allegedly...

Someone, and I'm not naming any names....

 
...drank an entire 2-liter of Mountain Dew in the last 24 hours. 


...went around thinking she was a year older than she actually was for the better part of the last year, and although this was cause for much rejoicing when celebrating her birthday last week, it was also a bit embarrassing since this wasn't the first time she had made such a grievous error. 


...is currently hooked on the ID channel on cable.  (You know who you are, Southern-Fried Homicide.)


...has had several nights filled with unpleasant dreams involving life-threatening mayhem. See above.


...is prepping for a working vacation/wedding celebration with a certain, trouble-finding friend this week. 
Alerts have been sent out regarding the storm and ensuing bedlam that's sure to follow. 
Let's just say there's a track record.  and it ain't good.


...has spent the better part of the summer spoiling the 1-year-old, the 2-year-old, and the 4-year-old, - and hear this - smooching all over the chubby cheeks of the 2-month-old :)



...and it's possible that someone has missed these little chats of ours far more than is probably healthy :)



XOXO
 

coming up empty

Honest to goodness I logged on tonight with not one idea of anything to say.

So I decided to just start typing because I always manage to come up with a fair amount of drivel when I give myself the chance and yet still nothing.


Nada.

Zilch.


See?  Even when going a step further and typing a few more futile words I'm coming up empty, so I think I'll do us all a favor & call it a night.


But first, I leave you with today's snapshot of our sweet Norah.
  
She's such a bundle of precious I can hardly think about anything else so why even try?

Here's another one, for good measure.
 

ps - All of my Baby Norah pictures have been from my phone & are not great (even by my standards!), but I haven't been able to access the pictures on my other camera.  
Unfortunate timing, to be sure, but there you have it.



May we all sleep like, well, babies tonight :)

general miscelleny in the form of a list

Where I haven't been in weeks, not that I'm complaining or anything

Okay, so I'm tired from all the recent wonderful. 
Therefore, all I have for you is some scattered thoughts in listy form.



1.  I'm so, so sorry to report that the car AC started to "run warm" again just two days after spending money I mostly didn't have to get it repaired.  Upon further discussion with The Guy, he informs me it'll only cost 500 million fountain Pepsi's to get her up and running, as if fountain Pepsi's grow on trees.  As tempted as I was, it seemed like proceeding would be a poor decision because I think we all know I can't live that long without another fountain Pepsi on ice.



2.  I've been sweating more than I'm comfortable sharing on the worldwideweb.

I have also been fussing and griping and getting all mad as I zip down Highway 52 at 70 miles per hour with all my windows down, and I"m just going to tell you straight up that you could not pay me enough to divulge the crankiness that is me when sitting in traffic.

(Unless, of course, you offered 500 million fountain Pepsi's...)



B.  I saw Norah and the littles today and it was worth every bit of hot and cranky I endured to kiss those little fingers and cheeks and sniff her baby-head a few dozen times. 

Audrey took her away from me because she is a poor sharer, but as soon as she caught a whiff of a certain little something Norah had deposited she quickly offered to give her back, ha!




7.  Just this.

 
Amen.



a.  I recently rediscovered the glorious wonder that is sweet tea, as opposed to the mostly sugar-free stuff I've resorted to over the past couple of years.  I feel kinda bad for the sub par stuff I've been serving my family in recent days.  They'll be relieved to know I've rejected the folly of my unsweet ways & am now back on track.



4.  Owen has started a new thing since two whole days ago when he spent days & days with me.  He walks up and cocks his head and says "huh?" whenever he's surprised.  For instance, today he came out of his room where he was supposed to be napping to find me in the living room, and proceeds to cock his head to the side and exclaim "huh? why are you here Naynay, this is not your house?" 

I try not to take such things personally.



D.  Audrey is now concerned about me living alone.  I don't know when or why the light bulb went off but suddenly she's all worried about me being lonely and wants to send someone to stay with me. 

