Weekend Update

Blip #1: I'm back from Duck, NC! *quack quack* I'm in love with the Outer Banks. It was a fantastic time. Absolutely wonderful. 14 of us all together for something fun for the first time since, oh, 1987. Highlights of the week included: shopping at The Cotton Gin, lunch/beer at the Weeping Radish, endless games of pool, watching my brother in law go through 2 books of matches trying to light a pipe, kahlua milkshakes, the Cape Hatteras lighthouse, and playing with my adorable 2 year old cousin (my cousin's daughter). And, for what it's worth, the rest of the family thought the white polo/khakis idea was as lame as I did, so my cousin gave up on that. It was also very strange to share a beer with a cousin who, "just" 21 years earlier, you fed a bottle to. I'm old, lol. Family bonding at it's finest!


Blip #2: TEEEEBOWWW!!!!! Get better! Ohmygoodness, did my heart practically stop when he didn't get up after that hit! I hope he'll be better in 2 weeks in time for LSU, but if not, I hope he and the coaching/medical staff have the good sense to keep him out of the game. (And honestly, did they need to show every time a Gator barfed? We were trying to eat dinner, thanks ESPN)


Blip #3: TROOOOOY!!! Get better! Mr. Polamalu, my Steelers NEED you. I need you. My overall happiness depends on an effective Steel Curtain. And besides, unicorns and kittens cry when the Steelers lose to the Bengals and Bears.


Blip #4: Does anyone have any recipes for carambola/star fruit? My co-worker just brought me in a bunch from her tree. We're talking 2 dozen of these puppies.

And definitely not a "blip", but Friday marked one year since we lost mom. I'm definitely glad I decided to make the trip to NC so I'd be with Dad and Sis. It was a rough day, but it was a little easier because we had lots of great people and things around to distract us. The 3 of us took a beach walk that night (something mom loved to do when she was able) and talked a bit. Mainly, we just talked about how mom ("real" mom, before she was sick) would have loved the beachhouse and would have had umpteen comments about the Annapolis-branch of the family (if you can't tell from the portrait-drama, they're a little more uppity than we are). In some ways it seems like it's been eons since September 25, 2008. In other ways, it seems like it all just happened. I feel like I've made a lot of progress since then. I do feel generally happier than even a few months ago and I know that'd make mom happy. But sometimes I flash back to being in that hospital room, and I just can't get myself out. It's not even so much that I wish she was still here, because I know if she was she'd be miserable. I just want to talk to her. I don't even need to see her so much; it'd be enough if I could just call her. It's so strange to realize we've come to a point where I can't think, "at this time last year, mom and I were ____". It's hard to just suck up being sad sometimes, because I feel like I need to be strong and not drag my family down (they're sad enough without needing to worry about me...I know that's not how I should feel, but it is). I have very few friends who I feel truly comfortable talking to, and even then I feel like I can only dump on them so much, ya know? So that's why I blog. :) Cheap therapy!

Love ya mama (though remembering how you scoffed at/shunned the internet, I highly doubt you're reading blogs in heaven, heh)

The Knitty Gritty

Ok. Now, I know Rome wasn't built in a day. I know I will not become an expert at knitting in one afternoon.

But honestly, after an entire afternoon of practicing one stitch, I'd like to think I'd be able to do it. I don't even mean do it quickly. All I'm hoping for is to be able to do it, period.

Continental cast-on: we have much more time to spend together, it seems.

We're not conceited...

...we're just better than you.



All the other teams are just jealous. Big green eyed monsters, they are. Heck, all the other conferences are jealous: behold the splendor that is the SEC. (Although, where would I get my laughs if the Big Ten wasn't always whining about how much better they are?)

That's enough from you, Mr. Lame Kiffin! Put up, or shut up.

Me and my fightin' words... :) I've got on my blue-and-orange boxing gloves, dontcha know? I talk a mean game.

I'm off to grill some hot dogs. Have a fabulous college football Saturday!

Phamily Photo

Next week, (nearly) my entire family is going to meet up in North Carolina for an Outer Banks family reunion. We haven't all gotten together like this since our trips to Sanibel Island back in the 80's, so this is special.

However, can I tell you what is NOT special about this trip?

My cousin sent out an email this morning. She has arranged for a photographer to come and shot a family portrait of her, her husband and their little girl. She has also decided that she wants to do a huge entire-family portrait.

That's not the bad part. Family pictures are great, and the last one we had is from 1987. The bad part is that we have a dress code.

"I'd really like for everyone to pack khaki shorts or pants, and a white oxford or polo shirt".

And just like that: our cool, laid back, sarcastic, easy-going family has become that family.

I know I know I know...I'm weird. I just think the whole "matching family thing" is geeky. I find portraits like that irritating to no end. My apologies for offending the millions of Americans who love that stuff. It's just one of those things.

Also...good luck convincing our 21 year old cousin, Merry, to go along with this. Merry is either Goth or Emo, I'm not sure which (kids these days, you know...I just can't keep up with the trends). She dresses up for "ComicCon" and writes bad poetry and wears smudgy black eyeliner and frumpy, unattractive Goodwill finds. (I try to wear as much pink as possible around her, I think it makes her uncomfortable). If Merry plays along with this, it will all be worth it just to have it documented in black and white (or khaki and white, as it may be).

(I obviously get my disdain for the matchy-matchy-family-thing from my father, since he just responded to all asking if we should also pack our Bibles and beanies...you go, Dad!)



PS: If it makes it on to Awkward Family Photos I will totally post the link. Shame, what shame?

PPS: I'm not whining, really. I've just got a maaajor case of eye-roll going on, and I need to get it out of my system.

