Tidying up

I need to do a little 'housekeeping' regarding things I've promised (in earlier posts) to write about. First of all, I recently had the Zombie correct my "my husband rocks" quiz so I could post the results. Let me just say before I officially tell you my score...I know my Zombie very well. Very, very well...indeed.

My score: 20/21
The questions I missed: What is his favorite cereal?
I said: Corn Pops or Cheerios.
The correct answer: Corn Chex.

Weird...I haven't seen him eat Corn Chex for a really long time. I knew he liked it...and we have some. Then, of course, he had a bowl the very same night I asked him to grade my quiz. About two hours later...go figure.

Let's see, what else do I 'owe' the blog? I said somewhere near the end of 'spilling the beans' that I would write more about the 'one huge caveat' in my otherwise pleasing life. Yeah...well, I'm not really ready to make that one public just yet. Let's just say, it's not a 'person' thing...it's more a state-of-being thing. So, if you're a person in my life, I'll assure you it's not about you. It's not about 'anyone' -- except me. It's my 'state-of-being' that's in question. Okay, so that was completely vague. Probably not useful at all, except to me.

There are other things (for everyone, I know, not just me...) that cause areas of discontent. Plenty of them. But they are mostly small-ish and mostly fluid and variable. And almost every one of them is a kind of "silver lining" type deal -- there's parts I'm a bit unsatisfied with in an overall terrific deal. KWIM? Well, that's all I have to say about that.

More pictures from the Ladybug's birthday party will be forthcoming. I'm working on a way to do the pictures differently.

Speaking of the Ladybug's birthday, though, Uncle Zombie had a really good idea on her actual* birthday (Sept. 25th) and it was so cute and funny, I just had to go along with it. The Ladybug goes to an after-school program (same place her sister, Butterfly Baby, is in day care -- but a 'school age kids' room) from the end of school until Harley Mama picks them up after work. Uncle Zombie and I decided to go get some helium balloons and a bag of Smarties and take them to her after-school place. We tied a balloon to each wrist, another to each ankle and one more to the back belt loop of her jeans. It was so funny! All the kids were 'tapping' the balloons to make them bounce around. We snapped a few pictures and as we were leaving, the Ladybug started sharing the Smarties with her after-school friends. (We made sure it was okay with the teachers first.) Here's what she looked like 'all tied up':

*Her actual birthday, as mentioned, is Sept. 25th -- which was a Thursday/school day. Her birthday party, with the big bounce house and the pictures from before (and more forthcoming) was on Saturday, Sept. 20th.









Okay, there's just one last bit of housekeeping that I can think of to add to this post. In the post "humble pie" I made a parenthetical explanation which I addressed to MomUtah. That was to my mom who lives in Utah and has a 'troubled' relationship with all things computer/electronic, bless her heart. Why "MomUtah", you ask...well, I have a mom who lives somewhere else (not my MIL, she's in Utah, too) so I clarified. My mom who lives 'back east' I will call MomEast. Clear? Great! And, in case it ever comes up, I have a DadUtah and a DadEast, too. Ahhh, adoption.

That's a post for another day...again.

:-)

Humble Pie - 2 servings

So, even though the post from yesterday (Happy Birthday!) says 8:14 a.m. as the time it was posted (that was the time I STARTED writing it), it didn't actually get completed until almost midnight last night. Granted, TubeZombie (my DH) and I were out most of the day, but still...

I told the TubeZombie that I would get this post up ON the Ladybug's actual birthday if it killed me -- and it probably would. Yeah, I know I can go change the date of an entry, but yesterday was her birthday...it's just a thing with me.

A few posts earlier (Spilling the Beans), I ranted for a few moments about how I'm satisfied just knowing how to add pictures to my blog. Well, that was true...or would be...if I ACTUALLY knew how to do it. Apparently, I spoke a little too soon.

I was trying to do a whole 'birthday party recap' complete with a variety of pictures from the entire event. Blogger or Blogspot (I'm not sure which name is actually accurate for this wysiwyg I'm using) was NOT having it. For one thing, this write/edit window -- this one I'm typing in right now -- is quite a bit wider than the part of my blog where it actually appears. So, I guess wysiwyg is not really accurate. More like wysinwyg.

(Okay, this is for you, MomUtah: wysiwyg means "what you see is what you get" so what I'm ranting about above this is that "what I see is NOT what I get". Okay?)

After nearly an hour (and a really sleepy one, so I was getting pretty cranky) of trying to make it look right, I finally asked the Zombie to take a look -- he's my resident nerd, bless his heart. Straight away, he clicked over to the 'Edit Html' button, and I was lost. I mean, I know what "html" means. I know the basic tags and stuff...but he moves way too fast for me to follow, and that's okay.

Jump ahead to 20 minutes later. The Zombie and I were both utterly humbled. *sigh* Don't get me wrong -- I completely reject any notion that the Zombie was bested by something like html. We have jointly concluded that "something is wonky" in this not-so-wysiwyg template. And we called it a day.

So, I chopped the original post down to what you see now (after taking messy screen shots to remember my general train of thought -- more cool birthday posts to follow) and we made our way to bed. So there, Blogger! My post was up -- and on the right day (with, like, 12 seconds to spare).

