Don't Flush Me!!!

I have the weirdest little fish who literally sleeps upside down.

On numerous occasions, he's come very close to getting flushed. Every morning when I go to feed them, I see him floating up in the corner of the tank near the filter. The first time I saw it, I seriously thought he was dead, and I went to find the net. I watched him for a few minutes, tapped on the glass ... nothing. But when I tried to scoop him out, he quickly flipped over and started swimming around.

I figured that he was on his last leg, but this behavior has been going on for over a month now. And I've come to the conclusion that he just LIKES hanging out that way. Strange.

So if you come to visit, we're not crazy (like Chandler's roommate who had a goldfish cracker for a pet). We're not morbidly keeping our dead pet fish. Really...he's JUST sleeping.

Oh, Deer!

We spent the holidays in Kentucky with Tony's family, and the drive in was pretty treacherous. We were lucky to avoid the highway accidents caused from the freezing weather and managed to get into Harrodsburg before the worst of the black ice ice appeared.

The next morning, I opened the blinds, hoping that I'd be able to tell the girls that we'd be having a white Christmas. But no. . . I realized we wouldn't be. However, it was clear that the neighbors were going to be having deer for dinner. Boy, did I miss Atlanta after seeing that! And at that moment, I developed a tremendous respect for my neighborhood's HOA.

Tribute to Knights of the Elliptical Sac

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

Birth Order of Children

Even if you don't have kids, you still might get a kick out of this. If not, well then you've lost 30 seconds of your day. But as the parent of more than one child, I can say there's a whole lotta truth in it. :)

• 1st baby: You begin wearing maternity clothes as soon as your OB/GYN confirms your pregnancy.


• 2nd baby: You wear your regular clothes for as long as possible.


• 3rd baby: Your maternity clothes ARE your regular clothes.

PREPARING FOR THE BIRTH

• 1st baby: You practice your breathing religiously.
• 2nd baby: You don't bother because you remember that last time, breathing didn't do a thing.
• 3rd baby: You ask for an epidural in your eighth month.

THE LAYETTE

• 1st baby: You pre-wash newborn's clothes, color-coordinate them, and fold them neatly in the baby's little bureau.
• 2nd baby: You check to make sure that the clothes are clean and discard only the ones with the darkest stains.
• 3rd baby: Boys can wear pink, can't they?

WORRIES

• 1st baby: At the first sign of distress--a whimper, a frown--you pick up the baby
• 2nd baby: You pick the baby up when her wails threaten to wake your firstborn.
• 3rd baby: You teach your three-year-old how to rewind the mechanical swing.

PACIFIER

• 1st baby: If the pacifier falls on the floor, you put it away until you can go home and wash and boil it.
• 2nd baby: When the pacifier falls on the floor, you squirt it off with some juice from the baby's bottle.
• 3rd baby: You wipe it off on your shirt and pop it back in.

DIAPERING

• 1st baby: You change your baby's diapers every hour, whether she needs it or not.
• 2nd baby: You change her diaper every two to three hours, if needed.
• 3rd baby: You try to change her diaper before others start to complain about the smell or you see it sagging to her knees.

ACTIVITIES

• 1st baby: You take your infant to Baby Gymnastics, Baby Swing, Baby Zoo, Baby Movies and Baby Story Hour.
• 2nd baby: You take your infant to Baby Gymnastics.
• 3rd baby: You take your infant to the supermarket and the dry cleaners.

GOING OUT

• 1st baby: The first time you leave your baby with a sitter, you call home five times.
• 2nd baby: Just before you walk out the door, you remember to leave a number where you can be reached.
• 3rd baby: You leave instructions for the sitter to call only if she sees blood.

AT HOME

• 1st baby: You spend a good bit of every day just gazing at the baby.
• 2nd baby: You spend a bit of every day watching to be sure your older child isn't squeezing, poking, or hitting the baby.
• 3rd baby: You spend a little bit of every day hiding from the children.

