Friday....

Apologies for the momentary blogging hiatis... computer problems with letting me sign in. Something with those dang cookies...

Okay, anyways.

Its friday, finally. And to make things even better it is a long weekend. BONUS. To make things debbie downer, work had layoffs this week (boo hiss) but i made it (yay yay) but it makes for a LONNNG day and somber day after. Sorta feels like survivor around here with all the "did so and so make it?" I feel like there should be some tribal music and Hot Jeff Something (whatever the host's name is) should pop out and say, "you did not recieve a rose" , "you are the weeakest link", "you're fired", "America did not vote for you to move on" "the tribe has spoken" and put out peoples torches. That might just make the layoff process a tad better. Although i can understand for safety reasons, why a torch may NOT be a best practice for this kind of event....

MEMORY!!! They are playing "Evan and Jaron's: Crazy for this Girl. Wow, old song. takes me back to highschool. Riding in a "friends" car and getting lost on the way to Eastview mall, and ending up somewhere near Honeyoye Falls...not sure if he planned it, but it was fun. Good song. Extra blogger points if you have a guess on which friend that was. Seeing as i really only had a handful of guys i hung out with, the answer should be simple. In hindsight, im pretty sure i had a slight crush on said guy. Oh Highschool.... i crushed on pretty much any guy that i knew...almost...ok not really only maybe 2 or 3....

Oh here is a confession: I have an issue with people eating when i am not.

This DRIVES ME CRAZY! especially if i can hear you chew/swollow/munch, i get annoyed, and itchy and want to rip the food away from you. I NEED some sort of noise to drown out the sound. I have said many a time to alfie "ya almost done with that???" cause it will seriously annoy the heck out of me! Don't get me started on hearing you breathe,especially if you have one of those whistles going on in your nose....KILLS ME! I hear it once and literally fixate on the sound until that is all i hear and all i focus on and i most likely have to remove myself from the situation, so i can't hear it anymore. I have an odd thing with repetative noises. If it is repatative enough, i will start counting the noise. Which is obnoxious because i could count for a good while, but i force myself to stop, although to do that it needs to be on an even number. Something about them even numbers makes me feel good. Must be why i enjoy numbers, hence the Math Major. Im odd i know. And this was a bizarre post but there ya go for a friday tidbit about me! enjoy, and try not to drive me crazy now that you know this!!!

Alrighty, have a few cocktails for me over this long weekend!
Enjoy!

Dubbya Ceee Essss...

confession: I went to a christian school....

Disclaimer: I LOVED my christian school....the teachers, the students, the building. I had great memories and many great friends, and overall i would not need to think twice about sending my children there. I would 100% do it. It was such a wonderful experience!

OK, seriousness over....For those who have NOT attended a christian school for your entire schooling career, you are in for some shockers!! Lets start it off with a good old favorite of all who attended...

"Dress Code"
Back in the day when, they had this thing called a "dress code". Said dress code, was pretty vague in description, like a small paragraph in the student handbook, and in summary it said, girls Dresses and skirts only, and they must be knee length (which means below the knee). Boys, collared shirts, no jeans, and of course a tie for chapel. Easy right? WRONG! Do you know how impossible it was to find dresses and skirts that covered the knee? (i would add that were stylish too, but clearly i didn't care, cause momma was rockin' jumpers until 9th grade. yes i said it 9TH. GRADE. sad i know. i shoulda been slapped with the style stick...not a shining fashion moment in time for me). So not only did we have an impossible dress code, but they actually would check to make sure your skirt was indeed below your knee.... by making the student kneel down. I'm pretty sure yours truly had to kneel a time or two. Oh and stockings, did i forget to mention you needed to wear stockings or socks if you were a female....boo hiss. Try waiting at the bus in a skirt in the winter or stockings in the summer....awful!

"Open gym"
Is it normal for high schoolers to essentially get recess during their lunch hour? I don't know, but we sure did. There was a period of a few years where we were allowed to "play" in the gym during lunch. I'm sure it was the teachers way of getting all that hormonal energy out of us. Popular games were 4 square (yes, we were in HS), double dutch (again, still in HS), burn ball (i think the guys may have made that up, something with throwing the ball at the wall and trying not to get hit when it came back or else the person who threw it gets to chuck it at you as hard as they can, execution style...)

