better than the shipped in stuff. (And I'll be supporting local farmers!)

I'm generally looking into making my life and home greener and more efficient. I'm using earth-friendly cleaners, still using the cloth diapers (and loving them!) and trying to consume less. It's a small start, but I hope to grow with it.

You see, Blog, while you've just been sitting here, I've been playing housewife and doing a fairly good job at it. I have big plans for the remainder of the year and I hope to be able to come here to talk about them. Will you be here, Blog?

Of course you will, lazy ass.

I swear I'm still alive!

2008-03-13T12:36:00.002-05:00

I have a 2 month old now. She's 12lbs and cute as can be!

In other news, I need your opinions. I'm currently interested in one of 3 cases for my new cell phone. I'm getting a Samsung Blackjack II, which just happens to be the same size as an iPhone. This means that there are many more cute sleeves out there for me to choose from.

These are the three that I like best. All are from Etsy.com because I like to support crafters and buy handmade!

1. Cherry Blossoms from Janine King Designs.
Thoughts: I love the elegant and simple design of this one. Zipper closure, padded and has a clip for all my clipping needs.

2. Baby Duckles' Rock N Roll Part II
Thoughts: The main perk of this one, besides being kick ass green, is that it has a pocket that I could possibly use for my bluetooth headset. My only concern is magnetic closure - what?

3. Jasmine Flora from Oh My Guiles!
Thoughts: Cute fabric, padded, soft interior to prevent scratching and a clip. Doesn't close like the Janine King one - is just a sleeve.

Your opinions - I wants them.

On a side note - as my daughter is getting into some sort of routine, I hope to be appearing here more often. :)

Pay attention to the post time...

2008-01-30T03:03:00.000-06:00

As you can probably see - It's approximately 3am as I'm writing this. My daughter from the time she was born, didn't want to sleep anywhere but in my arms. This trend has continued, and I believe that at this point, it's only 75% her doing. I have to admit that there is a part of me that loves having this tiny person snuggled into my chest each night.

But tonight is different. Tonight, I'm not tired. I've been up since I fed her at 1:30am, watching 30Rock on the Netflix streaming video. I've watched the clock and wondered when she's going to get hungry again. I'm sure it will be about 10 minutes after I finally fall asleep.

In the first week or so that she was home, she had her days and nights reversed. We have this straightened out, but I think it's me who has my days and nights reversed at this point.

I'm giving her (and myself) until she's a month old to continue with the current sleeping arrangement. After that, I will be trying to train her to sleep on her own in the cradle or the pack n play. I really think this is going to be just as difficult for me as it is for her. Every noise she makes, I want to check on her. Every time she hasn't made any noises for a while, I want to check on her. I'm sure you can see where this can be a problem.

I'm learning that being a parent is confusing at the very least. On one hand, I want nothing more for her to sleep on her own, but at the same time, I want to hold her every second of every day. Even if it isn't the best thing for either one of us.

It's amazing how much you can love something. This love started before she was even born. We knew we loved our daughter unbelievably. Now that she's here - well, you don't know how much you're willing to sacrifice yourself, or what you believed you were, for another person. The hours I've lost in sleep and time to breastfeeding, diapers, and comforting my daughter are nothing. Ask anyone if they want to be woken up every 2 hours (or every hour during a growth spurt) and have their body mangled and tugged on - I'd be willing to bet it's not high on their priority list. Ask a parent if they want that, and they don't seem to mind. At least I know I don't. It's an adjustment, but it's not impossible.

I'm sure I seem like I'm rambling or that I'm on some parenting soapbox, but it's not my intention. (C'mon! It's 3am for Christ's sake!) It's just me getting what I'm thinking down somewhere. I can't talk to anyone about it right now, because Harper is resting peacefully on my chest and Rob is lying in bed...snoring.

I'm just going to continue to get as comfortable as I can in my recliner and watch more 30Rock in hopes of drifting off to sleep. I'm sure someone will get hungry in about an hour anyhow.

Thanks for listening.

Little hands, little feet... little baby!

2008-01-22T12:49:00.000-06:00

We've been home for a little over a week and Harper is 11 days old. Having her in our everyday life has been an adjustment, but a welcome one. We're adjusting to our new sleep schedules or lack there of. Harper seems to only want to sleep when she's on one of our chests. This is apparently a common issue, and should resolve itself with a little intervention from us.

Thanks to everyone who sent well wishes and words of encouragement. The 2 days of labor were difficult, to say the least. While I wasn't in a ton of pain for the majority of the time, it still isn't an experience that I would recommend or wish upon anyone.

The c-section and the recovery from that hasn't been all that bad, actually. The worst part has been the sleeping situation. But we'll get better at it.

Rob heads back to work tomorrow. That's when the true test begins.

Cautionary Whale

2008-01-08T13:26:00.000-06:00

Just consider this the "before" picture. Here I am, 40 weeks pregnant and trying to make Harper appear via Wii Bowling. She moved around like mad when I would sit between frames. I really thought it might work!

I had no idea how round I was until Rob took these pics. We've been taking periodic pictures of my stomach to track the growth, but this is the first time I actually appear to have a basketball under my shirt.

For those of you who don't know: Unless something amazing happens in the next 16 hours, I'll be heading to the hospital bright and early tomorrow morning (like 5:30AM early...) for an induction. If I'm being honest, I have to say that I'm not 100% happy about this outcome. It's rather nerve wracking to schedule the date that your life is going to change completely. I'd rather be surprised about the time I'm going into labor.

This also means that I'm trying my best to stay busy today and get everything done that I want to get done before Harper arrives. Otherwise, I'd be pacing the hallway while my nerves took over completely.

One thing I've worked on today are these cloth wipes! Cute, aren't they? Rob and I plan on using cloth diapers 99.9% of the time with Harper, so it only makes sense to use cloth wipes as well!

The wipes are pink on one side and this fun grey pattern on the other. I used flannel and decided to make them 2-ply. My hope is to get good at this and be able to set up an Etsy shop and sell a few.

My friend Bek loaned me her serger to complete them. I have to say that I have no idea how I lived without a serger before now. These only took about 45 minutes to complete. So easy! I'm going to be looking into purchasing one for myself and my mom to share.

This will probably be my last blog post for a while. (Not that I've been posting a ton lately, anyhow...) I'm sure that I'll be spending plenty of time getting used to having a 3rd family member and answering her every whim. It's a strange thought that tomorrow, I become a mom. I suppose it's strange for anyone who knows exactly what day their life will begin to change.

Harper will hopefully arrive tomorrow, January 9th. This is providing I don't labor all day and she's born after midnight, making her birthday the 10th. There's a good chance that we'll be coming home with her on Friday, Jan 11th. Happy Birthday to Me!

I'm going to try to post more over at Lammle Lounge to update everyone on how she's doing. Check that site often for updates!

Lizzle! Lookle here!

2007-12-20T11:59:00.000-06:00

I just picked up the book, Raising Baby Green by Alan Greene and I thought it might be something that you'd be interested in. The title is rather misleading. While yes, it touches on having a green pregnancy, childbirth, and child products - it's mostly a great resource for greening up ones home.

Anyhow - I found a copy at Barnes & Noble. Check it out if you're interested! :)

37.5 weeks

2007-12-17T17:18:00.000-06:00

Today starts my maternity leave. It's awesome. I'm not going to lie. The only thing that could possibly make it better was if I was being paid for it.

I'm 37.5 weeks pregnant. I had an appointment on Friday and found out that I'm a little over 1cm dilated. This basically means that my body is progressing towards labor.

After coming home, and throughout the weekend this and this happened. (Do not click if you're squeamish. It can be gross for you non-breeding types.) Sunday, I started to feel a few pains in my lower abdomen. Today, I've felt some on and off throughout the day. I called my Dr.'s office to talk to a nurse and she said it sounds like contractions and chances are good that Harper will make an appearance before Christmas. I'm excited, but at the same time wish there was a way to know for sure that it was the real thing. (Besides the whole water breaking thing - which only happens to about 1/3 of women before labor.)

Anyhow... that's my update for the day. Exciting, eh? I'll keep everyone posted as things progress and hopefully - I'll be sharing pictures of my daughter before the end of the year!

Currently, I'm starting my quest for a diaper bag. I really like this one, but don't know if I'm going to like it as much in person. If anyone has any diaper bag suggestions - I'm all ears!

If I don't get a chance to blog again before Christmas, I hope everyone has a safe and warm holiday!!!

Went through the desert on a horse with no name...

2007-12-11T20:28:00.000-06:00

Have you ever packed for a destination unknown? That's how I've been feeling lately as I try to wrap my head around going to the hospital a two-some and coming home a three-some. I'm trying to pack for myself and Harper so Rob doesn't have to make trip after trip out to get things, but it's rather difficult.

I feel that the lists you read in the books tell you to bring way too much. My hospital is about 10 minutes away from my house... 15 if there is traffic. I can't imagine there would be anything that I'd forget at home that couldn't be replaced. I wonder if this is a normal way to feel.

Then, there's the fact that I probably won't be leaving the house much (if at all) in the two weeks following Harper's birth. That's another aspect that's difficult for me to wrap my head around.

Right now, I'm trying to figure out what bag to pack, what to bring with me, and what I need to purchase new. For example - I'm looking at nursing night gowns. That's one thing that I think I'm going to want in the hospital. I tend to sleep wearing a tank-top or nightgown anyhow - so sleeping in something with a high collar doesn't appeal to me (like a hospital gown). The two I'm looking at are this one at Gap.com and this set at OldNavy.com.

I'm certainly open to opinions if anyone has any. In addition to needing a gown, I'm thinking about getting a long robe to wear during my stay and beyond. I have a short one that I wear at home, but even that is a little cold now that it has turned to winter. I don't really like fleece or terry-cloth robes, so finding one has been difficult. Does anyone else like robes and have a good source for picking one up?

I suppose I'm writing this post to complain that packing for a trip where you don't know what to expect and you don't know when it could happen, makes things difficult. It also makes it hard to be completely motivated. I guess just the fact that I'm looking around and considering makes me more motivated than if I were sitting here doing nothing.

Doesn't it?

A moment of your time...

2007-11-14T15:16:00.000-06:00

1. Project Runway starts tonight!
2. I have 50 days until my due date.
3. My toes are cold.

Bad blogger!

2007-11-11T08:38:00.001-06:00

Okay, so I forgot to post yesterday, but I swear I have a very good reason. Since I wasn't really trying to win anything with this NaBloPoMo thing... I don't feel that bad.

Yesterday was our marathon day of learning where babies come from. We started the day at 8:30 am in a small classroom. There were 11 couples. There were supposed to be 12, but Vickie, our instructor told us that one of the couples that was supposed to attend gave birth early. After sitting through the entire day of information yesterday, I can not imagine giving birth for the first time without having attended the class. This couple was cutting it close.

The day filled our brains with any and all information we could possibly want. At the end of the day, I felt really good about our choice to deliver at that hospital. The hospital really allows the mom to create their own experience while staying there. They have LDRP (Labor, Delivery, Recovery, postpartum) Rooms - This means that I check into one room and that's where everything happens. The only time I leave that room for anything is if, by some chance, I require a c-section. Most babies stay with their mom's in the room as well, unless Mom requests that the baby have some time in the nursery so she can rest a little. The hospital seems to know that everything about childbirth is extremely personal and that every woman has their own choice and preference. I really appreciate that.

The one thing I wish they would have mentioned was cloth diapering. For those of you who don't know, Rob and I plan on cloth diapering Harper. We will use a combination of cloth and gdiapers, but mostly cloth. We will have one pack of disposables around at all times for emergencies, but it really is just for emergencies.

It was I that initiated the interest in cloth and gdiapers, for environmental reasons. Your thoughts on impact on the world change significantly when you're bringing another generation into the world. After researching cloth (almost to death - more on that later), I discovered that there are many other benefits to using cloth besides environmental impact. The average baby goes through 6000 diapers before potty training. That's a lot of money! Cloth is re-usable, most times for more than one child! The financial reasons sealed the deal for the two of us.

I understand that this choice isn't for everyone, but it makes so much sense for us. We don't mind doing laundry, and with so many cloth diapering choices out there today (it's not just pins and prefolds like our parents put us in...) it makes it really easy to use.

I'm thinking of starting a new blog about my adventures in discovering cloth diapers. That will be the basis of it, but it will also expand into other green ways to raise a child and articles of interest. I'm in no-way trying to convert anyone, but sharing the information makes me feel as if I'm doing a little bit more for the world.

