All About My Mom

My mom came and stayed a week with us while my daycare was closed for the Christmas holiday. She has done this the last couple years, and this year, as part of my way of telling her how thankful I am, I thought I'd write a little blog about her.  She reads my blog, she comments, so I know she'll probably be thaaaaa-rilled to be a topic of one!

My mom, who many of you know, is Darla.  I feel weird posting her last name, partially because she hyphenates it, and also she already has enough problems with buying things online herself and having her credit card information stolen that I'm not about to make it easier for someone to steal her identity.

Darla still lives in my hometown, out on a homestead with my dad (cantankerous old man that he is) and my little sister, Tona (cantankerous 11 year old that she is).  She also has a dog, Gizmo, whom she has found a little furry life partner in.  Gizmo and I don't really get along, but he's here staying for the week.  And he's still alive.  Nuff said.

Darla...  I can't even find a good starting point to begin to describe her.  So I will instead begin to explain all the ways I'm MOST like her.  That will illustrate what a fiery little dynamo she is.

- We're both short.  She's shorter.
- We're brunette.
- We love to laugh.
- We like to tell stories that make people laugh (Sidebar: I'm considering becoming stand-up comedienne.  More to come!)
- Some might call us "crazy".  I prefer the term "colorful".
- We both love my kids, but she gets to spoil them and I get to be the hard ass.  (Sidebar: I think I should also become a private detective, and get a reality show, and have my mom be on it so we could do good cop/bad cop interrogations and solve mysteries.  More to come!)

My mom is giving.  Almost to a fault, but I think that brings up a huge difference I find between my mother and I.  She is very giving, and I'm considerably less giving.  I give charitably on occasion, but Darla goes out and gets an entire family presents for Christmas.  She wrapped each and every one of the gifts, with a name tag and spent hours doing it, for people she hadn't met.  They were just a family that she knew that were in need.  She tries to make sure she's available to those that really need her.  She's a life-long friend, unless you do something like lie to her, but if you are good to her she'll be a listening ear and shoulder to cry on whenever you need one.

She's also currently going back to school full time to further her degree in nursing, and I thus far have not even called MSU to find out about seeing an advisor (or paying my 11 year old parking ticket).  She just completed a semester and will be carrying a full course load in January.  The last few years have been a little bit of a quagmire of medical crap and she hasn't always been feeling 100%, but 2011 really got a kick in the ass when she decided to make some big life changes, so far all for the better, and I couldn't be more thrilled to see my mom excited and determined to finish what she started.

Also, she cleaned my entire kitchen, you guys.  Top to bottom.  My kitchen hasn't looked like this since I moved in.  I didn't ask her to, it wasn't part of her staying here, but I feel like a thank you card will be in order for how much she (and Tona) did while they were here.  She tries to make my life easier, she encourages me to follow my dreams and she is a role model for me in a lot of ways, just as I hope to one day be a role model for the kind of person I want Elora to be.

To all my readers, please offer Darla a hearty thanks for being such a good mom to an ingrate like me.  Without her, there would be no "La Madre Loca".  She's the original, she's the best, and I love her very much.  Thanks for being amazing, Mom!  ILYBAM!

Toot Toot!

I completely spaced mentioning in my last blog, or on Facebook, that I was recently offered and accepted a position as an Eligibility Administrator with the company I work for.  This really isn't a "promotion" promotion, it involves taking on a lot more work and knowing I may have to put in a little more than the standard 40 hours a week (45 at the most).  But I'm really excited and looking forward to bringing my own special flare to the position.

I don't get to start the position immediately, but when my current department has hired some new peeps and trained them I'll get to start the new job.  I love what I do right now, and I will probably miss it more than I even realize when I move to the new department, but I think that I will rock the new gig.  Like a hurricane.  A hurricane of efficiency.



















































**Super special gem**
We were watching the new Conan the Barbarian with Elora this last weekend... and before I go on I realize how many levels that statement is wrong on.  But I repeatedly checked in on whether she was handling her shit when it came to watching the warrior do his warrior's work and she assured me that she "liked blood".  Well, as with most Conan movies there was a little bit of titties and then a little bit of "foot washing" if you get the euphemism, and Thad didn't cover her young eyes before she saw two sweaty bodies clinging to each other like life depended on it.  As her eyes were covered she giggled and said "They were crotch lovers".  CROTCH.  LOVERS.  So wrong on so many levels.  But also the most hilarious comic gold I've ever witnessed, and it was FREE IN MY LIVING ROOM.  I've wondered when the idea of two naked people wrestling would start to create questions.  Now I realize she already has the basic gist and no explanation is required.  Aren't you glad you scrolled down!?!

And I'm Spent

December 26th.  Boxing Day.  The final day off of my three day weekend.  Granted, next weekend is also a three day weekend so you won't hear me complaining.  But after the anticipation of Christmas and its subsequent passing it is kind of nice to see it on its way out the door.  I don't mind turning off the Christmas carols for about 10 months or so.

The kids managed to get a ton of toys from mommy, daddy, grandparents, and the big S.  Elora got a Leappad, which is pretty cool if you don't mind your kid staring at a screen for long hours at a time.  I don't.  I do it myself.  They might as well get used to it if they plan on working for their living.  Or if they plan to write a blog on their smartphone while their kids watch "The Coneheads" while curled up with their daddy.  Because that's how things get done, kids.  

Colter got a rocking horse that whinnies and shakes its tail, who goes by the name of Horse. He yells "YAH" very loudly and very repeatedly. This is in addition to the soft body, realistic T-Rex that he yells "RAWR" on a loud, repeated basis as well.   The kids spent the whole day with unbrushed teeth and had candy for breakfast, and I had several spicy red beers and tried (unsuccessfully) to watch the last Indiana Jones movie.  It was a pretty nice day.

Mommy and daddy managed to get a new 360 and Kinect with some of the gift money we got, and my mom got me silverware and new kitchen utensils that I both wanted/needed, and a pair of fuzzy Hello Kitty pants that make my mind melt with their softness.  Thad got a big fuzzy soft robe and some grill accessories. 

Christmas is always a little magical because I get to spend some time with my friend Jen, who you may recall from a little blog post I put up a few months ago after her last visit.  We had an effing amazing time out on Friday night.  Many beers were consumed (Hoegarden!  Cause we're hoes!) and a few songs were sung.  I really need to expand my karaoke repertoire on of these days, I do "Me and Bobby McGee" because I rock it, but I should start keeping a list of songs on my phone so I have a library of songs I would love to sing.  And I'm making it a personal quest to get out to Portland this year to visit her and go on a culinary journey of epic proportions. 

