Ok, so here’s the thing.

I redid our bathroom.

Which basically means I painted the cabinets, drawers and the walls. I replaced our towels, bath mat and “splurged” on fancy hand towels. I purchased black hardware to use on the cabinets, but have yet to install them. wah wah.

We left the tile and all the other basic fixtures as is, for now. Actually, all the towel racks work perfectly with our darker wall paint, so they may stay up for the duration. The light fixture will be replaced at some point.

This bathroom is actually not our biggest worry, but it seemed doable to update this one out of the gates ourselves and save up to update the others down the road. (Soon, I hope!)

I spent money on primer, paint, spray paint, nails, brushes, hardware, shelf paper and towels. I purchased all the paints and accessories at Ace Hardware, the bath towels (Ralph Lauren) and bathmat (Tommy Hilfiger) at TJ Maxx, the yellow and white shelf paper at Home Goods and West Elm for the fancier Initial hand towels. I got the “not on there yet” cabinet hardware at Home Depot.

I originally had just a gray and yellow theme in mind, but when I was putting the bathroom back together, I had a few green accessories left over (ceramic water cup, vase, ceramic trash can and basket.) I decided instead of replacing all of them, the green was a perfect accent to my yellow and gray theme. I think it adds a nice balance.

It’s not the ideal/final makeover for this bathroom, but it sure makes it clean and cohesive. I’m quite pleased with my efforts and I definitely have more knowledge under my belt for my next effort!

e

Alrighty then. We’re just going to act like May didn’t exist then are we? I wish I had an answer for you as to why I haven’t been around. Wait, I DO.

We bought a house.

A 1964 ranch-style house.

A darling house that sits on a lovely piece of property nestled near a community lake.

I would like to tell you that it’s move-in-ready, but sadly it is not. The previous owners have lived there for 40 years and have probably had a lovely shade of teal carpet in there the entire time. We have to remove all of it. It has that older person smell to it, plus it’s ugly as all get-out, so that is the first order of business.

Wait, not really. The first order of business is to remove the popcorn ceilings on the second floor. You know, the ones that were just tested for asbestos today and came back POSITIVE. Like HIGH positive.

Ya, that’s special.

We knew it could be in there. The owner himself built the second floor himself back in ’78 and asbestos was part of the stuff you use to put in ceilings. It was removed from the shelves right around that time. In our disclosures, he did not believe there was any asbestos, but Barry Bonds also said while he did take medication, he didn’t know it was actual steroids, so we’re not sure who to believe here. We’ll fix it, then consult with an attorney to see if we have a case.

It’s not a HUGE problem. Just one that has people going in with suits and tarping off the area and getting all that crap out of there. We will test after-the-fact and if there is any signs of it still left in the air. We’ll make sure it’s a safe place to live before moving in.

Man, old homes. They’re a bitch!

Besides that, it’s a open canvas. We can do pretty much whatever we want to it. Our current house, we moved in with completely painted walls and crown molding. We only painted a child’s room right before they were born. (That makes three rooms if anyone is counting.)

We’re thinking of putting in hardwood floors in two of the rooms ourselves. We have some people who have done it before so we think we’re good to go. There’s just so much to accomplish in the next month and we’re heading to Hawaii in two weeks for nine days. Clearly we did not know we’d be buying a house right at the very same time we’d be on vacation, but it’s not a terrible problem to have, so we’re just going with it.

I haven’t packed a box, let alone purchased any. I keep trying to bid on ones on Craigslist, but I am not fast enough for these crazy people. They’re snapped up quickly around these parts.

Plus, my IPhone was taken/misplaced at Rt’s school the other day during Field Day. Someone has my phone and will not return it. It’s password protected and hasn’t been used by anyone, so I think they should return it STAT, but they aren’t buying. I am at a loss. A horrid loss. I don’t even want to talk about all the photos and videos I haven’t uploaded since October.

Don’t you think I’d learn since almost losing all of my photos and videos from my computer last fall? That cost me an arm and a leg to recover. And no, I did not have the “find my phone” app installed on my phone before it was taken. I should have, yes, but I am clearly an idiot and have been so since April ’11.

We are very excited for our big move…12 miles across town. This does mean new schools, new community and new everything while still being able to jot across town to our favorite friends and hot-spots.

Anyone done any moving lately? Any advice, suggestions, DON’T DO WHAT WE DIDs for me? I’m all ears.

e

(Written on the flight home. You know, the only time I’ve had a moment to myself since taking off from the Austin airport.)