Color me magenta!

2007-11-08T16:47:00.000-06:00

you are deeppink
#FF1493

Your dominant hues are red and magenta. You love doing your own thing and going on your own adventures, but there are close friends you know you just can't leave behind. You can influence others on days when you're patient, but most times you just want to go out, have fun, and do your own thing.

Your saturation level is high - you get into life and have a strong personality. Everyone you meet will either love you or hate you - either way, your goal is to get them to change the world with you. You are very hard working and don't have much patience for people without your initiative.

Your outlook on life is very bright. You are sunny and optimistic about life and others find it very encouraging, but remember to tone it down if you sense irritation.

the spacefem.com html color quiz

For today's post, I found out what color I was. You should do the same.

I don't feel like dancing, no. No dancing today.

2007-11-07T09:26:00.000-06:00

Another day, another post.

This is a quickie I'm trying to crank out before anyone else comes into the shop (workers, customers, etc).

A good day is started with a peppermint mocha. Even in decaf it's still yummy on a chilly morning... even if this morning wasn't chilly enough for me. Then again, I'm crazy.

I do love this time of year tho. The tree across the street from my office is really pretty right now. You know... the one in front of the place that teaches you how to cage fight. (I wish I was kidding...) The weather is cool enough that I'm wearing a nice black cowl neck sweater with a pumpkin colored tank under it.

I'm getting sidetracked easily, because I'm no longer the only one in the office. Must be time for me to get to work!

Hello again!

2007-11-06T18:56:00.000-06:00

Have you ever Etsy'd?

For those of you who aren't familiar, Etsy is a place where crafters and other handy people can sell their wares for the public to purchase.

Here's a few of my favorites I've found tonight:

A pair of cute felted baby shoes.

I love everything in this Joanna Goldman shop.

How about a rockin' wallet?

I've kicked around the idea of starting my own Etsy. I have several items mulling around in my brain that I believe could make me some extra cash and make a few people smile. Now, all I need is time.

I'm sure once the baby is here I'll have plenty of time, won't I? Won't I? Guys? Anyone? All I can hear is the deafening sound of laughter...

Weekend Wrap-up

2007-11-05T08:46:00.000-06:00

Friday - Came home to find Rob, who had a "compromised cornea" laying down to relieve a headache. Sat next to him and got on the laptop for a while. Eventually ended up drifting off to sleep myself. Woke up around 8:30 and rousted Rob as well. We headed to Little Caesar's for $5 pizza and then back home to relax while eating pizza and watching season 1 of Project Runway. Eventually, I headed to bed.

Saturday - Took Rob to the eye doc early in the morning to have his cornea checked, then headed to our favorite thrift store. Found a nifty little ottoman for 5 bucks and brought it home for the nursery. Cleaned a bit in the nursery as well as around the house. Mom stopped by briefly to see the progress in the nursery. After she left, we didn't do a whole lot during the day. Lowns came out around 5:30 and we headed to Boone's Crossing. Beth & I shopped for girly things while Rob and Nate shopped for manly things. Picked the boys back up and headed out in search of dinner. After a frustrating attempt at eating at both Cheeburger Cheeburger and Cheesecake Factory, Harper dictated that a wait would not do, and we had Espino's instead. Yummy Mexican food was had by all. Headed back towards our place via Chocolate Cafe to pick up dessert. Kim joined us at our place and the 5 of us watched Knocked Up.

Sunday - Woke up earlier than normal due to DST ending. LOVE the end of DST. Started to clean up dishes from the night before when Mom showed up. She was picking something up but had the Best Buy ad in her hand. Asked what we thought of a certain laptop. Thought it looked great and the price was right ($600) so we headed over there to get her a computer. Purchased everything she needs and went our separate ways. Rob and I headed to Home Depot for shelving systems for the office. Came home and put it all together and started to organize DVDs while I sat upstairs with Kim. Kim used my laptop while I loaded things onto Mom's. Headed back over to Mom's to have dinner and help her get her wireless network setup.

That's about it for our entire weekend. We didn't do a whoile lot but that's because we didn't really feel that we had a whole lot to get done. It was rather nice. I'm baby brained even more than usual lately, but I've read that's completely normal. I'm making plans and getting everything into place. I only have 8 weeks to go before Harper is scheduled to put in her first appearance. I simply can not wait.

Hi there.

2007-11-04T09:34:00.000-06:00

Ever heard of NaBloPoMo? Me either until now. I'm not interested in the drawings or the prizes or whatever, but I think that blogging every day would be a good exercise. Force myself to take time out and actually think, rather than continue to walk through the day in my usual foggy state.

To update everyone, I'm getting bigger. I have 8.5 weeks left to go (approximately). Time has just flown by.

Today is going to consist of laundry and getting shelves up in the office. Rob is in the middle of a major overhaul in the office that will leave each of us with nifty workspaces and plenty of storage. I'm getting to a point where I crave storage. I want everything to be placed somewhere certain in matching boxes so our home looks like a photo out of blueprint mag. Think we can make it happen? I hope so.

Liz, how is your home coming along? I look forward to more pictures soon!

An' another thing...

2007-10-07T20:05:00.000-05:00

Here's a great question - what the hell happened to Wal-Mart?

I'm not saying that it's my new favorite place to shop, but when I can't really sit in a car for 6 hours to hit my closest Ikea, I'm starting to find that Wal-Mart online is a resource for affordable modern design furniture.

Tonight, my search has brought me to finding storage solutions for Harper's room. We have a cute dresser we purchased at Value City (another place that can give me the heebie jeebies) and modified with some monkey drawer pulls, but we're also in need of a place to stash diapers, wipes, toiletries and other necessities.

As most of you know, I'm not one to go for the conventional items when it comes to my furniture. I'm often finding new uses for existing items, but this is one place where I was having trouble... until my search lead me to walmart.com's office furniture.

This is the 2-Door cabinet from the W Collection. At $130, it's a great deal for something that might be able to be used as a changing table and storage, and is attractive enough to be moved to another area of the house if Harper somehow decides that she's destined to be a pretty pretty princess, rather than a modern design diva. Also, at $130 for what I'm assuming is pressed board, it's a piece that I will have no qualms about rehabbing, modifying, and finding new uses for in the future. Maybe my daughter will have a creative urge to draw all over everything? One coat of chalkboard paint or chalkboard contact paper will give her storage she can label herself.

This is the W Collection hutch. Made to go on the cabinets I posted above, it's sold separately for $75. I think this would sit rather nicely on the floor and make a modern, affordable, kid-friendly bookcase. With baskets or boxes it could hold small toys as well as Harper's favorite books. As she grows, we could add it to the cabinet to hold a stereo, hair accessories, or anything else a growing girl needs/wants.

I'm not saying that all of my shopping will be at Wal-Mart from now on, (God no!) but I will definitely include their site in my searches for inexpensive storage and furniture solutions.

"Let's make it ours, baby!"

2007-10-07T12:30:00.000-05:00

This has been our crazy nursery/baby weekend. It started on Thursday afternoon when we had our 3D ultrasound. (Check out Lammle Lounge for a few pictures and 7 seconds of Harper pushing against my stomach. Amazing technology...) Then that night when we headed to Wal-Mart to pick up our crib that we ordered online. We were surprised that Wal-Mart, even online, would have affordable and modern furniture. While Rob was waiting for the crib to be brought out of the back, I headed over to electronics to see what was new in the land of Wii. To my surprise they had 2 Nintendo Wiis sitting on the shelf. My boss had mentioned earlier that week that she was looking for 2 of them for Christmas presents. Calls were made, Wiis were purchased and reimbursement checks were written. It was a good night.

Friday evening was spent assembling the crib and making an impromptu trip back to Wal-Mart to price crib mattresses. Found a Sealy mattress for $60 bucks that looked nice and purchased it. Headed back home to put bedding on and get a better feel for how everything was going to look and plan for additional details.

On Saturday we stayed in bed way too long before getting up to get back to the nursery. Rob painted the windowsill that was still pink from the previous owners. (We didn't paint it because we didn't want to deal with taking down the blinds.) We were going to replace the blinds with something much nicer anyhow, so we took the opportunity to take them down and do the painting.

While the paint was drying, we decided to head to La-Z-Boy to price recliners for Rob. The one he has is almost as old as I am. Recently, he mentioned wanting to find an inexpensive replacement recliner. Me, being the wise woman I am, suggested he screw inexpensive and get himself a nice quality one at La-Z-Boy. The one we currently have lasted 25 years (and through numerous moves and families) so why not pay good money for one that will last another 25. He agreed and we decided to start looking.

Once there, we asked about the Todd Oldham line and were sad to discover that La-Z-Boy was no longer going to carry it. (From looking at their site, though... I have my own theory. I don't believe that the entire La-Z-Boy corporation is going to get rid of the line. I think it wasn't selling well in the St. Louis market, or possibly just St. Charles County. This doesn't shock me, and actually worked to my advantage.)

While there, I looked at some of the closeout pieces and found a Todd Oldham wing chair in the nursery colors for only $200. (The chair is similar to this one. The fabric type, if it doesn't come up in my link, is Central Park. I will post pictures as soon as I have more done in the nursery.) My mother was ready to purchase a glider for me at that price, so I sat my butt in said chair and made a phone call. She said it was up to me, and the chair is mine. (I'm actually sitting in it currently to write this.) Not far from the chair was a coffee table that caught our eye for only $50. The amazing thing about both purchases is that the chair originally retailed for $800 (which means it was 75% off!) and the coffee table was originally $700. Now, anyone that purchases a coffee table for $700 or more that doesn't have the name Nouguchi (or something equally recognizable) is nuts, but we'd have to be crazy to pass it up at $50. Some quick thinking also lead us to purchase a yard of the fabric used to upholster our beloved chair to use on a thrift-store ottoman to have a matching set. Viva la Creativity!

After a quick stop at Lowe's, we returned home to do some major rearranging and hang our new roman shades in the nursery. A long discussion was had and we finally came to the conclusion that the days of the futon were over. A new stage in our life was starting, and it's a futon-less stage. I have had major apprehensions about ridding ourselves of the futon, simply because I wasn't sure if I would still be able to lift myself from our platform bed once my stomach got larger. I have yet to have any issues getting out of bed, and I'm 7 months along, so I figure I'll manage. Everyone who's ever slept on the futon loves it, so it's sad to see it go.

Saturday night was spent with me having one long drawn out major asthma attack and us breathing new, modern life into a toybox my grandfather built for me for my 3rd birthday. The toy box is nothing special to the average person, but I've always loved it. It was covered inside and out with contact paper showing yellow bears at play. I can remember from a young age, the bear at an easel was my favorite. I've decided to leave the bears on the inside of the box for Harper to enjoy, but I've removed the paper from the outside (more on that in the future) and replaced it with a faux wood grain contact paper. We'll also be adding white trim to the box to have it match the other elements in the room. I'm happy thus far with the result and can't wait to complete it and post pictures.

This brings us to today. Rob headed to the Fire Department this morning to get some work done, and I started laundry, did dishes, and headed to the grocery store. My father arrived at 1pm so he and Rob could load things into the truck to take to Goodwill. Along with the futon, we're saying goodbye to a cheap-o coffee table, a 27" TV, clothes and other miscellany. Once they return, we'll be loading up my great-grandmother's dresser to take to my mother's. I love this dresser, but it's just not right for our style currently and I don't want anything to happen to it.

(Okay. I'm back. I actually just left the computer to hibernate while I ran to Mom's house with Rob and my dad with the dresser and etc. I hope this will explain if my post is all over the place. This was not one continuous train of thought.)

With everything gone, we're now in a simpler place. It's a strange feeling to get rid of things that have sat around for so long, but us being in this place in our life, I feel that it's necessary. It is symbolic of moving from one stage in life to the other.

The rest of the weekend (okay, really the evening) holds laundry, dinner (oven baked chicken, cornbread and mashed potatoes... probably some applesauce to substitute for some sort of veggie), knitting, and studying. It will be a nice, well earned rest and dinner, as we've worked our butts off this weekend to get things ready for our little one.

I will post pictures as they come and try to post thoughts more often as we near Harper's appearance. I don't know if anyone has noticed (probably not as I haven't really blogged) but I have a counter on the side of the page that shows how far along I am.

I do have a question for all of you: Do you prefer Flickr or Picasa Web Albums for your online picture storage/display? Currently, we use Picasa Web Albums because we have picasa for our photo organization on the computers, but I'm going to be looking to Flickr more often (hopefully) so that I can post photos to my ravelry site. (After months of waiting, I finally got my invite to beta test.)

