Tag: NaBloPoMo

Interview Meme

Published by dee on November 9, 2007

A couple of weeks ago, Lara posted answers to an interview meme on her blog and at then end asked for volunteers to be interviewed. It sounded like fun, so I left a comment saying I would love to be interviewed. She sent me the questions and they’ve been sitting in my inbox waiting for me since then. I figured I better get around to answering them before I forgot about them, so here’s what the amazingly talented Lara wanted to know.

1) What excites you most about having a second child?

This one is actually a really easy answer for me. The thing I am most excited about with this second child is that I’ll have the opportunity to watch my two children grow up as siblings. I love my brother and sister with all my heart and I know my life would not have been the same without them in it. I can’t wait to watch Zachary and Baby G grow up together with all of the fights, love, and camaraderie that brothers and sisters share.

2) What, in your opinion, is the best gift you’ve ever given someone?
(Real gifts only – things like “my son” or “love” don’t count)

I love giving gifts and always try to put a lot of thought into it to get just the right thing for just the right person. I like to think that all of the gifts I’ve given have been fabulous, but I’m sure the recipients have probably wondered just what I was thinking from time to time. In my opinion, probably the best gifts I’ve ever given were those that I made myself. In particular, I think the handmade baby blankets that I love to give are probably the best. I put a lot of time and love into making them and hope that they will be something that the recipients will cherish as they get older.

3) What is the one musical act you’re most ashamed of having loved in
your youth?

I like to think I have pretty good taste in music, so this is a tough question. I guess it would have to be New Kids On The Block. I was absolutely infatuated with them during my pre-teen years. They were cute. Their songs were catchy. What more could a pre-teen girl with raging hormones ask for? My favorite NKOTB member changed about as often as my underwear, but always alternated between Jordan, Donnie, and Joe. The other two were never really a consideration for me, but I would have been willing to marry any of my three favorites. These days I still find myself singing along whenever I happen to catch a few notes of one of their songs and I even kind of regret getting rid of the cd my Grandpa bought me years later when I was in High School.

4) Cheerleading: Is it or is it not a sport?

Although many people would probably disagree, I do believe that cheerleading is a sport, just as much a swimming or gymnastics. Cheerleading requires a certain amount of coordination, strength, and physical ability (all of which I never had). Anyone who disagrees needs to spend some time watching a cheerleading competition and watch the team perform flips and throw each other around for a while.

5) If you had a rewind button that could fix it if you hated it, what
major change(s) would you want to make to your hair?

I think I’ve pretty much done everything that I could possibly do with my hair. I’ve had it waist long, almost completely shaved, and everything in between. The only thing I’ve ever really wanted that I can’t have is straight hair. I’ve straightened it with a blow dryer and flat iron many times, but that takes a level of effort that I just can’t expend on a daily basis. If I could somehow have it permanently straightened (and didn’t have to pay for it), I would totally do it. Of course, then I would probably get sick of it and want my curls back.

So, that’s the end of Lara’s questions, but if you have any more, please feel free to leave them in the comments section. I still have 21 days left of NaBloPoMo and I’m sure I’m going to run out of things to write about soon!

Today I’m very thankful for Old Navy’s 40% off coat sale. With an added 10% off on top of that, I was able to purchase the maternity coat for the winter that I’ve been drooling over. I debated whether to buy it or to just let my belly hang out of my coat this winter, but with 50% off, how could I not buy it? Now I have the comfort of knowing that on those cold winter days (that are coming up very soon), me and Baby G will be nice and warm. (Zach will be nice and warm too as he also benefited from the sale!)

Comments closed

A Perfect Day

Published by dee on November 8, 2007

So many times in my life I’ve had days that I have looked forward to for weeks, if not months, ahead of time. Then the actual day comes and I’ve spent so much time anticipating it that when it is all said and done I end up disappointed. Yesterday was not one of those days. In fact, with the exception of having to spent a few hours at work and a little baby-sitting snafu, it was pretty much a perfect day.

As you know, if you’ve been reading along, we found out yesterday that this little fetus in my belly is indeed a baby girl. I have always dreamed of having one boy and one girl and as of yesterday morning that dream has become a reality. I’m still a little in shock about that because even though my intuition told me it was a girl, I was scared to believe it. Somehow I thought that if I really, truly, believed it was a girl that it would end up being a boy. But, I was totally right all along and I can’t wait to meet my little girl!

After I left the doctor’s office, I came to work and made about a million phone calls to my family, then sent text messages to the rest of my friends who were waiting for the news. It took me quite a while to get myself settled back down and ready to work. Then I realized just how much I needed to get done before I could leave. I rushed myself as quickly as I possibly could to get things finished up so I could leave on time. I still didn’t leave quite on time, but fortunately Hubby was able to get off work early so he could pick Zach up and bring him over to meet up with our last-minute replacement baby-sitter.

