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Thursday Ten: The Detours Edition

November 6, 2008 by 5 Comments

1. This afternoon on the way home from my guitar lesson I ended up getting detoured about five miles out of my way around an accident (several police cars and a fire truck were at the scene), which added about fifteen minutes to my drive home somehow.

2. I don’t love detours. Scratch that – some detours are okay. The figurative kind. I can’t think of how many good things in my life were things that I had never planned on, things that sort of happened along the way. And I’m a planner – I love to know what’s going to happen when… (Ask my best friend who fed ex’d my planner to my when I was on my honeymoon. I’ve relaxed a BIT since having kids – because it’s a necessity – but… I still love having a clear idea of what’s in store for me). So, sometimes when something unexpected happens… it’s cool. And life is better for it. But the literal detours? They suck.

3. In guitar lesson today, I started learning “Sweet Home Alabama”. You can ALMOST recognize it, but still… it’s slow. Way slow. I’m gonna get it though.

4. New music this week: “Love Lockdown” Kanye West (And I don’t love Kanye West – AT ALL – but like this song), and “Spaceman” by the Killers. Slow week for me.

5. I took both girls to see “Horton Hears a Who” last weekend. My mom scored free tickets for me to take them to see “Madagascar 2” this Saturday (Free popcorn too – which is awesome because my girls eat a LOT of popcorn). I love going to the movies but go so rarely. It’s odd that I’ll have been three times within seven days.

6. This morning as I was leaving the library, I walked past my van and saw a dead bird hanging out of the grille of my minivan. Gross. I left it alone, got in the car and Twitter’d about it, figuring I’d deal with it later. By the time I got home, fortunately, the sucker had fallen out. Now just a lone feather remains where the little birdy was. There’s something you don’t see everyday.

7. Starbucks is not making a sugarfree version of their gingerbread latte this winter. Means I cannot get a gingerbread habit going again or I will end up needing someone to rip the roof off my house and pull me out with a crane. Starbucks, why did you let me down?

8. Just over two weeks until the “Twilight” movie comes out. My sister wants to go, and my mom is now getting drawn into the books. We may all go see the flick together. We’re such nerds.

9. Still having trouble adjusting to the time change. For example, it’s just after 6 p.m. and so dark outside now that I feel like I should be winding down and my kids should be tucked in their beds. No go. Two hours til bedtime. The Princess has learned to tell the time so I can’t even try to trick her anymore.

10. Thank you Target, Walmart, Toys R Us and Meijer for sending us your big ginormous toy catalogs for Christmas. My girls have gone through ALL FOUR of them and have circled EVERYTHING they want. Their wantyness is annoying the hell out of me on one hand – on the other hand, I could go online and be done Christmas shopping for both of them in five minutes. It’s that easy. I’ve already started buying stocking stuffers for the kids. Has anyone else started Christmas shopping yet?

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Thursday Ten, Don’t Trust A Ho Edition

October 30, 2008 by 6 Comments

1. Um, yeah. The “don’t trust a ho” thing is from some of my new music this week. That lovely gem is from “Don’t Trust Me” by 3OH!3. I’m also listening to: “Sex On Fire” (Kings of Leon), “Especially in Michigan” (Red Hot Chili Peppers), “It’s All Your Fault” and “Please Don’t Leave Me” (P!nk), “You’re Not Sorry” (Taylor Swift) and “Stars” (Josh Charles).

2. Speaking of Josh Charles – he’s pretty awesome. Stumbled over him on Twitter. You can follow him on Twitter (here’s the link to his profile). I’m actually really liking his sound – his voice is definitely very Van Morrison-y. You can check him out on Amazon or iTunes, or visit his web page here. If you sign up for his mailing list, you can get a free unreleased MP3. I have the info to do that sitting in my inbox – I’ve just been too freakin’ lazy to do it yet. Okay – I’m done pimping him for the day… but definitely check him out.

3. Guitar lesson today – I started learning “Taylor” by Jack Johnson. The reason she wanted to teach me was because of all the slurs (No, not the politically incorrect kind that you’re not supposed to do – but with guitar there are things called slurs which include hammer-ons and pull-offs. And I can’t really explain it – if you want to know, you should take your own lessons). I’m either going to be VERY impressed with myself for mastering it at some point, or very annoyed that my fingers won’t work that way.

