Friday, August 31, 2012

Back to Reality

Just a quick blog for today.  I am alive, mostly well and back at home after my 10 trek of crazy!  Meredith and Tommy’s wedding was gorgeous, the cake turned out well and the bride loved it (decorator had some issues with it but so long as the bride was happy that is all the matters!) and I am much more knowledgeable in the world of government finance.  Now I’m looking forward to a 3-day weekend!  All in all the past 10 days went very well.  Since I’m just doing a quick post for now – I’ll more than likely do a more detailed post with pictures of course later – for now I’ll do a list of some of the highlights from the last 10 days! (oh and I did of course Instagram some pics throughout the trek so feel free to click over there and check those out!)
·         I managed to get up every morning while in Ohio (minus the wedding morning since we had to be at the salon at 7:30) to do a workout.  Since I didn’t have all the equipment and stuff I would normally they weren’t quite as intense but I got in a few nice runs at a park near my sister’s house and in my mom’s allotment

·         I was able to sleep in a bed all by myself – that in itself is just plain awesome

·         I got to fly first class for the first time, and I was super nice. (US Airways was running behind on my flight from Cleveland to Philly so they had to push my flight from Philly to Raleigh back WAY late so I got first class as a comp)

·         I no longer have the ability to wear high heel shoes without consequence

·         I cannot turn down a monster cookie and will eat them one after the other until I am sick

·         My mom can eat an exorbitant amount of cake and frosting at one time without getting even slightly sick – sorry mom I HAD to include this because it was so funny!

·         Buggy doesn’t travel well.  AT ALL.

·         My little sister is now married – HOLY heck how did that happen!

·         I gave a speech at the reception and even SANG a very small portion and didn’t die of embarrassment.  I thought for sure I would have a hard time with that.

·         Cupcakes with filling inside are a huge hit!

·         I am getting old – I rarely see my family in Ohio and see the extended family even less so when I see these YOUNG ADULTS walking around when the last time I saw them they were LITTLE KIDS I realize how quickly time truly does fly. 

·         No matter how much make up I put on my face I ALWAYS look pale as a ghost in photos.
and.......a quick rant:
I spent a fair amount of time in one airport or another these past 2 weeks and I simply have 1 question about airports.  Why in the world do they not make the stalls in bathrooms at airports a little bigger??  I mean I know not everyone travels alone but I’m sure there are quite a few people who must do this at some point and it is ridiculously impossible to fit yourself, a carry on luggage suitcase (you know the smaller kind that you pull behind you) and your ‘personal item’ (in my case a rather large bag in which I carried my actual purse, reading materials, phone charger and some snacks, you know, the essentials!) inside the bathroom stall.  And once you do maneuver yourself inside and actually get the door closed you are usually facing the wrong direction and then have to do some serious twisting, turning, jumping and finagling to actually USE the potty.   Really – I mean the airport people MUST know these types of things will happen so why not just make the stall slightly larger.  Because then when you try to exit the stall and the door swings IN instead of out you get the door stuck on your luggage or personal item and have to yank it free which causes you to lurch forward and for me raises my temperature as well as my blood pressure.  And it seems such an easy fix – I’d say I think I’d prefer less actual stalls and more room inside the stalls.  I wouldn’t mind waiting in a bit of a line if I knew I could get in and out of the stall without maiming myself!
Buggy-ism’s:
- “My belly doesn't hurt, I just toot a lot.” – said just to be said after I asked Addison if her belly hurt because she was cuasing my nostrils so much discomfort!
- "I can't read this, there isn't any pictures in it” – after picking up one of my books from the bookshelf – funny and scary at the same time!
- At dinner last night she was sitting on my lap and out of the blue handed me her cup and said “I don't want this” then turned to me and said “I just want to love you” and proceeded to give me a hug.  Now how can this not melt a Mama’s heart after having been away from her for so long!?
{one quick pic from this morning - she told me she wanted to pose and how could i tell her no, as you see i couldn't}
Happy 3 day weekend!!!

Monday, August 20, 2012

Let the Madness Begin!

Tomorrow starts my 10 day trek of C.R.A.Z.Y!  I fly out tomorrow en route to Ohio for my sister’s wedding.  Seems like yesterday she started all the planning and now here we are 5 days from the big event – EEK!  Lots of things still need to be done of course – hence the crazy I speak of.  I am creating her wedding cake along with 250 cupcakes for the reception.  So far the reality of that has not sunk in.  But I have a feeling I will fall into serious self-doubt and stress mode when I start the baking.  Umm hello, who do you think you are to think you can make a whole wedding cake?!  Oh goodness.  Please keep me in your prayers for this one! But the wedding is Saturday and then I fly back to NC (Raleigh) Sunday evening.  Then it’s off to Chapel Hill for my first class to complete my certification for work – Intro to Local Government.  I’m pretty excited about it.  I LOVE school and being a ‘student’ so classes like this usually fulfill that need without having to enroll full time or anything!   Then I will finally be back home next Thursday night.  Lots of busy crammed into 10 days.  Should be interesting.

