Monday's craft

So Anna has "school" twice a week, from 8:30 to 2:00 (supposed to be 2:30 but I don't want her to be the last child picked up, so I'm always early). Sometimes, I use that time to run a couple of errands or clean the house without having her make a mess right behind me. But dang, the time goes by super quick! It's gotta be run errands OR clean OR do something crafty because before I know it, it's time to pick her up and she's fresh from a nap and ready to catch up on what she's missed at home.

Ready to go to "school"

So this Monday, I decided to do something crafty. Oh, and me and MJ did finally watch Due Date. Hiii-larious. Good stuff. When did Robert Downey, Jr. get so handsome? Anyway, I don't remember where I saw this idea. I'm sure it was on the web (or maybe in a catalog??) but when I find it again, I'll post credits.

For the hubby:

And my side of the bed:

I really had to zone myself in on this one (during commercial breaks of The Real Housewives of OC). It required a steady hand for the font I chose. If you are interested, here's how I did it:

*I used the lampshades we already had, red acrylic paint and a stiff/short bristled paintbrush.
*Picked out a font I liked printed out the letters I needed (this took a bit of trial and error trying to get the right sizes and proportions for my shade. I used the Garamond font, sizes 400 and 250).
*Taped the letters, one at a time, to the inside of the shade (centered it by eye; didn't measure but you could if you need to).
*I was by my sunny window in the den so I had no trouble seeing the outline of the letter to paint by. You could paint it while it's on the lamp with the lamp on to help with the outline.
*The tricky part, to me, was having the right brush and working the paint into the shade, instead of just brushing it on. My lampshade has the texture of an unglazed canvas and the paint wanted to bleed a little bit. I found I got cleaner lines if I used minimal paint and worked it in (you know, plant the brush down and kinda wiggle it back and forth). I had to go over a few spots to get enough color, but the lines turned out sharper.
*Just keep repeating with each letter!

This little craft took me maybe an hour, from start to finish. And it was free. Not a bad way to spruce up a room, eh?

Bipolar weekend and my first attmept to post pics

Our weekend started off with a bang... a few tantrums by the little Miss....Nothing unusual. We all survived unscathed.  Saturday was spent o-u-t-s-i-d-e. Might have even got a little color on my cheeks. The sunshine was ah-may-zing. And our fab East Texas humidity hasn't reared it's head yet so it was a delightfully dry 80-ish degrees.  Outside....definately my favorite place. Anna doesn't require near the supervison as last year ("Noooo, don't touch that dead wasp" or constant "Be carefuls" and "Let me help yous"). Which means, I can catch up on my New York Times crosswords app, play in the dirt (getting the beds ready for planting) and maybe read a few e-mails. I don't dare try reading one of the five books I am in the middle of... she apparently interprets that as me saying, "I am so bored my sweet child that I allow myself to try to finish a grown-up book... puh-leeeze let me help you find more dandelions to scatter in the yard."

Here are my current selections:

An absolute classic, in my opinion, and I'm not even done reading it yet. I love the Ms. Angelou's raw viewpoint of the South and trying times. She's about the same age as my Grandfather and the contrast between the two lives is astonishing... but in some ways they are so similar.

This one makes me feels smarter. It's about the history of cancer... the entire history. Starting from when Jesus was a boy. No, actually, from waaay before then. No kidding. I have pages dog-eared for future topics to read up on (Go me!).  It's fascinating, uses big medical words (that I know) and I read hours at a time when I crack this one open.... but because it's eleventy billion pages long, I still haven't finished it.

An easy read my Momma passed on to me. Written as tongue-in-cheek guidebook for us Southern Girls. Funny stories and yummy recipes thrown in. There's even a quote from a lady in my hometown... "Never leave the house without lipstick" (I don't know her, but I love a shout out to my town).

HUSH! There are too words in this book!! And the pictures are sooo pretty. The clothes in SATC2 were over the big top. I thought they kinda got carried away with the fashion (blasphemy, I know, but really.... how can you pack alllll of those hats and accessories and shoes and clothes for that trip?). I think that's what drew so many of us "normal" girls to Carrie and her crew... sure, they have more clothes than a Vogue closet but it was fun to see one of them wearing something we could try to duplicate. This BOOK goes through every detail of Carrie's outfits and tell why each was chosen (and where to buy. Ha. Freakin. Ha.). I get a little contact high when I flip through the pages. And the pictures are sooo pretty.