(Little does she know of all the delighted wall-staring I do when I find myself sitting in silence.)



c.  (Please don't tell her about all the delighted wall-staring I do when I find myself in blessed silence.)



12.  Finally, there is this...

(You're so welcome.)




XOXO

an allegedly riveting account of mostly nothing at all

My children have been mocking my woeful bloggy performance these last few many weeks, so I'm trying valiantly to get back my groove back, despite the never-ceasing distractions.  Unfortunately, this could mean occasionally grasping at creative-content straws...which leads us to what will likely be the most boring blog post in the history of boring blog posts, so consider yourself warned.

(Now would be time to make a run for it if you want.)


(Seriously...not kidding.)


(Well okay then.  I warned you.)



Today I woke up tired and back-achy and cranky and stressed.


The end.


(Just kidding!)


No really.  I did wake up tired and back-achy and cranky and stressed, but I certainly can't leave well enough alone.  That's just crazy talk.  

I have been a little worn out recently, & as I analyze the situation (as I'm wont to do) my theory is it's just a delayed reaction to a lot of miscellaneous life that hit in the spring. 


Anyway, I took my tired, back-achy, cranky, and stressed self to Merchants to try to get the car AC fixed.  Now I don't want to exaggerate or anything but I have suffered mightily with nary a complaint for a long couple of summers without  prioritizing the expenditure.  However, our newest baby Naff arrives in a very soonish manner, & we're just fooling ourselves if we don't think I'll be doing a lot of Littles-schlepping, and everybody knows it's all fun & games until it's 900 degrees outside and the Littles start sweating in the backseat. 

Therefore, I reprioritized.  


After three years hours in the waiting room it appears it's fixed!  For now!  (Yaay!)  Apparently there is a leak and no one knows whether it's a slow leak or a big leak and the only way to know is if I start sweating again.  

I'm really looking forward to the mystery of wondering when it will again "run warm," at which time I'm to return to aforementioned car repair place so they can assess how many fountain Pepsi's it will cost me to continue in cool-air comfort.  
It's just like the lottery except not at all.


On my way home I went through the Krispy Kreme drive-thru & embarrassed myself.

And now I'm home, and I'm not kidding at all when I say that's all I did today.


Oh!  And it rained!  Again!


Tomorrow I plan to share how I put on my reindeer jammies at 4:48 in the afternoon and nearly wept with delight and then proceeded to eat broccoli for dinner.  Stay tuned!



XOXO

cause I'm never gonna stop the rain by complainin'

View from my porch on a day that's not rainy and therefore not today

It should be noted that I have no intention of going all complain-y on you, but I feel compelled to note the above picture was taken last week and not today.


Today it's raining.  

Again and a lot.


It was all gray and gloomy and mostly awful yesterday but I kept holding out for the promised afternoon sun.  In fact, my optimism was so very high that I put off washing my hair because THE POOL.  Unfortunately my hopes were dashed, and quite frankly I ended up looking all bed-headed the whole livelong day with nary a need for sunscreen.


Ironically enough, the promised sunshine did appear...at approximately 5:30 in the p-m, which of course is much too late to be of any good to my ghost-like appearance, but at least it renewed my delighted expectations for today and ALL THE VITAMIN D.


Color me both shocked and aggravated to awaken to the sound of a driving rain that could mean only one thing.  Okay two things.  Wet and also no sun.


Sooo, after I bolted out of bed to sop up all the mess that made it's way through my living room window, down the wall and onto the carpet, I accepted the fact that my apartment-living fringe benefit would continue to be useless until - if we are to believe the doggone smiley weather experts - sometime next week.


Not that I'm complaining or anything.

three things & a cute camera-picture

So this is going to be brief because I want my bed so badly I can't really concentrate on word-forming.  No offense but I'd skip our little chat altogether were it up to me.  However, moving/moving/Thanksgiving/Christmas vacation is over and it's time for me to hop back on the try-hard wagon, so we're back to some semi-regular drivel.  

Enough of the disclaimers.  Just a couple of confessions tonight before I find the aforementioned bed with it's several delightful pillows....