So in the meantime…………..
{haha.  this was too cute not to post!}

Things may be quiet around here for a little while but I'm sure I'll be posting to Instagram like the ridiculous.Instagram.addict that I am so check things out over there for updates.

See ya back in a bit! 


Wednesday, August 15, 2012

New Discoveries

This past weekend the Bug and I (along with Deondra, Sophia & Kaitlin) took a little adventure and went to a place we’d never been before – The Science Center & Animal Discovery Zoo in Greensboro.  What a cool, educational and fun place tucked away right in the middle of everything!  There were lots of hands on things to do – Buggy was especially fond of the snakes – Eek!, including weather education, fossils, rocks & gems, aquatics, dinosaurs, zoo animals & even a petting zoo with some more common animals – the favorite was the miniature horses by a landslide!   We had a great day!  I took an enormous amount of pictures so I just chose a few to show you how cool it is!  I made a few collages for instagram so just click on the link over there on the right and you can see some more there!  We also stopped for something yummy at Delicious Bakery beforehand.  Such cute little cakes and pretty yummy too!  

{cake and canoodling with books} 

{checking out the tiger but always ready to smile for the cam}

{posing with the t-rex}

{snuggling up with kaitlin at lunch}

{a fun day for the most part with lots of happiness....}

{...but we also has some moments like this, take the good with the bad}

{a 2 headed turtle - WHAT?!}

{hanging out in a tunnel - look closey - buggy is in there too!}

{no fear, loving the snakes}

{always ready to strike a pose}

{miniature horses - the hit of the day!}

{these guys were ready for the camera}

{what are YOU looking at?!}

{this guy thought i might taste good - silly dino!}

{buggy had to get 'eaten' by something too}

In potty training news – we have made progress!!   Last night Bug did #2 on the potty, FINALLY! Not finally that she went on the potty just finally that she pooped.  She knows not to go in her panties now but I think is still a bit unsure about going on the potty so for the last few days she has just been holding it in.  And we all know how NOT COOL that can be.  So any progress in that direction is a HUGE sigh of relief.  As far as the peeing on the potty she is good.  No accidents in that area in 3 weeks and most nights she wakes up dry – only occasionally is she wet and even when she is it’s not very much.  So HALLELUJIEH!  I keep telling her if she wants to join a dance class she has to go potty on the potty like a big girl all the time.  So now every time she goes she asks, ‘can I go to the dance class now?’  Looks like I’m gonna have a little dancer on my hands in a few weeks!

{yes she's at it again - not great quality but you can see she's doing her fav thing}

In other news I think I may have become addicted to smoothies.  I wanted to try to find a good, healthy breakfast alternative to the scrambled eggs I have been making every.single.morning.  I’ve made some pretty darn good ones in the last few days but my fav by far is the one I made this morning.  Since I’ve been doing the smoothies, I have been forgoing my morning cup of coffee.  Not a huge deal but I do miss the boost of caffeine that it gives me.  This morning I incorporated that coffee into my smoothie and it was DEEEELISH.  Coffee (I brewed it last night to use this morning), a splash of almond milk, a frozen banana, 1 scoop of protein powder, a handful of spinach and a bit of ice.  YUMO.    Very frothy and smooth and similar to something from McD’s – only NONE of the bad crap!  I love it.  I will definitely be experimenting with some more recipes – both with and without coffee!

 {hello yumminess}

{just my new favorite pic of the Bug!}

{and a quick monday morning shot posing in her dress from 'aunt melly'- if only she'd let me do her hair before school!}

Now for some Buggyisms:

-while eating M&M's in the car on the way home from school:  "mommy, stop the car, stop the car, I can't read my letter."  Once I realized what she meant (the M on the candy) I said "what is that letter?" and she said "E."  And really is she wrong?  I mean turn it on it's side!

-when I try to get her out of bed in the morning: "nooooooooooooooooo, i just wanna sleep, go out of here" - poor baby, I know how you feel.

-when I pick her up from school: "mommy i didn't cry today" or "mommy i cried for you today."  So cute that she's basically telling on herself.

-while in the car with the radio on if a song comes on with a girl singing: "daddy you can't sing, this is for girls" and if a song comes on with a guy singing "mommy we can't sing, this is for boys."

A close friend sent me this quote today and I like it a lot and wanted to share – hey maybe I’ll start including some more of these in my posts!

“Dear Tomorrow, do whatever you want to do.  I have already lived my today and I am not afraid of you anymore.”

Have a great Wednesday y’all!!

Friday, August 10, 2012

Back Among the Land of the Living

I feel like I have been out of commission for months – but really it’s been only 4 days. The Bug got a fever last Sunday afternoon which kept us at home for a few days.  Then Tuesday afternoon after waking from a glorious nap, I could barely swallow my throat hurt so bad and was chilled to the bone with a fever of almost 102.  Awesome.  So aside from taking Bug to the doc Monday morning for a potty related rash (seemingly unrelated to the fever) I hadn’t left the house until this morning.  So it’s nice to be back among the world of the living.  I feel like I lost a few days in a haze of medicine, lots of uncontrollable sleep, and numerous reruns of Teen Mom 2.  Yep it was a rough few days.  Prior to what I’m guessing is the flu took over my life some fun things happened.  We had an impromptu park play date with Lilly and sweet baby Ella at Triad Park and hit the pool where Buggy finally ran from the start of the diving board to the end and jumped off all on her own.    We spent most of Monday snuggled up but Tuesday morning prior to my ‘I’m gonna catch the crud during this nap’ nap, Buggy and I enjoyed making some craft bugs (Thank you Kyle and Jess back before Bryson and Harper were even born for sending this wonderful craft for Buggy – she thoroughly enjoyed it once I finally let her play with it!) and of course she posed for a few pictures for me since she was feeling better – her usual M.O.  Check out some pics and vids from the last week or so.

