Blissfully Unaware of the Chaos the Surrounds Me

Better . . .

Halle-boo is much, much better. Other than the remaining dark rings under her eyes, she is back to her beautiful self. I, of course, have matching dark rings . . . but mine are from lack of sleep. I was a wee bit worried about her last night! Epinephrine is my new favorite thing. Ever. (Well, not really, but I do really, really appreciate it!)

So sister stayed home with me today. I didn't even try to work. Nope. I called in and said I was taking the day off. I answered maybe three emails all day? The rest are going to be there when I get to work tomorrow. Amazing how it waits for us, yes?

Also amazing is the circle of fabulous Moms in my life. My hairdresser is a mom. She didn't even expect me to call in and cancel after seeing Halle's swollen face on Facebook. We agreed that taking sister into the hair salon and exposing her to all sorts of smells and chemicals and whatnot wasn't the best plan for recovery! So instead, I'll rock my roots for another week or so and just go with is. Hats are always in style!

Since work and hair appointments were out of the way, we made a donut run. We played Barbies. I took some pastries by to Renee's. (Who doesn't enjoy a little Tin Roof baked good when you're going through hell, right?) We went by the preschool to say hi to her friends. We spent some time at my Gram's house. We snuck out to lunch with my Auntie. I went to another principal interview. Halle is watching Chipwrecked. God love the Chipmunks AND the Roku!

(Seriously, people . . . I love the Roku. I know that I bought it for John, but the instant gratification factor of downloading movies is pretty darn fabulous. And yes, I realize you don't need a Roku to do this, BUT Amazon Prime + the Roku= a lot of free/cheap movies.)

Dylan is running for student council again. He got his posters done and put them up today. What a cutie! He even let me take a quick picture to put on his fliers, since we didn't have any good photos without his braces. I'd vote for him! 

And with that, John and I are sitting on the patio. I'm blogging. He's grading papers. The dog is at my feet. The kids are content. Ahhhhh. I have a weird little feeling that I'm supposed to be somewhere, but I'm not even going to look at Cozi. Nope. I am totally pushing the "ignore" button tonight.

I think we all deserve it! 

One little aside? Since we had to cancel our book club last night, we missed our Skype session with Kelle Hampton. AND I forgot to email her to tell her. So heck if my phone doesn't ring last night and it's her! I was a little smitten. She was very sweet and totally forgiving. So we get to reschedule another time. That could be tough over the next few weeks, but by golly, we're going to try! If you haven't read it yet? Go buy Bloom. In hardcover. Caress it. Gaze upon the awesome pictures. Curl up and read her honest journey. Trust me, before you're even a couple of chapters in? You'll be smitten too!

Ironic Wish-Listing . . .

For yesterday's post, I grabbed some images from my Lovely Bits board over at Pinterest and a couple of images from a Google search for "floral cowgirl boots". 

Yesterday afternoon, my Mom and I ran into the Boot Barn to see if they had any cute, flowery boots. For although I still think they are slightly ridiculous, I love them so. I dream about them. I think it's the contrast of them . . . all flowery and lovely, yet tough and ready to work. I'd like to think of myself in the same manner!

First, you have to know that my Mom and I have some serious shoe issues. (And purses, if the truth be told.) We like nice shoes. And boots. (And purses.) We tend to be drawn to them and make emotional connections to them.

As soon as we walk in, my Mom grabs a pair off the shelf and says, "these are adorable. Try them on." She was right. They were adorable. They also fit perfectly. We kept looking around and I tried a few more on, but nothing fit or looked as good as the first pair. It was love at boot-sight. 

That's when it dawned on me that I didn't know what brand they were. Or the price. Cue the awkwardness. We had picked out a pair of Old Gringos. A $500 pair of Old Gringos. 

Dammit.

The saleswoman offered to polish them for me - as if a free polishing job would make up for the $500 price tag. We sadly put the boots back on the shelf and bid adieu. Because there was no other boot that was going to stand-in for our favorite, ridiculously expensive, adorably floral boots.

Goodbye, darlin! I'll save up my birthday money and maybe start couponing and possibly sell my eggs (dammit! I forgot that I don't have any more eggs!) and I'll come back for you. Cue the music from the Titanic to adequately accompany my melodrama over a pair of over-priced boots.

