Loyal readers know how much I love a contest. They also know that I'm quite lucky when it comes to winning said contests. And so I'm passing the good karma along and joining in on Swistle's awesome Group Effort Pay it Forward! contest.
Woo hoo!!
Here are the details -- to enter simply leave a comment (one comment only, please!) on this post by 11:59pm on July 4. I'll use a random number generator to choose a winner. Said winner will then receive a wonderful package of yet-to-be-determined goodies in the mail from me!
Then, and here's the "pay it forward" part, said winner is strongly encouraged to host a fun and easy giveaway on her/his blog in order to continue the fun!
Got it? Good.
Now, I fully realize that many of my most loyal readers don't have their own blogs. Please do not let that discourage you from entering. If you don't blog but do win then perhaps you can just do some other sort of pay-it-forward good deed.
Now be a good little reader and leave a comment to enter! (The winner will be chosen randomly, but witty comments are strongly encouraged!)
Oh, and if you don't already read Swistle, go check her out. She's one of my absolute favorite bloggers that I've never met!
Monday, June 30, 2008
Let them eat cake
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Vile liquid
I'm currently half way through drinking the second of three bottles of the most horrible, horrible liquid ever. I have a CAT Scan this afternoon at 1:30pm (to make sure my lymph nodes are back down to normal) and I'm convinced that the mean receptionist (who always looks annoyed and pissed off) gave me the wrong stuff to drink. When I had my CAT Scan in the ER they mixed the dye with cranberry juice and it only filled up a large Styrofoam cup. Why am I now drinking three HUGE bottles of chalky white liquid? I'm convinced that this is actually the crap they give you before a colonoscopy (pun intended, people!). And, on top of that, last night I couldn't sleep thinking that maybe I shouldn't be having the CAT Scan today because I'm feeling a little sick and if my body is fighting a cold then my lymph nodes might be a a little enlarged and then they might show up on the scan and everyone will freak out for nothing. So now I'm sitting here thinking I'm literally choking down the wrong stuff for a scan that is all going to be for naught. UGH.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
A Political Dinner
I mentioned that we've been incredibly busy lately. Unlike our bedroom-remodeling-shower-planning-house-cleaning busyness of a few weeks ago, the last week has been filled with lots of fun, social events.
One of these was a dinner party on Sunday evening hosted by a former boss of mine with two other couples. The wives at the dinner party had all worked together under our hostess; and, during our years as colleagues, we enjoyed many political discussions. With this exciting election season, our hostess had been dying to get us all back together, along with our husbands, for great conversation and discussion. Sunday worked as a common date for each of us.
Let me tell you, the wonderful food and wine were only surpassed by the wonderful conversation!
The true testament to the evening was Abel's comment as we drove away. You see, often when we leave social events that are "mine" Abel comments, "you owe me one, Babe." And, often I do. When we left on Sunday evening, however, he said, "that was really fun! I had a great time."
In the true style of our hostess, we were all given an assignment to prepare for the evening. She e-mailed in advance, "Here's your assignment, aside from being ready to talk about November 4: please come with a story of your introduction to politics. What/who inspired you to get involved in the process? What was the first election you remember? This should be fun."
So, dear readers, I thought you'd enjoy my story....
It was 1984 and I was in second grade. My teacher, who will remain nameless here, told my classmates and me that Walter Mondale "killed babies and would make us go to school year-round". Well, that was certainly not someone we could support! So, several of the girls and I spent our recesses making up cheers for Ronald Regan. The thing was, I knew--even at age 7--that my grandmother was a Mondale supporter and that she'd be extremely disappointed to learn I was supporting Regan. Yet, I felt it was my duty to tell her and to explain my reasons. So, on our next visit to my grandparents' home, I worked up the courage and told her everything. Of course, she immediately told me my teacher was wrong! But, she also told me that I was free to support whichever candidate I wanted and that no matter who I supported she still loved me.
Let's just say that 2nd grade was probably the very last time I've ever supported a Republican!
