busybee

ain't that the truth.

 
So much truth to that.  So much truth.

I'm pretty sure that sometimes no matter how hard you try, the person you are is just never going to change.

And for me, that news really sucks.

snips of life.

Spring has sprung here in New Hampshire...  Only in this lovely place I call home could I be FREEZING in a winter coat at T-ball practice one day, and sweating in a tee-shirt and flip-flops the next. 

Speaking of T-ball...

 
The Diva has arrived at the ball field, and she is sporting last years pink glove, and a stylish pair of blingy sunglasses that are 10 sizes too big for her face, which makes them 100% perfect as far as I am concerned.  Her first game was a blast! 

 
'Tis the season for pedicures and open-toes.  I loves the concept, but I do NOT loves the blisters as my feet readjust to straps and things between my toes...

 
I shelf that I swiped from my parents basement (where I like shop from time-to-time) which, I believe,  is meant to hold decorative plates in your kitchen.  But, I found an alternative use for it in another room of the house, which was quite satisfying to the room inhabitants.  I base the success of most of my projects on how many giggles I evoke.  Based on that methodology, this project was a grand-slam.

 
Another project my kids are enjoying these days is growing flowers from seeds, which they planted with our friend, Sarah!  I've never seen Alyza so INTO something before.  She checks on the plants several times a day, and never lets me forget to water them.  This is a good thing, because my track record with all-things-green is quite less than favorable.

 
Last, but not least...  BE STILL MY BEATING HEART.  My closet is finally arranged in rainbow magnificence and I could not be more thrilled.  HELLO!!!  WHY DID I NOT DO THIS AGES AGO??  You have NO idea how much easier this makes my life.  No more digging through the ENTIRE closet to find the blue striped sweater or my favorite orange tee!  If it is not in it's section, it must be in the laundry!  The only thing really bothering me about this is that I became suddenly aware that my wardrobe is quite lacking in the yellow section.  Going to have to remedy that, immediately.  Not only do I feel a large sense of accomplishment over this task, but I also feel as though I can now die happy.  And that, my friends, is a cold hard fact.

Happy Tuesday!

just because he is far away, and I am eating his chips & salsa.

Several weeks ago, I attempted to get Jeff to do a video-blog with me about our upcoming trip to NYC.  He was not in the mood, he was being inappropriate, and I ended up getting frustrated with him as he pulled a pair of ski-goggles over his face (true story).  It was then that I shut the computer down and said "nevermind" in a tone that could shoot daggers across continents.

Today, while cleaning through the laptop, I happened upon the two "takes" that came from my failed attempt, and thought them amusing enough to share with the internet.  I hope you enjoy them! 

Take one...

 

Take two...

Stuck

Time to do some mental house-keeping.
 
I'm restless lately, and so very un-peaceful.  I still feel like something is lurking around the next corner like a hungry lion, or a steam-roller who's operator did not look before rolling. Absolutely nothing feels right.  Even my own skin, these days.  I can't sleep.  I toss and turn and just can't get comfortable.  I feel inspired and motivated on the inside, yet I can't seem to make anything happen on the outside.   I'm mismatched, and wrinkled, and bent in the wrong direction.  I'm not sad, but I'm not happy.  I'm 250% impossibly impossible.
 
The only thing I can come up with is that I'm stuck.  Very stuck.  I'm stuck in a spot, and I have no direction.  I have not even the fraction of a small piece of hope that a direction is going to make itself clear to me.  I think maybe my soul is too fidgety for such a predicament as this. 

Sigh.

How is it possible that I did not already think of this on my own??

Just now, I was surfing the internet in search of my usual (the meaning of life and such.)  When I stumbled across this photo of Elise Blaha's closet.

 

It suddenly became very clear to me that I needed (!) to re-arrange the contents of my closet into a rainbow of color coordination.  Because, as the meaning of life continues to evade me, I will (at the very least) be amused on a daily basis by the sheer act of opening my closet door.

Oh yes!

Airplane Art

Since I finished my last twilight book on the way down, and I'm not sure which book I want to download next to try out the iPod Kindle app...   I decided for the plane ride home it was just me, a journal, and a black signo uniball elite...  (my most FAVORITE pens ever, fyi.)

 
 
  
 
 

As you can see, I was listening to Radiohead, which always makes me kinda dark and twisty.  Karma Police is definitely one of the best songs ever made.  I put the pen to the test, and by the time I got to the last doodle, as my plane was making its descent, I was running out of ink...  Perfect timing!

