Monthly Archives: January 2009

A Time For Change

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I was getting kind of bored with my old layout and have been toying with the idea of hopping on the double sidebar bandwagon so I went perusing themes and came across this little beauty, then I tooled around in Gimp for awhile and made a new header. I swear I like each header I make better than the one before – someday I might actually be good at this! Anyway, take a look around, enjoy the new layout (while it lasts), and if you have any constructive criticism (you know, something other than, “Boy you suck at life,”) feel free to share and I’ll try not to be offended and take it into consideration. :P

Oh and if you are coveting this theme, it’s called WhitePlus and was developed by Militaru.

Weekend Diversions: Dangerous Drinks, Double Nerd Scores & Dozens of Dozens of Bloggers Block Solutions

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It’s time for another helping of Weekend Diversions. Here are a handful of the interesting, intriguing and worthy of note things that I’ve stumbled across this week while surfing the ye old net:

First off, two very cool keyboard-related pieces. I saw this first one on woostercollective.com, it’s a monument to the keyboard, found in the streets:

I found this next one at Gizmodo and it is slightly more usable and equally cool, who wouldn’t want their very own homemade Scrabble-style keyboard?

This keyboard was made using real scrabble tiles with the points score slightly modified to show each key’s secondary function. Um and it’s absolutely drool worthy. Feel free to make me one – or send my husband an email asking HIM to make me one. Wouldn’t this be the coolest Valentine’s Day present? ::cough::hinthint::cough::

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These next two have absolutely nothing to do with computer keyboards, scrabble or stone gardens. But they have EVERYTHING to do with beverages and sharks. Want to add a spice of danger to your daily drinks? You’ll really feel like you’re living on the edge with this Shark Fin Ice Tray.

I found this at OhGizmo! and I was like, “Oh that’s cool – but do I need another ice cube tray? For me personally, I’d pass on this one, cool as it is, and instead opt for this Shark Fine tea infuser, which I found over at Baekdal. Because I drink tea like every morning and I think it would be awesome to brew it with this bad boy.

This one was part of a design competition at Design Boom (it won 3rd place) and I can’t see any way to actually going about purchasing one. Maybe my husband could make me one of these, too? Engineers do that kind of stuff, right?

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Okay this last thing is a list of 101 Post Ideas For Your Mom Blog, found at the Mom Bloggers Club. Some examples for anyone suffering from Bloggers Block right this second…

39. If I could change one thing in this world it would be ________________.

66. My fondest dating / wedding moment is _______________.

90. When I lie awake at night, I think about _______________.

Well that wraps up this week’s Weekend Diversions. I hope you all have a very lovely diverted weekend. I’ll see you Monday!

Aloha Friday: What’s New This Weekend?

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It’s time for another Aloha Friday, the day that you take it easy and look forward to the weekend, in Hawaii and blog land anyway. As you should know by now, over at An Island Life, Kailani decided that on Fridays she would take it easy on posting and ask a simple question for you to answer. Nothing that requires a lengthy response.

If you’d like to participate, just post your own question on your blog and leave your link at An Island Life’s blog. Don’t forget to visit the other participants! It’s a great way to make new bloggy friends!

This weekend is supposedly some big occasion. I hear people across the nation (heck maybe even globe?) are getting together to eat snacks and watch some football? I don’t know. It’s supposedto be a big thing. What are your plans for the weekend? Will you be celebrating the Super Bowl? Or maybe celebrating something else entirely? Any big plans at all, football related or not?

We aren’t doing anything Super Bowl related, but we are having GAME NIGHT tomorrow, which is way more exciting to me, personally. Some of our very best friends are coming over for good food and good times and it doesn’t get any better than that, to me. Sunday my husband is flying on a jetplane to CA for a big work-related Trade Show boring something or other. Yeah, I know, all I’m hearing is, “Leaving the snowy cold confines of New England to go to warm, sunny, wonderful California,” too. He’d better come back. Or at least send us some plane tickets and tell us we’re moving. Definitely one of those.

How about you? Tell me about your plans for the weekend.

