10 Random Things for a Friday

How did I almost miss this? I've been running around all day! But here it is...just under the wire...

1. Today, Dove's parent company, Mars, is having another Real Chocolate Relief Act day. That's right - on Fridays through September, they're giving away free chocolate to the first 250,000 visitors! I JUST did it, and I wasn't too late! Give it a try (if it's still Friday in your world, that is...)
2. Simple Green has graciously offered to give one Simply Being Mommy reader a full set of natural cleaning products. You still have a couple weeks to enter, and there are lots of ways to get more entries! Go check it out :)
3. "There ain't no truck that I know that can keep in Bolt and Rhino." (I just love saying that, preferably in the same sing-song tone as Rhino...)
4. Keep your fingers crossed. I'm still hoping to hear on a job I'd really like. I applied directly at the company website, but I'm not sure if I applied for the right position. If I don't hear anything, I think I'll apply through the job search site that really spelled out what I'm looking for. I know it'll cost them money then, but they haven't called me based on the application on their site (or responded to my message asking for clarification via phone), so what can I do?
5. I also didn't get the other return call I expected today. That one's a little dicier, as it was supposed to include information from my doctor on stuff I may/should do today or tomorrow. Now there's no way I'll hear from them before Monday. Huh.
6. A big ole YAY for my friend's lasix surgery today going well! He said things are still a bit blurry, but it hasn't even been 12 hours, so I think perfection should take a few minutes ;)
7. My cat snores.
8. At this time next week, I'll be at Dove Chocolate Discoveries national conference!! Woo-hoo!!
9. Have you had Snickers ice cream bars? They are super-duper yummy. I love the slightly salty peanuts and the frozen caramelly goodness. Now my mouth is watering.
10. I failed miserably at Harriet's Comment Challenge. But I did do almost 20%, and I found lots of neat blogs along the way :)
    

Tell Me Thursday

It's Tell Me Thursday!

In this week's Wordless Wednesday, hubby is pushing Maggie on her brand new tire swing! While I was out with a friend on Tuesday night, he hooked this beauty up and showed Maggie how to use it (with our help, of course). Now whenever we're leaving the house or arriving back at home, Maggie says, "Swing. Daddy." She swings pretty darn high on that thing and loves every minute :)

Although We Don't Yet Know What to Get You....

Woo-hoo! I just wanted to send out a great big happy birthday wish to Judi at Where the Road Takes Us. If you've got a minute, stop by and drop her a note - we'll make sure she can't forget to have the best birthday yet!

Wordless Wednesday

Hump Day Post!

Yup. We're half way through yet another week. And well over half way through the year - what's up with that? By this time next week it'll be August. Crazy!

So I went to a candle party at my friend's sister's house last night. Very nice house! They had an album all put together showing how awfully '1970' the house was when they bought it and documenting the two years or so they'd spent completely gutting it - including removing and changing the roof - and rebuilding everything but the brick shell. It went from shag carpet, lots of brick, and dark wood paneling to hardwood floors, high ceilings, granite countertops and glass tile. It was a couple of original features still lasting that really stood out for me, though. In the basement were a bomb shelter (with a lock on the OUTSIDE of the door) and an incinerator built into the wall across the room from the bomb shelter. Kinda creepy, I thought...

Random Tuesday Thoughts

Well, well, well. I've been bustling around checking on free stuff and money I'm ready to earn today. For FREE Shamwow Drying Cloths, go here (sometimes the link doesn't work - try again). Thanks to Luv a Bargain for pointing that one out!

Make money filling out surveys at Mindfield Online. Earn points for your regular searches (while still getting Google results) here:

I just ordered some Homemade Cookies votives from PartyLite. Do those not totally sound delish??

I think tomorrow is the only day I don't have a bunch of plans. Maybe I'll take my old 35mm camera and my old digital camera to the eBay store and see if they can help me turn em into a few bucks instead. It kind of breaks my heart to get rid of the old 35mm, but really, who uses film anymore? Hopefully someone rich who wants to spend a lot of money on my old lonely camera.

We're on the home stretch to payday now! Knowing we're going to make it, it feels sort of exhilarating to have made it so far by not much more than my wits. I think I used to do this pretty regularly when I was single. Squeek as much out of a dollar as possible, and then try to get something else from the lint left in your pocket.