Humble pie isn't all that bad -- maybe it's an acquired taste. If so, I've acquired it.

:-)

Happy Birthday!

Today -- September 25th -- is the Ladybug's birthday!












She is 8 today!
(Wow, really? Dang! Where does time go?)

HarleyMama was kind enough to let me come help out with her birthday party last weekend and a good time was had by all.

Ladybug's BIG suprise:

Much Love -- Happy Anniversary -- to THE ZOMBIE!

Much Love -- Happy Anniversary -- to THE ZOMBIE!

This picture was taken last Saturday at our niece's (the Ladybug) birthday party. :-)


For my love, my husband:



I love you more than you know because it is more than I know how to express. I love you for the kindnesses you do for me every day and for the way you don't let me get away with "too much" but just enough.

I love you for giving me my way most of the time, but not always. I love you for waiting for me to "get" what you are saying...especially when you are right and it takes me a while to "catch up".

I love you for waiting for me to "get to the point" -- most of the time. :-)

I love you because you are on my side most of the time and you are gentle when you're not on my side. You express your differing views, thoughts and opinions with kindness, love, and more love.

I love you because you are big (you know I like that because I'm big, too) and because you are strong -- but not "too strong", meaning not "ugly strong".

I love you for the unexpected things you say that make me laugh out loud and even squirt things from my nose. I love you for being silly with me. I love you for your quirky phrases and nicknames...and for letting me 'adopt' some of them. I love you for letting me 'steal' some of your jokes and use them.

I love you for you patience and for your impatience. I love you for your punctuality and for the punctuality I am acquiring through being married to you. :-)

I love you for helping me see what matters and what doesn't. And for loving me *with* the things that matter to me but not to you. And, for holding on to the things that matter to you but not to me.

I love you for your total, clean, amazing honesty. Honesty that I've never known -- ever -- in any other situation in my whole life. Your honesty can be harsh and also brilliant. Your honesty is plain and also elegant. Your honesty is subtle and also blatant. Your honesty is liberating. Your honesty give me confidence. As you know, I'd "rather know than not know".

I love you for loving me.

I love you just because I love you!


Four years ago today -- on September 24, 2004 -- I was a bride. I loved my husband so much on that day and I love him infintely more today. The above is a picture from our wedding which, I might add, we planned and executed in exactly 31 hours -- start to finish! Yeah, it's true I didn't have a bridal shower or a long engagement (until our 3rd anniversary, I didn't even have an engagement RING), but I also didn't have headaches, sleepless nights (except just that one), endless lists, revision after revision of a guest list, battles over the menu, or even one single 'issue' with my mothers -- the one that raised me or the one that raised my hubby. :-)

We didn't do it "the usual way" but since when have I (or has he for that matter) ever done anything that way? I wouldn't change ANY of it and I wouldn't trade the experience for a more traditional one. And, for anyone who's wondering...no, we didn't "rush" anything...we'd known each other 11 years by the time we took the plunge.

Here's the Zombie's favorite picture from our courtship.

Here's one of my favorite pictures of the Zombie -- it's his classic "face" that he makes.










Happy Anniversary, Babe! All my heart! I love you!

Spilling the beans

So, all of a sudden, I'm overflowing with things to post about! Not that they're all making it into the blog right away...but I can "see" them in my world/life/home and "hear" them rattling around in my bean box like I obviously couldn't just 48...wait...really?...yeah, I guess that right -- just 48 short days (and 3 posts) ago.

For the two of you who actually read this blog (Thanks Jenny!) hang onto your hat...or chair...or something...because the posts are about to hit the fan...er, blog. :-) I still don't feel comfortable stating that I'm really rolling now but I'm pretty sure I'm in for a good 'run' here for the next little bit. We'll see after that. I'm not super good at the "sticking to it" thing.

For anyone else who stumbles here accidentally, let me touch on a couple IAQ (infrequently asked questions). I'm just writing the answers, you can supply (or guess, or make up, or mad-lib) the questions.

1. No, I don't know what I'm doing.
2. Because I don't have* any kids (or a job, house, much of a 'life' really) of my own to write about.
3. Because other people I know are doing it and I felt left out (and kinda dumb).
4. Because they said it would be fun...the jury's still out on that (even if the ideas are more free-flowing now).
5. Yes, I would. That never stopped me as a kid, either.
6. Like I said, I really don't know what I'm doing. That includes all the fancy-schmancy things my bloggi-world idols are doing. I just figured out how to add pictures. I'm bugging one of my blogging buds to death (or possibly insanity) with questions. (She says I'm not, bless her heart, so I'll keep bugging her until she changes her mind.) But, aesthetics just don't matter to me most of the time. More accurately, worrying about what other people think of my aesthetics doesn't matter to me. I like the way my blog looks. It's not 'cute' but it works. And, it's clean. I like that, too. Maybe someday I'll figure the rest out and mess with it and see what I like. Or not. I'm good with knowing how to add pictures for now.