After I returned home, I thought I'd do a little Google action and see what I could find. Someone, somewhere must have these beautiful boots on sale. Right? Wrong. But I was amused to find that the exact same photo I'd used in my Birthday Wish List collage? Was the identical pair of boots.

At least I'm consistent in my boot-lusting!

Birthday Wish List . . .

Let's be clear . . . I don't expect any of these lovely items for my birthday . . . but it's fun to dream, right? And really, who has a pom-pom maker, a Coach bag, a stamp, a robe, inspirational art, outdoor furniture and some jewelry on the same wish list?

Apparently, I do!

Befuddled . . .

I'm stuck. 1,000 was a big number. And we've got lots going on in our lives at the moment. Thus, I'm stuck. Trying to step out in a big way, but settling instead for a random assortment.

As usual.

Yesterday I hosted  a Matilda Jane trunk show. It was a beautiful sunny day. Their product line is amazing. I kind of wish that I could live out some combination of Matilda Jane/Pottery Barn/Garnet Hill photo-shoot. As my real life. Sadly, because it was such a beautiful day? A lot of my expected guests didn't make it to the show. Which was no biggie for me. (Hey, I ate that leftover salad for dinner. And lunch today!) But I felt bad for my "trunk -keeper", Keri, who drove down from Redding and spent most of her afternoon here. She said it was fine, and I ordered a few things to try and make up for her slower afternoon!

( I bought the green/teal stuff for our upcoming photoshoot with Blue Lily. I bought the purple dress for Halle because she loved it. Surprise!)

We also got to see our beloved Lauren and Bobby yesterday evening. It was an hour of talking, laughing and lots of doggie antics. Yeah! Crazy-love! I even got to sneak out to see Lauren this morning. I miss her. A lot. A really, awfully lot. Apparently, Halle really misses Prince Bobby. (Who is wearing a Matilda Jane headband. Because he can.)

My handsome boy got his braces off. He is even cuter than before. Which is saying something.

 I started and finished Bloom over this last week. As a follower of her blog, it certainly seemed familiar. But it was more of a comfortable familiar versus a boring kind of familiar. I knew enough about her story and had read enough of her blog to feel at ease with the book. It felt good. It felt like growth. It made me set the book down several times to go connect with my kiddos. It made me feel like I was in the right place at the right time. My patio. My quilt. My kids playing in the background. My feet on my table. My home. It was a feel-good, grow-well, LOL and simultaneously dry-your-tears-kinda-book. That's a book review from a Mama heart, yes?

I planted even more stuff in my yard. I'm committed. We are not moving for at least two years. (According to me.) Also, according to me, I'm going to successfully grow a hydrangea this year. So help me! (My Mom bought me another one. We named her Henrietta. We prayed over her. Multiple times. Halle asked God to "not let her Mama kill Henrietta, like she's killed her brothers and sisters before." Yikes. Even my four-year-old knows that I'm a hydrangea killer!) I also trimmed (hacked) my gardenia bush. After hacking it? My mother informed me that it was totally the wrong time of year to do it. Yep. Oh well! I also planted a couple of more containers. That really seems to be my thing. I'm good at it! Maybe my entire yard should consist of containers?

My Mom and I went out and did some looking around for birthday ideas. Everything I told her that I would love was stuff for our yard. Today? I did a 180! I told her I wanted some girlie cowgirl boots. Random, yes? But way better than yet another market umbrella! Speaking of my birthday? I am having a potluck to celebrate. Seriously! I am christening this summer as the Year of the Potluck. I felt strongly that we had let the social pressure and some ridiculous expectations get to us. My standards for entertaining got so high (expensive) that we just stopped having people over. So I am bringing back a new reality. Perfection is out. Potluck is in. Get on board, peeps! Bring a covered dish and come on over!

Speaking of the yard, my birthday and family? I asked my Dad to design and build me a custom/reclaimed/recycled/made-of-pallet outdoor sofa-ish creation. I want it to be u-shaped AND be moveable so as to be able to turn it into a . . . Big. Family. Bed. (It's not as creepy as it sounds. I swear.) I want this summer to not only be the Summer of the Poluck? But also, the Summer of the Backyard Campout. I'm inspired by all sorts of Google images and of course, the almighty Pinterest, but have yet to find an example of what I actually want. Thus, my father, the engineer to the rescue!

