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Thursday Ten: BRING ON THE POPSICLES Edition

October 7, 2010 by 2 Comments

1. I’m getting sick. Nothing too crazy – just a fall cold – you know, the typical kid goes back to school and the germs have a chance to incubate and turn to a fantastic phlegm fest and the kids pass it on to mom cold. Yeah. That. I have a runny nose and a sore throat and I feel like my head is going to pop right open. So, bring on the popsicles. I cater to the popsicle-soothe-the-throat method of killing the cooties.

2. My hard drive went kablooey over the weekend. Want a rude awakening as to how bad you are at backing up your photographs? That was definitely a rude awakening. BUT, I was fortunate to have lost NOTHING. Nothing but my sanity and several hours trying to get the new hard drive up and running. I’m still finding random things I forgot to install (Adobe Reader, anyone?) – but for the most part, it’s good. And I did it myself versus paying the big box store nerds $130 to set it all back up — though I can see where it’d be worth it, what a time consuming pain in the heinie.

3. I complained about last week’s episode of Glee, but I have to say – this week’s ep was much better. I actually missed the first half (so that could have been totally craptastic, I don’t know), but when I remembered to turn the television on, Kurt was singing, “I Want to Hold Your Hand.” I got goosebumps. And yeah, I DL’d the song from iTunes. My only music purchase of the week so far. His voice is ah-maze-ing.

4. Last week, we took Sir Pups A Lot (name changed to protect the not-so-innocent) to get neutered. And THEN, because he’s a rowdy active puppy, he managed to pop a stitch. We noticed after this not-so-fresh smell started radiating from his incision. The vet says it’s not infected, and has instructed us to keep putting Neosporin on the surgery site – but WHOA NELLY – that’s one stanky dog.

5. Last night, I watched two episodes in a row of “Top Chef: Just Desserts” (HEY! I’m sick, I can be lazy if I wanna). If ever there was a reality show after my own heart – this is it. Nothing but desserts FOR AN HOUR (actually, plus some – last night’s ep was long).

6. I really DISLIKE the “I like it…” Facebook meme. I am a tremendous fan of raising money and awareness for breast cancer, and love all endeavors to think pink and make people realize just how serious this disease is… except… How does the location of your purse do that? If you would like to raise awareness, there are other ways to do so. My heart is with two of my friends who will be walking SIXTY miles for breast cancer this weekend. And I’ll be walking forty again next summer (as always, feel free to click this link and donate to the Avon Walk).

7. Because I have teh cooties – I decided today I would up my water consumption, by… A LOT. I filled up my 32 ounce water bottle when running errands this morning and I DRANK IT ALL. I then hit every stupid red light on the way home. Sometimes, it just doesn’t pay to hydrate.

8. Last night at 11:59 p.m. was the deadline to vote for ArtPrize. It was a VERY difficult decision for me, and I was torn between Beili Liu’s “Lure/Wave” and Mia Tavonatti’s “Svelata”. Both were tremendously amazing pieces of art – both moved me so much. BUT, I only had one vote. I’m not telling you which one I voted for (well, unless you ask – in which case, I probably would), but it was one that I kept returning to. I couldn’t get it out of my head. I am grateful for the weeks we get to spend immersed in art and the opportunity to expose my kids to it. Brings me huge joy.

9. My list of books I want to read keeps growing and I get so frustrated because just when I’m finally getting caught up, I go to the library to return some books and leave with four more. I love reading. Currently, I’m reading two books: Lit: A Memoir (P.S.)* by Mary Karr and Little Bee* by Chris Cleave. Little Bee is our latest book club pic and I haven’t gotten far into it yet.

10. This weekend: Michigan versus Michigan State. Kind of a big deal in this neck of the woods. GO BLUE!

*Affiliate links

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Thursday Ten: Art and Music and Onion Rings, Oh My! Edition

September 30, 2010 by 6 Comments

1.  Last week, I posted a review of Maroon 5’s new album, “Hands All Over”. This week, I’m letting you know that A&M is letting me giveaway an autographed copy of this album. You want it? Leave a comment for me telling me so. I’ll randomly pick a winner next week Thursday.

2. I’ve been still hooked on visiting ArtPrize. I had a two day span where I didn’t go see art, and I was starting to get a little bit TWITCHY. It’s one of the coolest things Grand Rapids has to offer, and I look forward to them announcing the Top Ten pieces later today. The public votes on the winner.

One of the pieces I love is made entirely out of wine corks. Wonder if the artist drank all the wine himself?