SWALLOWING COINS

• 1st child: When first child swallows a coin, you rush the child to the hospital and demand X-Rays.
• 2nd child: When second child swallows a coin, you carefully watch for the coin to pass.
• 3rd child: When third child swallows a coin, you deduct it from his allowance!

Oh no! We're out of paper towels.

Wait . . . no we're not.

I guess nothing more can be said.

I'm Crabby

One evening as I was walking down the stairs at home, I accidentally missed a step. And although I didn't go tumbling down like Humpty Dumpty, I did catch myself in a totally jacked up way causing a late-night family trip to the ER. That was fun.

Fortunately, I'll recover full use and strength of my shoulder (one day), but the X-Rays revealed chip fragments in the rotator cuff and a slight dislocation. I took a few days at home to rest and enjoy my meds and then finally sucked it up and returned to work with my lovely sling. The only problem was (besides the fact that it limited use of my dominant arm), the weight of the sling irritated the living crap out of my neck.

So my ever-so-helpful colleagues figured out a cool solution to my problem. GrantBob was kind enough to loan me Mr. Crabby, and Jeff designed a nifty harness that turned him into a should cushion. It was pretty sweet. Thanks guys!

This is "Literally" Hilarious

Want a little laugh and a quick flashback to the 80s? Then check out this remake of the classic a-ha video using updated lyrics that describe the action (literally).

Many thanks to my friend, Melaine, for sharing. :)

Same $@!*, Different Day

Once again, someone has nearly gone out of her his or her way to NOT replace the empty paper towel roll. However, this time, the guilty person actually did retrieve and open a new roll . . which incidentally takes longer to do than to remove the old roll and plop in a new one. Our paper towel holder couldn't BE any easier.

But then again, it just wouldn't the same working here if things were to change.

This isn't what I have in mind . . .

. . . when I say I want an iPhone.

What a Rip Off!

Okay, forget the fact that I'm a goober and want to go see So You Think You Can Dance on tour. I'm pissed off that I just had to pay a ridiculous amount of incidental fees to perform a simple online purchase. It's MORE convenient for everyone if I purchase my tickets online and print them at my leisure, but dang . . . to pay an extra $19 for the convenience seems absurd.

. . . .wow, maybe Hans is right . . I am getting old.

In that case . . . Get off my lawn!! And cut your hair, young man.

Evidence of a Good Weekend . . .

. . . is eight more scrapbook pages done!


Wow, I sound like such a loser. But oh well. . I had a ball! I spent the weekend with my girlfriend, Shira, at Scrappin' Retreats, where we indulged for 48 hours, cropping, drinking, eating, laughing and sleeping!! But, if you're so inclined, you're welcome to check out the finished products.

• Girls Gone Wild
• Sympathy Pains
• Play Date
• Rock Band Birthday Party
• Pure Bliss

How far I've come that this is now my idea of a wild weekend.

I Love Working Here!

My colleagues are AWESOME! Except for Hans, who's already called me Grannie (with love of course) . . . I get to work and find that they've totally decorated my "office." And I got bling!!! A cool necklace, earring and braclet set that flashes with sparkly lights.

We're all going to the Ale House for lunch . . . SWEET!! I may have to go for it and get the Big Red. Deep fried chicken goodness smothered in hot sauce on a fat hoagie. I know Rich will. :D

Thanks, guys!!

And surprise, surpise . . . after lunch, guess what was in the kitchen! :)

Killing Time

Traveling back from Kentucky, I killed a little time in the car finishing a digital scrapbook page for Maya's birthday party. I may eventually scrapbook the actual pictures, but for now, I've got most of the highlights covered.

Doing this is much more relaxing to me than playing 'I Spy' . . . for the hundredth time.

First Annual Danas Potluck Breakfast

We've had potlucks before, usually around the holidays, but we decided that it might be fun to have a potluck breakfast. It was a huge success!! So much so, we all really needed naps afterwards. Oh well . . it was Friday. Check out the pics!