I worked at church on Sunday. It made me miss our small-group (RLG, to my Bidwell peeps). We simply cannot do it, right now, because of our crazy schedules. But I really miss that miss-mash group of people coming together in our living room every week. 

The kids and I took our first spring bike ride on Saturday. I'm actually very surprised that my legs didn't fall off. Halle is still riding in the bike seat behind me. Let's just say that will come to an end very soon. Holy cats! Who knew that an extra 35 pounds in the rear could be so hard to pull along!

This week is looming large. As is next week. I look at Cozi and see lots of holes.  Lots of notes that say, "childcare needed". Not sure what to do about those holes just yet! But I'm committed to taking it one day at a time. Kids. Husband. School (x 3). Work (x 2). Stress (x 1,000). Laundry (x never-ending). Faith (x hopeitsenoughtogetusthroughthenextsixweeks). Or something like that!

Bring on the potluck. Bring on the birthday wish-list. Bring on a walk or two or twelve with good friends in the park. Bring on the weekend. Please (please, please!) let's ignore the fact that it's only Monday.

Scanner Fail . . .

sorry! It's silly really. I could probably figure it out. But I haven't.

In other news  . . . 

the non-hooked-up-scanner issue did remind me that I bought a Groupon item several months ago that entitles me to send in 1000 photos and have them scanned and returned as digital items. Problem solved! Packaging those bad-boys up as we speak!

At Dylan's basketball game on Tuesday, we played a faith-based school. They didn't play out their faith. Let's just go with that as an accurate description (and I won't detail out the technical fouls they incurred or the nasty things they yelled as we won). It made me really sad. (And proud of how our boys handled themselves :))

I'm supposed to go to Reno with my family next weekend. To visit John's family. (His mom and step-dad are coming out from Texas to visit his sister in Reno.) I am feeling really anxious about the whole deal. I am worried that it will be too much, that I'll be too tired and ultimately, it will be too stressful. As it stands right now, recovery-wise, I still have (and need) a lot of down-time. At home. In bed. On the couch. The idea of driving to Reno (3 hours), staying in John's sister's house with everyone there, sharing a room with John, Dylan and Halle, etc., . . . scares the crap out of me! I am feeling very conflicted between expressing what I think is best for me (staying home) and doing what will make John happy. I don't want to disappoint him. I'm just worried about the energy it will take. And if I have enough energy to do it yet.

My BFF is visiting friends in Colorado this week. Including a man-friend. I'm missing her a lot. I can't wait to hear about her fun trip! Over Prosecco, preferably :) Speaking of BFFs . . . our (now) annual Girls' trip is coming up at the end of this month . . . hello, Ritz Carlton, Half Moon Bay! There will definitely be some Prosecco on that trip!

Today, I am on an organizing binge. Well, to be more specific, I'm thinking about organizing. That's almost as good as doing it right? Check out my DVD project:

(In alphabetical order . . . getting there!)

By tomorrow (or the end of the weekend, realistically) all of those DVDs will be in these bins with the paperwork in these binders:

Yeah . . . probably not by tomorrow. I lost patience after the first 30. We have a lot of DVDs to go! 

That's a lot of random chit chat! I think I'm done for now!

 

 

Wish List . . .

I have been told that I am hard to buy gifts for. I disagree. It's not rocket science!

Behold . . . a list of things I would love to receive as a gift:

Eddie Bauer Traveling Vine Sherpa Hoodie ($39)

Born ($198)

14k gold endless hoop earrings ($64)

 

Custom Return Address Stamp

Custom Silhouette Necklace- Portrait of Your Children ($30)

A $20 donation to the Adventure Project. I love that charity. Mark my words, someday, I will go and do something for them. Something with my own two hands. Something more than writing a measly check.

And of course, anything handmade by my cchildren. Anything at all :) Or photos of my children. Or go big and put those photos on a canvas . . . I may swoon! Or money towards a dishwasher. Or replacing the tile entry way. Or Barnes & Noble gift cards that I can use to buy Nook Books. Or Amazon gift cards to rent movies with. Or any number of other simple, random and sometimes useful items. Including a potato masher. 

