why monica needs forgiving

Last night while my fairy blogmother was bippidy blogidy boo-ing away on my blog design, I was busy watching Friends with one eye open. It was very late. But not so late that my house-loving, color-picking, half-asleep self could ignore Monica's bathroom during The One Where Chandler Takes a Bath.

Something about that bathroom looks awfully familiar, I thought to myself.
I guess I just accept things like this on TV. I mean, it's TV. It's Friends. It's Monica. I forgive her. But if I walk into a house that I'm thinking of buying and see purple trim...well, it's kind of different.
A big improvement, don't you think?

Too bad I don't have a fairy housemother to redo our house for us. She would never leave a mess like this.
Or this, in the kids bathroom.

She would also never, ever leave her water bottle on the toilet in the middle of my bedroom.
Instead, I've got these guys.
And this lovely trench in my backyard.
She would never leave that trench. Unless she doubled as a groundhog, but what kind of fairy housemother would do that? I'm getting just a teensy bit nervous, as the clock strikes mid-night on May 6. That is the day we will bid our farewells to sweet Sophie Marie and head on over to the new house for good. Here's to hoping that glass slipper fits.

my fairy blogmother

Y'all! I have a fairy blogmother! Granted, I must have taken a crazy pill this month. Because in the midst of buying a house, selling a house, semi-remodeling the former and grieving the latter, I thought it would be a great idea to have my blog re-designed.

Well bring on the crazy cuz right now, I just want to chat away with a hot cup of coffee and a big piece of chocolate cake. That is what this new design is doing to me. Making me happy! And fatter, apparently. But it is going to bring such loveliness to my day and to yours as well, I hope.

It all started a few months ago when my sister gave away a tassel during the great bloggy giveaway and the winner was Mommy from The Womble Times. I clicked on her blog and loved her design and then I realized that she, herself was the designer!
She has her own company called Peek-a-boo Greetings and she is doing all this work to raise money for the travel expenses involved in the adoption of her daughter.

I wish I knew more about that...unfortunately so far, most of what I know about her has nothing to do with her and everything to do with me: she is really patient (with me), she likes to use numbers to keep things organized (when she sends me e-mails), and she stays up really late (to work on my blog design). She is funny and creative and...and...Oh I'm just bursting! We were working into the wee hours of the morning (and by "we" I mean she was working and I was watching Friends and hitting refresh on my email inbox to see what she had to tell me next). And then she said I could go to bed and wake up to a new blog design which is exactly what I did and now...I have a fairy blogmother! How cute is she? I feel 4. And I love it!

I am so thankful for her talent and hard work. I hope you enjoy the fruits of her labor. I know I will.

Peek-a-Boo...

Good Morning Mrs. Emily. What a surprise you are waking up to this morning! I hope you love your new blog design. I think it is beautiful (if I do say so myself)! Let me know if there are any changes you would like to make. Otherwise, your blog-over is complete and you are ready to chat your sweet little heart out. I can't wait to hear from you.

Hugs,
your fairy blogmother

have I failed to mention...?

Cute house, huh? I like the brick, the well manicured yard, the homey-ness of this house. It actually belongs to the man's brother and his wife from Spain (the man being my husband). Remember them?

They're so cute, just like their house. Wait, what's this...?

That's their house, through that window there. What window is that, you ask?

I'd know that ugly purple trim anywhere. Why, it's our new half-way painted master bedroom window. That's right, people. Of the many reasons why we bought this house, I have yet to mention one that is pretty major. It sits a mere house away from my brother and sister-in-law and their little girl. The twins can look out their bedroom window and see their cousins' bedroom window.

What memories they will make on our little cul-de-sac. We can't wait to get there.

And I promise, one day very soon I will stop talking about houses. Really, I will. In fact, my little corner of cyberspace will be changing things up in just a few days. I figured so many things are changing these days, why not shake it up here a bit as well? So stay tuned.

a house by any other name...

Dear Sophie Marie,

I know that people may think I'm crazy for giving you a name, but I don't care. You deserve one. Especially after this past week. You have shined. You have smiled. You have welcomed strangers warmly and whispered sweet nothings to them as they walked your halls. As potential buyers imagined you as their own, you held your head high and promised them home.

