Really?

Could it really be true?!?!!?

TM.Z is teasing me!

But then, if you CLICK HERE, there is a real site up and running again.

The best part----if you click on the remote control buttons, you can hear the classics!!! In fact, as I type this, I am rocking to The Righ.t Stu.ff!!!!

Oh, now it moved on to Ste.p By S.tep!!!!

Love this cheesy stuff.

The Weekend that was NOT relaxing

This was the first weekend in a long time that there was nothing on the calendar. The only place we had to be at a certain time was Grace's ballet class on Saturday morning. Other than that, it was all ours! How great does that sound!?

Well, Polly had other ideas. Friday night marked the beginning and end of this nice relaxing weekend.

I spent Friday night cleaning the walls of the hallway, the floor of the bathroom, the carpet upstairs, and even parts of the ceiling in the upstairs hall. I did however discover a great way to get bl.ood out of carpets without replacing the carpet....50/50 mixture of hydrogen peroxide and water. Spray until the spot is soaked and then pat (do NOT rub) until the stain has lifted. Then steam clean over the spots and vaumn. Carpet is almost perfect!!

How did all this happen?

Polly got an ear wound. We dont know how but it looks like she may have been laying on the deck and her ear fell between the boards and was cut when she jumped up.

$500 later, she is feeling a little better, the carpet is almost fixed, and Grace's Pot.tery Bar.n quilt is at the dry cleaners (I continue to pray they can get the blood stains out of it!).

Polly is very embarassed at her current state of being. Its not a look that is good on her; the lampshade trend is SOOOOO last year!!

You Know You Are Old When.....

A friend of mine from high school.....elementary school, in fact, is actually making it in the LA music scene as a DJ. His resume boasts working with so many fabulous artists, including Bust.a Rhy.mes, Ru.n D.MC, and Bla.ck Eye.d P.eas. He is amazing.

I happened to see him a few months ago when another high school friend came to visit us in NoVA. He is still the super nice guy he always was in school, just a whole lot more famous!

And this weekend (starting tonight through Saturday night) he is in DC playing at a few of the clubs around here. I have an open invite to send him an email to get on the guestlist.

Know what the first thing I thought of when I got the show announcement today? Not "Well damn, I already have plans this weekend" or "Too bad its too far away".

My first thoought was "Oh, I'm a mom. I can'f go to that club anymore."

I am old.

Snow Day!

Not really 'cause we still had to go to work but it did snow today. And then it rained and sleeted and snowed again and then rained.

It was gross.

But in between the nasty weather, there were some fun times with Grace and Polly. The roads were in terrible shape coming home and even now, at 11 PM, the plows have not been seen on my street. Nothing new but annoying just the same.

Grace loved standing in the middle of the front yard snacking on the newly fallen snow. Then after she was done with her snow-snack, she threw the snowball in the air for Polly to catch. Polly is an adorable dog but I am starting to question the IQ of this dog; she went nuts in the snow, searching for the "ball" Grace threw to her when it fell on the ground. After she got tired of looking for the lost snowball, she walked around in circles licking the top of the snow.

Polly hanging out in the snow. She chased snowballs and snacked on the snow with Grace.

She just loved it!

Grace and Polly sharing a Snowball snack.

What's A Weekend?!

Did this week feel incredibly long to you too?

It was the first full week of work since late December. And I spent as much time working on my volunteer positions as I did on real work and family time.

And now this weekend, I am in Ann.apolis facilitating a study group for my profession's credential. Another few days given to my volunteer position.

I love doing this. And now that I am here in the hotel, I am glad I agreed to do this. But on the other hand, a whole weekend lost to more work related things.

The silver lining is that Hubby is coming up tomorrow night for a night away without a kid. Just him and me. Dinner out, maybe bar hopping for a bit, and a hotel room all to ourselves!

1 Year

January 8, 2007 was one of the scariest days of my life.

Before the sun rose that day, I kissed Hubby in the pre-op room and then sat in the same chair in the same waiting room for 7 hours. After the sun set that night, I drove home alone after helping the ICU nurse wake Hubby up from all the anesthesia.

I hope I never have to live a day like that one again.

But it has been one full year now and Hubby is doing great! he 18 inch scar healed nicely and in the next 2 years should be almost gone. The worry and stress about his aorta has diminished since we got it all fixed up.

For 7 days while Hubby was in the hospital, I went home each night to see Grace. I tried to maintain a little sense of normalcy for her sake. It didnt really work but it actually did help me take my mind of things for a few minutes at a time. But there was a hole in life at home with Hubby there. And exhaustion overtook me for awhile.

What I learned this year was that we have a great family, a fabulous friend-family, and that taking care of each other is the most important thing we can do. Without that surgery, who knows what would happen to Hubby's health. Would he have been fine regardless or would this post be entirely different? I never want to find out.

So, congratulations Hubby....we made it to the 1 year anniversary of the surgery. Now, let's make it 50 more!

Dancing Princesses

There are no words to adequately tell you about the adorable-ness we experienced this morning. I am not even sure that "Adorable-ness" is a word but whatever, it works for me. :)

Grace's first ballet class was this morning. I danced for years and have been looking forward to the day I could take my daughter to the dance studio. She was so excited this morning about it and did pretty well for a first-timer!

The class is Princess Ballet so each week they learn basic ballet moves and poses while listening to Princess music and dressing up in princess costumes.

Now, even YOU can experience Grace's first class......just press Play!!!

I cant wait for the next 9 Saturdays. These 45 minutes are going to be one of the highlights of the week.

Resolution

It happens every single year.

The old calendars are tossed in the trash. New calendars are hung up. Christmas presents are FINALLY brought upstairs from their former home under the tree.

And I get hit by the Organization Bug.

It hit me today.

We got a $500 gift from my parents this year to get our master closet system. While browsing the websites today to check out what specific components we need vs. want, I ran across great home office organizers. The kitchen organizers would surely tame the 2,276 glasses we own spread through 3 rooms of the house. And of course we need the adorable canvas baskets to sit on every shelf in the house to collect more crap. Cause if its out of view then its organized!!!

I must get control of myself.

You see at work, I am the Organizing Queen. Its sometimes hard to find me beneath my filing systems and binders in my office. At home, I try. I really do try. But it just doesnt stick there. Maybe I try to do too much at one time. Maybe I need to really think through what systems we actually need in that house. Or maybe I just need to clean out the garage/kitchen cabinets/closets/etc; maybe they dont need organizing as much as I need a dumpster to put some things.

And so, I resolve to get myself and my house organized this year. But reasonably. I promise to only try to organize one room a day. I mean a week. What I really meant to say was one room a month.

On New Year's Eve, I resolved to not have any resolutions. But then I got an email from CHBM and thought it can't hurt. So this is my resolution....what's yours?