Please let me know your answers via comments.

What am I doing?

2007-09-09T21:20:00.001-05:00

Well, I'm writing a weekend update while Rob studies and we get ready to eat the lasagna he's made for our dinner. Yes, it's 9:20pm on Sunday, but that doesn't mater. Harper will enjoy lasagna at any time in the evening.

Friday: We headed out for dinner at Outback for okay steaks (I've discovered that I enjoy Longhorn steakhouse a little better) and then proceeded to... well, I just don't remember what we did next. It was fairly unimportant I'm sure and somewhat uneventful.

Saturday: I woke up and headed into the office at 8:30am to tweak a design that my boss would sewing out over the weekend. It was a pain in the ass to get ready for sewing and of course, it was a rush order. I'm seriously starting to hate the general public by working in this shop.

Met my mom back back home where we grabbed Rob and headed out to Chesterfield Mall. Mom and I shopped while Rob went to see 3:10 to Yuma. (Look for a review on SMX, I'm sure...) I purchased a new purse, more MAC wipes and some more foundation. I also found some wonderful wonderful WONDERFUL pants at Old Navy that I will be purchasing many more pairs of. (Pregnancy + comfy pants = heaven) Met up with Rob, hit Applebees for lunch and then headed home. I took an impromptu nap while Rob did....something else. I have no idea. I dozed off in front of the laptop in bed. After my nap, I was looking to get out of the house so we headed out in search of new shoes for me which proved successful. ($8 pair of slip on cheap-o tennies at Payless and $7 pair of slip on shoes for Rob) I'm not wanting to spend a lot of money on shoes right now because everyone says that your feet change during pregnancy. We'll see. We headed to Lowe's to look for storage solutions and then hit Wal-Mart to purchase white onesies and iron on transfer paper. Headed home to get creative. Look for pictures of said onesies in the coming days. (No, really, I mean it....) Stayed up way too late watching Undeclared.

Sunday: Woke up late and headed to Costco for bulk food lovin'. Headed home where I took an impromptu nap (I'm getting good at these...) while Rob worked on... something else. Once again, I have no idea what. We then headed over to Mom's with some rubbermaid tubs as she's kind enough to let us store some of our crap at her place. Hit the grocery store for the remainder of the lasagna ingredients and came home.

Which brings us to now. The lasagna is resting on the stove, the rolls are in the oven getting all warm and yummy and I'm bringing this weekend update to a close. There's lasagna to be eaten and Undeclared to watch while eating it.

Yum.

Where's a cop when you need one?

2007-08-22T10:59:00.000-05:00

This happened about a week ago:

Rob and I were on our way to Best Buy to pick up Flash Gordon so Rob can re-live his childhood years. The light turns green and I head on out. Someone from the intersection on the right, decides to make the turn regardless of my having the right of way and completely ignoring the fact that he was cutting me off.

I honk at him and make an ugly face and complain loudly with generous profanity to Rob...then I look in my review.

There's a cop coming up behind me at full speed with his lights and siren going. I pull over, wondering to myself when honking became illegal... then my mood completely changed.

He pulled over the guy who cut me off! Justice was served! Right before my very eyes!!!

Needless to say, while Flash Gordon made Rob's night...watching an idiot get pulled over because he cut me off, made mine.

I <3 Irony.

2007-08-03T23:59:00.000-05:00

This is a football.
This is a football on clearance.
This is a Michael Vick football on clearance at Target.

In the pet supplies section.

Sorry for the blurry phone pics, but I was giggling at the time. I can't imagine why.

I'm Knit-tarded!

2007-08-01T15:15:00.000-05:00

I'm at home today. I woke up with the room spinning. Thinking it was just how hungry I was, I stumbled my way to the kitchen (literally... I was holding the walls to stay upright) and had a yummy breakfast. It didn't help.

I may have an inner ear infection, and because I can't take much, I'm waiting on Rob to get home with the prescription that my doc called out for me.

I'm doing a little work from home, stressing of financial woes, and getting in a little knitting. I've started my knitting earlier this year in hopes of actually having a scarf for Rob by the time the weather turns colder. (Instead of the half of one that he's had in previous winters.) I've discovered that I'm knitarded. That is, I don't know how to make anything but scarves, really. I can do flat things, but that's about it. I'm going to devote the next few weeks to learning how to knit properly so I can fulfill my dream of being a stereotypical cartoon pregnant lady (or chicken, or cat, or whatever cartoon creature you watched while growing up.) Which means, I want to knit baby things.

We're looking to green up our lives a little once the baby is here. I've always been a hippie at heart, but now I have some one on board with making our lives and the way we live better for the future because we'll have the face of the future staring back at us. Rob and I are already committed to using gdiapers and cloth diapers as much as humanly possible. We're concentrating on getting/making wood toys for the little one as the wood is much more sustainable than plastic. We already use cloth napkins, and are trying to cut down on our paper towel and paper plate usage.

The thought of becoming a parent makes time passing mean something. I'm not trying to say that it doesn't before, but from the moment of conception, you're looking at a lifetime of milestones. 12 wk, 16wk, 20wk, 40wk.... 1st trimester, 2nd trimester, 3rd trimester, due date, first sound, first smile, first giggle, first word, first steps.... there are many touchstones that you can measure time with when you add another person to your family. For us, it also means we're paying attention to how we treat each other and the world around us. I don't want our child to have the asthma problems I've had. Solution #1 for this is to get the eff outta MO. Seriously. This is the worst place to live if you have allergies and breathing problems. (Okay, not the VERY worst, but we're in the top ten.) Solution #2 - treat our environment better. Solution #3 - Pray that genetics don't get the best of the little guy/gal.

I'm rambling at this point, and I'm fully aware of that. But that's what you're here for right?

Right?

Guys? Still there???

Damn.

For the love of God...

2007-07-26T10:20:00.000-05:00

Please... those of you who will have families some day.

Never name your child after a type of wood. I just typed (yes, to get ready for embroidery) the name: Mahogany.

Betsy Ross, I ain't!

2007-07-03T09:21:00.000-05:00

Just got into work this morning and had to hand-sew some patches on a couple of hats. Fun stuff. One looks like a retarded 6 year old did it while riding in a car on a gravel road, the other looks alright. Looks like I figured it out by the second one.

Spend all evening yesterday prepping for Brasher Bash. Like Rob said, it should be a good time. Honestly, I've never been to one in the past, but I've heard plenty of stories. Apparently when these would take place while we were in high school, it was the best place to see some of your teachers and band parents urinating in public, vomiting, and just being generally hammered...and then having their students/children drive their drunk asses home.

I still have some things I want to do for the bash tonight. I'll be making some homemade sparkling lemonade and a pan of brownies to bring with. Yesterday, I was at the Brasher's cooking potato salad, mexidip and veggie dips. The food should be a damn good spread.

Today I'm at work, but I have the closed sign up. I'm only going to be here until noon or one and then I'm heading out to get ice and possibly cupcakes for the party. Then it's home to see if my swimsuit will cover the growing tummy. If not, I'll be heading out to find a new swimsuit for the party.

That's all. I should get to sewing some of these things that aren't going to sew themselves.

I hope everyone has a safe and happy 4th! Have a drink for me!

Babylicious Update

2007-06-22T13:33:00.001-05:00

Today, I'm 13 weeks pregnant. This means I'm entering the 2nd trimester officially. This is often known as the "Honeymoon Phase" of pregnancy as the vast majority of your symptoms go away and you feel really good.

As morbid as the thought may be, I'm excited to have made it this far. I worried, fretted and drove myself and everyone around me nuts because I was constantly fearing miscarriage. Things that I have near no control over scare me. But here I am! 2nd trimester! I'm allowing myself to get super excited and to maybe purchase a thing or two along the way.

To celebrate this milestone, I sent in my pre-registration for the hospital I plan to give birth in. I'm also hoping to get into a prenatal yoga class in the near future to limber up my body and make it as prepared as possible for giving birth.

There are a lot of things to consider when planning for a new family member. One of the things I decided early on is to try to be as green as possible with this child. This means that I'm going to avoid disposable diapers, (no, I'm not using cloth, but I'm going with g-diapers as much as possible as they decompose quickly) I'll use cloth bibs, and I'll try to avoid bottles with disposable inserts. I really hate the fact that so much of our lives is disposable. Rob knows this, but I hate paper plates. I'd rather use regular plates and just have to wash them more often. Silly, I know... as I may be wasting water to avoid making more waste.

Anyhow... this is how I hope to be. I am fully aware that most people have delusions of grandeur before actually becoming a parent, but I'm certainly going to be one to try to stick with this. But if I fail, I know that may parents do. And that when it comes to parenting... you can only do the best you can.

From my homepage....

2007-06-22T08:51:00.001-05:00

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and it may be necessary from time to time to give a stupid or misinformed beholder a black eye.
- Miss Piggy

Fuckity Fuck!

2007-06-19T15:33:00.000-05:00

Not that any of those who read this need to, but if you cruise on over to lanebryant.com or torrid.com you'll notice that the price of clothing is significantly higher than other stores. These two stores charge a great deal for clothing that's not made all that great.

When I would shop for clothing, I would usually hit Old Navy. Sure the clothing isn't better made there, either... but at least they weren't trying to fool anyone. If I pay 20 bucks for knit gouchos, I'm fully expecting them not to last longer than a season. It was inexpensive enough that if I wanted something new to wear out on a Friday, I could hit ON on my way home and get something without breaking the bank.

Well, let me be the first to say, "Fuck you, Old Navy!" I've just learned that they're removing the plus size clothing from their stores. I have basicly no reason to go in there other than to buy the occasional t-shirt (which, for now, I don't need plus size) and a pair of flops.

I was really excited about Old Navy's Plus Size collection currently, because finding plus size maternity clothing is somewhat difficult. I knew that I could buy bigger sizes at Old Navy and get by without just buying a mu mu. Apparently, not anymore.

So join me in giving Old Navy the finger. FUCK YOU, OLD NAVY!

Weekend Wrap Up

2007-06-19T09:30:00.000-05:00

Friday - Left work at noon to meet up with Rob and Cville kiddos at the Lown's for some sellin' of our shit. Sale ended at 3 with everyone exhausted except for me, as they've been sitting in the sun for the whole day. Lowns napped. We ran to Target. Came back for BBQ and a chill night with Kingstons and Lowns.

Saturday - Get up early for more selling. Decided to pack it up at noon-ish and head to goodwill to donate what didn't sell. Bought a few things and headed to 54th Street Grill for yummy lunch happenings. Headed back to the Lowns where I proceeded to pass out for 2+ hours. Having a little person growing in you makes you tired.

Headed to the Kingstons at about 7:30 so the boys could play poker and the girls could hang out. I left at about 10:30 or so because I was getting tired again. Headed straight to bed and read a little before dozing off with my face in my book. Rob got home about 1am.

Sunday - Did a whole lot of nothing. Went to Babies R Us and looked around at cribs and other baby stuff. I'm anxious to start buying things for the little guy/gal. We had lunch at our O'Standby - O'Charlies. Headed to Old Navy to look for pants/shorts for me. Failed. Rob got some tho! I hit The Body Shop for necessities and then we headed for home. Grocery shopped at some point in the day. Spent the rest of the day doing probably nothing.

Monday - Rob and I were both home sick. I had a headache and Rob can barely talk. I still have the headache and upset stomach and just wnat to go home and sleep.

We might as well be strangers....

2007-06-13T09:48:00.000-05:00

End of the first trimester is this week. Baby Lammle is growing strong. I have a dr. appt tomorrow to make sure everything is okay.

I wish I could say that the baby is what has me so excited right now, but no.. that's entirely too understandable. What has me excited right now is that the State will finally be released on DVD this fall. My prayers have truly been answered.

Not a whole lot to report besides the little person growing inside of me. I'm hoping for a boy, but I'll be happy either way. The fun thing is I'll find out what it is not long before I visit Soniya and Erik for DMB in August. Yay! Soniya, we may have to go to that hip baby store you mentioned. :)

Work is going alright. Boss is out of the office today and has been most of the week. That always makes for better times as things can be more relaxed and productive. (yeah... don't ask..)

Garage sale this weekend at the Lown home. Going to sell loads of stuff and hopefully make loads of cash.

That's all I got. Sorry for the rambliness.

So...um....

2007-05-15T11:04:00.000-05:00

I'll be 8 weeks pregnant this Friday. How's that for an update?