And it has been worth it, for in a mere 6 days you have managed to do what other houses have only dreamed of: you convinced someone else to fall in love with you and to sign a contract stating their intentions with you.

I know today is a tough day, as you are being picked, prodded, analyzed and pushed to your limits by that house inspector. He wants to see what you've got, girl. Show him! You can do it, I know you can.

Thank you for all your hard work. Thank you for the home you have so graciously been for our family. I hope you can forgive us for leaving you, but our relationship seems to have run its course.

You've done good, girl. You've done real good.

Your loving owner,
Emily

tinted walls, tinted faces

I am loving all the help I'm getting on the paint for the new fireplace mantle wall. Keep those ideas coming. I will definitely post a photo when I decide what I'm gonna do with it. In the meantime, check this out. Warning: my sister + me = 2 idiots with nicely tanned faces.

help wanted

You're going to regret you ever asked me to write about my new house. I've been making decisions left and right. It's enough to make a girl a bit dizzy. Thankful for sure...for the opportunity to pick stuff out that I like. But being so close to it all, it's becoming harder for me to see the forest for the trees (or the paint for the wall, I should say).

Here's where I need your help. As you know, this is where we started in this paneled room.
Then, we painted the paneling Tobacco Road on 3 walls...but on the fireplace wall, we painted the whole thing a few shades lighter, Believable Buff. It seemed like it would help it to look like a wall of fireplace, instead of cutting it in 1/2 with Tobacco Road on top.

Turns out that Buff wasn't so Believable after all. I thought it looked like those shelves needed their teeth brushed. The Nester said it looked like a powdered face with no lipstick on. We had to do something.
So we painted just the mantle and the wooden bookshelves white, same as the trim. It still ain't right people. Or is it? It isn't...right? I just can't tell anymore. This photo was taken without a flash so it's kind of hard to see the true color. The two walls on the sides are still Tobacco Road and the wall above the FP as well as the brick is still (un)Believable Buff. But I just don't know.

Should the brick be white, too? Should the shelves and mantle be Buff and the brick be white only? Should we paint the wall above the mantle Tobacco like the rest of the room? Should I light a match and burn the whole thing down?

I know in light of starving kids in Africa and Hurricane Katrina victims and that homeless man on the corner that always looks me in the eye when I pull up at the stop light, this stuff is so trivial. I know that. Still...I have to decide on something and quick. I may not take any of your suggestions (well, except you Nester. You're opinion is always gonna be a bit weighted), but I still want them. So....what do you think?

a happy house

So I'm doing it. I'm writing about my new house. It is so on the brain that it's hard to think about other, more meaningful things anyway. I guess for an audience that enjoys looking for a paci in a pile of junk, seeing photos of my new house will be a change that is welcome.

It has been easier to write about my current house because I love it and it is home. I love this house too...but not yet like I WILL love it. So here it is in all its over-grown glory.
It was built in 1963, the year JFK was assassinated. I've always loved reading about American history in the 60's so there's that. Our plan is to tear out a lot of the plants...not all of them, as there are hydrangeas and delightful looking bushes with little white bell-shaped buds. We are also going to paint the brick to match the siding. Can't wait to do that.

Some of my favorite things about this house?
This white picket fence. It is homey. And that building there? It's the room off the garage, better known to us as the man room. We've never had a man room. Or a garage, for that matter.
This is the breakfast area in the kitchen. Love those floors and the room gets great light, too.

When I looked through the front window of this house (that was empty but not for sale, by the way), this is the first thing I saw. My heartbeat sped up and I realized maybe there was more to this house than meets the eye. We had our eye on it for months before we went inside. The owner had moved out but had not put it on the market yet. So we tracked her down and begged her to let us walk through in a very we-want-to-see-your-house-REAL-BAD-but-we're -not-really-interested kind of way. We had to play it cool. I don't think she fell for it.