Coming up this weekend: a mulligan on my birthday movie night with Morgan.  "Young Adult" never came to Billings, so we have decided to go with "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" and some Burger Dive.  And our New Years Eve will be spent at home, making Vietnamese food and have a few friends over.  I haven't looked forward to New Years Eve in a while, since the days before we had kids when we spent every year partying in a cabin in Red Lodge.  2012 is going to be awesome, I just feel it in my bones!

Celebrity Headlines

I am a daily reader of snarky gossip, specifically wwtdd and thesuperficial (I also occasionally reference dlisted when I am in need of a big flaming heap of ridiculousness like Prince Hot Ginge and Rojo Caliente).  I had clicked a link to read a little blurb about Jennifer Aniston (who I love loathe, and also pity) when I see that Demi Lovato has died her hair red.

I wondered what it would be like for every mundane detail of my life to be broadcast as it is for a celebrity (especially headlines that include BIG WORDS And smaller text that usually indicates something less shocking than the giant text)  so I decided to put them into a draft titled "Mary Rose's Celebrity Headlines", which I may or may not revert to a draft again later and add to (if I were a betting woman I would probably put my money on the "may not" in that statement).


Without further ado.....  
Mary Rose's  
LARGE CELEBRITY HEADLINES 2011
Where the glamorous meets the ridulousness, with a dash of sassy!

- MR GOES ON 

HAIR HYGIENE STRIKE!
"I will wash my hair when all other children can wash their hair" says working mother of 2 (Sources reveal she's just lazy).

-SECRET SHOCKING 

LIES MARY ROSE TELLS HER CHILDREN!
When will she tell them there really is no "secret camera to the North Pole" in the cookie jar?!?!

-SWAN FAMILY 
BARELY HANGING ON!
"The holidays usually requires a minimum of 2 thirty-packs, and Mary only bought one!", a source close to the family reveals.


That's all I have at the moment.  I could work for more, but then it wouldn't feel as organic as these headlines did.  Which is why I probably couldn't work for any newpaper in the world.

From boobs voyage

Since this might be my last post before Christmas (holy crap, it's Christmas already!) I am including a holiday-esque picture of the kids I took this morning. Elora makes a weird face instead of smiling, and Colter is just.... Colter. Man, I love these two. They pretty much rock my world on a daily basis.

What's on my mind right now?

- Breakfast for dinner.... French toast, breakfast links filled with Wisconsin cheese, maybe a little fruit (canned, but still fruit).

- 81 days until Chico Weekend 2012 with McWirth's.  March might be too long for my muscles to go without a soak in the restorative waters, so Elora might get a birthday trip there in January. I heart Olympia in a natural hot spring when it's snowing.  What can I say, I have discerning taste.

- Christmas shopping.  Have to figure out what to get my bro/sis in law (any suggestions Jamie?) and nieces and nephews.  I'm glad I took Friday off to finish up without kids around. 

- Christmas music has been my non-stop soundtrack for 2 weeks, including all weekend long.  I can't do anything but sing them, hum them, sing them some more.  In the car, at work, then in the car, then in every store I go into, and also at home.  I'm just going to let this holiday current drag me offshore like an undertow, further and further from the Mary Rose that finds all this holiday BS completely ridiculous.  And BTW, I just realized that after this weekend it IS Christmas.  I'm so glad this madness is almost over!

- Saturday = birthday date with my hetero lifemate, Mrs. McWirth.  "Young Adult", then tapas at Walker's.  I've been craving their steamed clams in a delicious broth of .... deliciousness.  And a loaf of crusty bread for dipping.  And calamari.  Plus, Charlize Theron looks awesome as a mean girl, so I must admit I'm happy we picked the perfect weekend to watch a movie I'm actually looking forward to with genuine anticipation.

- I hate how news stories like this make me feel about the country I live in (we're kind of a bunch of assholes, is what how I'm interpreting this).  THE EXTREME RIGHT WING HAS AN AGENDA TOO, PEOPLE, IT'S CALLED DUMBING DOWN AMERICA.  If we're dumber they can control us.  I feel like I'm taking crazy pills.

- Colter says "help me" a lot.  He just did it, as a matter of fact.  He also kisses me, then wipes his mouth and says "ew".  I did this once to him because his kiss covered my mouth with snot one day, and now he won't let me forget it.

- Elora is almost 5.  Did you hear that?  That's the sound of the wind being knocked from my lungs.  She's tall enough to wash her hands nearly completely unaided at the kitchen sink.  She doesn't quite reach the handle for the faucet, but STILL.  She loves to have her back tickled for an a length of time that I would say borders on extreme, but I do it anyways. 

- Work is.... sigh.  Tis the season to be pretty much up to our eyeballs anyways, and add to it that we're running a little understaffed and that makes for a very busy day.  But I'm excited for some upcoming projects I've been asked to work on.  I loooooove when I get handpicked for a project, my little brown nose practically glows with delight!!

- We're set for a weekend of houseguests (In-laws, holla!) and I am trying to think of a real "wow" something to make.  Thad pulled up a recipe for Horseradish Crusted Steak Roulade, which seems a little optimistic, but also quite delicious.

- Thad and I are considering a tropical vacation, mommy and daddy only, in late 2012, early 2013.  We've almost been married for 10 years, and neither of us has ever needed a passport.  Now, to figure out where to go!

- Love my hair.  Love it curly.  Love it straight.  Love the length, the style, I can't believe I fought this look for so long.  Never fighting again.

Alright, time to start beating my children into submission (i.e. making them brush their teeth before bed).  Thanks to everyone for making my last post with pictures of my boobs the most successful blog post I've ever had.  I'm glad I have such a large group of internet creepers that wanted to see how my boobs look.  You all make me so proud.

Internet, say hello to....

My little friends. 

Elora took this snap today when I asked her to take a picture of my bed head.  I think that it captures the childlike wonder of the new breasts,  the promise of possibilities and the return of my ability to believe. I'm simply overflowing with Blarney today.  I have to say that I am having a great morning with my children and Elora is going to be a very smart kindergartener.  Maybe the smartest ever.

I added a picture of my favourite blouse (I love the word blouse).  This was super cheap at Ross and I love it.  Too bad the day I wore it to work I had chills and body aches and had to wear a sweater over it.

The fine line between "Thrifty" and "Cheap"

This weekend I went shopping for new clothes with a dear friend of mine, Angie of recent "Malarial Outbreak 2011" fame.  Angie has known me a long time, and in the course of our friendship I have asked her on several occasions to shop with me when I need new clothes.  Because I am frightfully cheap and sometimes need someone to talk me IN to purchasing things.  Ludicrous, I know.

She ended up helping me wrangle a healthy chunk of change into submission on a shitload of awesomeness.  I've spent all week wearing the work-appropriate garb that we picked up, and I have loved all of it.  I have one blouse/slacks combo that hasn't been worn yet, just waiting to my pants to be hemmed, but she got me some really excellent stuff.

