I Really Did Have Big Plans...

I have been anticipating my 100th post for a while now. I've been keeping up with it and felt like I was stuck on 97 posts forever. Then I noticed yesterday that my 100th post, my blessed 100th post, was the last one. You know, the one about comment posting problems. Can you say LAME!?!? I am ashamed.

I had big plans for my 100th post. Beachy Mimi had her 100th post about a month ago and I was totally inspired to do something cool for my 100th post. The bloggy milestone. The proverbial step from baby blog to bona fide blog. And I blew it. I wrote about Blogger troubles and my inability to get comments on my blog. Sad.

However, not all is lost.

Why?

Because TODAY IS MY BIRTHDAY!



I'm 29 (for the 6th time). I know, shocking.

So, in honor of my birthday, and since I totally blew the cool 100th post, let's see if I can break a 3GirlsMom blog comment record. That can be your gift to me. Unless you want to send me something tangible, like chocolate or fabulous shoes, in which case I'll be totally and completely accepting of your generosity. No? No prob. Just leave me a comment and let's see how many of those puppies I can get.

I hope you have a fantastic October 24th. Enjoy the fall weather and hope you are getting geared up for Halloween, which is one week from today if you haven't been paying attention.

Love ya, peeps.

Bloggy weirdness?

Apparently, several people have been trying to post a comment on the previous entry but haven't been able to. So here's a new post - let's try it here. Maybe it's something weird going on at Blogger.

Since I'm so techy (ha), I'll leave it to those who know what they're doing to figure it out. Any help?

Excellence in Bloggyville

Last night, I had the privilege of spending an evening o' music with some of my favorite bloggy peeps. Because BooMama is cool like that, this fun event was held in her living room. The artist who came was Trent Monk, of Monk and Neagle fame.

Ok, let me stop right there and let you know something. Not only have I NEVER had a concert in my living room (unless you count the ever frequent Hannah Montana tuneage that comes from my 7 year old/obsessed fan), I don't know anyone who has had a concert in their living room, either. And I mean a for real concert. Guitar, amp, t-shirt/CD table, the whole works. It was quite possibly the coolest in-house event I've ever attended.

That, and the time that Santa Claus came in my front door (apartment, no chimney) on Christmas Eve when I was 2 and I saw him and because I wasn't asleep he turned around and left....trauma, I tell you. But then I went to sleep pronto and woke up to find that he came back and brought my talking baby doll. Whew.

Ok, back to the story. Can you tell I'm distracted easily?

Trent is quite possibly the best guitar player I've ever heard. At one point he played so fast that I think there was smoke coming out of his fingers. It was insane. He even played with his TEETH! (Little inside joke for those of us who were there) His songs were fun, inspiring, romantic (he loves to write love songs, I love to listen to love songs...good match), and thought provoking. His voice is amazing and he is a really funny guy, to boot. He is really humble and definitely doesn't see himself as the cool music star that we see him as. Also, his music has a great "jam quality" to it, which would make it really good workout music. Check out his MySpace and listen to several songs there.

Here's a pic of him in action. It was taken from my phone camera, so it's not great quality, but you can see him jammin.



The next picture is just for Erin. Although you are all welcome to look at it. :)



And, in case you can't see what the nametag says, here it is a little closer.



All because I love ya, girll. All because I love ya.

Update on the Torture....

Well, I'm home from my assessment. I had to sit in a "Bod Pod" in a bathing suit and a swim cap (hott, I tell ya) and have my body fat electronically measured. Then I had to do the old school "V-Sit" and test my flexibility. Then I had to walk a mile. Then I had to use several weight machines and test my strength.

You know what they concluded?

I'm overweight and out of shape.

Duh.

But I am very strong - my strength test landed in the "way above average" column.

Um, yay?

Now let's see if we can get the other columns looking better, shall we?

Except I'm not so sure my legs are gonna work tomorrow.

Because I'm All About the Torture.

Hubs and I joined a gym yesterday. We have been contemplating joining said gym for a little over 2 years. We think about what we want for dinner for about 0.2 seconds, but joining a gym takes over 2 years.

See a problem?

Enter: gym. Time to correct the problem.

We're committed for a year. We signed the contract. We paid the "Assessment Fee." We're in.

Then they asked up to sign up for our 1st Assessment time. Did you catch that? First one. There will be more.

