Fill In The Blanks

On SRSLYLIZ, Liz created a list of some of her favorite things.  I decided to be a copycat today and do the same, because what is more then that sharing with random people around the world.  So here are a few of my favorite things.  If you want to play along here is the format from SRSLYLIZ:

Want to play along? Copy & paste the prompts below, answer each with a photo and a description if you like and leave a comment here with a link to your post so I can read your favorites. Fun!
1. Favorite hobby?
2. Favorite tv show?
3. Favorite restaurant food?
4. Favorite thing to shop for?
5. Favorite animal?
6. Favorite song?
7. Favorite word?
8. Recent favorite YouTube video?
9. Favorite movie?
10. Favorite childhood memory?


1. Favorite hobby?
My favorite hobby these days is reading: reading blogs in my Google Reader, reading books when I have time, reading magazines.  

2. Favorite tv show?
Hands down favorite show is NCIS, and I will stop everything to watch this show.  I love the cast and how the characters interact together.   I like how they solve a mystery per episode like CSI, but they manage to tie the whole season together so they are not just random mysteries each week. 

3. Favorite restaurant food?
I love breakfast foods and my favorite breakfast is blueberry pancakes.  There is no way I could have blueberry pancakes too often.  Yum!  When I make pancakes at home they turn out too thin to add blueberries to the batter.  So I reserve blueberry pancakes for going out to breakfast, which we do once every weekend.  It is our little tradition.  There is a local place that knows us and our orders by heart (sad and totally awesome at the same time.)

4. Favorite thing to shop for?
Books, Books, and more BOOKS!  We have a wellness program through work, and if you complete certain tasks like getting an annual physical, health risk assessments, working out regularly, etc. you get bonuses in the form of gift cards.  I always end up picking an Amazon gift card and use it to buy more books.  Right now I have about 8 books on the shelf I haven't read yet and I want more.  It is an addiction and I am not the least bit sorry about being an addict.  

5. Favorite animal?
Giraffes!  They are just so cute!  I have this print of a mama giraffe kissing her baby's head, and when I had my son I hung it in his room and based the whole room decor around giraffes.  The poor kid is probably going to end up hating giraffes but I don't care because his room is adorable and I love it.

6. Favorite song?
I have lots of favorite songs from various bands, but the one song that I really love from my heart is Pachelbel's Canon in D.  Yeah, I know it is a wedding song and all, but it really doesn't matter.  When those violins begin playing together it does something to me, and it feels a lot like falling in love. 

7. Favorite word?
I say "awesome" all the time!  Just ask my son, who started repeating me one day.  Every time he would do something, like build a block tower, I would say "awesome" and now he congratulates himself whenever he builds something by clapping and saying "awesome."   He sure is an awesome little kid.

8. Recent favorite youtube video?

My favorite YouTube videos are from Pomplamoose, and I think their best is the cover of Single Ladies.  I love it and it makes me smile.  Check out some of their other songs, because Pomplamoose is awesome. (Yeah I just said it again!)


9. Favorite movie?
I love movies so it was hard to pick just one favorite, but I had to go with Bride & Prejudice.   It is a fun Bollywood musical based on Pride and Prejudice.  The songs are so much fun to sing along with, and I am totally in love with all the colors of India.  Those saris are so beautiful and I would totally wear one if I could afford to get one.  I think I would want my sari to be yellow and orange. 

10. Favorite childhood memory?
Playing outside with all the other kids from the block.  We would ride our bikes up and down the suburban street, and play at each others houses.  I think that some summers we were outside the whole day from dawn until dusk.  It was awesome.

Want to Buy a Van?

We spotted this lovely ride for sale tonight.  All it is missing is a "free candy" sign on the side. (Excuse the poor pictures, they were taken with a camera phone.)

The driver's side - the gas cap was labeled "gas hole"

The back and hood both say "Cat Scratch Fever"

Passenger side, the side we could see from the road that made us stop for a closer look. 

A little glimse of the interior.  Yeah that is a chain steering wheel and long fur upholstery.  Classy!

Roar!

Are You Kidding Me?

Twenty-four Tuesdays a year my show is on.  NCIS is my favorite show and haven't missed an episode since I started watching at the end of season one.

Tonight was NCIS night.  I gave Ian a bath before and got him all ready for bed, and set him to the living room to wind down with his Daddy, who would then put him to bed, while I watched NCIS in my bedroom.

A short while later Chris comes to the bedroom door with a dumbfounded look on his face.  I was instantly worried something happened.  After, first telling me everything was fine he explained what happened.