3. During ArtPrize, I’ve been loading all my pictures into a Flickr – it’s been fun to see other people’s shots of ArtPrize and to share my own. The downside? Even though I do not have my photos labeled with a Creative Commons license, I’ve noticed that a few of my pictures have been used on other blogs. And it’s a weird feeling – I want to be flattered that someone liked it enough to use it but… That’s Stealing. Odds are, if someone had asked, I’d have said okay. Please pay attention when you’re taking images from Flickr to see if the owner of that picture has authorized its use. If he/she hasn’t, try asking them if you can use it. (Okay, off my soapbox)

4. As I type this, the dog is at the vet getting neutered. Poor little dude – not. Meanwhile, while he’s not underfoot, I have vacuumed and scrubbed my floors. Having the dog not in the house is not unlike when your toddler takes a nap at the crucial point where you need to get a lot of stuff done. Yes, I’m saying dogs and toddlers are similar… except I’ve never REALLY been allergic to a toddler.

5. Music of the week — My friend Lotus clued me in to the free single on iTunes this week, Cory Morrow’s “Second Chance”. Loter’s hubby plays guitar for Cory, and though country music is not usually my thing, the song is pretty good and hey, it’s Lotus-by-proxy. And that’s a good thing. Other recent downloads include (blush) a few of the Glee renditions of Britney songs.

6. Let’s talk about Glee for a second, why don’t we? I like the show – a lot. But I’m beginning to hate these themed episodes. It feels like all the dialogue in between is just filler to get to the next themed song. And while Britney’s music doesn’t annoy me, this episode kind of did and not just because of that BIG EFFING SNAKE. Of all the Britney things to copy, they had to copy the snake? Why didn’t they copy the ratty jean shorts with the gas station bathroom key in one hand and a bag of Cheetos in the other? MUCH less freak-outty than the snake.

7. I saw this clip posted of Jimmy Fallon, Justin Timberlake and The Roots with the History of Rap. Starting and ending with Sugarhill Gang, this is a pretty awesome clip. (If the embedding doesn’t work, it’s worth the click through)

8. After three days of craving onion rings and a failed attempt making healthy oven baked onion rings at home, I caved and ordered them in a restaurant last night. They were SO GOOD, as I knew they would be. They also made my stomach hurty later. Me and fried foods? Not friends.

9. Tomorrow is the FIRST DAY OF OCTOBER. And you know what that means? My birthday month. Yes, month. Eventually, I will get to hate my birthday and won’t celebrate it (no, I won’t) and won’t require a whole month of celebration, but for now? OCTOBER’S (almost) IN THE HOUSE!

10. And since October is traditional Breast Cancer Awareness month, I want to remind you to not limit your awareness of this disease to a mere 31 days a year. So many amazing groups doing great things. My friend Rachel and her friend Tricia are working on a Saving 2nd Base project – also, if at any time you feel like donating to support me in my 2011 Avon Walk, my donation link can be found HERE.

Filed Under: Do Good Feel Good, Mom Shtuff, music, Photography, Thursday Ten Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Thursday Ten: What A WEEK! Edition

September 23, 2010 by 4 Comments

1. I think I overscheduled this week. I know, I was complaining about it in last night’s post – but back to back back-to-school nights… well, that may have pushed me over the edge. The plus side is that I am really digging both of my daughters’ teachers, and I am crossing my fingers that both my girls have an amazing school year.

2. I’m pretty sure I’m allergic to dog saliva. How fabulous is that? I was so giddy that I wasn’t actually allergic to Sir Doggy Dog, but… I think his spit makes me itch. And he’s teething so he’s constantly trying to mouth people’s arms (specifically MINE) and ugh. I’m not sure what to do now!

3. Grand Rapids’ Art Prize started yesterday. I’m hoping to get out this week and see some of the fantastic art and support some local businesses downtown. I’m not always the biggest fan of west Michigan – but I really dig Art Prize, what it’s about and getting a chance to expose my kids to some really creative minds and fabulous sights.

4. Storms in Grand Rapids knocked out a lot of power… including many many traffic lights. It’s amazing how many people have forgotten that when the light is out, the intersection should be treated as a four-way stop. Driving around yesterday was kind of scary – since most of Michigan has evidently forgotten driver’s training.

5. Music of the week… I already talked about Maroon 5, but Michael Franti and Spearhead had a new album released on Tuesday and it’s FANTASTIC. It’s a little more pop and a little less political than some of their previous albums, but I still have crazy crazy love for this collection. “Hey Hey Hey” is on repeat right now, and the song makes me so totally happy, I could listen to it all day.

