one more pic for my nieces...

..at least, i'd like to blame them for this portion of my ocd.
they did plant the seeds with me, after all.

keep in mind there were 2 more plants in yesterday's picture.
they do call cantaloupe plants vines, don't they?

i watered them again tonight. hopefully they'll survive the weekend without their "mommy".

facebook

some of you know that i've added facebook to my internet addiction. you also know that i'm commonly told i look younger. well, i just got a facebook message from someone i took 8th grade art class with, and he said my face hasn't changed since middle school.

so there you have it. did anybody see that episode of law and order where that women had a genetic disorder that kept her looking young and she was posing as a high schooler, but was really 28? well, i am beginning to think i have that condition.

i'll just keep telling myself "at least you don't have to pay anyone to make you look younger." i suppose wearing makeup might help, but who has time for that?

anyway, facebook has been kind of neat. i've learned more about some of my relatives than i ever knew, and might actually recognize them if i passed them in a crowded busy street. i'm still figuring out what tools i'll keep and which ones will go, but all in all it's been fun.

now to get offline and get some work done around here...

Wordless Wednesday

For more WW participants, visit the WW HQ or 5 minutes for Mom!

Today's tackle: committee responsibilities

I've taken on another responsibility for the leadership committee I'm on for our church's Mom's fellowship- A Mom's HEART (Hearing Encouragement and Rejoicing Together), and it's time sensitive as the kick-off meeting is in a couple of weeks. So today I am sifting through a notebook, compiling a list of places to distribute brochures and flyers, and then e-mailing the rest of the committee for help in making it to all those places.

It's not housework... that needs to be tackled, too. Thankfully, I have a husband who understands a few things about me and forgives me for them, including 1) I am domestically challenged 2) I also have a lazy streak 3) I find it easier to push housework out of the way for other things than to make it a priority (I think that's called being a procrastinaholic, right?)

So for housework, if I can just get the kitchen floor swept and the counters cleaned off, I'll be doing good. The sheets from all the beds are in the washer, and they will be dried by bedtime tonight.

2 p.m. update- clean sheets are on 2 of the 3 beds in our house. brochure distribution plan spreadsheet has been created and e-mailed to the committee leaders for their input. baby bear has been down for a nap for about an hour, which afforded me the opportunity to take a relaxing bubble bath. i can't remember the last time i had one of those... more than 2 weeks ago, for sure.

my bloggy giveaway prize has arrived...

and reminded me that i did not mail my giveaway prize to the winner yet. oh, no! that's on my list of things to do this week.

anyway, when i opened the door to check the mail this afternoon, there was a nice box sitting on my porch. i immediately knew what it was, and dragged baby bear back inside so i could open it (leaving the rest of the mail waiting safely in the mailbox).

i immediately saw that the colors gretchen chose were PERFECT...

i LOVE it! so does baby bear... she thinks it's a new blanket for herself...





i toyed with the idea of keeping it on the piano...

but the size is perfect for my scratch-covered drum table!

Thank you, Gretchen!!!

in case you wondered....

we now have 9 cantaloupe seedlings in our earth pot, thanks to my nieces em and mad. will fruit come before the first freeze of the fall? take the poll in my sidebar...

I've been sooo tempted to hijack tech mom's blog....
it's a shame I can't remember her password!!!

Really, there must be something she can post about!

The cat's got my tongue (sort of)

We've had a nice, relaxing weekend. My parents baby-sat Baby-Bear while we were treated to dinner by our sunday school teachers. Everyone brought their wedding pictures, commenting about brushing the dust off, etc. Dinner was scrumptious- served on fine china, with actual silver and stemware. All of us felt so honored to have a group date-night out with such hospitable treatment.

Baby Bear did well, over-all, fussing a little more and going to sleep a little harder than usual, but I still think Mom and Dad will forgive our later-than-expected return. I hope so. Hubby had decided to convert the crib to the toddler bed, and my guess is Bear missed the security in spite of the freedom.

While the cat may have my tongue, my daughter is chattering away in toddler-ese. Our 2-hour afternoon nap certainly rejuvenated her. I wish I could say the same for myself.

Happy Friday!

Bear and I had a good day. She slept in til almost 7:30, and was very well behaved all morning. We went grocery shopping together, and when we got home she colored at the table while I put everything away.

You know you have been married a while (or you are getting old, or a little of both) when your idea of a nice birthday evening is dinner at home. Of course, when your husband was out of town for 4 days and 3 nights prior, the idea of going to a loud restaurant with toddler in tow and not knowing if toddler will behave is not very appealing. I picked up a couple of sirloin steaks at Publix, and marinated them all day. Hubby did a great job grilling them; they were perfectly cooked medium-well. We also had baked sweet potatoes and I sauteed onions, mushrooms & green peppers in butter and a little worschteshire sauce. Mmmmm. Hubby helped me clean up by sweeping the floor and vacuuming while I did dishes. It's all about teamwork, baby.