*Yeah, I 'kind of' have kids - I have many, many (ad infinitum) nieces and nephews and a few kids that I've sorta 'claimed' over the years. As yet, I have not given birth, been visited by a story, found a baby in a basket, adopted any human, or fostered anyone, human or otherwise. I also 'kind of' have a job - I'm a substitute teacher. Don't get me wrong. I love it! And, yes, they pay me. And yes, it's a real job - I pay taxes and everything! But, really, it's more like I'm doing someone else's job for a day or two at a time. I'm not negating the importance of substitutes, either. (Dang! I just got another blog idea! How do I turn this off?) But, I don't have any co-workers...at least not any that I know - just a whole lot of 'clients' that I love with all my heart! And some of my clients have become some of my 'claimed kids', as mentioned above. I don't have a desk (except at home) or a phone (except my cell) or a workplace (except someone else's, as also mentioned above). And, yeah, I 'kind of' have a house. I have a home, yes. It's just that 'someone else' owns it and I pay 'them' rent. And it's in a building with 3 other homes (aka: apartment), and 'they' take care of the yard. Sure I like it (I love the place, for an apartment it CAN NOT be topped) but it's not 'mine' ya know. And, lastly, yeah, I 'kind of' have a life - I don't hate my life by any means. Actually, my life kinda rocks. There are things about my life that others would hate. Mostly, though, I think most people would just be bored to tears (or possibly insanity) by living my life. Luckily, I'm not 'most people'. My life is pretty cool for me. I enjoy it tremendously with one HUGE caveat - watch for another post, it doesn't belong in this one.

I've been tagged - My Husband ROCKS!

My bestest buddy - UtahJenny - tagged me this week. Actually, she tagged "everyone with a husband". :-)

I don't think I'm quite up to joining the official "My Husband Rocks Friday" thingie that she linked, but I'm definitely doing the quiz from Jenny's site. Thanks darlin'!

1. Sitting in front of the TV, what's on the screen? House MD, M*A*S*H, or most anything on the History Channel
2. You're out to eat; what kind of dressing does he get on his salad? Ranch
3. What's one food he doesn't like? Tomatoes
4. You go out to a bar. What does he order? Rum and Coke or plain Pepsi
5. Where did he go to high school? Woods Cross
6. What size shoe does he wear? 10
7. If he was to collect anything, what would it be? Cameras - every kind
8. What is his favorite type of sandwich? Turkey Bacon, Turkey Ham, or Club
9. What would this person eat every day if he could? Burgers or Lasagna
10. What is his favorite cereal? Corn Pops or Cheerios
11. What would he never wear? Pink, Sports Jerseys
12. What is his favorite team? Ha! Er... USA Olympic Women's Beach Volleyball (maybe?)
13. Who will he vote for? Ron Paul... if he bothers
14. Who is his best friend? Me (I hope), Jim (his brother), Leland
15. What is something you do that he wishes you wouldn't do? Talk so fast, talk so much, 'interrogate' him (20 questions - rapid fire)
16. How many states has he lived in? One
17. What is his heritage? English
18. You bake him a cake for his birthday, what kind of cake? Yellow cake/Chocolate frosting or a Chocolate pudding pie
19. Did he play sports in high school? Is role-playing a sport?
20. What could he spend hours doing? Viral videos
21. Does he belong to any men's organizations? LOL! Yes, JRAS.

Hey, that was kinda fun. I didn't even cheat (he's at work) so I'll post again with my 'score'. Cheers!

Number Two

Ya know...because this is my second post...

What else would I have meant?

So, I'm a big fan of all the 'blogging moms' out there and I spend way too much time reading every day. Reading blogs, reading books, reading recipes (that I don't end up making...but it's fun to read them)...reading anything/everything I can get my hands on.

I guess being married to me is a good thing for a novelist. I really, really love being married to a writer myself. Come to think of it, there's another good reason for the "Number Two" title to this post -- The TubeZombie (aka: my DH, aaka: JustinReedAuthor) is just about to put the finishing touches on his second novel in the Mary Miur series.

In case you didn't know/don't remember, here's book one... Mary Miur: Forever Ten

And here's what it says on the back:
It's been two years since Mary stopped growing. As much as she enjoys being a child, she doesn't want to stay one forever. And since the day a strange old wizard stole her birthday, as impossible as it seemed, she was cursed to never grow again. Worse yet, she has forgotten the day and year of her birth. To get her birthday back, she needs to find out when she was born. Unfortunately, both her parents are dead. Mary determines to go to Death Moor, famous for the undead that inhabit the outer perimeter of the city, to find someone who could speak to her parents for her. Living as an orphan on the streets, Mary knows her pick-pocketing talents and an infinitely sharp blade will help her on her quest. But will she be able to pull it off, or will she stay forever ten?

So, keep your eyes peeled for when I mention that the TubeZombie is done with, ahem, number two.

Anyway, I thought it was about time to do another post after the initial one. It's been a while. This is actually pretty fun. There are places (cyber-speaking) that I spend time every day, at least a little time, and without fail, they make me think of things...or realize things...that I want to talk about. Maybe this is the place to do it. Maybe I can give the TubeZombie (my DH) a break from listening to me so much. Maybe this won't be as hard as I thought would.