this episode was brought to you by the use of gross-overhyphenation because whyever not?

So it's possible I bought my very own self a Kindle for Christmas.

It was basically an accident, no lie.  They were crazy cheap (inexpensive? does that sound better?) on Black Friday & I was peer-pressured into it by my daughters with the (ever-present) thinking in the back of my head that because it was a preorder I could (of course!) change my mind before it actually shipped.

Then it shipped early.

And I was left holding the steal-of-a-deal Kindle in my hot little hands.

I think we all know how this turned out.  There was no way I was venturing forth to the actual Post Office to deal with this terrible alleged mishap, so there you have it.  I am now the proud owner of a device that fits in my hand and will not only hold a little Jim Gaffigan but also Andy Griffith.
I'm just saying, it's a miracle of modern times is all.

However, after dealing with my self-indulgent guilt, I now face a much bigger crisis.  I am very afraid I might end up liking this new-fangled contraption, and by new-fangled I mean several years old because I never do brand new because #notajoiner.

Anyway, liking it even at all feels awfully disloyal to my long-abiding, avid love of paper and dog-eared corners and blue-ballpoint-pens on delightful/funny/insightful/dumb strings of words.

Whatever, man.  All I know is I just wasted entirely too much time renewing my library card and figuring out how to get free books without ever leaving my sofa, and my concern for my paper-page-loving soul is deepening by the minute...as is my rapidly growing fear that this already-can-stay-inside-for-a-week-at-a-time-and-not-hate-it, self-proclaimed hibernator may never see the light of day or Target again.

#PleaseSendPepsi

road work ahead

So let's pretend we chatted last week and not months ago because I have pressing business
that cannot be ignored.

I have a question.  All are welcome to weigh in on this matter, but if you are intricately familiar with Carolina laws of the road...all the better.

 

So here's the thing.  Are the posted Road Work Ahead / Reduce-speed-or-pay-a-lot-of-dollars signs merely optional in the great State of North Carolina?  

This might seem random to you, but I assure you it is not to me. 

In the 30-mile stretch between my house & Kari's, I go in and out of construction no fewer than three times each way, and each time I see the typical signs with the big, scary if-you-speed-it's-gonna-cost-ya threats.

However, I find when I drop my speed to oh, let's just hypothetically say 60 in a 55, I find myself in great fear of being, well, squashed like a bug.  

Literally, and by literally I mean literally, everyone zips by me like I'm standing still and this makes me question whether it's me who is The Big Dummy Who Doesn't Know Something That Everyone Else Knows.

(I do hate being The Big Dummy Not In The Know.)

It's quite possible I Googled "everyone speeds through construction on 52" when I arrived home this evening in a last-ditch effort to understand.  Alas, I found nary a word on The Google regarding rampant law-breaking taking place in my own backyard.

It is for this reason I am turning to you, my people-who*-I-have-neglected-since-April, to give me clarity...and if I'm lucky, confirmation of vast moral superiority.  Because everyone knows going 60 in a 55 is practically the law.  Unless, you know, there's any squashing involved.

*Who/Whom?  Who really  knows?  Who really cares?  This is why I haven't blogged in a sweet forever...I get ridiculous about the who's, and then I find myself yet again at The Google trying to decide.  And then I still don't know for sure.  And then I get cranky & eat a cookie.

I blame it all on the cookies.

on target

A month.

It's been almost a whole month since I've said a word here on the worldwideweb.


Is it a coincidence that my bloggy consistency evaporated before our very eyes just around the time I picked up roots and relocated to a whole new location? 


I think not.

Whatever. 


There's no way I can begin to catch up on this last year, so let's just start right with the random
and see where it takes us, shall we?



Today, I share how we do Target around these parts.

It's just how we roll.

 XOXO

 

 

just another day weekend in paradise

We all know it's a total cliche to say, but WHERE ON EARTH is the time going??

I can't believe it's Monday morning again...and even more ridiculous than Monday?  IT'S AUGUST.

