I Won! I Won!

Happy dances are the name of the game in my house today. Why? Because I won Queen B's Bloggy Giveaway!

I won an autographed copy of Chris Coppernoll's book Providence and an Amazon $10 gift card.

Now if that doesn't make me happy, then I don't know what could.

And since I've never won any random contest in my entire life, my faith in them has been restored.

All is well in the world.

Thanks, B, for hosting the contest. And thanks, Random Integer Generator, for randomly picking me.

Have a lovely day.

One Week From Today

Anyone know what happens one week from today?

Only my favorite sporting event of all time that makes me happy and makes me want to sit for hours and watch sporting events that I would never watch otherwise.

Yes, my friends, it's the Olympics.

My husband makes fun of me for watching the Olympics. See, he's a selective Olympic watcher. He will choose a couple of sports that he's interested in and maybe watch a few minutes of it. He dislikes the opening and closing ceremonies. He will not set a Tivo to record anything Olympic related.

Me, on the other hand? I love it. I. Love. It. I will watch it from morning to night and then Tivo all the stuff I'll miss while I'm asleep. I will watch sports that I have no interest in, don't know the rules for, and will not watch again until the 2012 Olympics. I will cheer happily for the good ole USofA and will cry when the national anthem is played for the gold medal winners. I will imagine myself being a 4'8" gymnast like Shawn Johnson who can do more on a 4" balance beam than I will ever be able to do on a floor. I will wear my white shirt that has a flag on it probably every day. Ok, not every day, because that could get smelly, but a lot. My laundry will only get done during commercials. My oldest daughter will start school the following Monday, and she and I both are sad that she'll miss part of it during school.

We are leaving Saturday for the beach with hub's family and are coming back Thursday. Opening ceremonies are Friday. Initially I thought that our beach trip conflicted with the Olympics' first day and I was about to skip the whole beach trip because I knew there'd be no way I could watch the Olympics like I want to in a condo with 10 other people in it.

Whew. Glad it didn't conflict because it would be very sad and out of character of me to miss any sort of beach trip of any kind. But I would've been very conflicted.

Actually, I'm pretty much a fan of anything that is patriotic. I love the 4th of July. I love Washington DC. I love stuff with American flags on it. I was at the very beginning of the 92 Olympics in Barcelona, Spain, and it was incredible. Especially being an American cheering for Americans in another country. Awesome. I think it's our patriotic duty to cheer for our athletes. Ok, well that might've been a little much, but you get my drift. I love the Olympics.

Any of you as obsessed with the Olympics as I am? Any of you go overboard like I do? Leave me a comment and let me know. It's nice to know there are other people out there who are as crazy as I am!

And Go USA!

This is lame, but I'm packing to go on vacation.

Ok, I know you've all been waiting with baited breath for this list. And I'm all about pleasing you peeps. And I'm packing to go to the beach, so my brain is all full up with laundry and 17 lists of to-dos, to-pack, and to-put-up.

So this is all I got for ya.

Enjoy.

And please visit again really soon. I'll be at the beach with my husband's entire family, so you KNOW their will be some bloggy opportunities coming out of that!

Favorite movie: Space Camp, American President
Favorite ice cream: Baskin Robbins Chocolate/Peanut Butter
Favorite drink: Coca Cola Classic
Favorite veggie: asparagus
Favorite fruit: oranges
Favorite color: blue
I drive: Chrysler Town & Country
Favorite book in the Bible: James
Favorite author: Jodi Piccoult & James Patterson
Favorite actor/actress: ???
Favorite TV channel: TLC, Food Network, WB
Favorite News channel: FOX
Hobby: read, paint, play guitar
Pet: none
Collection: nutcrackers at Christmas
Favorite article of clothing: flip flops
Want to travel to...Australia
Issues: messy
Temperment: laid back, glass is half full
Enjoy the most: vacations, Disney World
Wish I was: skinnier
Glad I'm not: mean, stuck up
Favorite color lipstick: neutrals
Favorite makeup: Stila. Heard good things about Bare Minerals. Would like to try
Best beauty advice: wash face often
Personality: happy, funny
Best trait: my dazzling good looks. HaHa. Probably my sense of humor
Favorite activity: laughing
Occupation: wife and mommy
Favorite bedtime preparation activity: after I put the kids to bed, I like to watch TV with Spencer and be brain dead for a while.
Like bling: yes. A diamond is a girl's best friend, after all.
Favorite stores: Target, Talbots, Williams Sonoma, Smith & Hawken, Pottery Barn, Ikea
Dislike: WalMart, mean people, people who can only have one friend at a time.
Favorite job ever: teaching 3rd grade
Worst job ever: file clerk at a mortgage company. Spent a whole summer on my knees filing. Had to dress "business dress" too, including panty hose. Ruined everything I had.
When I grow up:I'd love to be an astronaut. And a good housekeeper. And a chef. And have someone clean my kitchen after I've messed it up.
Favorite city: NYC
Would like to: be a performer
Fingernails/toenails: horrible
Best hair product: Redken Glass
Current hair color: blonde. Just had it hilighted yesterday!
Demographic: 30's
Favorite room in the house: bedroom
Have too many: clothes I don't wear
Currently learning: blogging stuff
Last book read: 7th Heaven by James Patterson
Favorite Broadway musical: Annie Get Your Gun, Les Miserables, Miss Saigon
Tendency to be: naive, cranky when tired.
Irritants: whining
Greatest accomplishment: motherhood
Favorite lotion: Aquaphor
Favorite scent: clean babies right after a bath
Favorite flower: tulip, peony
Favorite season: Fall