I fell off the Pepsi wagon tonight.  If I had to quantify it I'd say I'm about 72% sorry, but only because I'm actually counting my calories right now.  I've discovered that when facing hard choices I'd generally prefer something to, you know, chew over even a most delightful beverage.  (Generally!)

My resolve is holding steady a whopping one week in, but if I'm not svelte by February I might find myself too discouraged to carry on.  The every two-or-three-day Pepsi regimen is a terrible plan and not a lot of fun.


Also I've been cooking beans all day long and now my little one-bedroom apartment smells like something no one ever wants to smell.  I'm thinking we should all take a moment and be glad we don't live below me!



Oh!  And the other interesting thing that happened today is my television is now hanging on my wall.  I wasn't sure about it but now that it's up there I'm really diggin it.  

(Big shout-out to Drew & Kari for a simply delightful Christmas gift I wouldn't have thought of for myself!)


That's it for tonight.  I'm off to bed - hope your dreams are sweet :) 

 

a beauty-full day

So I woke up this morning feeling the need to get out for a bit, so I put on my big girl pants and the new shoes Kari picked out for me for my birthday and ventured forth to the Target, where I returned something I bought for myself last week.  I do that a lot, returning things I buy for myself a few days after I buy them.

I don't know.  Don't ask.


Anyway, after wandering around my home-away-from-home for a half hour or so, I then drove to the Walmart to return the Hello Kitty watch I bought for Audrey last week but changed my mind when I liked the one at Target better.   

That almost never happens, just so ya know.


(Aren't you oh-so-glad you stopped by?)

 
After taking care of an errand or three I proceeded to stop at Sheetz and use their automated thingamabob and pump up the ole' tires.  Again.


By the way, do you know what the standard calibration would be for my little car tires?  Me neither.  That's why I was scared to death driving down 581..I kept thinking they might explode and then what would I do?


(The air machine seemed to default to about 32 so I kind've went with that, but not quite, because of all the being scared of exploding tires.)

It did seem like it might be a bad thing that my front left tire was at about 15 when I started.  (Is it just me or is that a tad on the low side?)

(Sigh.)



After risking life and limb by zipping down 581 and not exploding I finally landed at my ultimate destination, and I'm happy to report I'm now sitting outside at Panera.  I have a fountain-Pepsi-on-ice by my side and my free birthday pastry tucked in my bag for later.  
(I know, my first foray into kinda/sorta dieting is lackluster at best.  I'm trying.  Sort've.)


I thought I'd sit outside and soak up some rays, create some literary brilliance, and breathe deep.  Of course as is my lot in life, my right-now doesn't even resemble my optimistic thinking.  I'm shivering in the shade and they are doing some kind of yard work or construction nearby which is OH SO LOUD and making me twitchy.  

I'm not cranky, though, because it's so very beautiful here today.  Every single thing seems picture-worthy, and I want to catch it all and tuck it in my pocket for the cold, long days of misery that is winter.  I actually might or might not have pulled over to the side of the road on my way here just to take a couple of pictures of some yummy trees...and it took everything in me not to stop on 581 and catch some shots of my beloved mountains.  

(Oh how I love home in autumn!)


Of course my intent was to blog something deep and meaningful today since it's been a sweet forever but then I remembered that deep & meaningful isn't so much my specialty.


Drivel.  That would be more my style.


...and that being the case, I'd say my work here is done :)




 
Happy Wednesday!

today it's just a list.

This right here is the view from our back door no lie.

I'm already beginning to mourn the coming winter.  I suspect all of that green is going to fall right off. 


It's gonna hurt.  It's gonna hurt bad.



2.  I got to kiss Peyton's sweet cheeks for a while yesterday and that made all of the standing-all-day-while-I-chopped-and-roasted-and-pureed worth it.  

He's good people, my grandson.


He's also fabulous.  He's still all smiley and yummy and tolerant of my endless need to smooch on his sweaty little neck over and over again.