How is this possible?

The sad truth is WHO KNOWS? 

Speaking of...I don't have any proof, but I suspect there have been scientific studies conducted in secret offices somewhere that confirm that time is, indeed, moving faster than it used to.

But enough about that because really, who wants to slide into the depths of time-related despair so early on a Monday morning in August?  Not me, that's for sure.



About my weekend...It was full of the miscellany, which is to say THE USUAL.

(I can't stop with the CAPS LOCK today.  I blame August.)

(I'll try to do better & get to the point as best I can.)


Katie came over on Friday & visited for a while, and then Audrey spent the night with me because we had some BIG FUN (sorry) planned for Saturday morning.  This means that Friday was filled up with naughty shenanigans and a fair amount of hollering (mostly the infant) (some by the toddler), (a wee bit from the four-year-old angry at said toddler).

(It appears I've now moved on to parenthetical affection.)

(Let's just press on, shall we?)

(Thanks!)


Saturday morning Audrey & I were up bright & early for a birthday party(!) for her friend, Addison-who-is-really-Madison(!) and her lots of friends(!).  Also there was a wonderful present that was a Polly Pocket and did you know Audrey has always wanted a Polly Pocket?

We had a great time, and after getting back into the car Audrey proclaimed it awesome.  Truer words were never spoken.  Three hours at a pool with your friends and birthday cake is just about as good as it gets in the preschool world.  Or my world, for that matter.


After finishing up at the pool Kate & I visited some more and enjoyed some Norah snuggles with a fair amount of jiggling and bouncing and walking.  (And back-patting)  (Of course.)
She kinda only likes her mama right now.

Whatever.  She'll change her tune once I start sneaking her the so-da.

I don't really remember Sunday because see above regarding Friday and Saturday.  I think there might have been some church and a fountain Pepsi but even that's a blur & I might have made it up.

Oh!  And Kate surprised me with Krispy Kreme glazed at 10:00 last night because why not???


So how about you?  How was your weekend?

Did you hang out at the pool not in your swimsuit for three hours with a bunch of four and five-year-olds, secretly loving every minute?   Did ya maybe burp an infant or two in your spare time?  Maybe you filled the kitchen sink with water and let a two-year-old wreak soggy havoc all over tarnation?? 


I wanna hear all about it...especially if it involved a mess or three...or in any way warranted an ENTHUSIASTIC USE OF THE ALL CAPS.


Happy Monday :)

right now...

...I'm hanging out waiting for my girl to arrive so we can drop off her wee babe and pick up my great-with-child-and-definitely-not-wee firstborn.  We shall then make our way to Charlotte, where we will reportedly find  an embarrassment of delights in the form of outlets and Ikea and yes, The Cheesecake Factory.  


(Let's just take a moment here, shall we?)

...I have a sink full of dishes from dinner last night.  The countertops might also be littered with assorted and also ridiculous miscellany such as empty Pepsi cans and dangerously-close-to-overripe melons.  and yet here I sit visiting with you and very aggressively ignoring the aforementioned mess.  (upside of alone-living!)


...I spy a super-soft blanket on my bedroom floor, tucked against the wall with three soft pillows and one tiny elephant.  Evidence of my sweet visit with Peyton yesterday and his increasingly cooperative napping.  That child is ridiculously compliant & sweet-natured.  
Love him.


...I'm listening to a sweet song on Pandora that's making my heart ache just the tiniest bit with the best kind of nostalgia.  

sigh.


...I've been struggling with the clasp of a bracelet that was a gift from one of my dearest a few years ago.  I can't even pull it out of my jewelry box without wanting to hug her tight.  I wonder if she even remembers finding it for me?  I wonder if she has any idea how it fills my heart when I see it on my wrist?


...My crazy-old oscillating fan in the bedroom is making an unpleasant screeching sound as it rotates.  I fear for it's future.


