Yeah, Pumpkin has a new hero. It’s not me.

Last night, we went out to dinner and on the way home I stopped to rent some movies and picked up “Kung Fu Panda” for the girls. We’ve now seen it a few times (yeah, it’s been 24 hours that the movie’s been in our house – what?), and though I’m kinda partial to the big fat panda who will climb up ten feet for some cookies, Pumpkin is just all about Tigress (voiced by Angelina Jolie, who I don’t love. Sorry. I just don’t).

So watching this movie sounds a little bit like this:

“There’s Tigress!”
“Tigress is my favorite!”
“I.CAN’T.SEE.TIGRESS! Where did Tigress go?!”
“Raise your hand if you love Tigress!!”

I am thrilled that if she’s gonna become infatuated with some cartoon character, it’s one that totally kicks butt and is a force to be reckoned with rather than some dumb little Disney princess.

But.

I can’t wait til this movie has to go back.

This morning, I was reading Moosh In Indy and in her post today, she mentioned that “When Harry Met Sally” was her favorite movie – it’s mine too, so when I commented, I said so. It’s one of those movies that is so infinitely quotable – like you know, the whole days of the week underwear thing and how they don’t make Sunday because of God? Classic (But seriously? They DO make Sundays. My kids have Sunday-pants, so something must have changed since the 80s).

I can probably quote this movie frontwards and backwards and love it more every time I watch it. And though I am loathe to admit it, I can pretty much quote all of “Steel Magnolias” too. Bits and pieces of the dialogue from “Good Will Hunting” get stuck in my head at times too (and it’s not altogether uncommom for me to joke about “sandwich welfare” or tell you that “my girl is wicked smaht”).

Part of my deal is that I have a good memory for pop culture stuff. Song lyrics and movies are what are most interesting to me – so I absorb it. Part of it is that I’ve seen those three movies SO MANY TIMES it would be really odd if none of it stuck with me.

Do you have a movie that you know word-for-word? Please tell me so that I know I’m not alone.

Today, I got to deal with an early waking Pumpkin, some yucky cold weather, being exhausted out of my mind, running errands (some fun – such as going to the post office to mail some cookies to some people; some not so fun – dragging four bags of paper for recycling), Pumpkin’s constant eating (seriously – where does all that food GO?), her nap boycott, getting work done, blah blah blah.

And outside the grey day just kinda made me want to sit on the couch, say “Screw being productive!” and curl up with a good book and a mug of cocoa (in a travel cup with a lid, because you know I have issues). Of course, three year olds don’t often go for that “let mom chill on the couch and do nothin'” thang.

Too bad.

Scrolling through the pictures on my computer, I stumbled across the above picture taken in June. A perfect summer day, outside with my children, blowing bubbles.

Right now, that is what I’m craving. Is it just me?

I am a neat freak. But, I’m a hypocritical kind of neat freak because while my kitchen needs to have order and my living room and my dining room need to have a certain element of organization and not too much chaos, I don’t care if my desk looks like a drop-zone for everything I own and when I stay in a hotel room, guaranteed, my clothes and toiletries are everywhere and I won’t be able to find ANYTHING and am perfectly OKAY with that.

Right now, my living room is a disaster area and it’s item #1 on my to do list for today (the list is about seven items long right now). The thing is, every time I get started trying to wipe out something on my list, Pumpkin travels behind me and undoes my magic or instead runs around ahead of me, creating new messes that need cleaning.

I’ve already dealt with the first part of this struggle this morning. Pumpkin had upended a plastic container full of crayons and markers on the living room floor and then once she tired of it, moved on to the next thing abandoning the mess in her wake. So, I brought out a trusty tool from my bag of Parenting Tricks (what? They didn’t give YOU a bag? Hmmm. They must just like me better): THE CRAYON GAME.

For those of you who don’t know The Crayon Game (and that should be EVERYONE because I made it up), TCG is where you and your kiddo race to see who can pick up the crayons the fastest. Now, the interesting thing about TCG is that it’s not necessarily who picks up the MOST crayons, but who puts away the LAST crayon. So, say you’re tearing along, slinging crayons back into their container, if you have a competitive child (and BOY, do I have competitive children. Thank goodness) they will almost always speed up so they can beat you to that last crayon. Pro Tip: You can slow down at the end. Once you’ve got that momentum going, you’re home free.