And now, there is apple bread baking in my oven, a sick baby girl on my sofa, and a little boy asking for juice by my side...  Feels good to be home.

How to cure a fear of flying in .00027 seconds (or less.)

Last night, Steve sent me the following picture via cell...

 

And, just like that, he single-handedly cured my fear of flying.  The thought of my baby-girl laying in an Emergency Room without me was the most sickening feeling on the planet.  The kind of feeling that produces irrational thoughts like "I AM NEVER LEAVING HOME AGAIN FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE!!!!"  The kind of feeling that makes you curse your own existence for not being there to hold her, rub her back, stroke her hair, tell her that it will be ok...

She will be fine. And I am in the airport at the moment waiting to board the plane that will take me home to her...  I won't be home early enough to see her tonight...  But tomorrow she will get all the hugs (and popsicles) that she wants...  Sponge Bob ALL DAY?  You bet, kiddo!  Cookies for dinner?  ABSOLUTELY!! 

(PS - Kudos to Steve, who certainly had his hands full this week...)

Random Bits of Florida.

The wing of my plane when I arrived...

Sangrias with my BFF...

Dixie-cup wine (super classy) out by the hotel pool...

An evil vampire duck (I won him when I answered a question in class)
  

But....  I miss home.  And I'm tired of being go-go-go...  2 more days...

Peace Out.

So this is what it feels like to jet-set?

Waiting in the terminal to board my plane...  Another week of training in sunny (hopefully) Florida.  I've got my gadgets charged up, and my XXX Vitamin Water by my side...  At any given moment, the contents of my stomach could make their grand entrance into the world...  But let's be hopeful that doesn't happen.

 

Stay tuned for palm trees and sunshine and adventures with SQL/database report training!

 

Peace out.

Motivation: found.

I've been wanting to run lately.  In fact, I am thinking about trying to get my butt in good enough shape to run a few 5k's this summer with some friends.  I decided to get back into running for a variety of reasons, but mostly because legs are a lot harder to steal than a new bike would be.  And because if someone tried to cut off my legs in the middle of the night, I could kick them in the face.  Ninja style.
 
So yes...  I've been wanting to run, and get back into the shape I was in a couple years ago, and lets just say that losing 10lbs wouldn't be the worst thing that could happen to me...  But, not gonna lie...  Finding the motivation to run has been hard.  My schedule with both jobs, and the kids does not allow me much free-time during hours of daylight, and running through the park and back streets of the city at night does not really appeal to my paranoia.  I have every desire and intention go to running in the mornings (before work)...  But my hand finds the snooze button WAY faster than my brain could ever move me into a vertical position at that time of day.
 
I'm finding my way to that motivated state-of-mind.  Slowly, but surely.  The warmer it gets outside, the more my parts thaw out and want to be used.  Sometimes all it really takes is a couple of sweet, adoring, PAINFULLY HONEST, children to give me the wake up call I so desperately need, and this morning, that is exactly what I got.
 
I am the first to admit that I take ridiculously long showers.  In fact, I usually base being "done" on whether or not I am out of hot water.  Being in the shower is my quiet time.  My thinking time.  My leave-a-message-after-the-beep time.  My "Calgon, take me away" time.  You get the point.
 
This morning, I was joined in the bathroom by two noisy children who were bored with Handy Manny, and instead decided to come upstairs and terrorize their Mother.  Though I could not see them from behind the shower curtain, I could hear them pushing and kicking each other.  Keegan shouting "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" at Alyza, and Alyza screeching "KEEEEEEEEEEEEEEGANNNNNNNNNN" in a voice that is several octaves higher than your average soprano.
 
(Dear Calgon.  Please consider packaging your body wash with ear-plugs.  Love, Steph)
 
I turned my face into the water as I rinsed my hair, and noticed that it got particularly quiet in the bathroom.  A few moments later, a very serious little girl began her confession...
 
"Mommy?"
 
"What, Love?"
 
"Keegan and I peeked behind the curtain............  But it's ok Mommy, we still love you."

Before I could respond, I heard the door to the bathroom close with the tiniest of "clicks" and two sets of very quiet feet descending back down to the living-room, as if any further disruption or sudden movements could have caused the shower-beast to react violently.  And I wondered silently to myself how many more years of therapy I just tacked on to their futures...