Do we think that Nate & Pam will allow a 4 month old at their wedding?

Poop.

2007-04-24T11:35:00.000-05:00

At my office, we have a front entrance and a back entrance. On nice days, like today, we will open both doors and let the breeze through.

Today, my boss returned from errands and opened the back door. A horrid smell wafted through...

There is a large pile of poop outside the back door, and I believe it's human. (Otherwise, there is a neighborhood dog that needs to see a doc ASAP.)

Longer post about things not related to poop is set to come. Watch for it!

I is smrt!

2007-04-03T09:17:00.000-05:00

You'd think that a high school graduate, partially college educated (hey! I'm working on it!), formerly gifted student (as in formerly in gifted classes, not that I've lost any gifts....) would think to check the weather report before leaving home for the day.

But no. Instead, I'm sitting at work, wearing flip flops and according to the radar there is certain rainy death approaching. Fun!

I haven't blogged in a while. Work is nothing short of crazy lately. Baseball teams and American Girl out the wazoo. We've been rather busy. In fact, today I have several things on my plate and I'm supposed to head to class at 1pm. This is, of course, if rainy death doesn't get in the way of my going to class... We'll see how things look closer to 1pm.

Liz! You're on blogger! Yay!

I'm currently trying to decide what DMB shows we're going to attend this year. If it was up to me, we'd be doing a marathon week of 2 shows in Alpine Valley and 2 shows in Indy.... but Rob isn't as much of a fan as I am. Oh..and that would be somewhat expensive.

Every purchase I make I've been thinking about how it takes away from my mac fund. I'm saving up to get an iMac. A little each month... I hope to be giving myself a sweet birthday present next year. (hopefully sooner!)

Blah blah blah bliggity blah. I feel I've rambled enough for one day. I'll check back soon!

Things on my mind....

2007-03-20T22:18:00.000-05:00

1. I'm going to rock this post liz style and bust out the list with a tasty groove.
2. I enjoy watching WorkOut on Bravo.
3. I had sushi from a local place today. It's right up the street and not bad. Not as good as Drunken Fish, but not bad.
4. I'm actually looking forward to going to the gym tomorrow.
5. Work is crazy lately. It's getting to be spring which means uniforms and lots of high maint. customers. I've been working from home every night so far this week. Tomorrow night, I will take an evening off.
6. My asthma is hopefully going to get better. We'll see, tho.
7. I'm looking forward to crawling into bed tonight.
8. I'm currently reading Ender's Game. I picked it up because I had never read it before and hear nothing but good things.
9. I'm trying to eat better and try new things.
10. I'm currently addicted to CookingCute for all things bento.
11. I think Bravo is addicted to champaign toasts.
12. This weekend is Ann/Norah's baby shower. Fun!

If you don't know me that well...

2007-03-14T12:11:00.000-05:00

you may not know this fun fact about me: I don't like killing things.

Yup. That's right. I'm not one who enjoys seeing something come to its untimely end, so I'm reaching out to all of you for help. The truth is... I'm a killing machine.

You see, out of all the plants I started last year... a lone, sad looking tree has survived. This year, I'm starting fresh! Strawberries! Jalapenos! Catnip! Many other things to come... but how can I prevent death from finding my green little friends? I'm turning to the interweb for assistance!

Anyone with a remotely green thumb? What are your suggestions for container gardening on a small patio?

Another day, another excedrine migraine....

2007-03-07T10:19:00.000-06:00

Yesterday was a rough day for me. Work sucked a fatty and I ended the day with a HUGE stress headache.

Today, looks to possibly be the same. Oh fun. I did get to watch Dave on House last night. That was great.

I'm having a grand ol' DMB time lately. Whenever spring comes around, my brain switches to tour mode and I listen to DMB non-stop while anxiously awaiting the tour dates to be announced. I'm hoping that I'll get an email from the Warehouse any day now. I surfed on over to the WH site and found that some DMB shirts were on sale for $5.. so I picked one up.

I really don't have much to post today... which is good because I have plenty of work to get done.

OH! One more thing... Everyone with cds sitting around that they don't listen to anymore should sign up for LaLa. It's music trading - inexpensive and legal.

Office environment...

2007-03-01T14:32:00.000-06:00

I was on the phone with my mom as she drove into her parking garage at work. She says, "Someone is in my parking spot!"

She proceeds to memorize the plates so she can have a co-worker find out who the car belongs to.

Ahh... to work for a law enforcement organization.

Take my advice...

2007-03-01T09:32:00.000-06:00

Read this.

It may help some of you *coughrobcough* cope with the fact that you have married someone who will be a mac-person. Someone who will enjoy being a mac-person. Someone who wishes she could be a mac-person very soon.

If nothing else, it will make you giggle.

This morning I forgot to set my alarm. That's okay, because the crazy MO weather took care of waking me up by having the tornado sirens go off at 7:57am. Gee! Thanks weather from hell!

Did I mention that it's sunny and about 60 degrees out right now? Did I mention that it was sunny and 55 degrees at about 8:15? No? Well... there you have it.

Seriously... I need to move.

Spring has sprung, the grass has gris, I wonder where the flowers is?

2007-02-27T09:33:00.000-06:00

Okay, so maybe it's not officially spring, but it certainly feels like it's getting close.

I know this because I have been listening to DMB nonstop and it makes me very happy. Almost excited. Spring means summer and summer means tour. Tour means happy fun dancing time for Andrea.

Not much is new with me... work, school, gym. I've lost 10 lbs since the beginning of the year. (ironically, I'm eating a cookie at 10 am as I type that...)

I've decided to start a new category in this blog and that would be highlights of some of the shirts I'm asked to make by high school students. I'm amused by them... you should be as well.

For example:

1. A kid came in with his mom for a shirt that says - Stop the bus, let my friend Jack off. I offered to put something on the inside of the shirt for when he's asked to turn it inside out at school.

2. I am in the process of creating shirts for twins that say, "I'm Mr. Kelly Clarkson." Their friend has photoshopped a photo of Kelly Clarkson in pics of each of them.

Crazy kids...

So Much to Say, So Much to Say, So Much to Say....

2007-02-13T14:18:00.000-06:00

'Ello!

I must apologize for my unintentional hiatus (band name!) from blogging. There has been a lot going on since the start of 2007, which hasn't left me with much blog time.

I started my new job at the print/embroidery shop. While I still sit at a computer all day, I have little time to read anyone's blogs, much less write an entry of my own. I'm going to try to start blogging a little more.

The new job is going well. There are still a few wrinkles to iron out, but otherwise it's going well. I'm learning all about digitizing, which, I'm told can make you big bucks just about anywhere. It's apparently not something that a lot of people can do. This is why I can charge 50 bucks for about 15 minutes of work. Not bad, eh?

I've started school and am taking algebra and drawing. Next week I have a field trip to SLAM with the drawing class and a math test the following Monday. I'm in the school year full throttle.

Between work and school, there is little time to sit down and write an entry or even cook a meal, but I'm trying to work on both with the latter becoming a passion again. After the trip to Drunken Fish for JK's birthday, I've had a taste for sushi and all things Asian. I'm starting to explore Japanese cooking and may even try to make my own sushi soon. I'm looking into the proper (and inexpensive!) cooking instruments. I'll keep you posted as to how it turns out.

I tried take home sushi from Trader Joes... ICK. I think I've been spoiled by fresh sushi, because the nori on this batch was chewy and icky. It didn't taste bad, but the texture was horrible.

I'm trying to get to the gym as much as possible, but have been slacking due to tiredness from the busy schedule. I'm still eating well every day, tho, unlike what I would have done in the past... just said "eff it" and eaten whatever I want. I'm trying to make wise choices and eating many green things frequently(preferably with a side of soy sauce).

This weekend will hopefully hold Wiifest/party on Friday night, Mardi Gras (maybe) on Saturday (after we have Direct TV in HD installed) and MAC with mom on Monday. I'm anxious to see the new Barbie loves MAC line, as I'm in love with the colors on my screen, but we'll see how they look once they're in front of me.

Anyhow... that's all I've got for now. I promise to try to post more often.

Mom, it's my birthday...

2007-01-11T22:13:00.000-06:00

Yeah... DMB quote. Predictable, eh?

Well, it's my first post of the new year, and I figured, "Why not do it on my birthday?"

Today was the big 25 for me... it feels a lot like being 24. Whoopee. On NYE we were at the Scottish Arms listening to bagpipes and eating yummy food. Ran into my best friend from high school and proceeded to analyze the crap out of her, myself, and our entire friendship for the... well the next 10 days or so. It still creeps in there once in a while, but WAYGD? Float on, I suppose.

I've started the new job, and besides a few small things, I love it completely. I get to sit infront of a computer all day and be creative, it's the easiest boss I've ever worked for, and I'm building my portfolio. Oh.. and customized clothing rocks the pants. Look for creations to be posted as soon as I get the hang of everything.

For my birthday, Rob got me I AM PLASTIC, Frankenstein makes a Sandwich by Adam Rex, and Strangers with Candy: The complete series. The coolest thing he got me (altho, I AM PLASTIC really rocks...) is he registered a domain name for me - zenbotdesign.com - which will be the website for the design company I'm starting. Yay for being grown up!

We ended up at McGurk's tonight for drinks and burgers and proceeded to brainstorm about changes to make to the condo. We can't really leave anything alone...

I don't have much else to report at this time, other than I'm currently adding music to my ipod and my fingers are currently cold.

Oh... I guess it's news that I got a new phone. It's a Samsung Trace. I'm falling in love with Bluetooth, as I can wear it and still work on the embroidery machines as well as do my artwork at work... so that's cool.

I'm random tonight.

G'night!

I have cleansed my soul...

2006-12-28T11:11:00.000-06:00

or at least my inbox.

I just did a major cleaning of my gmail inbox. I had over 500 messages in there! I've started to streamline everything since next week it becomes my main lifeline to work.

I will start work at the print shop around the 4 or 5th of Jan. Meanwhile, I'm working on getting everything worked out to make it as easy as possible to work from home when the need arises. This means clearing off the laptop, streamlining and forwarding my email accounts to one account. I created a new account for my design company (name - Zenbot Design) and I'm working on figuring out what exactly it is that I need. I'm currently salivating over this little gem, but it's not something I need right now... but damn I do want it. Okay, so it's somewhat expensive... but I do get student discounts! (And here's hoping I can write off at least part of it at the end of the year.)

I'm in a cleansing mood, actually. I don't know if it's because of my inner-mom kicking in due to Rob being sick, or what... but I'm not arguing! I'm looking forward to working at home on learning my new software and getting everything ready for my new job.

Wish me luck!

Hey interwebz!

2006-12-27T14:02:00.000-06:00

Opinions needed - Do you think that these are full size brushes? I love the brand, the price is right, but I don't like using travel sized brushes.

I've been busy!

2006-12-21T11:08:00.000-06:00

Since Monday, I haven't eaten all that much because I haven't been feeling well. Oddly enough, while the thought of ingesting food made me queasy, the thought of making/baking it made me happy. So during the time when I couldn't eat what I was making, I did a great deal of baking... and other things that rhyme as well!

These are the chocolate crinkles I made. Not to toot my own horn, but they're a favorite of just about everyone who tries them. This year, I made a double batch, and after spending a number of hours by my oven, I'm still only halfway done. More for later, I suppose.

Then we have the fiberglass chair that Peekaboo is modeling. This was picked up during our weekend of hitting the antique stores. While not a pedigree, it's still a great addition to our house. Peek, if you can't tell, is sporting her new haircut. Every time we shave her down we realize how tiny she actually is! She's a 7 year old cat!

Finally, we have the bag I added a design to for my sister-in-law. Rob's stepsister, Sara, has been wanting to learn how to knit, so I decided to give her a skein of yarn, some needles and this nifty bag to carry it all in. I'm pleased with the design, but was disappointed with the transfer. My iron sucks, apparently.

I'm leaving work today at 4pm so Rob and I can load up my car and head for Fisher. This weekend will be a flurry of activity including Lammle Family Christmas (with cookie decorating!), new haircut for moi, and hosting Christmas dinner with my mom & brother.

Somehow during all of this, I also need to finish shopping for my mom & dad, as well as wrap everything that is going to be given this weekend.

I suck, btw. Sorry to everyone for the lack of Christmas cards. This semester was brutal.

Everyone travel safe and have a great holiday weekend!

C is for cookie... that's good enough for me.

