Potluck Schmotluck!  A new blog post!  Please join me at my new home!  Click the link below to stop by for a visit! HAPPY NEW YEAR!

 

A week ago, I took Pierson on a walk to drop off some zuchhini bread at some church friends’ house.  On the way back, we passed our friends, the Wrights' house  They had a babysitter and her friend (both of whom I know) that evening.  They saw me walking and all the kids and the sitters came outside to chat.  I talked to them for a little bit and they they shared with me that they had been waiting for the pizza delivery man for a long time.  I figured I'd call the Pizza place and check on the status of their delivery.  When I called the restaurant, I was told that the order was for CARRYOUT!  I figured it would be quicker for me to go pick up the pizza than to put them in the queue for delivery.  So, I high-tailed it home, got in my car, drove to pickup the pizza, and delivered it back to the kids, who were by this time HUNGRY.

My friend, Mrs. Wright emailed a message of thanks.  Wanna know my reply?

"Hey, glad I could help!  I was just at the "WRIGHT PLACE" at the right time."

 Bah-dum-ching.  Stand up fees available upon request.

Happy Monday!

Sweet baby,
I love your little hands.
I love the smiles, of which you aren't even aware.
I love your grunts.
I love the way you need me.
I love your soft skin.
I love how you spit up more on me than on yourself.
I love the strange faces that you make.
I love your puckered lips.
I love how you are learning to focus, but how you spend the majority of time with your eyes crossed.
I love to watch you sleep.
I love that you dirty a diaper right after you've been changed.
I love you even though you disturb my sleep.
I love you for nothing you've done.
I love you, sweet baby, just because.

Month 1: I felt fabulous!   
Month 2: I felt fabulous!
Month 3: I felt fabulous!
Month 4: I felt fabulous!
Month 5: I felt fabulous!
Month 6: I felt fabulous!
Month 7: I felt fabulous!
Month 8: I feel fabulous!  A couple more side effects than before, though, that need mentioning:

• Sudden Urge to go the bathroom.  Pee. Wait 5 minutes. Repeat.  Cycle continues both day and night.
  
• If you're wondering what pregnancy feels like, don't put one of those pregnancy bellies like they have at a maternity clothing store up your shirt and think that it will feel remotely similar.  Instead, to have a more accurate simulation, shove a bowling ball up your shirt and walk around with it all day.  This will help to simulate the feeling of a pregnant belly and also give you an explanation as to why most pregnant women always walk around like they've got a bowling ball up their shirt.
• My old appendectomy scar that I received when I was in 7th grade has stretch marks extending diagonally from it.  Now, it looks like I have the mark of Zorro on my belly.  Riveting.

41 days left until due date!  EEK!

Here's the most recent pic, taken 3 weeks ago.  I've ballooned since then and feel ginormus compared to this picture...So it's not completely accurate, but you get the gist...   

In the last couple of weeks, I've done a few things that were drenched in dumbness.

• I shredded my keys/badges in the shredder at work...oops-- Try explaining that one to the boss.
• I ordered a shower gift early, and printed out the directions only to find that the shower had already taken place ONE WEEK BEFORE.
• I asked a lady which cream pie was the coconut cream pie...(there were 2 cream pies on the table: banana, and coconut). She looked at me like I had just arrived on planet earth and said, "The coconut cream pie has the coconut sprinkled on top." Why do they have to make things so difficult these days???
• I had another 'incident' but I've forgotten.

They say pregnancy messes with the brain.  I think NOT!  I'm normal, I promise.

This past week, a couple of friends and I took a nice little ride to the mecca of accessories, IKEA, in West Chester, OH.  While I doubt I would ever outfit my home in all IKEA furnishings, it is fun to peruse the store AND the accessories are super fun, cheap, and cheap.  I was actually keepin' an eagle eye out for a particular utensil that I purchased at Chicago's IKEA several years ago.  I have misplaced it and miss it terribly.  Sigh and Sob.  It was similar to this whisk, but plastic. I used it ALL. THE. TIME--until I lost it.

Recently, I made it to the Kosair Circus... Here are 3 observations...

Observation #1: The elephant trainers are good.  And, though the elephants were talented and very impressive, they made me sad.  Some of them giving rides to children looked like they were about to fall over from old age.  I wanted to rescue one in particular, who stood in the middle of the rink and could barely keep its eyes open.  I thought about taking one home with me, but then decided I couldn't fit him in my purse.

Observation #2: Cotton candy solves the world's problems.

Observation#3: Circus workers are scary.  First, they know exactly how to market their knick-knacks to the poor, unassuming kids.  This makes me irritated.  Secondly, the guy pictured below purposely stopped for me to take his picture.  I told him I was going to post it on the world wide web. :)  When he turned his head, he had one of those ponytails with braids in it.  Whenever I see one of those (is there a name for those???), I am reminded of a movie we watched during English class in junior high.  It was the Young Sherlock Holmes, and it scarred me for life. In the movie, there were members of an Egyptian cult who would use blow darts to hypnotize people.  Then, they would try to mummify their victims (still in a trance) by pouring hot wax on them.... ANYWAY, the cult members had the same type of ponytail that this man had.  I still get the same creeped out feelings today whenever I see one of those ponytails.

Here's a pic from the movie...

and a clip of the movie can be found here, if you also want to be scarred. 

So, after much no deliberation, I decided that my life is enough of a circus.  I don't need elephant trainers, cotton candy and men with ponytail braids to make it one.  Happy Wednesday!