When I finally got away from work, I ended up in major traffic which normally would have really irritated me. Instead, I talked to one of my best friends on the phone most of the way home and she managed to keep me just distracted enough that I didn’t lose my good mood. Once I got home, it was a quick change of clothes and back out the door on our way to see Garth Brooks in concert.

The concert was everything I had imagined it to be and more. My mom came along with Hubby and I and we met up with my sister and her husband at the show.

Trisha Yearwood started things up and was fantastic. While I wouldn’t necessarily call her one of my favorites, I have always enjoyed her music and she did not disappoint. She played a pretty short set, supposedly to allow Garth some extra stage time, but she managed to get in the songs I was really hoping to hear.

After a short break to change the stage set-up, Garth Brooks came out to a roaring crowd. He sang most of his big hits, including his newest release, with the crowd singing along the entire time. It was such an amazing show. I wondered before the show if I might have missed out on something by not seeing him in his prime, but I don’t think I missed out on a thing. The best part of the show was seeing the smile on his face. You could tell he was having a great time up there on the stage and enjoying every minute of it.

At one point during the show, Garth noticed a girl in the front row taking pictures. He bent down, grabbed her camera from her, handed it to a band member, then squatted down next to her and posed for a picture. How’s that for a souvenir? He also stopped to recognize the crowd saying that even though we may not think he sees us, he does. He pointed out a sign that was being held up and said that he saw the same sign the night before in the front. He pointed out a couple towards the back that had been standing through the whole show, and then a child who had fallen asleep on his dad’s shoulder. To me, that showed just how much he appreciates his fans.

For me, this was one of the most fun and entertaining concerts I’ve ever been to. As many shows as I’ve seen, I can’t really say which was the best anymore, but I definitely left happy with one more of those little lifetime goals checked off the list.

Here’s the setlist for anyone interested, as posted at Back to Rockville:

Setlist: The Fever; Good Ride Cowboy; Two Pina Coladas; Two of a Kind, Working’ on a Full House; Rodeo; The Thunder Rolls; The Beaches of Cheyenne; The River; We Shall Be Free; Unanswered Prayers; If Tomorrow Never Comes; Summer Wind; Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old); More Than a Memory; Papa Loved Mama; In Another’s Eyes (with Trisha Yearwood); Walkaway Joe (Trisha Yearwood), Calling’ Baton Rouge; Friends in Low Places; The Dance.

Encore: Ain’t Going Down (Til the Sun Comes Up). Medley: She Thinks I Still Care (George Jones); Mama Tried (Merle Haggard); Mrs. Robinson (Simon & Garfunkel), Wild World (Cat Stevens), Piano Man (Billy Joel), Turn the Page (Bob Seger), Amarillo By Morning (George Strait), 1982 (Randy Travis), Ten Feet Away (Keith Whitley), American Pie (Don McLean).

I’m thankful today that I had the opportunity to see Garth Brooks live. It is something I’ve wanted to do since I was in jr. high school and it took me this long to actually do it. But, it was definitely worth the wait.

Comments closed

Hard Work Does Indeed Pay Off

Published by dee on November 6, 2007

30 Days of Thanks I didn’t get a chance to post what I was thankful for earlier today, but I’m glad I didn’t because now I have something that I’m even more thankful for. At the beginning of October, Zach’s preschool had a fund raiser where they were selling t-shirts, beach towels and some other odds and ends. I didn’t really want to participate, but I asked a few family members and friends if they were interested and managed to put together a pretty good order for the school. Today when I picked Zach up, the school director stopped me and told me to make sure and get a copy of the newsletter because Zachary won the contest for turning in the largest order. Not only does he get a few little prizes for the amount of items he sold, but he also gets a free week of tuition next week. It didn’t actually take much effort, but I will most definitely enjoy the payoff! So, today I’m thankful that Zach gets a free week at school next week. I think I’ll try to put the extra money back to spend on Christmas gifts.

Comments closed

They Know Something's Up

Published by dee on November 5, 2007

One of the things that surprises me about pregnancy is how my animals react. Probably before I even realized it myself, they seemed to know I was pregnant. In our house, the animals outnumber the humans (for now anyway). We have two dogs and two cats, all of which I love dearly (although I hate the way they make my house smell). They all have very different personalities, which can be quite entertaining some days.

The thing that gets me the most though, is that when I am pregnant, they all want to be near me. It is almost as if they are trying to protect me and the baby growing in my stomach. Every time I sit down, I can guarantee that within minutes I’ll have at least one or more of the animals trying to sit on my lap. There have been times lately when I’ve had all four of them surrounding me, including the cat who rarely shows her face unless there is food around. Sometimes it gets a little annoying, but most of the time I don’t mind. I suppose they are just trying to be good caretakers.