If I were a better photographer, or someone who wasn't complete lazy when it comes to taking pictures, I would have pictures of all these fabulous outfits.  But I'm not neither of those things, so you are left with the following verbal description of our plunder: 1 fitted short jacket, 1 pair black pants, 2 pairs grey pants, 2 pairs khakis, 4 blouses, 2 sweater, 1 sweater dress, 1 pair of suede flat knee-high boots (kids size 4, holla for having doll-size feet!), and some hosiery. 

My favorite parts about shopping with Angie are as follows:

- She's a great person to spend an afternoon with, and a glass of wine/beer.
- She has a great eye, and a great sense of style.  She's putting this sweater together with that belt, and calculating how many layering tanks you'll need to make this sweater work.  She can also talk me into tailoring, which is kind of a feat in itself.
- She's incredibly frugal, which is the only reason why I trust her to really encourage purchases she knows that I might balk at price-wise but will appreciate in the long run.  She dresses like an East Coast woman on a trailer park woman's budget!

I hope that somehow she gets to make this gift she has into something she could do for a living.  If any woman could acquire a small nest of egg of clothes buying money (and really, it doesn't take a fortune when you know where to look) Angie could help you spend it and walk away with no buyers remorse.

Hit me up if you're interested in seeing what Miss Angie can do for you, and be prepared to try on lots of clothes.  She doesn't put up with anyone saying their tired while trying on their 3rd top.  Trust me, I know.

The eve of 31

Well, in about 15 minutes (don't check the timestamp, as it will be incorrect) I turn 31.  Here are a few thoughts on this being the Friday night before my birthday:

I don't miss going to bars to celebrate events.  I know that sounds ridiculous after the whole Boobs Voyage thing, but that event was the "event".  Sometimes you just really want a reason to get your friends together in one place and have something to celebrate.  Tonight I'm not feeling "it".  I haven't really felt "it" since my surgery, and I can't say I miss "it".

I'm staring to feel a tickle in my nose, accompanied with stuffy runniness.  Excellent.  NOT.

Tonight was the company Christmas party for my work, and I did get to wear my flapper dress one more time this year, which was the whole reason I paid the exorbitant sum that I did to buy it before Halloween.  There was a hypnotist, and I volunteered to be hypnotized.  I guess I'm more susceptible to hypnotism than I thought, because while I do recall bits and pieces of what I did, I also had a huge amount of focused blank spot induced by yoga breathing and I was the most relaxed I've ever been afterwards.

Well, by the time I got this much typed my words are nearly being written with my eyes clothes, I'm that exhausted.  And it's 12:03 on 12:03!  Bedtime for me so I can get up for my bountiful basket at 7 am and going shopping for new clothes!  What an awesome way to spend your birthday.  I might even splurge on a dinner of splendiferous Indian food, you just never know!  I love birthdays for the excuse to do whatever you want (although my dreams rarely become reality).  Take care this 12/3!

Post-Thanksgiving Giving of Thanks

So last week I didn't even wind up getting drunk and still didn't manage to get a Thanksgiving blog in, so I'm remedying the situation a week by sharing some gratitude in written form.

First, I need to thank my mothers.  Both my own mother and my mother-in-law are the best grandmothers my kids could ask for.  My mother has taken care of me through a lot of serious medical issues, so I was grateful to have her there for something that was actually going to be a positive for my health.  My mother-in-law is amazing, she's truly the best "other mother" I could ask for.  She loves me like her own and I'm blessed to have her in my life (you too, Papa Bryan).

Thad, you are my rock, even when you are not always terribly nice to me.  You put up with some of my more amazing shenanigans and still manage to love me unconditionally, even when you don't seem to like me (it's true, we're like cats and dogs sometimes).  You stuck with me during really crappy stuff, you've been there when our children came into the world and you've been an amazing father and husband.  You're my viking, and I love you so big it surprises me sometimes.

Elora and Colter, thank you for being so good for your grandparents when you spent time with them in Colstrip.  You got spoiled rotten, which is the best part of staying with grandparents, and I am so happy you're home, you're healthy (at the moment) and you're mine.

MORGAN- you're the yin to my yang.  I love that you live life like you're rolling nothing but Yahtzee's, and I so appreciate your coming and spending the day with me after surgery.  I'm looking forward to our bestie vacation in February (Chico!), and I fully expect my own pan of homemade Snickers this year!  Love you, bunny!

I have a lot of other folks that wished me luck and checked on my progress after surgery, so thank you all for your kind wishes and your prayers.  I'm attending my company Christmas Party tomorrow night and I hope to get a nice picture so I can post some pictures of my "after".

Only 24 more shopping days until Christms!  Yikes, I better get on it! 

One week later...

Wow, a week ago today I was anxiously preparing to go to the surgery center.  The older I get the more time-dissociative I become, because that feels like a year ago.  But Thanksgiving is tomorrow, which also doesn't seem right, so I don't know if this is because I play "Gardens of Time" on Facebook and the storyline has now started to mess with my head.

Aaaanyways, one week later I'm really happy with my results.  The incisions are definitely healing, and they look pretty gross, but all in all I think they'll definitely look better with more time.  I've been on Tylenol only since Monday and have been doing pretty good, I've even driven a couple places by myself.  I will admit I miss the sleepiness of the sweet, sweet nectar the doctor gives you, but that's probably why not taking it all week is going to be better for everyone's Thanksgiving.  Someone's got to pull this thing outta their ass, and it might as well be me.

So the kids are home!  Huge sigh of relief, and I will be writing a big postful of thankfulness tomorrow to those that made their little getaway possible. Even though they were complete shits when they got home I am still so happy to have them sleeping in their room.  Knowing that their there and that they will continue to be there for the next 4 days.

I knew that there would be a little weirdness with Colter because I can explain to Elora that mommy had surgery that took off a big chunk of her boobs, and she can see the incisions (only the tops, I'm not sure if she could handle seeing the scabby mess at the bottom right now), but Colter B has no idea what happened.  It was hilarious, last night he came and snuggled me in the kitchen where I sat and visited with my parents, and he just could NOT get comfortable.  Back against me, side against me, finally he laid with his chest against me and his arms crossed over his own chest exactly where my boobs would be.  It was a teeny bit heartbreaking, but I'm sure he won't be psychologically damaged.  Both his parents are insurance holders so I guess we'll worry about mental health benefits if and when he needs them.

My holiday list seems almost made, and I'm opting to keep things very simple, extremely inexpensive, but thoughtful.  I'm not a crafter, that Boobs Voyage shirt in this post is one of the few things I have ever gone to a craft store with a specific purpose in making.  I can crochet, but I haven't tried anything in the last couple years so I will just buy my gifts, thank you very much.