6. In guitar class, we’re working on open seventh chords and I hate them. I hate them big time. But we’re swinging back around to work on “Black Horse and a Cherry Tree” by KT Tunstall to utilize some of those ugly chords.

7. I spent forty minutes on the phone with an insurance company today and got absolutely nowhere. I am so grateful that I have insurance. I’m not grateful for how tedious the process is. Surely, surely, surely it could be a little less of a mess. Right?

8. My sister and I went shopping the other day and were lured into Victoria’s Secret, drawn in by their Collegiate Collection.  You’re not a true fan if you don’t have game day undies (GO BLUE!). I even bought a Michigan State pair for my sister, though it somewhat pained me to do so. But clearly, I’m a nice big sister.

9. Halloween decorations and stuff are starting to come out at stores (Starting? I kid. I know they’ve been out since August). Do you like Halloween? Do you get into it and dress up along with your kids or do you think it’s a silly “holiday”? I’m not a fan. Except for the candy part.

10. Glee is back and they sang a bunch of songs I don’t like. Sigh. I don’t like Lea Michele’s bangs, either. I did love all the plastic surgery jokes, though. If you’re a Glee nerd like me, what’d you think?

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Thursday Ten: Like a Hummingbird Edition

June 10, 2010 by 1 Comment

1. Once someone told me that I’m like a hummingbird, in constant motion – that I don’t slow down and would fall into a deep torpor if I just stopped for a second. (Don’t worry, I had to google torpor, also). I’ve since google’d hummingbirds also – and it turns out… they’re just fine if they stop. Either way, I’ve been moving at hummingbird speed this week: first the AWBC, then an awesome trip to Cincinnati (I’ll share those deets with you tomorrow), as well as an awesome One eskimO/Michael Franti concert last night (again, details to follow. Soon. This week has been awesome for kicking my writer’s block in the keister).

2. My feet are still hurty, but so much better than last year at this time. I pre-wrapped most of my toes in bandages pre-walk in the hopes that it would prevent blisters, and it worked for the most part. I have four blisters – one on each heel (HOLY FREAKIN’ COW DO THOSE HURT) and one on each little toe. But overall it was a less painful experience for me, so that’s a good thing.

3. I purchased the book Ask the Pilot in hopes that it would abate some of my fear of flying for my flights to and from Cincinnati. The flight down was actually pretty wonderful – smooth, nearly clear sky with very minimal turbulence. The way back to Michigan? I thought I was going to cry. Guess I should have finished reading the book first, huh? It’s on my pile – still have a ways to go to finish it.

4. Speaking of books… Someone just gave me a gift card to B&N (oh, one of the ways to my heart). What’s new? What are you reading? Are you on GoodReads?  If so, lemme know and we can connect.

5. Twice this week, I have gone out with nearly dead camera batteries (in my point and shoot – my dSLR has a remarkably fabulous battery life. The P&S? Not so much. I feel like I’ve missed so many moments because of my forgetfulness. Particularly at last night’s concert. Sad face.

6. Right now I am craving a toasted bagel with drippy melted butter. I do not have any bagels. I do have butter. Eating a stick of butter by itself doesn’t appeal to me. Yet.

7. I missed the season finale of Glee because I was on a plane. I have yet to track it down on Hulu or Fox. And I need to do that soonish. If you saw it, what did you think? I don’t get my knickers in a twist over spoilers – just wondering if it turned out well or if you were so mad you threw stuff at the tv?

8. New music for the week – I’ve been listening to some Sarah McLachlan, some stuff from Glee, and Michael Franti & Spearhead’s “Sound of Sunshine” (Which I canNOT believe they didn’t play last night).

9. As I was travelling, I missed the live blogging and tweets for the iPhone announcement, but I’ve had a chance to kinda sorta catch up in the moments I’ve been able to sit still, and uh, yeah. I want one. And then I want to kick myself in the shin for wanting one because my phone is JUST FINE. RESIST THE URGE, SARAH. DON’T DO IT.

10. I haven’t picked up my guitar in a week – I’m kind of going through withdrawal, but I’ve just been so busy. And I’m on break from my lessons for another week. I think I’m gonna have to remedy this soon.

This post contains an affiliate link to Amazon, and the blood sweat and tears of a distracted writer who took about two hours to put this together. When i say it’s been a long week, it has REALLY BEEN A LONG WEEK.

Filed Under: Books and Stuff, Mom Shtuff, music, Photography Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Thursday Ten: Le Fou I’m Afraid I’ve Been Thinking edition

May 13, 2010 by 3 Comments

1. The past few days, I’ve spent a lot of time pondering the things I enjoy doing, the things in which I excel. What I have found is that I am halfway decent at several things but don’t feel like I have focused on any ONE thing quite enough to say that it’s where I shine. Have you ever really thought about where YOU shine? What are YOU really good at?

