Ruts are for losers

...and I'm a big L-7 weenie.

I don't know what's wrong with me. The sun is shining, birds are singing and all I want to do is nothing. I'm depressed. Blah.

My hubby is a security officer at the nuclear power plant in Plymouth (as is the "Rock") and they are having there annual outage. I'm not too sure what all that entails, but I do know that it means him working 6 12hr. days a week. Double blah. His one day off is now spent sleeping and working on installing new windows, one by one, himself. I also know that this now means I have to work (from home, but it's still WORK and I'm swamped right now), take care of my little wen, laundry, cook, dishes, work on invites/decorations/favors for his 1st birthday, try to get our house in non-renovation order in time for PEOPLE to see it (argh!) and clean. Not to mention, there's no going out that one night a week where we'd do date night.

Needless to say, I'm not handling it like a trooper.

I want to crawl up in a ball and pound my fists.

Or maybe just sleep.cry.sleep.cry.

I'm in a rut. The worst part is I'm taking it out on my hubby and I know it's not his fault. He's working. I mean, he's not boozing it up or playing with his friends all day...err, night. (did I mention he works graveyard shift? triple blah) But he's not being compassionate either. All I want is, well I don't know exactly what I want, but I want him to figure it out and do it.

I want to get out of this rut because I'm not a rut type-a gal. I'm constantly trying to lose weight (who isn't?) and I know what I need to do, but when I get depressed, all I want to do is eat.crap. We bought a Total Gym (Chuck Norris made me do it) and it's sitting in our bedroom. in pieces. and it has been for a week. Not helping matters any. Now that the weather has perked up, I've been trying to get Wen out of the house and go for walks on our beautiful street. EVERYONE goes for walks on our beautiful street. You always know the weathers good because you'll see a day-long parade of folks/dogs/kids on bikes/wagons trekking along. I love it. Maybe that will get me de-rutted.

I'm off to McDonalds...I'll drown my sorrow in fries and diet coke.

Stop raining on my parade!

Not too much has been happening on our homefront...well I can't say that, Owen got his 1st tooth-yippee! Two days before his 10mth. birthday. He's been a toofless wonder and teething like it's going outta style for the last, oh I dunno, 7 1/2 months!!! It was sad because all of his friends in our baby group were popping them out for months (6 teeth here, molars there...dang it,why do you spite me toothfairy?). So neddless to say, this has been a major relief for him (ok, ok, for me). I was really bummed that my mother-in-law was the one to find it (boo) not me or my hubby, but it's in and hopefully there are more to follow.

So onto my parade being poo'd on...

We've been renovating/remodeling/redoing our house since me moved in nearly 2yrs. ago and there's really no end in sight. But with Owen's 1st birthday fastly approaching and our superhero themed bash well in the works, we've stepped it up a notch. We have a 'honey-do' list about a mile long (no, seriously) and we're frantically crossing things off left and right in preparation. This includes finishing our bathroom remodel (2 yrs. in the works), painting, yard maintenance (we have an acre of land and the touchholes before us didn't do a lick of yardwork for 3yrs. before they sold it to us schmucks), painting (did I say that already?), finish babyproofing (check!), get new patio furniture (we're having a bbq!)...

So we bought a GREAT patio set online at walmart.com. I've been scouring for over a year to find a beautiful set that's not an arm and a leg. And I found this one (minus the umbrella, we don't need it):



I'm still kicking myself that my hubby didn't give the go-ahead when I found this beauty last year because it was $130 cheaper...but I still couldn't find a bigger bang for my buck than this (even with it being more $$$). So the hubby gave the green light (oh and don't think I didn't RUB it in that it would've been cheaper if he just let me buy it last season {dig-dig}. So after me guilting him, the hubby spent the better part of his weekend off picking it up from walmart (in-store pick up is FABULOUS!) and putting it together (not so fabulous). He gets it all done Sunday night and just as we're about to kick back and enjoy the fruits of his labor (ta-hee-hee), it starts raining. And let me tell you it hasn't stopped since then. So as I bitterly type this, know I'd rather be sitting on my deck with my butt firmly planted in new patio furniture goodness, enjoying our view (sorry folks, I love you, but it's been a LONG winter here in MA and I'm anxiously awaiting Spring). This is what I will be looking forward too this weekend, it's supposed to get in the 70's!!!!!!



(this is the view of the cranberry bog behind our property from our loverly deck)

I hope you all of something great to look forward too this weekend too!

Hugs from MA...Michelle

Sunny day, sweepin the clouds away...

