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Thursday Ten: Questions Edition

August 5, 2010 by 5 Comments

1. We took Sir Pups-A-Lot to the vet for his check up on Monday. The verdict? His fracture is not only NOT healing as they want it to, it looks WORSE. They kept him over night and they resplinted his leg. We’re supposed to keep him calm. Any ideas as to how to keep an active puppy calm?

2. Yesterday, I was downloading some apps to try on my phone. I’ve gotten a few great pitches lately for iPhone apps to review (keep an eye out, y’all – some really interesting things) – and I like to give them a fair shake when I’m trying them. One app kept crashing every time I tried to open it. I got a little freaked out thinking, “Rut roh. What’s wrong with this app?!” Turns out – it wasn’t the app. The app is actually pretty cool. The problem was my cranky phone needing to be restored. Ugh. And whew. What are your current favorite CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT apps for your iPhone (or other smart phone)?

3. I took my children to see “Ramona and Beezus” last week, despite the reservations I had about Hollywood messing with my childhood. Turns out it was pretty cute. Some awesome casting put John Corbett AND Josh Duhamel in the same movie (thanks, Hollywood!). I loved that it was a nice sweet movie for my kids – and it tied so many things from the stories I remembered into the movie. I didn’t love how expensive it is to take kids to the movies. Ugh. What’s the best movie you’ve seen this summer?

4. I went on a music downloading spree yesterday – downloading mostly those overplayed summer songs that have been polluting my brain the past few months. A recent favorite of ours is “The Only Exception” by Paramore. Oddly, I’m not really a Paramore fan – I can take or leave them. Pumpkin really loves this song though. What summer hit has been your favorite this year?

5. Yesterday as a whim, I bought a pack of Hostess Chocolate cupcakes 100 Calorie Packs. I should point out that while I realize they have no nutritional value, I do often crave sugary snacks, and limiting myself to 100 calories is generally a good rule of thumb. I also feel I should point out: THIS IS NOT ENOUGH CUPCAKE. They are tiny tiny tiny. While they are delicious lilliputian bites of cupcake goodness, they are just that: LILLIPUTIAN. Have you tried these things? Are you a sugar snack person or a salty snack person?

6. As I type this, Pumpkin is snorting at me. Like a pig. Surefire way to make me laugh. (HA HA. Made you look. No question here)

7. A great deal of my friends are in New York City today for BlogHer. I am not in New York City. Do I wish I was? Yeah, kind of. I am sad to not visit with some of my favorite people in a totally different place. I would love to be travelling right now. If you are in NYC, will you send me a souvenir (like a pretzel from a streetside vendor – I don’t care if it’s like a brick when it gets here, I just think it’d be funny)?

8. It’s Project Runway night! If you’re hooked on the show (as I am), do you have any early favorites?

9. And now, Pumpkin is filming me type this with my Flip and I’m glad the batteries are dying because my clothes don’t match, my bra strap is showing and my hair looks like a big frizzy tornado. It doesn’t matter that the kids have a playroom full of toys, they love playing with my phone, my Flip, my camera (but not my dSLR. That’s off limits). Funny how that works, right?

10. Just over a month til school starts. I may blog later about the idiocy of the Michigan law that requires public schools not start until AFTER Labor Day (BOOOO MICHIGAN!), but for now, I am seeing lots of tweets and Facebook statuses about kids starting school soon – Some even THIS WEEK?! When do your kids go back to school?

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

Thursday Ten: Nothing Kills Productivity Faster than a Migraine Edition

June 3, 2010 by 1 Comment

1. The next two weeks are pure insanity, schedule-wise, and yesterday I was completely sidelined for most of the day by a migraine. A full day to work and accomplish things… wasted. I curled up in a fetal position in bed – if I sat upright, my queasiness was magnified, when I lay down my headache was worse. LOSE-LOSE. Eventually the pain subsided – right in time for the school bus to bring The Princess home from school. Go figure. BTW – if you have any tried-and-true migraine remedies or pain relief, please share ’em with me!

2. This morning, I attended Field Day at The Princess’s school. That was… interesting. I actually felt horribly for the sub running The Princess’s class — he’s pretty fresh off the college thing — and seemed pretty overwhelmed by the bunch of kids. I don’t blame him. There are many reasons why I’m not a teacher, and the lack of patience is one of them.

3. With warmer weather comes… MOSQUITOES. Ow. They’re like the state bird of Michigan. (Does every state say that?)

4. I know that at nearly five-years-old, it’s totally common for a kiddo to phase out taking a nap, but I miss naptime. Kind of a lot.

