Showing posts with label funny. Show all posts
Showing posts with label funny. Show all posts

June 08, 2011

Estrogen Stole My Daughter

evilM

Once upon a time I had a sweet little baby named Morgan. She loved kittens and let me put her hair up in pony tails and sparkly clips. Then, one day, a mean and evil visitor came to my house named ESTROGEN.

whatever

And my eleven year old daughter began transforming in to a twelve year old transformer from planet "What-Ever, Loser."

chopstick

The transformation is not yet complete, but it is hard to watch. One minute, she's goofy and strange... the next minute she's weepy and hides in her room.

mosita

Every now and then, she looks so happy and normal that I forget she's really an alien in my daughter's body. The End. ... Just the beginning, I'm sure...




*Photos - credit to Frankie G. Editing by me.

November 22, 2010

'Can We Have Thanksgiving Next July?'... or.... 'My Pre-Holiday Pregnancy Update'



Pregnancy is a strange experience; wonderful and horrible all at the same time. The little swishing limbs and eager expectations of meeting a miniature, brand new family member are such indescribable joys. The stretch marks, strange body malfunctions, spreading hips and feet, swelling and heartburn... not so enjoyable.

I hesitate to give updates because they usually tempt me to complain. At least I find the whole ordeal rather humorous to some extent - I haven't lost my sense of humor yet (ask me about that during the next 'transition' phase of labor and I'll let you know if I still have it).

The photo below was at 31 weeks last time... and I look at least that big now. Not brave enough to get the camera out.



I'm 28 weeks and 3 days today. That means, if my doctor's calculations are correct (and she's a smart cookie - so I don't doubt they might be) this baby is likely to be big enough to float in the Macy's Parade. Well, maybe not this week - but by the time he gets here for sure (assuming I don't split like a faded car-seat before then).

I was 2 months away from having the Viking when things started getting this bad last time....

The Viking in my Ribs and Other Pathetic Complaints

12 more weeks to go. Oh my. That's like 3 FULL months.

Let me give you an idea of why 12 more weeks is very worrisome:

Let's start WAY back so I can give you a clear picture of what pregnancy usually looks like for me....

Imagine me at 118 pounds. Boy, those were the days. I believed all that 'eating for two' stuff. It didn't help that my first child was incompatible with anything (including MEXICAN FOOD) unless it was dripping in cream and chocolate. The fact that all of my children are Winter babies - born just after the holidays certainly hasn't helped my figure through the years. In case you haven't noticed, there's a LOT of really GOOD food available during the holidays... and holiday food is my favorite.

To make a long story short, here are my pregnancy stats:

Baby 1: 118 lbs. + 60 during pregnancy = 178 delivery
Baby 2: 134 lbs. + 36 during pregnancy = 170 delivery

Then I swallowed a Diamond Ring...


Sad First Week of School
Miscarriage: 139 lbs. + 6 during pregnancy = 145

Baby 3: 144 lbs. + 30 during pregnancy = 174 delivery

Baby 4: This pregnancy... starting at 147 + ? = ?

You would think that I might be having this kid in the 170's. Right? That seems to be a pattern... no matter how thin I am, my body has an internal timer near 175 pounds and OUT POPS THE BABY.

All would be great with that idea if I wasn't still THREE MONTHS out and already 166 lbs! Did I mention that the holidays are coming up... and there will be food?



Here's me the week before Baby K was born, at Target - on the old-people scooter because I couldn't walk. Mind you, I was only 174 pounds. That's only 8 pounds away from RIGHT NOW, people. So you can imagine how miserable I already feel. My doctor is considering going on vacation for the next three months so she won't have to listen to me beg her to 'get the baby out'. She has nightmares still from the last pregnancy she endured with me. Poor thing.

I guess I shouldn't complain that the heartburn is beginning again... because I'm pretty sure there won't be seconds for me of anything this Thanksgiving or Christmas. If I were a 6 year old, I would be stomping my feet and crossing my arms because "It JUST ISN'T FAIR." Thanksgiving and Christmas foods are my favorite in the whole wide world. Even better because I'm not the one having to cook them all.

Wanna know what's on the menu at Kevin's Mom's side?

