Goodbye Four For Friday....

Hello Friday Freestyle!

Yes...it is true...I am switching it up. I was starting to get stressed out by the Four For Friday...I would sit here painfully trying to come up with something to write, and that is definitely NOT the purpose of blogging for me. I want to write about what moves me at the time, so....it just has to go. I am replacing it with the new Friday Freestyle. It will be a hodge podge of whatever suits me at the time. Often it will be the day I wrap up bloggity business, pass on awards, share a funny, or whatever floats my boat. Sound good? I hope so.

Today, I want to start with sharing just how horribly spoiled I am becoming....If we aren't careful...I'll soon be so bling heavy, I fall off the Internet. tee hee...can a person have too many good friends? I personally don't think so.

On with the awards...

*The Nap warden passed on the Trick or Treat Award to me today. This award was created by Hootin Anni and she simply said:
You're more than welcomed to pass it along
to ones you think are deserving of a special treat
for the season.
Kinda like "Pay it Forward"
Y'know, one goodwill gesture deserves another?
But DON'T just choose your friends
making this cliquish and 'just groupies'...
Make NEW friends by choosing random visitors!!!


I'd love to pass this fun one on to some of my newest commenters. I appreciate you so much!

-Melissa at Wool Gatherings
-Deb at Missives From Suburbia
-Kelly in the Mirror
-Megan at Fried Okra
- and Julie....I would love to know how to contact you...would you email me?

*Next Donetta, who is such a dear sweet friend presented me with the BFF Blog Friend Forever Award.



We have met through blogging, and She just touches my heart so much. She wrote:

Corey is so inspirational with her photography and well written pros. Her passion in motherhood warms my heart.

Thank you Donetta, you are such a lovely person.

I'd love to pass this award on to:

-Jo She is totally funny, and has warmly accepted me into her heart. Thank you, Jo.


*And speaking of Jo....my dear Jo...she spoils me like crazy.

~First she gives me the Community Blogger Award created by Cellobella


Cellobela says,
The Community Blog Award celebrates people who reach out and makes the blogger community a better one.

Thank you JO for feeling that I fit that description. You made my heart smile today.

I'd like to pass this on to:

-Megan from Sortacrunchy-Michelle from Big Blueberry Eyes
-Pam from Kids Kitchen


~Secondly she awarded me the Bodacious Blog Award.


WOW....I am starting to feel a bit too big for my britches...and it can't possibly have anything to do with all the junk food I have been consuming.

I'd like to pass this award on to:

-Joeprah
-In the life of a child

So many of you deserve awards....I feel blessed with so many friends and readers. Thank you all for all the support. YOU make blogging so much fun!

HAPPY FRIDAY EVERYONE!!!! :) Oh.... and Part Three of our Fall Trip is coming on Monday. :) Thank you so much for all the wonderful comments so far. It has truly blessed my heart.

Four For Friday!

I know I say it each and every Friday...I know it is getting old, but seriously people can the weeks go by any quicker???? How can it be possible that it is FRIDAY again? I swear I blinked my eyes three times and it is the end of the week.

This week, I am taking the lazy girls way out. I am tired...I am busy...I am lacking in creative thought. So I will simply be listing 4 totally cool things we did tonight. If you read yesterday's post, you'll know that Sugar Bear is learning about Fire Safety this week. She obviously doesn't have it all down pat, but she is on her way. Today, I learned that our local fire dept was having an open house, so I packed up the Sugar and headed that way. I am so glad I did. We participated in the following four things:

1. The first thing they offered up was an incredibly smokey room to creep and crawl our way through before dying of smoke inhalation. I have NO idea what sort of smoke it was.....but good grief it was thick, and had a chemical smell. Sugar and I approached the curtain, and a kindly firefighter pulled it aside and let us in the room. Immediately we had to fall to our knees. We could not see 6 inches in front of our faces while on the floor. We just crawled and crawled. I hate to admit that I bumped into at least 3 strangers hiney's, but seriously....I could not see. I just kept saying, "crawl baby crawl!" and she kept saying, "I'm coming mama...I'm coming." Gosh I love this kid. She wasn't scared in the least. She just crawled right by my side. It was....ummmmm....not fun, but not...ummm horrible either. I do think it was a learning experience.


2. Once out of the smokey room we were more than happy to line up for our turn to ride on top of the fire truck. It was drizzling outside, but that didn't stop us. We happily sat atop the hoses, and waved at cars as we rode past. Sugar liked it a lot, especially when the siren was going. I wasn't nearly as thrilled to notice that when we were finished, my jeans were wet and stuck to my hiney. I despise wet jeans, and things stuck to my hiney. (This is my friend and coworker in the photo helping Sugar down from the truck....she is mostly likely going to disown me for posting this picture, but it was the only one I got that proves Sugar Bear was on the truck.)


3. After the ride, we talked to a few fire fighters, met the fire dog (a man in a Dalmatian costume), and Sugar got a bag of fire safety goodies and a plastic fire hat. What a thrill for Miss Sugar. She was surely delighted. I was preoccupied with my hiney, too bad the firefighters were NOT.



4. Finally, Sugar scored a cookie, and I snapped some shots of her eating it by a fire truck. Life is good. The camera ops did not present themselves...as it was drizzling rain, dusk, and I had too wide of an angle lens. OH well....at least I got a few. :) OH and since when are fire trucks yellow? and a yellow hat? what is that?



Have Friday everyone!

Four For Friday!

As promised last week, this week's theme for my Four For Friday is movies from the 80's that I loved THEN....and still love NOW! These four movies are movies that certainly tickled my funny bone as a teenager, and still has the power to make me smile as an adult. These movies have staying power.

1.


The Money Pit Who doesn't love a Tom Hanks movie? This one cracks me up. I suppose I love seeing the comedy in another person's bad luck. The scene where Tom Hanks is stuck in the hole in the floor is my favorite.

2.


Raising Arizona I didn't know it at the time, but I would soon be a real fan of The Coen Brothers. There is something about their sense of humor that just gets me. This movie is so dang cooky...it slays me. The scene where Nickolas Cage is running through the streets with the panty hose on his head and the diapers under his arm....just makes me laugh so hard. Love this movie soooooooooooo much!

3.


Dirty Rotten Scoundrels I am a HUGE fan of Steve Martin, and it appears the the director Frank Oz, is an amazingly talented man. No wonder this movie was such a success. I love love love the cork on the fork. :)

4.