Well, I'm off to check Black Friday ads.  I refuse to go out, but I have one very crazy friend who will be grappling the crowds, and I need to see if I can find a sweet deal on a couple electronic items while she's there.  Be back tomorrow with a Turkey Day Toast (and I might be drunk blogging, how fun!)

Aloneness

This morning, it is completely quiet except the sound of my typing and the Xbox humming in the background.  Thad has dressed warmly and packed his hunting equipment to set out into the wilderness.  He's been trying to get an elk for the last 5 years, and I'm hopeful that he will go to some random location and find the elk of his dreams waiting for him. 

The kids are at grammy's, and when I remember this fact it gives me a dual feeling of excitement and homesickness.  I miss their little faces, and their little feet, and although I am completely fine with missing the diaper changes I would happily change a big, stinky one right this minute to get a kiss and a hug from both my kids this morning. 

But in the spirit of honesty, I'm also RELISHING this time.  Savoring it like a fine wine.  (Sidebar: Thad bottled his wine last night, more later)  This silence, the fact that Thad is also gone, is a deep silence.  I might turn my phone to silent just to keep with the theme.  There are no thumps and no sneezes and no deep, sweet breathing of sleeping babes in harmony with the sound of steam from their humidifier.  Can you both long for something but also appreciate its absence while it's away?  God, could I be more profound this morning!?

Later today I plan to devote a large chunk of time to sitting down with my laptop and figuring out a Christmas List and start planning that shit out.  We have a few things picked out for the kids, but I haven't really looked around the sneak previews of the Black Friday ads to see what's going to be out there.  I love that there is underground Black Friday stuff, like it's its own bizarre Fight Club to know what will be on sale on the most miserable shopping day of the year.

Recovery: Day 2

So today I got to watch movies and have lunch at Red Robin while enjoying time with my bestie Morgan.  We had an awesome day of chick flicks (Crazy Stupid Love, The Matchmaker, and Dirty Dancing) and polished the day off with 4 rousing games of Yahtzee.  We also developed a new philosophy on life, one based on living life to the fullest, one which can be embodied in the words "Livin' life like I want nothing but Yahtzees!!!!"  As soon as I started playing like I wanted nothing but Yahtzees my game went to crap, so it's a great philosophy in theory but I wouldn't recommend making life choices based on this mentality.


I've also been working my way through the ENORMOUS world map on Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.  Seriously, it's gigantic, in a semi-intimidating way.  I'm proud that I've figured out a few tricks for myself, like how to keep my companion alive and always know where I leave her, and that rather than trying to find a land route everywhere sometimes it's just better to jump into a river and follow it until you reach new destinations.


The kids are having fun at grandma and grandpas house.  They don't call us daily, but we have gotten some pictures and we've video chatted with them on our PS3.  Technology is pretty amazing, let me tell you!  I'm more and more thankful for it every day, even if it will one day rise up and destroy us.

Morgan got to see the new boobs today.  Survey says: they're pretty gross right now but she was very impressed with how much they managed to take off, and how much smaller it has made me.  Even swollen today it's amazing to see.  I can't wait to see them in 8 weeks, they can only get better looking and better feeling by then.


Alright, I'm about 30 minutes away from another dose of pain meds and some sleepy time.  Call me if you want to come visit this weekend!

Yesterday!

So yesterday was the day!  I am now smaller chested, fresh and free and feeling fabulous.  Oh, and I'm on pain meds (can you tell?).


Admittedly, I was pretty nervous before the surgery.  I tried to focus more on the excitement of being free from back pain, but the fear of pain still outweighed the excitement.  In the end I just kind of had to fake my brave face and go face the proverbial bear in the face.  I don't know what proverb that is from, but let's go with it.  Also, that was a lot of uses of the word "face".


So the doctor came in and drew a pattern on my boobs.  And by pattern I mean dress pattern.  Full on darts and shit.  He used a big Sir Marks A Lot and a big clear ruler, and drew lines from my collar bone to my waist.  And then he pushed them up and around and over to show me what they were going to be doing.  They took me into the OR after they drew all over my chest, and at one point I was so surprised that we were already ready to get started that I said through my oxygen mask "Is it go time?" which the nurses and anesthesiologist found quite funny.  The other memory that I carry fondly from right before I went out like a light was that they were playing music in the OR, and the song that happened to be playing was Eric Clapton's "Wonderful Tonight".  It seemed really profound at the time.

The surgery went really well.  Super duper well.  I came out of anesthesia like awakening from a dream, and after I sat in recovery and had some crackers and juice it was time to load up and hit the road.  My experience with Dr Muskett has been fantastic, the man knows his stuff.  I also have nothing but kind words to say about the very nice folks at Yellowstone Surgery Center, they are fantastic.

Today I went in to have my bandages removed, and I got to see the new size/shape.  I am so happy, even though they're currently quite gross looking.  They are perky, perkier than they've been since I was in high school.  And so much smaller.  I could put my hands under and over my breast and had tons of excess skin that my hands couldn't cover.  Now my hands nearly covers the entire breast.

Holy cow, the fatigue of surgery is one that I've forgotten since my last one, which was Colter's birth in 2009.  This blog was started yesterday, but between the fatigue and pain meds I had little to no ability to finish a blog post.  Even now, as I type, my eyelids are drooping and I could nap.  So I will.

Coming up: Thanksgiving in Casa Swan, where I don't cook or clean at all prior to the festivities so I enjoy them soaked in guilt gravy!

Crafty Like a Fox

First off, we are almost a week away from surgery.  Holy cow, how did the time pass so quickly from this to being a week away from surgery?  It feels like April was 30 years ago, but in a surreal, it-only-happened-yesterday kind of way.  I had planned to do a little party for myself when I was trying to get the surgery done in April, so I decided to go full-steam ahead into the idea a second time.

I happen to be of the opinion that something doesn't really happen unless you do something to document said event.  Which is why I will go to my grave never having "seen" Muse in concert because we have no photographic evidence that we drove all the way to Denver to see them, apart from one photo Thad took of me drinking a michelada at the Mile High Flea Market at 10 in the morning.  But damn, that thing was good, it had a spicy salt on the rim that made the world an alright place to be in.  But I digress.

So if you followed the last paragraph up until I started talking about beer, I knew that I needed to do my best to make sure that if I was going to go to the trouble of throwing a party for myself I better make it the most Mary Rose-ish party there ever was.  So the commemorative t-shirt was born.

From boobs voyage

From boobs voyage

So I created a tasteful, elegant shirt that indicated that this girl was out celebrating her soon-to-be freedom. It got a lot of stares, I saw a lot of people reading it that then turned to their tablemates to indicate that there was a lunatic with ginormous boobies running around The Vig with a t-shirt that said Tits Ahoy. And the rest, as they say, was history.