Turkey
Dressing
Sweet Potato Yeast Rolls
Mustard Greens
Sweet Potato Casserole
Broccoli and Rice Casserole
Cabbage
Corn Pudding
Brussell Sprouts?
Green Beans
Pinto Beans
Macaroni and Cheese Casserole
Sweet Tea
Sugar Cookies
Chocolate Pie
Pecan Pie
Pumpkin Pie
Pumpkin Bread
Fruit Salad
Green Jello
Oreo Balls
Cheesecake

We aren't going to this feast, unfortunately. However, I can't help but think that it is very fortunate for my next doctor appointment that we are missing it this year.

Sadly, I'm pretty sure that the food at Kev's Dad's house will be equally wonderful, with only a slight bit less focus on dessert. Nana makes a mean stuffing and her Nut and Jello Salads are AMAZING (she has a green one and a really pretty wine colored one).

[As I was typing this, Pop just called to ask me what I needed to make my Sweet Potato Bliss. Oh, about "6 sticks of butter" I told him. I was only exagerating a little bit. Sweet Potato Bliss is my favorite.]

So... today, I'll be getting my glucose screening at the blood lab and trying to avoid the cheeseburger I'm craving. And then later this week, I'll be watching the scale as closely as I watch the sales for Black Friday. The online ones that is... because this pregnant mama is NOT standing in lines at 5AM for anything.



...Because I'm already grumpy about having to skip seconds on Thanksgiving.

All I want for Thanksgiving - and Christmas - is a really slow weight gain, relief from the pressure of this elephant sitting on my chest, very little if any heartburn (so I can actually enjoy my cranberry and dressing)... and the promise of an easy delivery (of a baby that is NOT bigger than the last one - HELLO 9 pounds of agony with your arm folded beside your head!). Oh, and it would be nice if my relatives would all commit to having another Thanksgiving meal in June. Or even July. We can crank down the A/C and pretend like it isn't 104 degrees, even. By then, I'm sure I'll be breathing a lot better - and I'll even volunteer to make more than one of the dishes.

Thanksgiving in July. I like the sound of that.



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Quick Links
What to Take to the Hospital When You are in Labor and Delivery
Owly Baby Shower
Labor and Delivery for the last Baby Bee
Trees in the Baby Nursery
Memo From My New Blog Editor

November 11, 2010

Randomness with a Plan: My Blog Calendar



I love the quote at the top of my October calendar...

"Warning: Dates on calendar are closer than they appear."

Ain't it the truth? Just look: October is already gone.

Lately the only thing standing between me and a missed blog deadline is a tall glass of tea or coffee... because mama is tired, and fat, and pregnant, and old. And allergic to caffeine because it makes my heart feel like it is going to explode and I can't catch my breath when I drink even the minute amount contained in DECAF.

FACT OF LIFE: Therefore - without caffeine - deadlines are going to get missed around here. Just like this baby is going to get here and disrupt our fledgling attempt at getting back in to a homeschool groove (which only took - what - 20 months after the last stork visit?).

So please take this advice with a grain of salt... and for you 'close pay-attentioners' (I'm tired, so I'm allowed to come up with new words on my own blog, right?)... there might be a few perks because I'm actually showing you the inner details of my November blog schedule. Technically that might mean you could just show back up for the give-aways and skip all the fluff... but I know you are bigger people than that. Good people. Maybe not so smart because you are reading my blog, but good for sure.

Now to get to the title of the post and help you figure out how to stay in the saddle when the month is galloping by at light speed...

Enter brilliant idea to stay on top of busy holiday posting schedules, etc: A blog calendar.

Well, not just a blog calendar, heavens! ANY sort of calendar is good during the holidays to keep yourself from rotating in a circle and asking yourself "what was I doing here?" A homeschool calendar is great (got one - which I'm working frantically on as I enter lesson plans for the entire rest of the year in to Homeschool Tracker for every subject so my kids won't be lost when their tiniest brother arrives on the scene). A menu plan calendar is necessary (totally under-rated... my menu planning - when we do it regularly and actually have money for groceries - is a life saver). A child's student planner might be very helpful for the older ones (big HINT to TOS that I'm ready to review these if you could just email me the PDF - please... so no one gets hurt).