He asked Ian if he was ready for bed, and Ian shook his head no.  So Chris told him he thought he should be heading to bed now.

Ian then calmly walked down the hallway, opened his bedroom door and waited inside for his Daddy to catch up.  When Chris got into Ian's room, he told Ian to get into bed.  Ian climbed into bed and started to suck his thumb, so Chris said good night can closed the door.

We haven't heard a peep from his since.

Are you kidding me?

It usually takes me quite a while to get him to stay in bed!  Hand holding. A few times through singing "You Are My Sunshine." Ahhh...

How do Daddy's work magic like this?

Who Do You Call?

Yesterday a Twitter/Blog friend of mine C. Beth tweeted a little rundown of her day "Boot camp, call to Poison Control, McDonald's, nap time...just a normal day in our household! (Zoodle is fine-he got into the vitamins.)"  

Her son "Zoodle" was thankfully fine but a situation like this is a real reminder to parents to be prepared!  When you have kids you never know what is going to happen, or what they are going to do.

When Ian was born I was worried about everything, like most first time parents are.  The best way I knew to calm my fears was to be prepared.  I took an infant CPR class, read the "What to Expect" books, and programmed important numbers in my cell phone.  One of those numbers was Poison Control 800-222-1222.  That was one number I didn't want to have to look up when I needed it the most.  


A few other numbers I programmed into my cell phone for emergencies are:
Our neighbors - They have a basement to take shelter in during a tornado, we don't!  We might not be chummy with our neighbors but I am not above begging to stay in their basement with my son if need be.
Pediatrician - For appointments or questions, they are always there.  Literally, they have a 24 hour on call service to put you in touch with a doctor any time of the night.  I have called, many times!
Tow Truck Company - I have no plans to get stranded anywhere with my son thank you very much.
Taxi Company - see above.
Day Care - Besides watching my son while I am at work, she is a great resource for kid related questions as she has dealt with kids for more than two decades.

What do you do to feel prepared for anything? Who do you have programmed in your cell phone in case of emergency?

You know, it probably wouldn't hurt for you to program the number to Poison Control in your phone as well.  I am sure there is plenty of room in your contacts list!

POISON CONTROL 800-222-1222

Harmony

A post today by Call Me Cate of Show My Face on Equality and Independence has me thinking a lot about my own relationship with my husband.  Cate's post talks about having equal "me" time and equal contribution on household tasks.  When I think about it, that balance and independence is really the key to making a happy relationship.  At least it is the key for my husband and I.

My husband, Chris, and I have been married for almost eight years (on June 2.)  We tend to not fight very often, if at all.  Yeah, we do get irritated with each other on occasion.  (Who doesn't have a bad day now and then?)  However, for some reason we manage to allow each other the room to be ourselves, but together.  We often marvel at how we manage to still want to be together though we like so many different things, but I think it is that difference that keeps us together. 

We have a healthy does of independent time; doing the thinks that we enjoy separately.  In fact a majority of our time is spent doing the things we each enjoy.  I read and enjoy movies while Chris likes his video games and hockey.  That alone time seems to make our together time more precious and keeps us just far enough apart to not get sick of each other.  It is a balance we came to naturally at first, by some miracle, and I hope we can work to maintain it forever.

On Sunday morning we had the longest to-do list of chores that needed to get done.  I decided to drag myself away from playing with Ian to get started, dreading that it would take most of the day to complete my tasks.  It wasn't long before I noticed that Chris was working on chores also.  He took it upon himself to pick something off the list and get going.  Working together we got that list done before lunch.  It was beautiful, and gave us the whole rainy afternoon to enjoy. 

The harmony of together and apart; it is what makes my relationship work. 

Thank you Cate for the reminder.

The Ian Hour

Somehow 4am has turned into the magical hour in our household. 

It seems that every single night I end up waking up at 4am for some reason or another.

Last night that reason was my son Ian.  You, see for the first time he got up out of his bed quietly and came into my room and woke me.  He wanted to come and snuggle in bed with his Daddy and me. 

I was shocked that he just got up, wandered through the dark, and came quietly into our room.  Usually when Ian would wake up he calls out to me in some way, but he usually stays in his bed until I come to check on him.

I think that might be over.

He is getting to be so big and brave. 

I Win

I won a pair of earrings!  It was a great pick me up for a crummy time (work changes).  I want to thank Breanna from Adore Design Studio for picking me in her giveaway, and Eva from dEvadesign for letting me pick out what earrings I wanted from her shop.  I love them!