Bump Report: Week Fifteen

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pregnancy cartoon

Fifteen Weeks & Counting – Cartoon from BabyGaga.com

For the most part fifteen weeks feels a lot like fourteen weeks. My morning sickness is gone, my anxiety is not. It did feel remarkably alleviated after my post last week – all of your comments put me remarkably at ease, just knowing that my feelings were normal. I’ve been pregnant before, but never with a non-first, you know? It’s different. I also talked to my husband that night, which I realize now that I hadn’t really done and it was nice to hear that – guess what – he’s nervous about this, too. And he can’t even blame his hormones. Poor guy. But of course, the anxiety hasn’t left – I still feel it – I just also feel a small comfort in knowing that it’s kind of maybe normal.

So, anyhoo, this week BB Blah Blah is now 4 inches long and weighs about 2.5 ounces, making he or she about the size of an apple (now you know how long I was capable of lasting with this whole ever-growing name thing – about 15 weeks and seven or eight name changes).

BB’s legs are growing longer than his or her arms now, and he or she can move all of their joints and limbs. Although BB’s eyelids are still fused shut, they can sense light. If I shine a flashlight at my tummy, for instance, BB’s likely to move away from the beam. Smart kid. BB is also forming a sense of taste right now, or you know taste buds. Lastly, if I had an ultrasound this week it would be conceivable (though not at all guaranteed) to find out whether or not BB is a boy or a girl, which would make writing this posts way easier. Alas, I am not having an ultrasound this week, so that will have to wait – and you will have to suffer through many more gender neutral posts for awhile longer.

Babycenter.com estimates that I’ve probably gained about 5 pounds by now, and they say a little more or less is fine, too. Well I wonder how they’d feel about the fact that last I checked (Tuesday) I’m still losing weight. I’m not really sure what to do about that. I’m trying to eat my recommended calorie count and don’t come too far under most days. Granted, I am working out almost daily right now, but I don’t see how not exercising could be good for me. I have a doctors appointment tomorrow where I plan on bringing that up – worst case scenario, maybe I’ll pick up a tub of lard after the appointment. Or some REAL ice cream – maybe this frozen yogurt is just too dainty for me now? I am, however, showing. Like a lot. So maybe all my weight loss is in excellent non-baby related areas. That’d be cool.

Anyhow, I think that’s about it. I have a possible girl’s name picked out – actually two possible names. If the baby is a boy? I’ll be drawing names from a hat. Seriously, no clue. I already found the perfect boy’s name and used it, you know? But, then again, we had the same problem in reverse last time – the perfect boys name with a few back ups and not one girls name we really honestly felt comfortable with – so maybe it’s a sign? That’d be pretty sweet.

Alright, dudes, I’m out of here – time to go play with my kid or something. I’ll see you next week for Week Sixteen – or you know, later today for whatever else I decide to blog about today.

WW: A Special Delivery

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The mailman came today with TWO humongous packages from Amazon. Now, we’ve got 4 different packages on their way right now, that we’ve ordered over the past month or two and are finally due to arrive, so these packages could have contained anything. But I was secretly hoping they’d contain THE thing that I’ve been obsessively checking for for a few weeks now. I was so excited when the mail came today, that I grabbed dh’s Nikon D40 take pictures of this auspicious occasion (just in case)…

two fairly large packages from Amazon…

Inside the smaller box…

admittedly an exciting collection of books, but this isn’t IT…

DH will be excited to see his Klean Kanteen came… but this SOOOO isn’t it…

THIS is IT folks – My beautiful Brownie has finally arrived!!!!

Doesn’t it just take your breath away?

Okay… and as a thank you for feigning excitement about my mail…

Where did MM go?

THERE HE IS!

And yes I realize this wasn’t even a little bit wordless… I’ll do better next week, I swear.

For more Wordless fun (probably way more wordless than this) click here or here.

Book Review: Wicked: Witch & Curse

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Grade: B+

It’s tough having the same title as a literary phenomenon turned Broadway musical. How do you compete and set a name for yourself? Well if you’re smart you get a really standout cover and make the book as huge as possible (even if you have to combine two books in one). Nancy Holder and Debbie Viguie can consider this a job accomplished. Their book practically leaped off the shelf at me while perusing my local bookstore and I thought, “If you can judge a book by it’s cover, this is going to be a good one.”