4. Halloween tomorrow – got a last minute invite to a party requiring a costume. Fantastic. Not many options if you don’t want to be a slutty nurse, or a slutty… anything. I think I may just try to find some cat ears, wear all black and call it good. Unless y’all have better ideas? Lay ’em on me.

5. I should totally get bonus points for not forgetting to eat lunch today. While I was running errands (trying to find stupid cat ears), I hit Panera for some soup. Note: Soup is not travel food. Whooops.

6. So, Halloween is tomorrow. I will not be trick-or-treating. Instead, I’ll be waiting for Hubby to get back with the girls so that I can raid their candy.

7. Yesterday, the 365 kicked my butt. Some days, there’s inspiration everywhere and I can find things to take pictures of. Somedays, I take random goofy pictures of myself making funny faces. There’s entirely too few pictures of me sticking my tongue out. Or rolling my eyes. I don’t love having my picture taken – so here’s hoping I don’t have to do that much!

8. Stepson is nearly 13 and in 7th grade. Last night, after listening to approximately two hours of him struggling with math homework with Hubby, it became pretty clear that the kid doesn’t know his multiplication tables at all. Way back when dinosaurs roamed the land and I was in junior high (oh, let’s be real – WAY before junior high) there was that whole memorization of the multiplication tables dealy. And it WAS memorization. It wasn’t thought. It was basically drilling into your brain, “9×1=9, 9×2=18, 9×3=27…” and so on. That way if asked, you could spit out an answer without thinking about it. Stepson can’t. And I don’t know if it’s that they don’t teach it like that anymore (entirely possible) or if he just doesn’t get it? Any ideas? Honestly, I never really struggled with math until my freshman year at University of Michigan in Calculus II which basically drove me to tears and I think I got a C and decided maybe that would just be it for math… and the Engineering program for me.

9. My little Starbucks dude asked me if I was “dressing up for Halloween” tomorrow. He can’t think of a costume. He wants to be Obama but doesn’t want to step on any toes. And I can totally borrow his apron and be a Starbucks person if I want. I don’t even know what to say but it’s good for a laugh.

10. Tickets to see The Killers in concert go on sale tomorrow. I want to go so badly… anyone want to be my date?

You may want to visit Blissfully Domestic and check out other links via “I am Blissfully Domestic” . Blogger seems to not love my COOL “Blissfully Domestic” badge. But check the link – some awesome stuff out there!!


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Thursday Ten: It’s Because of the Arpeggios Edition

October 23, 2008 by 1 Comment

1. Guitar lessons continue to go alright – today, I learned “We Three Kings” (which I can now add to my holiday music arsenal, along with “O Holy Night” and “Silent Night”). I also learned the first bit of “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper” – because my teacher was trying to teach me about arpeggios. Yes, I have heard of Blue Oyster Cult. No, I probably wouldn’t know the song if I got it in “Name that Tune”. Next week, she says she’ll teach me parts of “Taylor” by Jack Johnson, which makes me very happy because I love Jack Johnson.

2. Cheetos? They are good. I love Cheetos. Every Thursday, I manage to forget to eat lunch before I go to guitar lesson, so when I got home today I was starving. I cracked open some Cheetos. I was chatting with a girlfriend of mine, telling her my keyboard was now covered with artificial cheese – she replied: “Cheetos: ur doing it right.” We decided that Cheetos were like cheesy, orange crack – which under most circumstances we all agree would be bad. When it comes to Cheetos, though, we make an exception.

3. This weekend is the Michigan/Michigan State football game. GOOOO BLUE. (However, I am not terribly optimistic).

4. I got another HUGE pile of magazines in the mail today. I’m not even caught up from the last round. Today’s mail included another copy of Cookie magazine (which I would NEVER pay for, by the way – it was a free subscription and I don’t love the magazine), Rolling Stone, Good Housekeeping and Health. I love magazines.

