figuring out 40

on my honor

First, let me just say that I was told that I HAD to post this picture. If I didn't, lord only knows what photos would turn up on my mother's blog...and what neon-sign comments she'd post here to get you all to look. I was also told that I could NOT post a picture of my brother & Shannon's brother...perhaps it has something to do with nudity involved? Who knows.

Anyway...this is mini-me in my how-cute-is-that brownie uniform. It's hard to see in the picture, but I am wearing a very stylish beanie, as well. Yep, I said beanie. It's funny, I don't remember being in Brownies for very long. What I do remember is that we had a father/daughter banquet, and my dad's pager(?) went off in the middle of it, and he had to leave. Which seems strange now that I write that...b/c did pagers even exist then? 

So, why the old-school photo? Well, my mom has been scanning slides, and sending choice pictures to me. I'm fortunate, really, that my parents have always taken pictures...I remember reels & reels of slides stacked up in the living room. She's sent me some great pictures of her & dad when they were younger...lots of me...lots of my brother & sister. In a bit of a collaborative effort, I'll make notes of dates & memories as I file these pictures. I'll eventually scrapbook a lot of them. Perhpas I'll do some mini-albums..."unfortunate haircuts through the years" or "20 years of poor fashion choices in glasses."

Wanna see my favorite scanned slide so far? Go here: memory fades. Be sure to click on the picture to make it larger...you really want the full effect of that seriously fashionable headband on my dad.

too much of a good thing

I like to spend the week after Christmas doing some cleaning & decluttering. I like the feeling of starting the new year a little more organized. I've already spent a day cleaning & organizing my scraproom...which resulted in 3 boxes of stuff to get rid of. The next project on my list was to go through the stacks of magazines in various rooms. I *heart* magazines. I always flip through a magazine when I'm watching TV. I take a few with me when I travel. I subscribe to a lot of magazines...which means that the piles of old magazines were getting completely out of control. I sorted through them last night, with a few rules for myself...

1. cooking magazines can stay...I'll likely reference them for recipes at some point

2. gardening magazines can stay...b/c one day, I might actually garden

3. 2007 scrapbooking magazines can stay

4. special issue scrapbooking magazines (ie HOF) can stay

5. any issue dated Nov or Dec 2007 can stay...b/c I probably haven't had the time to read them yet

At the end of all this sorting, I ended up with 3 stacks - a stack to give to someone, a stack to flip through one last time (it's a small stack), and a stack to take to the library today (for the free magazine boxes). The stacks for the library (Austin stopped counting at 100)...

My next project is to go through clothes...most of my winter clothes are still in a rubbermaid tub, and most of my summer clothes are still in drawers. If I wait too much longer, it won't even make sense to switch them!

I am busy rising above

Those who watch Grey's Anatomy understand the reference. Those who don't watch Grey's Anatomy should start.

I rec'd an angry, bitter rant of an email yesterday from someone. There was a time when my first inclination would have been to respond to said email...point by point, line by line, debate style. I would have pointed out the blatant lies, the flawed memories, the misspellings, and the poor grammar. I would have fought back, merely for the sake of being able to win.

Not this time. I am rising above.

I guess that I've gotten to this place where I recognize that putting all that hate & bitterness out into the universe simply guarantees that the universe will serve it right back up. So, the person that wrote the email may feel better in the moment, but will get every bit of the energy right back in her face. Maybe it's the realization that I don't have to defend my actions, or my parenting, to this person. Maybe it's the yoga & meditation. Maybe it's the lovely bottle of syrah. I am rising above.

I did make a phone call to ensure that another person didn't have anything that he wished to discuss with me. I did point out that clearly his wife was having a bad day. I did call my mother...b/c that's what one does when one is attacked. And I did connect with 3 of my best friends...b/c their support is helpful with all the rising above.

At one point, Rob said to me..."Hey, while you're rising above, do you want to call my sister?"

To which I responded..."I'm not rising THAT far."

Here's to a day of calm & peace. Be good.

an apple a day...

keeps any cranky music-lovers away. We are sporting 3 new ipods in this house. New nanos for Hope & Austin, new itouch for moi. Happy campers are we. (and Mom, in case you're wondering where Rob's is...he knows about as much (and cares about as much) about ipods as you do...he'll inherit one of our shuffles)

The kids are also having fun with their Wii. As many of you know, buying the Wii was a BIG step for us. I've never allowed video games, so this was a distinct change in position. I'm confident that the kids will NOT turn into couch potatoes...and I can personally attest to the fact that bowling on the Wii is quite the arm workout. The kids were VERY surprised by this gift. Instead of gifts from Santa being displayed on Christmas morning, they found an envelope. Inside the envelope was a sheet of paper with this quiz...

What is...

• a pronoun used to describe more than one person
• a synonym for little
• a gift for both of you from Santa

It was absolutely hilarious watching them try to figure it out. "We tiny present" was the first guess. After several additional hints, and the clarification that all three answers were the same, they finally got it. Austin said "you really had me going with that whole the-new-york-trip-is-your-present thing, Mom." LOL. Keep in mind that this was even before they opened their ipods!