"Hot Lunch"
Apparently my husband tells me most schools offer FULL hot lunches. Our "hot lunches" were bagel pizzas (which were the BEST) on Wednesday and Pizza sold by the senior class on Friday. One class tried to sell spaghetti lunches one year, and that was a bust. We got cheeseburgers (that you microwaved - try not to gag), cup 'o'soups (those were quite popular) and an assortment of ice cream desserts (i was a fan of the GIANT cookiewiches) other than that you had to bring your lunch or go hungry. (oh and don't even THINK about leaving to go to breakfast, even if you have a signed note from your parent, because said note will be void and you will still get detention for it...not that i am bitter or anything...)

"Locker rooms"
The current students are living it up... They don't realize that back before the school upgraded with the snazzy second addition, we changed in the NASTY art supply overflow room...aka "the locker room". It was dark, and basement like and overall had the "slasher movie" feel to it. We graciously hosted visiting teams in a classroom for their locker room, so that they did not have to experience the dungeon!

"Catechisms"
In elementary we had these AMAZING things called catechisms. They were essentially a question/answer system to help us learn Biblical concepts. Ex. Question: Who made you? A. God made me. Question:What else did God make? A. God made me and all things. Question: Why did God make you and all things? A. God made me and all things for His glory.

We would learn and recite them over the course of the school year. They were great and many of them i still remember. I'm sure you ask any of my elementary alumni and they will MOST definitely remember having to say catechisms. We also learned Bible verses along with those catechisms and were quizzed on those verses as well.

"Chapel"
We went to chapel, every Wednesday, at 9am. Its like church. Complete with worship and a sermon. For the most part it was good, but sometimes it was GREAT! lol Especially when we would have a guest speaker, or vibrant pastor speak. Although most of the chapels i remember were me scoping out who sat next to who, watching people fidget or secretly hold hands, or looking for cool verses in my Bible... yeah i know, i didn't pay the attention i should have!

"Class sizes"
Christian schools are generally small, and mine was itty bitty. My graduating class was 24. I was student #23, thanks to a W starting last name, which thankfully Colty doesn't have to worry, he will be snuggled comfortably in the middle of the alphabet thanks to the L of our last name. Which small class sizes had its perks, you knew EVERYONE, but you also knew every ones business. Like who was dating who, and who was crushing on who, and who was asking who to the jr/sr. and who got detention... good christian juicy info like that.

"Jr/Sr."
When most schools had Prom, we had the Junior/Senior Banquet. Yeah that's right, no dancing folks (cause dancing = the devils movement or sex or something, obviously). Anyways, we got all dressed up, and went to dinner at someplace fancy, handed out some nice momentos to the Sr. class and oh yeah, did i mention we had a speaker (that's fancy christian speak, for a sermon) Oh and because our classes were so small and everyone knew everyone, we could do things like senior wills and senior memories, and pretty much everyone got mentioned or left something. Oh and did i mention we had after parties?!?! Yeah rockin right?! oh wait, they were at a parentally supervised home? with basement dancing? Yes that's right.

"Gym"
Carpeted Gym to be exact...Huh WHAT?! yeah that's right, our gym had carpet, and you can bet EVERYONE who came and played a sporting event there forever would remember that "oh yeah they have carpet in their gym" Which imagine playing volley ball and diving for a dig, and WHAM rug burns. Or basket ball and tripping or falling and hot dang, rug burn!! Not too pleasant. Oh and although i was not a fan of Gym class, we had great gym teachers who let us pick what kind of activity we wanted to do. Often we played soccer or basketball, or two hand touch football (not often chosen after "someone" who i will not mention, forgot the 2 hand touch policy and totally tackled someone...hilarious... but on occasion we could play with the scooters, or the GIANT parachute (i think i loved that until i graduated...) or even line tag (omg great memory of a classmate jumping over a bag of balls and completely wiping out) We never learned line dances, or tennis or some of the other mandated gym activities, but we sure had a great time!

my personal favorite...