From boobs voyage

I posted all my party pictures on Facebook, so I don't feel a huge desire to recreate the photo sharing wheel by posting a photo blog on the event so I'm just posting the one above to really display what the shirt looked like on.

As for the party, let's just say that we had a good time. A lot of folks couldn't make it for various reasons, but the folks that did make it MADE it. My brother didn't buy me one single beer, but he did rock out 'Whiskey in a Jar' at the Play Inn. My friend Misty's fiance has the voice of an angel, the face of an Adonis, he loves her to the point where it is almost impossible not to "awwww" when they look at each other, and he introduced me to Hoegarden beer, which is exactly what I imagine the beer they crafted in "Beerfest" tastes like. And lots of old friends made it out for the final hurrah. It's amazing that I've known all the folks that came for as long as I have and that they still continue to make time for me in their lives, which is either a testament of how awesomely I pick friends, or they just found my drunken antics of 5+ years ago entertaining to keep tuning in long after motherhood called me its bitch.  Either way I'd like to think to think that my rousing rendition of "Me and Bobby McGee" is enough to keep them coming back for more for years to come.

As I type this Thad is getting his stuff loaded up to head out elk hunting.  I'll be hoping for a freezer full of meat, but also for my husband's safe return, I worry a little when I know I won't talk to him on a semi-regular basis.  I'll be heading to Colstrip this weekend to drop off the kids with grandparents, where they will stay until after surgery.  The idea of not having them close for that long is the most unbearable part of this whole procedure.  I'll also get to wish one cousin a fond farewell as she departs Colstrip for the Greybull, WY, as well as meeting the newest addition to another cousin's family.  Along with helping my mom fix up a playroom for the kids I have a feeling I will have plenty to keep me from dwelling on missing my kids.

I've been trying to jot down ideas for blog posts when they come to me, and I like to think I've got a few future posts planned that will be compelling and rich.  I'm putting those in my pocket for the hours of boredom to come while I recover from surgery.  I bet you just can't wait.

Thoughts on a Sunday

Today is Sunday, a day of kicking the weekend in the butt and getting things accomplished that you were too lazy to do Saturday.  In Casa Swan those things would include: laundry, picking up thirty pounds of toys from the floor and vacuuming, and mentally psyching up to wake up and leave the house for the following 5 days in a row.  Today will also include some yummy extras, including a pot roast for dinner, and some baking action.

Today I'm proud because I have enough money to buy food for my family.  I work for a living, make a fair wage, and am able to plan meals for my family, whether they are homemade or not, so we can eat each night of  the week.  I'm lucky and blessed because Thad and I don't have to figure out which one of us goes without because we can afford to feed ourselves and our family.  Not every family in the world knows such blessings.

Angie posted about the hunger she has seen in Africa as part of Blog Action Day, and the topic of this global blog community's focus this year is food, and it's absence in the lives of our neighbors, on this continent and all over the globe.  

I've never known real hunger.  My parents, even when they struggled to pay their bills and keep food on the table, did not ever have to put their kids to bed hungry because they couldn't feed them.   My kids don't know hunger more severe than when dinner is later after on a night after mommy and daddy both worked all day.  This seems normal, but it's actually pretty luxurious compared to working parents all over the world.

As Americans we've become jaded to what happens in other parts of the world, because in our communities and our lives hunger isn't as prevalent and visible.  It's not that it isn't there, but you sometimes have to squint to see it because we've lost our ability to recognize need, and in some ways we've become more selfish as a society with what we feel we owe those less fortunate.  The homeless must have "done" something to be that way, is what I think a lot of people think when they see folks at red lights and interstate exits with signs asking for help.  But you don't have to be homeless to be hungry.  There are plenty of folks that live in homes that still have difficulty affording nutritious food to feed their family.

Today, as I'm cooking and cleaning and folding and, finally, eating, I will be giving thanks that I live a life that allows me little luxuries like McDonald's french fries and cheap red wine.  I am thankful that the hunger I feel is easily remedied, and thankful that my kids can feel secure in where there next meal is coming from.  I will be thankful that the greatest hardship I face regarding food is getting my husband to just pick something out of the dinner options we normally have available, instead of making me pick something every night.

When you can, donate to your local food bank.  Find out if there is a program in your area for assisting local seniors with meals.  Or don't do anything at all, but at the very least, BE THANKFUL.

A few excellent quotes on the subject of gratitude:

I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought; and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.  ~G.K. Chesterton

There is not a more pleasing exercise of the mind than gratitude.  It is accompanied with such an inward satisfaction that the duty is sufficiently rewarded by the performance.  ~Joseph Addison 

Most human beings have an almost infinite capacity for taking things for granted.  ~Aldous Huxley

Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.  ~William Arthur Ward
  

And in the spirit of gratitude, thank you to Angie for taking part in Blog Action Day, and if any of you readers have a gratitude to share, do it in the comments!  

Humbled

My good friend Angie is living in Sierra Leone, which is a pretty BA part of the world.  She's pretty much an authentic pioneer woman, a trailblazer in my opinion, and she has had a pretty outrageous bought with malaria recently.  Via her writing I get to live something through someone I care about, with them.  Even if I don't get to see her daily I get to hear her voice in her writing, and her's is a voice I greatly enjoy.

In her last two most recent posts (#1 here , #2 here) she gives a pretty engaging blow by blow with an almost Dan-Brown-esque series of events that had you eagerly reading to see how it ended.  After reading through the 2nd post I was struck by a powerful sense of gratitude.  Gratitude that I live in a place that makes healthcare available to my family less than 2 blocks from where we live.  Gratitude that I work for an employer that offers me affordable heath benefits and an on-site clinic.  And gratitude for the company that I work for, for providing employers with affordable options for their employee's health benefit plans.

I hope everyone that reads my blog takes a detour over to Angie's and checks out her story.  I encourage everyone I know to not close your eyes to what is going on in other parts of the world, Africa or otherwise.  Whether it's malaria or access to prenatal and maternity care, there are issues that we should make ourselves aware of because whether they are issues for us, our neighbors, or people across a vast ocean, they are issues that impact humanity as a whole.


Peace

Silent Protest

I'd like to protest the pro-life protesters, the ones that sit outside Planned Parenthood for 40 days at a time and kneel like they're doing penance for the poor heathens using the clinic. My protest would be based on how many of those protestors have made room in their own home and hearts for a child in need of foster care or adoption. It's easy to be against something when you also don't have to fight for all the children that didn't have a choice in the matter. Thad told me what I would put on a picket sign would be to much to print in a large enough font for someone to get the point while driving past. So instead of standing beside those nasty protestors I'm just going to cyber protest.  Like so:

There, I feel much better taking a cyber-stand for something that has been bugging me for at least a week.

