No Shame, No Mother of the Year

I'm quite certain that posting this is going to put me in a special league. Ever since the day that Rachel (accidentally) ate the Scooby band-aid during dinner (it was on the tip of her finger for goodness sake! Hard to believe those things don't digest at all) I've known that I was never going to be a "mother of the year" contender (actually there was evidence prior to her band-aid ingestion incident but I refuse to give details). I think this post will guarantee that I will not be a nominee for either mother-of-the-decade or mother-of-the-new-millennium.

Rachel is a pretty cute kid. She's got big eyes and a wicked sense of humor. But she definitely was not the most beautiful baby. I mean, she was cute, but she was a bit cross-eyed and it took a while to really get a hold of her personality. Dave and I often wonder how anyone who has so much personality at 2 1/2 could have ever had very little personality. Maybe it is just that Lauren was such a charmer- from day one- with those big blue (now green) eyes and that smile. Lauren smiled at 10 days. Really. We don't remember Rachel smiling that early. But looking back at pictures has shown that she did. So maybe we have faulty memories.

That said, there is a baby picture of Rachel that has to be one of the absolute ugliest (or perhaps funniest?) baby pictures I have ever seen. In fact, it makes me wonder if there's some sort of "Ugly Picture" contest I could enter it in. Maybe I could host one of my own? I'm guessing that no "good" mother would be so willing to share pictures of her child looking so bad.

That said, are you ready?

It is bad. Really bad. I've warned you! Avert your eyes so that the image does not bore a hole into your retina.

But wait, that's not the REALLY bad one- there is a whole series shot (on the same day) of her propped up on the pillows in our bed. This one is pretty bad but here is the worst:

Yep, that's our girl.
In order to offset the bad karma I am currently creating, here is a cute one from the same time period.

More to come on my mom trying to find furniture on the web.

And feel free to share your ugly pics.

My Favorite Things

During this winter break David has introduced me to a new guilty pleasure. David has all sorts of guilty pleasures- things like Post Secret and taunting me until I get angry (sort of like being wooed by a teenage boy- or should I say like my memories of being wooed by teenage boys).

Unlike trying to anger me or viewing notes found by people, this new guilty pleasure has turned into something I really enjoy too. If you haven't visited Fail Blog (http://www.failblog.org/) then you just HAVE to go there. Soon. Take some time, peruse the offerings. What a hoot. I need to add that David's friend Kevin sent the link to David.

This unseasonable spell of weather, coupled with being off of work, has led to another guilty pleasure- being able to run during the day. In shorts. Ahh. When I taught in Texas the principal of my school was ok with letting us do whatever we wanted during our 55 minute plan period. So once or twice a week the Language Arts teacher on my team and I would head out for a run during plan time. I wish I could do that now (I'd actual settle for plan time at the same time every day!). But running during the day over break has been extremely enjoyable.

Money for Nothing

One of the things I love the most about running is finding change on the street. Talk about your simple pleasures! I ran late this morning (David is kind enough to take the first shift on non-work days) and found a nickel. I was stoked. It was even on a street that I had not found money on before today.


The day after Thanksgiving netted a whole $1.38, all in change. I found it in three separate locations.


One of the only things I like about running in cooler weather is that my winter running pants have zippered pockets for change. When I wear shorts I end up storing change in my sports bra which can make me kind of jingly.


David and I usually both find at least a penny when we run (this is only weekend running- when I run early during the week it is too dark to spot money- except for the time when I was 6 months pregnant and found a 5 dollar bill).


I hope this post give you an idea of the mundane things that excite me that I know no one else gets excited about!


How about you? What mundane things get you excited?

Hello? Is this thing on?

After much contemplation, I have decided to become a blogger. I can only promise one thing: my life is sure to bore you!

I hope everyone had a great holiday. I really enjoyed the holidays this year- apparently I was a good girl because all of the gifts were great and on target. We still have more Christmas to go with a trip to the blazing metropolis of P-town tomorrow.

Tonight we are taking the girls to a hockey game (free tickets through D's work). Let's hope they are well behaved (not sure if I mean the girls or the hockey players).

I have included some pics of two of my favorite people:

Rachel loves to dress up in Lauren's old dance class leotards (she even wears Lauren's old ballet shoes).

Lauren at her birthday party a few days before her 9th bday. She had a cooking party. And a lot of fun.

Enjoy the spring-like weather and have a great day!