"Cheerleading"
I was indeed on the cheerleading squad. It just so happened that it had been dormant for a few years and my freshman year, they brought it back (this was Christy's Senior year). Now, I'm sure you can imagine first what kind of outfits we wore.... Lets just say they were modest. We had 3 different uniforms while i cheered. We had the vests with skirts, then sweaters (yeah who cheers in thick sweaters, a christian school with a carpeted gym, that's who) with skirts, then sweaters with pants (yeah, from the 9.99 Stock room...remember that store??) and finally new vests with skirts. But a minor fly in the cheerleading ointment was that our skirts had to be FINGER TIP LENGTH. (That means when your arms are by your sides the hem of the skirt must come to the tip of your fingers) Now this wouldn't have been a problem except I had abnormally long arms, paired with very long fingers, so my skirt came to my knees. Talk about killing the "ooo I'm a cute cheerleader" spirit (not really, I'm pretty sure my bushman eye brows and orange hair did that.... ) But anyways, we wore what uniforms we had and rocked it.... Oh we even had a floor routine, which was oooohh sooo cool cause halfway through it said "OOOO you so funky and HOT" which we planned to premier at our HUGE basketball game against our rivals. Low and behold the day before the big game, we were told "funky" was NOT an OK word to put in our music and we had to either not do the routine OR cut that out of the song (we cut it out, but you can imagine the weep-fest a bunch of hormonal highschoolers had). So when we finally debuted our snazzy routine, it was sans "funky" and quickly followed by a much bigger, much better and much funkier floor routine by our rivals. Consider us schooled! Oh well, we had fun doing our X jumps and thigh mounts and i-tried-but-couldn't-quite-touch-my-toes-cause-ill-hurt-my-groin split jumps and threw in some cartwheels and maybe a somersault or two (OK, we boycotted the somersault idea). But it was fun and we didn't know we were as lame as we realize now.


But as I said before, I LOVED my christian school....the teachers, the students, the building. I was taught everything from a biblical christ centered perspective. I have great memories and many great friends, and overall i would not need to think twice about sending my children there. I would 100% do it. It was such a wonderful experience!

Lame-O

Confession: Sometimes i post lame blog posts just because i can....

Yeah, every once in a while i hit writers block, with either nothing good to write about, or too much to write about that pin pointing one topic is problematic, or too personal of a topic to put out there. Today is one of those days. And i knew that if i didn't post anything next thing i would know it would be 2 months later and i would have taken a super long unplanned writing sabbatical....

I'm currently munching on a Wegmans Coco pop snack thingy. You know, one of those bootleg, cardboard tasting rice cakes? They really do taste like cardboard with a slight Styrofoam feel to them. Appetizing i know. They aren't too bad with hummus though, which i enjoy but i wouldn't mind it being crumbled up and sprinkled over a bowl of ice cream drizzled with chocolate syrup and sprinkles. I bet then it would taste AWESOME. But hmm that would probably diminish the health factor its got working for it, right? I am doing great on my 40 in 40, by the way! Thanks for asking. Ahead of schedule...12 lbs in 10 weeks. Next milestone is July 25th, 10 lbs by then. Then i would be half way there (to my preWedding weight).

Ohh funny story. So Alfie and i were talking about when we think we would plan for a second boy Colton (first name or middle name will be Carter.... sorry Bethany, totally stealing your sons name, but see, I'm giving you props and some link love...go visit her page everyone, she is a rockin photographer, fun blogger and great momma!!) or girl Colton (name undecided), (no worries, not for a while) and for those who know how awful my pregnancy was, knows my comment was "when the memory of the awfulness fades", Now Alfie was from the camp of wham bam, lets have them close. Uhh heck no, thanks for asking though. I then proceeded to mention how I liked not feeling pregnant and not having my body look busted, or swollen or giant or huge or fat or ugly or uncomfortable or.... whoops sorry, I got lost in the awfulness.... And what followed was Alfie at his finest. "Well, why fix it only to break it again??" LOL ("it" would be my body, "fix" would be losing weight, and "breaking it again" would be getting giant...for those who didn't quite get it...) yes, he actually said that. And yes, i totally laughed, cause that's some funny spur of the moment , where's the censor, kind of Alfie speak. He probably would have told me to take off my "woman ears" and listen with my "man ears" (which is what he says now, but he didn't come up with it until later) so as to not "hear" him saying i was a fat or swollen or a hot mess, but to hear it like a man would in which he looked at it logically. Luckily i was listening with my "man ears" and heard just that, so could appreciate the humor for what it was (so take off your lady ears if you are thinking "omg i woulda smacked him for saying that" and throw on some man ears.)