The Princess Bride There is simply NO way to truly express my love for this movie. I am ridiculously in love with it. I have a lifelong crush on it. It is nearly the perfect movie in my eyes.

Do you have any thoughts on these movies? Which 80's movies have staying power for YOU?

Four For Friday

I feel so grateful to have had much less stress this week. I was really beginning to feel like a Friday downer there for awhile. Thanks for sticking with me...if you did. :)
This weeks Four For Friday them is: Eighties Movies I USED to Love....and NOW They Make Me Uncomfortable. I have to admit that I have always been a sucker for romance...but only in movies. I despise Romance Novels. In fact, they are the only type of book I REFUSE to read. However, I love a good romance movie. I especially like romantic comedies.
As a teenager though...I was really drawn to romance in general. I blame it on the hormones. I mean seriously...I wasn't the only teenage girl with posters of hunkie 80's heart throbs plastered all over my bedroom, now was I?
Today, I want to focus on four movies that I watched OVER and OVER as a teenager, yet now....if I attempt to watch them, I squirm at the pure cheesiness. I am embarrassed for these actors. I can NOT enjoy the movie anymore. I WANT to, but I am overrun by uncomfortable feelings of, "How in the WORLD could I have loved this CRAP?" and "Oh my lord, this is embarrassing stuff."

1. Staying Alive


2. Girls Just Want To Have Fun


3. Top Gun


4. Dirty Dancing



I hate that I have lost the love for these movies. I have tried to reclaim them, and reminisce in the delite they brought me, but I always fail. I walk away muttering, "What was I thinking?" Have you seen these movies? Have you seen them recently? What are your thoughts? Have you lost the love? or never had it?

I still say that they were some of my favorite movies of all time, as there was a time in my life where I would not pass up an opportunity to see them, however, I just can't bare to watch them again. It isn't like this for all movies I loved in the 80's. In fact, next week, I'll focus on four movies from the eighties that I still love, and watch every chance I get. Now you know....you don't want to miss that! See you next Friday!

Four For Friday!

WOW! It is Friday! Yippie! I survived another week. That, my friends, is always an accomplishment, but with the current stress in my life, sometimes it didn't feel like I would ever make it.

Once again...I sit here staring at the screen pondering a suitable Four For Friday theme. I really need to start thinking of these BEFORE Thursday night. I think that could possibly be a more productive plan. I am usually a planner type of girl, but lately....I find myself just getting by...moment to moment. Here are four things I did today that I had not PLANNED on doing.

1. I intended on getting up when my alarm when off at 6:45 am this morning. INSTEAD, I hit the snooze button once twice, then turned it off only to fall back to sleep for another 15 minutes. I flopped out of bed with the intention of getting Sugar Bear up and ready in a hurry, but INSTEAD my hubby called me and we yakked for at least 10 minutes. I was indeed a half hour late when all was said and done. OH WELL...such is life.

2. I intended on packing a boring sensible lunch and taking it to work with me. INSTEAD, I didn't pack the lunch, then invited a friend to an impromptu lunch at a new restaurant. I had a very delish chicken, bacon ceasar wrap. I am certain it was like 300 times more fattening than the "sensible" lunch I had planned to make, but honestly, it tasted 600 times better, and I really needed some friend time.

3. I intended on getting home from work, and sitting down to a nice table dinner with Sugar Bear (hubby is out of town). INSTEAD, we sat on the floor in her room stuffing our faces while watching a DVR'd episode of SuperWhy. That show and Word World were recommended to me by We Are Reilly, and I have to say WE.LOVE.THEM!!! Great shows. It is right up Sugar Bear and my alley!

4. Lastly, I had intended on having a super duper relaxed evening. After getting Sugar Bear to bed, I had hoped to eat some pie (hey a stressed out girl needs her chocolate), and have some bloggedity fun. INSTEAD, my brother called me, and I spent the next hour and a half listening to him, and helping him work through some things. It was a good conversation, but such things always leave me MORE drained than when I started. That is definitely NOT what I had planned for my evening. I did, however, consume more than a decent portion of the pie. Who could blame me, right?

So what sort of things did you INTEND to do this week, yet just didn't seem to accomplish?

Four For Friday

I am sitting here staring at the screen with a mind so full of other things that I can't come up with a good idea for this week's Four For Friday. I am THIS close to just posting four pictures again, but I feel the need to present more than that each week.

You see....I am under stress. A great deal of stress. More stress than I have experienced in a long, long time. The good news is.....the event causing this stress isn't about me or my life directly, but the bad news is.....it affects people I love, people I worry about, and in turn it will affect my life. The most stressful part of all this is I can't talk about it. I have to keep it in for awhile. I don't like holding it in. I don't like secrets. I am STRESSED.

So...for this week's installment of Four For Friday, I want to talk about four things I do when I am stressed.

1. I am a stress eater. You know how some people when under stress or emotional pain don't have an appetite and find themselves losing weight? Well that is NOT me. I EAT! I eat JUNK! I eat A LOT of junk! When a good friend of mine died suddenly, I found myself in the grocery store holding a big bag of Cheetos. I proceeded to eat the entire bag in one evening. It was that moment, that I realized my huge potential to overeat large amounts of JUNK when under stress or emotional turmoil. I have fear that over the next few months I will gain 20lbs!

2. I take deep breaths, and let the air out of my mouth as if slowly blowing out a candle. There is a nice loud air blowing sound that accompanies it too. I do this with no warning, and often when under tension and stress. I know I am subconsciously trying to calm myself down, but it can be embarrassing and distracting even to myself. I did this annoying behavior several times an hour today, driving myself batty.

3. I pull hair out of my scalp or eyelashes. Okay....you can get all disgusted and turn away from my freakishness on this one. Go Ahead....skip to number four. For those of you wanting to torture yourself, go ahead and check out this condition called, Trichotillomania. I have a mild form of this. NOT cool. Luckily, I have never created a bald spot on my head, but I am ashamed to admit that often I have sections missing on my eyelashes. :( Embarrassing, but it is something I struggle to keep under control while I am stressed. I'll be lucky to get through this stressful time with all of my eyelashes.