Calendars are great... and if you try not to be such a blasted perfectionist and look at them as a guide rather than a strict do-or-die schedule, you'll find that they can hold your hand through the busy fog (I'm talking to all those adult ADD moms like me out there) and not slap you over the wrist with a ruler when you have to move a deadline out. Because there's only enough time in the day - especially when it is decaffeinated time... am I right?

OK, so here's what my very un-technical blog calendar for November looks like in a nut shell. I'm only showing you one of them - because I have 2 sites that I have been managing the calendars for (for about 5+ years): Sprittibee and The Homeschool Post. Obviously the Post has gotten most of my quality time for a few months... but that's going to change soon. I promise. Once the awards are over, you and me - me and you are going to be back on regular visitation. For better or for worse.

Without further ado...

Sprittibee's November Blog Calendar
11th : Randomness with a Plan (the blog calendar)
12th : Participate in A B See Photomeme (hosted at the Post)
13th : The Secret Weekend

14th : Geography on the Go
15th : Multitude Monday (hosted at A Holy Experience)
16th : Review of ... an awesome product you'll be jealous of me for getting. (P-Touch!)
17th : My Relevant Adventure Series... continues... (excuse to show more pix)
18th : Christian Music Artist Review (3 artists and possibly a give-away!)
19th : FTFF (resurrected original series: Field Trip Foto Friday - DC!)
20th : Link to www.hsbapost.com for the announcement of the blog award winners.
21st : Participate in A B See Photomeme (hosted at the Post)
22nd : Multitude Monday (hosted at A Holy Experience)
23rd : Sweetshot Tuesday (hosted at My 3 Boybarians) - Fall Themed
24th : Relevant Adventure Series... continues...
25th : Happy Turkey Day
26th : Movie Review and Movie/Popcorn Give Away
27th : Pick something from the review box... I'm leaning towards children's books!
28th : Guest Post or a day off to rest (I'll be lucky if I get half of this posted)
29th : Simple Woman Daybook (because these are so fun and easy)
30th : Learning Enrichment for my Homeschool Series (2007-8)
1st : Order of Operations Series... continues... Academics!
2nd : Planning Ahead for College (with some sponsor links)
3rd : FTFF - Pioneer Farms
4th : Pregnancy Update

OK, so now you can watch my blog calendar and know how far behind I am as the days pass with no posts. Maybe this way you can shoulder some of my stress for me so I know that's not the reason why I'm swelling up like a watermelon and look like I'm having triplets already. Or you could hold me accountable via email... and maybe dangle proverbial carrots at me (*like Starbucks gift cards*) if I actually get to my post each day in here.

We'll see how it goes. We're actually doing pretty good (praise God) lately in the homeschool arena. It appears that the kids needed some NEW life pumped in to them by thinner, more energetic teachers that aren't their boring, pregnant mom. Andrew Pudewa (on video) seems to have been the life support we needed to finally get two solid weeks of school done in a ROW. That's huge. Not having a baby in the hospital or our entire family in a hotel in DC has also helped. But I chalk it all up to fervent prayer - and maybe Daddy's threats that if they don't get in high gear, they'll be on a school bus come next September. That always works, too. Good thing our SCHOOL calendar goes on (and on, and on, and on...) until the end of August. For you anal types, that is exactly 180 days worth of school from this past Monday - including our scheduled holidays, of course.

For now, I'm basking in the homeschool groove and hoping I can revive my quiet little spot on the net and not spend so much time over at the Post (as wonderful as it is). Viva la homeschooling... and homeschool bloggers with blog calendars!




November 05, 2010

Chevy Bloopers



These are some of the hilarious out-takes from our three weeks with the Traverse that just needed to be shared. While the car may be near to perfect - the drivers and passengers certainly weren't. In case you haven't been following along, Chevy loaned us a new vehicle to drive across the country for a family vacation / homeschool DC field trip / blog conference. The poor vehicle got here with 3,000 or so miles and I'm pretty sure it had over 9,000 when we gave it back. Hey - but now we know just how far Pennsylvania is from Texas; and that's important when teaching geography, right?

First off, up top we have the bug splatter. They said we didn't have to wash it before they picked it up. We took them seriously.