OK, that's all i got for you today. You can go ahead and blame this post on the fact that its raining or take a tip from my buddy Jamie Foxx and blame it on the a a a a a alcohol (but I'm not drinking so technically you can't...lol).

Side note: I bought Skinny Girl Margarita, because duh, my girl Bethanny Frankel makes it, and YUM, i am a fan. I have to add lime juice and some salt, but I love that its super low calories and not so sugary like a lot of drinks. Pour over ice and MMMM yummy! My new summer drink! Try it! (but really, add salt and lime juice)

Lets take it back....

Nibble on this old school morsel (clearly from before his death)....

http://marriedalomag.blogspot.com/2008/11/king-of-pop.html

Lets Dance!

Confession:I am not a ho, i just dance like one.

Those who have seen me dance, know this to be true. And especially those that have seen me Zumba, REALLY know this to be true. And for those few folks who live under a rock and do not know what Zumba is, it is a very high intensity form of Latin cardio. The wonderful thing about is that although it is high intensity, you can make it whatever intensity you can do, AND it doesnt feel like a work out. It feels like an hour spent dancing. Believe me. That's the first thing people always say, "what? its the cool down already?!" So i just finished my first session (after quite a few months off) through the town parks and recreation, and ambitious me (and Christy and Shauna) signed up to do not only once a week but wait for it.... TWICE a week. Lord help us!! Now there is certainly a benefit to going with them, they can keep me accountable and force me to go when i am tired and would consider ditching, AND they provides loads of chuckles as they make fun of my stripper zumba moves. I can't help it. My hips and booty have a life of their own. I LOVE dancing, any kind (except slow dance...boo...so boring). Throw in loud, bass pumping, hip hop or Latin moves and home girl gets DOWN. Like really gets down...booty poppin, solo grinding, pursed lips, bobbing head...yeah for a good hour i am in a club, tearin.it.up...wait, we are in a gymnasium?? Noooo and there are 30 other people in there NOT club grinding??? FOR REAL?? uhh ohh! lol But honestly I really don't care. And i am sure people laugh at me thinking "doesn't she know this is a workout and not a club...whatta ho bag!" Haha, but that's OK, because i know if they are home by themselves they would dance like i do AND you get 10xs more the workout when you tear it up AND it is soooooo much more fun when you don't try to hold back and just go with the music. I do find i am much less ho-ey at weddings though (so brides breathe a sigh of relief. I wont give Grampa Joe a heart attack). Duh, for obvious reasons...people are sitting around just watching. And a lot of those peepers are older folks who would not appreciate the quality moves i am rockin'. I am not a fan of the younger peepers, those folks who don't get up and dance, but instead just sit and watch and laugh. With friends, i make it a rule NOT to make fun of people who get up and dance... why? because HEY they are at least getting up and moving. Good for them. I never quite understand why people don't like to dance? I am quite sure my skills aren't that great, but who cares, its just FUN!! So next time there is music and people dance.... then get up and shake yo tail feather, cause you know i will be! BUT if you REALLY want a good time (and want to see me ho-dance),then you have to zumba with me (or go to a club... something about the dim lights, loud music and cramped space brings out the 18 yr old in me), cause i promise you will LOVE it!!

Yo Momma....

Confession: Its my first mothers day!!