See, that wasn't that hard? Something for every budget! I swear that I am not that difficult!

Now, back to your regularly scheduled programming . . . 

Early Morning Internet . . .

{almost} every morning I look over 5-6 online editions of newspapers. But not the ones you might think. Nope, no biggies for me, other than the Sacramento Bee. Because of my j-o-b, I read a bunch of small local papers. Some only come out weekly. Which cuts down on my daily reading. Immensely. 

So on days like today, when I woke up 6:15 and couldn't go back to sleep (hello? It's Saturday!), I read fun blogs. Crazy idea, huh? And then I get even crazier ideas, like places I want to go, projects I want to do, recipes to try . . . it's a dangerous time in the morning around here! Some links that I've pondered today, all before 7:00 am:

Queen Bee Market. So help me, I am planning a trip to San Diego next year for this. Quite likely by myself. (Do not distract me while I am delighted with all of these beautiful items!)

I am really wondering if my Gram's teeny tiny 95th birthday celebration would be a great excuse to have Wild Ink Press design something for me? Because I don't think that John is ready to renew our vows after five years! But if we ever do, I am totally going with these amazing local artists! I am actually stalking my own mailbox because I am expecting an invitation to an upcoming wedding that they designed for. And I really, really want to see/feel/possibly taste it! (Were you unaware that I am a paper-freak?)

Adventure Playland. Wouldn't this be an amazing addition to our local parks program? You could do all sorts of fantastic programs with a facility like this . . . summer hours, field trips, team building, camps . . . me likey. 

How my backyard google search led me to this, I'm not quite sure, but I kind of love it. A lot. Outdoor Scrabble, anyone?

Ya'll know that I love small motorhomes, right? That if John and I stumbled onto $50K, we'd buy a 24-28 foot used Class C cabover and hit the hills every chance we could? (We wouldn't even think about doing anything responsible with the money, lets be perfectly clear!) But look at these very cool, new urban-kinda kicks. Roadtrek Motorhomes are probably too small to travel about with a big family, but as a couple? Oh yeah . . .      

And with that, I need to continue my Google-driven morning. Before the rest of the house wakes up. Grey peep-toe shoes are next on my list . . . maybe with lace embellishments? 

A Random Ten . . .

10. I survived my two days of interviewing potential candidates. Now I have to deal with the part where I tell a portion of them, "no, thanks" . . . I hate that part.

9. Viral Conjunctivitis. I have it. Lovely, eh? Apparently I avoided Halle's horrid cough and fever. Instead? It settled in my eye.

8. Babysitters. Found two new ones last night. One of whom I've known since she was 1. And I know her Mama. That's always a good thing!

7. Proofing my son's research paper is a great reminder as to why I was not a great teacher. I am waaaaaayyyyyy too particular. He is currently annoyed with me. "But my teacher didn't say I needed to change that part  . . ."

6. Six weeks until Hawaii. Remember how I was going to be "whole and balanced" in my weight loss approach? Yeah, I'm now considering a program. Or five.

5. Melasma. I've had it ever since I was about 2 days pregnant with Halle. The cream (Triluma) that I used to manage it? Just got pulled from the market. That's never a good thing.

4. Speaking of skin, I am so in love with my Clarisonic Mia. I heart it! Seriously, run, do not walk to buy one! Then, get some serious moisturizer because it is like getting a facial/peel every day. You'll need the extra love on your face! I have never, in my life, looked so forward to washing my face twice a day. Men, this would be an acceptable gift for Valentine's Day. Just tie a pretty red bow on it and tell your love that I said to buy it. They'll thank you after about two washes!

3. Mac and Cheese. Wine. They do go together. Just saying.

2. I bought Halle the cutest, tiniest #12 Packers jersey. I want to eat her up, she's so cute in it! We will be the cheesy family who is all decked out on Sunday. I am trying to refrain from making cheeseheads for all of us.

1. I currently have 5 hours and 40 minutes until I can (hopefully) order my Verizon iPhone. I hope I am sober enough to fill out the form correctly at midnight. Because I am considering drinking from now until then to (a) make time go faster and (b) help my eye to feel better. I can't tell you the last time I stayed up until midnight! Certainly never to buy a phone before. If their system crashes and I waste all that sleep . . . boy, will I ever be crabby!