Many thanks to Dave for the idea! And to Christine for making it happen! :)

Sorry Dad . . .

No . . . wait . . maybe I'll just vote for Paris.

Yay! No Bugs Here!

For a month, a handful of my colleages have been afraid to make themselves comfortable in my little sitting area, for fear that the chairs I picked up at Goodwill were bug infested. Grant has been pretty diligent about spraying it down with disinfectant, but I finally have hard proof that my second-hand purchase is indeed clean and safe for lounging.

Using a nifty little contraption brought in from his house, Grant was able to observe every little microscopic detail going on in my chairs. I'm so curious to see what else Grant has at his house! But I digress. . .

I'm happy to report that NOTHING WAS MOVING AROUND!!!

Woo hoo . . . Party in the double-wide!!!

And So It Goes

Well, it's come full circle once again. After partnering for the first time with Rich, we found out the hard way that we're not nearly as threatening together as we have been in the past (on opposing teams). So once again, I'm the proud owner of the broken man. Nice.

And ironically, the one who shut me out this time was the one who I happened to shut out a little less than a year ago. So thanks, Curt. I guess we should've quit while we were ahead, huh? Er . . rather, quit while we weren't ahead. Hey Rich, why did we foos that third time again??

Amazing Catch

I'm not a big baseball fan, but after watching this video, I had to say, "You go, girl!!"

4th of July

This 4th of July was the most laid-back ever, and I LOVED it. No rushing to get a good spot for fireworks or having a ton of people over for a party. It was just a few neighbors, kicking back in the yard, drinking mojitos and watching the kids play. We eventually did do a few sparklers when it got dark enough, but for the most part, the day was all about rest and relaxation.

The guys played their usual round of backyard golf, and the kids enjoyed the sprinklers.

In fact, just watching the kids, I realized that they really know how to enjoy life. I would love to be three years old again and have the hardest part of my day involve searching for something to do that was more fun than the fun I was having right now.

As usual, I took a ton of pictures . . . which you can access from here.

Gotta love junk mail

I've had my name misspelled before, but usually it's not my last name. This is a first.

Class of 1988 - Reunited

Well, it's been 20 years since I graduated from Auburn High School. Hard to believe. But reuniting with old classmates and picking up with my BFFs was way more fun than I anticipated. I found out that quite a few of us actually live near each other and have been barely crossing paths for the last eight years.

We started the weekend off at Auburn Sky Bar, a ceiling-less beer joint and one of the most popular hangouts for Auburn's sorority and fraternity kids. (Yeah, I said it . . . kids.) One of our classmate's daughter actually showed up with her friends, reminding us all just how old we really were. It was cute, though . . they actually look more like sisters than mother and daughter. We all got there considerably early for a Friday night (7:00 pm), so we pretty much had the place to ourselves until about 11:00 pm. (Another indication that we're getting old.)

On Saturday, after a tour of our old highschool (which I incidentally slept through), we joined up again at a semi-private pool and spent the afternoon with our kids. Good times! And that night, we got all dollled up for the dinner/dance event at the Auburn Hotel and Conference Center. Tony was a trooper and tolerated my giggling and reminiscing with a ton of people he didn't know. So after about five hours of that, I just didn't have the heart to drag him to the after party. I'm sure it rocked.

Here are a few of the pictures I took at the main event. Enjoy! Now that we're all back in touch, and most of us still have family in Auburn, visiting my parents will take on a whole new flavor.

Well I'm Moving On Up

To the east side . . I finally got a piece of the PI-IIIIIIII-IIIE.

Okay, not really . . . I'm just excited that I was able to get a new "double-wide" cube at work. In March, I will celebrate five years with the company - one of the longest lasting employees to date. So, it's not really because I'm special or anything. . . I've just been here forever.

But I don't care. I'll take it. I even furnished it with some great finds from Goodwill. I'm loving my double-wide. Very Jeff Foxworthy, I know.