In case you're not my facebook friend and you enjoy reading these 25-piece bit o' randomness ditties, here ya're:

1. I am the product of many spankings. :)  My mom said that when I was young, the faster in the day I got a spanking, the better I was.  I tried various lines such as "You are wasting my time..." and "Don't ever do that again..."  None worked; trust me, kids.

2.  I like to send random pieces of whatnot through the USPS, without any box & with the address and stamps right on the item.  I have sent plates, large toy balls, flip flops, cereal boxes, a bottle of pills with the letter cut up into strips and stuffed inside of empty pills, etc.  Michael was the main recipient of these items, mostly during the summers between college years.

3.  Both sets of my grandparents share the same names: Paul & Dorothy.

4.  I once fell off a bunk bed and had to be woken up to go to the hospital.  My camp counselor only knew I had fallen because I was groaning in my sleep.  I still love my sleep.

5.  Survivor doesn't want me, Amazing Race must not need me, Million Dollar password doesn't care about me & Wheel of Fortune doesn't know I exist.  I know.  I've applied.  Many times.

6.  The only wreck I've ever been in happened in snowy weather.  As a result, every time it flurries, I drive like a 92 year-old crazy lady & think about the mean woman cop who ticketed me for sliding through a stop sign. 

7.  My husband is the best person I've ever known.

8.  My cat is psycho, and I wish I could get rid of him.  BUT no one in their right mind would ever take him, so we tolerate each other (until I have my baby...then the cat may just disappear or else I'll wake up one day and my baby's head will be gnawed off...)

9.  I love to play Ultimate Frisbee, but would not consider myself to be a 'Superstar' or even good at it.

10.  I had my appendix removed in 7th grade over Christmas break.  My doctor was named something like Dr. Thuyumyusandrum and one thing I remember about him was that he blew his nose right into the sink while washing his hands during my post-surgery examination.  Um.....ewwwww.

11.  The smell of freshly brewed coffee is tolerable; after that, it all goes downhill from there--On the breath, stale coffee, the odor remaining in a car, etc, it really grosses me out.  I hate washing coffee paraphernalia and wish I could be grateful for the free pound of coffee my husband gets every week for working at Starbucks.  I simply cannot.

12.  I was once a member of the National Button Society.  I saw an article about a lady who collected sewing buttons and started a collection myself.

13.  My dad and uncle share a birthday in April, and my brother and I share a birthday in November.  I've always loved it!

14.  It is a true shame that Panera discontinued their savory scones. 

15.  I love it when I get $.41 in change.  It's one of each type of coin.

16.  I will use whatever we have, but my favorite toothpaste is Colgate, the white kind--Not the gel, orange citrus flavored, blue paste or any kind with baking soda (puke).

17.  My first job was working in a photo lab at a drug store.  I loved it!

18.  Meetings make me feel claustrophobic.

19.  We engraved our own wedding rings.  I made a mistake on mine. (Don't worry, I got Michael's name right...hahah!)

20.  Just a few weeks after I had been married, I played a practical joke on some youth group girls by faking an engagement and allowing a single lady to use my engagement ring.  The problem was that the joke turned on me!!!  It got stuck on her hand and had to get cut off at a hospital.  Thankfully, the jeweler liked the story so much, he fixed the ring for free.

21.  My favorite place to go online is www.reader.google.com  If you don't have a blog reader, you are missing out on life.

22.  I am a practical gift-giver and gift receiver.  Not saying that I wouldn't like the occasional bouquet of flowers (what girl doesn't every now and then????), but I would much rather a big block of Dubliner cheese than a dozen roses on most occasions.

23.  I wish that I could have a job where the job description would be "Playing Games All Day."  You name it, I love it: Settlers, Ticket to Ride, Blokus, Euchre, Spades, Skipbo, Dutch Blitz, etc.

24.  I once got in trouble for chewing gum at the National Archives Museum in DC.  A cop had told me upon entering to spit out my gum.  After we were done with the museum and were almost ready to leave (but waiting for my mom...), I popped a piece back in my mouth.  Wouldn't ya' know, the same cop saw me and scared me to death by threatening arrest.  He also gave me the option to spit it out and leave.  I chose that option.

25.  I am very scatterbrained and get easily distracted before completing a task.  That is why #25 has been empty for over 8 hours..

EDIT:  HAHA Shelley, congrats!  You're the winner of some good ole' butter to help you find the secret to a healthy heart!!!  Let me know how you want your prize... in the Land O' Lakes format, A Kroger gift certificate or $3 cash in the mail.  teeheehee!  Couldn't pass up the opportunity to offer a goofy prize just to go along the theme of being 'Heart Healthy!'  Thanks for playing!

We recently received the February 2009 issue of the Reader's Digest, a Christmas subscription gift from my grandparents.  Something funny caught my eye.  There seems to be a huge oxymoron in this issue... Can you find it?

If you can find the oxymoron, leave a comment with your guess as to how this could possibly be an oxymoron.  I'll choose a random winner from the comments and the winner will receive your choice of the following prizes:

1.) A stick of butter (I'm all about heart healthiness).
2.) A $3 gift certificate to the Kroger (to buy yourself some butter to save your life with a healthy heart and gain Paula Deen's approval.  It's a win-win.)
3.) $3 cash to go treat yourself at a grocery of your choice and gnaw on a few sticks of butter in the parking lot.  MMMMM.  I'm all about being health-conscious.

Contest ends Tuesday 12pm EST.  Prize open only to US residents.