IN LOVING MEMORY

We lost our friend and companion Indy yesterday. Nothing can prepare you for how much it actually hurts to lose a pet. He brought a lot of joy to our family, especially to Valerie, and he will be missed very, very much.

29 Wishes For My 29th Year

I couldn't possibly have the latest blog post on my birthday be about a kid with the fork through his nose, could I?

Every year on my birthday I make a wish for each year I've been alive. It makes getting older less painful because I get more wishes every year!!! It's kind of like making New Year's Resolutions, only lots more fun.

So this year, my wishes are:
To get in the best shape of my life.
Health for myself and all of my family and friends.
Wealth for the same.
To make sure Valerie knows how much she is loved every day.
To go to Hawaii.
To start learning French - again.
To take more tennis lessons
More shoes!!
To go sea kayaking.
To finally buy some furniture from Pottery Barn.
To learn to scuba dive.
To be more appreicative of the amazing people in my life and spend more time with them.
To get a massage once a month.
To decorate my bedroom.
To waterski.
To spend more time with my nephews, niece, and the one on the way!
To be grateful for the lessons I've learned "the hard way."
To watch less TV.
To play more board games.
To complain less.
To wear more lingerie.
To stop procrastinating so often.
To make my bed more often.
To take more photos.
To write in my journal more.
To remember every day how blessed I am.
Love more.
Laugh more.
Live more.

Oh, and if I get "one to grow on," I'll take this hammock from Pottery Barn!

Don't Let Your Kids Run With Sharp Objects!!!!

This is seriously one of those things that made me sick to look at, but I couldn't stop. It deserved far more attention than a simple e-mail forward.

No, I don't know this kid, but I'd sure like to buy him a lollipop.

Wait for it..... Wait for it.....

Ouch. No really, ouch.

My Little Sleepy Head

Poor Valerie has to get up bright and early to go to daycare. Who am I kidding? She's almost always the first one up. She was soooooo cute this morning that I had to stop and take a picture even though I was running late. I wish you could see her whole outfit, but she refused to put down the blanket and bear. Her new babysitter, Heather, is wonderful, and Valerie seems to be liking it there already (It didn't hurt that Heather got a new swingset).

We took Subway to the park last night for dinner and let the kids (Valerie and Indy) run around like crazy for an hour. I bet you are all so jealous that it is warm here.



Oh and guess what. It's FRIDAY!!!

Today I Love 3 Doors Down

I've loved 3 Doors Down for years, but after their concert last night, I really, really love them. And they are way hotter in real life. It was an excellent concert. The people watching was endlessly entertaining. What is it about concerts that brings out the crazies? You should have seen the people at Def Leppard a few years ago. Seriously.

Thanks to my little brother, Robert, for watching Valerie so that Danny and I could pretend to be young and carefree for a few hours!

Today I Love Sleep

What's that saying about absence making the heart grow fonder? Well, I have found that to be particularly true when it comes to sleep. I've been having a bit of an insomnia problem for the past 8 or 9 days. Last night I took Benadryl at 9:30, determined to get some sleep. I did sleep much better, but now today I'm feeling totally zombified.



As you know, there isn't anything Google can't solve, so I went off in search of a solution that won't leave me staring off into space and drooling the next morning. Tonight I'm going to try something I found at Lifehack.org:


Cure for Insomnia: The Fruit Alphabet
"Anne has a tip on her insomnia problem. It is not counting sheep or reading books - she discovered replace your thoughts with a subject that interesting but repetitive enough can make her sleepy. So she uses the fruit alphabet:
While falling asleep recently, I was thinking about all the fruit out there, and whether there is a fruit for every letter of the alphabet. You know, apple, banana, cherry… I didn’t get far. I fell asleep around ‘honeydew.’ The next night, I tried again. Same thing. The fruit alphabet, it turns out, is a perfect cure for insomnia.
I don’t know if the fruit alphabet works for chronic insomnia, and it definitely won’t conquor sleeplessness induced by three cups of coffee before bed. Where it’s proven to work is those occasions where your body is exhausted and ready to sleep, but your brain is running all over the house, pants on fire, frantic with anger, worry, or plain old excitement…"

I Want a Smart Car!!

Hey look, I found my next car. Mom will be crushed as she would like me to drive a suburban or a tank, if possible. But think of the gas savings!! I'll take the convertible, naturally. Thanks. And I can reserve mine today for the low, low price of $99.00. Don't they kind of look like those little cars that you drag back and then let go, and they zoom off across the floor?

http://www.smartusa.com/

Are You Smarter than an Eighth Grader? I'm not.

Thanks to my sister, Suzie, I was reminded today that I am an average individual. Good luck to all of you... I swear I passed 8th grade science with an A sometime in the past few decades. So much for improving my knowledge base over time.