And then there's the tell-tale sign that we are true TEXAS drivers... the oil-change needed light is on. We Texas drivers like to rack up the miles. And now you know where all those discounted cars have been when you buy a new car on a lot that has 8 or 9 thousand miles already on it but seems to have just been released from the factory. Yep - blogging homeschool families driving half way across the USA. You heard it here first.



Then there's the 'hang the $1,800.00 camera and $600+ dollar lens out the window while you are going through a forest with mountain-tunnels' trick. Maybe not so bad for the car, but certainly not smart, right?



Here we have passenger #5 making a break for the steep drop-off along the edge of the tallest peak East of the Mississippi. Granted, we outnumbered him 3 to 1, so it is likely we would have caught him before he went careening over the escarpment... however, family holidays are full of these little 'cliffhanger' moments, aren't they?



The stress of driving long distances - with kids - is made one-hundred times worse by the amount of JUNK you have to pack in the back of the vehicle. It seems that every time you want to get out and 'grab something really quick' it is buried deeper than China. It also helps to have about 10% visibility out of your rear-view mirror. [Shhhh! Don't tell Chevy.]



These last two shots are just the kids goofing off. It was our last day with the "Precious"... or so we called the Traverse... and they wanted to show how much they loved it before we had to give it back. I'm not sure what emotion they are trying to express here - but who does understand 11 and 13 year olds. Really?



For a more polished and respectful review of the 'Sweet Ride Chevy' adventure - you'll have to browse my previous Chevy posts. Every now and then, we like to let it all hang out over here (including arms, heads, and expensive photographic equipment) - even in a moving vehicle.



*Want to read more about Relevant and our trip to DC for the kids along the way? Follow along in my sidebar under the Relevant section!

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August 27, 2010

G is for Goofy Girl

Aparty16

I feel sorry for her brother sometimes. However, he doesn't seem to mind her (when they are getting along, that is). She gets it honest! Her mother is a pretty goofy gal, too. It's nice to have someone giggling all the time around here... when the baby isn't napping, of course.

You can't tell right now, but she's 2 years younger than him. She's so happy to be taller than her brother. That will change soon, though. I think my 13 year old is about to hit his growth spurt and leave silly sis in the dust. He sure is hungry all the time!



Pop over (click the button) and see the rest of the top 5 photos for this week at the Homeschool Post! This is the first week of round 3! Don't miss out on our next prize! Get your photos uploaded on the A B See flickr group to be counted!

July 28, 2010

"I've Fallen and I Can't Get Up"



If there ever was a bandwagon, I am quite certain that I fell off of it. Or was it a turnip truck?

I was supposed to be doing the 31 days to a better blog thing. And a number of other series I began to write and have not been working on in ages.

Come to think of it, I was also supposed to get some homeschooling done. Not much of that going on around here this week, either. Nor housekeeping. Nor cooking. Cereal anyone?

The only thing going on around here lately has been pregnancy brain fog, doctor visits, a bit of nausea and EXTREME exhaustion. Heavy on the extreme part. Either that, or I've hit a bout of accelerated aging and I'm fixin' to turn 60 before I hit 40.

So, since I'm looking around for a 'Clapper' and pondering the deep mysteries of why something smaller than a gerbil could suck every bit of spring from my step...

...please enjoy this brief list of brain drivel I thought important enough to share:

1) I've gotten a few questions about my KONOS/Unit Study planner pages in the past few weeks (I'm not the only one looking forward to a new school year!). Here's my public answer (I apologize if I haven't emailed you back - I'm drowning in emails):

My planner pages are not available any more because I broke my blog. I had the first two years worth of images and files hosted at Geocities. [I told you people I was a dinosaur. You didn't believe me.] If anyone can please help me procure a maid, a secretary, a nanny, about twenty crates of highly caffeinated Italian Coffee (a personal Barista that would work all hours would also be nice)... I might be able to get this blog fixed. Maybe a truck full of cash would be easier? Then I could hire one of my talented friends to suffer instead?

Works for me.

In the mean time, if you would like to donate a tip to my jar, I would love to email you a copy of my planner page in PDF format. You just have to agree not to modify, sell, or redistribute it. Except for personal use of course. YOU GO GIRL!