Happy mother's day to ME! yes thats right! Shower me with diamonds flowers and candy strawberries and champagne hugs gallore! Any holiday which celebrates me is okay in my book. Being the precise gift reciever that I am (meaning i don't generally like surprises, since i am kinda on the picky side of stuff) I got to pick out my actual mother's day gift, although the idea was all Alfie inspired. I got a "pandora" (in quotes cause its from Kay's not the REAL pandora, but i'm too cheap to waste money on the real thing, and I call it a pandora so people know what i am talking about). I was tossing back and forth about actually getting one... i didn't want to jump on the pandora bandwagon because they are the "it" thing and it seemed everyone and their mother had one. but we went in, and i tried it on, and i fell in love. So i's got me one (yes, i am THAT ghetto)!! Although, this will not be just any pandora, with beads chosen all willy nilly. Nope, mine will be ONLY black and white. the only color on it will be Colton's birthstone (which boo... is pink). So i have 2 beads and one birthstone thingy on it right now. And i can just imagine how adorable it will look in a few holidays :) (hint hint to family who read this...feel free to shower me with sparkly beady goodness...but only in black and white). I chose black and white because its nice and classic and in 10 years when pandoras are not the "it" thing, it will still look nice and i will have a snazzy piece 'o' jewelry to wear. Plus i wear a lot of black, so it will match well with 80% of my wardrobe...BONUS!

No huge mothers day plans for me...just doing some mother hopping (ie. visiting my mom, christy first, then leigh and cristen second), and no huge mothers day feast for me...probably something to promote my new health kick.

Sidenote: Can i just mention what alfie made for dinner last night.... hot dogs (my favorite) and freakin LOADED FRENCH FRIES WITH CHEESE AND BACON!! yeah i know, right.... but atleast he got me wheat buns, to make it somewhat healthy, and de-loaded the 5 fries I allowed myself... it took my entire being not to eat his whole pan while he was out grilling and then blame it on Nelly, or a ghost, or my alter ego Yolanda (remind me to blog on her some day...she is a BLAST and a half!!). but i refrained and then drowned my sorrows in a bag of "crack" (aka cadbury chocolate eggs) and a tall glass of Orange calories juice.

Anyways, back to mothers day. No big hoopla here. Just a casual afternoon... Although if someone would LIKE to make some hoopla in the morning (wait that sounds naughty...i meant plans) they may do the following... let me sleep in, watch Colton, and clean the house. Thats it. simple. easy peasy.

Ok, i know this was a lame post, but its Friday afternoon...there isnt much thinking ability left in this working momma. All my brain follicles (not what they are called but sounds good) are put to baby care and work, so whats left are poo bits of an intellect. Hmm weird way to end, but on that note...

Happy Weekend, and Happy Mommas Day!

This is how we do....

Confession: this is how i put together an outfit...

**Side Note: I lOOOOVE clothes and all things clothes related, like shoes and jewelry and scarves and etc. And on the occasion i get asked by friends to help put together or shop for an outfit, so i thought i would share the tips I use when putting together something to wear. And this BY NO MEANs makes me an expert on what to wear because, HAVE YA SEEN ME?!?! I definitely have my “what was she thinking” moments and I am sure I could land on the “Worst Dressed” List , but I don’t mind. This is fashion and I am learning as I go!! Ok, so right, back to my tips on how i put together an outfit...

1. Start with a look: Sexy, business casual, comfy, dramatic etc. Use this to stay on focus when looking through your wardrobe. It helps to ask, does this feel _____? (whatever the look is chosen?) or “would _______ wear this?” (enter name of person who makes you think of the look you are going for)

2. Do your research: Find photos of people that you think emulate that style and take note of what they are wearing. Is it a color or an article of clothing that conveys that look? Is it the hair or shoes that complete it? Did they play up one thing and down play something else? What was it about the outfit that made you stop and notice?

3. Pick what looks good on you: Even I struggle with this. I am often tempted to pick something based on the latest fad, instead of choosing something that I KNOW looks good and works with my body type. So make sure to stear clear of things that although are the current trend, may not look good on you. Example, I have a super short waist, large chest and long legs. So a big belt worn around my middle looks gross on me because it actually hides any waist I have! So i try to stay away from it. But V-necks tend to look really good on me or even the “cross boob” style (no not the official name, but I bet you know what I am talking about) so I like to wear those!

4. Pick a statement ______: this could be a color/color scheme, a necklace, a headband, an article of clothing, a belt, a funky scarf, a pair of snazzy shoes, ANYTHING!! Let your imagination and mood run wild here!

