60 days and counting to insanity

So we've got 60 days to find a new place to live (no pressure), and do you think that I am at all stressed or discombobulated by it?

Well, let's see...how did today go?

1. Broke down at work and cried when I heard that interest rates jumped from 4.8% to 5.5% in just one day.

2. Completely lost my train of thought in the middle of a speech at a luncheon and skipped some important information.

3. Showed up at someone's house at 5:30 p.m. for a party that didn't start until 6:30 p.m.

4. Got home and realized that I walked around all day with the "Medium" sticker still stuck on the outside of my new skirt.

Umm, yeah. I think the stress might be getting to me.

moving on up

Even though this picture is quite possibly the worst picture taken of me today this month this year ever (honestly, I look like I swallowed a refrigerator for breakfast and then styled my bangs with superglue), I decided to go ahead and post it, because I am just so darn proud of my little sis.
Congratulations, Miss Nema, on successfully finishing middle school. Now it's off to the high school adventure. I hope my nerves can take it.

our boys

I thought I would share some great new pictures of Goober and Goonie (their newest nicknames), taken at our Mother's Day brunch by the wonderfully talented Erica.




She somehow managed to catch Tucker in the one shining moment he was not barking--and even got him to smile for the camera. That feat alone should earn her a photography award. They look so adorable in these pictures that you would never even suspect that one of them is The Most Vocal Dog in the Entire World (and if they discover other worlds, I have no doubt that he could qualify for Most Vocal Dog in the Universe), and the other one is the Destroyer of Everything, able to rip apart magazines, shoes, remote controls, etc. in 2 seconds flat.

Ahhh...but we love them. I mean, come on...look at those faces!

weekend wrap-up: symmetry and kid's menus

I'm not certain, but I think I might have broken my right pinky toe Friday night. I crammed it on a chair leg pretty hard--twice (because, you know, once just wasn't quite painful enough), and judging from the swelling and the purple and blue coloring that has spread from the toe onto the right side of my foot, I did a bit of damage. On a positive note, I had broken my left pinky toe back in college, so now both my pinky toes are all wonky, and symmetry has returned to my feet.

On Sunday we had Todd's family over for Mother's Day brunch, and half of our guests were children. I tried to make sure that the menu was pretty kid-friendly--here's a list of what we had:

Cheese plate
Sausage balls
Mini quiches (florentine and lorraine)
Bagel crisps with dill cream cheese and smoked salmon
Bacon, egg and cheese strata
Parmesan potato pancake
Caprese salad
Fruit salad

The sausage balls were a hit--of course, we didn't tell everyone that they were actually soy-sage balls until after they had all been consumed. I expected that the strata would go over much better with the kids than it did, because in my mind, I thought "Bacon. Eggs. Cheese. Bread. What kids don't like those things?" I think in their minds, though, the thought process went more like this: "If that is bacon, eggs, and cheese--why is it square? And why did it come out of a casserole dish? Dude, I know what casseroles are--they are things adults use to hide veggies. I'm sticking to the potatoes and fruit." So, the fruit salad disappeared pretty quickly, but Todd and I will probably be eating on the quiches, smoked salmon, and caprese salad for a few days. And I might need to practice cooking for kids a little more before we have our own. Chicken fingers and fries, anyone?

sunshine of the mind

So I could write yet another blog about the weather...and how rain seems to have become a daily constant. I could talk about how it has gotten to the point where it isn't even good for the plants anymore, because it is drowning the farms. I could say that it is starting to make me SADD, and it gives me yet another reason why 2009 and I aren't friends.

But instead, I am going to try to focus on a couple of positives. Things that make me happy.

1. Electronic hole punches. Ok, not that using a manual hole punch is really all that difficult--unless you have raging carpal tunnel syndrome--but have you used one of these electric ones? I have been assembling multiple reunion planning packets this week, and this gadget has made my life so easy. I can punch perfect holes in 20 pages at once with just my pinky. Pretty powerful. And awesome.

2. Long-term friendships. Today is the birthday of one of my dearest friends. We are now both 32, which means that we have known each other for 20 years...and amazingly, after all that time we still love each other and enjoy each other's company. Most marriages don't even last that long. But even without a binding contract, we have managed to put up with each other's madness. She has seen me through many unfortunate hairstyle choices, some pretty random dating relationships, and a whole lot of laughter and tears. There are far too many inside jokes to even begin a list. But only she understands why fishing lures + eyebrows = funny.

Here's to the little things--and the big things-- that make this life brighter. Even when it won't stop raining.