2006-12-15T09:03:00.000-06:00

Growing up, my grandparents would visit from Arizona every Christmas and stay for a month. I'd come home from school each day and help her bake cookies for the rest of the afternoon. Now that I'm older, it seems that the first snowfall or cold days of the winter season triggers something inside of me and I'm compelled to bake. I love baking. It relaxes me.

This year, our first Christmas in the condo, I have a large selection of cookies I plan on making. I now have the space to do so and an oven that is worth a damn. I am planning on making chocolate crinkles, chocolate chip cookies, spritz cookies, peanut butter cookies, gingerbread men, and cut-out sugar cookies.

The last two are for decorating with Rob's family. Last year, I brought dough back with me and baked the cookies at his Grandparents' house. We spend the evening portion of Christmas Day decorating the cookies with the kids. We figured it'd be a good tradition to start, so this year, I'll be better prepared.

Baking cookies during the holidays will allow me to still feel very connected to my grandma. This is the first Christmas that she won't be around and I know that it's going to be difficult for myself, my brother, and my mom.

At least we can drown our sorrows in cookies. It's what Grandma would have wanted.

I think my head is going to explode.

2006-12-13T15:54:00.000-06:00

List format. Deal with it.

1. Missed work Fri, Mon & Tues.

2. Rocked my Math Final on Monday. Passing grade, please.

3. Purchased a few of our spice jars. They're so cute in person, I can't stand it.

4. Borrowed the West Wing Season1 from Jason. Loving it.

5. Wood for our home-made platform bed has been purchased and is currently awaiting sanding at home. Rob says that the air in his workroom got pretty darn thick while he was sanding, and he worries about me having breathing issues if I start to sand. My head hurts so bad that I'm agreeing with him currently and going to let him work on it. (But prepping and staining are all mine!)

6. Went to Dr. today to ask about my headaches I've been waking up with. Have to have an xray of my face, or more specifically, my sinuses. My head hurts right now, infact.

7. Ordered Rob's Christmas presents today. I certainly hope he likes them.

8. I have eleventy-billion thank-you cards to write. And then I get to start on Christmas cards.

9. My house is a mess.

10. I also have eleventy-billion dozen cookies to bake, but that's the fun stuff.

11. I really want to go home, put my head down, and weep because my face hurts.

12. Instead I will do laundry while in my pjs and watch The West Wing.

I hope you have a relaxing evening as well.

"Say it! Say it!"

2006-12-05T10:34:00.000-06:00

Words can't really begin to describe the love I have for Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip...Last night's episode was so wonderful! I love when I can get fully engrossed in a character and his or her development, and with this show, there's a whole cast of characters that I'm completely enamored with. If you haven't started watching this show, you're missing out. Head over to iTunes and start downloading.

Yesterday I left work early to get some financial aid stuff worked out. I'm very happy to report that everything has gone smoothly and I'll be taking Intermediate Algebra and Drawing I next semester. I did, unfortunately, discover that I have 55 hours left before getting my degree. At my current schedule, I take 12 hours a year (6 hours each spring & summer). This means in 4.5 years, I'll be done with my 2 year degree... Can I get a phooey? Phooey!

Needless to say, I'll be stepping things up a little and trying to take a summer course or two and maybe take 9 hours next fall. Anything to get finished a little quicker and move on to a different college and get myself one step closer to fulfilling my dream of working from home while taking care of my children-to-be-conceived-later.

After taking care of my school obligations, I headed to a nearby plaza and had a yummy mexican gumbo at Qdoba then wandered around Barnes & Noble. I have discovered many new crafty/arty projects that I'd like to work on, so look for photos in the near future as I try to up my creative time.

Hit the knit!

2006-12-04T11:50:00.000-06:00

I spent most of the weekend with my face leaking in various ways. I seem to have a cold that I simply can not shake.

I finished Rob's new scarf this weekend (or so I thought) using up one skein of Wool-Ease Thick & Quick in Charcoal. After completing it, I'm looking at it and have decided to add some length. As in, I've decided to almost double the length.

I've decided that I really like working with thicker yarns, and may try to order something nicer (or finally head to my local yarn shop) and try my hand at a blanket. (more flat things...) I plan on hitting the knitting pretty hard and figuring out how to make something that isn't flat. A hat perhaps! And other things that rhyme as well!

I only have 15 days left at my current job. 15 days! You have no idea how happy this makes me. The light at the end of the tunnel is shining brighter and brighter each day. I had a training session this past weekend, with another scheduled for this Sunday. Customized apparel will soon own my wardrobe. I even ordered a kick ass track jacket which will soon be customized with either a smx logo or a robot drawn by yours truly. I'll post pictures of it when it's done.

I'm really excited about this job. I feel like I'm picking up on the digitizing fairly well, and I'm looking forward to learning more.

Holidaze....

2006-11-27T15:35:00.000-06:00

Hope everyone had a great thanksgiving! I know that we did. We spent it in Rock Island with Rob's family.

The thrift store gods smiled upon Rock Island when they gave them Fred & Ethel's. Fred & Ethel's is a small thrift shop that is PACKED with awesomeness. If I lived in Rock Island, it would surely be the death of my bank account. LOVED IT.

Across the street is another great place called DooDads. At DooDad's we found a kick ass Noguchi inspired coffee table. It's not exactly like this one, but you can definitely see that someone admired the guy. It will fit in nicely in the new and improved living room...once that's done.

We visited DWR this weekend in the Central West End. It was a bittersweet visit for me as I realized that DWR is heaven on earth, but was sad to discover that The Grind was gone. While the area looks like it's getting a pretty cool modern face lift, I was in love with the Grind, but had not been down to see it recently. I was very sad to discover it was completely gone.

I've registered for my Spring courses today, so Drawing I, here I come! Yet another semester of learning 2 pt perspective and drawing a city block or floating cubes. Phooey. I'm hoping that it will a.) be an easy A. b.) be a class I enjoy and c.) get me thinking creatively and working again.

I'm also taking Intermediate Algebra... which will make my head hurt and therefore make my drawings turn out angry. Yay. Me.

Tonight I head on back to the gym! That's something I can be excited about! If anyone out there owns and Ipod, can you recommend a good arm band?

Great Strides

2006-11-22T09:29:00.000-06:00

I've just registered to walk the Great Strides: Taking Steps to Cure Cystic Fibrosis walk on May 5, 2007.

As some of you may know, my brother was born with CF and 4 years ago on Halloween, he had surgery for a double lung transplant. That's right, they took the lungs he was born with and replaced them with someone else's. It's an amazing procedure.

At 14, my brother was considered middle-aged for a person with CF. Before the transplant, at 17, my brother's health was rapidly declining. He was on oxygen all the time, and not just a little O2, but A LOT. We put a fridge in his room because he was too weak to walk to the main refrigerator... in the next room. He used a feeding tube every night to pump 1200 calories into him so he could gain weight. One of his larger health accomplishments was breaking 100 lbs when he was 16.

My brother was fortunate enough to receive lungs at 17. Since that time he's gotten his GED, his drivers license, and attended college. While this disease is not well known to most people, it's been a part of my life since I was three. The CF foundation does great things for CF research. Please help support me by going here and making a donation.

Via Text

2006-11-21T15:40:00.000-06:00

Kim: K. Sigh. I feel like a stupid 16 year old. Again. Sheesh.

Me: Maybe that is because you texted "sigh" to your bff4e?

Kim: lol. rotfl, btw. nasa

Me: Nasa? That's a new one.

Kim: Not really. It's the National Aeronautic and Space Administration. It was the only other acronym I could think of real quick.

Jealous?

2006-11-21T14:32:00.000-06:00

This is my new t-shirt. It's from an art show called, "What the deuce are you staring at!?!"

It's Brian as done by Luke Chueh. He's an artist I've admired for a while now and I was as happy as could be to have a piece of his work in some way, shape, or form.

Jealous? You should be.

One day I'll fly away...

2006-11-21T14:31:00.000-06:00

A while back, I posted that I would have big news. The big news is that I'm quitting my current job and starting to work as an artist for an embroidery and print shop. Now, because this is a small business I will be working for, they do not offer benefits or take out taxes from my paycheck. This has started me thinking about setting up my own business.

I know nothing about setting up and running a business, but that's where my husband comes in. He knows plenty, and I'm ready to learn. As of right now, he's thinking I'll need to form an LLC. It's all new to me, so I'm sure I'll be posting all about it here.

Currently, I'm taking suggestions for a business name.

This crazy little thing called blog.

2006-11-14T15:18:00.000-06:00

This Friday we're having a gathering of friends at our home for a Thanksgiving-ish dinner. If you don't know me, I love the holidays. There is something about cold weather that brings out my inner-baker, inner-martha (stewart, that is), and my inner-domestic goddess. My plans for the coming weeks include purchasing a tree, decorating the house, baking TONS of cookies, and knitting. Could I be any happier?

Of course life, school, homework, work and other things will get in the way, but I'm going to try to make the best of my blustery days. I'm thinking that my house will be decorated in this color scheme for the holidays. It fits with my style and existing colors in the house.

You will also notice that I've added a new item to the right side of the page. This is a list of selected posts from sites I subscribe to via RSS. Using Google Reader I can choose to share certain ones and they'll be posted here. Look for mostly holiday recipes and other assorted holiday fun.

Itchin' for a knittin'

2006-11-08T12:46:00.000-06:00

Recently, I've been drooling over various knitting patterns I've found on the web. The problem? None of them are flat. Why must they be flat? Because I'm lame. I still haven't learned how to knit anything but flat items - scarves, blankets, iPod cozies, etc. Amber over at My Aim is True was kind enough to link me to this site for assistance. She was not kind enough to wave some sort of magic wand and give me time to look it over. (Stupid school/work/house/life)

I've decided that I need to come up with a plan for stupid school/work/house/life. I'm sick of not having enough time to think much less do anything else. The first step is for me to actually get my homework done ahead of time. How do I plan on doing this? I really don't know. I'm hoping to get caught up today, but it'll be next Monday that will be the challenge. If I can start getting my math homework done ahead of time, then I can start going back to the gym after work. This will make Andrea very happy.

As a part of this planning, I also plan on finally working in the Couch to 5K program. I've talked about it before, but I'm ready to buckle down and do it. I almost think that these past few weeks and the past few days when I've really been wanting to go to the gym have helped my motivation. It's making me want it more.

All I need to do is come up with a meal/diet plan for the coming weeks, and I will be set to go!

Oh, I wish I was an Oscar Meyer weiner...

2006-11-07T09:31:00.000-06:00

Yeah. That's running through my head. Don't you wish you were me?

Last night I did not sleep well at all. I tossed and turned all night, couldn't get comfortable and was too damn hot. For those of you who don't know me, I get these sort of hot flashes where my body temperature will suddenly rise and I'll be sweaty and red. It's hot, trust me. (Hot! Get it! HA!) These don't just happen overnight. They happen all. the. time. Let me tell you, a 25 year old with hot flashes = not fun. I swear I'm going to be one of those people who spontaneously combusts. All you'll find left of me is a shin and my wee little skull.

But I have about 40 years before that happens so until then, it's causing me to be functioning at about 40% today. (This post is brought to you by the number 40.) As a result of my not getting enough sleep, I have a headache that seems to lay docile and just throb every once in a while. (Usually about the time I think it has gone away...) and a mild stomach ache.

While I wish I could go home and sleep on my lunch break, I don't know if that would actually help me or not. Instead, my plans are to head to the local Social Security office to get my name officially changed over to Lammle. After that, I'm going to grab lunch and the world's largest cup of coffee and head back to work. We'll see, though. They are having my favorite soup at Panera, so soup and nap might prevail. (I'll keep everyone posted... I'm sure this is a saga that you'll want to follow.)

Tonight I have my web design class. I have started over on my site and now I'm trying to choose content. I'm taking this rather seriously, because I'm thinking about actually creating and maintaining the site, not just doing it for a project. The domain of NerdyArtist is available, so it might be mine in a week or so. I have to say, I'm torn on the whole thing. I don't know if NerdyArtist is something I want to keep using or if I should find another way to refer to myself. At least a new name for a site. I'm open to suggestions, so send them my way.

I suppose that I should get back to "work" now, and by work, I mean staring at the screen willing this caffeine to kick in.

It's not working.

Packing my polynomials and going home!

2006-11-06T15:21:00.000-06:00

Bloody hell. Does anyone hate math more than me? Rob might. Might. I'm an art kid. Art kids don't do math! A few other things we don't do are team sports, grunting, frat parties or allow Freddy Prinze Jr to make the "art-kid" trendy.