Oh, and about the monkey in my liquor cabinet? I was putting stuff together for Maggie's birthday the other day, and when I opened the cabinet where the cake decorating stuff is (which happens to share a cabinet with the liquor), I found a small plastic Rafiki (from the Lion King). I asked around a bit and figured out my husband's friend had put it there last time he visited. He figured it was better to have a monkey in the cabinet than a monkey on my back. Fair enough.

Another Award :)

Another award from Lani, with easy 'rules.' Thanks!! (btw - can one of my multi-lingual bloggy friends tell me what the small print is on the award? Thanks!)

Rules:
1) Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award and her blog link.
2) Pass the award to ten other blogs that you’ve discovered. Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

I hereby importantly and powerfully pass this award on to the following fabulous bloggers:

• Where the Road Takes Us
• Mom of 3 Girls
• Ranting Radish
• A Mom's Note
• Bugs and Snails
• Super Mommy to the Rescue
• Small Town Mommy
• All Stace, All the Time
• My Loonyverse
• The Baby in Between
  

Really? Will it EVER happen?

Organizing my office, that is. It's been a giant monkey on my back for YEARS (unlike the monkey in my liquor cabinet, which I removed shortly after I found it...).

I suppose my biggest hurdle to deal with first is deciding what sort of an 'office' I want it to be. Do I want everything out and actively used, or do I want to throw a lot of it in cardboard moving boxes on shelving units around the room. It looks tidier that way, but considerably smaller with the shelves everywhere.

I also have one of those wardrobe sort of things, with shelves in it and doors that close. It was originally to organize stuff from a previous business, and now I have my scrapbook stuff neatly laid out in piles in there. Would I be better off finding one of the nifty organizational stuff for scrapbook supplies and then using the shelves for business supplies?

Whoa. It sounds like my biggest problem is over-thinking solutions instead of just picking up all my junk. Just sayin...

Menu Plan Monday!

I'm really trying to keep things together this week, so a menu plan is going to be a necessity!

Monday: Nacho Dip at my MyMiche Bag party.
Tuesday: Kielbasa and macaroni & cheeese
Wednesday: Chicken Tacos
Thursday: Beef Stroganoff over rice
Friday: City Chicken

So it may actually vary from day to day, but these are the meals I'm getting stuff for at the store this afternoon :)

If Every Weekend Could be Like This...

What a great weekend we ended up having! If you remember, Friday I was concerned that the weather could screw up boating on Saturday, and of course I still had a ton of stuff to do to get ready for Maggie's birthday party on Sunday. It all fell into place, thank goodness!

It was raining on Saturday morning when we woke up, but we just chilled in front of the TV for a spell and waited for the skies to clear - and they did! We launched our boat just as the rest of the crew was heading out for lunch, so we were less than a half hour behind them. The staff at the restaurant took long enough to get used to our big group that we arrived just in time to place our order. I had some fabulous seafood linguine and Maggie made friends with just about everyone there.

As we headed back across the lake, hubby decided to cut some corners on our leisurely tour when we felt a few rain drops. Our timing must have been perfect, because a few raindrops were all we caught on that trip! We re-docked and hung out on the water watching everyone else and visiting with a few other boats from our group that headed in to avoid the rain. And the detail that shouldn't necessarily contribute to a successful trip but does - we didn't have a tire on the trailer blow out on the way home (this has happened TWICE within the last year..it isn't fun).

Sunday was a wee bit frantic as we wrapped up the final details, but nothing we couldn't handle (with some help from my parents, who came a bit early to set up their present). Maggie made a killing! Her friends and family sure do love her :) She loved all of her presents. It was challenging at times to take her attention from one gift to get her to open the next! We had a taco bar for lunch - I had most of the stuff ready in bowls before people got there and cooked five pounds of ground beef in the crock pot. I hope no one left hungry - we made it out with only a small bowl of salsa and a few taco shells left!

All in all, the good didn't only outshine any bad, I don't think there was much that could be construed as bad! What a great weekend to have a birthday girl :)

10 Random Things for a Friday

It would seem I'm running a little behind today!