3.  I finally got my pumpkin muffins made for the fam.  They were appropriately impressed.  If Shayne was attempting subtlety he failed when he informed me that whipping up a batch for him and him alone would be a lovely gift, something akin to his bringing me a Fountain Pepsi On Ice the other day.  

If the kid plays his cards right...


Alas, the road to muffin-y goodness was not a smooth one.  I had them all mixed up and Kari had filled a couple of pans before I decided to stick my pointing finger in the batter, just because I can, and I knew instantly I had made a dire mistake.


No sugar.


Sigh.


We smushed all the batter out of the paper cupcake holders and back into the bowl, and then I added 1-2/3 cups of sugar.

Which shockingly improved the taste approximately a bunch.


It all worked out in the end and I proceeded to eat two of them in about 36 seconds, give or take a few.    They tasted no worse for wear and I'm glad because Robin was counting on the muffin and that's a fact.



4.  This right here is the view from our porch and I'm not even kidding.

Do ya think maybe some of that yummy might stick around forever if I ask real nice?



5.  I'm still enjoying the cable TV and DVR that I now have at my spendthrifting disposal.  


I could get used to the high life if the high life includes cable television with a DVR that records such classics as My Three Sons, and That Girl - and I'm not even making this up -  Petticoat Junction.


Why yes, I am watching Sam Drucker declare himself to Kate right this minute at 1:37 a.m. just because I can, and I CAN'T WAIT until Steve and Barbara tie the knot tomorrow.  

My eclectic and varied viewing choices are a sight to behold.


I have also enjoyed a Flipping Out marathon, far too many variations of CSI Anywheres, the aforementioned classics, and yes, around about 200 episodes of Million Dollar Listings.  


I'm fancy these days, and a bit confused.  For the life of me I can't reconcile the me who has put a $19-wireless computer mouse back on the shelf half a dozen times because it feels too expensive with the me who is delighted and fascinated to watch overindulgent people barter over multimillion dollar homes.  And I might even have kitchen island envy approximately once a day.


I'm fancy and I'm a work in progress.  I dare to you figure me out.



6.  I wish so badly I could think of one bonafide clever, or interesting, or thoughtful thing to share but did I mention 1:37 in the a.m.? 



 7.  This is my view from the porch if I gaze toward the sky just the little-est bit.

I have me some high, high expectations for some autumnal glory.  

October, you'd best not disappoint.



8.  Oh my goodness I almost forgot - I was gifted with a magnet from Mayberry today!  MAYBERRY!



Y'all have a great day - I'm gonna grab 40 winks before the second-grader wakes me up.  The second-grader has zero sympathy for my advanced age and also zero empathy.

Zero.  It's all I'm saying.



Happy Thursday :)

my brother is in town! and it's hot! and my brother's in town!

Hiya!  

So I'm not entirely sure at what point summer blogging became an indulgence instead of a routine, but if it isn't one thing it's been three others lately.  I should be in the shower right this minute because my sister-in-law and assorted relative-types and I are going to do a little shopping/scouting this afternoon at some of my favorite home shops.  

(She's shopping.  I'm scouting.)

(And also sniffing candles.)

...But I miss y'all and wanted to say hello.  and inquire as to your well-being.  and assure you that my veryspecial Andy Griffith bloggy tribute is in the works because I don't know if you heard...but yeah.

Speaking of...not this, I strongly dislike being a tired cliche but I am so over the heat.  Like literally.  OVER. THE. HEAT.  I have declared a ban on driving my car until further notice and am only riding in vehicles that are climate-controlled.  I like to pretend I'm tough...but have come to terms with the reality that I am most definitely not.

Anyhoo, I've been working and sweating and being all happy that the family is in town.  And then sweating some more.  The weekend is filled up with plans to do some more being all happy, and if the climate is correctly controlled there'll likely be some hugging thrown into the mix.

I suppose I might as well declare my recent sporadic bloggy production my official summer hours because I don't imagine things will slide into settled until after The Big Move at the end of the month, seeing as we have family shenanigans to be followed by the infernal yard sale, then Christmas in July, and then, yep, The Big Move.