Anyway, mine is today. I'm contemplating skipping it to go get a root canal or visit the OBGYN, because I'm sure either of them will be more fun.

Here's what "The First Assessment" includes...

1. Body Fat Assessment. I get to wear a one piece bathing suit (oh good. Glad they clarified that. I might've showed up in my thong. How embarrassing that would be.) and have a really skinny, rock hard person not only look at my fat, but pinch it, measure it, and write notes about it. Can't. Wait.
2. Flexibility Assessment. I have no idea how they're gonna do this, but I can't imagine that it's comfortable. Can't. Wait.
3. Strength Assessment. I should ace this one. I carry around toddlers all the time. I ain't scared of this one.
4. Cardio Assessment. This is where I get to walk/run on a treadmill while the same skinny, rock hard person stares at me. Since my cardio for the last oh 7 years has included the occasional walk in the neighborhood, climbing the 2 flights of stairs in my house numerous times, and catching kids as they come down a slide, I'm sure there will be sweating, breathing hard, not breathing at all, a red face, and potential death. All while being watched, monitored, and written about on the clip board. Can't. Wait.

Then I get to sit, sweaty and out of breath, while she tells me that I'm fat and outta shape. Clearly she spends her free time as a rocket scientist and a brain surgeon. Genius.

However, in the spirit of getting healthy so I can be around for my great-grandkids' weddings, I'll endure it. The torture is welcomed.

Now, let me go put on my gym clothes. Oh wait. I don't own any. Gotta put that on my list of stuff to get, because even though I might pass out on the treadmill, but I'm gonna look good doing it.

A girl's got her priorities.

I'm Stubborn. I Admit It.

I HATE going to the doctor. It's a lot of trouble to get people to watch the kids, I abhor needles, I don't like germ-infested waiting rooms, I have an issue with that old school scale that that they make you stand on in plain sight of everyone...oh, I could go on and on.

But there comes a point when breathing trumps my dislike of the doctor, so I cave and go.

Actually, that's not the whole truth. I'd still be putting it off if hubby didn't make the appointment, let me sleep in (lawsie, that was nice - especially when every breath was a struggle last night), and wake me up in time to get to the appointment in time, and insist that I go.

I even blew my nose today. 3 times. Y'all. That's sayin' a lot.

So I went to the doctor.

And I have the crud. Officially, I have bronchitis and a sinus infection. But let's face it. I have the crud.

So now I have antibiotics and prescription cough medicine (which I'm excited about, because I think it'll make me sleep like I'm in a coma). And my mom came up to watch the kids while hubby works, so I think I'm gonna get to sleep in again tomorrow. 2 days in a row. I may throw a party in celebration of that.

When I was at the doc today (listening to Trav's Ring The Bells on my iPhone, yes I was), the doc told me that the last time I was in his office was almost a year ago to the date, and I was there for the same crud then, too. So I've about decided that this crud has something to do with Fall allergies, but I don't want to go get tested, because, as I've mentioned before, I abhor needles. So I took my prescriptions, shook the doc's hand, and told him that I'd see him in a year.

But as for now, my main priority is to breathe. And not cough because it hurts.

So now I'll go take my cough medicine. See y'all at noon tomorrow.

Why, Yes, I'm a Little Quirky. Ok, A Lot Quirky.

My bloggy friend and real life friend Annie wrote a post describing 6 quirky things about herself. Then she challenged her peeps to do the same. Since I'm TOTALLY quirky (not always a good thing) I'm definitely following along.

Ladies and Gentlemen, my quirky list.

Ahem.

1. I count stairs. If I'm walking on a flight of stairs (up or down), I'm counting them. I have 2 flights of stairs in my house - one has 16 stairs and the other has 14 stairs, a landing, then 2 more stairs. If you watch The Amazing Race, one detour last week was to crawl up a huge flight of stairs and then answer a question at the top in order to receive your next clue. The question was, "How many stairs did you just climb?" The guys, of course, hadn't counted and had to start over. I woulda cleaned up on that one.

2. I refuse to blow my nose. Ever. I hate it. I actually think it doesn't help, because on the rare occasion that I have blown my nose, it feels stuffier than before I blew it. My husband knows I'm REALLY sick if I'm resorting to blowing my nose.