******

Headed home and wondering where I’ve been the past 72 hours? That was a whirlwind hell of a good time filled with seeing old friends, meeting new ones and trying to cram in a years worth of friendship, suck the nectar out of a new town, and nurse a slight hangover all at the same time. There were tacos everywhere I turned, hookers who tried to make our hotel their home, and too many talks of vibrators and wishes of all of us living closer together. (Not in the same breath, mind you.)

I might have been tagged as the gal who got a nipple ring for a short 3 months when she was 21 for the discounted price of $20. (Hell, who could pass up a bargain like that? Clearly, I couldn’t) That and the gal who’s got a lot of penis to care for back home. Hell, someone’s got to whip the male race into shape, right?

I spent a good chunk of time having hilarious moments with quite a few of you.

Miss Narmalie is an awesome chica who was lovely enough to let me stay in her tree house the first night I was there. It was truly an oasis. One that I will think of fondly when I am drowning in a pool full of little people. I am saddened I did not get to meet HER little people. They are such dolls from what I hear!!

Regan was also a hero of mine as well. Besides being a cool chic, she buys bottles of champagne and even comes and picks you up and takes you places! Her daughter, sweet Pippa can go unnoticed in a car for about 15 minutes. A doll and laid back as all get out.

Jonniker and I had a doozy of a time trying to get her car out of the back parking lot at brunch on Friday. Let’s just say she “nuzzled” the restaurant a smudge with her bumper. I think the next time we both find each other in that situation, we’ll back that car out BUTT first. What a hoot.

(Every time I try to link Regan and Jonna’s names, it makes them  bigger. I have no idea why this happens or how to fix it?!? Don’t even get me started on the link color. YOU CAN’T READ IT. I’ll have to fix later…This will teach me to not write out of wordpress editor EVER AGAIN.)

Once Friday night came about, I was able to meet and hang with almost the entire 49 people who attended, including my roommate Andyouknow! (What a doll. Thanks for being such a great roomy!! Also, if you are ever fortunate enough to get to hang with her while she’s pumping, please tell me if you also hear it say “loophole, loophole, loophole.”)

Of course there was no way to get to spend time with everyone I wanted to, (BOO)  but I felt I at least met almost everyone?! And for all the gals I did meet, what fun it was spending some time getting to know you better, and if vibrators did come up in conversation, I am truly sorry! (Ericahuff)

From there, I spent a good chunk of time hanging with the other Style Lush writers, JustExpressive, ChristinaRTS and my other roomie HomeSweetSarah. We made our way to and from the main house, Gypsy Picnic, Congress street, the Saturday night dinner and back to the main house. I can honestly say it was a riot tooling around with these fine women. Keeping it real was pretty much all we did and it was thoroughly enjoyable. Thank you sweet girls!!

It was also great getting to finally meet my Oklahoma sisters, Kate_Welsh and MrsDAngelo! Thank the heavens above we were not sitting around watching that HORRID game Saturday night. BOOMER SOONER!!

Want to make a shout out to all the lovely gals at the main house. You are FANTABULOUS hosts and truly did such a great job making everyone feel warm and fuzzy. THANK YOU.

I took all of 5 pictures from my Iphone. If you want to see them, along with tons of others from the rest of the gals, head on over to our flickr pool!

All in all, it was a weekend to remember. I came away exhausted, awfully content, inspired to continue these relationships and looking forward to making new ones next year!

Wow, so a whole month has passed. How on earth did that happen?

Oh, I know.

• School started.
• I have three kids who need to get dressed and make their way out in the world on a daily basis.
• I actually do write elsewhere twice a week.
• And my new found time-suckage, Words With Friends. (The words I’ve learned using a Q, X and J, man.)

So, today’s my birthday. Wheeeee. It’s hard to feel “special” when you get to feed a baby at 5:50am. Luckily, I got to sleep in till 7:40am. Rt, Hola and J came in to wake me. It truly is so fun being at the bottom of a dog pile of sorts. Where’s my breakfast in bed? Flowers? Hot chocolate? What do you mean you need to get in the shower, the kids are not fed yet and Rt’s lunch needs to be made just like every other day of the week?

Where’s MAH SPECIAL DAY???

Oh well. I’m over it. I get BR’s ice cream cake later today and I don’t have to pick it up. SCORE.

J and I did go out for my birthday on Sunday night. We hit my favorite kind of restaurant, a Japanese Steakhouse! I’ve been celebrating my big day at hibachi-type places since I can remember. I even had my 4th grade birthday party at one. One word: Delicious.