(I'm so very sorry for the above spectacular run-on sentence.  Couldn't be helped.)

Take care of yourselves and stay hydrated!

Happy Friday :)

p.s.  I just set me up an Olivia-Newton-John station on the Pandora.  Early results indicate PURE SUMMER DELIGHT  ;)

zee dishwasher, she is empty

So I emptied the dishwasher.

I also chopped up some fruit (yaay!) and threw together my famous-in-my-own-mind corn/bean salad for my friends and some potato salad just because I could.

I'm worried about the corn/bean salad because my friends don't like beans (seriously, unnamed friends??) so I tried to maximize corn/minimize beans and still get the marinade right.

Just between you and me, I have concerns.

Anyway, that's mostly all I've gotten done, but since that is more (visible) progress than I've had in quite some time I am considering it a win and heading to the pool.

(p.s.  Oh how I dream of sleeping more than five hours at night.  Someone text me around midnight and remind me to partake of some melatonin with chamomile?  Mucho thanks.)

Anyhoo, time's a-wastin, but here are a few pix of what's been going on around here this week.

I got a smoothie and it was delightful.  

p.s.  this picture makes me feel all happy inside; I dunno why.

 

Remember when we went to Target and ate our Chicken Minis?  That was fun.

 

Even at 80% off...

 

...these two verge on priceless :)

Behold,

 

This was my breakfast yesterday (riveting!).  It was so fresh and beautiful I had to take a picture because I'm just that lame thankful.  

Summer fruit cut up by me in my very own cleaned-up kitchen.   

Swoony.  (Hi Shannan!)

(p.s. there's a lot of fiber going on in that bowl I can tell you right now...)

 

Hi Peyton!

True story:  This sweet baby rolled over twice in his crib on his five-monthday.  While not one anybody was watching.  

Little goober.

Okay!  That's it and also that's all.  For now.

I hope your summer is going swimmingly.

(HA!  Swimmingly!  Cause we're going to the pool, get it?)

(couldn't be helped...)

Happy Wed-nes-day!

an exercise in random. and drivel...some random drivel !

Can you even believe we're right back at Monday, again??  It seems like we just did this and here we are again.

I'm not entirely sure why that matters so much seeing as I actually dislike Tuesday more because I only work a half-day on Mondays, but whatever.

(True story, when my kids were young Monday was actually my favorite day of the week.  Sundays were all busy and frantic and full of great, and by Monday morning the girls were tired, and they enjoyed crashing & sleeping & overall chilling out.)

(My apologies to all the poor schmucks who were dragging their pooped-out selves to work all those Mondays.  I was an insensitive soul to be sure.)

(The above rabbit trail is brought to you by the letters "A, D, and D.")

Both Drew and Jeremy had birthdays this month, and Kelly graduated high school (Congratulations, Kelly!!), so Kate & Jerm drove up and we all spent a yummy 36 hours together, and there was much rejoicing, and hugging, and kissing of faces.  

And the babies were happy too.

And speaking of the babies, y'all I have never - and I mean never - been so thoroughly appreciated in my life.  

This would likely include my own children.  

(I guess they spent most of their childhoods being mad at me for something or other.)

(Whatever.) 

Anyhoo, these yummy little ones think I'm something pretty terrific and I don't get it.  When they're around I rarely have the time or energy for lip gloss, let alone eyeliner.  I'm usually schlepped out in sweats and t-shirts with unbrushed hair and no makeup, and I might possibly be moaning and groaning and whining with the back, and yet they get all smiley, and they leap up into my arms and gaze into my eyes like I were someone...else.

Ha!

They also request, REQUEST my singing.  That's some love right there, folks.  LOVE.

Audrey's repeated declarations that "I not going home...I NOT going home," with arms firmly planted around my neck are a perfect example of wonderful and awful at the same time.  If I weren't headed to a favorite place with a lot of sand in a matter of days I would SO have kept her forever.  

sigh.