Oh how I long for a sunny day. Wait. Scratch that. I HAD sunny days. It's been in the 50's and for a couple of days...the 60's! For Massachusetts, that's spring baby!

So tell me why I wake up to find this...



Why, oh why, have the sun gods forsaken me?



Have they forgotten that it's MARCH? Maybe they are too busy being hand fed grapes. Maybe they are lounging on the beach in sunny California? Whatever their excuse is, I'm not having it. They are going to have to answer to the backside of my hand.



Good thing we're packing all of our worldly possessions and catchin' us a aeroplane to Californie in two weeks!



(provided the sun gods don't attempt retrobution for my backhand and send another snow storm...perhaps I shall rethink my actions...nah, they deserve it)

Come swiftly Spring and take me away from Winter's {{cold}} clutches...

My one little vice

OK...so I have WAY more than one, but who's counting?



I love PostSecret. (www.postsecret.com). For those of you who have no clue what I'm talking about, a brief history.



It was started by a guy named Frank (still is run by Frank) a few years back as a college project. He asked people to anonymously write down their secrets on a postcard for others to view. It has spun into a phenomenon. He is sent thousands of postcards weekly and each Sunday picks a loving handful to post on his website. You read total strangers (so you think!) secrets. Their Wants. Desires. Dreams. Fears. Deepest-darkest-secrets. It's voyeurism at it's best. I was let into this secret society about 2 years ago by a dear friend and my faithful few, I'm hooked.



Every week, I long for Sunday. I squeeze out 5mins. of me time and escape into someone else's secret. I, of course, am too much of a chickencrap to send in my own (one day...one day), but love the almost naughtiness of reading someones inner most thoughts. Some make me hurt. Some make me laugh. Some make me weep. But it's the simplicity of the idea that captures my soul.



I was out of town this weekend so I wasn't able to sit down and enjoy my ditties until this morning. One of this weeks card captured my attention and led me to my thought of the day.

I started thinking about what I would say to my 8yr. old self...hmm...

Right off the bat, I know I would tell my little self to enjoy every minute with my dad. To not give him such a hard time (but I gotta keep things interesting!). Because I'm really gonna miss him when he's gone.

But I think the one thing I would tell my itty-bitty-pre-pubescent version of me is to enjoy, I mean REALLY enjoy being a kid. Things change so much when you grow up. Don't get me wrong, I love being a grown up (and out of high school-YUCK!), but I do miss the simple days of being a kid. Playing kickball with my daddy every day after school until dark. SUMMER VACATION!!! Playing dress up with my cardboard box-bigger-than-me full of barbies. Tricking the icky boy (An-jello) next door to eat my freshly made chocolate pie (that was *shh*, secretly made of mud...bah-hahahahaha!!!). I miss that.

But in retrospect, I am tickled to think that there's really nothing I would tell myself not to do. I really don't have any regrets. (OK, maybe to not drink SO much that I throw up in the backseat of my friends mom's minivan because Lord knows I haven't (and won't ever) lived that down!). I know that everything I've done, survived, been thrown at, has made me who I am and I could never change that. (nor would I want to)

So my few but proud, I leave you with this to ponder...what would you tell your 8yr. old self?

One step closer to walkie walkie

My honey bunny is standing!!!

(Well, he's trying at least! )

My little one will be 8mos. old on Friday. We have a video monitor and for the last week, instead of napping, we watch (anxiously) as he's been trying to pull himself up. Mind you, there's no crawling yet...he's still working on that one, he's a roller.

But today, as I sleepily lay in bed at 6:30a watching him quietly babble and explore his crib, I saw it...he was standing and holding onto the rails! I feverishly rubbed my eyes, expecting to find myself hallucinating again (I've done that A LOT since he was born-sleep deprivatoin!) but I wasn't...it was REAL! I squeal with delight and Brandon runs into the room only to find him plopped on his bum (boo). But I saw it, I know I did! (or did I?)

After his short but sweet AM nap, I plopped him on the floor and we played. It's kind of more like torture though because we're trying to get him to crawl so I put all of his fav toys slightly out of reach. This is a delicate process because if he's not in the right mood, this will set him over the edge and playtime is OVER. Lucky for me, he's a happy, bubbly baby 99.9% of the time, so he considers this an adventure. He takes one crawl, lifts his other leg in the air and suspends it for about 20sec. (as if he's a marionette and his puppet master has taken a short break) and then lunges himself into a roll. He wiggles, rolls, scoots, backwards crawls, pulls himself towards the object of his desire. I'm blushing to say that that very object was me today (hooray!). He maneuvers his way into my lap and grabs onto my shirt and S*T*A*N*D*S U*P!!! I cry and squeal (because that's what I do) and he lets out the biggest giggle heard this side of the Mississippi (I have a friend who can spell that backwards drunk *wink*)! It totally made my day!

