Random Points

I'm keeping it simple this week:

1. Don’t call anyone in the Houston area when you are excited about low gas prices like Steve’s friends and dad often do. Ours are usually lower - $1.77 today.

2. This week, I was responsible for a playgroup. A chic that I never liked in high school was in town and brought her 4 year old to it. Even though I realize that we clashed for silly teenager reasons, I still don’t want to like her. Her daughter is adorable though. I had to laugh because within seconds of meeting her, her daughter was hugging and climbing on me like she was my own. The other funny thing was that her son was wearing the exact same shirt as mine. hmm...what does that mean?

3. As Thanksgiving approaches, I have been thinking a lot about the last time I saw my dad (exactly 3 years ago). I have also been remembering several of the odd happenings that occurred around that time, especially one particularly bizarre thing. My dad was diagnosed with brain cancer right before we found out that I was pregnant. When we picked Lexi’s name, Alexis, it had been several months since I had e-mailed him. Right about the time he died, I noticed that my dad’s e-mail was lexis@....com. Fate? A pit in my stomach formed.

4. I am working on Jordan’s first birthday party. The idea of a kid themed party doesn’t appeal to me right now, so we’re going with a Christmas party. It is going to be on the Sunday after Thanksgiving. Lots of food trays and friends sound like the perfect celebration for a one year old. Next year, we’ll do the kid themed thing. Don’t worry; there will still be plenty of kids and fun.

5. My car (Saturn Sedan) has officially made it to the eleven year mark. Why would anyone keep a car that long? It still works great. Plus, I paid it off eight years ago and now I can’t wrap my head around the idea of car payments. The car is showing its age (cosmetically speaking) and is way too small so one of these days, I’ll have to bite the bullet and give it up.

6. This year, we have been invited to have Thanksgiving with one of my best friend’s (from high school) family – as in with his parents. His wife quickly invited us once she heard we’d be in town. She was a little too excited about the idea. I immediately got the feeling that we were going to be a buffer. His prodigal sister and her new husband will be in town. I am sure we will have a great time though.

I guess that is enough randomness for today.

Lexi on the Election

This morning, I told Lexi that we are going to be getting a new President of the United States. She just looked at me. Then, I asked her if she wants to know his name.

She asked, "Is it Santa Clause?"

I had to smile as I thought about that idea.

Give Me Something to Believe In

As everyone knows, today is the BIG day to vote. It is down to the wire and we'll be hearing the results not too long from now. For many, it is quite exciting. Mainly, we will not have so many ad campaigns.

Because today is the last day, I am amazed that there are still people who are undecided. I believe that there have been plenty of speeches, news articles, commercials, jokes, campaign calls, and propaganda out there to make an informed decision. I can understand that people are not exactly overly thrilled with either candidate, but nobody is amazing enough to win over everyone. Picking a candidate shouldn’t be about gender, race, good looks, or who would throw the best dinner parties. Although, I would imagine that getting an invite to the white house would be thrilling no matter who was hosting it. Plus, I am sure the white house staff happens to be amazing at organizing events.

Today, voting should be about selecting a candidate based on their stance on issues like the war, gay marriage/rights, abortion, the economy (if anyone has the answer), taxes, wealth distribution, social security, diplomacy, education, etc. etc. etc. Voters should decide what is important and choose the candidate that is more in line with their viewpoints or desired way of life.

For those who have their hearts set on one candidate, we should all remember that the President is somewhat of a figurehead. The position has far less power than we often imagine. In the end, the President/Vice President team that is elected will make mistakes and will do things that make us all complain for at least the next 4 years. Unfortunately for them, being elected means they will face extreme criticism from all sides no matter how hard they work. Vote and then feel a little sorry for whoever wins.

Halloween Costumes

We had a great Halloween and came home with WAY TOO MUCH CANDY. Here are some of the photos:

Princess Lexi & Frog Prince Jordan


Gathering Candy


Full Costume


Another Photo of Jordan

Flashback Friday

This morning, I thought it would be fun to do a flashback Friday and post a Halloween picture of me when I was a kid. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any. This the only picture I found. It was 11 years ago and I was living in Houston for a few months:

Happy Halloween

For the past month, I have had very little work. Since I get paid whether I work or not, being slow is how I like it. Unfortunately, it seems like it is time to make up for that wonderful break. Work always tries to interrupt life when there are lots of interesting activities going on. Everyone knows I love the Fall and celebrating holidays. Too bad, I have to scramble to cram all the fun in. For now, I'll just post a couple of pictures and call it good:

Pumpkin Festival


Jacket Weather

Pumpkin Carving

Cute Kids vs Cute Mom

It is amazing how little extra time it takes to make kids look especially cute. For a girl, a regular routine includes bathing, dressing, combing their hair, and pulling it back with a hair band or clip so that it doesn’t hang in their face. Making sure they look especially cute only involves putting cute clothes on them and adding a matching bow to their hair, which takes about additional 3 seconds. For a boy, all that needs to be done to be extra cute is putting cute clothes on them. No additional work is involved.