I have a math test tonight. I'm currently deciding whether or not I want to a.) curl up under my desk and weep softly or b.) begin repeating "Math + Me = Mediocrity!"

I'm also trying to decide what I'm taking next semester. What do you think, internet? Drawing I or Design I?

The other class I'm taking next semester? More freakin' math. I must hate myself.

Cosmetichat

2006-11-06T13:08:00.000-06:00

Soniya, Liz, anyone else (ha! Like anyone else reads this!)... our cosmetic discussions go here.

I'm opening up discussion by responding to the comments from my makeup brush post -

I just washed my brushes last night with a little shampoo. Most of them turned out fantastico, but I'll probably invest in a the MAC brush wash, since it's not that expensive. My eye shadow brushes were able to regain a shape that I only vaguely remember them having. My blush brush is continuing to fall apart and my powder brush continues to be pointy, fake, and awful.

I'm trying to come up with a good list of brushes that the average girl can't live without. So far, I'm up to smudge, concealer, blush, powder, and blending. Eyebrow maybe once I have something to actually put on my eyebrows.

Throw in your two rusty coppers on what brushes you love.

Soniya - I love applying my foundation with a brush. It takes a little longer, but I like the look of it once it's applied. If I'm in a hurry, I'll use that sponge. I didn't get the MAC brush tho, I bought the Sonia Kashuk one from Target and am very pleased with it.

Question for the Internet!

2006-11-03T21:48:00.000-06:00

Ladies, what makeup brushes do you use and love? I'm looking to start collecting some decent ones and stop using these things that shed all over my face. (No, that's NOT a mustache...)

Has anyone tried to use just good quality artist brushes for this?

Of course, in a perfect world, I'd have this in a heartbeat, with a few additional brushes to round things out, but we don't live in a perfect world, do we?

On a random sidenote, I really hate to sit back and watch bad things happen to what seems to be good people. There are two parents here to bail out their kid, and they were prepared to pay $300 for his bond... they were informed that he was charged with a few additional things while he was here. I think the mother is just heartbroken. I feel bad for them.

Sardines! Sardines!

2006-11-03T17:43:00.000-06:00

It's a play weekend.

I certainly wish that I meant that this was a weekend for me to run around and have fun, but alas, it is not. It is a weekend of working Friday and Saturday evening, and Sunday afternoon. It's a weekend of not having a real weekend. Aren't you jealous? I'd be willing to bet you're more jealous of the fact that I'm sitting near the police department entrance and get to assist a rather colorful cast of characters as they mistake me for a receptionist.

Starring (in order of appearance)
Underage Drinking Kid!
My-Shit-Got-Stolen Lady!
Mr. No-Really-This-Is-A-Misunderstanding!
Bailing-Out-My-Baby-Daddy chic!

I'm sure you can guess how the list goes on and on.

But the real highlight of the weekend will be the volunteers that feel the need to tell me how wrong I'm doing everything. No, really... i love my job.

And then you have the downtime. Like now... I'm sure this weekend will be filled with pointless posts (example - see this post) that I write in order to fill the time and ignore my math homework/studying.

Does the fun ever stop?

I must kill Frank Drebin.

2006-11-03T13:36:00.000-06:00

I suppose it is Friday, now isn't it? It doesn't seem like it to me, but that's because I have to work all freakin' weekend because the community theatre is having a production and everyone's favorite assistant has to sell tickets and concessions. Fun times!

Other plans for the weekend?
-Try my hand at home screen printing a shirt or two
-Clean! Clean! Clean!
-The great clothing overhaul starring Andrea with Rob in a supporting role.
-Organize the closet!
-Put away laundry!
-Kill a drifter!

As you can see, my weekend is action-freakin' packed. I really am not sure how I will contain my excitement.

And speaking of excitement - big news to come in future weeks. (No. I'm not pregnant.) Don't touch that dial!

I <3 Halloween

2006-10-31T16:07:00.000-06:00

When else is the following perfectly acceptable?

1. A woman at Target in a poodle skirt, striped shirt, and a "visitor" tag.
2. A girl dressed like a slutty cowboy. (Okay...so you can see this one pretty frequently if you're at a club, bar, high school or retirement home.)
3. A guy dressed like a pirate, driving a Jeep Cherokee with a black ribbon sticker that says, "Support Lap Dancing."

I have a problem.

2006-10-31T13:05:00.000-06:00

And the first step is admitting it.

I'm addicted to celeb gossip.

BUT!

I don't expect great things from the pages that I visit. I do, however, expect the writers of these pages to have passed their 4th grade english class.

"A source tells TMZ that during the skit, "Bush" asked Babs if they could sing a solo together to which Streisand replied "How about "Enough is Enough?" (A reference to Babs' 70s disco duet with Donna Summer) At that point a disgruntled fan through ice at the 64-year-old diva. Barbra kept her cool, opted against using her now infamous retort of "Shut the F**k Up!," and simply said "It's ok, it's ok.""

itty bitty sugar sock

2006-10-31T08:14:00.000-06:00

Octoberfest is done!

I'm a Lammle and Cari is a Basler. Yay!

Speaking of becoming a Lammle, I just requested our official marriage certificate today, so I can get moving on the name change process. Fun times!

Today is my brother's 4 year anniversary. It was 4 years ago today that I was laying on the floor of a hospital waiting room and my brother wouldn't be out of surgery for 2.5 more hours. He went into surgery around 12:30am and came out around 11.

Speaking of my brother, I'm currently struggling with what to do about him. He's having ALOT of trouble in school (he's in college) and I know a good portion of that is apathy and some depression. I really want to help him, but I know that if I assist too much, I'm going to feel responsible if it doesn't work.

My mom talks to me about him as well. He and she butt heads constantly and they both turn to me for venting. I want to help them both, but at the same time, don't want to get involved.

Regardless of what I do, it makes me feel bad to some degree. I get sad about the whole thing and wish I could help. I don't want to see potential fall by the wayside, but at what point do you say, "I can't help you, I need to concentrate on my own life?"

Either way, it makes my heart heavy.

The honeymoon in Chicago was a lot of fun. Just being together without worrying about work, school, or our home was nice enough for me.

I suppose I should get back to work. I've rambled enough.

Wedding Photo

2006-10-25T12:52:00.000-05:00

This is my favorite pic from the wedding so far. We don't have the professional ones yet. This was taken by Rob's dad.

If you mess with Gunn, you get shot.

2006-10-24T12:20:00.000-05:00

Show us your Gunn.

Gangs shooting others for colors, things that we wear for fashion...

2006-10-23T08:52:00.000-05:00

Friday - Headed down to the Arms with friends for yummy lamb burger and beer. Headed to the City Museum next because two of our friends had never been there. Discovered that they've taken away our yummy cider and hot chocolate (with alcohol added, of course) and replaced it with a juice bar (not that kind..) and ice cream. Oh, and you can't smoke outside anymore either. (But you can smoke inside at Beatnik Bob's... makes TONS of sense.) Headed home entirely too late and crashed.

Saturday - Woke up wanting a substancial breakfast so we headed to Burkemper's for a fairly good breakfast. It's a tiny diner that is always packed. Food was better than Denny's but not as good as the Village Garden (otherwise known to locals as "The Diner" in Fisher.) Ran errands and went back to the condo because I felt craptastic. Cleaned. Rob headed out with the boys and I headed to the Mills with Kim. We were on a quest for awesomeness. Finding it in the form of a cornrow'd young man with an airbrush in his hand and tolerence in his heart - our quest for cheesy shirts had found a destination. Photos of the airbrushed awesomeness to come at a later time. Headed home to clean and hang out with Kim and Rob.

Sunday - Woke up and made cinn. rolls for Rob and I. Kim came over and we headed to the Mills for our airbrushed fun and studying. After spending entirely too much time at the mall, and only one shirt completed, I'm picking up the remaining shirts this evening when I head to class. We headed down to the Arms with the one completed shirt to drop off with Mike. Then we made the drive back to St. Peters where Rob was slaving over a hot stove making yummy lasagna. We ate yummy lasagna, studied, watched TV, and did laundry for the rest of the night.

My week looks like this:
Today - work (suckage), study, class, pick up dad from airport, then sleep.
Tomorrow - work (suckage), get nails done, study, pack, sleep.
Wednesday - work (suckage), get mystic tan, class, home to load car, drive to Fisher, sleep.
Thursday - drive to chicago, check in, CB2, nice dinner, drinks, newlywed things.
Friday - Museums!
Saturday - burbs! cousins! Ikea! MAC!
Sunday - C&B! Joliet! Chris & Cari! Married!
Monday - drive home! (Suck!)

Your quote for tomorrow....

2006-10-19T14:40:00.000-05:00

"Angie Dickinson could suck the sorrow off a recent widow."

Indeed, Patton Oswalt, indeed.

Best thing I've read in a while.

2006-10-19T14:08:00.000-05:00

"I would smile all day long, every day, if it guaranteed a unicorn getting punched in the face. I find them really annoying."

So do I, Rachel Ray. So do I.

Friday, October 13, 2006

2006-10-17T12:20:00.000-05:00

Rehearsal day!

Earlier in the day, the ladies (and Mike & Jason) had their nails done at a nail salon in Mahomet. We then headed back to the hotel to relax for a little bit before heading to the rehearsal.

The rehearsal was at 4:30-5ish so the photographer could see the lighting in the church. The light came in at just the right angle so that it was golden and beautiful! On with the rehearsal.

We're waiting....

This is Caleb. He played Collide at our ceremony.

Rehearsing...

More to come...

High School kids will make you looney. I have proof.

2006-10-10T14:11:00.000-05:00

From the talented, creative, poetic mind of my maid of honor:

Ode to Grading

Like a thunder cloud pierces the heart of a sunny day,

my Fall Break is marred by the journals I slay.

Here and there, scattered on my classroom floor,

the papers are the carnage of my waging war

on grammar and literature and things of that sort,

things my kids think are of no import.

My rallying cries of "Steinbeck!" and "Douglass!"

are answered by shouts of "We couldn't care less!"

Now, the kids and their drama are nowhere near school,

but their papers and projects make me feel like a fool

to be here grading while Dawn is in Cabo...

I'd have to get married to go there like her though.

So perhaps I'm not a fool after all,

even though I've lost my break in the Fall.

One class set of journals is almost finished,

but my entire grading pile is hardly diminished.

I may bring it all to Champaign for the wedding,

(not mine, of course) and use it as bedding.

But as uncomfortable as grading might be,

I'm sure that would keep me from sleeping soundly.

So here it sit and listen to my iPod way loud,

and having the new Beck album makes me feel proud.

At least I've got good music and sounds

even though the grading still abounds.
-K. Rast

Doodletastic

2006-10-06T12:46:00.001-05:00

i just drew him. I kinda like him.

I'm an on-air personality.

2006-10-04T11:10:00.000-05:00

My brain is certainly not here today. I’m 10 days away from the wedding, and my brain is content to be sitting at home and worrying about everything that needs to get done for the 14^th.

I still have quite a bit to do, including getting a mystic tan or two. I don’t know what that’s going to cost me or where I need to go, but that’s some information that I need to get figured out today. Anyone have any ideas?

I spent most of the morning out of the office and on an impossible mission for water-soluble oil pastels. After hitting Hobby Lobby, and Michaels, I realized that we desperately need an art supply store in the suburbs. We have to settle for “arts and crafts” stores, which translates to “place over-run by fake flowers and the smell of eucalyptus mixed with middle-aged white housewives with minivans, the same haircut, and a desire to scrapbook little Timmy’s first bowel movement.” Go ahead. Walk into your local hobbyist Mega-Mart and have a look around. Tell me what you see. I’ll wait.

While I’m on the subject, this place could also use a few other specialty stores. How about a decent place to buy yarn? I have yet to find a good natural-fiber yarn at a Mega-Mart. It’s all synthetics.

All of this looking at various art supplies has me wanting to do some work of my own again. I have this great plan for a huge painting/drawing for the kitchen, but I don’t have the time or resources currently to get it done. Maybe this is what I’ll focus on for Christmas break. We’ll see, tho.

While driving around, I did get to listen to my new iPod. Rob allowed me (have to say it that way, because that’s how it went down…) to get a new 30 GB video iPod. The iPod mini we have has a funky battery or battery gauge and doesn’t like to hold a charge. Now, I have 30 GB of storage to be filled with my pop-tart music, my singer-songwriters, my funk, my hip-hop, my electronic, and my soul. Oh, and also (so far) 5 episodes of The State. (“Hairdryers are good. They don’t use a lot of energy and they keep food warm. Keep hairdryers on all the time.”)