(My hair looks funny in this picture.  It is longer than that; I have it tucked behind my ear.)

Ma'am

Excuse me Ma'am, are you offended when someone calls you Ma'am?

Today at Dooce the featured community question was "When do you think it is appropriate to call a woman Ma'am?"  It got me to thinking about why so many women are offended and actually correct people who call them Ma'am. 

If you look up ma'am in most dictionaries it is simply defined as "madam."  However, I was able to find a more detailed definition at Webster-dictionary.net.  "Ma'am: n. 1. Madam; my lady; - a colloquial contraction of madam often used in direct address, and sometimes as and appellation."

Please note that the definition does not in ANY WAY imply age. 

So why do so many women find Ma'am so offensive, and act as if they were being called "old lady" when someone calls them Ma'am?  At what point was an age assigned to this term?

(It would be something very interesting to research.)

I think that the use of Sir and Ma'am are signs of respect no matter the age of the person to which you are referring.

So if you are one of the women who take offense to being called Ma'am, please do me a favor.  The next time you plan to correct someone for calling you Ma'am think for a moment. What about Ma'am bothers you?  When do you think Ma'am took on an age?  What age do you think Ma'am becomes appropriate?  Enlighten me.

YumYum A GoGo

Me: Ian do you want a banana?

Ian: [He shakes his head side to side indicating to me that he does not feel like that banana.]

Me: Would you eat this mango if I cut it up?

Ian: [He looks at the mango with his head tilted to one side, clearly thinking about it.  Then he shakes his head quickly from side to side.]

Me: How about a snack cup of cereal?

Ian: [Frustratedly shakes his head violently from side to side while scowling at me.]

Me: [opening the cupboard and taking out a pouch] Ian do you want a pouch of GoGo squeeZ applesauce?

Ian: [slowly shaking his head up and down Ian snatches the pouch from my hand and sucks it down.]

I find it so difficult some days to get my son to eat good foods.  All he ever seems to beg for are snack foods, and he always wants them to be something he can take on the go because sitting still to a 20 month old is just not happening.

Recently a company started following me on Twitter.  I had not heard of them before but since they took the time to follow me, I took the time to search for a little information on them.  This company was called GoGo squeeZ and they make applesauce in a pouch!  (You have to go and check out their website and watch the intro, the little characters are just too adorable!)

After reading over the information on the GoGo squeeZ website, I wanted to give the product a try.  It sounded like something Ian would go nuts for, and I was excited to possibly find something healthy my son would actually consume.  The nearest place to get the GoGo squeeZ was in Saginaw, which is a little over and hour away from our house.  So the next time my husband headed that way for a Saginaw Spirit hockey game I asked him to stop and pick up a package for Ian to try.

I was ecstatic that Ian loved the GoGo squeeZ so much, that we made a special trip to Saginaw to stock up on more!

Now I take a pouch of GoGo squeeZ with me whenever we are out and about so I can give Ian a healthy snack on the go.  He walks around with the pouch hanging out of his mouth until he has it sucked dry.



**This post is my entry in the Happy Kid Snacking Contest from GoGo squeeZ.**

Six Word Saturday

Planning a garden with re-purposed materials.

I am going to make a little raised vegetable garden this year, and in doing so will be able to check something else off my life list. 

The idea is to make a wooden box about four foot by four foot using re-purposed wood and materials we have in the shed from other projects.  After I fill that sucker with dirt and fertilizer and plant some delicious vegetables, all I will have to do is not kill them before they grow enough to eat.  If I can manage that I will call it a success!

I would love any suggestions or advice you would like to give me.  Lend me your green thumb.

Cleaning Up: The Show

Usually anytime I head into the kitchen to throw something away I have an audience.  My 20 month old son and our dog Mason are usually right on my tail following to see the "show."  Although for the life of me I am still not sure what is to interesting about throwing away used and snotty tissue.

Since the "show" of throwing out various trash happens many times throughout the day , I think that Ian has starting to get the idea of throwing away dirty, used up items. My audience and I trail into the kitchen over and over to throw away wrappers, used tissues, and many types of food stuffs that end up tossed onto the floor. 

Ian even knows how to open the lid of the trash can by stepping on the pedal at the floor.  A skill he demonstrates whenever he can manage to get near enough to the trash can to put on his own "show."  Sometimes during his skillful demonstration he plucks an item out of the trash, such as a wrapper and holds it up to me with a proud look on his face.  "Look, Mommy!  Look what I did!" 