3. I hate ketchup and mustard. Actually, I can tolerate mustard, but ketchup grosses me out. I don't like marinara sauce, spaghetti sauce, or tomatoes in stuff (sandwiches, salads, etc.). I, however, love tomatoes plain.

4. I eat M&Ms in even numbers. If I grab a handful of M&Ms out of a dish I will put one back if I have an odd number. But only if the dish is mine at my house. Ok, that's not a true statement. I will put one back anywhere, anytime. I ain't scared.

5. I'm a sucker for all things school supply/office supply related. I have a babysitter who keeps my girls one day a week while I run errands/get haircut/grocery shop/go to doc/sit in my car and listen to something that's not "Dora the Explorer" and I have to make myself avoid an office supply store. When my discipline fails, I spend way too much money in Office Depot and then I kinda feel guilty while I draw pictures with my new 24 pack of multi-colored sharpies. Ok, so maybe I don't feel that guilty because HELLO, it's a 24 pack of multi-colored sharpies.

6. The other day, I bought the most fantastic pair of trouser jeans EVER at Talbots. And they didn't even have to be hemmed, which is saying a lot, because EVERYTHING I own has to be hemmed. Thanks for the short genes, mom & dad. I know that's not a particularly quirky thing, but I thought I'd share the knowledge with all my peeps. You're welcome.

Now, list your quirkiness on your blog and leave me a comment so I can go read them. It's fun to take a breather and laugh at yourself. I know I have chuckled at me today.

Have a fab day.

Yes, Yes, I've Been Slacking.

It's been one whole week since I posted anything. That's a record for me. Sorry about that. Lemme give you a little glimpse into my week.

1. Spencer took a new position within his company. He loved his old job, but the travel took him away from home about 2 nights a week. The new job will allow him to be home more, and is in a division of the company that is looking like where the future of the company is heading. So all in all, it was a great move. There's a "home study" period of time required in the job, so he has been home everyday for 2 weeks. I can't tell you the last time he was home for 2 weeks straight, so the girls and I have really enjoyed spending a lot of time with him.

2. My TiVo was replaced with a new TiVo. Our house has a really complicated home theater system (put in by the family who built the house) that requires an audio visual company to come in to our house to reprogram everything anytime we make a change. According to DirecTv, our old receivers were out of date and needed to be upgraded (for free. Yesssss.) which meant the A/V company had to reprogram our house. It took them 5 whole days. And it's still not 100% done. But for 5 days, I had 3-4 men in my house from 8-5. Annoying? Yes.

3. I found a scorpion in my bathroom. In my bathtub to be precise. I seriously considered selling the house. I hate roaches, because they are dirty and gross, but scorpions are pure evil to me. I think that fear came from the movie Clash of the Titans. I used to watch it when I was a kid. In one scene, tiny scorpions walk through the blood of Medusa and grow to the size of horses. Then Perseus (played by a VERY young Harry Hamlin) has to fight them with a sword. But their stingers kill a few men in the fight. I have chills thinking about it right now. The thought of scorpions make me shudder. Ugh.

4. It's Homecoming tonight for the football team Mary Emma cheers for. Yes, 2nd graders have homecoming. I volunteered (shoot me next I volunteer for something this big) to make posters for the football players. This consisted of making a poster for each boy - 18 of them - to be hung on the fence during the game. I am an artsy/craftsy person, and a perfectionist when it comes to stuff like that, so it has taken me FOREVER to finish these silly things. I finished them last night.

5. Spencer was playing golf Wednesday and threw his back out during a swing. He's an injured man. Nuff said about that. Get what I'm saying?

6. Spencer and I went to the Auburn/Tennessee game Saturday. Without kids. That was awesome. However, Auburn looked horrible. Spencer is an Alabama fan so Auburn's struggles thrilled him to no end. Then we got home in time to watch Alabama KILL Georgia, so his day was pure perfection.

I promise to be more diligent in my blog updating. I'm sure you can all understand a crazy week.

See you all tomorrow with hopefully some more witty stuff....

I Might Be A Little Addicted

Oh, y'all.

My heart is heavy today.

It's a sad, sad day in my household.

Well, it's a sad day to me - everyone else is business as usual.

A tragedy has occurred and the thought of it makes me reach for the comfort of chocolate.

My TiVo is gone.

I know, I'll pause while you catch your breath.