We're still waiting on that crawl (I have my video camera in tote whenever there's a possibility he may be mobile), but until then, this will very much do.

It's the little things folks. But I love them most of all.

Bringing it back old school

Wow...hiatous isn't the word for it.

In light of the upcoming lovefest that is Valentine's Day, I thought I would take a minute and break my word that isn't hiatous.

I am a hapless, hopeless romantic. Two of my most fav movies are When Harry Met Sally and The Princess Bride. I love long nights of just talking. I love sneaking smooches. I leave my hubby love notes in his lunch box. I draw dirty pictures on the shower door when it's steamy so my hubby can find them and laugh. I feel I need to paint this picture before I lower the blow...

I. HATE. Valentine's Day.

Ok, don't get me wrong, perhaps I've overstated myself. I don't hate the holiday itself, the general principal of an ordinary day set aside to proclaim your love is a wonderful concept. I do adamently hate the commercialism that has engulfed the sweet premice. When ESPN has headlines telling you "how to stay out of the doghouse this Valentine's Day" and then flashing pictures of diamond necklaces and bouquets of flowers that put the Rose Parade to shame, something's wrong.

I despise the principal that states that you have to spend, spend, spend to show how much you love someone. That's the exact thing that I will spend the rest of my life trying to teach my son not to do. Your significant other should know (and so should you) that you are loved every day, not by what you buy them, but by what you show them. A homemade card and cooking their favorite meal; a candlelit dinner after the baby's gone to bed; popping in their favorite movie that you can't stand to watch; doing that thing they like, wearing that thing they like, you know where; these things mean something and *shock* don't cost a thing.

To go a step further, everyday should be Valentine's Day. It's thinking of ways to be thoughtful and to put that someone you love ahead of yourself. You're in a relationship for a reason, (hopefully) not because you have to be, but because you want to be. Let them know that, everyday. Yes, a relationship is work, but it's also FUN. I love spending time with my husband, a luxury we haven't had too much of lately, so when he's home I try to set aside a few hours after the wee one has gone to bed where we can just spend alone time. No talking about work or house stuff, just reconnecting. That's our Valentine's Day, it's every day.

I say we take it back old school. I have such fond memories from grade school making Valentine's cards for all my friends (and the extra special, jumbo one with EXTRA glitter for my crush). I remember delievering the cards to the handmade brown lunch sacks on each of my lucky recipients desks. The chaos as everyone ran from desk to desk delivering their little works of art and high tailing it back to unload their own gems. I remember my mom always having a little box of candy waiting for me when I got home from school. I love that feeling, those memories. I always made sure to make a card for the goofy "outcast" kid who sat in the corner sad because she knew she wasn't going to get any cards because she ate her boogers (Tracy-HA!). I never wanted anyone to feel that way. That's what I want to give to Owen. I want him to know what it's like to make other people happy with just a simple thought.

I propose that this Valentine's Day, instead of fighting awful crowds just to eat cold food and spending a paycheck on a stay-out-of-the-doghouse gift, that we all do something nice for someone that day. Maybe someone we may not otherwise have. Take your mom out to get her hair done, watch that awful movie with your special somebody, make homemade cards with your little ones. That's what I'm going to do. I'm going to reclaim this holiday for the future of my child and for everyone. We're going to make brown lunch sack card holders...

On that note, I hope you all (all three of you) have a wonderful day with your spouses and soon-to-be spouses and let them know how much you love them...not just on the 14th, but everyday.

Christmas Groundhog Day

Where is the motivation? I mean, Christmas is a friggin week away and I haven't wrapped a single thing. I still have two brag books for grandma's to make and a frame and I can't find the time...

I sit down to work on, well, work and...nothing. I can't seem to get my little hinny in gear. I need some pick me up...I need something! I'm Mrs. Christmas too, so this is exceptionally out of character for me. I feel like I'm in one of those made-for-tv-Tori Spelling Christmas movies (shout out to T) where the Christmas spirit has left me and I need to be trapped in a friggin snowglobe where I relive Christmas Eve. (a la Groundhog Day) until I "find the TRUE meaning of Christmas again". If you've got some inspirational words for me, by all means, please cram them down my throat because I need to find the true meaning of Christmas before its too late.

Sincerely,

Lethargic in MA