I loved watching Bear's expression as she ran toward her daddy as he came through the front door.

I rented Dream Girls... I decided that since it was my birthday, a chick flick was in order. You can't get much more chick flick than a musical. It was good. Jennifer Hudson can really sing. I bet the original play was better, because that's usually the case with musicals-turned-movies, but this adaptation was very good.

There's still birthday cake left from my party last weekend- the thing was huge. And ice cream. Hubby made root beer floats for us tonight. Mmmmm...

I am officially in my thirties, instead of just 30. At least I don't look it (according to most people).

Good night!

images from my new canon s3....

for em & mad

i spy

target $1 spot puzzle

skwish ball: not made in china

spinnin' 'round

It came!

My new camera arrived yesterday. I haven't been so scared of breaking anything since I held my newborn daughter. So I barely touched it until this morning, when Baby Bear was asleep in her crib. I've taken quite a few pics... some will be posted here, others on the other blog.

I have sooo much to learn about photography. I am excited that the zoom is even better than my old camera. In one shot, I zoomed in on the bird's nest I mentioned earlier this week... and you could actually tell there was a nest in the tree. I got some good action shots of Bear after her naptime... as in "get me out of here!" action. I want to learn how to maximize my new toy's capabilities and take the best photos it is capable of with it.

Where are the pics? Well, I decided I didn't want to get chocolate cake on my beautimous new camera, so I am finishing off a piece of my cake before I get to "work".

Pray for Windy & Baby Zoe

Windy is a friend from a message board I'm on. She is about 36 weeks pregnant and her blood pressure has been going crazy. With her son Gabe's pregnancy, she had pre-eclampsia and mini-strokes, so of course she is nervous this time around, too. It sounds like she may be having a c-section this weekend.

It's HOT outside!


The forecasters predict the temp will reach 104 today. By the time we returned from our stroll at 8:50, I was sweating buckets. None of that Southern belle glistening going on here. Baby Bear didn't even protest going inside...

My hostas look like they won't make it, and a lot of the verbena have died. My little potted rose bush has about 2 leaves left. The cherry tomatoes don't seem to want to ripen. (I did try picking off some of the green ones to see if the others would ripen.) Something thinks my black-eyed susans are really yummy. I did trim off the dead day-lily and calla lily leaves, and pulled out the celosia, which just looked kind of funky and bushy. The chinese lantern plant, which looked half dead in its pot when we returned from vacation, is making a comeback. We do have about 7 cantaloupe plants growing from when my nieces planted their seeds... I hope they mature before we get a frost. (Of course, it doesn't seem like frost will come anytime soon around here. But weather is a crazy thing.)

Wordless Wednesday

an odd confession/product review/possible tmi

ok, a while back i posted that i bought baby bear her new tankini and swim diaper from my friend Sunny,mommy of triplets and proprietor of Cutie Tooties.

well, i have a confession to make. we have been using disposable swim diapers under the swim diaper we purchsased. you see, while the fabric seemed strong, it wasn't exactly padded a whole lot. hubby wasn't convinced that the Imse Vimse swim diaper would do its job and hold everything in. (Never mind the fact that it ought to for as much as it cost!) so for our whole vacation, we used little swimmers inside her fancy-pants swim diaper. and wouldn't you know, i don't recall her pooping in them once.

well, this morning baby bear was begging to go to the pool. the non-existent pool. our neighborhood doesn't have a swimming pool, and we never got around to buying a kiddie pool for our back yard. so i did the next best thing and moved the sprinkler to the back yard. i dressed baby bear in her tankini and matching swim diaper- minus the "extra protection". baby bear even handed me a little swimmer as if to say ,"what do you think you are doing mom?"

"you'll be fine." i told her.

she was fine. she ran through the "rain", played with her pail and plastic containers, and picked up leaves and rocks in her standard fashion. she protested when i told her it was time to go inside.

next, it was time for a bath, as she had dirt on her. i didn't smell anything out of the ordinary, but as i unsnapped her swim diaper and pulled it down... well, i found a present. so that swim diaper without all the extra padding did its job. it held in her mess. it even concealed the smell, or else my senses are going bad. the mess did not seep through the fabric to the outside.

of course, not using disposables meant i actually had to soak and wash the swim diaper as i would any cloth diaper (if i actually used them).... but that's one less diaper in the landfill. and as we flushed the mess down the toilet, baby bear proudly proclaimed ,"bye bye poop."

"maybe next time you can sit on the potty and put your poop straight in?"

"no."

oh, well. at least the diaper did its job.

I just tracked my packages....

and there is a possibility that all of them should arrive before Friday. The big gift (pictured below if you scroll down) is supposed to be here tomorrow, the others shipped today, so maybe I'll have my camera and my books soon. I'd better finish reading those library books I checked out along with Bear's things.