And for the record, since I'm sure one or two people that read my blog will probably be appalled that I take pro-choice stance, let me be clear:  I'm not pro-abortion.  I'm pro-sex education.  I'm pro-teaching teenagers about sex and its repercussions instead of telling them to wait until they are married.  And I'm actually in favor of taking action against some individuals that think that having a set of reproductive organs gives them a free account for making as many babies as they like without the means to care for them.

Maybe it's a bit liberal and progressive, but whatever has been happening in our culture that has led to the glamorization of "Teen Moms" is exactly why that Planned Parenthood is needed and necessary.  And why I think they should feed birth control through water fountains in public high schools across the nation.  Vote Swan, 2020!

Birthday Blog for John John!

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From September 2011

Flashback: October 12, 1988

I was a second grader when my brother, John, was born.  I was in Mr. Oxford's class, and my mom had been working a long time to have one more baby after having my sister and I, and after trying and trying she'd gotten pregnant and (I think) she knew she was having a boy.  If she didn't know she was sure hoping against hope for one.

So while I'm at school I get called to the office because my mom is on her way to have her baby in Miles City.  My sister and I spend the night with one of my mom's friends, and we heard the answering machine message telling us we had a new little brother.  His name was John Wade.  6lbs, 12 oz, 19 inches of raw man power.... in baby form.

My brother is 8 years my junior, so I've had a lot of fun in my formative years picking on him, but I also consider him one of my best friends.  For all the faults I can point out (and as the oldest sibling, I am allowed to point out as many as necessary), I can show you equally how many amazing qualities he has.  Musician, athlete, whatever he sets his mind to he achieves.  Except vacuuming :)

So this blog post goes out to you, Nicholai, you beautiful beast, you.  You make me laugh hysterically, and you also elicit fits of black-out rage, but in either scenario I know you know that I know how special you are.  I love you, I hope you have a wonderful birthday, and I plan to make you a pan of something delicious after your big fight this month.  If anyone is interested in seeing some grown men roll around half naked on the floor beating the crap out of each other, CLICK THAT LINK!

Happy birthday, John!!!!!! These are two of the best pictures I have of John. The girl with him is his girlfriend Cricket. I pretty much love her!

From September 2011

Trying not to crack up, American Gothic style

From September 2011

Couldn't keep from smiling

Boobs Voyage!

I am happy to report that my surgery has been deemed medically necessary and is scheduled to happen on 11/16/11. 

I would also like to report, Elder Scrolls: Skyrim is released on 11/11/11. 

It's the the perfect storm of awesomeness.  My beloved children will be gone and I'll have nothing but time to play video games.

Sick day

It's a sick day in Casa de la Swan today.  Elora's got a case of the pukes, poor baby. It's a powerless feeling to have a kid feeling icky.  All I can do is make her comfy, snuggle her, and try to keep her happy. Somedays I need these mom experiences because I get to show her how much I love her.  I tell her I love her everyday, but I remember my mom when I didn't feel good, making cinnamon toast and watching tv, and even though I didn't feel good I appreciated having mom's undivided attention.  Colter B is staying home just in case he gets the late onset pukes.

Colter was his own brand of "sick" this morning, which didn't involve illness so much as it was sick-in-the-head.  He climbed into my bed around 3:30 and proceeded to blast me with the heat from his little body until I removed him an hour later.  This kid is HOT.  When I tried to convince him to go back to sleep he ignored me and started playing with his noisiest toys.  Of course. 
So Thad is going to work (after a 7-Up run) and I'm staying home with chitlins.  I'm glad I didn't play hooky last week when I had considered calling off for the first time in the 15+ months I've worked there.  Deep down, I knew something like this would happen.

We spent last weekend in Colstrip, just the kids and I.  I spent some much needed together time with my mom and dad, and spent a lot of time with Colter B while Elora stayed with Thad's folks and her cousin Sophia.  Sophia became a big sister last week to a new cygnet (look it up) who goes by the name Desmond Link.  I got to meet the little spud on Sunday and he is just perfect. 

My next post is going to shake things up around this boring old patch of internet space.  Stay tuned!

Banana phone

This is a super old picture of some partying back in old days.  The girl in the background is Miss Kimi Isaacs, one of the most BA chicks I have had the pleasure of knowing.  Kimi and I have kicked cancer square in the ass, and I participated vicariously in a drag race on a long stretch of road in Sheridan WY while holding Adrienne's hand and squealing/praying. We got pulled over, but even the cop admitted she kicked the other guys ass.  Aw, memories

Weekend in reflection

So we spent the weekend doing pretty much as little as possible, but I'm sure you may be curious on how this is any different than every other weekend at Casa Swan.  Well, one very good pot roast and some painful genitals, those were the two main differences.

Friday night I let Thad go hang out with one of his friends.  When I say "let", I mean I forced him to go hang out with his friend, since Thad doesn't voluntarily contact people to see if they want to get together for a beer or some video game co-op playing.  His friends contact him, or they just never hear from him.  So I told him to get in touch with his buddy and see if he wanted to get together for a beer.  He did, and the kids and I fell asleep watching tv by 9:30, at which point I left Elora on the couch and put a grumpy Colter into his own bed.  Colter had spent the day pooping up a veritable shit-storm for Linda (aka Daycare Lady) and came home with a little rash on his tuckus.  A painful little rash.

When Thad got home he put Elora in her bed and then stood beside me as I slept and sent me a Google Talk message stating "I can see your titties snoring".  What a prince, right?  So I didn't apparently do more than stir when I heard the message come in on my phone, so he went to bed.  Fast forward to 1:00 am.  Both kids wake me with a symphony of cries.  Colter's diaper rash is raw and needs a new application of cream to keep it from being touched by his pee-diaper, and Elora's panty elastic had dug into her skin and hurt her enough to wake her up.  This is a pretty common issue for Elora, which has resulted in the banishment of any panties that have elastic around the leg-holes.  So I'm up, with both kids crying for various genital-related issues, and I wake up Thad to help me by yelling at him that "it's like a whorehouse up in here, everyone's genitals are hurting".  He wasn't happy about it, but that fact seemed quite inconsequential.

Saturday my mom came up with Tona and spent the night with us.  She took Elora out to run some errands, then came back and took Thad over to my brother's house to watch the UFC fights.  My mom has been under a lot of stress lately, and has gone back to school to pursue a Bachelor's degree in nursing, so I'm glad she came and spent a little time relaxing with us, even if I can't be considered a very relaxing person to be around.

Sunday I got to see my good buddy Danielle again (I completely forgot to offer you coffee, D, I'm sorry!) before she went to church and then headed back to Sheridan, WY, and I must express that I love even the short periods of time we get to see each other.  I need to make her a destination for a mommy-weekend getaway (ha, if I ever go on one). 