...Kari just texted that she's still 20-ish minutes away.  Wonder if I should run to the store for a Snickers for our hapless sitter/daddy/uncle who is, in fact, not, going to be enjoying a pleasant afternoon visiting and shopping and eating and patting baby bellies?  


...I'm filled with quite the conglomeration of feelings and I don't really know why.  I suppose sometimes feelings just cascade over in an uncontrollable fashion and you just have to "dog swim" (shout out to the four-year-old!) your way through them.  


...Right now I"m feeling thankful and burdened and peaceful and sad and hopeful and nostalgic and happy.  Oh, and thirsty :)


So what in the world is going on in your world right now?  (Do spill!)


Y'all have a happy Saturday!

so it's still(!) raining...

 
 

 
 
Let's all assume a smiling position, shall we?
 
 
 
 
Happy Thursday :)

 

random weighing heavy

So I'm not even going to comment on my lackadaisical blogging performance lately.  Let's blame it on the NyQuil, shall we?  And since I'm not sure how long it'll be before I face an overwhelming need to nap, let's go straight to the list...


1.  Y'all I haven't been on the treadmill in, like a week.  Now I know the two of you who care find this hard to believe but yeah, a week.  I really don't want to go overboard in the excuse department, but for a motivation-free kind of gal it's really really hard to care when all woozy on the aforementioned nighttime, sniffling, sneezing, coughing, aching, fever, so-you-can-rest medicine. 

Why not opt for the always-popular DayQuil during the day, you might ask?

Because it would require a kempt me to schlep to the nearest pharmacy and really, who wants to get kempt when you can just sleep your days away unkempt?


2.  My hair is a mess.  There, I said it.  I desperately need a cut or a trim or perhaps just a good whacking.  My bangs have grown to that hideous stage that we all know and loathe, and they're now seriously affecting my self-esteem, but I don't know where to go!  It's both a dilemma and a quandary. 

Kate says there are "Cost Cutters" everywhere but I have my standards.  If I'm going to go a discount-type hair place - which I have been known to do - I need to select one a bit more carefully than Hey! There's one over there!" 

Sigh. 

I wouldn't care so much except we have Peyton's big huge birthday shindig this weekend and Mayberry will be filled straight up with witnesses to my sad, sad hair and accompanying sick-girl face.  (Y'all know the face...winter pale with encircled eyes?  STUNNING!)

Girls, let this be a lesson to you.  Even when you are at the advanced age of more than 40 you just might suffer from I-don't-have-a-thing-to-wear-itis, so you'd best come to terms with it now while you still have the metabolism of your youth.

Whatever.  I'll likely be far to busy slinging queso, washing dishes, and picking up and sitting down and picking up and sitting down small children to even care.


3.  I'm going to Texas next week!  On a jet plane!  I'm more than a little excited and I might as well say it, a bit nervous.  I haven't flown in a very long time, and I'm going to have to act like a grownup for hours and hours, and a kempt one at that.

Here's my question.  I want to take a real, live work of fiction with me.  Any suggestions? 

Which reminds me, I need to find my local library.  How have I not done this yet?


4.  My apartment smells like my neighbor and I'm not a fan.  I'm remembering this might be why I've never longed for apartment living.  I'm a smell snob and want any smells I detect to be my own.  It's kinda like how our own dusty furniture isn't nearly as gross as other people's dusty furniture.  I want to only smell my stuff. 

My girls don't notice it but that only helps a little because I DO.  Do you think an air purifier would help?  Would it be tacky to stick an air purifier on my kitchen counter (where I smell my neighbor)?    Note:  Candle burning is only moderately helpful.  They mask but do not eliminate said (mildly smoky) odor.  Ick!


5.  I can't find the little rubber topper thing that goes on the bolt in the toilet at the floor.  You know the one...the one babies everywhere instinctively find and then carry around in order to completely horrify their grandmothers.  GROSS!  YUCK!  GROSS!!  I know it's somewhere, but that's hardly helpful, now is it?