I need to fill up the iPod before next Wednesday when I’m driving the 3 hours to Champaign by myself. If anyone is listening to anything fun lately, throw the suggestions my way. I’m looking for new music.

I just realized I didn’t do a weekend wrap-up. On Friday I headed down to the Scottish Arms with Piper and Zac for some fish n’ chips lovin’, along with some Strongbow lovin’, as well as some Cline in a Kilt lovin’. Poor Mike had been there since about 8am that morning, and didn’t get off work until 11. Ugh. This is exactly why I never worked as a server or any other part of the restaurant business.

We stayed down there just long enough for Zac to drink anyone within shouting distance under the table, and Piper and I to get to hang out and have a wonderful time. It was nice to sit and have a drink with her again. It’s been way too long since she and I have done that. It was also nice to have a conversation with Zac. (Zac & Piper are a new thing.) He’s absolutely crazy about her. They’re cute.

I got home entirely too late, and hit the sack after watching half of an episode of the State. Woke up at about 10 am the next morning and texted Beth, Helen, and Ellen to see if I could find a shopping buddy. Beth called to say she was at work, Helen said she was going four wheelin’, and Ellen asked me if I wanted to go to Eckert’s Orchard first with her and Ann. I quickly got ready and headed out to Collinsville to get Ellen and go pick up Ann from Erin’s. We went to the Orchard, bought appley goodies and went to Fairview Heights Mall where the most that was purchased was an order of Chinese food and a few pretzel dogs. Headed to Old Navy for new clothes and then headed back to Ellen’s to get ready for the party we were heading to that night. Helen came over, did a little talking about the reception setup, and we were off.

Got to the party at about 8:30 where I proceeded to drink entirely too much beer while admiring the lovely house. Helen took me back to Ellen’s at about 1am where I passed out and woke up at 5am. Sober and ready to go, I headed back to MO to finish my slumber in my own bed.

Rob was home early the next day, so we headed out together for various errands. We had a really nice day together. I felt like we escaped from the world around us and reconnected for a day. It was a needed thing, because these next 10 days are going to be filled with high-stress and tension.

That’s all I’ve got for now.

Chicken sandwich, CAAARRRRLLLL!

Stupidity runds rampant

2006-10-02T15:30:00.000-05:00

If I have one more person either be too retarded to understand when I repeat myself a bajillion times or someone yell at me for disagreeing with policy... I'm going to fucking snap.

I'm under enough stress here, people without you fucknuts coming in here and getting in my shit because you think that a city government will accept liability for people drinking at YOUR event.

God damn mother fucking shit!

In other news, wedding stress/nervousness has set in completely, so that's fun. This weekend, as Rob said, we'll go back to Fisher/Champaign and proceed to bleed money to get everything finalized.

This week or next I will be getting the following: Waxings. Mystic Tans. Massage.

I'm in need of all three.

Have a stroke!

2006-09-29T16:26:00.000-05:00

You can thank me later.

I've got your HTML right here.

2006-09-28T20:08:00.001-05:00

Sweet jesus. I'm in my web class, and I can not focus right now. Can it be nine already?

It's Rex Manning Day!

2006-09-28T16:15:00.000-05:00

I've spend my day surounded by the sweet sounds of bad pop music and good electronic music. All while catching up on work that I missed while out with the plague.

Spent two days hacking up crap and sleeping alot (not to mention a little arts & crafts project that can be found here.) And now I'm back at work for the final two days of the work week, before spending a relaxing weekend at home. The next two weekends are going to be pure chaos! (but good chaos!)

Hrm... let's see... my weekend plans so far:

Friday: Get off work go home, relax for a little bit, and then head to the Scottish Arms for drinks with Piper. And because I'm out with Piper, this will probably mean trouble of some sort. Drinking at several places, late night coffee, and buying stupid shit at some 24 hour establishment. EH... it's what we do.

Saturday: Putter around the house, maybe hit the gym, and then meet up with Helen at some point to go over the details of the reception as she is in charge of rallying the troops and making the place fabulous. After that, I'll see where the night takes me.

Sunday: More puttering and relaxing. Laundry will be done. Food will be cooked. And dinner will be ready for when Rob arrives back from his time in the wilderness.

AHhh... a relaxing weekend. What a concept?

I totally have the munchies.

2006-09-25T12:09:00.001-05:00

Mobile Blogging makes me lame on the go!

Don't confuse the kitchen.

2006-09-25T09:06:00.000-05:00

Friday - Got off work early to run some errands and meet everyone at my house. After some slight confusion and a large burger at Sonic, we hit the road.

Made it down there in record time to meet the Illinois kids. Sat by the lake drinking warm beer for about 20 minutes until Kim got there. Went inside and was amazed by the awesomeness of the condo. Piper took inventory of how much booze was there. We estimate there was about 850 ounces total. Started drinking, did presents and hung out. Went to bed at about 1am.

Saturday - Woke up before everyone else and sat in the screened in porch and read. Puttered around until everyone else got up. Sat and had breakfast, then loosely planned our day. We got ready and headed out to this massive outlet mall. Made awesome purchases at a cosmetics hodge-podge store (yay MAC!), Gap Outlet, and Harry & David. Ate pretzels and then headed back to the condo for some boating fun.

Drank on the boat, road fast, bruised my knee, but alot of fun was had. The water was COLD as it splashed on us, but it was alot of fun. We spent about an hour and a half on the boat and the came back to get ready to go out. My stomach was bothering me on the boat, off of the boat and this continued over the remainder of the evening, so I wasn't wild and crazy, but I had a good time. Learned that you should just take the burger as ordered at the Horny Toad, because asking for it without lettuce may confuse the kitchen.

Headed back after listening to a crappy cover band butcher Prince, Santana, and Cream. Stayed up way to late talking about way too little. Hit the sack.

Sunday - Woke up with a start around 9am. Puttered around. Sat outside on the porch talking while eating a nutritious breakfast of Oreos and Starbucks. IL-side people took off early, so the four remaining (Mike, Piper, Kim and myself) sat around talking about what to do. Cleaned up the condo, did all the laundry, and cleaned the place from head to toe. Decided to hit "the strip" which consisted of touristy-trappy places that were alot of scary/oddball fun. Bought shirts for Rob and I (way cheesy) from a kind old man named Paw-paw. Then headed back towards the outlet mall to hit some places we missed. I had a bomb-ass personal Hawaiian pizza at this place called Lil' Rizzo's. We then went back to the outlet mall for Extreme Christian Clothing and a Borders Outlet. We all purchased books and then hit Target for ipod chargers.

Headed for home after target. Got home, switched stuff and cars around. Rob and I took Mike home and then picked up some drive-thru dinner. Watched Sunday night cartoons. I crashed early while Rob read next to me.

Fun weekend with good friends, good scenery, and a relaxed time. Today I'm going home at the half day because it hurts to breathe. I think I have a head/chest cold. FUN!

When the wasps hit the fan...

2006-09-22T11:50:00.001-05:00

Seriously... once is freaky.

Twice is disturbing.

Yah Toast!

2006-09-22T09:07:00.000-05:00

Today, I work without a lunch break so I may leave at 3 and start my weekend. Woo!

On a slightly related note - Starbucks Doubleshot + Excited about weekend = Jittery as HELL Andrea. I can't concentrate on any one thing for very long and I'm having trouble...Oooh... a quarter...

And, I'm back. Sorry, I just took a trip to the bahamas there for a minute. (bonus points if you can name that comedian and skit) I'm hoping the weather cooperates tonight so that the boat may be taken out on the lake for some drinking-on-water action. Tomorrow it will be outlet-mall shopping and then going out for dinner and drinking. Sunday will be waking up, having lunch and then driving home. That's my weekend in a nutshell. (No, this is me in a nutshell... what am I doing in this giant nutshell? What sort of nut should require this large shell?)

I'm in a special mood right now. I blame this on the aforementioned starbucks and the fact that today is the debut of my boots for the winter. I'm still pretty happy with my brown pair, but I think that a new pair of black boots (or other fun color.... green maybe?) is due. Rob refers to my black boots as my frankenstien boots, and I can't really argue with him. They're knee high black boots with a stacked heel and a slight platform on the toe. These boots were made for ass-kicking, my friend. Some say they look like hitler boots. They stand on their own, seriously. They're hardcore.

It's supposed to rain this afternoon, and this is one of those times where I really hope the weather channel is wrong. Right now it's absolutely beautiful outside, and it's making me very happy. (Or maybe that's the caffiene talking...)

Next weekend is Rob's Batch party, and a dress fitting for me. The following weekend it sounds like we'll be going home to finalize, and then it's wedding day! 22 days to go!

22 days, and I STILL haven't ordered my linens. Bloody hell. I'm going to get that done TODAY.

Okay, that's all I've got. Oh! One question for you MAC users (makeup not computer), what type of foundation do you use?

Here comes the fuckin' bride...

2006-09-20T13:55:00.000-05:00

**Warning: The following post contains moments of Bridezilla (Did I really just type that?) fury, which may or may not result in embarassment of the poster.**

Days to wedding: 24

I could be happier. I'm trying to nail down the final arrangements for the wedding weekend. Come to find out, one of my bridesmaids won't be rolling in until right before the rehearsal (which I know, and understand), but what has irked me is the fact that neither one of my parents will be arriving until just hours before the rehearsal either.

Why the hell am I going up there 2.5 days before the wedding? Am I the only one who wants to get there, get settled, and not feel like I'm doing nothing but running around for 2 days? My plan is to head up there Wednesday night after I get off work, stay at Lammle-ville for Wednesday night, and then (hopefully) stay at the hotel from Thursday night on. This will put me in the area to take care of any last minute arrangements, make sure everything is in order for Saturday, so the biggest decision I have to make on Friday night is whether or not to have a second mango margarita.

Excuse me for being selfish, but at what point will our wedding become a big deal? I think 24 days beforehand might be a good place to start. This is somewhat beginning to feel like people are treating it like just another day. Excuse me for being somewhat offended!

I'm the first born in the family. I'm the only girl. I'm the first wedding. Am I really all that fucked up for wanting something resembling enthusiasm from my parents?! How about at least making me feel like a priority, because as of right now, I feel like I have to practically BEG anyone to do anything.

I'm frustrated. Has anyone else picked up on that?

So I suppose that instead of spending time with my family the Thursday before the wedding, I'll be toolin' around Champaign alone and relaxing. I'm not complaining about having to spend the day alone. Hell, it might be nice, but c'mon!

Maaaannn.... Fuck yo' mama! Thank you very much!

2006-09-19T12:59:00.000-05:00

Wedding countdown: 25 days

It's getting to the point where I'm seriously considering washing down my vitamins in the morning with champagne. Today I received an email from my mother asking if she thought she could get a hotel room for my brother for the wedding. You had how long to do this?

After slapping my father and mother on the wrist for not being able to get this crap organized between the two of them. And let's not get into the fact that my brother is 21...

This past weekend was filled with several wedding related activities, and two trips to one awesome adult beverage store. Loaded up with goodies for the coming weekends, so the bottle of Sophia will be lucky to make it to the lake.

I'm contemplating a new diet to lose some of this jiggly ass I have. Anyone want to eat nothing but fresh spinach (preferably bagged) with me? I figure this will accomplish 2 things. 1.) Weight loss through explosive diarrhea and 2.) Turn that 19 states into 20 featuring the travelling show, E-Coli!

In other self-improvement news, I've started a few new routines this week in preparation for the wedding, and hopefully in preparation for LIFE!

The first and most droolingly disgusting is I'm using Crest Whitestrips Premium this week in an attempt to have a blinding smile for the wedding (and beyond!) Because I have to wear the strips twice a day for 7 days, it requires me to keep my mouth shut (or else suffer Rob laughing at my lisp). This has caused me to get up a little earlier in the morning, and because I want to distract myself while doing so, I've started to do my hair. (ok, this only applied to this morning, but I hope to do it again tomorrow.)

I'm going to get it cut this week sometime hopefully. I don't know when I'm going to have the time, but dammit, I'll do my best to find some. I am in desprate need of losing about 3 inches of hair, as it's driving me batty.