1. I've decided (yes, this late in the game) to take Harriet's Comment Challenge. We'll see how close I can get.
2. I have been accomplishing so much this week, but still not as much as I'd like. I still need to finish cleaning the living areas and spruce up the bathroom again before the party on Sunday.
3. The prediction for rain tomorrow is up to 90%. This would definitely screw up our boating plans. Quite a bummer, since we were meeting up with a bunch of people for an annual owner's rally. Of course, I'm not sure if we're even registered, since the call I made to them on Monday was never returned...
4. I'm so proud to be sitting next to two WRAPPED presents for Maggie. See, I'm notorious for presenting gifts in plastic bags, or in some other way not wrapped...but I really want to watch my big two-year-old unwrap at her party :)
5. I hope Maggie doesn't get up at 6:30 AM again tomorrow.
6. I got bit right on the pointy part of my elbow when I was out setting up the sprinkler to water the lawn tonight. I've been taking garlic pills to discourage the little suckers...apparently not enough to work yet.
7. I'm hungry. How is that possible?
8. Which reminds me...the free dinner tonight was very yummy! Surprisingly so, for a frozen dinner...I'd recommend em.
9. Only 13 days until Dove Chocolate Discoveries National Conference! Are you ready for some sweeties, Parippany, NJ?
10. My mom and one of my close friends are both finally coming home this weekend - yay!!
    

Lucky Duck!

After this week starting out like sheer hell, things are finally falling into place like they usually do. "George just lucky, I guess." (from George of the Jungle)

I'm doing a lot of financial magic this week - selling things we don't need - to get everything together for Maggie's family birthday party this weekend. While I was focusing on that, I noticed this afternoon that I would be making tonight's dinner from: one hot dog, four bites of kielbasa, a few tablespoons of pulled pork and about a quarter cup of chicken flavored stove top stuffing. Yum?

Luckily the man in brown came to my rescue. The doorbell rang and it was our friendly UPS guy with a delivery for me! Last week I'd taken a survey on MySurvey.com about Wanchai Ferry frozen dinners for two. I said they looked appealing and I'd be willing to sample one and complete a more thorough survey. You see where this is going? We're having Wanchai Ferry Orange Chicken for dinner tonight! And the timing is just perfect - one less thing to worry about while I get the rest of my ducks in a row!

Another Giveaway!

That's right! Check it out here. The Apron Goddesses are giving away a dress from Shabby Apple. There's also a discount available if you can't wait to win :)

I'm not sure how long the contest lasts - so hurry on over there!

Happy Birthday Maggie!

Wow. Our baby is TWO today (at 7:20 ET tonight, to be specific...)! I can't remember life without her, yet it seems like she was born just yesterday.

Oddly enough, a couple weeks ago she started randomly singing, "Happy birthday to you," whenever someone lit a candle. We finally figured out the last time she heard it was July 5. Her timing is perfect. She still won't answer, "Two," when you ask her how old she'll be, and I'm not sure if she'll dig people actually singing happy birthday to her. I've been trying it from time to time, and she always interrupts with, "No. No."

Maggie's favorites lately include apple juice (although she'll call any liquid in her sippy cup apple juice), the movie Bolt (but Daddy and I have been encouraging her interest in other movies after having watched Bolt approximately a million and two times), her toy phones, and telling us, "That tickles," when we try to tickle her. Well, of course it does! She likes running around naked (don't all kids?), and walks up to me to say, "Knees, knees," when I'm getting ready in the morning. What she means is that she wants lotion on her legs, just like mommy. She also likes being tickled with my make-up brushes. We may end up with a girly-girl on our hands!

She's becoming less of a fan of having her diaper changed again, but still not interested in using the potty. She's also stopped eating garlic hummus by the handfuls, but I'm not sure that's a bad thing. Her favorite meat continues to be 'taco' (as in seasoned ground beef). Maggie's teeth-brushing skills are also improving, but she shows Daddy much better than Mommy.

There are literally a million things I want to remember about our little two-year-old. She's truly a joy and the love of our lives.

(Nearly) Wordless Wednesday

Me, two years ago :)

An Award for Me :)

I got an award (actually two awards!) from Lani. I'm going to split them up and just pass one along today, with the other to follow later in the week.