Within two minutes of sitting down in front of the chaos of crayons, that mess was gone and Pumpkin was joyous that she basically kicked my butt in The Crayon Game. I made the appropriate noises, “Oh man! You’re SO GOOD AT THIS!” and inside I was mentally patting myself on the back because WHOOHOO! I tricked her.

Yes, I’d say about 90% of the tools in said Parenting Bag of Tricks involve some sort of manipulation, but it works and I can’t argue (too much) with success.

Yesterday, I crossed another thing of my 101 List and went to a RedWings game. I picked the game VERRRRRY carefully, so we saw the Wings play the Colorado Avalanche. The game was amazing. Would have been even more amazing if the RedWings had won – but the final score was 6 – 5, and went to a sudden death shootout, and OH MY GOD, it doesn’t get much more exciting than an 11 goal game (well, it’d have been more exciting if Detroit had won, but that goes without saying).

As I was watching the game, I had my iPhone in my lap along with my Flip video camera and my digital camera. Between the first and second period, the woman sitting next to me commented on my “lap full of gadgets” and we got into a discussion about the iPhone and apps for the iPhone and the handiness of the Flip (so handy) and then Facebook versus Twitter (totally different, can’t really compare). Later in the game, the woman behind me noticed my phone and asked if it was an iPhone or the new touch-screen Blackberry (I drink the Apple KoolAid, no Blackberry here, sorry). Not only do my gadgets keep me in touch with the world around me, they are EXCELLENT conversation starters (though, how the convo evolved from my seatmate’s sister’s Flip to the fact that she and her hubby are trying to conceive, I’m not really sure. People just like to tell me stuff, I suppose).

This morning, my kids and I went to Target and I realized that within my purse, I had at least three techie doo-dads and was pretty much accessible to everyone in at least four different ways. And you know? To some people, that’s cringeworthy, but for me? I love it. Some women can’t live without hott jewelry and trendy accessories. Me? I’ve got that nerd streak in me that makes me LOVE gadgets. And hey, if it wasn’t for gadgets, I wouldn’t be able to have the below memory of what the Joe Louis Arena sounds like after the RedWings score ANOTHER goal (shaky footage? Yeah, I gotta work on that).

How accessible are you? How many gadgets do you tend to carry with you at most times?

BUT.

I really don’t like Valentines Day. As a general rule, I don’t love it. Maybe it’s because it’s tax season (Pumpkin woke me up before six a.m. and Hubby was already gone for another day at work). While I think it’s pretty sad that we need to have a day in which we’re reminded to tell the people we care that we do indeed care – I still wouldn’t mind a nice squooshy card and a dinner out without kids. Hypocritical? Yeah, maybe, but when has that ever stopped me?

So, if you don’t celebrate Valentines Day, I’d like instead to wish you:
Happy Ferris Wheel Day!
Happy National Have a Heart Day!
Happy Condom Day!
Happy World Congenital Heart Defect Day!
Happy League of Women Voters Day!
Happy National Women’s Heart Day!
Happy National Call In Single Day!
Happy Race Relations Day!
Happy Quirky Alone Day!

Or, if you really insist upon it… Happy Valentine’s Day.

And… If I haven’t said it lately, I guess I probably should: MWAH. I adore all of you. And you, over there? You look really nice today. I like what you’re wearing.

P.S. I didn’t make those holidays up. Someone else did.

1. Even though they are 100 Calorie Snacks, if you eat the WHOLE BOX, you’re looking at 1,200 calories and 60 grams of fat – SO PUT DOWN THE NUTTY BAR (Ahem).

2. As most of you who have been reading for awhile know, I love music. You know what’s even better than that? Men that make music. Even better than THAT? Adorable men that make music. Enter Chris Mann. He came to perform for us at BlissDom, and given my pre-show Twitter-stalking, I got a shout out, which was fabulous until post performance and I went to talk to him and had a Baby-in-Dirty-Dancing “I carried a watermelon” moment. I’m so completely fabulous. Gah. Anyway, he is crazy talented, funny and so sweet – and that makes him the real deal. His album will be out this summer, I’m thinking. Check him out. (Okay, turning off the “fan girl” mode).

3. Even before the whole Elevator 13 debacle (and you should read all their accounts of it, because eesh!), I learned that it was best to avoid the Hotel Preston elevators. Fortunately for me, I was on the third floor so a dash up the stairs was a speedy little event. After the sessions would empty out, huge lines would form for the TWO elevators (both of which had a sign noting a capacity of seven). Then the doors would open and people would flood into those elevators and in my head I’d be counting and wondering just how many people we were going to squeeze in there anyway?