I don't care. I'm digging it.

Maya's Rock Band Birthday Party

Maya turned eight last week and has been begging to have a Rock Band sleepover. All I could think of was having a household of shrieking, giggling eight year olds, and I wasn't sure that's how I really wanted to spend my Friday night. But I thought about it, and realized that I, in fact, would love to have a Rock Band birthday party, too. (My birthday is in August, so I may have to just throw a party for myelf.) So her request really wasn't unreasonable, and I sucked it up and threw myself into the preparations. I made her some invitations and bought accessories for each of the girls.

They each got to adorn themselves with hairpieces, glitter hairspray, glitter wrist bands, and shimmery kid makeup. It was actually pretty fun. Especially when I got to play paparazzi during their photo shoot.

They spent the night jamming (loud as they could), eating pizza, cake and candy, watching movies and having girl talk. They actually camped out in the theater, so in all honesty, we barely heard them at all. They had a ball! In the morning, I made pancakes, bacon and smoothies, and Nadia was thrilled to join them and eat with the big girls. It was like she suddenly had 6 older sisters.

Happy Birthday, Maya!!

Update: Click here to see the pictures. And here's the final scrapbook page.

Seafood Fest

Last weekend, our neighborhood had an awesome Seafood Fest in the cul-de-sac. Each family chipped in, and we made steamed lobsters and grilled shrimp for the adults and burgers and dogs for the kids. The weather was perfect (no humidity, sunny and mid-70s) and the drinks were yummy!!

The only damper in the day was the moment that Maya announced that my camera had "stopped working." I'd let her use it to take pictures of the event, and after a bit of prodding, I managed to get her to admit that she'd accidentally dropped it a few times. At least I managed to retrieve her pictures before declaring it a total loss. All-in-all, she did a pretty decent job playing photographer, and now I have an excuse to get the digital SLR camera I really wanted. Nice.

Check out her pics here.

The Jungle Book (2008)

It's no secret that naturally curly hair runs in my family. And being a working mom (and having to deal with two little ones in the morning), it's often easier to just opt for braids, at least part of the time. Nadia hates having her hair done every morning, and it saves us both a lot of headaches (no pun intended).

However, when I finally take the braids out, it's pretty funny . . . and reminiscent of Mowgli from one of my favorite Disney movies.

Yep, I'm almost 38 ...

I know this because my idea of a fun weekend is hanging out in some lady's basement with a bunch of other 30-something women, drinking wine and margaritas and scrapbooking for 48 hours. I know most people wouldn't understand this, so I'm not going to try and explain the lure. But trust me when I say that it's nice to be able to:

• Stay up as late as you want (without worrying about having to play 'Mommy' in the morning).
• Do what you want to do (in peace) for two whole evenings.
• Not have to think about how to document the configuration of XML files or the uninstallation and migration of new software products.

At least for those glorious few hours, I did nothing but consume chocolate and baked brie and use the other (creative) side of my brain for a change.

Feel free to check out more pages here: Favorite scrapbook pages.

Surprise!!

This past weekend my younger brother, Chip, took on a major undertaking and threw a surprise birthday party for his wife, Nicole. Somehow he managed to coordiate a band, decorate the house, organize a Lousiana-themed menu, and invite all of Nicole's friends and students from Auburn University and New Orleans. Although the night was a success, we all realized that any parties planned in the future will include the help of his wife, Nicole -- who incidentally specializes in party planning!!

Here are a few pictures I took with my brother, my dad, and Nicole. Tony stayed back home to play in his company golf tournament, and Mom (who helped with the food) had already taken all of our kids home to bed.

The New Georgia Aquarium?

Now that our company has officially been acquired, our office is getting a makeover. The color scheme is a little questionable. . . but hey, no one asked me my opinion, so I'll keep it to myself.

Some of our walls now have a lovely aqua color. It seemed to make the fish happy.

But since the fish didn't make everyone here happy, they sadly swam away.