I was supposed to start the next new routine item today, but upon discovering I didn't have my wallet, I had to go home on my lunch. New Routine item #2: Hit the gym on my lunch break. I'm gonig to start to pack my lunch (saves money!) and work out on my lunch break on Tuesdays and Thursdays. This will make it so I can work out 4 days a week instead of two. On Mondays and Wednesdays, I'm still bringing my lunch (saves money!) but I'm going to be studying and doing homework during that time. Even if this means shutting myself in the empty office downstairs to do so, I will do it! I will then hit the gym after work and before class.

And... because I'm going to be able to hit the gym more often, I'm going to start the Couch to 5K running program. I've kicked this idea around for a while, and have finally decided to get the balls up to do it. Part of my inspiration has come from Amber over at My Aim Is True. She started the program and just completed her first 5K this summer. I don't know if I'll be doing that anytime soon, but at least I can say that I could if I wanted.

She also has a bigger set of cajones than I do, because she runs outside... where people can see her. I just don't have the confidence to do that, but hopefully, I will soon.

In other news, I'm offically addicted to MAC's Pro Longwear Lipcolor. I currently own it in Totally Boss, but plan on purchasing other colors as soon as I can. This stuff lasts FOREVER! I love it!

I can't explain how much I'm looking forward to being pampered the day of and the days leading up to the wedding. Things are especially looking up since I have cancelled my inital hair and makeup appointments, because as I posted before, Agata will be doing my makeup. I have scheduled the hair with a different salon all together, because they will come to the hotel to do the hair, they'll be there at 9am. I don't have to leave my hotel room until it's time to head to the church! Heaven! Pamper me!

I've purchased cans of Sofia for the morning of the wedding, and am trying to think of what else we can have for breakfast to make the morning special. I want to live that morning like a freakin' rock star. Soak it up.

Anyhow, I suppose I should get back to work. These tickets are going to tear themselves apart.

I'm looking for suggestions on everything - from outfits for my weekend outing, to wedding day pampering, and anything else you can throw my way. Post 'em up.

And so it begins....

2006-09-13T16:44:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow marks 30 days until wedding day.

I can't decide if my oddball psyche is going to cause me to become overwhelmingly calm or overwhelmingly nervous.

Either way, it should be fun. I'll either be Garfield or a coked-up, A.D.D. version of Calvin.

Stay tuned...

Autumn is wonderful....

2006-09-12T11:24:00.000-05:00

It is currently overcast and 65 degrees with wind coming out of the west at about 13 mph. I'm sitting next to an open window with a mug of hot apple cider.

The high for today is overcast and 71 degrees. By combining the weather, the wind, the cider and the fact that I will get to wear a hoodie and jeans to class and not be sweltering...Today is going to be a fantastic day.

I love fall, don't you?

Stuck inside of yesterday, everything is giving way...

2006-09-12T08:22:00.000-05:00

I've got... well, not much today.

Wasn't at work yesterday, so that will explain the lack of update. You saw the weekend via Rob. While I was out with my mom on Sunday, I made her hip to MAC, where she was made over and spent about 200 bucks on makeup. This included some fluidline eyeliner for moi in ultraviolet. Love this stuff.

I also spent $60 at The Body Shop which was 5 times what I was intending on spending. They currently have their Camomile Gentle Eye Make-Up Remover on sale for half price, so I purchased 2 bottles. I love this stuff. I was told about the free gift for that day. If I spent $39 in the store, I would get the gift. I kindly told the sales girl, "Oh no... I don't think I'll be spending that much..."

HA!

I started to think about my skin prep for the wedding and quickly changed my tune. I ended up purchasing a Papaya Body Scrub to prep my skin, and then an Olive Body Butter to make me soft and smooth. The most important thing I got, in my opinion, is the Lavender Essential Oil. This will be combined with water to spray on the hankerchief I'm carrying on my wedding day, not to mention to spray on my pillow to help me sleep.

The body scrub smells good enough to eat, and the body butter has a surprisingly clean scent to it.

I get married in 32 days. I'm going to be a complete wreck in 31 days. You've been warned.

Oh, the things we can find on the interwebs.

2006-09-08T08:38:00.000-05:00

I've discovered some great new (to me) sites this week. Several of these sites I found from my favorite-blog-of-the-moment, My Aim Is True. This blog is run by a funny designer chica named Amber. If you dig me, but wish I wrote better, was maybe more clever, and had already finished obtaining my degree and had a kick ass job... then you'll love her blog. She's cool girl v. 5.1, where as I'm still on the beta release.

From her site, I've found Finslippy, Poundy, and Tickytacky. Now I haven't been able to devote real time to exploring these sites, but I figured I'd share them anyhow.

Other fun discoveries include Kurt Hasley's webiste, Adam Rex - writer and illustrator of Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich, and this awesome pattern that was featured on Craftzine :blog.

Another couple of places of note would be this article on I Watch Stuff! and Radio.Blog.Club.

There. I've just sucked away the remaineder of your morning. Enjoy!

hallelujah it's raining..... wasps?

2006-09-07T16:06:00.000-05:00

A wasp just hit the fan over my head and was rocketed onto my desk.

It freaks me out each time it happens.

And it freaks me out that it's happened more than once.

I'll take the plastic Spiderman tablecloth and the matching napkins.

2006-09-07T15:02:00.000-05:00

Why do linens have to be so damn confusing? Why do I have to be so damn picky?

I'm looking at linens at BBJ Linens. This company was recommended to us by our caterer, because it is a nationwide company that ships your linen order to you. Lucky for me, there is an office here in St. Louis. Double-lucky for me, it's the very same office that takes care of the Champaign orders. (Even tho there is one in Chicago, but whatev.)

So, I'm looking at the site and know what type of linens I would like, but I have no idea what size. The tables at Refinery are 10 person rounds. The linens that the event coordinator usually orders are waaaay short. If you look at the banquet pictures, you can see the legs of the table, and it will bother me all freakin' night.

So I want linens that come down closer to the floor. Should I be looking for ones that puddle or or where the points drop? Well, why don't I just head on down to their showroom.

Because they're only freakin' open from 9-5 during the week. No weekend hours. So, if you work full time, fuck off. These are not the linens you're looking for.

On top of all of this, I'm feeling a little stressed because I don't know what the caterer will require since we're doing stations. If they need smaller tables, then I need to get my butt on the phone and rent 4 or 5 smaller rounds. Oh, and then I need some sort of linens for those!

This blows. BUT! If I get the look I'd like, and the cost isn't that bad, it's going to be awesome.

Let's clear up some confusion....

2006-09-07T09:48:00.001-05:00

Soniya....

You can now migrate your blog to blogger beta. Do it! That way, Rob can comment on your blog, as can JK and Lizzle. Until you do this, I don't think they can.

The Girl Scouts of America? Of America, Chuck? You make me sick. I wash my hands and feet of you.

2006-09-07T09:37:00.000-05:00

Bonus points if you know what that's from.

On a completly unrelated note, today is Thursday, September 7, 2006. I just had someone come into my office to schedule an event and rent a facility for Saturday, October 21, 2006. That they've already planned. For 150 children.

I'm not a professional party planner by any means, but shouldn't you reserve the location you want before planning the event? Rather than, I don't know, assuming you have it?

Fuckity fuck.

Tough shit.

2006-09-06T16:31:00.000-05:00

Could someone explain to me why "Tough shit" can't be a proper reply in a business setting?

One of the coaches has something to pick up and was asking if we could leave it outside of the building because they couldn't get here before we closed. Why? Because they didn't want to leave this early.

The first response that came to mind was, "Tough shit."

Of course, this isn't what I said. Instead I said, "Well, we can't really do that because we're across the street from a public park, blah blah blah... "

I'm sorry if the coaching program you volunteered for is interfering with your life.

Tough shit.

I wish I was a little bit shorter....

2006-09-06T12:48:00.000-05:00

I really do. If I was just a little shorter, wearing these would be more acceptable. Amazon has 40% a good chunk of their shoes, and those caught my eye.

I'm in need of a day of retail-therapy. Not to mention a few new items for fall. Now, all I need to do is find the time and money.

Operation: Organization

2006-09-05T15:22:00.000-05:00

Today begins my attempt at re-organizing my life, and getting the most out of my gadgets to boot.

I have a Palm Z22. I need to better utilize the thing and actually rely on it. I rely on my cell phone an awful lot, so why not my palm? The best way to do this?

I'm going to remove the vast majority of phone numbers from my phone and put them in my palm pilot. That will get me used to looking at the damn thing more often.

I have entirely too much going on in my life to NOT be organized. If anyone has any suggestions on how to get better organized... throw them my way!

My kind of town, Chicago is.

2006-09-05T08:57:00.000-05:00

This weekend was purely chaotic as we were lucky enough to be let out early on Friday for the holiday weekend. Rob and I proceeded to meet at home and get on the road for Fisher. We arrived in town at about 8pm after making a few stops in Champaign. We relaxed with his parents for about an hour, after they went to bed, we watched a little Arrested Development and then headed to bed.

The next morning we woke at 7am to get on the road for Chicago. I had an appointment with my cousin's girlfriend, Agata, for my makeup trial. She works for MAC, is awesome, and did a fantastic job. See:
Pretty awesome, eh? I felt extremely overdone for walking around the mall in a t-shirt and jeans, but after purchasing a new top, I felt better. Had some lunch, Rob bought a few cigars, and then we then headed over to Ikea for some unfinished swedish goodness. I was excited because this was the first time I was able to go to Ikea and actually spend money. We got many great things for very little money and left the store quite pleased.

We killed some time at Borders and then went back over to the mall to meet Agata and my cousin, Leigh for drinks at Stir Crazy. My dad joined us after he got off work and family stories were told and a good time was had by all. We left them at about 11:30 and headed back to Fisher. Arrived at the farm at about 2 am, where I promptly fell asleep.

Sunday we woke up and ran out to meet the florist to re-vamp the floral selections for the wedding. After this meeting we headed back to the farm and relaxed with Lesa, talking about the wedding until about 3. Lesa and I began cooking side-dishes for the fish fry that evening. Rob relaxed and I have no idea where his dad was through all of this.

Yummy fish were fried in an ENORMOUS skillet. A billion and a half side-dishes were present and we filled our tummies. Stories were told about people I don't know. We headed home to relax infront of the TV.

After his parents went to bed, we went outside to enjoy the weather and so Rob could enjoy a cigar. His stomach started to do flips so after 2 episodes of AD, one upchuck of fish, and a AD blooper reel, we went to bed.

Monday, we got up and came home to this.

I wanna see some popozao.

2006-08-31T16:40:00.000-05:00

Do yourself a favor.

Watch this.

Ding Dong the dingbat's gone!

2006-08-31T09:41:00.000-05:00

Angela got kicked off Project Runway! Yay! And you know what? She was booted in the best way possible - flew her ass to Paris, was there all of about an hour, and then told she had to get back on a plane and fly her ass back home. Ta-Da! Gone, beyotch!

While Jeffery doesn't exactly rock my world, I liked him better than Angela. There was just something about her that I didin't trust. Jeffery did look like a rockstar in his jet-setting outfit, but I feel there was too much emphasis on his junk.

Also in Project Runway news, I just stumbled upon this site. Good bye, freetime!

I'm going to punch out street lights with a bat.

2006-08-30T08:53:00.000-05:00

Music can transport you. Funny, I'm listening to "Shannon" by Henry Gross. This song (besides being incredibly lame) is featured on the Anchorman soundtrack. Will ferrell introduces the song by stating, "I'm not sure if I want to play this next song. It gets me very emotional. Oh the blazes with it! Just play it Ronnie, just play it."

We get 17 seconds into the song and Ron Burgundy begins to cry. He sobs throughout the song and tells us all the memories he has attached to it. ("I was born without a spleen! How's that make you feel?")

What's ironic about this song playing now is that this whole album brings back many memories for me. I can remember this song playing on the overhead in the eraly mornings at Borders when I was working on IPT. (Inventory Processing Team for those of you not down with the Borders lingo.)

This was after a considerably rough time in my life. I had ended an eight year relationship. Needless to say the transition was less than easy. (Contrary to popular belief...)

It took a strong man by my side, a few true friends and a little Lexipro to get me through it. But here I am. Marrying said strong man witha bullshit tolerance that has been severely lowered. I'm happy, and I'll be the first to admit that it's a concept I still struggle with. Is happiness really this easy?

What does this have to do with this strange news anchor sobbing in my ear? It's one of the first memories I have of being happy that doesn't directly involve Rob. It means I can be happy without relying on someone else's assistance.

And for me, that's HUGE.

"You gotta live life, eh? That sound good? Great."