While this book isn't as current as I would like it to be, it's devine for showing me how far Nurses and the profession have come. It's written about a real RN and explains many ar situations I've been in. I find myself skipping over scenarios that don't interest me . Everything is explained in great detail, making it kinda wordy at times. But it's a good read for Nurses.

Dang it, if I wasn't so excited about this blog, I could've read something :)


Sunday, was the opposite of Saturday in every sense of the word.  The weather did a 180 and temps didn't get to 60.  Boo hiss.  Me, the Mr and a well-behaved Anna went to the "make-up store" (Ulta), pet store (for entertainment only), and Target (our mecca and Anna's first word.  No joke.).  Did lunch at Dickey's BBQ.  Left before Anna could even get that tantrum into full swing (Ha Ha!! I'm reading your cues, Miss Priss!).  Spent the rest of the day in the house mostly playing hide and seek, Anna's favorite game.

Have a blessed Monday!  I'm off work and Anna is in "school" tomorrow... nanny nanny boo boo!!

Act 1

Well, well.... starting a new blog (my first blog, for that matter) isn't as easy as I thought.  For months I've been contemplating it.... will people actually read it? Am I interesting? What the hell would I talk about? And throughout the busy days in those few months, I have found myself saying, "Self, this here is hilarious.  This would make a great blog entry."  But now that I sit down, committed to this bloggy... I can't for the life of me remember any of those captivating topics. 

Go figure.

I guess I could talk about how bummed I was that I didn't get to see my long time friend this past week.  She lives waaay too far away, but her parents are still here and she was in town with her toddler and new baby boy.  Our schedules just didn't click... between me dealing with my toddler in her manic bi-polar state terrible twos, my work schedule and her filling up on Q.T. with her precious family (which I completely understand), things just didn't work out.  And I miss her so.
What I don't want to talk about is how grateful I was to see her dad this afternoon returning that clothes she had borrowed from me. 

Maternity clothes.

Whoooaaa Nelly... don't go running away with that little nugget of a statement.  I was secretly glad to see him because, you see.... I am still holding onto that "Oh it's just baby weight" (and I am trying hard not to try on just a few of the smaller sized tops and bask in their billowiness and wonder if they look non-maternity enough to wear now).  When I know damn well it isn't still baby weight.  Anna (my peach) is two and a half freaking years old.  Granted, I gained over 60 pounds during my pregnancy.  Shut up.  She was a fairly large baby (8 lbs, 4 ozs) and "my body doesn't like pregnancy", to quote my fab doctor, who I am eternally in debted to for leaving me with such a miniscule cesarean scar... which really doesn't matter becaaaause....

I am coming to terms that a bikini will not be in my future.  Short-term or long-term.  Although, I do fantasize about being that Grandma who drinks icy cocktails and takes long draws off her Pal-Mals while gettin my tan on poolside.  Pausing only to look over the top of my blue-blocker sunglasses to glance at the clock and make sure it's not time for my story (soap opera).  Nah, not really.... the only inage that comes to mind is that shriveled lady from "Something About Mary".  She did seem to have it kinda good, though. 

Back to the topic at hand...
My pregnancy journey is a whole other blog filled with pain and awe and ultimately, blessy bless blessedness.  Except for what is left of my body.  I don't obsess over it.  The only time I even really notice it is when my muffin top effs up whatever shirt I'm considering wearing.  Remember the Seinfield episode where Elaine swears that the muffin top is the only good part of the muffin?  Um, no ma'am....The muffin top es no bueno in my instance.  I'm not out of shape.  I can keep up with Anna all day, erryday (but I so cherish a nap) and I can run a mile in under 13 minutes (I don't know if that's decent or not.  I just know that I don't pass out afterwards so it's an accomplishment for me).  But my midsection bits just aren't coming together like they used to.  In the olden days, I could just not eat much for a few days and drop a few pounds.  Magic.  Or hammer down at the track and slim down even faster.  Magic.  The problem now is, I have to eat throughout the day and I can't work out as much as I should.  Once or twice a week is all I can seem to muster.  Our gym is super convenient (less than two miles) and well-equipped (har har) but there are a million things I could be doing while I'm on the treadmill.  And don't get me started on the twinges of guilt at leaving my baby at her spry great-grandmother's house (who conveniently lives one mile from us and frequently asks if there are any errrands I need to run so she can fill Anna up on cornbread and banana popsicles watch Anna). 

I guess what it comes down to is, I'm gonna have to carve a little more gym time for myself.  Let Anna indulge in carbs and sugar at her Grammy and Pop's.  And maybe I'll get the magic back in me.