4. I talk....ummmmm even more than usual! Yup, I am a talker in general, but when I am under a great deal of stress, I NEED to talk about it. I NEED to work through my thoughts out loud, and I can't hardly control it. I drift from one person to the next talking....trying to either get the stress out, or to completely take my mind off the stress. I really feel for my friends and family when I am under stress....I NEVER shut up. I will be needing my friends and family very much, very soon.

So there you have it. My ugly side. My stressed out, fat, heavy breathing, bald eyelided, motor mouth self. Be glad you live far, far away from me right now. It isn't pretty! Oh the STRESS........

You know what? I'd love to not feel alone in all this....care to share what you do when stressed? Pretty please....with sugar on top? Consider it a favor to a girl on the verge....pass the doughnuts!

Four For Friday

Another week gone by, and I have had a major lack of time. This lack of time, and need to prioritize got me thinking about the thing I most want to change, but have the BEST excuses. You see....I am on the upswing in the weight department. I am gaining.....eeeekkkk....yes I said it. I am gaining weight. I have tried to ignore it, and pretend like it isn't happening, but my inability to have my pants buttoned and breathe at the same time is making it incredibly hard to ignore these days. WHATEVER!

In 2002, I joined Weight Watchers, and in three months I lost the 30 lbs I needed to drop. I kept it off for 2.5 years, until I got pregnant. I proceeded to gain 40lbs with that pregnancy. I was so frustrated with this gain, because I was a very responsible eater while pregnant. Luckily it turned out that a good portion of that weight was water. By the time Sugar Bear was 5 months old, I was down 50 lbs. Yes, you read that right...I was 10 lbs less than my pre-pregnancy weight. It was easy. Well....if you count not eating tomatoes, chocolate, gassy vegetables, and ANY TRACE OF DAIRY, easy. Now when I say, "any trace of dairy", I mean it. I did not eat anything that had any form of dairy on the label. That includes most breads, crackers, and cookies. You see, my daughter had sensitivities to those foods in my breast milk, and I was set on exclusively breastfeeding. I was successful. I followed this diet until her 1st birthday, when I started introducing these foods again, and she tolerated it fine.
I continued to breastfeed her, and eat the previously forbidden foods. It took me nearly a year to gain up to my pre-pregnancy weight. Breastfeeding is a great calorie burner. Best diet I have ever done. However, as the breastfeeding slacked off in the last 7 months, so has the calorie burning, but so hasn't my caloric intake. Thus.....I am gaining. I am now 12 lbs OVER my pre-pregnancy weight, and I am NOT happy about it, but I just can't seem to give a rats a$$ to find the motivation. My life is sedentary, and I have formed some bad eating habits.
Lately as I lay on my bed, sucking my tummy in, hoping that the zipper will go up, I promise myself that I will make changes....starting tomorrow. The problem is...there is always tomorrow. ARGH! I just don't know what is wrong with me. Why can't I just jump back in to Weight Watchers and start exercising? I am just full of excuses.

For this week's edition of Four For Friday, I want to focus on my four most commonly used excuses for why I simply can exercise:

1. I am NOT a morning person. This is a FACT. I am not the type of person who can get up early to exercise. I simply do not have the will-power. I literally set my alarm for 6:45am. I push snooze twice. I drag my lazy hiney out of bed usually a few minutes after 7am. I take care of my "getting ready for work" business, and enter my daughter's room by 7:15am to wake her. I proceed to dress her, and get us out the door by 7:30am. Yes....you read it right. From bed to truck I allot less than 30 minutes. (I shower at night, in case you were worried about my hygiene.) Anyhow, the mere thought of having to get up at 6am to workout and shower makes me laugh. There is just NO way I'll do it. Not even one day.

2. I need to eat sometime. This time is usually lunch time. I can't possible take my 1/2 hour lunch break and go for a walk. I have to eat, right? Oh and if I was to really walk at a proper calorie burning rate, I would be all sweaty and stinky when I got back to work, and that is just a tad unprofessional, don't you think? It also isn't very inviting to go for a walk when about 80% of the time it is raining outside during my work year. ICK! This leaves no time to workout during my work day.

3. I spend too much time away from my daughter already. On work days, we are apart for eternity nearly 9 hours. There is just no way that I can take more time after work to walk with a co-worker, or join a gym. I need to pick up my girl, and get home. As it is, we get home between 5:30 and 6pm. Then I have to throw some sort of dinner together, and sit down to eat with my family. We have a short time between dinner and bath time to play. Often, we do go outside, but my heart rate rarely stays elevated for longer than a few minutes at a time when I am playing with her. It is important for me to let her climb and jump and play during this time, so that she is getting enough exercise, or else I would throw her in the stroller and take a walk. We have tried going for a walk together so we both get exercise, but walking her speed isn't too aerobic. So.....there is just not the time for a gym membership, walking with a co-worker after work, or sneaking in a workout before my daughters bedtime.

4. I'm sorry but I don't need an audience. Let's say, I choose to wait until after I put my daughter to bed to attempt some sort of exercise. Walking is out, as it is now dark and rainy out. This leaves doing some sort of indoor exercise. I do enjoy different types of exercise videos ranging from kickboxing to dance workouts, but the problem lies in the fact that I have a small house. The ONLY space I have available for this sort of exercise is the living room. I don't know about you, but I refuse to exercise in front of my husband, as he sits on the couch eating popcorn and oogling. What is it about a woman getting all hot and sweaty that turns a man on. I'm sorry, but I get enough action sitting around in my mis-matched Pj's eating ice cream. I don't need the extra advances I'd have to ward off if I were to exercise in front of the hubby every night. Nope....not worth it. He would have no choice but to watch, as we only have that one TV and it is located in the living room. There would be nothing else for him to do...and that right there is an unacceptable scenario. Am I wrong?

So, it should be pretty apparent that I am up against some pretty big hurdles, and I find I am too out of shape to make it over them. Instead, I just crash through them on the way to the freezer for another helping of ice cream. What the heck!

Four For Friday!

As promised, this week's Four For Friday is featuring four books that are recent favorites of my darling Sugar Bear. We all know toddlers LOVE repetition....and I have to say that I have read each of these books more times than I thought humanly possible.