One of these was a dinner party on Sunday evening hosted by a former boss of mine with two other couples. The wives at the dinner party had all worked together under our hostess; and, during our years as colleagues, we enjoyed many political discussions. With this exciting election season, our hostess had been dying to get us all back together, along with our husbands, for great conversation and discussion. Sunday worked as a common date for each of us.
Let me tell you, the wonderful food and wine were only surpassed by the wonderful conversation!
The true testament to the evening was Abel's comment as we drove away. You see, often when we leave social events that are "mine" Abel comments, "you owe me one, Babe." And, often I do. When we left on Sunday evening, however, he said, "that was really fun! I had a great time."
In the true style of our hostess, we were all given an assignment to prepare for the evening. She e-mailed in advance, "Here's your assignment, aside from being ready to talk about November 4: please come with a story of your introduction to politics. What/who inspired you to get involved in the process? What was the first election you remember? This should be fun."
So, dear readers, I thought you'd enjoy my story....
It was 1984 and I was in second grade. My teacher, who will remain nameless here, told my classmates and me that Walter Mondale "killed babies and would make us go to school year-round". Well, that was certainly not someone we could support! So, several of the girls and I spent our recesses making up cheers for Ronald Regan. The thing was, I knew--even at age 7--that my grandmother was a Mondale supporter and that she'd be extremely disappointed to learn I was supporting Regan. Yet, I felt it was my duty to tell her and to explain my reasons. So, on our next visit to my grandparents' home, I worked up the courage and told her everything. Of course, she immediately told me my teacher was wrong! But, she also told me that I was free to support whichever candidate I wanted and that no matter who I supported she still loved me.
Let's just say that 2nd grade was probably the very last time I've ever supported a Republican!
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Port Discovery Museum, Baltimore
Sorry for the week without posts, dear readers. We have been busy, busy, busy!
Last Friday, Abel took the morning off and we took a quick half-day trip to Baltimore, MD, which is less than an hour drive for us. Earlier in the year we made a donation to Maryland Public Television because when Lucas does watch TV we always tune into MPT for great, commercial-free cartoons. Anyway, the premium happened to be four tickets to Port Discovery which expired on July 1. Our weekends have been packed lately so we decided we'd go on a weekday (with the added benefit of smaller crowds!).
We left town at 9:15am and had parked and were at the front door of the museum by 10:10am. As there are only three of us and we had four tickets, I had already decided to give the extra ticket away to the lucky family who entered right in front or behind us. It was so fun to give the ticket away and make some one's day!
After getting matching wristbands for the three of us (which they double-checked before we were allowed to leave with Lucas--love that safety check!) we were off and running. Literally. Lucas galloped from one station to the next all morning!
Our favorite exhibit was the Wonders of Water room. They offered raincoats and crocs of all sizes for the kids to put on--and there is a full body blow dryer to dry up any wet spots before you leave. And, trust me, you'll probably need all three! I think we all would have been happy to stay in this room all morning; as it was, we definitely spent the most time in there. It was very cool!
Two other favorites included the Farm and Royal Farms Fill 'er Up Station where Lucas could be just like Dada by checking the tire pressure and filling up the car with a "real" gas pump!
There were so many great exhibits. Some were too old for Lucas and maybe one was a little too young. We stayed for just over 3 hours and felt like we hit most of the good stuff. Had we packed lunch (I noted a lunchroom but am not sure if they sold any food) we could have stayed a bit longer. But, Lucas gets pretty crabby without an afternoon nap, so I'm not sure it would have been worth it for us.
Instead, we ate lunch at a nearby restaurant then walked down to the Inner Harbor to see the water and ships. We pulled out of the parking garage by 2:30pm and Lucas was fast asleep before we hit the street!
Tickets are only $11.75 per person which is a great deal in my book. If you live in the greater-DC-Baltimore-area, I highly recommend Port Discovery!
Last Friday, Abel took the morning off and we took a quick half-day trip to Baltimore, MD, which is less than an hour drive for us. Earlier in the year we made a donation to Maryland Public Television because when Lucas does watch TV we always tune into MPT for great, commercial-free cartoons. Anyway, the premium happened to be four tickets to Port Discovery which expired on July 1. Our weekends have been packed lately so we decided we'd go on a weekday (with the added benefit of smaller crowds!).
