(Okay...)

So, I'm dying to see Harry Potter too.

Oh, me ears...

Created by Train Horns

Yeeoouuuch!

I caught Santa!! (kinda)

The kids are never going to believe me...
We were watching Santa's progress all day long. After they went to bed, I had work to do wrapping their gifts. (nothing was wrapped) John, Grand and I were quite busy until Grand was about to leave and Daddy had already gone to bed. (he's under the weather) I double checked on Santa's progress and sure enough.... HE was HERE! Well, in Charlotte anyway. I had to check on Jack after Grand had left, and Santa apparently didn't want to see me either since he dropped by while I was upstairs.
So, I caught him on the satellite, but not in person. Drat. I'll just have to try again next year.

;)

Forgive me

Please forgive me for not keeping the blog up to date recently. I have been feeling like - see right now, words escape me. I can't finish that sentence. It's shameful. It's not quite depression, but more like apathy. Like the fight is being beaten out of me slowly. I hate it. What's even worse is I can't tell you for sure what is causing it. I can point out little things that prick at it... but not the root. So, as for blogging, I just don't even know what to write about. I have some responsibilities that I am falling down on miserably. Things that should not be hard for me to just get done... but seem like unscalable mountains.

So, here you go... I'll dump some out unceremoniously for you:
-Jack said "Walk the Plank, Arrr" on Saturday on the way to the IL's... it's his second sentence. His first was the week prior, "Here you go", as he slapped something into my lap and ran away.
-Dory is Dory... a bit starved for attention, brilliant and opinionated. I'm going to cut up an old sweater that I accidentally felted a few years ago, and still have, to be a winter coat for her. I think it will be a perfect fit.
-Thanksgiving was good. We had Turkey at one house, and Ostrich at the other. We did not celebrate it here this year, opting instead to travel. John didn't want to worry about company coming when he was going to be gone just prior to it on a business trip. Ok, I get it. But see? The fight is gone. As much fun as it was, I hated it. Is that awful to say? Thanksgiving was great! Really! It was! Good food, great company, behaved kids... and yet... Blah.
-John has lost 24 pounds so far and is making tremendous strides towards losing much more. He likely already has and just has not reported it yet. I'm so very proud of him and the accomplishment!
-We've been attending a new church that I am very happy with (or was until the last sermon series... not fond of the new speaker that we have had).
-Jack finally got his birthday celebrated at our Thanksgiving get together, and the weekend prior. I do have pics.
-Uncle Andy made a rocking pile 'o leaves and the kids, he and Daddy spent a good amount of time rolling in them Saturday. I have a video to edit of it to show you.
-More FOs to blog about for my knitting readers. Even a killer swap package that hasn't made it up. (Thank you Amy!!!)

How am I doing? *shrug* I'm doing.
And that's not good. See? I'm even apathetic enough to write this post. The list above just looks like a glaring list of failed posts to me.
So, please, forgive me. For not blogging more regularly like I usually do. For being snippy with you for what you think is no reason. For not being as joyous over your excellent news. For not getting that thing done on the time line that I set.
I'm trying. I am. I just have no zip right now.

Flounder Blues

Ok, I know some of you are here for the kids and some of you are here for the knitting. Today... you get neither! Tough tahooties, get over it. You get of Pickles & Blues instead. Market rambles.
So- remember when John and I had date night last week? We headed over to the Tailgate Market Fundraiser. Bill, the Pickle Guy, also has a jazz band and they played for us. We thoroughly enjoyed Bill's band and the songs... so much so that John bought the CD. It's been in our car ever since.
This morning I worked the market for Summer, since she could not man her Felicitea booth. Well, I set up right beside Bill and ate pickles all morning. Yum. REAL pickles, cultured, fermented and no vinegar. Yep... yummy. I even came home with a jar of pickled green tomatoes. Seriously, good.
Anyway, over the course of the morning I told him how much we like the Flounder Blues... and he let me know there was a music video for it. It's not huge and fancy, but it is fun. I like the imagery I get in my head a bit better, so listen to it once without peeking... but the video is cute, and I just have to share. Of course, if you don't like the idea of going fishing or gigging... well, then you might not like the video.
I wonder if we can find some flounder for dinner now...

John is side tracking me...

Your result for The Quick & Painless ENNEAGRAM Test...

4- the Individualist

you chose BY - your Enneagram type is FOUR (aka "The Romantic")

"I am unique"

Romantics have sensitive feelings and are warm and perceptive.