There. No more not-so-subtle messages to my blog family that I'll be 31 soon. I promise.

Musing about the quest for authenticity...

Why is it such a struggle? I can be part of myself with certain people, but there are very few with whom I can be completely honest and/or vulnerable. Not that I want to be an open book in all situations, but still...

(Contrary to what some might think, my whole life is not on my blogs and facebook combined. Not the nitty-gritty, anyway.)

Tackles of the week...

• Clean out under my bathroom sink:
  

Other Tackles:
Plan meals for next 2 weeks*** I'm going to see if using Steph's templates helps me!

Sort through coupons and throw out old ones**
Make shopping list- groceries and cleaning/household products that are running low***
Catch up on washing clothes
Change/wash sheets
Investigate toy storage solutions- bins, cubes, etc....
Take a shower (hopefully more than one for the week!) ***
Sweep/wash kitchen floor**
clean off counters (throw out junk mail and disinfect)
clean bathrooms
pull dead plants out of flower bed (had to work hard to keep bear from pulling out my callas, too.)
water living plants
create a "plan of attack" for baby bear's scrapbook- I have enough papers to get something going, but am so behind on photo organization and printing. I have about 10 pages left before I have to buy more, so if I can just get them planned and done.....

key:
Red= to do
Yellow= in process
Green= done
***= priority , to be done on Tuesday!

I feel so unmotivated today. As I type this post and try to kick myself into gear, Baby Bear and I are watching the Preschool Prep video Meet the Shapes, which we borrowed from the library. She LOVES it as much as she loved Meet the Numbers. I love how she soaks up words and tries to say them. Hubby is working out of town the rest of the week, and I miss him already. I managed to make eggs and bacon for breakfast this morning, sending hubby and tech dad off on their road trips with something that will "stick with them". Baby Bear has decided she no longer likes scrambled eggs.

I know Tackle It Tuesday is mainly for projects, but for me just organizing myself and sticking with a plan of action is a project in itself, as I try to overcome my laziness. So I'm color-coding and will update the list periodically...

WHAT ARE YOU TACKLING???
To read about more Tackle It Tuesday projects, visit 5 minutes for Mom.

updated 12:07 p.m.

still in lazy mode. can't we just eat out for every meal? especially since hubby isn't home. pretty please? oh, and organizing myself is an oxymoron. who was i kidding? i have a toddler with a "poot" diaper that needs to be changed... ahhh. when hubby gets back, he can change all the diapers for 4 days.

4:15 p.m.

i am still unmotivated in the housework arena. but baby bear and i had some fun today. she ran around the front yard, picking up rocks, throwing her ball, chasing it, and trying to catch it. she tried to push her tricycle. (why ride?) she flirted with the next door neighbor's 4 month old. some day we'll teach her that "wild girl" is not really what we want her to be when she grows up. for now we'll keep laughing as she sings "wild girl, wild girl" (it sounds more like "wide gur"). We were dangerously low on baby wipes, and I used a huggies coupon and splurged on the ones that smell like green tea and cucumber.... so fresh and clean smelling!
we read some books, she had a bath, and when it was time for bed, she dove into her crib. i do wish she would let me rock her to sleep, but i guess i should be grateful she goes to bed without a fight. i hope she stays in her toddler bed when hubby gets it converted.

now it's my turn to go to bed. 'nitey night!

10:19 p.m.

Have you ever stared at a bird's nest in a tree as it blows in the wind?

I'm I the only one? As Baby Bear played with her bucket, sticks and stones on our front porch today, I sat in my chair and noticed something for the first time. There is a bird's nest in our birch tree. It's no more than 3 inches in diameter and depth, and the bird that made it appears to have used grasses and woven them together, in and out of the branches.

We've had a blustery day. Still hot, but last night's storms left behind some breezes and clouds. Or maybe it's another front moving in, I'm no meteorologist. I'm just grateful that the breeze makes it bearable to be outside for more than 2 minutes.

As bear played with nature's toys (and a few plastic ones), the nest caught my eye. Our birch tree is 4 years old, and we don't exactly water every day. Its branches are not the most stable of tree branches. Apparently their fineness does not lack strength. And neither does the weave of the petite nest 5/6 of the way to the top.

I don't know how long the nest has been there, but I just noticed it today.

i found this blogthing, and had to take it...

Your Linguistic Profile:

65% General American English 10% Dixie 10% Yankee 5% Midwestern 5% Upper Midwestern

What Kind of American English Do You Speak?


***********************

Tech Dad's Results:
50% General American English

20% Yankee

15% Upper Midwestern

10% Dixie

0% Midwestern
************************
Hubby's Results:

70% General American English

10% Dixie

10% Upper Midwestern

5% Midwestern

0% Yankee

I actually got the boys to play along with this one!

Anybody else care to play along?