1. The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle- This is a classic. I am not ashamed to admit that I had been doing a search for over two years for a gently used board book. I am just so cheap frugal, and paying over $8 for a book is hard for me. Well, to be honest, paying over $4 for a book is hard for me. I can not properly describe my joy when I happened upon this perfect condition little honey in a Goodwill about a month ago for....are you ready?????.....FIFTY CENTS! Seriously, you would have think I won that Million Dollars I spoke of earlier this week. I am certain fellow Goodwill shoppers thought I had all sorts of mental illness, but I don't care. Sugar Bear took to this book right away. Some books take a few readings for her to accept, but not this one. She immediately fell in love with the tiered pages describing what that little caterpillar had to eat. Taking into account our love/hate relationship with caterpillars, I am thrilled that this one right here never leaves us itching.




2. Mommy Loves Her Bunny by Josephine Page- I am not sure who loves this book more, her or I, but this little precious one is enough to make any mama and child feel all fuzzy and warm inside. Unlike the others in this list, it is quite short with only 10 pages including the cover. It was perhaps one of the first books that Sugar Bear let me actually read the words to her. She likes how predictable each page is, and we both enjoy the darling illustrations. The sweet little mama and baby animal drawings make me want to reach through the book and squeeze them.


This page makes my Sugar smile, as I always ask her which piggie is nursing. She loves to point to the nursing piggie and say, "awwwwwwwww...piggie having na nas!" She can relate to those feelings so very much, and I think it helps her then relate more to the whole book.


The conclusion of the story always makes us snuggle in tight for a great big hug. I LOVE IT! I am starting to wonder if this is really a favorite of mine instead of my daughter??? OOPS! OH and I also got this book for $1 at the Goodwill, six or so months ago.



3. Are You My Mother? by P.D. Eastman- OH.MY.GOODNESS....how she loves this book. This one was given to me at a baby shower. I am not certain I paid much attention to it until a few weeks ago, when Sugar Bear picked it for one of her nap time reads. I immediately came up with some fun voices for the baby bird, dog and cow. I believe this was the first book where she really got into me reading in character. If I pause and try to let her fill in the words she struggles to get the character voice right and giggles when she is done. We have so much fun with this book and have read it most every night since that first day. Sugar Bear has for some time been interested in the whole, "lost my mama" thing. I think it stems from the "Wonder Pets". They are often trying to help a baby animal find it's mother. This book plays right into the theme, and Sugar loves watching the baby bird on the hunt for his mother.




4. Egg In The Hole by Richard Scarry- This was another Goodwill find this summer for $1 or so. I had a few Richard Scarry books as a child, and I just loved them, especially the illustrations. This particular book appeals to Sugar Bear's love of all things FARM. As you may know, Sugar is quite the farm girl. She is a huge admirer of all the animals and is willing to jump right in and get dirty. This book takes us on the adventure of helping Henny find her lost egg. There are many characters for me to act out, and my girl delights in the barnyard fun. It is a fun little book that was well loved by it's previous owners, and we now know why.



Thank you for letting me share our recent favorites. I'd love any book recommendations. What do your kids love? What were your favorites as a child? Please share.

Four For Friday!

This week's Four For Friday is an UP-DATE on this one. It is always humbling to look back at goals and realize that you fell short. In this particular case, I have a 50/50 success rate.

1. My first goal was to scrapbook THREE times. Well....ummm......yeah.....are you ready for this......I scrap booked a total of......drum roll please....... ZERO TIMES!!!!!! Isn't that fabulous? Ummmm yeah! Not so good! I'd like to blame this on my friends. I mean seriously...what fun is it to shoulder all the responsibility? Not one of my friends invited me to come scrap booking. I mean, I know that I have been a scrap booking slacker for a few years...but still....have some faith in me people! Anyhow, due to this lack of outside encouragement, I managed to go the whole summer break without touching my scrap booking stuff. NICE!

2. My second goal for the summer was to work on the mountains of clutter in my house, and discover a solution to my hobby organizational issues. I am proud to announce that this has been a success. woo hoo....give me a high five!!! I actually worked pretty hard at figuring out a way to KEEP all my hobbies and the supplies to go with them, yet not have them cluttering up my small house. I purchased and placed a large table into my bedroom. I moved all my sewing and bow making tools and supplies from the dining room into there. I have to admit that it did make my bedroom look a little less lovely, but seriously no one goes in there, so if one room has to look more cluttered then I feel best about it being my bedroom. The table is large enough for me to have great work space for sewing projects, and for scrap booking (if I ever get around to it). I am really excited about that. My dining room is now a proper place for meals. :) This has been a success for sure!

3. My third goal for the summer was to Blog regularly, which was defined as 3 or more times a week. As you can plainly see by looking over at my sidebar, I was certainly able to achieve this.
Here are a few of my favorite blog posts from the summer:

-Anxiety and Bliss

-Discovering JOY

-Spirit, Caution, and LOVE

-The Stutter

-Gone Fishin

-Cows, Creeks, and Sugar Bear

-The Crust Eater!

4. My last goal for the summer was to potty train the wee one. Welllllllllllllllll....that was a no go. Sugar is just not ready. It is as simple as that. Luckily, after a brief discussion with Lorrene, her new caregiver, I was able to put a hold on all efforts to entice Sugar Bear to use the potty. She has taken to telling me she is "TOO BIG" to use the potty lately. It was actually a huge relief to be able to relax and let her decided when she is ready. I had purchased the video, "Potty Power" after reading great reviews, but after previewing it I decided it wasn't for us. I felt that the first 5 minutes focused on shaming the children into being a big kid. It seemed that the focus was too negative towards babies, and what babies do. There are few things that were listed as "baby things" that Sugar Bear still does that I didn't want her to feel bad about. In fact, I don't think I'll ever parent with the goal of making her feel negative about who is is or what she used to do. So....I'll be selling that video on e-bay, and we will continue a slow potty training process when she is ready.

Next Friday, I may focus on 4 new goals for the fall. Even though I wasn't entirely successful this summer, I do feel that having a few things to focus on was helpful.

Four For Friday

Keeping with the theme from last Friday, I decided that this week I will focus on four songs from the year 1992. These songs all have special meaning to me for four very different reasons. To come up with these songs, I went to this site, browsed around and these four songs were the ones that struck me.

1. It's So Hard To Say Goodbye To Yesterday, Boyz II Men

"How do I say goodbye to what we had?
The good times that made us laugh
Outweigh the bad.

I thought we'd get to see forever
But forever's gone away
It's so hard to say goodbye to yesterday.

I don't know where this road
Is going to lead
All I know is where we've been
And what we've been through.

