What to say?

It has just been BUSY. I feel like we've been going pretty much non-stop since yesterday morning. Matt is trying to get the computer built as fast as possible since we have a very small window in which to return defective parts and its fighting him like crazy. But meanwhile, dinners have to get made, work has to get done, and our sweet baby girl wants to play.

Tonight after dinner when we went upstairs to change Tabby (she's practicing drinking with a cup and it gets way messy), she went over to her toy cabinet and brought out the babydoll that Grandma Sherrie & Grandpa Sandy got her for her birthday. She's gotten really into playing with her lately, feeding her her bottle, and snuggling her and giving her kisses. It's way cute.

What else? The house looks like a cyclone struck. Matt has stolen my computer monitor to use while he builds the new one, but that has left me in the middle of my digital filing project and so my desk is absolutely buried. Then I've been trying to get a good bit of running in every night since the race is coming up quickly … and 101 other things going on at work and at home and … yikes! Well … definitely time for bed.

Under Paper

The parts for the computer did not arrive. But the scanner did, so
• We spent snippets of time all weekend digitizing files for this year (I found I actually hadn't filed anything since Oct 2007!) and it is easy and fast and awesome!
• I got some bizarro virus where I felt like crap all day Saturday and was shivering cold and achey and slept a LOT.
• Still made it over to my parents' house though (but I spent most of the time lying on the couch) for mexican food and movie watching.
• We saw Enchanted, which was oh-so cute.
• I rented it, and two other movies from Red Box @ Mc Donalds! I am Red Box's hugest fan now. Just $1 and I don't have to plan ahead like with Netflix. They do not have nearly the selection though. Also watched No Reservations (cute!) and couldn't make it through Atonement (it's long, slow,depressing and we have a very mobile toddler on our hands!).
• The mobile toddler had one singular ambition this weekend … to be outside. So we spent a lot of time walking around the neighborhood and various parts of the city. She tried to eat gravel. That was lovely … especially since she bit me (hard) when I removed it from her mouth.
• Tabby bought her daddy an early birthday present: Mario Kart Wiiiii! It is great fun.
• As usual, it all went by way too fast.

The Goings-On

It's been one of those crazy weeks. Well less crazy and more just not normal. Here's what's been going on.

• After thinking for a couple of months now that tabby was going to walk “any day now,” she actually is!! She still looks like a drunk or something, but a very cute drunk who's imminently pleased with herself. We've been cheering her on as she toddles across the room.
• We made a kickass dinner last night. This great stir-fry that was quick and easy and reaaaally yummy. Definitely a winner.
• I've been in Crystal Reports training since Tuesday. It's been kind of nice to get away from the office and learn something new. Kinda makes me want to go back to school … or not.
• The weather has been beautiful and we've been spending lots of time outside, walking, jogging, etc.
• And that has been even more fun because I lost my mind and bought the P&T … it was 20% off, no shipping. I have *never* seen it cheaper and it's every bit as cool as I thought it would be. And I can jog with it … for real. Like for 40 minutes!! Yay.
• Good TV is back … including Gossip Girl (don't judge!) and Ugly Betty. w00t!
• Tabby has decided that Loki (and all other dogs&39; proper name is “Wooo” (i.e. Woof!). Cracks me up.
• I'm pretty much caught up on sleep from our movie night. It was still worth it though!
• The weekend is almost upon us and we have NO plans for a change. Yay.

Weekend Update

Sunday night again?? Yikes. I didn't feel like I really owned this weekend. It was committed to things that I was more or less required to attend. I don't necessarily mean that in a BAD way, just a matter of fact way. A wedding Friday night, a baby shower on Saturday.

We did have a lovely long run-turned-walk on Saturday morning and after the shower I went shopping w/ my mom and sister. I finally got new jeans. I have been finding lots of good clothes at The Limited (where I hadn't shopped much since high school!). And I got to use a $30 off coupon. Excellent. Today was sleeping in and errands and laundry. We went running-turned-walking with our friend Holly and had dinner with her and her family.

I had planned to participate in Shannon's Photo Bloggy days, but I did not do so well. Just didn't do so well with it. Forgot the camera altogether on Friday and did cruddy with it on Saturday. Oh well. Can't do it great everytime.

Matt's weekend obsession was creating a fileserver for us. We have waaay too many photos and MP3s that are taking up space on our personal computers and I want to take our office paperless (i.e. scan tons of crap and store it electronically so it's not all over my office). So I guess our economic stimulus package check is going directly to Taiwan. Was that how this thing was supposed to work, I wonder?

Oh yea, thanks for all the hair input. I still have no idea what to do. I'm thinking of finding a stylist and saying “fix it.” We'll see, I guess.

Me and My Stupid Hair

Ahh… a dilemma for the ages. What should I do with my stupid hair. I hate a love hate relationship with my hair. Possibly leaning towards hate. It is very very fine (probably the diameter of a nickel when pulled together in a ponytail). It is also impossible to grow it past my shoulders because it gets all stringy and stuff when it does. It's that way now, so I am wearing a pony tail (err … rat tail) a lot.