I really enjoyed this story of Holly Cathers and her cousins Amanda and Nicole, descendants of a hugely powerful wiccan tribe, the Cahors whose long running blood feud with warlock family the Deveraux has been passed down from generation to generation as the ghosts of Isabeau Cahors and Jean Deveraux attempt to live out their destinies through each generation, resulting in bloody massacres, heart break and deception.

The book’s story is rich and complex, and grows more and more intricate with each chapter, but never feels like too much – Holder and Viguie masterfully weave their tale in just the right way, the mix of current teen culture and ancient magical history is well accomplished. I really enjoyed the story and definitely plan to read the next book, Wicked 2: Legacy & Spellbound. I did feel like some of the story was rushed, some tragedies seemed to simply fix themselves with little explanation.

I also think this story might be way too much for some teenagers to handle. This book has a lot of death – and a lot of the deaths are friends and family. There are some very dark passages describing magical rituals, some involving sex, though not explicit, it isn’t romantic either. I’d be hesitant to recommend it to just anyone in the teenage set. A college student and above I think could easily handle it and some mature teenagers might do fine, but it’s definitely not for the faint of heart.

Still, all said, I really enjoyed this story and look forward to the next installment.

This review can also be found at @ Momma’s Review.

What’s On Your Nightstand: January

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February is just around the corner and per usual my nightstand is currently begging for mercy, and more books are on their way. This month I finished reading (and reviewed) Home by Julie Andrews (LOVED IT), The Lion The Witch & The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis (liked it, but not as much as I’d expected to) and Wicked by Nancy Holder and Debbie Viguie (which I’ll be reviewing later today, but suffice it to say it was terrific).

I’m currently reading The Horse & His Boy (book 3 in Chronicles of Narnia) by C.S. Lewis and Walk Away The Pounds by Leslie Sansone (I know, I’m a little bit obsessed – the book is actually really good so far btw).

And here are the books slated to be read next, some in my possession others on their way here via Amazon.com:

What’s on YOUR nightstand this month?

auf Wiedersehen, Blog Roll

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Mrs. Newlywed has just made the fabulous executive decision to nix her blog roll. Maybe some of you wouldn’t agree with this decision, but I can’t help eyeing my own blog roll in all it’s beastly form – knowing full well it’s out of date and out of control long. And then I think, “What does my blog roll mean?” I don’t use it to read any of your blogs – I have my Google RSS feed for that (never leave home without it). Do you guys actually check it? Does anybody care? I’m starting to think, maybe not. I’ve even got some of your buttons down at the bottom of my sidebar – are buttons the new blog roll? It’s certainly more fun!

So as Heidi Klum would say, As you know in fashion blogging, one day you’re in. And the next day, you’re out. Blog Roll? You’re out. I encourage you all to join me – we don’t need a blog roll to tell each other we love one another. Mrs. Newlywed has another great idea to replace her blog roll for good:

Instead I am going to try to do a much better job linking over to blogs when I see something interesting or funny or whatever. I am going to do a better job of pointing out new bloggers and bloggers who are just extraordinary.

Now who can argue with that?

From The Monkey’s Mouth: An Intimate Interview With MM, Age 2

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I kept seeing this fun idea for a New Years / Yearly Interview with your kids, a fun way to keep track of their favorites and see how they change over the ages. First I saw it @ Small Notebook, then again in a similar vein @ Blissfully Domestic and Let’s Explore. It looked really fun, but I thought, “Is my two year old even old enough to get this? Will he answer me?” So I decided to try just to see how much he’d comprehend. I have to admit, I was impressed. I mean, yeah I fed him some answers (like making it multiple choice), but not all of them – and I was impressed with myself for finding ways to ask him the questions that he’d understand and maybe even answer (i.e. for favorite book, “What book do you like to read?”). And some of his answers were just hilarious (see – “What do you love about mommy?”). DH got a kick out of it when he stumbled across my paper the other day and I’ve been meaning to share my results with you guys, too, not to mention get it scanned in and saved in digital form. I will definitely be doing this next year and can’t wait to compare his 2 almost 3 year old answers with his 3 almost 4 year old ones.

Anyway here is a scanned image of our interview with his answers, transcribed by me, the mom:

This was so much fun! Have any of you done this before? If you do it this year, definitely let me know how your kids do, too.