We sat next to some lovely folks who were celebrating their Sunday night by getting loaded with blue rum fish bowls. Let’s just say they were “entertaining.” And then, they all got to sing Happy Birthday to me at the end of the meal. Wish I had THAT on record!

Gotta run. Peppa wants to spent time with me instead of sleep.

SPECIAL, I TELL YA.

e

When J and I lived in LA, back before the kiddos came along, we were having beers with someone J worked with at Barney’s Beanery in West Hollywood.

Now, we lived in two areas of LA. The first place was Hollywood. The second, Silverlake. Neither one really SCREAMED “Hollywood” funny enough compared to the other areas, like Santa Monica, Beverly Hills and more surrounding areas in West LA.

So, even out for the night at Barney’s Beanery was not our normal place to be. While having drinks, someone approached us to see if we were interested in signing up to be considered for this new reality tv show E! was producing. It was called Style Court. Uh, hello? Do they not know who I am? Any chance to have 2 minutes of D rated fame? SIGN ME UP!

They wanted to have both J and I sign up to be considered along with the guy we were with. We had to have a reason why we would participate in Style Court. Picture Divorce Court but someone’s “style” is the reason why they are being brought in front of a judge.

(Hey, no judging! It sounds awful. And it was. But, that is not the point. Hello. TV.)

Anyway, we made up some bullshit story about how this guy has recently lost SO MUCH WEIGHT, (which was the only true part) but he was still living the life of his larger self. (Not wearing clothes that fit, out of style, etc.) He needed a major makeover and we were taking him to court because of it!

(I die. The cheese.)

Anyway, we moved on with our night and didn’t think much more about it until they called a couple of days later saying we had made the show.

(OMG. So cool.)

I think within a couple of weeks, I got to drag poor J down to the studios not far from our Hollywood apartment. We, being the ones who were stylish, or thought so, had to dress appropriately. I have no idea what I wore except for the red, tight-fitted shirt. (nice.) Maybe black pants and black heels?

I am not sure what J wore. I am sure it was hip. He seems to have no problem pulling off the hipness.

Anyway, there were a few other groups there to shoot their “scenarios” before us. We waited a bit, but got to watch the others on tv.

What a freakin’ trip.

These people were SO LA WANNABES. And I was there, too. Go figure.

The more we watched, the more J looked at me like he was going to rip my nips off as soon as we got home. I was so in trouble.

Luckily, our turn was next.

All I can really recall is doing a lot of pointing. (on my side of court behind a podium. Yes, a podium.) I was truly concerned for his well-being. He had worked so hard at getting himself into shape, he needed to be helped in a way he couldn’t help himself.

I was good. Really good.

Or really bad.

I cannot know for sure.

We were told our episode would air on E! within a certain time frame. Now this was before the land of the DVR and such, so the persistent me knew when and where all episodes of Style Court would air based on my fabulous remote skills. I watched every single one of those freakin’ shows only to NEVER FIND THE ONE WE WERE ON.

I can’t tell you whether or not it never aired, or it slipped past me.

I keep telling myself it was the latter. Because, come on,  WHO WOULDN’T WANT TO SEE ME ON TV?

Skinny jeans for the growing belly at Style Lush! Also, a write up on the ice cream maker attachment on my mixer at Food Lush….

*****

Every week at my mom’s group, we go around the table telling our highs and lows of the week. This way, everyone gets a chance to share what’s going on in their lives, whether good or bad. Having us there to be a good sounding board with wanted advice or just someone there to listen. Either way, it’s therapeutic.

So, here are my today’s highs and lows, cause I have no memory prior to yesterday to recall what I did this past week.

LOWS:

Left Rt’s backpack at school yesterday. Seems when they tell you to leave your backpack at the front door of the library during book fair, they actually want you to pick it back up on your way out. Luckily, it was still sitting there this morning, right out side the library. It takes brain power, people.

While running out the door to my monthly OB appt., I forgot Hola’s shoes. It wasn’t too much of an issue since I forced him into the stroller during these kind of appts. The only time it was semi-inappropriate to NOT have shoes on was at the bagel shop. Oh well, socks can pass for shoes, right? RIGHT?

While using all the dignity I had to pee in a cup in front on my son, (“pee in a CUP mommy?”) I didn’t notice the cup had a crack in it. Therefore, my potty experiment was all over the floor and my jeans. Nothing like telling the gals at the front desk there needs to be a clean up (on aisle 5!) in the handicap stall of the bathroom.