How to Get Along with Me
* Give me plenty of compliments. They mean a lot to me.
* Be a supportive friend or partner. Help me to learn to love and value myself.
* Respect me for my special gifts of intuition and vision.
* Though I don't always want to be cheered up when I'm feeling melancholy, I sometimes like to have someone lighten me up a little.
* Don't tell me I'm too sensitive or that I'm overreacting!

What I Like About Being a FOUR
* my ability to find meaning in life and to experience feeling at a deep level
* my ability to establish warm connections with people
* admiring what is noble, truthful, and beautiful in life
* my creativity, intuition, and sense of humor
* being unique and being seen as unique by others
* having aesthetic sensibilities
* being able to easily pick up the feelings of people around me

What's Hard About Being a FOUR
* experiencing dark moods of emptiness and despair
* feelings of self-hatred and shame; believing I don't deserve to be loved
* feeling guilty when I disappoint people
* feeling hurt or attacked when someone misundertands me
* expecting too much from myself and life
* fearing being abandoned
* obsessing over resentments
* longing for what I don't have

FOURs as Children Often
* have active imaginations: play creatively alone or organize playmates in original games
* are very sensitive
* feel that they don't fit in
* believe they are missing something that other people have
* attach themselves to idealized teachers, heroes, artists, etc.
* become antiauthoritarian or rebellious when criticized or not understood
* feel lonely or abandoned (perhaps as a result of a death or their parents' divorce)

FOURs as Parents
* help their children become who they really are
* support their children's creativity and originality
* are good at helping their children get in touch with their feelings
* are sometimes overly critical or overly protective
* are usually very good with children if not too self-absorbed

My Taste in Art quiz

Your result for What Your Taste in Art Says About You Test...

Balanced, Secure, and Realistic.

16 Impressionist, 2 Islamic, 9 Ukiyo-e, -24 Cubist, -29 Abstract and 16 Renaissance!

Impressionism is a movement in French painting, sometimes called optical realism because of its almost scientific interest in the actual visual experience and effect of light and movement on appearance of objects. Impressionist paintings are balanced, use colored shadows, use pure color, broken brushstrokes, thick paint, and scenes from everyday life or nature.

People that like Impressionist paintings may not always be what is deemed socially acceptable. They tend to move on their own path without always worrying that it may be offensive to others. They value friendships but because they also value honesty tend to have a few really good friends. They do not, however, like people that are rude and do not appreciate the ideas of others. They are secure enough in themselves that they can listen to the ideas of other people without it affecting their own final decisions. The world for them is not black and white but more in shades of grey and muted colors. They like things to be aesthetically pleasing, not stark and sharp. There are many ways to view things, and the impressionist personality views the world from many different aspects. They enjoy life and try to keep a realistic viewpoint of things, but are not very open to new experiences. If they are content in their live they will be more than likely pleased to keep things just the way they are.

Take What Your Taste in Art Says About You Test at HelloQuizzy

8 years

8 years ago today, John and I started dating.

8 years ago I could not imagine this house, many of my friends and my 2 beautiful children. What a wonderful 8 years! I look forward to the next 8 years, even though today is one of those days that will go down in history much like the night Diana died. The DOW fell 777 points, 1.2 Trillion Dollars, largest point drop in history, and one of our local banks, Wachovia, was taken over. What does that mean for the other bank in the area, Bank of America? It's all pretty downright surreal for me. What will the next 8 years look like? Where will time take us? I don't know. I could see it coming, believed it was coming, but still am surprised by it.
But I know I have a great family because of one little kiss, 8 years ago tonight. I know God put us together and held us there when we didn't want to be. I expect another great 8 years with my sweetheart and children. We are lucky John has a very stable job and that he's young enough that pension loss (if there is any) isn't catastrophic.

Tonight I count my many, many blessings.

Happy 8 years of Grand Adventure, honey... on to the next 8!

(PDL)

Prayers for all of you who are hurting tonight.

Shiver me timbers!

It's International Talk Like A Pirate Day. Here be my Ravatar on Ravelry. Arrr....

I tried. I failed.

I tried the new template layout. It was going to be too much work to fix it all. Most of my modifications were missing. So I'm a new blogger flunkie. I'll stick to editing the XHTML and CSS.

I did however, add a Twitter feed -->
Yes, I caved and signed up for Twitter. Tricia, you might really like it.
Anyone else, let me know if you Twitter!

