Category: Misc

Every week is BUSY. I just accept it. But this week … we have to build a photo booth.

 

Yes, you read that right. We are building a photo booth. So after workouts, work, commuting, swim lessons, dinner, errands, cleaning up the kitchen, folding laundry and all the other mundane day-to-day crap, Matt has been (and I will soon be too) heading down to the shop to work on the photo booth. Clearly, we’re insane.

This is one of a few projects and to-do list items for the big birthday bash (or The BBB) this weekend. Last night we ran errands (with four kids in tow) to Toys R Us, Babies R US, Michaels and Wal-Mart. I also still need to figure out food and drink. I predict a large, expensive trip to Costco. And someone’s got to make like 5 dozen cupcakes.

Clearly. We’re insane.

What I Have Not:

• any photos to show you (it just wasn’t that sort of weekend)
• planted any of the seeds that arrived Friday
• plane tickets for any of the trips we’re taking this year (swore we were going to do that this weekend)
• any sign of improvement to this blog
• nicely coiffed hair (still no haircut … think it’s been 2 months)

What I Have:

• new fabric all ready to cover up our grody bar stools
• two darling kiddos mostly done with illness (I hope)
• funny new one liners courtesy of the awesome comic we saw saturday night, Lamont Ferguson
• 90% of the invites for the kids’ party delivered
• run 10 miles and almost feel ready for the half marathon 2 wks from yesterday
• drawers full of clean laundry
• a fridge full of healthy food
• a cabinet all cleaned out and ready to store water bottles
• a successful execution of a new recipe (shrimp & grits)

Not 100%, but I’ll take it!!

Well it’s been a few weeks since I switched the blog over to WordPress. Overall, I’m pretty happy with how things have gone, but I still have much to work on. WordPress is like all closed systems (Mac, I’m looking at YOU). It is super easy, convenient and perfect to do the things it was intended for, but when you need to do things with it that are a bit unconventional, it is harder to do them than it would be outside the system. Here’s some of what I’m working on: Continue reading “A Bumpy Road (Nerd Stuff, Sorry)”

We had a nice weekend away … but I was ready to be home. The kids were too. They do not sleep as well away from home and so consequently neither do we. They miss their toys and their routines and their familiar surroundings. We make a big effort to leave the mountains early to avoid traffic and to get back early enough that we can get things all ready for Monday because of course, we’re always busy. Here’s the update:

• A while ago, my laptop started having issues. Anytime I needed to do something graphically intensive, it would BOMB. Flat to the ground. So it has to be sent back to Sager to be fixed (under warranty happily) … but I am now sans laptop for at least a week.
• Now my Netbook (tiny backup laptop mostly good for websurfing) is on the fritz. Its power cord is no longer holding a connection. You have to hold your mouth just right and plug the thing in and then it is OK … so basically everyone in our house is forbidden from moving the netbook even a millimeter.
• And to make things a bit more fun, one of our plastic spoons fell onto the heating element in the dishwasher and melted/burned … killing the dishwasher (well at least the heating element) and smelling up the house and all the plastic stuff IN the dishwasher. It should be fixed today at least. $200 I could easily have spent elsewhere, THANKS. We ate out a bit more than usual last week and dipped into the supply of paper plates.
• I started a 6wk session of bootcamp today … it is MWF. So far my body isn’t pleased with the long run on Sun/bootcamp on Mon combo. I might have to change that up a bit. I might be inclined to drop the long run all together, but I really don’t want to have to walk 13.1 miles on April 10.
• St. Patrick’s day is almost upon us! Check out my round up of Fun St. Paddy’s Day activities on FTMB.
• We have freezing rain here … cheers. But in typical CO fashion, it is projected to be 60 by Wednesday … cheers (for real).
• Tabby arrived home to find more presents from her Nashville grandparents. She is delighted with her own spending $$ in the form of a Target gift card and a darling magnetic ballerina “paper doll” set.
• It will be a nice spread-out birthday for her. We’re doing our special Tabby date this weekend where she gets to go paint her own pottery. I am almost as excited as she is.
• She also gets to take cupcakes to preschool tomorrow for distribution to her friends. She requested to wear her cupcake t’shirt that I made her as well. I am glad she likes it. We will be bringing the cupcake form of this delectable Strawberry Milk Cake I found on the interwebs (more about this tomorrow maybe). When presented with this plan Tabby sweetly said, “It’s OK, Mommy, we can just make the Funfetti.” My family is clearly corrupting her as this was the cake my mom made for her this weekend. I spent a small amount of time trying to explain the ethos behind “from scratch” but I fear my diatribe was more or less lost on four-year-old ears.