6.  Katie & Jeremy have their ultrasound on Monday and I'll know whether to call this sweet baby George or Georgie...or maybe they will decide on something even more fabulous to call him/her.  Only time will tell, I suppose.


7.  I've lived here for TWO MONTHS and I've only been to Chili's once.  No bueno.

fortunately 50 weeks or so is, like, a lot

So I'm just going to give it to y'all straight.  We're two weeks into the year and I'm not revived yet.  Truth be told?  Not even close...

I know picking an annual word isn't about setting goals per se.  It's more about shifting my attitude & my thinking & what-have-you, and in that way I suppose I'm progressing a little, but I'm still waking up tired & back-achy and limping around like a 60-year-old (which is fine and dandy if you're, you know, 60 years old...).

Apparently it takes more than two weeks to feel the results of behaving like a grownup.

...and speaking of behaving responsibly, today seems like a good time to share a little in the way of an update.  It is becoming increasingly obvious to me that I am an easily distracted, Meant-Well-Molly so it would behoove me to find some accountability.  and fast.

Sorry folks (shout-out to Donita!!), but you're it. 


I've been eating better, aka dieting, for the last couple of weeks and I'm just gonna say it.  I'm not svelte yet.  I still haven't bought new bathroom scales because WHO REALLY WANTS TO KNOW, and besides, did you know there are now about a hundred different choices?  What happened to plain old scales with the little needle that swings and gives you temporary hope?  Also the treadmill in our tiny little, oh let's just call it a "gym" because it sounds really impressive,  weighs me everytime I log in so I have a general idea.   

And it says I am not yet svelte.

(I'm certain it has nothing to do with the poppyseed chicken with rosemary rolls I made for the girls last weekend or the Papa John's I ate yesterday.)

I suppose svelte-ness wasn't built in a day, but I surely wish things would hurry along.  I really miss my Pepsi.  And foods that you chew.  

Who am I kidding?  I mostly miss doing whatever I want.  


My word! I'm rambly today!  

For those of you who haven't already fallen asleep...regarding the rest of my life that isn't focused on my nonexistent bathroom scales I shall summarize my quest for revival below.


1.  I have been enjoying the aforementioned treadmill  but I do find it OH SO HARD to walk all the way up the hill to our "gym."  I blame it on the rain.  And having to look acceptable to the general  public on a rainy day even though I have yet to run into another human person in said gym.  Whatever.

2.  Still little progress in settling into a new church, but I have been "attending" a few services online.  This newfangled world is both helpful and confusing.  I had decided where I was going to attend last Sunday and had Kate pack suitable adorable-ness for Audrey, who was spending the night with me.  I was excited to "check things out" in person because I really liked the pastor online.  When the time came to load her car seat I realized my car is packed floor to ceiling with Christmas that needs to go to storage.  No space for a four-year-old anywhere in said vehicle, so back to the computer I went.  sigh.  Next week I'll be at The Sea, and two weeks after that I'll be in Houston (Texas!) (Yaay!), so obviously this is going to be a slow process.

3.  All I'm going to say about sleep is that I was awake at 3:30 last night.  And that's all I'm going to say about sleep.


4.  I'm memorizing Scripture with approximately 11,000 other optimistic human people and am staying on top of it so far (two weeks!) (yaay!).  I learned my first verse and have begun my second.  Of course as I was writing out the second one I realized I completely forgot to learn the reference of the first.  

(She's already behind, Sally!)

Whatever.  
I like to think I give hope to dozens of try-hards all over this great land of ours.   


I suppose revival, not unlike svelte-ness, isn't built in a day. 



Happy Wednesday-ing :)

weekend wrap-up

Well now I'm feeling all compelled to get caught up on my movie watching.  I was working tonight but had the Golden Globes on just for the company, of course.  Those award shows always aggravate me while simultaneously stirring up my movie-love.  