Today I am thankful for those little moments in life that make all the bad moments worth living through. Sunday morning Zach was in bed with Hubby and I. He was just beginning to stir and was snuggled up next to me. He looked up with his sleepy eyes and said, “Mommy, I want to feel tummy, baby in tummy.” I helped him place his hand on my tummy in just the right spot and watched the smile spread over his face. That moment has stayed with me for two days now and every time I think of it I can’t help but smile.

Comments closed

Potty Training Weekend

Published by dee on November 4, 2007

Here we are on day 4 of NaBloPoMo and I’m already finding myself not feeling like writing. I think it is a lot harder on the weekends because I would much rather just be sitting on the couch staring at the TV. But, I signed up so I can’t give up already.

I’ve spent the majority of my weekend taking a toddler to the potty every 30 minutes. I’m determined to get back on track with this potty-training thing and so far it is going pretty well. I bought a new digital kitchen timer and every time it beeps Zach yells out, “pee pee” and takes off for the bathroom. We’ve got a sticker chart and he gets a big prize when he fills up all the squares.

So far, it seems to be working pretty well. We’ve only had two accidents in two days so far and one of those actually happened in the bathroom. He has yet to tell me when he needs to go, but since I’m taking him every 30 minutes anyway I doubt he has felt much urgency.

My only problem is, he’s earned two prizes already because he’s doing so well. It’s time to make a new chart now, but I think I’m going to have make the next chart with a few more boxes on it. Plus, the prizes are not going to be quite as exciting because I can’t afford to keep up at the rate he’s going now.

He’s definitely gotten a good start (again), but I wonder how he’ll do during the day at school this week. Will he revert back to just going in his pull-ups or will he actually remember and try to wait until he gets to go the the bathroom? I’m guessing most of the work we did this weekend will be forgotten. It is so hard when I only really have the weekend to work with him. I know his teacher at school will work with him, but she can’t really be expected to stop the other 7 kids in his class every 30 minutes to take Zach to the bathroom.

I guess we’ll see how it goes this week and do another crash course next weekend.

Today I’m thankful because Zach actually slept last night (after an hour long tantrum) and I got an entire 7 hours of uninterrupted sleep for the first time in two weeks. Not only did he sleep during the night, but he also took a nap (which I joined him for) and both of us have been in excellent moods today. It may not seem like much to be grateful for, but I can’t even tell you how much it means for my sanity.

Comments closed

The Bag Lady

Published by dee on November 3, 2007

I meant to write about this earlier this week, but somehow let it escape my mind. A very, very long time ago I followed a link somewhere that led to another link somewhere that led to another link and eventually I found a pattern for this super cute little tote bag. I would link to it but I have no idea where it originally came from now. At the time, I had just gotten a new sewing machine and was really wanting to learn to sew so I copied the pattern and had grand plans of giving the tote bag a shot.

As usually happens with my big plans, I never got around to starting it. You see, it required me going to a fabric store and actually purchasing the fabric and supplies needed to make the bag and I never managed to find my way there until last week. I decided Thursday during my lunch break to check out one of the local fabric stores. I was on a search for some cute Halloween fabric so that I could make Zach a Trick or Treat bag that he wouldn’t drag on the ground. I was apparently a little too late to find Halloween fabric, but along the way I fell in love with some coordinating flannels and decided they would make the perfect little tote bag.

I couldn’t wait to get started on my project and started cutting the fabric that night. By the time I got all the pieces cut and the interfacing ironed on I had to quit and go to bed. I couldn’t wait to get home and start sewing on Friday. I didn’t actually get started until about 9:30 that night, but after many toddler interruptions and a couple of sewing machine difficulties, I finally finished it. My seams are far from perfect and I could have possibly measured a little more carefully, but I absolutely love my little bag. Plus, I’m very impressed that I made the whole thing from start to finish. It is my first “real” sewing project and it actually turned out okay!

I also bought enough material that I can make a second one (because I figured I would manage to screw up the first somehow) so I’m thinking of trying again and possibly doing some experimenting with the size. We’ll see how it goes!

Today I am thankful for lazy Saturday mornings. There is nothing I love more than getting out of bed and snuggling up with my boy on the couch watching cartoons. It is really the only time all week that we get to just relax and be together. We spend so much time doing this and doing that, rushing through dinner and bathtime and bedtime routines during the week. It is really nice to just relax and enjoy being together for a couple of short hours on Saturday mornings. It is the perfect way to start the weekend.

Comments closed