In other news that shall remain vague for a little while longer, I made a BIG DECISION this weekend that has me feeling weird and strange and excited and nervous.  And excited.  And nervous.  Have you ever made a BIG DECISION that felt right and you believed to be right but still made your insides all squirrelly?  Any suggestions on how to embrace the yippee and ditch the squirrelly-ness of said decision? 

(Mild) Spoiler Alert:  My summer just got even more full of busy.  and crazy.  AND BUSY.

I'll share more soon, but trust me, after referencing the BIG DECISION in all caps you will no doubt be underwhelmed and unimpressed when I spill the beans.  My big is quite possibly your "eh."

(And no, I'm not fostering or adopting this summer.)

(Although children are, in fact, kinda/sorta relevant to the DECISION.)

Hey, by the way I've been meaning to ask you.  Do any of you get into the Summer Olympics?  I am 100%  not a sports-on-TV person, but I do love love the Summer Olympics.  

(Interesting side note:  I am completely disinterested in the Winter Olympics.  As in I watch zero percent of the Winter Olympics.)

Anyway, I'm hoping some of you are into it so I have someone to talk with about it.  

(USA!  USA!  USA!)

Wow I'm sorry.  I'm ALL OVER the place this morning and seem powerless to clean it up.  So I think I'll just leave you with the following picture of my beloved family in all their glory.  

 

Oh how I love 'em! 

Happy Monday!

sometimes it's just subpar photographic offerings with a side of drivel

  

 

Some days I can barely stand the shock from realizing it's already Wednesday and I have no idea where Monday and Tuesday went.  You have truly reached a milestone in your life when you realize you're incapable of keeping up with that life flying right past you.  Sometimes I think I'm okay with following at a leisurely pace.

Subpar photographic offering - but oh-my-heart!

NOTE:  As I was editing a couple of photographic masterpieces subpar photographic efforts it occurred to me that today is actually, in fact, Tuesday.

I suspect this explains the rapidity with which the week seemed to be passing.  

I feel better already!

Shall we start over?

What a fun week I've had so far!  I've had dinner with friends four different times in a six-day period.  This is bound to be a personal best for me as I often spend weeks inside my own walls and I almost never ever do dinner anymore since I work six evenings out of seven.  And every single time it was fun and important and also fun.  

I feel slightly really guilty for asking my boss for flexibility three of those nights but she's been very kind, mostly since it was January since I last imposed on her kindness in order to eat salad and a variety of bread-y offerings served in napkin-lined baskets.  

I'm pretty sure she understands the value of gabbing it up with a friend over buttery fingers. 

It's the American way I'm pretty sure.

All that socializing was fun, no doubt about it, but I now have to get serious about getting some things done.  Today my big decision is whether to cram an entire project into this very day.  This would be the verysame project I've pretty much had sitting on my table for the last three months...not getting done.  

I wear myself out sometimes with my easy distractability and natural procrastinating self.  But worn out or not, I is who I is, and I might as well learn to work with the limitations I have set before my own self.

(I don't even know what I just said.)

(Mainly I just meant I need to get over myself and get said project completed.)

(So why didn't I just say that?)  (No idea.)

I've pretty much decided I'll go ahead and dive in seeing as how I just gained a whole day, which means I could quite possibly have a bit of tomorrow to bail myself out after I see something shiny and forget to finish.

I don't know how you roll, but I'm thinking that sounds like a perfectly fine plan.

So this is me, hopping off here just as quick as I can before I forget that I am now full of inspiration and drive and focus, and also inspiration.

I can hardly wait to show ya the finished result.

I'll keep ya posted!

(You're welcome.)

Update from just this very minute:  So already right now before I could publish this drivel I received a phone call from something shiny, AKA my mother, and now we're interrupting all progress to dine at Wendy's.  Never in a million years am I going to get anything project-y done, but that's okay because I see an Apple Pecan Chicken Salad in my verynear future.  I suppose you might should start praying for my pitifully wayward ways...

Happy TUESDAY ;)