1. “The Honest Scrap” award is not one to hold all to yourself but it must be shared!
2. First, the recipient has to tell 10 true things about themself in their blog that no one else knows.
3. Second, the recipient has to pass along this prestigious award to 10 more bloggers.
4. Third, those 10 bloggers all have to be notified they have been given with this award.
5. The 10 bloggers who receive this award should link back to the blog that awarded them “The Honest Scrap’ award.

Okay...ten things no one knows about me? This is tough. I don't really keep secrets about myself.

1. I actually used to prefer sweet, sugary candy (read: Nerds or Sweettarts) to chocolate...but now I've gotten sort of hooked on Dove chocolate. Go figure.
2. One of my top-secret things that I'd love to buy for myself someday would be a blog redesign.
3. Like I said, I may not have ten secrets...
4. I accidentally laughed the other day when Maggie said, "Well, shit," right after I did. She'd gotten out of the bathtub while I'd stepped into the hall and then she ran past me.
5. I really look forward to being able to take pain killers once Maggie is done nursing. But honestly, I'm not rushing her weaning either.
6. I still, someday, would like to have something I wrote published on paper. I know it's old-school and everyone reads the internet now, which would make me a (self) published author, but I have higher standards than that...
7. I let being a 'stay at home mom' (or even when I had a home job, a work at home mom) make me feel less worthy. I'm working on that.
8. I love the smell of fresh cut grass, but I don't cut the grass at our house. I do the inside, he does the outside.
9. I still have awards I earned at previous jobs. I'm sentimental like that.
10. I have a lot of liberal social beliefs, but they're usually intended to apply to the rights of other people. I'm pretty darn traditional for myself.

And now, to pass it on to ten more bloggers:

1. Subjective Soup
2. Crazy Mom with 4 Boys
3. Filipina Work at Home Amateur
4. A Work of Heart
5. Organized Chaos
6. Two Lines on a Stick
7. Mom of 2...(taking it one day at a time)
8. Masonmania
9. J. Leigh Designz
10. Simply Being Mommy
    

Random Tuesday Thoughts

Is it possible I'm really not having any thoughts today?

I think mom-brain has really settled in. There's a lot more 'memes' here than there used to be. I seem to be lacking in the 'original ideas' department :(

Maggie's two-year well-baby visit went well yesterday. She got her fourth vaccine, still with no crying at all. I'm not sure if I hope she gets my current pain tolerance or not. When I was a kid, I spent all day in a lawn chair after getting vaccines because it hurt so bad. Nowadays I just do what needs to be done. I'm not sure how I'd rather Maggie be...

I hate waiting for phone calls to be returned. Two people were supposed to call me back today and haven't so far. I know there's still time left...

I'm trying to get excited about Dove Chocolate Discoveries National Conference, but I have to make it through the next two weeks first. Ugh. Every day lately when I think it can't get worse, it does. I'm not sure what I've done so karmic-ly wrong...

My new hair cut looks totally unacceptable when it isn't styled. Today? I just couldn't do my hair. So I look awful. Oh well. That's what the computer is for, right? I can say I'm a 20-something super-model and you can't prove me wrong.. :P

Monday Crazy Questions

1.what is one thing that will put a great big ole smile on your face? Maggie. Without a doubt. Her latest is that she'll come in the room, say, "Boo. Did I scare you?" She cracks me up every time.

2.You're walking down the street toward a very familiar face. As you get closer you realize you do not remember this persons name at all. Do you speak with the chance that they'll want to stop and chat or do you pretend that you don't see the person? I don't 'pretend I don't see them,' per se, but I just keep walking...if they say something, great.

3. Are you the Rock or the sponge of your household? Yes. I absorb all the emotion, but I'm really only 'allowed' to be upbeat and positive for my daughter's sake. So I suppose I'm her rock, but also a sponge in general...

4. You have gone over to a friends for dinner. You look down at your plate and notice a great big ole hair hanging out from inside your sandwich. What do you do? Depends on how good of friends they are...Good friends I'd probably make a joke about it. People I just have to be nice to, I'd try to pull it out and eat around that spot...