So she met us there. And we looked. And we liked. And we prayed. And she liked us. She set a price. Then we set a price. Then she accepted, not because she liked the price but because she liked us and wanted a family to live there and be happy. Because she was the 2nd owner of this house. She said it had been a happy house for her and her husband (who has died) and her children (who are grown). And it will be a happy house for us.

Some things that aren't so happy? Well, this room, for one. And the crematorium they like to call the fireplace. And check out the light tube in the ceiling...when you stand under it and look up, it's kind of Jetson-y.
Not a problem, though. Already in the process of being taken care of.
That's Ray. He smells like smoke and coffee from Biscuitville. He works fast and has been very patient with Indecisive Girl from Planet the-paint-colors-I-choose-determine-my-happiness. I went with Tobacco Road in this room. Was there any other choice? We also smoothed out the popcorn ceilings in here. Very soothing. And smooth.

And then there was this.Every window in the house had these wooden cornice boards built just for them. Whenever I hear "custom built" it always gives me pause, just like the Reindeer up on the housetop (go on, sing it in your head...you'll see. I know you think its "paws" but it's not. Really).

So we got rid of those, too.

This was the sunroom before we closed on the house. Not too sunny what with all those blinds covering up those beautiful windows.

Looks sunnier here, even though it was raining. And yes, that is a hot tub out those back windows. No, it doesn't have water in it. Yes, it does work. How do I feel about it? I'm still not sure.

Now so far I've showed you some photos of either things I love or things I don't love but are in progress. Ready for something I hate that hasn't been touched yet? Wait for it...
Yes, my sweet friends. That is our master bedroom. Pink walls. Plum trim. Custom-built cornice thing on the window. A wall-papered cornince thing. Nice. But those floors scream potential.

So there you have it. This flower was blooming in the backyard, by the way. She likes to pose with flowers. I'm sure I'll be posting more before, in-progress and after photos as time goes on. This post was kind of a big step for me, as I feel like I'm cheating on my current house by writing about another one. So many issues.

my crazy, mixed up (Hilton) head

We made it home from Hilton Head...my mother-in-law, sister-in-law and my kids. It was girls only this week. Well, except for the baby, but he doesn't really count as a guy yet. Besides, he still has that pink paci and he spent more than a few hours in a princess pull up. To sum up the week, we pretty much ate too much chocolate, watched lots of chick flicks and bought way too many shoes. It was perfect.

Here is one last thought I wanted to share with you from the island.
Attention men and women of the world with hairstyles...come here and they will give you Harbour Town. For your hairstyle. Ain't that nice of them? I think it ought to be Hairstyles for Your Hilton Head.

Anyway, so we're home. Except it feels a bit less like home than it did when we left because there is a For Sale sign in the yard now. I felt kind of guilty when I saw it. I know. I'm a freak. It's just that I love this house. And she's kind of become like, the 6th member of our family. And we have fancied, polished and dressed her all up just to show her off and sell her to the highest bidder. And soon, we're going to leave her and I don't know if the next people will love her as much as we have. And that makes me sad. And now you see how deep my issues really go.

We had lots of showings while we were out of town. And I can tell people have touched my stuff. And it smells different. But it's still clean, which is a perk. We are getting more excited about our new house...our 45 year old new house.

I think I'm ready to talk about it. Stay tuned.

thankful for my Assets

So The Sisters have another post up over at Chic-Critique. And by The Sisters I mean my sister. She did it up right this week, critiquing some items that every girl needs in her bag of tricks. All I did this week was to assure her that yes, it is Spanx, not Spanks. But panty? Not sure. I always thought it was panty...but maybe it's pantie?

Either way, hate that word. But love the Spanx.

me and my nosey self

I have this thing where when I go see a movie in the theater, I don't like to talk about it right away. And if I go with people who, right when the credits begin to roll, turn to me in the dark and say "So, whaddya think?" I will say nothing and just look at them. I don't know why that is. I think it has something to do with the fact that I don't want the strangers who sit behind us to hear my opinions. Because everyone just saw the same movie. To ask me what I thought is such an obvious question. Wow. That really made sense in my head.