I lied yesterday. I told you that I didn't watch tv shows, but that's not true. I have two shows: The Office (season premiere tonight, wooooohoo! Jim + Pam = 4ever) and Criminal Minds (which Hubby got me into). But other than that, tv programming is crap.

Ok, now that my confession is off my chest, I can go about my day.

Maybe it's the start of fall (which, here in Florida you would never know, considering it will be 92 today) but I've got a whole heap of crafty projects I want to start.

I want to re-dedicate myself to learning knitting and crocheting. I want to finally suck it up and take my annoying, irritating sister in law up on her offer to teach me to use the sewing machine. I want to make a fall foliage wreath for the front door (actually 2, because we have double doors). I want to make some adorable pumpkin table decorations. And so on....

This is on top of the other projects I want to do. I've been saying forever that I'm going to get some big pots for our entryway and stencil our monogram onto them. Or get those snazzy little decals I see on etsy.

I should probably not admit that, after living in our house for 14 months, the name plaque of the previous owners is still on our front door. (Hey, the screws are stripped, what am I supposed to do?) It is covered by a wreath until I figure how to pry that sucker off. That's probably a little more important of a task to tackle than cutesy decorations.

Reading blogs gives me so many ideas! You people are so creative and talented! You make me want to bake cupcakes, decoupage my step stool, sew some beautiful throw pillows for the family room couch, and decorate our bland and boring bedroom (and that's just this week!) I fail, however, when it comes to actually acting. Oh well. With basketball season around the corner, I'm about to come into the part of the year when I'm on my own a lot. I'm thinking I'm going to use the time to do these little things that will make me happy.

Now I just have to decide where to start! (The pots...I'm going to start with the pots...)

The Biggest Loser

I am not a big TV person. I love watching sports and "informative" TVshows (news, Food Network, History Channel, etc.) but I've never been into sit-coms or, especially, reality shows. I've never had the interest to watch one episode of American Idol, Grey's Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, Survivor, Gossip Girl, The Hills, you name it.

Last night after watching the NBC Nightly News (I love me some Brian Williams) I got suckered into watching ET because of the Patrick Swayze coverage (absolute saddness, I loved him). The TV was still on as I did a few chores around the house, and that's when The Biggest Loser came on.

In other words, I finally got to see who this "Jillian" person is that everyone and their grandma's mailman is talking about.

O.M.G. Who on earth thinks talking to people like that is acceptable? NBC must have worn out their bleep machine. The F word?! Come on. I understand the "tough love" concept for motivation, I do. You can't coddle people. You can't let people cling to excuses. But I believe there's a balance. Being spoken to like a dog does absolutely zilch to motivate me. I mean, it would motivate me to get my morbidly obese face up in hers and tell her that she can bite me....but that's about it.

On the other hand, the contestants obviously (I hope) knew more about the concept of the show than I did, so they knew what they were signing up for. I guess it works for the show and they get the ratings and results they want. But wow, still no excuse. Jillian, you are no lady.

Then my hubsand came into the room and made mooo-ing noises at the 500 pound lady. So I asked him if he'd rather she be at home eating a Jell-O Pudding Cup (I used that as an example since I knew that was what Hubby was coming into the kitchen to get..probably not nice, but hey, I'd had one too) instead of trying to improve herself?

So he got huffy, I was huffy he was making fun of fat people and mad that this Jillian wench gets paid millions to have a potty mouth and be mean.

Whew. I need to stick with watching Paula Deen. Zoning out in front of butter and bacon is, ironically, much more healthy for me!

I'm leaving? I'm back?

I like to think of myself as fairly tech-savy, but Blogger puts me in my place. Apparently, am incapable of remembering to hit that little "Publish" button that allows y'all to experience my ramblings. I type out a thoughtful entry, minimize the window, become distracted by whathaveyou, and inevitably cancel out of IE/Firefox before I finalize the post (I admit, I do a good amount of blogging during quick lulls at work...can you believe they sometimes expect some work out of me and I have to pause my precious blogging? I know). And this isn't an isolated occurance, I do it all the time. I iz smrt.

So....I went on vacation. And now I'm back from vacation. And the vacation was great!

Royal Caribbean Liberty of the Seas is fantastic. I did NOT want to get off! I may have enjoyed the ship more than the ports. I'd been on this cruise before, so I had already done the "must do" activities. Even though I'd already done it, Hubby and I climbed Dunn's River Falls and tubed on the White River (the Falls are fantastic, I was thrilled to have the chance to go again). The poverty in the ports is very sad, and I feel guilty when I get annoyed at their persistance when walking by vendors and shops.

Our tablemates were a wonderful family from the North of England, and their daughters were precious. We had a blast with them. The ice show (yes, the ship has an ice rink) was very impressive, as was most of the entertainment around the ship. Food was plentiful, but more importantly, delicious. All I have to do is think of the flourless chocolate cake and get weak in the knees, haha.

So yes, back to life, back to reality. (At least for 9 days, then I leave for North Carolina for a family reunion) I missed my kitties tremendously, so it was great to see them. They even did me the favor of not barfing or pooing all over the house! (That's how they show their displeasure that we're not around to wait on them, it seems..."we'll teach you for leaving, here's something for you to step in as soon as you decide to come back!")

Our phone line went bad at some point while we were gone, so our DSL internet isn't working at home. Torture, lol! Hopefully AT&T will fix it today, and hopefully I'll be busy tonight catching up on the 120+ unread postings in my Google Reader. I kind of didn't realize how much I enjoy reading blogs til I started getting the itch to check in on board. At 55 cents per minute, I decided to wait til I got home, I hope you understand, haha!