Cold and Vitamins

So we played alot with Ba and her kids over the last 2 days.  We had a great time... but as we were leaving yesterday LJ came down with a cold.  Oops!  In trying to NOT catch it we started dosing on our vitamins and Zicam.  FIL called yesterday to say that Grandma was sick and wondering if we still wanted him to babysit today.  I told him I didn't want to battle 2 germs at once anyway, so just take good care of Grandma. (She had a tummy bug.)  
All has gone as planned until this morning when I had just given Jack his vitamins and was dosing Dory with the Zicam.  Jack got a piece caught in his throat and decided to give e all 3 vitamin chews back.  On the carpet.  They were red.  *sigh*  
So, Doreen...  any sage words of experience for me?
So, Ba...  was this the type of baby blog you were hoping for? muhahahaha  (I hope LJ is feeling better.)

And Now For Something Completely Different

New Shoes!

John and Dory got their first Birks. I got a new pair I found on sale. Jack got a pair of Jack and Lily 'My Shoes' soft sole Sandals. WooHoo! New shoes all around!

One More, seems more accurate!

You Are Fruit Flavored Gum

You are quirky and independent. You don't tend to follow any one style or rule book. You are a mix and match type of person, and you draw inspiration from many sources. While you're definitely a bit unusual, you get along well with other people. You're eager to welcome anyone into your world. You are not judgmental at all. You form close bonds with your friends, and your relationships tend to be very secure. You hold firm to your beliefs and values, and you don't let anyone talk you into compromising them.

What Flavor Gum Are You?

Proof Positive

I'm a really GOOD guesser. I had never even HEARD of 90% of things on this quiz. Seriously, I only knew 2 of them.

Changing

Yes, I changed some things around a few days ago. It's not your imagination. ;) Do you like? Or should I put it all back? Personally, I like. I almost wish I could use Blogger's new template thing, but I have this page so very customized now I would never get it all put back! I just can't bring myself to switch over. A bummer on some points, but I like being just me and not looking like everyone else's.

My pirate name is:

Mad Jenny Bonney

Every pirate is a little bit crazy. You, though, are more than just a little bit. You can be a little bit unpredictable, but a pirate's life is far from full of certainties, so that fits in pretty well. Arr!

Much to my Husband's absolute SHOCK

Your Vocabulary Score: A-

Congratulations on your multifarious vocabulary!
You must be quite an erudite person.

How's Your Vocabulary?

You Are Sudoku

You are simple, modern and elegant. You're not that difficult to figure out, but very few people truly get you. You approach the world with a pure logic that most people will never grasp.

What Kind of Puzzle Are You?

My version of the email forward....

Recently, I was diagnosed with C. A. A. D. D. - Child Activated Attention Deficit Disorder.

This is how it manifests:
I decide to do the laundry. As I start toward the laundry room, I notice that there are cheerios all over the floor and my house keys are in the cereal bowl. I decide to pick up the cheerios before I do the laundry. I lay my keys down on the counter, put the cheerios in the trash can, and notice that the trash can is full. So, I decide to take out the trash.
But then I think, since I'm going to be near the mailbox when I take out the trash I may as well pay the bills first. I take my check book off the table, and see that there is only one check left, my extra checks are in my desk in the office, so I go to my desk where I find a sippy cup full of juice. I'm going to look for my checks, but first I decide I should put the sippy cup in the refrigerator to keep it cold.
As I head toward the kitchen with the sippy cup a plant on the counter catches my eye--it needs to be watered. I set the sippy cup on the counter, and I discover baby wipes that I've been searching for all morning. I decide I better put them back in the bathroom, but first I'm going to water the plants. I set the wipes back down, fill a container with water and suddenly I spot the TV remote, left on the kitchen table.
I realize that when I go to watch TV, I will be looking for the remote, but I won't remember that it's on the kitchen table, so I decide to put it back in the den where it belongs, but first I'll water the plants. I splash some water on the plant, but most of it spills on the floor. So, I set the remote back down, get some paper towels and wipe up the spill. Then I head down the hall trying to remember what I was planning to do.
At the end of the day: the laundry isn't washed, the bills aren't paid, there is a warm cup of juice sitting on the counter, the plants aren't watered, there is still only one check in my check book, I can't find the remote, I can't find the wipes, and I don't remember what I did with my keys.
Then when I try to figure out why nothing got done today, I'm really baffled because I know I was busy all day long, and I'm really tired.

I realize this is a serious problem, and I'll try to get some help for it, but first I'll check my e-mail. Do me a favor, will you? Forward this message, because I don't remember to whom it has been sent.

Don't laugh -- if this isn't you yet, your day is coming!!!