5. I don’t need to mourn the end of this season’s American Idol too long because, uh, “So You Think You Can Dance”. And how amazing is this contestant? Jarrell Robinson from Illinois – completely deaf – but still rocking his audition (he starts dancing at 1:48 – and yeah, this clip runs way longer than it should). AMAZING.

6. Currently, I’m reading Ann Hood’s “The Red Thread” and am loving it. It’s a fast, easy read (so far – I’m about midway through) – and my pile of books to read is growing faster than I can keep up with. What are you reading now?

7. New music of the week? Jack Johnson’s new album “To the Sea”. I make no apologies for my Jack Johnson love, and nothing says “summer” quite like his laid-back melodies and beachy tunes. I’m liking it – especially his revisited version of “Better Together”.

8. The new issue of Room 704 hits today… and this month’s theme is Sultry. Maybe you wanna mosey on over and check that out.

9. So, Suri Cruise got an iPad?  I guess when you’re rich and famous and can wipe your butt with hundred dollar bills, it’s not a problem to gift your kids with all those techy goodies… but, just because they can, does it mean they should? (Also, I may be more than a little bit jealous).

10. For lack of anything better to say for item 10 (face it, I’m thinking of all the work I SHOULD be doing right now) – let me know if you have any ideas of recipes/food projects you’d like me to bake/cook/share for a Monday recipe post. We’ll make it a food challenge. Tell me what to cook, and I’ll tell you how miserably I failed. Fun for everyone, no?

Filed Under: Books and Stuff, Eats, Mom Shtuff, music, Thursday Ten Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Thursday Ten: Let the March Madness Begin!

March 18, 2010 by 4 Comments

1.I filled out brackets for the NCAA basketball hooey. I do it every year. I do it knowing that I really don’t have much of a clue about basketball and basically I am flying by the seat of my pants – I don’t look at stats or what seed they are or any of that mumbo-jumbo. The funny thing? Usually I stomp the people who spent hours of research time creating their bracket choices. Suckers. (EDIT: I should point out that as of 8:30 p.m. Eastern on Thursday, my brackets are not looking too good. In fact, they’re looking pretty dismal. That’s what I get for gloating about my fantabulous guessing skills. They have failed me. They have failed me big).

2. My favorite WordPress guru has updated my site here – which I love – but what I love most of all is that now this is mobile friendly. If you bookmark me on your phone (and you totally should), you won’t have to work too hard to find me while you’re sitting in a dentist’s office waiting for a root canal or hanging out in the pickup line at school.

3. The weather this week? AH-MAZE-ING. The girls have been out drawing in the driveway with sidewalk chalk (there’s a nice drawing of Count Dorkula that I’m pretty sure The Princess had a hand in creating). Two outdoor runs this week so far. Love love love.

4. Last night I went out to dinner with a friend of mine. It was St Patrick’s day, so… Italian food, right? Anyway – it was awesome to catch up with her and after dinner we ordered dessert. Dessert in a shot glass is just NOT ENOUGH DESSERT. It sure was tasty, but… I coulda eaten two more.

5. Taking Pumpkin with me to guitar lessons is not always the most fun way to go – but for now with our schedule it’s what we’re dealing with. She’s been fine til now – today she was “booooooooooored.” Even with a full pad of PostIts at her disposal she just wanted to get out of there and get home. Kind of makes it a little less fun for moi.

6. Speaking of guitar – wrapped up Ingrid Michaelson and started working on a Citizen Cope song – it’s about time to make a new CD of songs I want to work on for guitar. Any ideas? (NO FREEBIRD).

7. March is National Reading Month so my calendar has been filled with special reading-related activities for both of the girls at school. Every day is SOMETHING – today was “Bring Your Favorite Book Day” for The Princess. Tuesday, Pumpkin had “Read a Hat Day” (for which she picked a hat that had no writing on it!). None of these things are mandatory as far as the teacher is concerned, but heaven forbid you are the mom that forgets any of these. I can’t wait until April.

8. Rolling Stones week on American Idol. Meh. Watching the show the other night made me realize I only know three songs by the Rolling Stones. And I really have no desire to know more. (But yes, I like the Beatles, so… yeah).

9. All you camera geeks (I mean that lovingly, you know. MWAH. Big kisses, camera people) – if I was lookin’ to upgrade from my point and shoot to a DSLR, what should I get? And why? Tell me why you love your camera. Pretty please?

10. I think I want to live in a country where afternoon siestas are totally the norm. I could totally siesta right now. For hours. Too much to do, not enough energy. Mr. President: Mandatory siestas, please.

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