It's actually not gone. The box is still there. But the TiVo-ed shows are gone. Poof.

And if you know anything about me, I appreciate the fine art of TiVo more than any other human on this planet. Since my daily TV schedule rotates around Dora the Explorer, Yo Gabba Gabba, Barney, & The Wonderpets, and my nighttime schedule rotates around homework, dinner, bathtime, & various extracurricular activities, the TiVo is my window to the outside world. I never fret about missing an episode of America's Next Top Model...er...um...20/20 because I know the TiVo will be my rescuer. I can put the kids to bed and have a little brain dead time at the end of the day. It's wonderful.

I also re-watch shows a lot. I'm a compulsive re-watcher. I had (sniff) 30 episodes of REBA TiVo-ed, for crying out loud! (I know my friend, Annie, will appreciate the tragedy of lost REBAs.) There are several shows that I had on there that I will watch from time to time that are over a year old! I mean, what's a girl gonna do without February 13, 2007's Lifetime Movie of the Day? Or the 2006 Academy of Country Music Awards?

They're special to me, people.

I think I'm breaking out in hives.

The new TiVo (boo! hiss!) will be up and running today. But its little memory will be blank. Kaput. Nada. I will have to start over.

I might need a support group. And definitely significant amounts of chocolate.

I Really Am Southern

But....

1. I don't really like sweet tea.
2. I'd rather have a drink without ice. I'd like it COLD, but really prefer no ice.
3. I don't like Pride & Prejudice (book or movie) or any other sappy romance movie/book.
4. I've never seen Gone with the Wind.
5. I'm not a NASCAR fan.
6. I will never like humidity.
7. I have a secret desire to live in Colorado, Montana, or Wyoming.
8. I will not, WILL NOT, wear panty hose.
9. I love Sarah Palin's accent.
10. I like Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi the same. I'm not even kidding.


Howevah...

1. I LOVE how we talk down here.
2. I'd rather go to the Alabama Gulf Coast than the Caribbean. I think it's prettier, too.
3. I'm PROUD of being Southern and love listening to my children speak with their young southern drawls.
4. I love college football so much that I get mad if I have things to do on Saturdays that disrupt my college football time.
5. Helen Keller is one of my life heroes.
6. My children wear bows in their hair whenever we leave the house.
7. I will never wear white shoes after Labor Day or before Easter.
8. I love neighborhoods where everyone knows everyone - I live in one of those neighborhoods.
9. I appreciate good fried chicken, potato salad, and any side dish made with Jello.
10. My air conditioning works in hyper drive during the summer months because I hate to sweat.

What about you? How are you alike/not alike your geographic stereotype? I'm interested to know.

Good Stuff

Read this. It's good stuff.
This guy, Jon, usually writes hilariously funny stuff. I mean stuff that will make your sides hurt and will bring about the silent, ugly laugh. You know what I'm talking about. But occasionally, he brings it all back home and gets serious. It's always a shock. You know, like when you take a sip of what you think is Coke, but the waiter accidentally put tea in your cup. Shock. I click on his site every day expecting a big laugh, but sometimes find that he has gotten serious. When that happens, he pretty much BRINGS IT. And it's awesome.

Also, it's Wednesday, so I think I'll head to Publix today. I'll be sure to tell ya about it.

Ugh.

I have the flu. 103 fever. Yuck. I'll be back in a couple of days when I feel like doing simple things like opening my eyes.
Nite nite.

I've Been Tagged

Tracye tagged me. I am a blogger beginner, so I'll see if I can handle this technological challenge.

Here are 10 random things about me...

1. I have always wanted to be an astronaut. If NASA calls tomorrow, I'm outta here.
2. I LOVE to know how a movie or TV show is made. I would be happier watching the behind the scenes footage of a movie than the actual movie.
3. I love to cook (and am pretty good at it) but hate more than anything to clean up the kitchen.
4. I want to hike up HalfDome @ Yosemite National Park.
5. I am super excited at this exact moment because I just figured out how to add a link onto my blog. See the beginning of this post for Example A.
6. I am 33 years old and have never taken a trip or stayed in a hotel all by myself. I will do this for the first time in August when I go to San Antonio for LPL. I am both excited and nervous about it. Mostly excited, though.
7. I have a secret desire to become a famous singer. Actually, what I really want to do is really learn to play my guitar well and jam on stage with someone famous.
8. I am a huge Auburn fan and will have words with anyone who says the SEC isn't the strongest conference in the nation. My husband is a huge Alabama fan. This is what is known as a "mixed marriage" in Alabama. People look at us as though they are anticipating our divorce. Cracks us up.
9. My dad and I want to go to Culinary School at Disney World. That just sounds like heaven to both of us.
10. I am a huge Reba McEntire fan. Think what you want. I don't care.