2. The Princess was invited to try out for the gymnastics team and SHE MADE IT. The program sounds a bit intense – and yes, there will be a competitive aspect… however, this kind of goes back to the first point: what are you really good at? Gymnastics may or may not be something she wants to stick with – but right now, she’s enjoying it a lot. I want to give her the opportunity to see where it goes, as long as she wants to. When she decides she’s done, she’ll wrap up whatever season she’s in – and that’s it. No pressure. I’m kind of curious about this road we’ll be traveling.

3. Last night was the May meeting of our book club. We discussed the book selected for last month, Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide, shot the breeze a little bit and then? Picked next month’s book. A book by Nicholas Sparks. How did we go from FGM and human trafficking to Nicholas Sparks?

4. Because “Half the Sky” was such a HEAVY read (good read, but definitely heavy), I decided to lighten things up with Julie and Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously, which is a much lighter read. Also, it cements the knowledge that I have no desire to learn French cooking. Too many livers and lobsters.

5. My guitar lesson went well today – fortunately, my sister was able to hang out with Pumpkin so I got to go solo. Finished working on the Taylor Swift ditty, and went back to Pearl Jam. It was a little easier to work on something without making sure Pumpkin was entertained. And she had lots of fun with her aunt and took a nice nap and spent lots of time singing “Down by the Bay”.

6. I went through Pumpkin’s backpack the other day to sort through all the work and art work she brought home from preschool/daycare and recycled several art projects. Mind you – I LOVE to keep artwork created by my children. However, I don’t love to keep artwork that was clearly cut and assembled by the teachers. And I can tell. The work our kids do is perfect in its imperfection. I wish the teachers would leave it alone.

7. Is it raining where you are? DAYS of rain in Michigan. It’s making me cranky.

8. American Idol’s Final Three – are you happy with the final three? Are you even watching? I loved Lee and Crystal’s rendition of my favorite song – “Falling Slowly” – and yeah, I downloaded today and have listened several times.

9. And since I’m talking about TV, I’m gonna kick on over to Glee and say first of all, I loved Wednesday’s episode. I love the storyline with Kurt and his dad (“Fine doesn’t sound like that song was sung”) — but when they sang U2’s “One” and called it classic rock? I had to hit the Google. “One” was recorded in 1991. I was in high school. So, stuff from my teen years is classic now? Since when? Also… feeling old.

10. Just a few short weeks until the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. I am SO close to my goal – and I appreciate ALL the support and love I have gotten. But, if you still want to support the cause (and really, you should because it’s a great one), feel free to share the donation love with my teammate – her link is here. If you donate to her, and write in the message that I sent you, I’ll send you cookies. (Offer limited to the first five peeps to donate).

Filed Under: Books and Stuff, Do Good Feel Good, Mom Shtuff, music, Thursday Ten Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Thursday Ten: The Taylor Swift Earworm Edition

April 29, 2010 by 2 Comments

1. Last week, I had to provide my guitar teacher with another CD of songs I wanted to learn and I decided to finally cave to my daughters’ requests that I learn some Taylor Swift. So, this week…. we started the first one and now I’m of the firm belief that if you are just starting to play guitar, you should probably start with Taylor because basically it’s all open chord downstrokes and so minus any really difficult chords or strumming patterns, it’s pretty easy to pick up. I’m working on “Change”, per The Princess’s request. Here it is. You can get it stuck in your head too.

2. I have spent all week not having a clue what day of the week it is. Apparently today is Thursday, though. Feels like a Tuesday/Wednesday hybrid, but I’m glad tomorrow’s Friday even if it doesn’t feel anything like Friday.

3. I finally downloaded “The Weary Kind” from that movie with the guy who was The Dude. Figured it was an award winner, why not? It’s pretty decent. Also added “Don’t” from Casey James on American Idol. I’m not a huge Shania Twain fan, but I liked what he did with the song.

4. Mother’s Day is coming up – is it a big deal in your house? Breakfast in bed, flowers, gifts? Or… just like any other day? We’re a combination of the two in our house – the kids like to make breakfast in bed for me – peanut butter toast is their specialty.

5. Speaking of toast. I’m curious if there’s a toaster that can have programmable settings for multiple people in the house. I wish my toaster would somehow sense, “This bagel is for Sarah – she likes a golden brown toasted bagel” versus “This is for The Princess. She basically just likes warm bread.” Boy howdy, when I put in bread and don’t realize my kid has turned the toaster down to “mushy warm bread” versus my “so toasted it crunches”, it’s one of those minor grumble, grumble moments. Oh? I can check the dial on the toaster first? Why didn’t I think of that! I know that I can totally check it out first – but I don’t. I apparently just want technology to compensate for my laziness.