5. It’s my mom’s boss’s birthday tomorrow and he’s on some diet plan that allows very few sweets but apparently gives the thumbs up to rice crispy treats. My mother, however, is “baked goods” inept (I hesitate to use the term baked goods, because I hardly would put the rice crispy treat in that category). She actually asked me to make them for her. This is why I know how to bake. As soon as I could read, my mom had me take over the baking projects. This morning she dropped off marshmallows and rice crispies and tomorrow she’ll pick them up on her way to work. Like I’m the freakin’ snack drive through.

6. The Princess came home today and told me a mean boy in her class gave her a piece of paper today with the words “Poop you” written on it (Kids. What the hell are they thinking?). I asked if she showed the teacher. “No, mom,” she said, “but I recycled it.” That’s my girl.

7. New music this week: LOTS. Some of it isn’t so “new”, but new to my collection anyway. “3×5” John Mayer; “U Want Me 2” Sarah McLachlan; “Bad Girlfriend” Theory of a Deadman; “A Sorta Fairytale” Tori Amos; “Bizarre Love Triangle” New Order; aaaaaaaand “Miss Independent” (not Kelly Clarkson) Ne-Yo. Why yes, I’m working on a birthday iTunes gift card.

8. I miss Project Runway.

9. Pumpkin is doing much better with her sleeping… and if she sleeps through tonight, I’m taking her out for donuts for breakfast tomorrow. Bribery – I never thought I’d be that kind of parent but when it comes to me getting my sleep, it’s totally worth it because I need my sleep.

10. Soooo, “High School Musical 3” – how many people getting suckered into taking their kids this weekend?

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Thursday Ten, It’s MY BIRTHDAY Edition

October 16, 2008 by Leave a Comment

1. Thank you so much to my BFF who took me to Coldstone for lunch where I had a “For Coffee Lovers Only” (but of course) – coffee ice cream, almonds, Heath bar pieces, and I think caramel. Soooo good. She also gifted me with a bag of Tootsie Pops and a super cool whatchamacallit that says “Believe” for my office. My sis has it tattooed to her arm – for me, I prefer the desk decoration. Very thoughtful, very cool. She ALSO (because she is truly awesome) made a collage for her 365 pics that’s all pics of me. Holy crap. That was a stumble down memory lane this morning. But, it meant the world to me and made me smile and she included pictures from one of the most gruesome days of her life because I think I look cute in them – so thank you.

2. Me and my friend also went to Costco because nothing says “happy birthday” like an economy size bucket of Tide and a six-pack of dental floss.

3. My new music this week… Oh good lord. I hate to admit that I’ve been listening to Britney’s “Womanizer”. Also picked up “Fearless” by Taylor Swift, “Hare Krisna” by Thievery Corporation, and Amy McDonald’s “Run”. (The last two were free – I love the Tuesday pick from Starbucks – free music – wheeeeee).

4. Season Finale of Project Runway last night. Well, shoot. I don’t even know what to say. I didn’t love the final collections of ANY of the three remaining designers. I liked bits and pieces. It’s not like last year when I was totally in love with Christian’s fierceness. Or when I was on the edge of my seat rooting for Daniel Vosovic. I was… meh. I didn’t care. And actually, though the cohesion would have been shot, if I could have taken bits and pieces of the collections and shoved them together, that would have been the ideal situation for me.

5. It is rumored that my grandfather is getting sent home today. That would be the most awesome birthday present ever.

6. Fun gifts so far – The Princess made me a cool candlestick type thing. It’s cool. She MADE the sucker, so that’s awesome. She also made me a card – and that’s my favorite card yet today. Also loving my iTunes gift card.

7. Going out to dinner tonight. Not sure where, but I just pretty much put my foot down. I am not cooking on my birthday. The kids are going too – so it’ll be chaotic and goofy. Pretty much like life usually is.

8. I only watched about the last 30 minutes of last night’s debate, obviously. It was listen to bickering and back biting or watch Project Runway. I am guessing I didn’t miss much.

9. I learned “Silent Night” in guitar lesson today. It’s easier than “O Holy Night” so I’m thrilled.

10. So, I stopped to get coffee today and the barrista today was this little dude. I’m guessing he was 20ish. He looks super young. He usually works mornings, so I wasn’t surprised to see him. I was surprised to get a bunch of his personal life info when I asked how his day was. But, hey to the guy at Starbucks who is getting allergy testing this afternoon – hope it comes out the way you want it to.