My mom and I made a big run to Sam's Club on Sunday, where I stocked up on a lot of stuff and picked up a couple chuck roasts to try The Pioneer Woman's Perfect Pot Roast, and boy oh boy was that pot roast JUICY.  I've never been accused of making a succulent pot roast, but this one was truly dynamite.  I will definitely try to make this again with a touch of red wine to deglaze my pan, so I'm glad I have an extra roast in the freezer to cook in the near future (and some ground chuck to try her Frito Chili Pie recipe for an upcoming football-filled Sunday).

And speaking of football, how about those Lions?!  3-0 at the moment after beating the Vikings yesterday.  I add this for my mom's benefit, after her snide comments about my team this year. 

Thad is on call this weekend, which either means I'll stay home and repeat the sensational inactivity of this past weekend, or maybe the kids and I will load up and help my mom in Colstrip.  Since gas money is the determining factor for everything we do it may mean we just stay home, but I like to go to Colstrip without Thad because then I don't have a constant commentary on the things or people I want to make a priority on the trip. 

Can you believe this is the last week of September?  I can't, it's pretty much blowing my mind.  Hopefully I'll be finding out about my surgery in the next couple of weeks, since I'm scheduled for the week before Thanksgiving.  Keep those fingers, toes, and eyes crossed for me, my poor neck and back would greatly appreciate it!!

I know you are, but what am I?

Elora is watching "PeeWee's Big Adventure" tonight, it seems that this is Colter's first viewing of this cinematic masterpiece. I can't tell you how many times I've seen this movie, but I am really looking forward to seeing Colter's face when he sees Large Marge for the first time. I am going to try to take a picture, for posterity's sake of course.

*Approximately 4 minutes later*

He was too busy being a jerk to even notice the bulging eyes and heeby-jeeby voice. I'm sure I probably played my part in ruining the moment by pausing the movie to get my camera ready. Mommy is the real jerk in this scenario.

In other news, I'm starting the reduction process again. Now I don't just have pictures of big titties, I've got medical records, massage therapy notes, a strained neck muscle in August, and some chiropractic history. So without jinxing this all over again, I'm going in much more confident with what I've done to hopefully show that I'm in considerable pain and discomfort on a daily basis. Fingers crossed for better news this time, although I don't feel like I'll need luck so much this time.

Also, I've finally decided this year to pay a tiny amount of attention to football, the money-grubbing cash cow that it is, and I've chosen the Detroit Lions as my team to follow for the year. I don't know their history and I haven't actually watched a full game, since we're only two into the season and we don't have NFL Season Pass, but their quarterback is pretty cute, and if that isn't a good enough reason to pay attention to football I DON'T KNOW WHAT IS. Cute quarterbacks, Thad's chili, some beer.... mmmmmm, a little slice of heaven.

And only 41 nearly 40 days left until Halloween! I might finally bust out my Rocky Horror Picture Show dvd that has sat unopened for at least a year and have a little Time Warp party!

Well, I would continue to write all manner of witty and hilarious things (because truly, who comes here for profound realizations and things that make you ponder existence) but my delicious bed is awaiting my tired bones. Tonight was a massage night, and god love my massage therapist because I really made her earn her money today. The poor girl deals with a back that has the muscular equivalent of guitar strings, and she is amazing. If you need the name of a good massage therapist, I will definitely give you her number.

90's Flashback #7 (Updated)

Alright, so this will be easier to see the video in my blog rather than having to go to youtube for it (hopefully).
In a nutshell, WOW. Bush was absolutely awesome. Totally awesome. Kick ass. Great music, they sounded amazing, even the songs I didn't already know where really good. And Gavin. Oh, Gavin. He rushed off the stage, up the stairs, up to the balcony (which we weren't on) and performed part of a song to the balcony. Here were a few (blurry) pictures, and he was NOT shirtless as I had hoped, but equally delicious even with his shirt on. The hottest parts were a little shimmy he did walking back towards the drums while playing guitar, and his hair. He started off with that curly hair in a little ponytail, but by the end it was sweaty and wet and hanging down in just the hottest way imaginable. Thad can't even be mad, because I think secretly even men know that deep down they find Gavin beautiful.

From September 2011

From September 2011

From September 2011

From September 2011

From September 2011

From September 2011

From September 2011

FIN

90's Flashback #7

Watch "Bush - Comedown - Woodstock 99" on YouTube

We are going to see Bush in concert tonight. If Gavin is shirtless I may pass out.

Experiments

These are cake mix cookies. The cake mix is strawberry, with chocolate chips and some cocoa powder. And yes, they do taste like chocolate covered strawberries!

Pork Lovin'

Welcome to a Monday installation of my ramblings, brought to you by.... me, I guess.

Weekends seem to rush by too quickly, and this last weekend was no exception.  Friday night- wedding and reception for Thad's co-worker Jon, followed by bedtime for all.  Saturday morning- 5 am wake up call for the best wife around to wake up darling husband so he could go to work on a Saturday for a few hours.  During this daddy/husband free time I cleaned the kids room, removed all toys from our family living space upstairs, and had a bestie connection with some early morning phone chatting (the old fashioned kind).  Then we had to make a Sam's Club run, followed by an evening of doing pretty much nothing, except PORK.

Let me just say, Thad makes some pretty flipping awesome pulled pork.  Freaking awesome.  I'd go so far as to drop the actual F-bomb in the blog so you really understand how good this pork is, but I think that would be both redundant and gratuitous.

Thad starts his pork shoulder the night before, letting it slow cook on low for 12 hours with onions, garlic, a teeny bit of water, and some seasoning.  This created an absolutely heavenly aroma throughout the house whilst we all slumbered.  I would float in and out of a dream state and the pork was like a part of the dream.  After the 12 hours of initial cooking he put the shoulder in the smoker to give it a little color and flavor, then put the chunks (it was pretty much falling apart with tenderness at this point) in the slow cooker with our choice of bbq sauce.  We're Sweet Baby Ray's fans in Casa Swan, and it is dynomite.

The pulled pork, when completed, is best on a bun with coleslaw ON it.  Not beside it, put it IN the sandwich.  It will rock your world.  I know it rocked our friend's world when we took it over for dinner last night.  There was a lot of moaning  and I don't find shame in admitting I was the one moaning.

In other new: I've been reading a lot lately, via the awesome library selection on my smartphone.  Here are a few that I wanted to mention to my fellow readers:

The Gemma Doyle Series is a young adult/fantasy type series that I've been really enjoying.  Just finished book 2, can't wait to complete the series with book 3.

The Luxe Series is another young adult series about "Old New York", debutantes and heiresses at the turn of the 20th century.  It was pretty good, especially to this chick-lit lover.

The Bones of Faerie is apparently the first in a new series (just found the other book on the library website and haven't read it yet).