I usually don't watch them but have recently started tuning in again for the sole purpose of "getting" all the Twitter jokes and commentaries and also jokes.  Twitter on awards nights - and pageant nights - makes the rest of the Twitter-year worth it all.  Nothing like giggling with random stranger-friends from all over the good old US of A.


Anyhoo, now I'm filled with a renewed commitment to catch Lincoln and maybe Argo (because that Ben Affleck is such a cutie-patootie and he worked SO HARD on it) and I am now officially SUPER ANXIOUS to get to Les Mis with my Kari.


I have no comment on the absurd wardrobe of most of the apparently starving starlets but I would be delighted to make 'em a sandwich given the opportunity, or better yet a casserole.  With cream of whatever soups.  And sour cream.  And cheese.


And now I can't believe I've rambled on for several paragraphs about Hollywood when I had much more interesting things going on this weekend.

Starr came to town!!  I was SO GLAD!  And if I was SO GLAD it's safe to say my Kari was positively giddy.  She drove down to spend the weekend with Kari & Peyton (& I suppose Drew, but whatever) and they came over last night for dinner, along with Katie & Audrey.

It was so nice to have some girls to feed and look at and I'm just gonna say it, to delight in.  

Girls.  I just love 'em.


Audrey Faith stayed after dinner and we had a sleepover!  With precious little sleep!  There might have been a bit of sheet changing and bed swapping but I'll never say.  I reported on Twitter that I kept taking my pillow to where she was not, but she just kept right on finding me.  Bed, couch, bed couch, bed...you get the idea.  Apparently she was oblivious to my escape efforts, and she certainly did not take them personally.


I love that sweet girl so much I can't even tell you.  


We conducted another interview that I'll share with you later in the week...and wow-oh-wow can that little girl talk!!!  My head was spinning trying to keep up, so I finally decided to type out her running dialogue for about five minutes straight, and if you really really want me to I'll throw that on here as well.  

You'll be relieved to know I drew the line at home movies.  

This time.



Y'all take care and enjoy your Monday :)

P.S.  T minus five-ish days & counting until I'm sniffing the air at THE SEA.

delight-full

I should show you a couple of Christmas pix to prove we did indeed celebrate Christmas but I'm kind've so over it & it feels like oh-so long ago.  For this reason I'm choosing to both procrastinate and postpone.


Tonight I thought I'd share a few things that have recently tickled me and made me laugh right out loud before I forget 'em forever.

* * *

A couple of weeks ago I got an early-morning SOS call from Katie to please rescue Owen from a particularly nasty stomach bug that she and Audrey had picked up.  I had some errands to run so the two of us ended up in a return line at, yup, Walmart.

After he spent a fair amount of time being all adorable, and LOUD, and entertaining everyone around us he points both hands at his chest and announces "I so FUNny!"

Yes, Bubby.  Yes you are.

* * *

Donna came to visit me for a few days (yaay!), and one evening we opted for a quick dinner from the drive-thru at Steak & Shake. Neither of us are familiar with Steak & Shake, but we had heard they have tasty shakes.  Go figure.

Anyhoo, it's rather confusing in that the lines go around both sides of the building.  And the menu was somewhat overwhelming.  And we were very very tired.  And a bit loopy.  As the girl voice in the speaker peppered us with questions (you get two sides with your burger!) she asked Donna how we wanted the burgers.  


Donna proceeds to tell her that she wants hers medium-well and I wanted my well.  


I might or might not have burst into hysterical laughter at that point as window-girl explained they are all well-done - what with it being a fast food drive-thru - and she meant did we want cheese, or maybe some lettuce?

(Aforementioned girl at window was still laughing at us as we drove away.)

(p.s. The vanilla shake was yummo and worth any humiliation incurred.)

* * *

I was doing some last-minute shopping on the 23rd at our still-unfamiliar-to-me mall.  As I dragged myself toward the opposite end where I left my car, I looked up to find Katie coming my way.  Now I know that doesn't sound like such a big deal, but looking up to a Katie-face in the middle of all the hub-bub in an unfamiliar place?  DELIGHT-FULL.