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Thursday Ten, Coffee is NOT A Food Group

October 2, 2008 by Leave a Comment

1. Despite my consciously thinking, “I better eat lunch before guitar lesson, I better eat lunch before guitar lesson…”, guess what I didn’t do? Um, yeah. I hit the Starbucks on the way home, and I’m reasonably sure that cappuccinos aren’t anyone’s definition of healthy lunch (but it’s skim milk in there – so… dairy…?).

2. Obnoxiously Proud Mama Moment: Of the three groups established for reading in The Princess’s class, she’s in the highest one. Aw yeah. I’m insanely proud of her – I read constantly, and love that she’s loving it (Hubby hates reading, so there was a 50/50 shot there).

3. Project Runway last night. Sigh. Where to start? Well, you can read my recap here. Otherwise? Man. I wasn’t enthused with it – how about that? How come at this point in the game, no one can make a gown that doesn’t suck? Despite her generic dress last night, I’m rooting for Korto. Girl broke my heart crying on the Runway last night, and I’m usually immune to that stuff (Kenley, I’m talkin’ to you).

4. Soooo, the VP debates are on tonight. (And that’s all I’m gonna say about THAT!)

5. Latest music purchases: “Light On” by David Cook and Taylor Swift’s cover of “Umbrella”. First of all, skip Taylor’s “Umbrella”. It’s about 90 seconds – not the whole song – it’s cute, but… not really worth it because it’s not the whole song. The new David Cook single… it’s alright. Lyrics-wise, I love the verses but I don’t adore the chorus. Someone told me it sounds like an 80s generic ballad, maybe like it ran away from the Footloose soundtrack. Yeah, I guess I can hear that in it (it’s the chorus. Really. I don’t love that part).

6. I’ve gotten so few work emails today that I would think my email was broken if I wasn’t getting so much of the gobbledygook (Cooking.com? Why? And those crazy Red Envelope e-blasts… wait. I like those!). Oh, and the Systems Admin messages that keep reminding me I have until October 12 to change my password. Got it.

7. Just in case you were counting and keeping track – my birthday is two weeks from today. Add it to your calendars, and celebrate appropriately wherever you are. Don’t worry, there will be more reminders. I love my birthday. You should love it too.

8. Fall has come on hard here in Michigan. It’s been gray for days – with moments of sun through it all. When I left for guitar lesson, it was 57 degrees. Coming home, 54. So, no, it’s not warm. Not even a tiny bit.

9. Halloween is coming up. I hate Halloween. Pumpkin wants to be a dalmatian, and some awesome folks on Twitter have given me suggestions for places to check for costumes (I’ll be checkin’ Costco tomorrow) and even how to make one. I am not the crafty costume-making mom. If I actually make a costume, know the whole world will get knocked off its axis – it will be a life-altering experience. Seriously.

10. Still working on reading “The Story of Edgar Sawtelle”, which is one of Oprah’s picks. I’m about halfway through. I’m actually pleasantly surprised. I almost cried at one point in reading last night. But then I remembered my heart is made of rocks and I moved on without emotion. Really, it’s one of her better picks in awhile. Or so I’m guessing. I haven’t read one of her picks since they were a little lighter (“She’s Come Undone” by Wally Lamb is still one of my all time favorites). It’s definitely worth a try – particularly if you are an animal lover – as it has A LOT to do with dogs. Really.

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Thursday Ten, Not a 9/11 Post Edition

September 11, 2008 by 1 Comment

1. First of all, I think I’ve written about 9/11 on the anniversary as long as I’ve been blogging (fact checkers, go take a nap, I am too lazy to look and I’m not gonna and you can’t make me. So there.), so today’s not about 9/11 – but it’s not to say I don’t recognize the significance of the day – just that there’s not much I can say that hasn’t been said better by hundreds of other people already today.

2. Guitar lesson… I learned two chords! E minor and G. I suck pretty equally at both. Actually E minor isn’t that difficult – G is a pain in the butt because my fingers aren’t used to moving that way yet.

3. Music of the week. Caught up and downloaded some stuff from the new Michael Franti & Spearhead album – including “All I Want is You”, “I Got Love For You” and “A Little Bit of Riddem”. All good.