But I had that same feeling walking in Harbour Town today. If you didn't know about the couple who disappeared from here three weeks ago, you really wouldn't notice anything different. Except everyone around here does know. And also because their boat is still in the harbor. I didn't want to just walk confidently up to it and start snapping photos although maybe that would have been better than to pretend like that wasn't why I was there.

So I lingered. And I took photos of the lighthouse and flowers and chains (yes, chains); some of my favorite things to photograph in the harbor. And then I sat down and shuffled some rocks. And then I took yet another picture of the lighthouse. And then I looked over my shoulder (yes, I really did) and snuck a few of the Yellow Jacket.

I've seen it here before...over the years of visiting the island. The yacht is small, especially compared to the Pa-Li-Ne that sits right next to it. Standing there looking at it, you would think her owners were simply down below or spending some time at the Quarterdeck for lunch. As I lingered, I heard passersby speculate about what may have happened to them, how they could have disappeared on purpose just to get away. At least 6 people took photos before I did. With their phones or their point and shoots. I could have gotten a better shot, but I would have had to get closer and it would have blown my cover. I don't like to be obvious, you know.

I imagine to the locals it might be annoying. I might be annoying. Disrespectful, maybe? But there is something about a tragedy that has gained nationwide attention that causes people to want to gawk in spite of themselves, especially a story that is shrouded in so much mystery.

I stood there for a bit, imagining what may have happened to this couple, hoping they are still alive and will walk along the manicured lawns of the harbor and take up residence on their boat again. I kind of hate myself for taking a photo of their empty boat, evidence that something just isn't right. It is sad and strange and it is none of my business, really. But being here, I can't help but think of them. And to pray that maybe they are coming back.

opposite day

The azaleas are blooming in Hilton Head. I don't usually like azaleas. They are scrawny, burnt looking bushes most of the year. Until they bloom. And for those few weeks, they can certainly be beautiful. I am surprised that beauty can come from such an ugly bush.

I always forget how much I love the Low Country of South Carolina; how beautiful the water, the allure of the tree lined path of Plantation Drive. The Spanish moss hangs lazy and low from those branches. Every year I take some home with me. And every year I am disappointed that my baggie full of moss just isn't the same away from the island.

Somehow the beauty of this place almost makes it lonely. Maybe it's just because I know there is change waiting for us when we get back home. It is more likely because The Man isn't with us. I think there is something about a beautiful place that demands intimate company or it almost seems as though it doesn't count. I imagine Adam felt that way in the Garden before Eve was made but he didn't know why.

It is sweet to be in such a beautiful place on a day that celebrates new life and freedom. It is hard to believe that beauty can come from suffering and death. I think of Isaiah 53:11: "After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied." What a prediction. What a promise. I often forget how opposite the Lord thinks from the way I think: how the last will be first, how beauty comes from ashes, how life comes from death. It doesn't makes sense, really. But I am certainly thankful it is true.

chic critique

In the midst of organizing, sorting, packing and yes, even real grown-up cleaning, I have found lots of fun things I forgot I had. Namely, lots and lots of new beauty products just waiting to be opened and used. A few of them have expired. And a few of them are duplicates of the same thing...as I have a hard time throwing out perfectly good, full bottles of pretty liquids even though they may be products I never use (ie: samples of foundation, eye make-up remover, dental floss). Kidding. Floss is not a liquid. And I do floss. Not gonna say how often, but I do.

I even got lucky in the self-grooming department recently as my mom's very cute habit of leaving things behind when she visits paid off for me. If you want to hear more about that, check out the story over at chic critique. This when-exactly-did-I-last-take-a-shower girl has somehow found herself as one of the new contributers on a beauty product review site. It's kind of fun, as The Nester and I are doing it together. What are we calling ourselves, you ask? Why, The Sisters...what else?

i got house on the brain

I've been lacking in the self-reflection department lately. And the friend department, mom department, bathing department and just about any other department that doesn't have to do with selling our house. It is shaping up nicely. A good thing, I know. But sort of bad, too...as seeing it so cute makes me know how much I'm going to miss it. It is hard for me to let go of things, even when I know what I have to look forward to is right and logical and even fun.

