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Thursday Ten: It’s ALMOST MY BIRTHDAY Edition

October 14, 2010 by 2 Comments

1. You heard me. It’s ALMOST my birthday. The day after the day after tomorrow. And I’m getting older and I don’t really care (much). I love my birthday. I love your birthday. I love birthdays. PERIOD. Birthdays are a complete day of celebration to me, and my own is no exception.

2. Yesterday was a difficult day for me and I made a point last night of tabling my worries and just trying to relax and wrapping my head in an episode of “Top Chef: Just Desserts”. It worked. Today, I woke up ready to try for a better day. I even did my hair and put on eyeliner – so you KNOW I mean business.

3. Somehow, all the hours we have spent in puppy training class have faded. I have made it my MISSION to get this puppy to straighten up. I’ve had it with the puppy thinking he’s king of the sofa, and I’ve had it with him picking on Pumpkin and jumping on her. Armed only with a bag of freeze dried chicken breast (ew?), I am determined to make him into a nice family dog. So far… not bad.

WOOK AT HIS WIDDLE FACE.

4. In guitar this week, my teacher started me on 12 Stones’ “Broken Road”. It has some chords that we’re working on making sound less ugly (some of those major chords are a pain. A big ugly pain). I’d never heard the song before and it’s… just aight for me. Sometimes it’s fun to learn something I don’t know, though. I like to be exposed to new music.

5. The Michigan – Michigan State game last weekend. Sigh. It didn’t go well. For Michigan. If you’re a State fan, I imagine you were thrilled. Me? Not so much. My dad calling in the midst of the third quarter to play MSU’s fight song on my voice mail didn’t help. Neither did my (not so lucky) Michigan underwear. Oh well. At least they’re cute.

6. I got school pictures back for both of the kids this week – looked at them and then put them right back in their backpacks to send back for retakes. Now, I think my daughters are gorgeous, but the quality of school pictures is often poor. The coloring seems off, and I was slightly peeved that they couldn’t take the time to brush my kiddo’s bangs out of her eyes (or tell HER to) before snapping her picture. I had pinned her bangs back with a barrette before sending her to school – by the time they had pictures, they’d also had recess. Smart. The Princess’s coloring looked so “OFF” in her pictures, her skin had an orange cast to it. I really SHOULD skip the whole endeavor and just take my own shots of the kids.

7. Did I mention my birthday was coming up? I did, right? I’m pretty sure I said something.

8. The fall colors in Michigan are amazing right now. The leaves are gorgeous reds and oranges, and it’s like driving through an amazing tunnel of color when driving down a tree-lined road. Now, I’m grateful I only have one small tree, so I can embrace the beauty without having to rake it all up – but man, it makes me smile to see it.

9. Every parent has a limit to how many kindergarteners he or she can tolerate in one place. My number is somewhere less than three. Maybe two. Or, you know, just the one I have. I just got back from Pumpkin’s field trip – a visit to the pumpkin patch with TWENTY-FIVE kindergarteners. That’s TOO MANY. Not sure how that teacher does it, but, goodness – elementary school teachers deserve a big high five at the end of the day (and probably a drink too).

10. And in the interest of carrying on my good mood…. I love Michael Franti & Spearhead’s “Sound of Sunshine”.

“Here I am, waiting for the storm to pass me by…”

Filed Under: Mom Shtuff, music, Thursday Ten Tagged With: , , , ,

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: Hey Bronchitis GO AWAY edition

March 4, 2010 by 8 Comments

1. Wrapped up a round of antibiotics on Sunday for this stupid bronchitis and within two days, all the wheezing and coughing came back.  And it feels worse. This is the third day of Round Two of antibiotics and I don’t feel any better. I’m kind of a big whiny baby when I’m sick.

2. I’m wearing a WHOLE LOTTA GREEN today because the ROOM 704 March edition is LIVE. Go check it out – lots of amazing (and laugh so hard you pee a little) posts from the girls of 704. Including me. I even posted a recipe even though you guys know I really don’t cook much. It’s okay, it’s an easy recipe – it only involves opening cans and jars. Just my style. Anyway, I haven’t even read all the posts yet because I’m savoring the awesomeness, but you – when you’re done reading this list GO OVER THERE.

3. Sunday night, John Mayer was in town and we went. A lot of people either love or hate John Mayer (the word that comes up frequently is “douchebag”, I know). But musically, I was not a fan of the dude until I saw him live the first time, and I just can’t help myself: I LIKE HIM. Michael Franti & Spearhead were the amazing opening act, and they rocked it as well. Happy happy.

Michael Franti & Spearhead - if you don't know them, LOOK THEM UP.

Michael Franti & Spearhead - if you don't know them, LOOK THEM UP.

4. Yesterday, I hosted a bake sale to raise money for the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. I spent all day Tuesday preparing massive amounts of baked goods (from chocolate chip cookies to lemon squares to brownies to cheesecake) and in about three and a half hours raised over $300 for the cause. Yes, I’m insanely happy about that. The power of cookies is surreal.

5. Melissa challenged me last week to introduce my kids to the FLUFFERNUTTER SANDWICH – marshmallow cream and peanut butter. Well, challenge accepted. Pumpkin loved it. The Princess apparently forgot to add the peanut butter to hers. The next challenge is to try this grilled, like a grilled cheese… perhaps with a  lil bit of chocolate involved.

6. Last week, I had a ear for older music – for some reason, I was humming Fleetwood Mac’s “Seven Wonders” for a few days before I decided to gave and buy it and reintroduce that part of the 80s to my music library. Lately, I haven’t purchased anything that was recorded in the past decade though. What am I missing?

7. American Idol – who is watching it? I don’t think I’ve missed a season yet, but admittedly, this is the part I hate: the part in between the rotten auditions and when you start actually caring if certain people stay or go. At this point, I’m mostly just annoyed. And yet… somehow I keep watching.

8. As I type this, Pumpkin is giving me big kisses on my face. That’s definitely better than a stick in the eye.

9. Saturday is NATIONAL OREOS DAY. Will you celebrate? And do you eat your cookies whole or do you break ’em apart and eat the middle first?

10. In guitar lesson today, I started working on Ingrid Michaelson’s “The Chain”. The song features piano but it translates pretty easily to guitar – also, it’s a pretty easy learn. I love this song – it’s quirky and the melody is one of my favorites.

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