For me, a regular routine involves taking a shower, getting dressed, applying a little make-up, and throwing my hair up in a clip. If I have somewhere special to go or want to look better for some reason, that involves showering earlier so my hair will dry a bit more before styling it, which takes half an hour for this humid climate. I also have to try on several outfits to find one that is the most flattering for my less than perfect body. All in all, I probably need an extra HOUR to get ready.

By now, you have probably realized that my kids always looked put together and me – not so much. I am not trying to say that I am a slob or anything, just that the extra effort (full make-up and salon styled hair) isn’t part of my daily routine. I have met quite a few stay-at-home moms around here that don’t have my philosophy though. They obviously make the effort to look their absolute best every day (with too much make-up for my taste).

I wouldn’t be mentioning this on my blog, except that their kids look like little ragamuffins. Why would anyone buy expensive designer clothes for themselves and Kmart special for their kids? I always thought a family should be on the same or similar budget. It isn’t about spending money though; it is about picking out cute clothes. Why would a mom have perfectly styled hair when the kids look like they rolled out of bed? I should note that I am talking about kids under the age of 3.

Maybe it is just me. I put in enough effort to look presentable and take a few additional seconds to make sure my kids look cute. It is just so easy.

Harebrain Halloween Idea

People who know me personally are well aware that I am always coming up with harebrain ideas. It runs in my family. Most of them are grand schemes that will change our lives forever like a big move to Timbuktu. We only act on about 10% and people still think we are insane.

Some of my ideas are still insane, but are on a rather small scale so it isn’t that big of deal. I had one last month that has been continuing to nag at me. I guess it all started when we lived on South Beach during one of my Ebay addiction phases. I thought it would be fun to make custom outfits for girls and sell them despite the fact that I didn’t have a sewing machine and can’t sew. Did you catch that? I said CAN’T SEW, but it didn’t stop me from buying a machine for a good deal. I played with it a few times, but that is as far as it ever went.

Last month, I started thinking it would be fun to dress my kids up in Renaissance costumes for Halloween so that they could wear them again to the Tex Ren Fest. A normal person would have started shopping around both online and in stores for their costumes, right? Not me! I headed right for the fabric store. All the way there, I told myself that I was just going to look because it would be silly to pick up a pattern and fabric when clearly I CAN’T SEW.

Unfortunately, while looking through the pattern books I found something I liked for Lexi that looked fairly easy (as in no buttons or zippers). Then, I began to tell myself that I could start the process and if I got stuck I would simply mail it to my mom & beg her to bail me out even though she works and is very busy. That is where I let myself get sucked in…remember that I am blonde.

There was one thing that I didn’t count on…my mom going to Canada for a few weeks with her husband to babysit his grandkids. I realized that I was stuck doing my own harebrain idea. During my teen years, she tried to teach me to sew. I wasn’t fond of it and asked a million questions so she would get frustrated and finish the projects for me. I just hoped some of it had rubbed off & I could pull up those files in my mind from 20 years ago.

It didn’t take me long to lay out the pattern and cut it out. I also quickly sewed the main seams. Then, I put it away for little while because I knew the next part would be a bit more difficult. Since Halloween is approaching and I am a stickler for deadlines, I pulled it out on Friday and almost finished it. The only thing left is the hem, which I know will turn out awful. I just keep telling myself that the costumes in the store are not exactly well made either. Here is the picture of the pattern so you know what it should look like (little girl in red):


Here is Lexi trying it on over her other clothes when I pinned it up to hem it:

Seven Year Itch

Seven years ago today, I met Steve. I can't say that it has all been easy. In fact, the first half of this summer was particularly rough. I spent a lot of time thinking about kicking him to the curb and of course he just adored my absolute perfectness. What's not to love, right?

A few years ago, I read an article about a study on couple's arguing. The main point of it was that people who have been married for 50 years still argue about the same things they did when they were newlyweds. Basically, you can yell at him for 50 years about leaving his socks all over the house and it will do NO GOOD. Overall, I find that kind of depressing. All those years of arguing and nothing ever comes of it. I think the seven year itch is just about getting a bit tired of the same old arguments. I also know that you can let yourself get worked up over things or just mellow out and let things go. Give them a few months and problems always seem less dramatic.

The point is that it has been seven years of mostly good and that is what counts. Since he is great at helping me around the house, I will continue to pick up socks and simply smile about it because I love him for now.

**For the record, I am way too laid back to worry about his socks. In fact, I have only jokingly mentioned it to him once.

Great FALL

I am finally starting to enjoy my favorite time of year, Fall. Unlike places up north, I don’t get to gaze upon the colorful leaves or even think about wearing sweaters and jackets. However, the temperatures are starting to cool off enough that we no longer need to hide from the scorching HEAT (now the highs are only in the high 80s). This is the time of year when Houstonians start to live again. We can hang festive Fall décor in our yards and houses. Plus, there are lots of festivals (pumpkin festivals and the Texas Ren Fest), county fairs, fund raising events, and activities that don’t require bathing suits. I am also looking forward to my favorite holidays, Halloween and Thanksgiving. Not, that we have anything planned, but I can’t help getting excited every year, especially this year since I am NOT pregnant. I just get to drag my husband and kids around to a million activities and get them pumped up about the upcoming fun.