2) Oh, yes, the picture up top. That was about 12 hours in to our drive home from Tennessee when we went to Blissdom in February of 2010. If you'll remember, my mom had gotten released from the hospital after a near death experience and was still wearing her paper bracelet... and we were driving straight through - from Nashville to Austin. What a night. And a next morning. All in one. Morgan and I (sense of humors still in tact) were taking a potty break in a very YELLOW roadside restroom in the wee hours of the night. In the snow. Both ways. Uphill. Without shoes.

OK, OK, we had shoes. Hers just didn't match. And one belonged to her brother.

afterbliss85

Story of my life.

3) All week I've been trying to blog. I've been head-blogging. Shower-blogging. Bed-blogging. And after a while, it's like a carbon copy. All the amazing posts that I was working on start to look like the baby's attempt to make happy faces on his sister's math page. "No comprende. It's a riddle."

If you know what song that line came from, you are as old as dirt ... or as old as me. Whichever is older.

Back to my story. What were we talking about? Oh... yes... blogging.

Well, in my attempt to blog, every time I would get online, I would fall in to the evil choke hold of my email's clutches. The computer would spew some foul thing about archiving me and my Gmail would freeze as another page -or three- full of unchecked emails would appear to keep me from escaping. So, for the past few days, when I was feeling good enough to get online, all I did was DIG. OUT. OF. EMAIL.

Long story short. Or maybe it's short story long by now? I ended up falling upon the gem of the month (inside my email box, of all places): Ann Voskamp's most recent post about hearing from God - shining out of all those junk-messages and PR pitches like a beacon of hope...

WELL, don't take my word for it! Read it for yourself.

After reading her blog, I didn't feel much like writing any more this morning. So I tried listening instead. Mostly I just heard the kids bickering and making excuses about why the chores weren't done. Then I wished I was in Canada helping Ann on the farm instead of living in suburbia down here in Texas. Sure would be cooler... and she did mention peaches (they are my favorite fruit).


4) I found my second grade through fifth grade bestest friend [BFF4E] on Facebook today. I thought I would never find her because her maiden name was SO. COMPLETELY. GENERIC. Long story short, I found her through her SISTER's marriage records (free search in the county where she lived). Then I looked up her brother-in-law's Facebook page (hoping that he would be online since a lot of guys would rather chew glass - my husband included) and scrolled through his friends. There she was! I couldn't believe it.

Too bad she lives in another state. Just you wait, girl. I'm going to dig out the old letters and pictures if there are any that survived the flooding at our Houston house. Surely I have something.

I do have an interesting story about our friendship: We spent half of third grade in the 'dunce corner' with some evil teacher that hated us (her desk was moved to the pencil sharpener on the side of class, and my desk was moved by the teacher's desk in front of the class). She did it because we got caught passing notes. We never stopped passing notes. We would color them yellow and roll them around pencils and pretend to need to sharpen them so we could drop them off. Or she would wad hers up and throw it in the trash and when the teacher wasn't looking, I would dig it out and read it. Diabolical, I know.

There's your reason #8,926 to homeschool. No temptation to pass silly notes instead of doing your work. OH, wait... my daughter sends notes to her friends through the mail, my mom - the piano teacher, and email. There goes reason #8,926.

I guess notes are just bound to happen in tweeny girls - no matter what. The poor kids have email. Now they can be ten times as goofy in nine-trillion times the speed and volume. I'm so glad that email and facebook weren't readily available until after I was out of my teens. Heaven forbid the dirt that people would have on me now!



5) If you've been tweeting with me on Tweet Deck, you'll already have this little tidbit of information: Zofran really works.

I had a sonogram at the doctor's office this week (not yet 12 weeks along, so NO, I won't know the gender until 20 weeks for certain). Baby looked fine (albeit feisty - she was kicking and bouncing around like a kernel of popcorn). We saw arms, legs, etc, etc. I mentioned to the doctor that I was tired of eating saltines and drinking nasty, $6.00 4-packs of organic Ginger Ale. [Not the Boylan stuff... some other all-natural ginger-packed stuff that I have found almost as nauseating as the nausea itself.]

"Oh, you need some Zofran?" the doctor chirped. Kind of odd when your OBGYN is half of your size and age - and has never had any of her own children.