4. I totally should go to one of those countries where there are hot foreign men who give super good hugs and a smooch on the cheek. To strangers. (Thank you, Ender Thomas).

5. That Land’s End LOVES US and wants us to not pay for shipping. Til Sunday, February 15. The PromoCode for free shipping is BLISSDOM and the PIN is 2175. They have some crazy cute butterfly pants that I can’t explain my love for, but I think I need to buy them. Be sure to show them some love because hey, FREE SHIPPING.

6. The hotel gym is empty at 4:30 in the morning.

7. Having a hotel room was pointless because I didn’t sleep very well and it basically served only as a place to shower and dump my clothes all over everything. I joked that I could trash a hotel room like Motley Crue (minus any possible illegal substances – as I consumed nothing stronger than a Blisstini and an abundance of the One2One mints). I was such a disorganized mess with my stuff that I misplaced several things (including MY BELOVED iPOD) and couldn’t find them until I got home.

8. BlissDom babies are better behaved than either one of my children ever were! (Don’t judge me, y’all).

9. There ain’t no party like a blogger party cuz a blogger party don’t stop… (What? Too much?).

10. That I will DEFINITELY be repeating this experience again next year. Fer realz (Jenny, you hear me?).

1. Today in my guitar lesson, we worked on Power Chords which was a nice break from sixteenth notes which was getting kind of confusing. My teacher wrote some stuff on tablature and in playing it, I realized it was the opening riff to…”Smells Like Teen Spirit”.

2. I really love Nirvana. Always have. Sigh.

3. Yesterday was one of the most craptastic days I have had in a long time – thankfully I have friends who are greater than all the curveballs life throws at you. Mwah.

4. Know what stinks? Taking a three year old to a guitar lesson. That’s no fun.

5. Music of the week – tons, but one of the many songs I downloaded was Radiohead’s “Karma Police” and the soundtrack to “He’s Just Not That Into You” – specifically “Friday I’m In Love” by The Cure.

6. Right now, there are Barbies all over the place in the hallway and Pumpkin is making the biggest mess while I’m jamming to get a work project done before the end of the day. Trying to keep a sense of humor about it.

7. It’s supposed to be 40 degrees this weekend. Hope all the snow goes away.

8. The Twitter #nerdpickuplines meme today cracked me up. I love nerds.

9. I should hurry up and finish this list because I really need to go pee.

10. Um, that’s all folks. Gotta go!

I should subtitle this “Which one of these is not like the others” – because I am guessing you can tell from the above picture, I tend to gravitate towards the same color family when I pick nail polish colors. I do, I do. I mean, the first and the last look like the same color – though I assure you they are not.

No one has ever accused me of being a super-decisive person (EDITED: My mother said I was decisive. But she was wrong). So, I find myself itching to do my nails up all nice and purrrrty, but can’t decide which color to choose. I give up. YOU PICK.

From left to right, the colors are:
a) Mrs. O’Leary’s BBQ
b) Yoga-ta Get this Blue
c) *the label is gone but I’m PRETTY sure it’s Mother Road Rose or something like that*
d) Oh To Be 25 Again

In case you were wondering (a) is a smidge pinker than (d) which is a tad more on the brown side.

QUICK – MAKE UP MY MIND!

The Princess has been watching the clock all day. Actually, she’s been counting down for the past two weeks. A friend of hers is having a sleepover and tonight’s the night. All day, she’s been watching the clock, calculating just how long remained until she got to go to her friend’s house. Finally 6:30 rolled around and off she went.

Oh, how sad Pumpkin was to see her big sister go, but she quickly adjusted to her role as the only kiddo in the house. And she kinda liked it, from what I can tell. She got to pick the evening television show (Diego, the one about the anaconda – and she even warned me to not look at the tv because there was a snake — though cartoon snakes don’t skeeve me out like real ones do). She got to curl up under the big Zoe blanket without having to share it. And my god, if bedtime wasn’t easier with just one.

By tomorrow morning, she’ll be ready for her big sister to come home. She’ll miss her playmate (even though Pumpkin nearly broke The Princess’s nose this morning), but for tonight, I think she enjoyed getting to be the only child.