4. My dad is now on a plane heading back towards California. It was a weird visit but with several good talks and that was a good thing. A lot of stuff that had been accumulating for a long time – good to somewhat clear the air and get that out of the way.

5. I went to the optometrist today for my yearly eye exam. First of all – I really hate getting my eyes dilated. Second of all, my eyesight is improving. Huh. Not that it’s all that horribly rotten, but, yeah. Getting better. With age. Just Like Me.

6. In college when I was trying to get out of the engineering program, UM put me in a holding pattern they call IOE – which really stands for Industrial Operations Engineering – but was more commonly known as In and Out of Engineering. My one IOE class had a lot to do with logisitics – planning deliveries and shipments for a trucking company. Today I proved why even IOE was too much for me – I suck at logistics sometimes. I have overscheduled the past two days to a hideous degree and while I’m vegging now, I still have to make dinner for our neighbors (they just had a baby a few weeks ago).

7. Last night’s Project Runway? How is it when Blayne gets auf’d, it’s the first time I can tolerate him? And Terri, eh. She made me glad for the double auf’ing. Buh bye. (I wonder if she’s really that bitchy. She was pretty bitchy).

8. Is it wrong that my neighbors are going to get chicken parmesan and pasta and garlic bread and all that, and I just want to order pizza for my family?

9. The Princess takes the bus to school. It’s consistently late on Tuesday and Thursdays. The days that I take Pumpkin to daycare and I have “off”. Only Tuesday and Thursdays. Conspiracy? Yeah. I’m thinking so.

10. I am still undecided what I think of the iTunes Genius playlist thus far. I only tried to make one, and I don’t entirely see the correlation between songs. My list was based on “I’m Yours” by Jason Mraz… but included “Faith” by George Michael and “The Joker” by the Steve Miller Band. Huuuuuuuh?

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Thursday Ten, Twinkle Twinkle Edition

September 4, 2008 by 4 Comments

1. Today was my first guitar lesson. My instructor is very sweet, and fortunately, turns out it’s a private lesson. I would be really frustrated to share my time with some punk 11-year old prodigy… That would make me feel old… and talentless (both of which I AM… for now). Learning parts of the guitar, what strings are which notes (EADGBE – now I just have to get more used to thinking like that – I think better as far as which number a string is versus which note). Also dealing with learning what fret is what. I spend a lot of time stopping to think about what I’m doing – certainly not instinctive so far. BUT, at the end I played part of “Twinkle Twinkle” so I’m pretty proud of myself.

2. My brother is in the hospital again and has been since Monday. I haven’t been to visit him yet – basically because I’m a schmuck. He will be getting out tomorrow is what we’re told.

3. The Princess is still loving school – so… whew. Big sigh of relief.

4. We’ve finally got some rain today and the temps are hovering right around 60 degrees. I’ve got jeans and a hoodie on today and am loving it. I love when the weather is like this – eventually the rain will annoy me, but my grass has been brown for a few weeks now, so it’s fine.

5. Project Runway last night… Well, that was an awesome challenge. Better than the “innovation” testing challenge of tearing up a Saturn and making something out of it – creating a design for DvF’s line? That was cool. Buh-bye Stella.

6. My project that wouldn’t die? Still won’t die.

7. College football started last weekend. Michigan lost to Utah. Crap, crap, crap. They play Miami (of Ohio) on Saturday so here’s hoping that works out a little bit better for my Wolverines. Game is at noon on ESPN2. Goooooooooooooooo Blue.

8. I let Pumpkin have Cheetos for breakfast and so I’m kind of feeling like a slacker mom. The thing is – I think I was doing a community service. Kiddo in her room at daycare has a peanut allergy – would it really have been better to let her have her usual peanut butter on a waffle before going there? Allergies scare the hell out of me – I wouldn’t want to miss a drop of PB and send some poor kid into an allergic tailspin. So, yeah. Cheetos. Go me.

9. New music. Ehhh. I am pretty slackery lately. What is everyone else listening to?

10. Luna Chocolate Peppermint Stick bars taste a little like Girl Scout Thin Mint cookies. Told you I was random.

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