"Sure." I said, as nonchalantly as possible. She handed me a script.

I tried not to speed to the grocery store. I promise.

Let me just tell you, that I'm one happy camper. Hope the insurance will pay for the next 9 pills after these are gone. If not, I found out that HEB has melt-in-your-mouth tabs of Zofran generic on their 5$ prescription club list. TAKE THAT HMO PILL PLAN!

I'll take it, too.

And hopefully, THAT, folks - will enable me to return to blog land. I know you've been on the edge of your seats wondering why it had been four days, right? Well, now you know.

There's hope I might get up off of the floor yet... at least until I fall out of the next turnip truck.

The end.

July 23, 2010

31 Days to Build a Better Blog, Sprittibee Style

Take the Problogger Challenge with SITS and BlogFrogBeing the awesomely "connected" and "sponsored" blogger that I am, I had no idea that a 31DBBB challenge was going on. I didn't even know what 31DBBB meant until someone kindly let me know they were 'stalking' my blog on twitter. As flattered as I was, I felt a little out of the loop. Sorry, Darren! I haven't been up on my blog reading lately (pregnancy nausea is a good excuse, no?).

I'm going to be brutally honest with you: I have little time for blogging. Or for doing all the extra promotional, statistical, communicative things that bloggers must do to stay on top of their 'game'. Here's the scary truth (please don't nod in agreement that you already knew it): Most of what I blog, I slap up on an instant whim. When I do have the weekend hours at my leisure (I laugh when saying that word because with a 1 year old, there is no such thing), I spend more time thinking about what I'm writing... but if you've been around much, you'll know that I am often just talking out of my head over here.

That's all I have time for. And even that, my kids will tell you, I'm pushing (beyond the limits of priority). Just now it's baby's naptime, but I can think of a hundred or so other things that really should get done first ... (and by the time this post will be done, it might be well after dinner... or maybe after everyone else is asleep).

However, I don't want you to think that just because I have been blogging since before God created dirt, that I might not think I can't improve. I'm the last ancient dinosaur blogger that hasn't moved to Word Press yet, so I hear. But that doesn't mean I can't learn a new trick or two. Heavens, I certainly could use the 40700 comments that Pioneer Woman gets on her red Kitchenaid Mixer giveaways over here. Just because I have two blog conferences under my belt doesn't make me an expert at anything but running up debt on my credit card, y'all. I'm no snob, so I decided to join in the 'fun'.

The assignments are daily. (AS IF I can do all this in 31 days!)...


But it must be brief. So here goes:


Day 1 Challenge: Write a tagline, a short elevator pitch and a long elevator pitch for your blog.

Tagline:
My blog's tagline is similar to the random nature here at Sprittibee. I've always been honest... time doesn't permit me to be anything but fickle. I blog about a wide variety of topics. My top 5 are probably: parenting, homeschooling, motherhood, photography, faith, and personal/life. Therefore, since I'm so scattered, I figured I'd use a tagline that matches more with the name of my blog rather than what I talk about.

"Honey Sweet - Bloggy Goodness"

And of course, you can throw in the bible verse I usually have on my blog header somewhere for good measure (because no matter what I talk about, I try and honor God in the post):

Psalm 119:103 - "How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!"

Of course, these have nothing to do with my words. I just thought, ya-know, bees... honey... sweet... words and blogging... uh...

Guess you had to be there.

Short Elevator Pitch:
Hmmm. Something short and sweet that explains the purpose of my blogging? Would "Oooo! Shiny!" cover it? I don't know. The keyword tags at the top of my blog that appear when you open my site (my wonderful blog designer's idea... something about Google spiders?) are:

homeschool, photography, parenting, mommy, christian

Maybe I should just stick to that and let it be? I think it covers most of my posts... except the strange ones about swapping snott, refrigerating chiggers and stealing fries at Chick-fil-A off of someone else's tray.

But I digress...

Long Elevator Pitch:
I'll be honest, I still don't know what an elevator pitch is. But out of context and from seeing a few other entries for the contest, I guess it's just a breif description of your blog's purpose.