{betcha didn't know i had a monkey at my house?!}

{emma and lilly saturday morning fun at triad park}

{sunday - the beginning of the sickness - if we are at the pool and bug doesn't want to be in the water there IS a problem}

{monday after the doctor.  poor. pitiful. bug}

{later monday afternoon, feeling better, at least enough to smile.  oh and isn't little gixxy cute all cuddled up behind her?  ah the life of a dog!}

{tuesday morning, time for a craft}

{so intense on her work}

{our finished bugs - super cute!}
{wouldn't be bug without some poses}

{running and jumping off the dive all by her 'big self' for the first time}

{this just cracks my butt up - she gets her moves from her mama, obviousy! ha}

{being sweet to her baby, melts my heart}

So over the last few days I’ve noticed a few things that stuck out to me, no didn’t stick out, more like irritated the heck outta me and I feel I need to vent.  If you’d rather not listen to my rant you can stop reading now – but if you’d like to know keep on reading………

First, while tending to a sick Buggy and trying to get said Bug to sleep and also while tending to a sick Mama and trying myself to sleep as much as possible, I noticed there is a BLAZING BLUE LIGHT that is on when the Direct TV box is OFF.  Can someone please explain to me why this would be the case? Because when I turn the Direct TV box on that light is OFF.  Seriously?  Who in their right mind invented something so ridiculous?  Have the light on while the box is off and have it off when the box is on?!  In other words let’s have a BAZING BLUE LIGHT shining through the peaceful darkness that we’ll call sleep while most people have their tv OFF to enjoy the darkness that comes from it being off!!!!  Come on people, really?

Now part of my sickness was (and still is, sadly) an agonizing sore throat.  I had some of that throat spray stuff, I’m not sure the brand or what it’s really called (and in my house I’m sure it’s a generic anyways) but I’m guessing you all know what I’m talking about.  The stuff you spray 1-2 sprays into the back of your throat to help ‘numb’ the irritation of a sore throat? My question is this – why do they not make that sprayer thing long enough so it actually reaches to your throat?  I’ve tried many attempts to get it to my throat including turning sideways, upside down, twisting in all kinds of crazy ways and inevitably I end up with the spray on my tongue.  So now I have a semi-numb tongue which does me absolutely no good for my sore throat. 

My third quandary is basically just a fact pointer-outer.  A few weeks ago when I was in Ohio for my sister’s bachelorette party I stopped at McD’s on the way back to NC (yea I had to do it, it was a rough night!) and paid $4 and some change for a bacon, egg and cheese bagel.  This morning I stopped on my way to work for the same bagel (again, a rough couple of days and this girl just needed some FOOD!) and paid $2 and some change.  I found it interesting that the same item at the same restaurant but in different states varied so much in cost.  I guess just a realization of the differences in cost of living. 

Annnnnd, last but certainly not least.  I’m not sure how many of you are familiar with Oak Hollow Mall in High Point but every time I go into that area (which isn’t too often) I am amazed at how people have no clue how to drive the traffic pattern in there.  When you come into the mall area you enter a circle that goes around the mall.  Traffic entering from the street keeps going and does not have a stop sign, while the people driving around the loop stop where there is traffic entering from the road.  Today I went to Barnes & Noble on my lunch break which is in that mall area, and as I turn in from the road I am not surprised to see a car sitting in the middle of the intersection, just hanging out, making no efforts to move and since people already don’t know how to drive in there, causing a whole lot of annoyances.  Do I stop? Do I go? How did I get a license in the first place?  AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.  And I am not surprised to see the man behind the wheel was elderly.  I have the utmost respect for my elders, and always have.  I also have respect for my safety, the safety of my family and all the others on the road.  Which is why I am a firm believer that there should be periodic ages where you need to re-test for your license.  When you renew it you ACTUALLY renew it.  We wouldn’t put a 10 year old behind the wheel when he can barely see over the steering wheel or reach the pedals so why would we put an 80 year old behind the wheel with the same problems?  No discrimination here in any way – it’s just a good idea to have to re-test every so often.  (and I’m not saying I couldn’t benefit from a re-test here or there either!)

I’ve been somewhat blog-slack this last week, writing and reading, so I’m doing my best to catch up.  I love all my girls who graciously share their lives through their blogs and I love ‘meeting’ new people through the new blogs I find and learning new things through different eyes.  I just realized how much i wrote for this post - see what happens when I'm cut off from the world for a week and can't talk for most of that time!?!  :O)

Have a wonderful weekend!