Ok. Now my next job is to tag 5 people. I might've reached my technological peak for the day with the whole link thing. I'll try and see what I can come up with.

See y'all.

Things I Think About

Just a few random thoughts....

1. The weather this year is seriously the weirdest thing I've ever encountered. Yesterday we were wearing sundresses and hunting eggs and today we're wearing coats and jeans and I have the heater on. This has been happening since the beginning of February.

2. The inventor of Goldfish Crackers should be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Anyone who has, or has ever had a kid under the age of 5 will back me up on this one.

3. My oldest 2 daughters will eat anything if it's covered in cheese. My youngest daughter thinks cheese comes straight from the pit of hell. Weird that they are related.

4. I bought a single-serving frozen chicken pot pie yesterday to have here for a quick weekday lunch between loads of laundry, feeding children, dishes, etc.. I got it out to cook today and it takes 70 minutes to cook. 70 MINUTES! It's 5 inches in diameter. I don't have 70 minutes to do anything! By the time the dang thing is cooked, I will have waaaaayyyy moved on from lunch to other things. What a rip off.

5. I just discovered Desitin Clear. It doesn't smell, either. Genius. Plus, I think it works better than the normal kind.

6. My middle daughter has figured out how to unwrap the Crunch Eggs that are in her Easter basket, eat the egg, and hide the wrapper. She's 2 1/2. i see serious chocolate issues in her future.

7. I've discovered the world of Blogging. I've found some pretty hilarious ones out there. Good, Christian, women writing about some normal stuff that just happens to crack me up. For example, read this one. The Queen B If it cracks you up too, please let me know. If it doesn't, I'll know I need to get out of the house more.

8. I probably need to get out of the house more regardless of your comments on #7.

Eyebrows?

When the Dear Lord Above created my family, he skipped eyebrows.  I can imagine the little "people assembly line" where God was painting feature after feature on each passing face when something on the TV caught his attention - just as my family passed by.  I can hear him say "shoot, those people didn't get eyebrows!" and the assembly line kept going.  I have about 3 hairs where my eyebrows should be and those are so blond that you can't see them unless you are mere inches away from my face.  My father doesn't have eyebrows.  Neither do all of his sisters.  As a matter of fact, one of my aunts had her eyebrows tattooed on!  Whoa buddy.  Neither did my grandmother.  I didn't know my great-grandmother, but I'd be willing to bet she had the same weirdness that we do.  I was noticing the other day that my middle daughter has suffered the same fate.  Eyelashes and forehead.  No buffer in-between.  It's funny to see how long it takes new friends to discover my nakedness where my eyebrows should reside.  They all of a sudden look at me and say "hey, you don't have any eyebrows!"  Duh.  Thanks for clueing me in on that one.  I hadn't noticed that before.

Anyhoo, I was getting my hair cut/hi-lighted (or as I say, putting my natural blond back into my hair) when my hairdresser, Allison, made her profound discovery about my eyebrows.  "Why don't we dye them?" she asked.  Thinking it was a waste of my $20 to pay for dye on my 3 hairs, I said "no thanks.  It won't make a difference."  But after sitting there for a while, I decided to try it.  So Allison mixed up some "medium brown" gunk and painted the naked area where my eyebrows should be.  After about 5 minutes, I looked like Charlie Chaplin.  I had 2 huge black stripes across my forehead.  So we headed back to the shampoo bowl and started to wipe away the dye.  Guess what?  You could actually see my 3 hairs!  Well, I should say I could see my 3 hairs.  I don't think anyone else would see a difference. I guess after you look in the mirror for 33 years and see the same thing, even the slightest change makes a big difference.  So now when I look in the mirror, I see an ever so slight darkening of about 6 hairs an inch above my eyeballs. Glorious.  And my husband wonders why I love going to get my hair cut so much.  It's a life changing, spiritual experience for me.  Amen.