Basically, I've had it shortish and straight for as long as I can remember. Sometimes there are some layers. But as I am cheap and will not pay $35-$40 for someone to spend a lousy 15 minute trimming my hair, I usually get it cut a a chain place and lets face it, those are sketchy at best, so the layers come and go. Not to say that I wouldn't spend a bit more … if I actually thought it was worth it. I also will not be bothered with coloring it. Takes too long, looks crappy too fast. Maybe a great color job could change my mind, but I doubt it. I also have to do SOMETHING with it when I workout. Although it's a pain as it is now and gets in my way, so I will not be extra picky about this. There's always a baseball cap.

I think Kate Gosselin's hair is pretty cute. But I have no idea if that would work on me … I have a very round face. That is another potential issue. The cut Mandy Moore has in this photo is kinda cute, but possibly difficult to replicate in any sort of reasonable time frame? I flunked girl 101 and have no feel for this crap.

So what the heck should I do with this mess on my head?

Grrrrrrr ….

Yea. More freaking snow. Color me grumpy.

First of all, thanks for all of the music input. I'll have to spend some time on Amazon doing listening this weekend when I have a few minutes to myself. This week has been waaaay busy.

We pulled out one of the only meals I had on the menu this week that didn't involve the grill … broccoli pesto. It was lovely and simple and soooo tasty. We also found out that Ms. Tabby is now a huge fan of broccoli. She loved it straight out of the steamer (to the point that I was slightly worried that we wouldn't have enough for the pesto). She did not enjoy the pesto, however. Oh well.

So. Dinner was good. Top Chef was good. Did run for 35 min. Still snowing. Tomorrow, I'm thinking about having y'all help me with my hair. You game?

Weekend Update

Wow. Totally busy weekend. Very little of it is probably worth relating to you. We went shopping. Every blessed day. Bought little of interest. Just that normal errandy stuff. We did find a new market that we really like. It was far away, but fortunately, they're putting one near us very soon. It's sort of like a cheaper version of Whole Foods. We got some great stuff there.

What else? Had pretty weather. Went running (didn't run that far/hard, but it was totally exhausting thanks to Mr. Sun). Had my family over for pizza and game night. That was a kick. Did laundry. But not enough of it. Cleaned up the house, but it's already a mess again. Knocked one or two things off my to-do list … y'know the really easy ones. Made a menu for the week. Made muffins. And a peach cobbler.

Do I really have to go to work tomorrow?

Linky Madness

Mmmmmm….
* Google sounds soooo yummy
* taking one of my all-time faves, a peanut butter and banana sandwich, to a new level
* sunday is grilled cheese day!! celebrate by trying some new recipes or entering the grilled cheese invitational
* chocolate + peanut butter … 'nuff said
* I was cool with dirt cake, but I'm not too sure about kitty litter cake
* first … cake in a jar. now pie in a jar
* fake out foods for April Fool's Day

Western Style Consumerism
* why don't we have an IKEA? look at this cute baby eating set
* these are some seriously nice looking t'shirts to benefit good causes … of course they're also $30
* cute mugs with Japanese-style illustrations
* cute pendants shaped like tools (maybe the wife of a woodworker needs these?)
* tape dispenser that looks like a cassette tape … I love punny objects
* bento stuff and more at Ichiban's new online store
* Wendy pointed out these awesome hair ribbons for the kiddos … I think Tabby needs some
* now Method's cleaning the kiddos
* make Jr's art into cute jewelry

Vewwwy Crafty
* don't buy those paper bags for gifts, go green!
* the Doggie Yurt, made with supplies from the Dollar Store!
* why not DIY laundry detergent?
* make a mini s'mores grill … perfect for summer
* make the pooch a new leash
* tips for great belly shots (photos of your expanding belly, not something you did on spring break sophomore year)
* I totally need a new checkbook cover
* great gift for a kid, especially if you want them all hopped up on sugar
* DIY green cleaners … cute too

Life in Bits

* I'm about half way through the Einstein biography. It's a really nice mix of his theories and tidbits on his life. I have a few more books in the wings … I keep thinking I'll run out, but I seem to add to my list almost daily.
* This week we've been working on cooking from the pantry and fridge/freezer. It's been really good to see our supplies dwindling.
* Tabby officially hit 20 lbs (at least according to the produce scale at Target), so we got out the big carseats and put her forward facing and went for a ride. She loved it. Or maybe she just loved the cookie we gave her.
* Training is going well with the exception of getting this weather to cooperate. I won't bore you with tooo many details. Maybe next week.
* We have a molar. Maybe two. I can't believe I was ever worried about her getting teeth.
* Work is way busy. I need a vacation.
* There's nothing good on Tivo. Wah.
* Is it time for bed yet?