5. If you HAD to name one....who would you say is your role model? Scarlett O'Hara. "I'll worry about that tomorrow."

6. Have you raised children? if so do you think your parenting skills were top notch or could have used a little help from Dr Phil?
I'm a parent of an almost two-year-old (only a few days left til she's two!). I don't think I'm doing too bad. There seem to be some pretty severe freak shows on Dr. Phil.

7. would your -(Past or present)- mate/spouse, significant other/whatever -say that living with you has been like a gentle breeze or more like a hurricane? I'd guess usually a gentle breeze. I hate conflict.

8. When you shop at the grocery store, do you always shop exactly by a list or just go helter skelter and hope that you get home with most of what you need? Usually helter skelter...

Nekkid?

Saw this over at Amazingly Me. Good information to have ;)

This quiz was provided by

Merchandize Liquidators

a Wholesale Clothing Company

10 Random Things for a Friday

1. I was almost in bed just now, til I remembered there are baby clothes in the washer waiting to be re-rinsed and moved to the dryer. So now I've got a few minutes to kill. Lucky you. :P
2. I finished the HUGE jawbreaker sucker that my husband brought back for me from his last trip to Vegas. There was a little bit of bubble gum at the very inside. Surprise, surprise.
3. We don't have any family activities planned this weekend! I'll try and schedule Maggie's two-year pictures for Sunday morning before her nap.
   
4. Hubby and his dad are working on the boat and/or trailer again tomorrow (I think it's actually the trailer brakes). I didn't get anything out to thaw for dinner tomorrow yet because I can't imagine eating. My tongue is totally raw. See #2.
5. One bathroom got cleaned today while I had free use of a 'mother's helper' (girl across the street to entertain Maggie for a spell...). The other bathroom is still sadly coated in hairspray. Ew.
6. While I've made jumps and starts at cleaning the office, it still needs some definite dedicated time. I think I may have the 'mother's helper' back next week so I can try and focus my energies here....
7. Next week may be lonely! My mom and my closest mommy-friend are on vacation at the same time! Oh noes!
8. This is Maggie's last weekend being one! She turns two next Thursday. Today she was singing Happy Birthday to You, and I have no idea where she picked it up from...
9. I have the song from Bolt ("there is no home like the one you've got, cuz that home belongs to you...") stuck in my head. Again. The fact that we've watched Bolt like 347 times this week probably doesn't help. Maybe the song isn't stuck in my head and the movie is still replaying in my living room.
10. The washer just finally finished rinsing, so I can go move the dryer-safe stuff to the dryer, hang up the other few things, and go to bed. Good night!
    

Free Chocolate?

Well, of course! In my job as a Dove Chocolate Discoveries chocolatier, I get to give away free chocolate all the time!

Today, Dove's parent company, Mars, is having another Real Chocolate Relief Act day. That's right - on Fridays through September, they're giving away free chocolate to the first 250,000 visitors! Go now!

Tell Me Thursday

It's Tell Me Thursday!

Yesterday's Wordless Wednesday picture was just taken last night! After her bath, Maggie put on her new duckie pajamas and climbed up on the couch, next to her dad, and into her chair to watch Bolt for like the 50th time so far this week. She loves her time with her daddy, and he loves spending time with her after a long day at the office.

Wordless Wednesday

Random Tuesday Thoughts

Out of the totally unrelated movies we've seen lately, I like them in the following order (best to worst): Seven Pounds, Slumdog Millionaire, Paul Blart: Mall Cop, Taken.

I'm going to my first MyMiche Bag party tonight. Since I'm broke as a joke right now, I'll book my own show so I can hopefully get a bag for free for my show instead of spending money to get one :)

I'm so proud of my little girl lately. She's growing up so fast! Yesterday as we walked into Applebees, a couple of older gentlemen held the door for us. Maggie walked in like she owned the place and said, "Thank you." Unfortunately, they couldn't understand her, but my heart swelled with pride anyway :)

I'm afraid I may be allergic to the PartyLite scent I got the most of with all my free spending from my show last week. I got the orders in yesterday and have had a headache ever since. I'm still hoping it's just a coincidence.

Crap. Maggie has only been down for her nap for a little over a half hour and hasn't fallen to sleep yet. Now I hear, "Where are you, mommy?" Please go to sleep, child, so we can have a pleasant afternoon....