Ok. Wasn't that fun? Aren't you glad you read the whole thing?

Now, back to laundry, list making, packing, etc.

We All Have Goals

My goals for today.
1. Buy Mary Emma new tennis shoes for school.
2. Unload dishwasher.
3. Run by Apple store.
4. Take shower, put on clothes/makeup, brush teeth.
5. Work on potty training with Tait.
6. Begin making a packing list for beach.
7. Put up laundry in kids' rooms.
8. Meet in-laws for dinner.

Mary Emma's goals for today.
1. See if she can stick her tongue out for an hour.
2. Chew as many pieces of gum at the same time as possible.

At least she has goals, right?

That's My Girl!

Who says sports are for boys?

My Friend, Melanie

I have a friend named Melanie. My dad called her Chipmunk when we were little because she had front teeth that were too big for her head. She lived about 5 doors down from me, we went to the same school, and we were inseparable. This was in the 2nd and 3rd grade.

Melanie's dad was military, so they lived all over the place. When we were in the 3rd grade, she moved to Texas. My dad took us on a trip to Birmingham (we lived in Montgomery) to the zoo before she left. I have a picture of her standing on front of the bear cage because her family was native Texan and huge Baylor fans. Their mascot is the Bears. I wanted to go to Baylor for a long time because I thought that's where she would be. Turns out she was, but I went to Auburn, not Baylor.

For most of 2nd grade and all of 3rd grade, Melanie, her brother Jim, my brother, Adam, and I walked home from school to her house. My mom worked until 5:00, so Melanie's mom watched us. Her mom was/is June Cleaver. Seriously. She is the nicest person on the planet and I LOVED her as a kid. When we would get home from school, she had a napkin on the table with Potato Sticks on it and a Dixie cup of Apple Juice sitting out for all of us. We ate our snack, did any homework we had, and then went outside to play. Jim was a few years older than we were and Adam was a couple of years younger than we were, but they were the only boys, so they had to hang out together. We usually pretended to be Safety Patrols (Jim was one and he was SOOO cool - though we'd never tell him that!!!). 2 of us would be Patrols, 1 of us would be the whistle blower signaling when to stop traffic to let the pedestrians walk, and 1 of us would be a pedestrian. The whistle blower would blow, the "patrols" would walk into the street and really stop traffic and the "pedestrian" would cross. Then the whistle blower would blow again signaling the patrols to go back to the curb and let traffic pass. We did this for hours. Really stopping traffic. It was SO much fun and memory I'll always have.

Anyway, when we were in the 3rd Grade, Melanie left. I was devastated. Because we were kids and there weren't things like internets and text messaging, we wrote letters as much as we could. I went to Texas to visit her once when we were about 14, but other than that, we haven't seen each other. As a matter of fact, we completely lost touch about 15 years ago. Because she was a military brat, I had no idea where to look for her, either.

Then Facebook came into our lives. Melanie found my brother, Adam, on Facebook. My maiden name is Hose - very unique, so he was easy to find. Adam gave her my info and we were reunited. It was awesome and I was SO excited.

We have now been reunited for several months and it seems like we've never been apart. Any of you have a friend like that? For someone to have been in my life for such a short period of time and at such a young age, it's awesome to be able to reconnect again like we had been together the whole time. Her parents still keep in touch with my parents. They are now missionaries in Guatemala (right, Mel?). Jim is married and has a beautiful baby boy. Melanie is married and lives near St. Louis. When I talk to her on the phone, her voice is the same and I picture her as a 3rd grade kid. I saw a picture of her mom and she's EXACTLY the same. She has not aged a lick in 25 years. You know, because she's June Cleaver 'n all.

I know there will be a day when we can visit each other and I can't wait. For now, I can be so grateful for a dear friend who, regardless of time or miles between us, still remains as close as ever.

Love ya, Mel.



This picture is of us before she moved. She's on the right and I'm on the left.