Hope you are all off to a good start to your week!

After years and years of lovingly crafting my own blogging engine, I have finally defected to a pre-produced one. I am a bit sad about this, but I simply no longer have the time to maintain the code … so WordPress it is. It’s a good engine with lots of room for extension and excellent themes. Moving the data from my old blog was no mean feat and I spent lots of time creating scripts to convert the posts, comments, categories and recipes (converted to posts!). And then I had got to craft a new theme as well.

Things are far from done, but I feel like I’ve made a really good start on things and I’m quite pleased with how things are progressing.

I am back – exhausted but back – after a much needed weekend in the mountains with my girls. We didn't get much skiing done (terrible conditions) but we had a great time and I'm (other than the tiredness) very recharged and glad to be home.

We capped off the weekend with a very fun Superbowl Party and I am officially very very behind. It's going to be quite a week – we're heading out of town again on Thursday. So in the meantime, I've got to get laundry done, house cleaned up, everybody packed up and at least one haircut handled.

I think I need a personal assistant.

I've been kinda busy. Not really noticeably busier than normal, but somehow the blog got lost in the shuffle. Some things you might find interesting:

• it's really really cold here … like -10 according to my car.
• I worked from home yesterday which was great. My house is much warmer than my office.
• I made cheese this past weekend.
• Also yogurt. Neither were hard.
• I accidentally overslept this AM and missed my workout. Boo.
• My kids are super cute. Ben keeps trying to go play in the snow, despite the frostbite risk. Tabby just wants to watch Animaniacs.
• I have made excellent dinners all week. Cinnamon Lamb Stew, Butternut Squash Pasta, Salmon with Lemon Relish. My kids especially loved the butternut squash pasta. Tabby went back for fourths. No joke.
• I am supposed to be headed out of town this weekend for a girls' ski trip. I am very excited for it.
• I also hear there's some big football game this weekend. I think we have a party to go to.
• The ROUS saw his shadow. Or he didn't. Whichever one means we have an early spring. Yay!

• Spring! At least in the city – I still want snow in the mountains to ski on for a month or two more – but in the city I want warm weather I can take the kids for walks in!
• A nice date night with Matt … all the time we've spent alone lately has been spent doing home improvement. It's it's own kind of fun, but I'm ready for an evening where I don't have to end it by cleaning my hands with mineral spirits.
• Bunco! I get to go see some of my favorite girls tonight. Yay!
• Sleeping in … tomorrow I don't have to get up 'til 7! That may sound early, but I usually get up before 5 so it's bliss for me.
• My bedroom to NOT be a mess. But I would have to get off my arse and do something about this. Soon … probably.
• The Weekend!

I'm So NOT ready for:
• Ben to be in a Big Boy Bed … he is so agile, so mobile, I fear a crawl-out any day. I have been thinking about crib tents but I just don't know if I like the idea. Of course I might like it better than a baby roaming the house
• Tabby turning 4 … it's getting too close for comfort! Hardly a month away! She's so big, so capable, so little-kid like. No baby left there. At least I like her lots and I'm very proud of her.
• The two half marathons I committed to running before June. Better get on that!