If we get to see tomorrow
I hope it's worth all the wait
It's so hard to say goodbye to yesterday.

And I'll take with me the memories
To be my sunshine after the rain
It's so hard to say goodbye to yesterday.

And I'll take with me the memories
To be my sunshine after the rain
It's so hard to say goodbye to yesterday."

As super cheesy as it sounds this song was our class graduation song. It seems so ridiculous to me now. I am certain this song is about something WAY more dramatic than a silly High School graduation, but at the time....it felt so HUGE to us. Isn't it all about perspective? At that time, most of us were feeling the biggest loss in our lives. Going separate ways. If only that were forever our deepest loss.

2. Stay, Shakespear's Sister
"If this world is wearing thin
And you're thinking of escape
I'll go anywhere with you
Just wrap me up in chains
But if you try to go alone
Don't think I'll understand

Stay with me
Stay with me

In the silence of your room
In the darkness of your dreams
You must only think of me
There can be no in between
When your pride is on the floor
I'll make you beg for more

Stay with me
Stay with me

You'd better hope and pray
That you make it safe
Back to your own world
You'd better hope and pray
That you'll wake one day
In your own world
Coz when you sleep at night
They don't hear your cries
In your own world
Only time will tell
If you can break the spell
Back in your own world

Stay with me
Stay with me
Stay, stay with me
Stay, stay, stay, stay, stay
Stay with me"

This here is my love angst song. We all had to have one right? We all had to have a song that made us feel dark and desparate.....or was it only me? This song spoke to my soul at one time. It made me feel deeply when I needed to feel so deep.


3. Tears In Heaven, Eric Clapton
"Would you know my name
If I saw you in heaven?
Would you feel the same
If I saw you in heaven?
I must be strong and carry on
cause I know I dont belong here in heaven...

Would you hold my hand
If I saw you in heaven?
Would you help me stand
If I saw you in heaven?
Ill find my way through night and day
cause I know I just cant stay here in heaven...

Time can bring you down, time can bend your knees
Time can break your heart, have you begging please...begging please

Beyond the door theres peace Im sure
And I know therell be no more tears in heaven...

Would you know my name
If I saw you in heaven?
Would you feel the same
If I saw you in heaven?
I must be strong and carry on
cause I know I dont belong here in heaven...

This was my song I'd listen to when I needed to feel a connection with death. As a young person, I hadn't really experienced death, and I needed to feel as if I understood the pain. It was a song that helped me feel not alone in my struggle to understand faith....and death. Now as a mother, and knowing why this song was written, I struggle to be able to get through it in one peice.


Last but definately not least....and could I a song more different than the last? tee hee
4.Baby Got Back, Sir Mix A-lot
[Intro]
Oh, my, god. Becky, look at her butt.
It is so big. *scoff* She looks like,
one of those rap guys' girlfriends.
But, y'know, who understands those rap guys? *scoff*
They only talk to her, because,
she looks like a total prostitute, 'kay?
I mean, her butt, is just so big. *scoff*
I can't believe it's just so round, it's like,
out there, I mean - gross. Look!
She's just so ... black!

[Sir Mix-a-Lot]
I like big butts and I can not lie
You other brothers can't deny
That when a girl walks in with an itty bitty waist
And a round thing in your face
You get sprung, wanna pull out your tough
'Cause you notice that butt was stuffed
Deep in the jeans she's wearing
I'm hooked and I can't stop staring
Oh baby, I wanna get wit'cha
And take your picture
My homeboys tried to warn me
But with that butt you got makes me feel so horny
Ooh, Rump-o'-smooth-skin
You say you wanna get in my Benz?
Well, use me, use me
'Cause you ain't that average groupy
I've seen them dancin'
The hell with romancin'
She's sweat, wet,
Got it goin' like a turbo 'Vette
I'm tired of magazines
Sayin' flat butts are the thing
Take the average black man and ask him that
She gotta pack much back
So, fellas! (Yeah!) Fellas! (Yeah!)
Has your girlfriend got the butt? (Hell yeah!)
Tell 'em to shake it! (Shake it!) Shake it! (Shake it!)
Shake that healthy butt!
Baby got back!

(LA face with Oakland booty)
Baby got back!

[Sir Mix-a-Lot]
I like 'em round, and big
And when I'm throwin' a gig
I just can't help myself, I'm actin' like an animal
Now here's my scandal
I wanna get you home
And ugh, double-up, ugh, ugh
I ain't talkin' bout Playboy
'Cause silicone parts are made for toys
I want 'em real thick and juicy
So find that juicy double
Mix-a-Lot's in trouble
Beggin' for a piece of that bubble
So I'm lookin' at rock videos
Knock-kneeded bimbos walkin' like hoes
You can have them bimbos
I'll keep my women like Flo Jo
A word to the thick soul sistas, I wanna get with ya
I won't cuss or hit ya
But I gotta be straight when I say I wanna *fuck*
Til the break of dawn
Baby got it goin' on
A lot of simps won't like this song
'Cause them punks like to hit it and quit it
And I'd rather stay and play
'Cause I'm long, and I'm strong
And I'm down to get the friction on
So, ladies! {Yeah!} Ladies! {Yeah}
If you wanna role in my Mercedes {Yeah!}
Then turn around! Stick it out!
Even white boys got to shout
Baby got back!

Baby got back!
Yeah, baby ... when it comes to females, Cosmo ain't got nothin'
to do with my selection. 36-24-36? Ha ha, only if she's 5'3".

[Sir Mix-a-Lot]
So your girlfriend rolls a Honda, playin' workout tapes by Fonda
But Fonda ain't got a motor in the back of her Honda
My anaconda don't want none
Unless you've got buns, hun
You can do side bends or sit-ups,
But please don't lose that butt
Some brothers wanna play that "hard" role
And tell you that the butt ain't gold
So they toss it and leave it
And I pull up quick to retrieve it
So Cosmo says you're fat
Well I ain't down with that!
'Cause your waist is small and your curves are kickin'
And I'm thinkin' bout stickin'
To the beanpole dames in the magazines:
You ain't it, Miss Thing!
Give me a sista, I can't resist her
Red beans and rice didn't miss her
Some knucklehead tried to dis
'Cause his girls are on my list
He had game but he chose to hit 'em
And I pull up quick to get wit 'em
So ladies, if the butt is round,
And you want a triple X throw down,
Dial 1-900-MIXALOT
And kick them nasty thoughts
Baby got back!