Dash and Lily's Book of Dares is from the "Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist" writers.  Short, cute, and pretty much exactly like Nick & Norah.  Only the Lily character had me wondering if she might be developmentally disabled. 

I'll admit, I've been on a young adult kick, mainly because young adult novels are always being added to the library catalog, and are usually more available than regular adult fiction.  Will I start reading other books?  Maybe.  But for right now I'll enjoy my guilty fluff and not worry about whether or not it indicates a lack of intelligence on my part.

Alright, well my blog time is nearly up.  I've been thinking of "I Heart Huckabees" all morning, and if you haven't seen it, I would 100% recommend it, but not when you've just had surgery and can't focus on the hilarity of the search for meaning in our meaningless lives. But it is also 100% harder to quote than most funny movies out there, so I'm not going to try.  Oh, wait, yes I am ;)

"The man-poet who banged France's dark lady of philosophy. The parking lot crusader of truth... who turned his back on his other like a cold-blooded gangsta"- Tommy Corn (Mark Wahlberg)

HAPPY MONDAY!

A Bullet From My Brain

Alright, folks, it's been a while since I've laid out some thoughts in bullet points for the internet's perusal and judgement. Why not start a Thursday with one!

• My blog website has a new layout, which I'm pretty much in love with to the point that I want to get on and write something EVERY DAY. 
• I had to run to get milk at 5:00 AM this morning. The lady at the counter of the nearby gas station complimented my sweatshirt. The sweatshirt I wore was Thad's old black Korn sweatshirt he's had since roughly his sophomore/junior year of high school. I wore this sweatshirt the first summer we were dating when we went camping at the same campground we camped at over Labor Day, so I took it with us in remembrance. I think Thad will be getting some Tommy cologne for Christmas so I can complete the flood of memories with something olfactory in nature. 
• I just wanted to bullet point every sentence of the last paragraph above, just to be funny, but I don't know if anyone that reads this blog would have found that as amusing as the story itself. 
• I love cleaning up my living room (and I use the term cleaning veeeeeeeery loosely) in the morning or at night. I love a picked up floor, even if only for 4 minutes, and only one section is picked up at a time. 
• It's time to start restocking my pantry a little bit and trying to get myself ready for the next season of cooking. I also use the term cooking very loosely since the summer season mostly consists of trying not to cook as much as possible, but fall.... oh, boy, fall is definitely different. Lasagna, soups, chili, crock pot meals and baking. I definitely need to replenish my cooking making supplies. Totally have a list going. 
• Speaking of baking, if you haven't already tried these or heard me gush about them,these cookies are the bee's knees. I use chocolate chips in lieu of peanut butter chips, mainly because I always have chocolate chips and rarely have peanut butter chips, but I bet the peanut butter would be divine. I've also tried devil's food cake as a base and found that was just a little too "cakey" for me. German chocolate is juuuuust right. 
• The same website that has that recipe also has these Gooey Samoa Cake Bars that I'm dying to try. 
• I'm considering creating a money stash for Thad to buy a few more wine making supplies and make a batch of white and a batch of red before the holidays. Even if we just do one batch we'll have an awesome way to give gifts to all our boozer friends and family. 

It's getting to be about time to start rousing children from their half-Backyardigans/half-slumber and get ready for another day at the office.

All I want for Christmas

I'm totally copycatting dooce.com, but I checked out this website after I saw her using it for interior design and clothing "mood boards", and I decided this would be an EXCELLENT way to broadcast a few of the things I would be pleased as punch to receive under my Christmas tree. Note: the whisk is silicone coated, and the bin looking thing is a salt pig. PS Blogger, you probably always had the "link" feature and I probably ignored it, but I love not having to look up HTML code every single time I want to create a link. So THANK YOU!

All I want for Christmas by swanny119 featuring a square ring

Urban Outfitters stone ring
$9.98 - urbanoutfitters.com

Dorothy Perkins square ring
£8.50 - dorothyperkins.com

Emile Henry Salt Pig
$40 - bloomingdales.com

Wusthof Ikon Hand Held Knife Sharpener
$50 - crateandbarrel.com

Le Creuset 3-pc. Mini Utensil Set
$20 - bloomingdales.com

Calphalon Silcone Balloon Whisk
$12 - bloomingdales.com

Labor Day Weekend in review

Phew, the holiday weekend sure came and went quickly. We went and stayed a couple nights in the Beartooths of Red Lodge with our friends Morgan and Joel, took the kids to Red Lodge for some Red Lodge Cafe breakfast (yum, just as good as I remembered) and a trip to the candy emporium. An EXPENSIVE trip to the candy store, Mommy didn't do a good job of keeping Miss Elora from grabbing a 50 pound bag of candy, and I felt like it would be in slightly poor taste to ask the candy store lady to sort the candy back into their original containers. So that was Friday night through Sunday morning, then we went to a barbeque at our pal Darin's house Sunday after getting home and cleaned up (my dirty feet alone required two passes with a suds-filled loofah. Sunday night was spent comforting Mr. Crabby Patties (aka Colter B) because he either was having teeth issues or growing pains and was a very unhappy little camper. Then, Monday morning came fast upon us. I got up, immediately through my Clone of a Cinnabon ingredients in the bread machine, and started the laundry quest that becomes my focus every weekend. We had our friend Danielle over for brunch, along with her boyfriend Paul, who I really enjoyed meeting. We enjoyed a giant pot of coffee, cinnamon rolls, and fantasy football draft picks before they had to depart. After brunch we spent the remainder of the day doing nothing. By "doing nothing" I mean Thad and the kids vegged out and I kept doing laundry, did all the dishes, made dinner and homemade bread to go with dinner. It was super productive and the perfect way to end my 4 day weekend. Here are pictures to enjoy!

From September 2011

Thad "Man vs. Wild"-ing out by building a shade structure at our campsite

From September 2011

The kids helping daddy set up some shade

From September 2011

Shade!

From September 2011

Mr Handsome Face

From September 2011

Mr Handsome Face Take 2

From September 2011

Beautiful smile

From September 2011

Man vs Fire

From September 2011

Camper silliness

From September 2011

Oh yes, I love me some PBR

From September 2011

Thad mocking me

From September 2011

This had my inner Beavis (or Butthead) queasy with delight

From September 2011

The morning splendor of the Beartooths

From September 2011

It was frosty on the mountain

From September 2011

Two stinkers get some morning snuggles

From September 2011

About to get into trouble

From September 2011

BUSTED!

From September 2011

Everyone playing

From September 2011

Nothing better than banging hammers on rocks.... future in-mate?

From September 2011

Check out my stick

From September 2011

FAKER

From September 2011

Hilarity ensues

From September 2011

Even more hilarity Had a great time, saw a lot of good friends and got a lot of little domestic tasks completed. I love weekends that feel like they go down in history!