5. Play up that statement piece: Let the item from #3 be what people notice about your outfit. Did you buy a bold funky necklace or scarf? Play that up by downplaying the rest…simple top, maybe a cute jacket, jeans and simple jewelry. Or a fun hat and neutral top with jeans. Or maybe a bright Kelly green top with gorgeous white jeans love it!

6. Be confident: if you get the rest wrong, then get this one right. Because who cares if people like what you have on, if you like it and it makes you feel good, then GIRLLLLL ROCK IT!!

Disclaimer: No, I don’t do this everyday for everyoutfit, or else I would look far more put together than I do, BUT on the days I have time, yes, those 6 steps are my thought process. And next time you see me go ahead and ask what my “statement something” or my “outfit inspiring look” was, and see if I have an answer for you!

**As an additional tidbit, what has saved me TONS of money is to shop when I am don’t need to. Yeah I know sounds counterintuitive but bear with me. If I wait to shop until I NEED an outfit then chances are I will spend an entire weekend combing the racks and spend 10xs more to get my outfit then if I just pick up great sale items as I see them. For example the other week I got 2 great necklaces for $4 each! Now sure I probably didn’t need them BUT when the time came to look for a funky piece of jewelry I didn’t have to spend $15-$20 bucks on a regular priced item or even settle on a piece that I wasn’t truly in love with. Now I am not encouraging people to go on a shopping binge but I am saying keep your eyes peeled. If you’re at the store and you see a great deal on a dress, think twice, its wedding season, there are a lot of work functions and get-togethers to wear it to, and if you can, grab it. It will save you LOTS of time and LOTS of money because you got it on sale. And then you can gradually build a nice and inexpensive wardrobe!! OH and never underestimate the power of Goodwill. I have purchased MANY a great pair of pants or skirts there and for super duper cheap!!

Closet Party Planner...

Confession: If you mention you are planning a party, there is a pretty good chance that by the time the event comes around, I would have planned my version of your event in my head.

HUH? let me explain. I'm kind of crazy when it comes to events and planning (remember my list obsession??). What this means is that when you mention "oh i have to plan a birthday party" my mind takes it and literally runs with it! I will plan what I think reminds me of that person, or essentially MY version of your event. I think of who i would invite, what the theme should be (yes, every good party has a theme, even its just colors), what food I would do, and what kind of decor I would have. The down side to this is the unneeded mental work. Why, i do this, i am not sure but it certainly drives me crazy as I really DON'T need to be planning someone else's event that they are clearly already doing themselves (whew, i get tired just thinking about it?) AND it sets me up for disappointment when it turns out NOTHING like i planned...(lol and why would it?!?!) and it then makes me sliiiightly judgmental (meanie alert...i know, i know, slap my hand in retribution, but at least i keep my mouth shut about it!!). And although it has its craziness, it keeps me creative and keeps me storing up ideas for the next birthday, wedding shower or baby shower that i get to plan. My latest party planning OBSESSIONS are balloons. To me nothing screams PAR-TAY like balloons. And nothing crazy, just nice old school, simple balloons. I mean, come on... how adorable does a table look with 2 full balloon displays (in your events colors) on either side?? SUPER ADORABLE that's how! I think they are the underestimated event decor, and you can bet that for Coltys birthday, there will be a bazillion and one balloons!! Especially because nothing screams choking hazard at a first birthday like balloons do!! (lol jk, i will be very cautious, i promise.) Anyways, i even go to the next step and plan table scape's for these "pseudo" events, and yes even favors I know...I'm CRAZY. But hey think of this as a perk for you...there you are struggling to plan your shin-dig all by your lonesome, when all you have to do is say "Hey Kimi, I am throwing this party...." and WHAM instant help! of course i will pretend i haven't been planning anything from the get go, and i even swear i wont bombard you with my handy dandy Note-Book (yeah that's right i watch Blues Clues)... but you will have the benefit of one crazy planner and at least my humor will keep YOU from killing ME in the process and maybe, just maybe, we will throw a SLAMMIN' party that everyone will enjoy! :)