So perhaps his handle on what the trash can is all about isn't really all that great after all. Whatever!

Just recently I have been catching Ian throwing things away on his own.  An empty snack bag here, a plastic bowl there, and occasionally an empty sippy cup.  Most times I am right in the kitchen with him and can correct him on the spot, plucking stray sippy cups or bowls out of the trash and showing Ian that those items go in the sink to be washed and reused.

I had it in my mind that I was on my game and catching all the various items that make their way into the trash can whenever Ian decides to put on a little "show" of his own.

Today it became very clear to me that Ian might be a little faster than I thought he was.  I was doing dishes, which I do by hand because we don't have a dishwasher.  I knew there was only one sippy cup left clean so as I washed I was counting the parts I drew from the soapy water to make sure I got each little valve before I drained the water and possibly let a valve slip into the garbage disposal.  If one cup was left in the cabinet then there should be eight cups in my wash. 

One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven.  Where is valve number eight!

I counted the cups in the draining tray.  There were only seven! 

So I finished up the dishes and went looking for that last cup sure I would find rotting stinky milk in it that I would have to clean up right away.  I searched all of Ian's usually hiding places; the toy box, under the seat of his ride on toys, the cup holder of the Cozy Coupe.  The cup was no where to be found.

This is the point when it dawned on me...that cup is long gone in the trash we set out on the curb yesterday!

That little bugger put the cup in the trash and I missed the "show!"

Switching Off - Update

I thought I would post a quick update to my family switching off our cable TV service.  It has now been a little more than a month since we cut off the service and I can safely say that we don't miss it one bit.  Between the few network channels we are able to still recieve and the ability to watch shows we miss online we haven't been wanting to TV at all.  My husband can still watch all the hockey games we wants due to a membership he pays to watch them online, and I can still see NCIS via over the air programming.  Ian has been watching his Phineas and Ferb DVD's and has started to pick out movies from our collection to watch as well.  So far he favors Monsters vs. Aliens and Kung Fu Panda.  All in all, it has been an easy transition and the best decision we have ever made.

Now if only we could find an alternative to our cable internet service.  They seem to have been limiting our bandwidth since we turned off the cable service (the only downside to our switch off.)  Sometimes that makes it difficult to watch videos online without them locking up.  Vindictive much. 

I want down

"I want down." my son says from his booster seat at the table with great emphasis on the "ow" in down.

He hasn't finished his lunch yet, but his insistance that he wants down and use of a new phrase has me taken aback.  I unbuckle his seat strap and let him down. 

After playing for a while he goes back to the table and points to the booster seat, "I want down." 

Did he just say it again?

"I want down.  I want down.  I want down."

So I go across the room and lift him back up into his booster seat.  He helps me to buckle his straps and grabs what is left of his lunch and starts to gobble it up like he has never eaten before.

Once the plate is cleared, and I have colored not one but two pictures with his crayons while I waited for him to finish his lunch, he looks up at me and says again, "I want down."

And so begins 24 hours of the phrase "I want down" being used until it is burned into my brain and is all I think and dream about.

I want dOWn.

Six Word Saturday

I fell off the wagon on Six Word Saturday the last couple of weeks but I would like to remedy that today!

Obsessed with interior design, have none.

I have always had a minor obsession with interior design magazines and catalogs of items I could never hope to afford.  There is a binder in my home with many pages of collected pictures of things I like and things that inspire me.

However, if you look around my home you would wonder how a person so obsessed with pretty, put together homes doesn't have one.  My house is a disaster of mismatched furniture and decor.  I would call it eclectic but that would imply that I did it on purpose and I most certainly did not.

My goal for this summer is to scour the garage sales for a few items to start pulling together a "look" for my house but keeping the cost low and items simple and useful.  I might not have the money to go out and completely redesign a room in my home, but I sure can try to make a few changes to improve what I have.  I would like to start on my combined living room, dining room, hallway.  The large area is painted a pale yellow, with red accents.  So far the walls are bare, save a few pictures, and most of the furniture is dark wood except my dining table which is a natural oak (it is really out of place but we can't afford to replace it since it is in good condition.)

My wish list:

End table - anything stable and strong, that is in decent enough shape to paint red to go with my living room.  Ideally I would love to find one of the 1960's style two-tier end tables; I love the look of them and the extra surface space would be really handy.