We left town at 9:15am and had parked and were at the front door of the museum by 10:10am. As there are only three of us and we had four tickets, I had already decided to give the extra ticket away to the lucky family who entered right in front or behind us. It was so fun to give the ticket away and make some one's day!
After getting matching wristbands for the three of us (which they double-checked before we were allowed to leave with Lucas--love that safety check!) we were off and running. Literally. Lucas galloped from one station to the next all morning!
Our favorite exhibit was the Wonders of Water room. They offered raincoats and crocs of all sizes for the kids to put on--and there is a full body blow dryer to dry up any wet spots before you leave. And, trust me, you'll probably need all three! I think we all would have been happy to stay in this room all morning; as it was, we definitely spent the most time in there. It was very cool!
Two other favorites included the Farm and Royal Farms Fill 'er Up Station where Lucas could be just like Dada by checking the tire pressure and filling up the car with a "real" gas pump!
There were so many great exhibits. Some were too old for Lucas and maybe one was a little too young. We stayed for just over 3 hours and felt like we hit most of the good stuff. Had we packed lunch (I noted a lunchroom but am not sure if they sold any food) we could have stayed a bit longer. But, Lucas gets pretty crabby without an afternoon nap, so I'm not sure it would have been worth it for us.
Instead, we ate lunch at a nearby restaurant then walked down to the Inner Harbor to see the water and ships. We pulled out of the parking garage by 2:30pm and Lucas was fast asleep before we hit the street!
Tickets are only $11.75 per person which is a great deal in my book. If you live in the greater-DC-Baltimore-area, I highly recommend Port Discovery!
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Independent Play
I hate to even write this as I'm terrified I'm going to jinx things. But, here's the thing, Lucas has been such a doll lately. It's like he's all grown up.
Are the terrible twos over?
Take this morning for example. Our friends Kerry and Jack were coming over for a play date and then we were all going to meet another friend for a lunch picnic. As I was making sandwiches, doing the dishes and cleaning up a bit, Lucas played by himself for about 45 minutes. And, he didn't make a huge mess.
I'm not sure that any non-parents out there will truly understand the magnitude of this. But, I'll repeat: Played. By. Himself. For 45 Minutes.
As nice as it was to get some things done without a toddler underfoot, it was also a lot of fun to peek in and listen in to him playing. Lucas cleaned the floor. He cooked in his kitchen. He played trucks and the "dada" dump truck gave the "baby" dump truck a ride.
Apparently there was also some hitting. And, consequently, 2 minutes on the naughty step. Lucas had to use a stern voice to enforce that punishment But, it does sound like dump truck got the message as he didn't move off the step.
Hmmmm....wonder where he learned that?
Are the terrible twos over?
Take this morning for example. Our friends Kerry and Jack were coming over for a play date and then we were all going to meet another friend for a lunch picnic. As I was making sandwiches, doing the dishes and cleaning up a bit, Lucas played by himself for about 45 minutes. And, he didn't make a huge mess.
I'm not sure that any non-parents out there will truly understand the magnitude of this. But, I'll repeat: Played. By. Himself. For 45 Minutes.
As nice as it was to get some things done without a toddler underfoot, it was also a lot of fun to peek in and listen in to him playing. Lucas cleaned the floor. He cooked in his kitchen. He played trucks and the "dada" dump truck gave the "baby" dump truck a ride.
Apparently there was also some hitting. And, consequently, 2 minutes on the naughty step. Lucas had to use a stern voice to enforce that punishment But, it does sound like dump truck got the message as he didn't move off the step.
Hmmmm....wonder where he learned that?
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Morbid? Not at all.
So, have you ever wondered what it would be like to attend your own funeral and hear all the nice things people have to say about you?
No?
Well, I have.
And, I think it would feel almost exactly like what it felt like to read this. Only I'm still alive and so get to say thank-you to my little sister for making me feel so wonderful.
No?
Well, I have.
And, I think it would feel almost exactly like what it felt like to read this. Only I'm still alive and so get to say thank-you to my little sister for making me feel so wonderful.
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