(Little in the middle but she got much back) [4x]

I am not sure an explaination is neccesary. You just gotta love this song. You see the thing about this song is that it is "catchy". You just can't help but get into it. tee hee This song was a source of great fun and laughter for me and my new college friends, my freshman year. I smile when I think back to the moments when we sang and danced right along to this. One of my college friends has since passed away, and believe it or not....it is this song that reminds me of her the most. I love and miss you Dianne! The rest of us, still call eachother BECKY sometimes. :)

Four For Friday!

For this installment of Four For Friday, I decided to go in a different direction. Since I am starting to feel a TAD old these days, I decided that I wanted to do some reminiscing. This past June marked my 15th (gulp) year since graduating High School. OH MY....did I say 15? Yes, I am afraid I did. Seriously, it doesn't nearly feel half that long ago I was a carefree and fun loving high schooler. sigh....those were the days.
Anyhow, this week I'd like to focus on four movies that were released in 1992, the year I graduated. Being that I lived in a tiny little town with no movie theater, it wasn't too often that I went to see movies in the theater. Mostly I saw these on video with my hubby, well, boyfriend back then. tee hee

1. Drama-A Few Good Men, Starring, Tom Cruise, Demi Moore, and Jack Nicholson. Hubby and I saw this in the theater. I love, love, loved this movie. It really held my attention. It was back in the day when Tom Cruise was normal, and who doesn't love Mr. Nicholson. What an actor. It wouldn't be surprising to hear me say, "YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH!!!" at a totally random moment. Loved that line.

2. Romance-The Bodyguard, starring Whitney Houston, and Kevin Costner. I actually saw this the fall of my Freshman year in college. I went with my three new college friends, and we all bawled like freakin babies. I loved the soundtrack, and purchased it. I proceeded to learn the entire theme song, "I will always love you", in sign language so that I could help my hearing impaired roommate "hear" the song.

3. Comedy-My cousin Vinny, starring Joe Pesci, Ralph Macchio, and Marisa Tomei. Hubby and I saw this on video, and I have probably seen it like 10 times since. I really enjoy this film. Joe Pesci and Marisa Tomei are priceless in this movie. PRICELESS! LOVE IT! Lots of laughs.

4. Horror-Candyman, starring Virginia Madsen, Tony Todd, Xander Berkeley, Kasi Lemmons, and Vanessa A. Williams. Okay seriously folks, this movie messed me up. My hubby sure liked to make me watch freaky movies. I would go home all wigged out, and lay in my bed frightened to death. EEEKKKK!!! This one is a doosie in my book. I was so freaked about mirrors for a long, long, long time.

Well, there you have it. Four random movies from 1992. Go ahead and give me a little thrill, and let me know what you think of these movies, if you have seen them. Oh, and let me know when and where you viewed them. Thanks!

Four For Friday!

Seriously people....is it just me or are the weeks going EVEN faster? I only have two more weeks of summer vacation, and I am back to work! boo hoo.....say it isn't so!!!!!
If I had not wasted an hour tonight trying to figure out how to get a signature on my blog, I would have come up with an awesome Four For Friday. Instead we will fall back on probably my most desperately pathetic attempt at this yet. I am simply going to list four things that make having a week home, while my hubby is away on a Jeepers Jamboree, AWESOME. Now you might want to remember my situation this summer to fully appreciate this list. :)

1. Cold Cereal or Ice Cream for dinner.
2. At least 3 hours of uninterrupted computer time each day. Totally WHINE free.
3. I get to watch what I want to watch on TV without having to hear how stupid is.
4. As much cuddle time with my girl as I can possible handle with out a jealous 35 year old whining about taking turns!

Life is good baby! Life is GOOD!

Four For Friday

A little late, but at least it still is Friday here. I have been struggling to find computer time these days. Unfortunately, I am still battling some of the same issues I had at the beginning of summer. Oh well...I am surviving.

Today I'd like to focus on Four things Sugar Bear loves about the beach. When I am talking about the beach...I am talking about the west coast....and towards the north. 90% of the year not only a jacket is required but a stocking cap. It can be cold cold cold. The other 10% of the time, you can wear a t-shirt and long pants. tee hee....yeah baby...good times! Here are four reason's my girl has recently found to love the beach!

1. Chasing birds. You may recall, that I have a nature girl on my hands. At the beach it is no exception. The girl loves to experience the wildlife. As the rest of us sat on our hiney's eating lunch, Sugar Bear entertained us chasing the seagulls. This was a day that fit into the 10%.



2. Flying a kite. This was on a fair day. We still needed a sweatshirt, but it was pleasantly breezy instead of full force gale winds. Sugar Bear enjoyed flying her Dora Kite very much. I have to admit, I smiled to much that day my cheeks hurt.



3. Running into and out of the water. The poor girl has to find a willing victim to accompany her though, as mama just can't handle the freezing water. Seriously, after like 3 minutes your feet have the icky stinging feeling. I am not a fan, but my girl loves it. This day, her cousin K was a great sport, and Aunt A followed suit. I didn't mind hanging back to take pictures. :)



4. General running around and exploring all the sights and sounds. She loves to find rocks and shells and throw them back into the ocean. She enjoys running, hopping, and climbing on the drift wood. Certain days, all she wants to do is explore the dunes and tall grass. To Sugar Bear it is obvious that there just isn't anything a girl shouldn't experience while at the beach.

Four For Friday!

In keeping with my theme from yesterday, I'd like to focus this week's "Four For Friday" on photography. This picture is one that I have been after for quite some time. I have been searching for a situation that would lend itself to a perfect silhouette. It isn't easy to find in state that is so full of beautiful mountains. Everywhere I turn, the backdrop is mountainous. I love it, but it frustrated me trying to find just the right sky backdrop. This particular location I just happened upon. I was standing down a trail, while Sugar Bear waited at the top when I looked up and gasped. THERE IT WAS! I began snapping in glee.
When I downloaded this picture onto my computer I was so giddy with excitement. I set to work finding the perfect crop for it. This is where I ran into a problem. I couldn't decide what crop lent the most to this photo. I posted it on my photo board and boy was there a WIDE variety of opinions. It ranged from LESS black at the bottom, to needing MORE black at the bottom. Some liked it horizontal, and some liked it vertical. I smile at the different perspectives. IT got me wondering, what you all might think. Here are four different crops of the same picture. I'd love for you to leave me a comment and give me your thoughts on which one you like best and why. I can't wait to hear your thoughts.