Monday Crazy Questions

Found this over at Laane on the World. Originating from Monday Crazy Questions, here they are!

1. Do you have a tattoo...?? if so What and where is it??
if not do you have a secret desire to have one?
I have three tattoos. A sun and a moon on opposite sides of my hips, and a daisy colored in like the American flag on my right ankle.

2. You have been offered a free botox treatment...where do you have them put it?
No thanks!

3. Do you have a good luck charm? what is it?
Do you think it works?
Not really. I try to make my own luck by being prepared and willing to work for what I want!

4. When was the last time that you said something to someone that you REALLY wished you hadn't said?
Mostly just when I yell at Maggie, which really isn't very often. I feel bad every time.

5. The bath water is running, the phone is ringing, the dog is barking and there is someone at the door.....what do you do?
Continue running my bath, maybe check the caller ID and decide to answer. Ignore the door and make a note to myself to call animal control about the barking - we don't have a dog!


6. Your best friend from high school just popped in from out of town. Do you offer them a place to stay or suggest a hotel?
I have a totally inappropriate sense of humor, I know, and I'm sort of chuckling right now. I'd be kind of freaked out if my best friend from high school 'popped in'. She's dead.


7. Have you ever seen a ghost?
Yup. From number six. So I guess I'd have to say I didn't suggest a hotel ;)


8. Someone is driving in front of you rather erratically and slowing you way down...now you see that they are talking on a cell phone and checking themselves out in the mirror. The other lane is blocked off so you can not go around them. What do you do??
I slow way down and give them lots of room. I don't want them to take me with them when they crash.

Unconscious Mutterings

Unconscious Mutterings sound simple and right up my alley! They give a muttering word, I'll give my first response. Here goes:

1. Sister ::
No

2. Talks ::
Constantly

3. Electric! ::
Car

4. Corner ::
Shop

5. Turnstile ::
Gary

6. Swap ::
Tree

7. Young ::
Puppy

8. Horrific ::
Accident

9. Block ::
Color

10. Wind ::
Breeze

Exactly One Year Later

Every year, we try to get together with all of local boating friends on July 5th to celebrate our friend Tom's birthday. The birthday celebration is really a moot point, it's more of an excuse to get everyone together at the same place on the same day.

If you remember, we were out on the water for Tom's birthday last year. This is when we had the adorable little purple car/boat for Maggie to play in. Fast forward exactly 365 days and we found ourselves in (almost) the exact same location with the exact same car/boat and the exact same kid, only a little bigger now.

Maggie in her car/boat 2008:


Maggie in her car / boat 2009:


All in all, we had a great time on the water. Maggie was a hit and brought smiles to everyone’s faces. Hubby and I got a little too much sun, but Maggie was well protected with her SPF 1,000,000 and faired her day out in the sun very well.

It's a Good Idea!

I got this from Home of Good Ideas while I was out dropping eCards this afternoon...

Blogging is really fun, but it's even more fun having people browsing your post. I want to share some simple strategy to generate traffic.

Bloggers in some ways do direct audience to their site by joining forums, commenting on others' posts, leaving comments in chat widgets, join traffic exchange programs, and even others pay for traffic. Spending so much time blog hopping is exhaustive so people find ways to lessen the load.

Why not try this sort of chain links. If followed seriously it exponentially increases the number of back links to your site. Here's how:

1. Try to make a post just like this one and mention this process.


2. From the list of blog sites below remove the number 1 and move the rest in the list 1 step higher (i. e number 2 becomes number 1, and so on). Add your blog name in the 5th position. Don't forget to copy the links. (Here's my list-my site added in the end)
1. DOST Biliran PSTC
   
2. Christmas Ring
3. EV Tourism Portal
4. Home of good ideas
5. Harmony In Motion
   


3. List at most five of your friends blogsite here with link and inform them of this post and ask them to do the same. Here's my friends:


1. ABC...West
2. Carolyn's Lost Sanity
3. Where the Road Takes Us
4. The Adventures of Grunty and Chubbs
5. Mom of 3 Girls

Good luck guys!

