Another random post from my random brain...

A lot of times when I want to put up a post and don't have time to do it right away, I'll start a draft to remind me of what I was going to write about. But then I'm always paranoid I'm going to hit "publish post" instead of "save now" and not realize it. Paranoid because if I did that my readers would think I'd gone bonkers. This is what you would have read if I had done that today:

snow
2 snopes
trash compactor

If a post as strange as that ever appears when you come to my blog assume my fear came to fruition.

So, what that stuff up there means is - Apparently it snowed quite a bit in some places around here because school was canceled in North Kitsap and Bainbridge, and a friend from somewhere on the east side of the water blogged about it. I was blissfully unaware because it didn't snow at all here! Again, I know I'm the weird one for being happy it didn't snow.

I get the weekly updates from snopes.com and there were two articles in this week's email that I though had some pretty amazing photos and so I wanted to share: This article about foam covering a beach in Austrailia, and some awesome pictures from Antarctica.

I've been doing a lot of online shopping for house-related stuff - a kitchen sink, storage shelves, etc. When I was looking around for trash compactors, I found this...just what I've always wanted! To be able to cut my food on my garbage :-P What whack-job thought of that!?

REAL QUICK

I'm throwing this post up real quick and I may or may not add to it later. Sunday was Adrienne's 6th birthday (I can't believe it!) We didn't do much this year because of our crazy lives. I brought cupcakes to her class on Friday and to her church class on Sunday. She got a few Wii games, some pajamas, a book, the game Operation, and....I know I'm forgetting something. We went out to breakfast Monday morning since she had no school (MLK day) and Mike is on swing. We went to the Big Apple Diner. Here are the pictures the girls colored:

What is that on the bunny's ear you might ask? Well a hamburger as an accessory of course!

Colette's bunny...notice part of the page's torn off because of spilled hot chocolate.

Lots of fun stuff happening in the house. I posted those pics of the vanilla custard paint. It looks way more yellow in those pics than it actually is. I'll have to put up some new ones soon. The girls room was painted fushia kiss (see below).

We have the pink chintz as well, but it isn't on the walls yet. This is one of the pics of a magazine article that we are using for inspiration (okay, we're copying a lot of it!)


This is the wallpaper border we're going to use to break up the darker and lighter pinks, instead of painting white. We thought it would be more interesting to add some texture.

The room is a bakery theme. I didn't add all the pictures from the magazine, but some of the things in the pictures are cookie sheets painted pink and hung on the wall for a magnetic message board, cupcake tins painted pink and used to display trinkets, and a rolling pin hung on the wall to use as hooks for things. We're adding a french twist to the room since Adrienne loves france. We have a pretty calendar we got her for Christmas with scenes from paris. Actually you can see it here (click on the small picture under the bigger one). That wallpaper border also appears to have a fleur de lis pattern to it. Not sure what else we'll do that's french, but I thought the bakery-french theme would be cute since the french are known to be pretty competent in the baking department ;-) and Adrienne and Colette certainly have well-developed sweet tooths. Actually another birthday present we got Adrienne was the Betty Crocker cake decorating kit. Maybe a weird gift for a 6-year-old, but she and Colette had been begging for it for months!

We found an inexpensive place to buy granite, so we're getting it instead of formica. This is what is going in the kids bathroom and the laundry room. It's called cristallo white:

We also painted in the master suite (well Mike did, he's doing all the painting actually). This is the color, if you can't read it, it's Windsor Haze. And below is the granite we're using for our bathroom, it's called Ice Flower Blue:


The granite below is called shanxi black. It's a smooth sleek black with gold flecks in it (this picture doesn't show that well), its' very pretty. It's a dark granite and our appliances are black, but our cabinets and floor are oak, and the walls are vanilla custard so it will be lightened up with those other things:

I'll take pictures in the house when the painting is finished up (still have to paint the ceilings and then we can take the tape off the windows and see how it looks in the natural light). Next up are the hardwood floors and carpet! We will be moving in sometime between the end of February to mid-March (FINALLY)!

EWWWW

Anyone ever had someone throw up in your mouth? Unfortunately I can now say that I have. I suppose it could've been worse, at least it was breastmilk.