A collection of small mirrors with decorative frames - My plan is to paint the frames all the same bright, glossy color (yellow) and hang them in my dining room area.  I saw this on a design blog and absolutely loved the look.  Colorful but not overdone wall decor.

A sideboard, wide dresser, or buffet that is in good shape and paint-able to go in our super-wide hallway for more storage. I would like to use this space to hide away our DVD's from a certain toddlers chubby little fingers.

Two red throw pillows to bring some of the red accent color to my neutral sofa.

Finally, I have a very large canvas I purchased recently and some paint in the colors of my living room.  I just need some inspiration for an abstract painting to hang over my sofa in the living room.

Life List: Become A Confident Cook

I have never really been much of a cook.  Mostly this is due to my issues with handling raw meat and insecurities over being able to cook it thoroughly enough that no one will die from consuming it.  Because of this, my husband has taken on the roll of the cook in the house and he has made most of our meals ever since we got married.  He has done an amazing job with it too.

Recently I decided to get past my insecurities in the kitchen and learn to make some meals that I feel confident preparing.  No reason more than to be able to provide meal for my family on my own for the sake of knowing I can do it.  I put "become a confident cook" on my life list and decided I would work toward that goal a little at a time.

So I starting collecting recipes online and buying cookbooks that interested me.  From those I found a few recipes that I felt I could manage without making a big disaster of things.  Armed with a meat thermometer, I got started and actually managed to handle meat without much of a problem.  So I started making a meal here and there from the recipes I had on hand and found that they actually came out pretty good most of the time.

It wasn't long before I started to feel like I knew was I was doing.  It took a lot less time that I imagined to start to gain some confidence in myself that the food I was preparing was actually good.  With my trusty meat thermometer I knew that I could at least manage to get any meat I cook to a temperature that would kill anything that would make us all sick. 

Last night I made something completely new that we have never tried before.  I managed to get through the whole process without feeling once like I didn't know what I was doing.  It occurred to me that I WAS already feeling confident!!!  I had made most of my families dinners for the past two weeks and no one got sick and my husband seemed to like all the things I have made. 

I think that we can call this life list item well done!

A Little Something Special

I had once told myself that when I was established as an adult I would buy myself jewelry.  In my mind this meant that I would be stable enough financially that I could buy myself something extravagant just for the sake of proving I could do it without going into massive debt. It would be a sign that I was successful in my life.

The other day a package arrived in the mail for me.  It was a pair of earrings that I ordered from an Etsy shop called Alibi out of Italy.  I fell in love with the simple and unique look of them months ago and decided the next time the artist posted the style it would be mine.  And so it was.
It was presented so lovely that it felt more like a gift than something I purchased for myself.

She makes her own gift boxes from recycled cardboard and paper. Amazing presentation. 

These earrings were just right for me.

As I wore them around all weekend I realized something...  I AM at a place in my life where I can feel financially secure enough to buy myself something special without going into debt.  It isn't a diamond necklace, but that wouldn't feel special to me these days.  These earrings feel special to me.  And so does the necklace I am wearing in this picture.  It is a personalized necklace from Lisa Leonard, inscribed with my son's name, Ian.  I purchased it for myself with some income tax refund money. 

We may live paycheck to paycheck some months but we are not wanting for anything that counts. 

Guys Morning Out

Today our day care is closed for Good Friday.  My place of employment is not closed for Good Friday, and neither is Chris'.  So we decided to split the day.  Chris took off the whole day and I took of the afternoon.  This way we will each get some fun time with Ian on this special day off.

So this morning, as I begrudgingly got ready for a half day of work, my two guys were getting really for a trip out for a father and son breakfast. I picked out an outfit for Ian of a little pair of jean shorts and a Red Wings shirt.  When my two guys were heading out, I noticed that Chris was also wearing a Red Wings shirt. 

I really wish I had my camera on me at that moment because the image could not be any cuter.

Sail Me Away

I starting a post this evening and when I finished it I realized it sounded really whiny and so I decided to start again.  The basic gist is that I need a vacation and don't have the time off from work or the funds to make it happen right now and that makes me a sad panda.

So instead of just being a whiny hiney I made the decision to make this a call out to my readers.  Please take a moment and comment on what you do over the weekend that makes you feel refreshed for the week ahead.  I could use your ideas, and if I do I will dedicate a future blog post to a review of my weekend and dedicate it to you.  I can't wait to hear your ideas.

Turn to the Dark Side

This morning I had my second cup of coffee and what a big surprise, I actually kind of liked it!  How did that happen?

Doom!