6. I picked up this month’s book club selection from the library. Um, yeah. Cough, cough. I think I’m coming down with something in two weeks. Let me just sit here with my brainless beach fluff instead.

7. I MISSED THE SEASON FINALE OF PROJECT RUNWAY. Yes, I’m shouting. Originally the plan was to hit the road for NYC after the finale — well, we left two hours early. Fortunately, people responded for my desperate pleas for an update via Twitter at 11 p.m. Thursday night, but man… I’ll be looking for a rerun of that soon. I’m glad that my favorite designer of the bunch won, though.

8. And if I was anyone else on the planet, I’d just kick back on the sofa, feet up and watch Project Runway on DVR… but we don’t have it. I can’t think of a compelling enough argument for it (though having Glee and the RedWings playoff game on at the same time the other night was a clear instance of when DVR would be appreciated). Sigh. I kick it old school – waiting for reruns, watching commercials.

9. I enrolled Pumpkin in kindergarten. I know, I know – this should have been the FIRST order of business, instead of the whole Taylor Swift deal. It probably also warrants its own post. It’s kind of a big deal. But, yeah. Last week, I turned in forty reams of paper, an eye of newt, and a paint sample from my hallway (okay – that’s only partially true) and ENROLLED MY KID IN KINDERGARTEN. Where’d time go?

10. I am hoping to officially catch up with life by tomorrow. That whole “needing a vacation from your vacation” thing? It’s totally real.

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Thursday Ten: Did You PhotoHunt YET? Edition

April 15, 2010 by 1 Comment

1. You probably know that TODAY is the deadline for the photoscavenger hunt to raise moohlah for fighting breast cancer and kicking it in the bootay. Have you entered yet? No? Why not? Read more about it HERE.

2. New music for the week: Um, stuff from Glee. Yeah. I’m unashamed of my love for this show. I am also not at all embarassed that I now have at least three different versions of “Hello” in iTunes – including Lionel Richie’s original. I love that song and remember vaguely the video from way back when – wasn’t he blind in that video? Or the girl was? Whatever, I was too busy singing along.

3. The Princess lost another tooth over spring break. These two teeth falling out have left her with that adorable gap in the front of her mouth. I love it. I wonder if her dentist will give me a discount at her cleaning in a few weeks – clearly she has less teeth for him to check.

4. Project Runway night TONIGHT. I’m kinda curious which of the two-tied-designers ends up going to Bryant Park (I hope it’s not Mila). Oh, the suspense. Also, I’m pretty pleased with the other two who are definitely heading to Fashion Week – I’ve been pretty impressed with them all season. While this season is better than last season, I think Lifetime still has a way to go until it’s up to par with what the show was on Bravo.

5. Today is tax day. Are your taxes all done? Were you pulling your hair out getting things wrapped up last night so you could get ’em in today?

6. Today was my first guitar lesson in two weeks (due to spring break and what not). Admittedly, I have hardly picked up my guitar in that span of time and was more than a little concerned how badly it would go today. BUT… it didn’t! In fact, it went pretty well and I somehow managed to have made some progress. Things were fine til Pumpkin decided to smack my (very surprised) guitar teacher on the butt on the way out of the studio. Whoops.

7. My guitar teacher also let me know it was about time to pick more songs I wanted to learn to play – so if you have any ideas (NOT Freebird), drop me a comment. The request line is now open.

8. It’s 80 degrees in Michigan today. The sun is shining. The flowers are blooming. The air outside smells like cow manure. Michigan spring in full effect.

9. I went to book club last night and we had a pretty decent discussion stemming from the reading of Irreplaceable* – mostly regarding the topic of organ donation which was a primary theme in this novel. Then we chose next month’s selection out of the jar, and, DANG. It sounds like not my cup of tea. A non-fiction book about the oppression of women. GRANTED – I know the topic is important, and it actually has excellent reviews on both Amazon and Good Reads – but heavy lifting is not why I’m in a book club. I’m more than a little “meh” about that selection.

10. And in what is my most exciting news of the week: I finally got a big girl camera. I’ve been drooling over the Canon DSLRs for a long time and finally took the leap and got one. I’m kind of excited. I love it and I think it needs a name so that I can pat my camera lovingly and murmur sweet nothings to it. And if you’re gonna murmur sweet nothings to your camera it should totally have a name.

*affiliate link like whoa

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