The "Icky" show

Colette cracks me up. Whenever Spongebob Squarepants shows up on T.V. she'll say "Ewwww, that's the icky show!" Just now when I turned on the T.V. to put on Dora The Explorer it was on and again she says "Ewww, that's the icky show! GROSS!"

So as I've mentioned before, Adrienne seems to be French at heart. She's had an interest in all things French for quite awhile. Well, Colette is very interested in Russia. She's been telling me how she wants to go there and whenever she finds any coins anywhere she collects them because she's saving up to go to Russia. Their interest in the great big world beyond their own definitely comes from my genes. Mike is pretty happy traveling in a much smaller radius from home. Unfortunately I haven't been able to go much farther than he has myself, but I have big ambitions just like my girls.

A Silly Conversation

Me: Do you guys want an apple?

Colette: Yeah

Me: Adrienne do you want some apple?

Adrienne: Yeah

Colette: Did her say yeah?

Me: Yeah

(A few seconds later)
Colette: Now you said yeah!

Me: (laughing) Yeah

Adrienne: What did she say?

Me: She said "Did she say yeah?" And I said "Yeah," then she said "Now you said yeah!" and I said "Yeah."

Adrienne: There's a lot of yeahs going on here!

Me: Yeah!

All over the place

Edward turned 2 months old on Tuesday, which is also when this picture was taken. His concerned look is starting to be less common and he is smiling much more often.

The title to this post is because I have a lot to talk about, but nothing is really related, so it's sort of discombobulated.

For the first time in my married life we had a visit by an ambulance to our house this past week. One of the joys of living in our lovely little trailer is that every once in awhile I get shocked by the stove when working in the kitchen if I'm not careful. On Sunday I was doing some dishes, I had my left hand in the dish water, and at the same time I noticed some pots on the stovetop that were close to the edge. So with my right hand I reached over to push them farther on to the stovetop, and I got a shock. The worst of it was to my left hand that was submerged in the water. I figured I would be fine in a few minutes like usual and kept doing what I was doing. But my hand was feeling weak and tingly and all up my arm was sore. I looked at my hand and watched the blood vessels start to pop out and my skin looked pale but with red splotches. I waited about 5-10 minutes to see if it would fade away and when it didn't I started looking things up on the internet. All I could find information for was more severe cases, or mild shocks like the ones I'd usually get. So I called the consulting nurse and she said as long as I wasn't having any chest pain that I was probably ok. I said that I didn't have pain, but a fluttery feeling in my chest. She told me to get off the phone and call 911. Mike wasn't home so I called my parents first so they could come stay with the kids in case I had to go to the hospital. I was pretty calm the whole time until I called my parents...something about calling your mommy and daddy for help...I started bawling when they answered the phone and I'm sure I freaked them out pretty good because they beat the ambulance! But when I got off the phone with them, I was all calm again! I told the kids that some people were coming to check on me and not to be worried. It was so funny because the whole time they never stopped what they were doing, like nothing was out of the ordinary. The EMTs came, took my blood pressure which was 160 over something (high for me, it's usually around 100 over something), but they thought that I was probably fine and that going to the hospital would be overkill. I opted to stay, and that was it! By the morning my hand was completely normal.

In my last post I was complaining about the snow and worried that it would cause problems for paper route. Well for a snowy route day, it was the very best kind. By the time I got started it wasn't exactly slushy, but wet enough that when I drove through it it just splattered out of the way, but it wasn't slippery. So I took it as an opportunity to carve out a path for myself for Saturday morning in case what remained froze over and became ice. So I'm thankful for that.

I've mentioned before Colette's attention to fashion. She worked really hard on this ensemble. I think that it's basically a combination of a lot of her favorite pieces. You may remember the hat from a previous post.

Last night my friend Sarah helped me with a little project I was assigned by my dad and Mike, to paint the basement walls with sealer. A girl from church was watching my kids because Mike was at work. When I came to pick them up Colette was all over their dog. I was surprised because she and Adrienne have always been afraid of cats and dogs. They said that Colette was scared at first, but then after she was around him a little bit she said "He didn't bite me!" So then she was hugging him, kissing him, laying on him, etc. It was so cute because he was much bigger than her (he's a yellow lab). He seemed like such a sweet dog, so docile and good with kids. Sometimes when the kids were obviously annoying him he'd lift up his paw and half-heartedly swat at them, but he really didn't seem to mind. I would love to have a dog or cat, but as I've mentioned many times before, I'm allergic, and I left their house itching :-/ I carry allergy medicine that I can take without water in my wallet for those occasions when I end up at someone's house not realizing they have a cat or dog.