So what is "Sprittibee" about? I'm just a Christian wife, a homeschool mom, a photo nut, a Native Texan, a blog enthusiast - sharing my 'buzz' with the rest of the world in hopes that I'll learn more about myself and encourage my readers to know they are not alone out there. Maybe I'll help that homeschool mom have the strength to go another day without giving up?

I can just hear it now: "Surely I can homeschool if this scatterbrained lady has been doing it for the past eight years!"

No, really - you can be honest. I know if you read here regularly, you probably have said that to yourself at one time or another. Go ahead and raise your hand. It's OK. I can take it.

So now you have my tagline, short elevator pitch, and long elevator pitch. And you know nothing more about my blog than you started out knowing. So I guess I'm not such a focused niche blogger after all?

That's it! I quit.

Just kidding.


June 11, 2010

Sticking in There



Consider the postage stamp: its usefulness consists in the ability to stick to one thing till it gets there.

~Josh Billings

June 02, 2010

Why an iPhone Camera is a Must - Even if You Have a DSLR

caught-in-cabinet

Some moments won't wait for the big camera.

This is Baby K in the Tupperware Cabinet. Literally. He got in all by hims little self.

From the look on his face, he wasn't so sure about it once he got in there.

I bet he wondered why mommy was laughing and running to grab the iPhone off the kitchen table.

Babies eliminate the need for TV. They also eliminate any time you would have had to watch it. It's worth it, though.

Don't you think?

March 07, 2010

Flat Robyn's Blissdom Adventures

bliss10-44

Robyn wanted really bad to go to Blissdom, but she had other family vacations to attend and the dates overlapped. How anyone could put NASCAR before blogging conferences, I'm not sure... but apparently some folks really are in to that sort of thing. Whatever floats their boats - er - boosts their engines, right?

Seeing as how I love Robyn and all, I offered to take her with me (a stow away in my luggage at the Opryland Hotel - if only they knew)... but she couldn't make it to Texas in time to travel with us by car. She mailed her flat self to Tennessee in an overnight package and waited on me to arrive for the conference. If you have never heard of Flat Stanley, it's a really fun way to 'virtual travel' by mail and get pen-pal packages back from your far-away friends with lots of information and photos about the places you 'saw' on your trip. Homeschool kids all over the globe use it as a geography tool. Robyn's 'flattie' got to travel with me all over the Gaylord Opryland and back to Texas.

This post is the tall tale of her flat travel adventures.

I'm sure it was lonely at that concierge desk for those first few days, because it wasn't until Friday morning that I picked her up. Poor thing. That hotel was so large and my feet were so tired, that I ended up having to get her delivered to my room with the paper. Needles to say, her first few days in Nashville were a dismal disappointment. Things quickly changed course once we got together, though.

bliss10-14

I was so excited to meet the I Heart Faces gals. Robyn and I loved finding out that they use Canon cameras, too. Maybe Robyn can go with me some day to one of their Dallas, TX photo conferences to rub elbows with some of the most talented shutterbugs in the blog world? Of course she would have to come in 'person' and not in 'flattie'. I would feel pretty small at that sort of conference, but I would love to go to one... if I had a conference buddy, that is. I've got some great camera gear and my crazy-hectic homeschooling and baby-raising schedule doesn't give me much time to figure out how to outsmart my equipment.

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Robyn, the twitter-aholic that she is, asked to borrow Sarasophia's Mac. Bloggers are good-natured folk that understand social media addiction. After a quick online fix, they became fast friends.

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We hit the expo hall for some snacks and ran in to these gorgeous ConAgra ladies. They all look like they could be cousins. They are as nice as they are pretty, seriously. Robyn couldn't believe it when they told her that Poppycock came in a Chocolate-Lovers flavor.

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Save some for me, Robyn! She's a snack-hog. You find these things out about your friends when you room together. I still love her... but next time I'll bring extra munchies in case ConAgra isn't there to bail us out.

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One of my long-time bloggies, Shannon Entin, whom I adore, found me in the hallway. She was thrilled to meet Robyn, too. Us three homeschool mamas posed for the camera just before we slipped in to hear another session. Unfortunately I didn't run in to Shannon again. Blog conferences are just too short!