They're coming tomorrow to take photos and video so we can list it. So we've been working crazy-like to get ready. I am at the point now where I'm throwing away unused bags of popcorn and perfectly good crayons because I just don't want to organize one more thing. I know. Shocking.

I'm lucky though, because my mom came up to help. Too bad she's a slacker.

All she did was empty my entire fridge, clean it, throw out expired food, organize my pantry, shine my stove and microwave, wash dishes, polish the counter top, mop the floors and clean a few bathrooms. Oh, and she watched the kids for a while. And scrubbed my outdoor furniture. And did all my laundry.

But that was nothing. Because I put a lot of elbow grease into this.

Look how clean that kitchen is. And organized. What an important thing I did. Because I know those picture men are really gonna hone in on the pink kitchen in my girls room because that's what a buyer wants to see.

Seriously, we have all been working like dogs. Dogs, I tell you. Of course, if you worked dogs this hard, you would probably go to jail. But it's gonna be worth it...I hope.

I will be posting photos of our new house as some of you have requested. It's hard to post before photos before I have after photos. But I will. Until then, I'll leave you with a cozy look at our porch. Don't you wanna sit there and drink your coffee and watch the clouds go by?

i spy with my little eye

...something that is pink. Yes, I said pink. He is not partial to paci colors. He is also not opposed to tutus, cheerleading skirts or pink high heels. Now go! Find that pink paci...

more quirks as promised

In the spirit of focusing on things that are meaningless but still important, here are some more questions that I've just been dying to ask.

1. Do you have certain words that you just can't use?
Most of the words on my hate list happen to begin with the letter "p": particle, puss, pimple, putrid, pasty. I can't believe I just wrote those words in my personal space. Maybe it isn't normal to have a list...?

2. Do you easily buy and replace things for just you?
Like makeup, sunglasses, new underwear? I've had a Wal-Mart pair of sunglasses for over 2 years now. They are falling apart. But until I lose them, I just. can't. get new ones. And my blush is a pink, powdery mess in it's compact. But it still works, right? And the underwear....well, you know. Don't you? Do you know? Or am I crazy?

3. Are you ok using a spoon at birthday parties?
When there is ice cream and cake involved, everyone seems to think it is SO necessary to eat it with a spoon. I hate using spoons. Unless it is for cereal or soup. I will use a spoon for ice cream alone...but when there is cake involved, I just can't take it.

Don't you love the way I disguise my freaky quirks as questions?

a note from our old house

Don't I look cozy and inviting in the winter time with my pretty wood door and my cute dormer windows?
And check me out in the summer...with my crepe myrtle and my sassy rocking chair front porch.
And that tree in the front yard...she's such a show off. But don't you want to live here? I'm a great house. And the tree isn't so snobby once you get to know her.

So...buy me. I'm totally for sale.

the real story

You know how sometimes you laugh so much you cry or you cry so much you laugh? And how sometimes when you're really nervous or happy or worried, all those emotions come at once and it's hard to separate them?

I know I've been talking about Sting and freaky quirks and 1993. That is classic me: pouring a lot of energy into stupid and meaningless things while big things are happening around me. Like, for example, we bought a house. Two days ago. It's a nice house. A home of a house. It needs some work, which is why we still live in our house. That we love. But are growing out of.

So we bought a house. There is a story that goes with the buying of this house. It is a great story. Maybe I'll tell it sometime.

Now we have two houses. We are homes owners.

And it is stressful. Exciting, too.

So that's what I've been doing.

Photos to come.

1993 unplugged

I'm going to risk blast-from-the-past overkill and publish this post. That's me at cheerleading camp the summer of 1992...just to help paint the whole picture, you know. Check out how high we wore our socks.

Thanks to those of you who suggested I post a list of the songs on one of the tapes I found. I have actually listened to a lot of them and have been rockin' out to Violent Femmes and the Gin Blossoms all day as a result. So here it is: the following is a list of the songs on my 1993 tape in its entirety. Nothing has been added or deleted from this list. Key words: recorded from the radio.