10 Random Things for a Friday

1. We're going to story time this morning at a local library!
2. Have you seen Bolt? Maggie's very favorite part is where Bolt tries to jump over the torn up sidewalk and misses, only to end up with a construction cone stuck to his head. Yeah. She's going to be compassionate like me.
   
3. I should have gotten more new shorts when I went shopping a couple weeks ago. Darn child-bearing hips.
4. I love our new curbside recycling because it helps us generate so much less trash!
5. While there has been some progress in cleaning the office, there's still plenty of room for improvement. My main method of cleaning is puttering. You know, where you sort of see something that looks interesting, stop what you're doing to pick it up, then find a place for it and get back to what you were doing before (at least until distracted again...).
6. Maggie was super clean when I got her up this morning, since she just had a bath last night. Then I got the tangles out of her hair while she watched some Monsters, Inc. Now? She's been in the high chair alone with a cup of yogurt for ten minutes...what was I thinking?
7. I'm really, really hoping Maggie sleeps in later than 7:00 AM tomorrow when no one else is moving around to wake her up. She used to sleep til at least 8, but since hubby has gone back to work, she hears him getting ready and wants to 'help.'
8. I have a big fat ZERO appetite lately. And the heat isn't at all like it was, so I don't know why I don't feel like eating. Nothing sounds good.
9. I still have three July dates left to give away DOUBLE hostess credits for Dove chocolate. July 17, July 23 and July 27. Anyone ready for a good time?
10. Less than a month til Dove chocolate conference for chocolatiers!!
    

Tell Me Thursday

What a fantastic idea! Today while dropping my eCards, I came across a Tell Me Thursday post on Brimful Curiosities. Finally - a chance to spurt out the story behind my Wordless Wednesday post!

Hubby had a couple of comp days after a business trip last week, so he took Monday and Tuesday of this week off. On Tuesday we headed to the Kensington Metro-Park to poke around at the farm center. Maggie was not a big fan of the 'big' animals like the full-grown cows or horses, but she really liked this sheep. He (or she) didn't seem to mind Maggie much either :)

Wordless Wednesday

Random Tuesday Thoughts

Finally finished closing out my PartyLite show with my friend Colette. I think I used the holiday weekend as a reason to procrastinate a bit, then I was just too beat yesterday to do anything (self-inflicted...I was tired and sunburned from being on the boat all day Sunday...). But it's done, and really? Only the second business day after it was possible at all.

Hubby goes back to work tomorrow. I think that's why he's been a bit cranky today. It totally sucks to waste a day of vacation worrying about going back to work. For everyone.

I'm really, really appreciating the time to myself after the baby goes to bed, now that I don't have to get to work at that point. Unfortunately, I'm also already feeling the hit to my pocketbook. But worrying about something I can't actually do anything about would be a waste of my energies, right?

Ahh...but I can do something about the lack of cash flow. Want to book a Dove chocolate show? I need to get on the phone this week and book em up! And July is offering DOUBLE hostess credits - yay!!

A Few Minutes of 'Me' Time

That's what I'll call this. We were all out for a walk (Hubby, Uncle Bunny, me and Maggie), but my toes are super squished in my cheapo tennies, so I headed back while they continued walking (or strolling, in Maggie's case). Maybe if I had some Dansko shoes or something, but no biggie. I figure I go walking on a billion different short trips with the shortest member of our family - I get plenty of walking exercise.

So while I get a little less exercise right now and a few less minutes of watching the cuteness Maggie spouts out regularly, I do have a couple extra minutes of 'me' time. Although I hear the hose running on the outside of the house, so I'm not sure what my clean up cost might be ;)

To-Do List, Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Well, I already got sucked into the computer longer than I was supposed to...the baby is down for her nap, and I have a nice long list to finish before my mom comes to watch her so I can go get my hair done (yay!)

• Change the sheets on the bed
• Put the laundry in the washer into the dryer
• Bring in the recycle bin from the curb (did they ever even come to empty it yesterday?)
• Wash off the carseat from the ice cream cone she ate there yesterday
• Make nacho dip for tonight
• Make brownies for tonight
• Switch fresh dishclothes/towels into the kitchen
• Pick up Maggie's toys from the living room
  

Wordless Wednesday