As hard as it is to spend the holidays away from family, I will admit that I enjoyed the relaxation. We lounged. We napped. I cooked. We ate. Hope had to leave for a bit to spend time with her Dad...and unfortunately, came home in tears. So, not a perfect day, but a good day nonetheless.

Today is all about recovery...getting the house back into shape, getting some projects done, getting new stuff put away. I actually started organizing my scraproom last night. I enjoy this part...out with the old, in with the new.

Enjoy your day!

have a very merry.

what "not baking" looks like

I hadn't planned on doing much baking this year. Then, on the way home from NYC on Thurs, I saw a Food Network episode that had sugar cookies with pistachios & dried cherries....and decided that I had to make those. Then Hope requested peanut butter cookies with hershey's kisses on top. Then Austin requested sugar cookies with m&ms. Then Shannon talked about rice krispies treats, and made me crave them. So, this is what "not baking" looks like (including the gingerbread tree that Hope made)....

Now I don't know what I'm going to do with all these cookies! We'll deliver some to a couple of friends today, and probably to our elderly neighbor who always keeps an eye on the house.

I have some wrapping to finish up this morning (I detest wrapping), and a pumpkin pie to bake. We decided to go to the movies today in order to make the time go by faster....so we're off to see the new National Treasure movie at some point. I guess the upside to not having any family plans is that we don't have any obligations. We can just do whatever we decide to do. And right now? That's exactly what we all need.

I hope that you are all enjoying your Christmas Eve...and for those who won't log on tomorrow...have a very Merry Christmas. Thank you for sharing my life. Thank you for your gifts of kindness & friendship.

much love.

things my mother never had to say...

"452 text messages last month? You know that you're only allowed 250. You now owe me $20 to cover the difference."

I'm happy to report that I stayed within my 250 limit, with only 167 text messages. Oh the joys of the cell phone age.

I hope that everyone is doing a bit of relaxing today, instead of last minute running around. We're expecting a warm day here...mid 40s...which makes me VERY happy. I need to go to the grocery store, wrap some presents, and then relax a bit.

be good.

I do *heart* deadlines

With it's non-negoitable place on the calendar, Christmas offers up one big deadline. There's no "can we move that to the first Tuesday in January?" It just is, when it is. I'm not altogether done with what I'd like to get done for Christmas. Rather than evoking a sense of panic, I'm in the type-A, get-out-of-my-way-I've-got-things-to-do mode. I really do thrive on deadlines.

I am also really delegating this year. In years past, I have told Rob that he is in charge of planning & purchasing gifts for his side of the family (with a couple of exceptions). And in years past, I would be very stressed right now b/c said gifts AREN'T planned, and certainly AREN'T in the mail. I would scramble at the last minute to bail him out, so that "we" got everything together in time. This year? Nope. He has to follow through. If that means that gifts are late? Well, he'll have to explain that.

I'm off to NYC again tomorrow. One of those quick, but brutal trips that require me to get up at 3:30 in the morning. I remembered that there's a Scholastic store near the office, so I'm planning on stopping there to pick up a gift for Austin's teacher. Suggestions are welcome!

because I am a rockstar in the confines of my car.

I was giving my friend Shannon some blog-comment crap about her top 5 songs that she doesn't want to admit that she likes. It occurred to me on my drive in this morning that I had several songs blaring in my car that I probably shouldn't admit that I like. And I sing them...really, really loud. I've been known to do a little driver's seat dancing, too (Lori, who's commute used to intersect with mine, has witnessed this). So, in honor of Shannon not flying the geek flag alone, today I offer you...

Four songs sung loudly in my car on my morning commute...

1. Hate that I Love You - Rhianna & Ne-Yo (must everything you do make me wanna smile? I mean, really, who can resist a teen angst song?)

2. Clumsy - Fergie (uhm, I just read on itunes that Fergie did stint on Kids Incorporated. Interesting. Who knew that all those wholesome kids shows would turn out dirty pop stars?)

3. Year 3000 - Jonas Brothers (live in a house with a teen & a preteen and try to avoid this band...it's impossible. And they're not awful.)

4. Mistletoe - Colbie Calliat (I realize that Bubbly is WAY overplayed on the radio...but to be fair, I was a fan before she hit mainstream. And Bubbly was my ringtone before all the overplaying. Really.)

Shannon, you may now have the last laugh. :)

all mondays should be delayed...

If only the delay would be announced on Sunday night, so that I could have actually slept in. So it goes on snowy Mondays....getting up, logging on to the school cancellation site, refreshing, turning on the radio to hear the "snow desk" report, refreshing the website again...and finally hearing "two hour delay." Send oldest kid back to bed. Send youngest kid...who has now gotten up to hear the verdict...back to bed. Realize that you won't be able to sleep if you go back to bed. ::sigh:: Still, there's something quite alright about starting a monday 2 hours later.

I haven't heard the snow totals for yesterday yet, but I'd guess that we got about a foot. I didn't leave my house yesterday...didn't even leave my pjs. Worked on some scrappy stuff. Decorated the tree upstairs (one down, one to go). Got packages ready to ship today (uhm, seriously...postal rates are ridiculous). Made a "comfort food" dinner of pot roast & mashed potatoes. All in all, not a bad way to spend a Sunday.