Side A
1. Sting Fields of Gold - 2nd verse only
2. Spin Doctors Two Princes
3. Phil Collins Billy Don't You Lose My Number - Dance Remix version. Yes. I know.
4. Phil Collins One More Night
5. Peter Gabriel In Your Eyes
6. Whitney Houston I'm Every Woman - 30 seconds only
7. Spin Doctors Two Princes - for the 2nd time. I really liked this one.
8. Crowded House Don't Dream it's Over - 2nd half only
9. Kenny G - I have no idea what or why.
10. The Ronettes Be My Baby - I went through an Oldies phase.
11. Gloria Estefan I See Your Smile
12. YWCA personal fitness commercial

Side B
1. Whitney Houston Where do Broken Hearts Go
2. Simply Red If You Don't Know Me by Now - because it always reminded me of Alex P. Keaton and his girlfriend on Family Ties who ended up being his wife in real life.
3. Extreme More Than Words
4. 4 Non Blondes What's Up? - the song where they don't ever actually say "What's Up?" It's more like "Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. Hey, hey, hey. I said Hey. What's goin' on?"
5. Sting Fields of Gold - Again, 2nd verse only.
6. Boys II Men In the Still of the Night
7. Whoomp! There it is - Does it really matter who "sings" this one? Couldn't get all of Fields of Gold despite my two tries, but this one I have. In its entirety.
8. Lots and lots of blank space.

Somehow this tape missed my UB40 Can't Help Falling in Love obsession. Not sure how that happened.

And here I am with the Nester in 1993. I'm the one on the left with the teeth. She's got teeth, too. But mine were more important cuz I had just gotten the braces off. And it was prom night. Good times. Except for the fact that my dress was long sleeves. Covered in sequence. And it may or may not have had shoulder pads.

Ok. That is all. Overkill complete.

those were the days

Remember when you actually had to listen to the radio to hear your favorite song? And remember when you would stub your toe tripping over your Jansport so you could record the song onto the blank tape you had waiting for such a time as this? And remember how you really hoped the deejay guy wouldn't talk over the first part of the song so you could get a genuine, mix tape worthy recording?

And remember when you and your best friend would sit on her bed for hours, mentally grouping every 3 songs that came on together to play "past, present, future"? Remember how you always hoped that your future song would be Save the Best For Last by Vanessa Williams because that meant the best was yet to come? Remember that?

I found these in my attic today.

One is simply labeled 1993.

All I can say is, thank God for iTunes.

carolina

I've lived in North and South Carolina. I love them both.

In one direction, there are these. We call them mountains. I know you Colorado people may refer to these as rolling hills. But aren't they calming and beautiful and sweet?

We also have an entire coastline of this. I didn't see the ocean until I was 12. It was breathtaking. I'm so glad my kids will never remember a time when they didn't know the blue on blue horizon of those vast waters.

I especially like North Carolina because we have more pronounced seasons. Fall begins in October and there are plenty of these.

Then winter comes right around Christmas, and at least a few times a year, we get this...and a deep blue Carolina sky to go with it.

And just when all begins to seem only cold and gray, these sweet ladies bloom in late January, spinning their lovely red skirts as a gracious reminder that new life is waiting to burst forth in spring.

By the time April arrives, the sun has once again turned all things warm. I love the palmetto trees found mostly in South Carolina. When we first moved there, I was in the 6th grade and I remember thinking it was so exotic to have trees like this lining streets and in landscaped grocery store parking lots.

I don't have photos of all the other things I love about the Carolinas: the Spanish moss on Hilton Head Island, the skyline of Charlotte, the colorful row houses in Charleston, the baseball park here in my own hometown. I love that we say y'all and that we have great college basketball teams and that barbecue is a noun and not a verb.

I know I kind of cheated by lumping these 2 states together...but I'd love to hear what you love about where you live. Especially because this girl has never traveled farther west than Austin, Texas so I simply have no idea.

that was so awesome

If you haven't had a chance to read the comments from the last post, you are missing out. I have loved it...and man, does this freak feel normal! Here are a few highlights:

Most of you have a killer plan. Tonja even puts something in front of the door! And I hadn't even thought of military wives. Laura and Mary are alone at night all the time. You are very brave women (for many more reasons than this, actually). Then there is Cath. Her husband is the firefighter chief so her plan (along with various booby traps around the house) is to call 911 and say she smells smoke so her firefighter fellas will come a runnin'...Brilliant!