I thought by now I'd be in the clear for any infections arising from adjusting to nursing a new baby, but not so! I have developed a case of mastitis and am on antibiotics. Because of that I'd been taking it easy today and spaced out on the fact that today was early release. Adrienne came waltzing in the door and I was so surprised! I couldn't figure out why she was home early, and how she got here! Apparently the bus driver had been honking at the bottom of the driveway and my dad who was working on the house outside heard and walked down. He's on the list of people that can pick her up, so he walked her up the driveway. (P.S. to any of Mike's siblings that might read this - Adrienne's bus driver is your former bus driver Char!) Ugh, that's been my worst fear all year, that I'd forget about an early release day. As it is I have to set an alarm on my phone to remind me that it's time to pick her up or I'd space it on a daily basis. I've told a few people - ever since I've had Edward I've felt like one of those plate spinners - just trying to keep everything going all at once. I have to remind myself that it's only been two months now and at this point after having Adrienne I was just starting to come out of the fog!

So, I spent my down-time very productively as you can see below. Somehow I came upon this site. Sort of the same idea as that other one I'd abused recently. You can take a picture of yourself and morph with a celebrity. I found it interesting because I'd been told I looked like different celebrities, so I could see just how closely we matched up. Also I tried some of the people that the same site that did the look-alike meter said I resembled. I was surprised with some of the results because some of the people I thought I would resemble more closely I didn't, and some I resembled that I really didn't expect! I thought I'd put in the top ones that morphed well with the picture of me:

1st, Me and Alicia Silverstone


Me and Jennifer Aniston


And lastly, Me and Ali Landry


You don't even want to know how many more of these I did!

I'm a little bummed because I had an appointment to give blood tomorrow morning, but I don't think that's a good idea now that I'm recently sick. I'll just have to keep trying! I feel obligated to do it as often as I can because I can give to everyone, and also when you answer the questionnaire they give you, you realize how so many people can't give at all because of different circumstances in their life (like travel, sex related, drug related).

The progress on the house is coming along this week. The sheetrockers textured the walls early this week. Mike's spraying on the primer, and soon the paint (we've picked Vanilla Custard for the main color :-) The cabinets have been delivered, the framing in the basement is starting, and the cement in the shop and garage will likely be poured tomorrow! I am so excited to see it painted and cabinets going in! Then I'll be really really excited to see carpet! I don't know when that will be, but I would think in the next few weeks. It's so weird because I've been thinking about moving into the new place, but it hadn't really registered that this place we've called home for 7 1/2 years now is very soon going to be demolished! It's been a love-hate relationship, because it is so small, run-down, ugly, etc. But it's served us well...we bought it right before we were married so we've never had to pay rent, and our whole married life up until now has been here! Well...I'm sure I'll get over it pretty quickly!

Mike's mom came across this picture recently that I thought was so cute and so typical of Mike. Those legs belong to Mike and his friend Keith working on a Corvair. Proof that their love of those cars goes WAY back! Mike is a year older, but the legs that belong to him are the smaller pair ;-)

Here they are all growed up:

Looking at that picture of Mike I can really see how he's lost weight during the construction of the house. His face and tummy are so much thinner!







Okay, well to end this very random post, here's a book recommendation. It's called Rattlebone Rock...This is a book Adrienne checked out at school and it is so fun to read! I HIGHLY recommend getting it, and don't wait until Halloween! It's fun anytime.

NOOOOO.....SNOW!

When am I going to be a normal person again? When I'll look outside and see snow and think "Oh, how nice!" Instead of "Oh CRAP!"

Most of the time when it snows it interferes with route and makes it take much longer and it's more dangerous! When it snowed on Christmas I still had to deliver the papers that day. I almost went into the ditch after doing a 180...twice! Of course I don't have to do it when it's that bad (and I did go home on Christmas and delivered the next night instead...but then it was ice!), but then all of a sudden my schedule revolves around when is the best time to get out and do it before the next route day!

Sorry...I'm just venting. I just want to look outside and see snow and feel that cozy feeling instead of dread.