1. The picture as I took it:


2. The picture less centered:


3. The picture with MORE black ground at the bottom:


4. The picture with LESS ground, so it is horizontal:

Four For Friday

If you read yesterday's post, you'll know that I am just not in the mood this week to come up with much for this week's Four For Friday. My Day today did NOT make things any better. A mistake was discovered at work.....either a human error or more likely computer glitch that cost our program nearly $13,000. The sad, sad, sad, thing is that the human is me. :( I am fairly certain that it was the computer, but it still feels oh so horrible, and having to go tell my boss was a low moment. He was very comforting, and understanding, but I still feel sick to my stomach over that loss of funds. Then to top it all off, I come home to read at least 4 "bad news" posts on my Internet baby board. I just can't take this week. The front page of the local paper featured a mother talking about the fact that it has been 7 years since her teenage daughter was murdered and there has still been no arrests. She spoke of her other daughter getting married. The bride couldn't bare to have a maid of honor that wasn't her sister, so they placed an empty chair with a pink rose on it beside her. I nearly drowned in tears imagining this. When will this week end??????

Sigh....so for this week's Four For Friday the best I can muster is four of my favorite pictures taken in the first four minutes my new camera was in my hands. Sorry friends....the is the best I can do this week! Bare with me....I should be out of the doldrums soon.

I took 17 pictures, and these are my four faves.

ummmm YEAH! This just figures! Freaking Photobucket isn't working tonight. LOL isn't that just perfect to top off my week. It won't let me upload...or access the pictures that are already there. So....here are four reasons I can't come up with a decent Four For Friday this week.

1. I am in a totally depressing and pissy mood.

2. Photobucket is a pain in the freakin fanny!

3. It is late, and I have ZERO brain cells left.

4. I am suffering from such a lack of creativity I can't even come up with a fourth reason that I can't come up with something to post. UMMMM did that even make sense?

See you next week. I give up on this one!

Four For Friday

A little bit of this....and a little bit of that. This is how I live my life. I have my finger on many different hobbies, and interests. I feel that I have a wide variety of interests, and some would say talents. I have a hard time believing I am very good at anything. Sometimes I just feel that I do a pretty decent job at most things, but nothing stands out as excellent. I often say that I spread myself so thin that sometimes I feel like I am just doing a half-ass job at everything. When it came to crocheting, knitting, scrap booking, stamping, sewing, and photography, I found that it was fairly easy for me to find my niche, and do a pretty decent job. Some....even a good job.

Today's Four For Friday focuses on four things that I have interest in, but I KNOW that I have ZERO talent. These four things bring me joy, and frustration equally. I really wish I could master these things, but the natural talent is severely lacking

1. OH how I wish I could sing....and sing really well. I LOVE to sing. Love love love to sing. There is a closet American idol in me. I adore singing loudly in the car. I totally can carry a tune, and I am not tone deaf, but years of cheer leading damaged my vocal cords, and my range is pitifully small. My huge honker plays against me, which is apparent in the nasally tone that rings out. I purchased a high quality Karaoke machine, so that I could sing at home, where no one would need to suffer though the sound. I used to spend a great deal of time rocking out in my own living room. I swear my pets thought the whole world was coming down on them. tee hee That could be why my one cat only comes home once a year. Hmmmmmm.......

2. Dancing, dancing, dancing.....oh how I wish I could dance. I am not really certain what happened on this one. I used to fancy myself a fairly decent dancer, but for the last 10 years I find it extremely difficult to move my body with any sort of agility. It looks like my top half and bottom half are having an argument when I dance. Well, to be fair...I am sure it isn't THAT bad, but it certainly is far from HOT! My favorite show is, "so you think you can dance!" I eat this show up like ice cream on a hot day! I imagine being able to dance around the stage like that. I enjoy all times of dancing, from ballroom to hip hop! It all makes me dream of having that talent.

3. An artist I am NOT! I can not draw...nor can I paint, but I would love to have this ability. I admire very much talented artists. I can hardly drawn a stick figure. I can make a pretty decent Fir tree. tee hee...but other than that, a 2nd grader could put me to shame. I am always disappointed when I pick up Sugar Bear's Magna doodle, and sit there with nothing I can draw. I want to impress her with a cat or a dog or at least a recognizable object, but I fail every time. Darn it!

4. The final disappointing NON-talent I want to share, is my severe lack of yeast bread making knowledge, understanding, and luck. I crave homemade bread, rolls.....and so on, but when I try....it rarely turns out. I even have a bread machine, but it only has about a 25% success rate also. Nothing frustrates me more than excitedly waiting for the timer to go off, only to find a bread brick. It is probably a good thing, I suffer from this inability, because there is nothing tastier in the world than a fresh from the oven homemade roll, with a TON of butter on it. sigh...I would be 6 thousand pounds if I could make a decent roll. Let's face it....that wouldn't help my dancing ability at all! :)


So there you have it. Four things I not only don't come by naturally I haven't seen any improvement with practice. I honestly think I just need to accept my fate, and just go back to tackling the things that I might actually have a chance of improving.

Four For Friday

Seriously folks....there is something about having a predictable Friday blogging plan that makes me realize just how fast the days go by. I am not thrilled that my summer is flying by. I just know it will be over before I know it. Then I will return to work, and wish I had done so many things.
I am the worst procrastinator there is. It is a skill I have honed over the years. I have come to my most recent level of procrastination talent pretty easily though. There seems to be this natural instinct in me to WANT to do lots of things, but not always get it done. I have this nasty habit of taking on too much.
In honor of my procrastination today I'd like to discuss four things I'd like to achieve this summer while I am off work. I figure if I write it here....I just might follow through with them. tee hee....ummmm yeah, at least we can hope. Hope is GOOD!

1. The first thing I hope to accomplish this summer is simply to scrapbook at least three times. I know this sounds like a peasly little amount, but I literally have only scrapbooked one time in over a year. At least that one time was a 12 hour scrapfest, but let's be honest here...that is pathetic. I used to scrapbook with my friends 1-2 times a month. I swore that I would not get behind on Sugar Bear's pictures. HA....funny story. I have taken....ummmm....do I dare admit it?????.....let's low ball it at 15,000 pictures, and I have scrapbooked approximately 112 of them. Would you say I am more than a TAD behind? Thus....I seriously need to get busy and scrapbook. I LOVE scrapbooking. I just find that I have taken on like 300 other hobbies, and rarely make the time to do it. I will make some time this summer!