It's an interesting discovery to me that so many women have a plan because we will most likely never have to use it. In fact, we probably deep down don't even seriously believe we will need to use it...if we did, would we really stay alone in the first place? I guess it comes back to what Tracey said: "If Jesus wants to take me via a murderer in our house, I'd rather be with Him anyway, and hopefully he will take my whole family at once." Amen, girl...uhhh, I think.

Then there's the feet. Angie's baby girl is 45 pounds. She wears a 10.5 shoe and is only 2 years old. That is so awesome. Just goes to show the wide range of normal. Enough said.

Most surprising discovery: so many other people time themselves in the grocery store. I really thought that was just me. Nan even rewards herself with a donut if she makes her time. My kind of girl. Rosie times herself doing everything...this is hilarious to me, mainly because she thinks that is normal! What a freak! At least she doesn't pee in the pool. Speaking of...

There sure are a bunch of pool pee-ers who read this blog.

I can't tell you how fun this is for me. Your honesty is touching, really. So stay tuned...I have lots more freaky quirks to ask you about. I am determined to find one in common with Chickadee, who so far is way too normal. It is her birth-week, however and she wants to give you gifts so head on over there!

way to make a freak feel normal

Today I'm going to take advantage of you. Because you are reading and available and oh-so-willing.

I recently posted about going to my sister's house when the man was out of town. I also mentioned the fact that I'm more than a little nervous when I have to stay by myself. Sometimes I feel so childish for always begging my mom to drive 2 hours to come stay with me and keep me safe (all 5 foot 2 inches of her). Reading some of your comments from that post, I was so glad to discover that you are scaredy cats too (some of you with good reason...yikes, Jennifer P)! So what I want to know is, do you have a plan?

I have a plan that always involves the house phone on the table next to my bed and my cell phone on the pillow next to me (in case the killer cuts the house phone wire). Before kids, my plan was to sleep with my bedroom door locked and, if I heard a killer, to grab a phone, run to the closet, climb in the attic and call the police. But we've moved so our attic entrance is no longer in the closet. And now I have all these kids so climbing in the attic alone would just be wrong.

So I have a new the-killer's-in-the-house plan. I can't tell you the details though because, well...you know. You might be a killer.

And while I'm at it, maybe you could help me out in some other potentially it's-normal-to-me-but-I-might-be-a-freak situations:

1. When you were a kid, did you think it was ok to pee in the pool?
Ok, so IT'S NOT, right? Because I never did, but a few summers ago, I realized many of my dear, normal and respectable friends would go in the corner and...pee. And they thought it was totally ok. Shocking.

2. Do you time yourself when you go to the grocery store?
When I go into the grocery store, I look at the clock and predict what time I will be leaving. If I'm right, I win!

3. And it's not about me, but I've really been wondering: Does my son have unusually large feet, or does it just seem that way to me? He is 21 months old and he wears a size 8...comfortably. As in, he'll probably be in a 9 this summer. Is that normal?

I'd love to hear your thoughts on these. I have tons more, but I thought I would start small...work my way up to the "words I hate" list and the underwear issues.

i spy with my little eye

...something that is blue. Go ahead. Find the blue pacifier. I dare you.

my day in numbers

2 - Christmas gifts I needed to return

2 - months it's taken me to get gifts from my closet to my car

3 - stores I had to go to in order to return said gifts

63 - dollars put on store credit for ugly (though thoughtful and heartfelt) Christmas gift

5 - dollars gift is actually worth today (gotta love the gift receipt)

2 - number of times I said "score!" after receiving loaded gift card

45 - minutes it took from start to finish

0 - number of children I had with me

1,547 - coupons I still have to cut to be ready for the Grocery Game tomorrow

100 - posts I have made on this blog