After visiting the OB office and the blood lab in RECORD time, I took Hola to the bagel store. While getting him back into the car, my semi-frozen diet coke bottle fell out of the car and rolled away in the parking lot. I waited, what I thought was the allotted amount of time, and opened the bottle. Frozen diet coke float came shooting out of the top and onto me, my seat and console. DUDE, I just washed these jeans. Now, they are sprinkled with Diet Coke and urine. And yes, I am still wearing them. What, I look CUTE today.

HIGHS:

I went by the mailbox on my way home and found my new Kate Spake Iphone Cover in the mailbox!!!!  Isn’t it SUPER CUTE? Very pleased with my purchase. I’ve already dropped it and all is still well. Phew.

Hola has now gone pee on the little potty 5 times. All on his own. Only catch is, he has to be naked. The two times I put him in underwear yesterday, he peed right through them. He also stands over the potty facing the seat and pees standing up. This is rather messy. Even today, as he was pushing the pee out a kibble showed up under his hood. I tried to get him to sit, but he thought I was sending him into the lion’s den. No dice.

The best part about all of this, so far, is seeing my kid running in from the backyard trying to make it to the potty with little turds falling out of his rear. I know, gross, but hilarious all at the same time. Not sure how we are going to straighten out the poop part, but I’m trying to be casual, so we’ll see how it goes….Pull-Ups should be here later today…..(Did you know 7th Generation had Pull-Ups? Me neither.

I just realized that I will be in Chicago 2 weeks from today for the Blathering!!! So thrilled. I’ve never been to Chicago and I’m looking forward to hanging with some lovely ladies. Got a kick ass deal at the Fairmont too! Living it up for the last time for quite some time, it seems. Bring it on!! And bring on the near-bear and fake Cabernet….

Also, two weeks from Tuesday, we find out what this baby is, boy or girl! Will try to put up a poll sometime next week just for shits and giggles.

And, last, but not least, I’ll be 17 weeks on Sunday. Not bad, not bad at all!

Happy Friday!!

e

Quite happy celebrating my special day with all my boys. How can you not feel truly loved when the ones closest to you show you how much they mean to you by making you your VERY OWN CUPCAKE. (for the first time!) Way to go boys! (including hubs.) You’ve made my year.

e

Ok, so you recall me telling you that the total amount of Rt’s hospital stay was $35,711.68?

Right?

(This does NOT include, the surgeon cost, Ambulance ride, Floor Doc and ER visit costs)

Guess how much we owe for just the hospital part?

$8.24.

Clearly, I have no idea how insurance works when you have major hospitals stays. It’s not just 20% from the total bill, etc.

THIS is the good news I had been hoping for. Well, it’s a great start, isnt’ it???

e

P.S. I just added up EVERYTHING that was charged to us for the entire event regarding Rt’s illness. The total bill comes out to $2933.40. And if I can contact the larger charges and see if I pay in full if they will discount me 20% off the top. It’s worth a shot, right?

Back when I lived in Tulsa and dating hubs long distance, I used to go to the liquor store after work and buy myself a bottle of white zinfandel. (Yes, in Oklahoma, you can only buy wine and liquor in a LIQUOR STORE. And, they’re even closed on Sundays….. I KNOW. And can we talk about my lack of wine taste and knowledge? Let’s just say, moving out West has done WONDERS for my taste buds.)

No, I didn’t buy a bottle every night, but the nights I was feeling lonely and my room mate was at her boyfriend’s for the 4th night in a row, I’d pour myself a glass of pink courage, open up my spiral notebook and place my heart down on paper.

He was my inspiration. (or the wine might have had something to do with it too.) Either or, looking back on this time reminds me of a life less complicated. I wrote down my thoughts on PAPER, spiraled notebook paper to be exact. No computers, no Iphone, nothing fancy. Just a pen and some thoughts was all that was needed.

I was cleaning out our ottoman the other day, (due to the lack of order and the 358 crumbs that had fallen through the main crack over the past 5 years) and ran across my wedding present to hubs. It was a black, leather-bound album with a handful of poems I had written about him that first year. (Wasn’t that THE BEST PRESENT EVER?)

Now, I can tell you, neither one of us have pulled it out and fawned over it since I gave it to him, but every once in awhile I enjoy going back in time and reminding myself of how it all began when life was less complicated and a bottle of pink, cheap wine was all it took for me to cement my heart to enjoy for years to come.

e