2. The second thing I hope to achieve this summer is to find an organizational solution to my SMALL house, and LARGE amounts of hobby supplies. I am drowning in my clutter, and I am sick of it. I love my house. I love where we live, but it is a 1400 SQFT, 2 bedroom, 1 bath house. It would work just fine for us, if I didn't have like 4 billion scrap booking supplies, 3 million skeins of yarn, 40 yards of fabric, and way too many patterns, rolls of ribbons and buttons. Where can I put it all, so that it is easy to access, yet not out in the open? It is constant frustration for me. I will figure this out. Wish me luck.

3. The third thing I hope I actually do this summer is to continue to Blog at least three times a week. I would prefer to blog closer to five days a week, but I want to keep my goal realistic. I have been enjoying my little blog immensely, and I want to encourage myself to open up more.....look into my own being, and figure out what makes me tick. I tend to over analyze most things in my life. I hope that by getting these thoughts out of my head, I might learn a little something useful. I appreciate all the love and support of my readers. All 10 of you, that is! :)

4. The fourth thing I hope to fearlessly tackle is.....dum dum dum.....POTTY TRAINING! Yup, I really need my little girly to be potty trained by September. EEEEEKKKK!!!! So far....she is soooooo not interested. She thinks she is, but she isn't. She talks a big talk, but she has NEVER peed on the potty. We've hit the jackpot on number two at least 4 times, but number one is another story. She just isn't ready. I don't want to push her at all, but I need to encourage her with passion. tee hee.....Cross your fingers for us that the "Potty Power" video is the magic I want it to be. :)

So there it is....my goals for this summer. Reading back through them makes me laugh. I sure am a "reach for the stars" kind of person, huh? Hey, it isn't the size of the goal that matters, right? Baby Steps.....Baby Steps!

Four For Friday

WOW! Here we are again. This week was a bad bloggin week for me. I just couldn't find the time. It was my first official week home for summer. I guess I needed to get in the swing of things around here. Here's hoping I schedule my time better next week.

Today I'd like to share with you four reasons I LOVE PhotoShop! I have been using my PhotoShop Elements for about 2 years now. I am scared to admit that I probably spend 5 hours a week editing pictures,creating collages, and much more. When I first got into it, I focused most of my time and energy on the "creating" part of it. I was a collage and special effects loving fool. After many months, I got more and more into the actual photography side of things, and found PS to be an invaluable tool in editing my photos. Even though I tend to send more time on the "editing and enhancing" part now, I still sell Birth Announcements, holiday cards, and birthday invites that I create.

Here in no particular order are the top 4 reasons I just LOVE LOVE LOVE PhotoShop:

1. I love PhotoShop because I can make really cool creations. Here is a Birth Announcement I made. The shells and the fish are actual pictures of things in my home. The fish are glass figurines.



Here is one of my Holiday cards this year.


2. I love PhotoShop because I can take a normal picture, and turn it into a pretty decent portrait. This is one of the 2 year portraits I took of Sugar Bear recently.

Before:


After:



3. I love PhotoShop because I can totally fix those pictures when I have a bad photography moment and underexpose. Sometimes It is an accident...well usually it is, but in this case, I knew it was gong to be underexposed, but I wanted the shot anyhow. I am so glad I didn't miss this one.

Before:


After:



4. I love PhotoShop because I can play the miracle worker, and heal my daughters wounds. What toddler doesn't always have bruises, scraps, food or snot? It is so wonderful to be able to fix these things if I so desire. I don't usually fix the bruises and scrapes unless it is for a portrait. I want to acurately portray my daughter at that moment in her life.

Before:


After:


PhotoShop is addicting....it is amazing....it is my favorite hobby. I am often asked if I can help others learn. I can surely give the hints, tips and ideas, but it is your job to dedicate many, many hours to practice. It is a process, and I think you have to just go through it to understand where you want to go with it. Good Luck!

Four For Friday

How on earth could it possibly be Friday again? I feel like it was Friday yesterday. I suppose that is what happens when you have a 5 day weekend. :) Anyhow, here we are celebrating our second "Four For Friday." woo hoo I am on a roll. Heck I am just proud that I remembered to do it twice in a row.

Many of you know, yet some of you don't, that I like to create. I enjoy the process of creating in many different forms. One of these is sewing. To be honest, if you would have told me 5 years ago that I might be sewing outfits, not only for my child, but for other fortunate children whose parents happen to know me, I would have laughed out loud. Yet, here I am constantly sewing something new, and loving every minute of it.

Today I'd like to share with you four outfits that I made in the last year or so. It was really, really, really hard for me to pick just four, but I tried to show a variety. There will be four outfits, but more than four pictures, cause I am CRAZY like that.

This first one, I made last September for a sweet little gal named Emma. In these pictures, Miss Sugar is modeling it for us though. For this particular Halloween outfit, I embellished a white t-shirt and denim jeans with a fun spiderweb bandanna. I really loved this outfit and had a hard time giving it up!






This Second outfit just might be my all time favorite. I simply embellished a t-shirt with wide striped ribbon around the middle, and ruffled it around the bottom. I then took different colors of ribbon and made loops to go around the bottom of a pair of jeans cut to Capri length. So fun! What a hoot. People either loved it or hated it. What do you think?







The third outfit is one I made for Sugar Bear to wear during the fall season. I took a pair of overalls, and different fall themed fabric and designed her a very cute pair of decorative overalls. These remind me of a ruffly, feathery, turkey fanny. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE IT!





This last outfit was the source of much discussion. It was said by "some" that I might have over done it on this one, but you should have seen the heads turning the day she wore it. tee hee.....fun fun fun. I mean, what are holiday's for if not for dressing your poor child up in loud, garish outfits.
For this outfit I took overalls, St. Paddy's day fabric, elastic, and some green grosgrain ribbon, and did a little magic...TA DA! Instant St. Patrick's Day Princess.





Now don't tell me you aren't just a tiny bit jealous that I am not your mom? Seriously, I get giddy thinking about her next Holiday outfit. People just can't deny that Sugar Bear's mama is exuberant about making life FUN!