Passing on the word...

DEAR AMBER MILLER,

This one-time email is to ask for your help right away. Because of weather and the holidays, the inventory of O Negative blood has reached Emergency levels. We need to have 400 units of O Negative blood available, but right now we have less than 150 units. We are asking all of our O Negative donors who are eligible to donate before the next Wednesday, January 9^th.

Since we expect it to be busy in our donation centers because of this request (and a similar request we sent to our O Positive donors), we STRONGLY encourage you to make an appointment. You can call 1-800-398-7888, or click here to schedule your appointment. But don’t worry if you can’t make an appointment – please drop by at your convenience. Even if it is busy, we will get you donating as quickly as possible. Be sure to click here to check the hours of your local center so you drop by when they are open.

If you click on this link, you can look at a list of blood drives near your home zip code. If you are interested in drives closer to your work, just enter the zip or city name in the search box in the upper-right corner and search again. We have lots of opportunities to donate and we think you will find something convenient.

Last but not least, please pass this message along to friends and family in Western Washington. And invite a friend to join you when you come in to donate.

Thanks for your help – and we hope to see you this week!

Interesting...

I always thought I looked more like my mom.

MyHeritage: Celebrity Collage - Genealogy sites

And I always thought Mike looked more like his dad!

MyHeritage: Celebrity Collage - Family history

Okay, I'm done doing these look-alike things :-)

Colette's version...

*after driving by McDonald's in town*

McDonald's had a farm, E-O-E-O-E!

Granite Grey

Here is a picture of the paint color for the exterior of the house (granite grey on the left, primer on right). Mike didn't get very far yesterday, just one wall done. The weather wasn't very good. It wasn't raining and it was maybe technically warm enough, but it wasn't drying and there was snow melting off the roof and splatting up onto the paint after it hit the ground. But at least he got some practice with the new sprayer. He painted a back wall so it won't be visible to most people.

Year in Review and A New Way of Thinking for the New Year.

Lots of blogging going on by friends and family for the New Year. I know I've been doing more than my fair share the last few days. One that has me really inspired is this entry by my friend Elizabeth. I won't re-explain what she says, just read it! I am eager to see if this works in my life as well as it has for her.

Also I thought this was a fun way to review the year. You post the subject and/or first line of the first entry for each month of 2007. I started blogging last January, so it's a perfect time for this.

January
Charlie The Unicorn
"It's a Leopluridon" (what a weird way to start a blog!)

February
Imagination
I'm not sure if I should feel guilty or happy.

March
The past couple weeks
I didn't realize it had been so long since I'd written until my one reader brought it to my attention :-)

April
I'll be gone...
Not that anyone's checking this, but just FYI - I will be gone from Tuesday morning to Friday night.

May
THE MEXICO TRIP! (FINALLY)...and some other stuff
Okay!

June
TAGGED
So I'm totally lame, I still don't want to attempt to catch up on stuff (I have a running draft going and it's going to be completely ridiculously long when I finally do get to it).

July
7th Anniversary!
Well, I'm a day late...yesterday was mine and Mike's 7th anniversary - on 7/1/07!

August
I'm Back
So much for daily posts, huh?

September
KINDERGARTEN
I am MAJORLY behind on blogging, partly because of being INSANELY busy, but also because I'm getting used to a new computer (more on that later).

October
Nike Commercial
Posting this for my dad to see:

November
YouTube Stuff
Something Mike was telling my parents and I about today, so I'm putting it up here so they can see.

December
Today has been INSANE.

So it appears that I blogged a lot about how I wasn't blogging. As much as I apologized for not blogging (I'll stop doing that) I had 183 posts last year which averages about one every other day! I can't believe that.

Happy New Year!

A rare photo of Edward smiling.
He usually looks very concerned. He'll probably have wrinkles at the age of 15 from constantly furrowed brows.
But really, I'm sure he'll feel better when he has more control over is body and his sisters don't seem as threatening.

Don't think I took the time to make this onesie with everything going on in our lives right now... there's no way.
I actually made it in August of 2006! I was throwing a baby shower for a friend and one of the activities at the
shower was for the guests to make a year's worth of onesies for her. I made some examples and this was one of them.
We were trying to get pregnant then, so it was in anticipation of Edward. Now if I only had a top hat.