* * *


Finally, Owo is super enthusiastic when he comes to visit, and every. single. time he hollers all the way up the (outside) stairs, I'm comin' Naynay - NAYNAY I'm-a COMin!   

To my delight, this can be heard quite clearly inside, to which I say, Come on, Sweet Boy!
(and bring Woody with ya!)

Happy Monday:)

  

the one in which I bury the lead

I should spend some time catching up with y'alls no doubt about it, but I'm woefully lacking in both energy and motivation.  I am also decidedly runny-nosy with a healthy dose of lethargy.  (Still!)


It does appear the crazy that has been life for the last, oh I don't know - let's be generous and say six months or so - has left me dreaming  literal dreams of moving days.  
Over and again.

Moving days on a loopy-loop, if you will.

And it's not just my worldly belongs that are perpetually being moved in my dreams, but I'm now branching out and sharing the joy by taking my loved ones with.  How, you ask?

Well.  Last night I dreamed I was moving.  Then I dreamed I was helping Kari and Drew move.  And then I dreamed my sister's family was moving.  And I was helping them all with their daggone contact paper.  However, my sister's move was thwarted because my BIL was sick (in the aforementioned dream) so they postponed for a day or two and I was SO VERY EXCITED about the delay that I woke up, true story.  What is also true is that Rex has been sick in real life this very week, so I guess my horror at the sound of his voice when I called the other day crept into my dreams.

All that to say I really really don't wanna relocate any boxes for at least a month or 20.


(Not that it hasn't been worth every single box, of course.)


And in other, oh so slightly-related news, looky at what my Katie's got going on?

Looks like I got here just in time :)

a different tradition wouldn't be the worst thing in the world

So I left the house yesterday.  

And yes, that is noteworthy.  It doesn't seem to matter where home is; I inevitably like to stay there!


That being said, as much as I like home I don't hate getting in the car and schlepping to the vicinity of the mall for a bit.  (Especially when the weather is as nice as it's been lately!)  Yesterday's big adventure involved a visit with the eye doctor with the accompanying confirmation that six years is long enough to wear the same pair of glasses.  (That's one of my specialties, you know, sticking with what I already have for approximately three years longer than I should.)


After finishing up with Doc D I headed on to Ross Dress For Less to amble around and chat with Katie and Owo on the phone for a bit while shoppers stared, and then I rounded out the day at my Happy Place, aka Target.  I might or might not have wandered around for an hour or two, looking at I-have-no-idea-what and sipping on their dependably-good fountain Pepsi on ice.  


And then I came home.  

And went to work.

And massaged my temples dramatically as I moped about my headache.


...And tucked two little boys with very good report cards into bed.

The midday calm before last year's doggone storm

I might also have deliberated with Donna about our burning question of the day, which would be this:   

Exactly what is the acceptable level of gale-force-windy-ness??  

Our long-awaited, mini-vacation is this weekend, just in time for what has apparently been dubbed "Frankenstorm."

sigh.

Can you even believe it?  Another trip and we are again considering things like The Cone of Uncertainty.  We're completely fine with rain and wind and un-beachy weather because I do not have to log into my place of employment for several days in a row which does not happen often.  

However, I am a fan of  neither beachy evacuations nor power outages. 

It's all vacation-y fun and games until the cable goes out and you can't watch 37 episodes in a row of NCIS, and then things can turn ugly in a hurry.   

We're supposed to hit the road bright and early Saturday morning, so we have another day to think about it until we can stand to think no longer.  Donna's determined to embrace the adventure, and I myself love a good story to tell the kiddies, but still, the question.   

How hard can the wind blow before we would need to hide under the bed?  


This is not a rhetorical exercise, so please feel free to share your two cents.



It's FRIDAY, y'all...let's make it a good one!