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Robyn had just as hard a time getting enough rest at Blissdom as I did. The agenda and events ran non-stop in to the night. There was no way we were going to make it to that Weight Watcher's jog at 7AM. I even slept through the Prayer Breakfast with [In]Courage that I had planned to go to. At least Robyn didn't pull the blanket off when I was sleeping. She's a great roomie.

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Robin Sampson is one of Robyn's Homeschool Heroes (as is she one of mine). The two Robyns exchanged a quick 'hello' before I asked to snap their picture.

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Then another Robin stopped by to make three! Robin Sampson, Robin Dance and Robyn - all in one picture! I couldn't help but think that spring might come early this year in the south.

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Robyn loved meeting Darcy, whom she had heard all about from ME, since Darcy designed my blog here - using the original artwork that my kids drew. Darcy and Robyn got a little fresh, actually. I figure it's because Darcy is a world-traveler and speaks Italian.

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I introduced Robyn to Frelle, and they both talked about how great the blogging sessions were. They were like old friends even though they only knew each other through Twitter. Frelle is my fellow 'blog conference junkie'. I'm hoping to see her again at Relevant later this year.

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Robyn helped me spin the One2One wheel during break time. She won me a CD. Sadly, it somehow got misplaced after we got home, so I couldn't even begin to tell you what recording artist it was for.

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Erin and Tsh were speaking about getting published in their session. I wanted to meet Tsh since I think we may be twins separated at birth. Maybe not in image, but certainly in personality and brain-patterns. I'm like the world's largest list-making, organizing-addicted, hoping-to-make-things-more-simple mom out there besides her. And I adore Erin. I wish she lived next door so I could go grocery shopping with her. She makes me feel like a foodie-failure. I'm going to have to buy a copy of her "5 Dollar Dinners" to see if I can redeem myself in the kitchen budget area. You don't want to know how many times we ate out last week.

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Even though Robyn didn't get a swaggy popcorn bowl of her own, Dawn was willing to share. That's what bloggin' pals do. It was so cool to see all these 'invisible' homeschool and blog friends in real life. The popcorn-movie night sponsored by Haynes was a blast.

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Even more homeschoolers. Marshie and Ruthanne love Robyn. They were thrilled to 'meet' her.

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At lunch, Robyn raved about the southern iced tea. I was kind of disappointed that it wasn't already sweet, though. You had to add your sweetener at the table... and every real southerner knows that it's not the same as sweetening the tea when it's hot with real sugar.

Photo Credit: Mishelle

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Robyn ate all of her salad. She was watching her flat girlish figure - even while on a trip. I dove in to the potato salad instead. I can't resist comfort food... especially while on vacation.

Photo Credit: Mishelle

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Robyn asked to get a picture with me and lovely Melissa of A Familiar Path. She said that Melissa was one of her favorite bloggers. I guess I can share a favorite blogger. She's one of mine, too.

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Flat Tidy Mom and Flat Robyn were brave to get up and sing karaoke at the Saturday night bash before we headed back to the room to crash. Cathe Holden got their picture together for me. Robyn felt funny to have forgotten her pajamas. Oh, well, Robyn, maybe next year you can remember to bring them - and maybe you won't be so flat then?




QUICK LINKS:

Wanna see more pictures from my Blissdom Adventures? Check out my Blissdom Flickr set. You can see all the flatties that were at Blissdom at the Flat Blissdom set, too.

For the rest of my Blissdom story, check out these past posts:
A Blissdom Recap that Isn't a Recap
Part 1: Blissdom Recap, 'Why Go to a Blog Conference?'
A Thank You to my Sponsors
Tennessee Gaylord Opryland Memories of Blissdom
Blissdom Baby Carrier Give-Away
My Guest Post by Robyn herself - telling about my Flat traveling plans
The First Day at Blissdom
Guest Post by Autumn who wrote me a Blissdom Limerick
Springpad (My Sponsor) hosts a 100$ Container Store Gift Card Twitter Give-Away
My aunt's biz-card ditty bag and my sparkly business cards for Blissdom
An Early thanks to my Sponsors
What I'm Bringing to Blissdom
A Bloggers Bliss


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The links in my "Sweet Linkage" section are either sponsored links or personal links that I find interesting (including the links to the blogs that both of my teen children run).

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